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HP to have 2,500 new middle schools HP Housing Board to be upgraded News Analysis Winged visitors ringed |
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Sanatorium project hangs fire CS to cut down red tape HP population is 60.77 lakh Martyr cremated Bank robbers in police custody Undertrial escapes
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HP to have 2,500 new middle schools Hamirpur, February 8 He said this while presiding over a function of Blue Star School here at the local town hall. Mrs Asha Kumari, Education Minister, Mr Sukhvinder Singh Sukhoo and Ms Anita Verma, MLAs and Mr B.R. Rahi, the Chairman of the state Education Board, were also present. The Chief Minister also attended a function organised by the local civic body to welcome him to the town last night. Mrs Anita Verma, the local MLA, and all members of the Nagar Parishad, led by Mrs Roshni Devi, prishad chief, were present. SUNDERNAGAR: The Chief Minister announced the upgradation of 10 schools of Nachan Assembly segments in Sundernagar yesterday. He announced the upgradation of High School, Jhungi to plus-two level, two middle schools — at Sala and Chambi — two high schools, and seven primary schools to middle schools. While addressing a gathering at Chambi village in Nachan Assembly segment, he said Rs 6.53 crore would be spent on different I&PH schemes and Rs 5.68 crore would be spent by the PWD on different works till March 31. Earlier, the Chief Minister laid down the foundation stones for the demodulation of a water supply scheme at Jai Devi and laid the foundation stone of a lift drinking water supply scheme at Chambi. The Himachal Pradesh Government would take up the matter of increasing recruitment quota for the state and setting up an Army cantonment at Hamirpur with the Union Defence Ministry. This was stated by Mr Virbhadra Singh while talking with a group of ex-servicemen here today. The Chief Minister said the government was considering to constitute a high-powered committee of the state and defence authorities to carry out the recruitment campaign of ex-servicemen in the state services to ensure that the competent and deserving persons were appointed to look after the welfare activities of ex-servicemen and their families. |
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HP Housing Board to be upgraded Shimla, February 8 Stating this at a press conference here yesterday, Mr Mukesh Agnihottari, the Chief Parliamentary Secretary, who also holds the housing portfolio, said the board would be upgraded into an urban development authority with powers to regulate the construction activity in colonies and townships developed by it. The proposed legislation would have stringent measures to deal with encroachments and unauthorised construction. It would provide for imprisonment, besides fine for the offenders. The officers of the board would have powers to remove illegal structures and encroachments. The draft legislation also has a provision to enable the board to impose penalty for non-construction of houses on the plots within a stipulated period. A penalty equal to 5 per cent of the cost of the plot would be recovered for every year after five years. If the allottee fails to construct the house even after 10 years the amount of penalty would be doubled to 10 per cent and the allotment of plot would be cancelled after 15 years. A specific provision recovery of dues as arrears of land revenue has been made. The housing and urban development authority would also grant licence to private promoters of housing colonies and townships. It would be free to take joint housing ventures in partnership with the private sector. A clause enabling the authority to settle disputes with promoters and allottees has also been inducted. Mr Agnihottari said aggressive marketing by the board had helped in disposing of unsold houses at Baddi. Over the past two months, all 200 houses had been sold and the board had received Rs 2 crore as advance. The board has also decided to convert lease-hold properties into free-hold and the allottees can get the plots and flats transferred in their names after making the full payment. |
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News Analysis Shimla, February 8 Instead of assuming charge of his new post, he decided to put in his papers. His action is unprecedented. Obviously, Mr Kaul found the ignominy of being removed from the post after just four months unbearable. His successor, Mr Shamsher Singh, will also have a short tenure of less than nine months. Both are of 1968 batch IAS officers and neither of the two will get a fair deal. There is a feeling in the bureaucratic circles that government should have elevated Mr Singh, who was tipped for the post twice earlier, in October itself. Its policy to oblige the two officers with short terms in turns would do no good to the morale of the bureaucracy. Moreover, such short tenures were not enough for an officer to leave his mark on the administration. Senior officers suggest that to prevent such unsavoury situations a minimum tenure should be assured at the top position. Over the past decade there have been a number such instances, but none of the incumbents reacted in such a manner. Of late ignoring seniority and shifting from the coveted position before completion of tenure is being increasingly resorted by the political bosses. It all started in 1993 during President’s rule when Mr M.S. Mukherjee was prematurely shifted to make way for Mr
S.K. Chauhan. However, the tenure of Mr Chauhan turned out to be a brief one as the Congress government, which came to power subsequently, opted for Mr
R.K.Anand. In the process Mr Attar Singh was also superseded along with Mr Chauhan. The same pattern continued and Mr Anand was also shifted before completion of term. In fact ,he had to proceed on leave as Mr A.N. Vidyarthi assumed charge of the top post. He was granted six months extension in service but in the meantime the Congress government was ousted. Mr Vidyarthi proceeded on leave as soon the BJP-HVC took over the reins of the government. New to office the Dhumal regime appointed Mr O.P. Yadav, the seniormost officer, as the Chief secretary without fuss. However, subsequently he was kicked up and made principal adviser and Mr A.K.Goswamy was made to succeed him. Another senior officer, Mrs Sujaya, was superseded and accommodated against the insignificant post of chairperson of corporation. Mr Goswamy had a reasonable tenure of about three years after which he proceed on central deputation to pave the way for Mr Harsh Gupta. Mr Shamsher Singh was a strong contender for the post but he somehow failed to make it. The Dhumal government obliged Mr Gupta by giving reappointment as special officer after superannuation, but allowed Mrs Rajendar Bhattacharya, the senior officer, to take over as the Chief Secretary with due respect to seniority. She had a tenure of 11 months after which Mr Kaul took over. |
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Winged visitors ringed Kangra, February 8 Dr Bala Chandran, the head
of the team, is imparting training to the forest officials and NGO
members for the identification of the migratory birds and their
branding by putting rings in their legs since January 20 last. Dr
Bala Chandran said the birds were trapped in the day by
‘Nose-Trap’ technique and during dark nights by ‘Mist-Trap’
technique. After being trapped, they are ringed. He said the ringing
of the birds helped in tracing their movement and destinations. He
said every day 15 to 20 migratory birds were trapped and ringed, which
included some of rare species. He said the Pong Dam was a wetland of
international importance where various rare winged visitors arrive,
adding that this was the first reservoir in the world where a large
number of barheaded geese had arrived. The Pong Dam has an ideal
climate and environment, besides the swampy area between the barrage
and Shah Nehar downstream that attract these birds in large numbers.
This year, around 1.5 lakh migratory birds have thronged the dam.
Birds from Siberia, Central Asia, Ladakh and China had started
reaching the famous Pong Dam wetland in the district in October last
and now the number — according to the Wildlife Department sources
— has touched 1.5 lakh. In the beginning, 54 varieties of birds
were arriving here in groups but now the number of the varieties has
almost doubled. The Pong Dam wetland is the only place in the
country after the Bharatpur sanctuary where the red-necked grebe
descends every year. As a sequel, this species has become a riveting
attraction for the bird watchers and tourists. The other bird species
that visit the lake annually include mallards, coots, pochards,
ruddy-shell ducks, bar-headed geese, pintails, besides gulls, the
sea-shore species that also make the Pong Dam wetland an
exception. Dr Bala Chandran said one smallest sparrow, ‘Chif Chaf’,
weighing 6 grams, which had come from Europe, was also spotted here
this year. |
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Sanatorium project
hangs fire Kumarhatti, February 8 The idea to set up a training centre was mooted in June 2000 but till date no work has been done despite getting the required funds. A sum of Rs 18 lakh was sanctioned for setting up training centre under which it was planned to re-modify the existing infrastructure. The bed strength of the sanatorium was proposed to be reduced from 100 to 50. The PWD is reportedly not showing interest in the construction of the training centre as the work estimates prepared by the department were higher than the sanctioned budget , well-placed sources in the sanatorium said. After the refusal by the PWD authorities the sanatorium authorities had planned to engage a private agency to carry the work. A committee was proposed to float tender for the work. It was planned to include a few members from the PWD in the committee to provide the technical guidelines. The indifferent attitude of the PWD had jeopardised the project, a senior official of sanatorium pointed. Meanwhile, Mr P.C. Gupta, Executive Engineer, PWD, Kasauli division, denied that the department was refusing to execute the work. The department was approached for work estimates on laboratory and repair work for which the estimates had already been forwarded, he asserted. |
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CS to cut down red tape Shimla, February 8 He did not subscribe to the view that bureaucracy created hurdles in the implementation of political decisions. He said he would see to it that government orders were carried out promptly in letter and spirit. He said like most other states, Himachal was under fiscal stress. Efforts were required to mobilise resources and curtail wasteful expenditure. He remained the Finance Secretary of the state for almost eight years. He said revenue expenditure should never overshoot the revenue income. |
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HP population is 60.77 lakh Shimla, February 8 Population has 30,87,940 males and 29,89,960 females. Scheduled Castes numbered 15,02,170, including 7,63,333 males and 7,38,837 females accounting for 24.72 per cent of the population. Population of Scheduled Tribe stood at 2,44,587 (1,22,549 males and 1,22,038 females) — 4.02 per cent of the population. As many as 54,82,319 people lived in villages and the urbanites totalled 5,95,581. Shimla town had the maximum population of 1,42,555 followed by 34,206 of Solan.
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Martyr cremated Nahan, February 8 Narender’s younger brother Rajesh lit the pyre. The martyr was cremated with full military and state honour. A number of Army and civil officers were present at the funerals. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr M.L. Sharma, the Superintendent of Police Sirmaur, Mr S.R. Sharma, the SDM Nahan, Mr Manmohan Singh Sharma, the MLA of Nahan constituency, Mr Sadanand Chauhan, and former MLA, Mr Ajay Bahadur Singh, were among those present on the occasion.
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Bank robbers in police custody Nurpur, February 8 Mr Suresh Thakur, DSP, said the accused were involved in robberies at Gramin Bank, Milwan and Kangra Central Cooperative Bank, Damtal. The Indora police had registered cases under Sections 392 and 34 of the IPC in this regard. However, after the robberies, the alleged robbers fled to Punjab. The Mansa police in Punjab arrested these two who have confessed to having committed robberies at banks of Milwan, Damtal, Una and Nalagarh situated in border areas of Himachal Pradesh.
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Undertrial escapes Shimla, February 8 The court ordered that he should be lodged in Nahan jail. However, the two policemen escorting Raju took him to Kanda first to fetch his belongings. While they were on their way to Ghannatti on foot to board a bus for Nahan, the convict jumped into a nullah and escaped.
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Judge takes oath Shimla, February 8
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Hamirpur, February 8
