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CM for two-pronged strategy to tackle
unemployment Hotel owners caught in red
tape Efforts on to resolve Bhota hospital
impasse
Nodal agency sought for Khajjiar’s
upkeep |
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Nathpa-Jhakri project unit to start this
week HP to review project
MoUs HP to implement power sector
reforms 5 police officers promoted HP shifts 2 IAS
officers 2 new rain
shelters to come up in Hamirpur Solan gets
fast-track court Campaign to clear revenue
cases Unbundling of PSEB condemned
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CM for two-pronged strategy to tackle
unemployment Shimla, December 30 He said the focus should be on high-value low-volume outputs and also meeting the threshold of higher employment intensity. He said unemployment had emerged as a major problem. If the numbers on live register were to be taken as an index, nearly one sixth of the population of the state was unemployed. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the dependence of the local population on farm-based activities also called for fresh thinking in the fields of agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry. The focus should be on productivity improvement and promoting crops in which the state could have a distinct natural advantage. He said Himachal stood as a model of hill development and had made a mark in social and human development. It was more egalitarian in terms of asset ownership by the households and was characterised by a more equal society than most states. This had been possible due to effective implementation of land reforms. It also had a fairly well-developed transport and communication infrastructure and was set to become a major player in the hydel power sector. However, the Chief Minister said the state was under a serious fiscal stress and the gains made in the past ran the risk of erosion if its finances were not restructured. He said the seminar should focus on the fiscal scenario of the state. The presentations should also focus on the revenue generation capabilities in various sectors. |
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Hotel owners caught in red
tape Dalhousie, December 30 About 25 hotel units in and around the hill station have not been granted registration by the Department of Tourism under the Himachal Pradesh Registration of Tourist Trade Act for the past more than a decade on the plea that they do not fulfil the requisite formalities. The department has been refusing registration to these units because the Town and Country Planning Department has declared them as “unauthorised and illegal” by issuing notices. However, most of these hotel units have been registered by the state government’s departments of labour, excise and taxation, food and civil supplies and the Pollution Control Board under various Acts and bylaws. Moreover, some of these hotel units have been advanced loans by various government financial agencies for the construction of buildings. These units have been provided with the facilities of water and electricity, whereas as per standing orders of the state government, water and electricity, connections cannot be released to the structures declared “unauthorised.” The Department of Tourism in the district is functioning with only one district officer, a clerk. The department does not have a hotel inspector, other requisite staff members and a vehicle. When the department takes legal action against such so-called illegal units, which have already been registered by different government departments under various Acts, it proves to be a long, futile exercise. Owners of such hotel units lamented that they were being harassed and trapped in legal hassles. Their tourism trade is suffering due to the apathy of the Tourism Department, they said. |
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Efforts on to resolve Bhota hospital
impasse Hamirpur, December 30 Ranjeet Singh, Chief Administrator of the three hospitals, including one at Bhota run by the Maharaj Jagat Singh Medical Relief Society, Beas (Punjab), is against the re-opening of the hospital. He told Mrs Anita Verma, MLA, and other district officers that decision to re-open hospital would be taken by top management of the society based at Beas. He left for Beas today for talks with the Baba and other senior officers of the society. Located on 50 acres on the Hamirpur-Shimla highway at Bhota chowk, 14 km from here, the hospital caters to the needs of people within a 15-kilometre radius of Bhota, excluding Hamirpur town. Rs 50 crore was spent on the construction and facilities in the hospital and the campus. Followers of the Radha Soami sect did most of the labour for the institution. Nearly 350 to 400 patients used to visit the hospital before it was closed. It has been providing specialised treatment in Medicine, ENT, Eye, Paediatrics, Pathology, Radiology and Dental disciplines. Rs 1 crore is spent per annum here for providing free medical facilities and meals to the patients. Nothing is charged from those who visit the institution for treatment. A visit to the hospital last evening showed that the number of indoor patients in the hospital had decreased and there was no hope of its re-opening shortly. OPD is not in operation these days and only those called earlier were treated. People have urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal to intervene and persuade the management of the hospital society to re-open it at the earliest. |
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Nodal agency sought for Khajjiar’s
upkeep Khajjiar (Chamba), December 30 They have also expressed resentment over the functioning of the Forest Department, alleging that it often creates hurdles in the development of the tourist resort and abstains from spending funds provided by the Department of Tourism. This is hampering the development and beautification of the Khajjiar lake and its glade, besides inviting criticism from both domestic and foreign tourists. These issues have also been raised by local residents belonging to various local organisations, including mahila and yuva mandals. The residents allege that disturbing the natural condition of the alpine lake by constructing concrete drains around its glade has led to the accumulation of huge deposits of weeds and silt. They also deny the claim of the Forest Department that aero sports like hot-air ballooning cause pollution in the glade areas of the lake, which is a part of the Kalatop-Khajjiar wildlife sanctuary. They say that it is not the aero sports but heavy traffic that is causing pollution in the sanctuary area. The demanded that committees and other bodies like the Special Area Development Authority (SADA) and the eco-tourism committee should be dissolved because their set-up and functioning was bureaucratic. They alleged that these committees did not fulfil their objectives. As a consequence, the condition of the Khajjiar lake and its glade is getting worse day by day. They said there was a dire need to constitute only one nodal agency or a local committee under the chairmanship of a competent authority of the state government so that the funds meant for Khajjiar’s development could be utilised through this agency. This committee should be comprised of members of gram panchayat, yuva and mahila mandals, representatives of hotels and restaurants’ associations, horse owners, outdoor photographers and other organisations related to the tourism industry of the area. The residents also demanded a probe into the utilisation of funds deposited with various departments in the past few years for the purpose of development and beautification of the Khajjiar lake and its ambience. They are of the opinion that the Forest Department should not be the executing agency for the development and upkeep of the lake area and suggest that the income generated from various sources such as tourist inflow should be deposited with the agency or committee constituted by the government. According to official sources, the Khajjiar resort attracts more than five lakh tourists every year. |
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Nathpa-Jhakri project unit to start this
week Shimla, December 30 The engineers of the Eucona Company, which is executing the electrical works, have rectified the fault in the 1.5 tonne metal bush, which was causing very high vibration in the turbine when loaded beyond 150 MW. The circular bush was made as per design but somehow when fixed, a gap of 0.3 mm developed in the curvature at a certain point, according to Mr H.K.Sharma, the project director. It was this microscopic gap, which gave rise to unacceptably high vibrations in the turbine, he explained. The company had to bring in foreign experts to detect the fault. The bush was removed and taken to Faridabad at company’s workshop for rectification. The bush was fixed and the unit successfully synchronised and the problem of vibrations has been solved. Mr Sharma said the unit was being put on trial run from today. It would be continuously run for 72 to 80 hours before starting of commercial generation. Since the discharge in the river was very low during the winter, the water available was adequate only for running a single unit. The newly synchronised unit would be run continuously during the trial and the first unit would be used for peaking for three to four hours every day using the stored water. The bush of the third 250 MW unit which also encountered the problem of high vibrations had also been rectified. The engineers are making efforts to commission it by the end of January even though water will be available to run three units only towards the middle of March. Meanwhile, a team of the Union Ministry for Power headed by Mr R.V. Sahi, Secretary, Power, visited the project yesterday, and urged the management of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam to try to commission all six units by March 31. The nigam, as per the revised schedule plans to commission the project fully by July next. The officers, however, maintain that the project could be made fully operational only by the middle of May, when enough water is available for running all six units. |
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HP to review project
MoUs Sundernagar, December 30 He said that WTO would be applicable in 2005 and at competition in Industries would require skilled workers to face the challenge. This will be provided by these technical Institutions. He said the government had issued directions that Himachali Youth be provided jobs in industries and hydel projects going on in the State. The Government has decided to review the MoUs of the projects not providing employment to the Himachalis to incorporate this clause in MoU and to make mandatory the clause of employment. He said that last year Rs 773
crore revenue was from Excise Department but this year the Government would earn Rs 873
crore from Excise and Taxation, (100 crore more than previous year) and this additional amount will be earned without imposing any additional tax. Replying to the question that the cement units in the State were selling cement at higher rates in Himachal in comparison to other sates he said that Government had formed a committee under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to study this problem and soon necessary directions would be issued to solve it. Earlier Mr Rao visited the 35 exhibitions on the campus of Polytechnic College in Tech Fest 2003 and addressed the gathering of industrialists and delegates from different technical institutions on the second day of Tech Fest 2003. He also gaveaway prizes to winners of different sports events. |
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HP to implement power sector
reforms Shimla, December 30 This was stated by Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, while presiding over a review meeting of the board and Himurja here today. He said there was an urgent need to streamline the functioning of the board and carry out sectoral restructuring to improve efficiency and cut down costs. He said the vast technical manpower must keep abreast of the latest advancement so that the board could become an instrument for construction of cost-effective hydel projects. He said the funds granted by the Centre for carrying out reforms and system improvements must be utilised fully to reduce transmission and distribution losses. Steps should also be taken to check theft and regular patrolling should be conducted. The board had to play a pivotal role in harnessing the over 20,000 MW of identified potential, specially to achieve the target of generating 8,000 MW of additional power over the next four years. He said the power projects in the tribal areas should be maintained properly to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity round the year. He directed the officers concerned to upgrade the micro power projects at Sissu, Shansha and Billing in the Lahaul valley which were catering to the tribal people in the land-locked areas. He said the 100 KW Sural, 100 KW Purthi and 900 KW Sach projects would supplement the power supply in the Pangi valley. Ms Vidya Stokes, Power Minister, asked the officers to ensure that the power sector reforms were implemented in letter and spirit and exhorted them to work with missionary zeal to complete the ongoing projects in the shortest possible time. |
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5 police officers promoted Shimla, December 30 Mr Anirudh Uppal, Inspector General of Police (IG), Law and Order, has been promoted as ADGP, and posted as officer on special duty in the Resident Commissioner Office at New Delhi. He will hold additional charge of law and order. Mr Deepak Baghai, IG, Police Headquarters, has been promoted as ADGP, Railway and Traffic. Mr D.N. Minhas, IG, Vigilance, has been promoted as ADGP, Armed Police Training and Mr Ashok Sud, IG, has been promoted as ADGP, Prison. Mr R.N. Gupta, IG, who is on central deputation has also been promoted to the rank of ADGP. Mr Sohan Singh, ADGP, Prison, has been posted as ADGP, Home Guards, and Mr Prem Singh, ADGP, Law and Order, takes over as ADGP, Police Headquarters. Mr K.S. Rana, IG, leave reserve, goes as IG, Human Rights Commission, while Mr Vijaya Pal, IG, enforcement has been given additional charge of vigilance. Mr Atul Kumar, Additional Superintendent of Police, Kangra, has been posted as ADC to the Governor vice Mr Jai Prakash, who takes over as Superintendent of Police, Chamba, in place of Mr Ajay Yadav who will be the new Superintendent of Police, Mandi. |
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HP shifts 2 IAS
officers Shimla, December 30 Mr T.C Janartha, under transfer as Managing Director, State Civil Supplies Corporation, has been posted as Secretary, Town and Country Planning. Mr V.C. Katoch, Additional Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, takes over as Additional Secretary, PWD. Mr Anil Khachi, Director Public Finance and Enterprises, has been given additional charge of Managing Director of the State Industries Development Corporation, and Mr Vineet Chaudhary, Managing Director of the State Finance Corporation, had been given the additional charge of Member, Finance, state electricity board. Mr C.P. Pande, Financial Commissioner, Revenue, has been given additional charge of Financial Commissioner, Appeals. Mr S.K. Das, Principal Secretary, Ayurveda, has been given additional charge of Principal Secretary, Foreign Training and Assignments and Mr Bharat Khera, Labour Commissioner, gets additional charge of Member Secretary, Science and Technology. Mr P.S. Kutlehria, Additional Secretary, Home, goes as Additional Director, Ayurveda. Mr Vinod Kumar who was awaiting posting, takes over as District Tourism Development Officer, Kangra, vice Mr G.S. Thakur, who goes as Assistant Commissioner to Deputy Commissioner, Kangra. |
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2 new rain
shelters to come up in Hamirpur Hamirpur, December 30 She directed the Housing Board to immediately metal the inner roads of the colony and solve the entire long-pending problems of the people of the colony relating to sewerage and roads. She stressed the need for holding of two such adalats in the colony every year. Mr R.K. Kaker, Chief Executive Officer of the HP Housing Board, announced that land for a community centre and park for the children would be provided in the colony. |
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Solan gets
fast-track court Solan, December 30 About 20 criminal cases were transferred from the district courts today as a beginning. Criminal case pending for the past about two years with the courts of the Sessions Judge and the Additional Sessions Judge would be transferred to the court soon. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Justice Gupta emphasised the need for establishing courts of a district within a single complex to prevent inconvenience to the public and lawyers. He said the matter would be taken up with the state government. Mr Bhim Chand has been appointed presiding officer of the fast-track court and has been granted an ad hoc promotion as the Additional Sessions Judge for the court. Established for five years under the directions of the apex court, these courts will provide justice within six months. |
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Campaign to clear revenue
cases Shimla, December 30 The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by Mr B.B. Butail, the Revenue Minister, here yesterday. The campaign will be monitored by Divisional Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and sub-divisional magistrate in their jurisdiction. Mr Butail directed the officers to clear pendency of revenue cases expeditiously and redress the grievances of people on priority. |
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Unbundling of PSEB condemned Shimla, December 30 The union alleged that the board was being trifurcated under the dictates of World Bank. It was the first step towards privatisation. The private companies would gradually take over the functions of the board and monopolise the power sector. —
TNS |
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