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Larji project authorities fined Rs Dhumal demands White Paper on recruitments BJP accuses Cong of ignoring Hamirpur Crash victim’s father sues HP
Govt for irresponsibility |
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Nod to book bank former MD IT university under vigilance scanner Traffic
jams — daily hassle for motorists Mandi, November 17 The three-day conference of the Students Federation of India which concluded here today unanimously resolved to launch a nationwide movement against the commercialisation of education from December 11. Gen Chaki recalls Gorkhas’ deeds of valour
Anganwari workers end stir
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Larji project authorities fined Rs 1.54 crore Sundernagar, November 17 In an order on Saturday Mr
C.S. Singh, Conservator Forest Mandi directed the circle D.F.O. Mandi to recover this amount from the Project Authorities for the violation of provisions of the Forest Conservation Act in one month failing which the work of the project would be stopped. The Larji project
authorities had been throwing industrial waste into Beas from the very beginning of the project. When the residents of the area started raising hue and cry, two dumping sites were created but even then the throwing of the waste into Beas or along the sides of Beas did not stop. Hundreds of trucks could be seen throwing the waste into Beas on the project site. Residents had been complaining about this to various authorities but no action was taken. The problem was highlighted by The Tribune on February 9 followed by an Editorial on February 11 but even then the officials who were supposed to take action against the Project Authorities kept
silent. According to Mr C.S. Singh, Conservator Forests Mandi Circle, he went through the matter highlighted by The Tribune and agreed with the viewpoint highlighted by the paper and when he joined in Mandi circle on May 19, 2003, he took the matter on the priority and after studying the file relating to dumping of waste by the Larji Project Authorities into Beas and its sides. Forest Department started issuing notices to the Chief Engineer Larji Project, Satyam Construction Company and Continental Construction Company (The H.P.S.E.B is executing the project and Chief Engineer Larji Project has further awarded different works to Satyam and Continental Construction Company) to stop throwing waste into
Beas. The Forest Department also videofilmed different spots, in the presence of officials of Larji Project and representatives of construction companies. It was found that total volume of waste was 401256.72 Cubic metres dumped along the bank of the river into area of 26.6 hectares. The Forest Department issued many notices to remove the waste already thrown on the spot but the authorities did not take preventive actions. When no action was taken within stipulated period the Conservator Forest Mandi cum Chairman of Committee to Environmental safeguard established under the provision of Forest Conservation Act 1980 passed an order yesterday and imposed penalty of Rs 1.54 crore. Damage to different trees buried in the waste and dried up has not been included in the present penalty and the authorities concerned will face the proceeding under the provisions of Forest Conservation Act separately. If the order is not complied within one month work on the project will be stopped and case for the cancellation of diversion of forest land will be sent to the Central government. Although the team of the Pollution Control Board had also visited the spot but what action it has taken is not known. It is for the first time that the Forest Department has taken strict action against the project authorities which are using the rivers of this hill state as dumping yard. The Project Authorities concerned were not available for comment regarding the order passed by the Forest Department. Mr Amar Chand Verma and Ravi Singh Rana who have been dealing with environmental case welcomed the decision. |
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Dhumal demands White Paper on recruitments Hamirpur, November 17 He said, “It is essential in the view of assertions of the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, that nearly 6,500 jobs have been given by the Congress government since March 2003”. Talking with reporters here, he said names and permanent addresses of all those who had been given jobs should be mentioned in the White Paper. Mr Dhumal blasted the Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Education Board for his comments that Mr Dhumal and the Education Minister in his government had no knowledge of the computers. He criticised the decision of the state government to downgrade the status of zonal hospital to that of district hospital, calling it an anti-people decision. |
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BJP accuses Cong of ignoring Hamirpur Hamirpur, November 17 It was the first meeting of the party after the district-level organisational elections at Tounidevi, last month. The leaders expressed confidence in the leadership of Mr Dhumal and assured him complete support to oust the Congress from power in the state. The leaders blasted the Congress for mass transfers of government employees and officers purely on political considerations and warned the government of an agitation if such activities continued. They also criticised the state government for its policy on para-teachers, saying that it was anti-people and anti-trained teachers. In his speech, Mr Dhumal came down heavily on the Congress for working on regional lines. He exhorted workers to go to masses and tell them about policies, programmes and achievements of the BJP in the state. |
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Crash victim’s father sues HP Chandigarh, November 17 In an unprecedented move, a former Commandant with the Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), Mr Hardev Singh, who lost his son, Capt G.D. Singh, when the chopper he was flying crashed in Himachal Pradesh (HP) while on a mission, has taken the government to court for its failure to identify and mark make-shift ropeways strung across valleys, which pose serious flight hazards. The HP High Court has already issued notice to the state government following a petition filed by Mr Hardev earlier this month. Speaking to The Tribune today, he said that the state government, however, was yet to reply to the notice. On Divali day in 1998, two officers, Capt G.D. Singh and Maj Shankaran were on a sortie to assist troops, stranded on a long-range patrol, in the Himalayas, when their chopper got entangled in a ropeway and crashed in the Sangla Valley. Both pilots, who were ferrying food packets and other supplies, were killed. Capt G.D. Singh had been married for just 11 months when he died. Stating that the state government should own up responsibility for the incident as it was its duty to mark flying hazards so that they were visible to aviators, Mr Hardev Singh, himself a recipient of the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry for anti-terrorist operations, said that he would also seek compensation from the Himachal Government for his personal loss. The state government had already compensated the Army for the loss of the chopper. ‘‘I have recently given my daughter-in-law’s hand in marriage as if she was my own daughter,’’ he said. ‘‘I have also given her all benefits and ex-gratia grants that the family then got from the Central Government,’’ he added. He said that financial compensation received from the Himachal Government would be put in a trust to open a hospital in the memory of his son, where treatment, free of cost, would be given to the needy. |
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Nod to book bank former MD Shimla, November 17 According to sources, the permission has been granted on the basis of an inquiry conducted by the department into the recruitment scam which revealed serious irregularities like tampering with answersheets and interview marksheets and ignoring the meritorious candidates to accommodate the favoured ones. The department submitted its report to the government more than two months ago with a recommendation that a case under Sections 420, 468 and 471 of the IPC and Section 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act was made out. The sources in the department said an FIR would be registered soon. During the inquiry gross procedural irregularities came to light. The bank advertised 72 posts but midway during the recruitment process the number was increased to 225, which was patently wrong. Consequently, only 300 candidates were called for interview for the 225 posts. As per norms, three to five candidates per post are to be called the for the interview. Thus, a large number of meritorious candidates who had cleared the written examination were denied the opportunity to appear for interview. The examinations of the answer sheets of certain selected candidates revealed over writing and tampering with marks. Similarly, the interview marksheets have also been tampered with to ensure selection of the favoured candidates. In 11 selected candidates the interview marks were found to be increased by overwriting. In one case a favoured candidate was given appointment, ignoring five others who were placed at higher positions than him. |
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IT university under vigilance scanner Solan, November 17 Sources in the Vigilance Department said inquiries were being made about the manner in which 114.01 bighas of government land was leased out to the Jaya Prakash Sewa Santhan in 2000. A letter from the Director-General of Police was recently received by the district administration which sought details about how the market rate pertaining to the lease rate was calculated and which department bore the expenditure on its infrastructure development, including its connecting roads. The university was given the land for 99 years on lease. An amount of Rs 25.75 lakh was deposited as one-time lease amount out of the total Rs 77.25 lakh. The rest of the money was to be deposited in two equal annual instalments and thereafter it was provided that a token amount of Re 1 would be paid per year by the university for the remaining lease period. Fingers were reportedly raised at the lease amount and it was being investigated whether the sum was calculated as per the norms. The district administration pointed out that since there was virtually no sale and purchase of land at Rachhiana village, where the university is located, the market value of the land was calculated as per the rate of the adjoining area of
Vaknaghat. This was estimated to be around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 per
bigha. Further the lease amount was calculated as per the norms of the HP Village Common Land Act, 1972. The land initially belonged to the Industries Department for development of IT-based industry. The policy of the university to reserve 5 per cent seats for Himachalis has also drawn flak from a number of student organisations. |
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Traffic
jams — daily hassle for motorists Hamirpur, November 17 Worse-affected is the Shimla-Dharamsala highway which passes through the town. All buses, trucks and other four-wheelers and two wheelers use this road and it becomes difficult to cross it in the morning and evening hours when all rush home. During this period, the road is jammed by hundreds of vehicles and control of the flow of traffic near the main bus-stand and the Dev Pal Chowk area becomes difficult. Huge containers kept for garbage from houses and shops near the main bus-stand here. Add to the problem two containers also add to traffic problems almost daily. A bypass for the town can reduce traffic jams. Bypass was mooted during the previous BJP regime. However, acquiring of the land and issuing of notifications for this purpose has delayed the project. The PWD authorities are hopeful that the project will become a reality in the next year as the National Highways Authorities had sanctioned funds and cleared the project after approval from the Ministry of Environment. Rupees seven crore are likely to spend on the project which may solve the long pending problem. The main bazar area people of the town also face problems on the traffic front. The authorities had issued one-way traffic rule in this part of the town. Vehicles in this part can go from the Gandhi Chowk area towards the District Hospital chowk side. There is no entry of the vehicles from the hospital chowk towards the Gandhi Chowk area. Traders of the Gandhi Chowk area are unhappy over the parking of the vehicles on the main road and in front of shops in this area. They say that their business suffers for want to proper parking place for the vehicles. They seek parking for the employees and others who work in this area. Those working in offices in and around Gandhi Chowk say that as the district authorities have not provided parking facilities, they are forced to park vehicles on the main road and even in front of the shops. Mr Ram Singh said: “We shall not park our vehicles on the main road near the Gandhi Chowk if parking facility is provided to us.” Deputy Commissioner, Devesh Kumar, said some places including one inside the campus of the newly constructed Town hall had been identified. Once all these places are finalised, parking facility for the people will be provided by charging nominal money from them. People are optimistic that the district authorities will provide parking facilities and make the town neat and clean. |
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SFI nationwide stir from Dec 11 Mandi, November 17 It strongly advocated that employment-oriented system of education should be evolved without delay. Talking to newspersons the All-India General Secretary, Mr Kalol Rai, condemned the attempt of the Tamil Nadu Government to gag the Press and said wrong economic, social and political policies were responsible for such unfortunate happenings. The state unit secretary, Mr Bijender Mehra, said the SFI would expand its network to schools also. An eight-member committee headed by Rina Chandel was constituted to enroll girl students in large number in the organisation. A 37-member state committee was also formed. Falma Chauhan and Bijender Mehra were elected president and general secretary respectively, of the federation. |
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Gen Chaki recalls Gorkhas’ deeds of valour Bakloh Cantonment (Chamba), November 17 Gen Chaki lauded the designers and architects of the proposed memorial garden at Bakloh. Recalling his association with Bakloh Cantonment, Gen Chaki said that he was commissioned into the 3rd Battalion of the Fourth Gorkha Rifles on February 9, 1964, and later commanded the same battalion. A cultural programme was presented by the Gorkha children. It was organised by the Himachal Pradesh Gorkha Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association. The association on this occasion honoured Mrs and Gen Chaki. Bakloh was selected the Regimental Home of the 4th Gorkha Rifles by a decree passed by the British Government of India on December 17, 1864. Bakloh remained the Regimental Home of 4-GR till 1952 and finally shifted to Subathu (Shimla Hills). Bakloh in 1864 was a barren isolated hillock of British territory in Chamba state with no road; with nearest railhead being Amritsar. The headquarters of the 4 Gorkhas and the First Battalion reached Bakloh on April 11, 1867. Gallant soldiers of the regiment worked round-the-clock doing the construction work along with artisans and transformed the barren hill into an isle of greenery with majestic buildings, barracks, beautiful church and temples amidst lofty pine trees. Track to Bakloh was converted into motorable road in 1932. |
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NC leader held for bid to steal car Kangra, November 17 The SSP, Mr S. Zahoor H. Zaidi, said the accused, Firdose Ahmad, had attempted to steal the car last night. As someone raised the alarm the accused ran away. Subsequently, residents informed the police. |
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Anganwari workers end stir Shimla, November 17 The Chief Minister assured representatives of the state anganwari workers union led by its president, Mrs Prem Lata, that the government would restore the honorarium which was discontinued after the central government enhanced the remuneration of anganwari workers. He said the monthly honorarium of Rs 200 for anganwari workers and Rs 100 for helpers would be paid retrospectively and the arrears of this account would be deposited in the savings bank accounts of the individuals. He said that he would take up their other demands with the central government and request to settle these at the earliest. |
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