 |
|
Loktantrik Morcha to back NDA Stokes flays Katiyar’s comments on Sonia HC notices
to HP service panel chief, member ‘Golden chance’ may elude polytechnic students |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
No-trust motion against Paonta Sahib MC chief Beer bottle costs paper-setter dear Pilgrims throng
Kangra for Navratra fair Fare hike fetched HRTC Rs 21 cr more Forest staff threaten stir Auction of liquor shops fetches higher prices Registers to curb misuse of official phones 3 killed as truck overturns Fire in village
shop
|
|
Loktantrik Morcha to back NDA Mandi, March 18 Addressing a press conference, he said during the NDA government rule, there had been a remarkable improvement in our relations with the neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China. Reacting to reports that the Himachal Pradesh Loktantrik Morcha was merging with the BJP, he said a decision about it would be taken during the coming Navratras, adding that the party he was going to join would win all four seats in the state making it virtually clear that he and his supporters were going to join the BJP. Replying to another question, he admitted that he had a meeting with Mr Sukh Ram in New Delhi and had assured him of support in case the HVC entered into an alliance with the NDA. Lambasting the Congress, Thakur Mahinder Singh said the Congress seemed to have conceded defeat before deciding on its nominee from Mandi. |
|
Stokes flays Katiyar’s comments on Sonia Solan, March 18 Ridiculing his comments, she said the remarks was not just an attack on women but also defied all ethics of politics. Such people should remain out of politics and the Election Commission should ensure that such incidents were not repeated in the future, she added. Addressing mediapersons, the Power Minister said while the Prime Minister had all along been talking about upholding the culture of the country, such remarks, describing women as “decorative pieces” by Mr Katiyar, proved their mentality. She said the comments had also embarrassed BJP’s women leaders, including Chief Minister Uma Bharati. She said Ms Gandhi and her children had gained unprecedented popularity, which reflected the BJP’s discomfort. The party was now wooing other members of the Gandhi family, like Ms Maneka Gandhi and Mr Varun Gandhi, to counter this factor. Emphasising that the party would win all four seats in the state, she said a core strategic committee had been constituted at district levels to ensure proper liaisoning. On the issue of inducting rebel BJP
Mitars, who had contested against official candidates in the last Vidhan Sabha elections, she said they could put forth their cases before the HPCC. Each case would be considered on merit, she said adding that views of the Chief Minister would matter but the final decision would be taken by the party high command. |
|
HC
notices to HP service panel chief, member Shimla, March 18 A Division Bench comprising Mr Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta, the Chief Justice and Mr Justice Arun Kumar Goel, also issued notice to the two respondents after examining the record pertaining to the selection produced by the state government and the commission. They were directed to file their reply by March 25. In its reply the commission alleged that Mr V.K. Malik, a member, had approached Mr P.C. Katoch to favour some particular candidate. The Secretary of the commission had approached Mr Malik for approving the interview result but he neither approved it nor gave any dissenting note. After following the proper procedure the result was declared on the same day on January 9, 2004. However, the state government informed the court that Mr Malik had filed a complaint on January 12 alleging that the names of the candidates selected by the interview panel had been substituted by a fabricated list of candidates. Mr V.K. Malik refuted the averments made by the commission and maintained that the list of selected candidates had been changed. The controversy arose when the two selected candidates approached the high court with a prayer to make proper inquiry into the selection process. During
the hearing of the petition the bench asked all parties, including the
state government, to assist the court for fair adjudication of the
matter. The parties agreed to get inquired the matter from a sitting
Judge of high court or the Supreme Court. |
|
‘Golden chance’ may elude polytechnic students Kangra, March 18 The dharna by the students entered the fourth day today and the boycott of classes continued for the ninth day. Mr
Rahi, when contacted, said he had told the student leaders that concessions could not be demanded by creating pressure, resorting to strikes and boycotting the classes. He said the Director, Technical Education, had sent a communique today, telling him to discourage granting “golden chance” to the detained students. The Director, in his letter, said, “all heads of the institutions have strongly expressed that the practice of allowing “golden chance” would aggravate the menace of indiscipline amongst students and deteriorate the quality of education. Moreover the rules and regulations laid by the board to improve the quality of education as a whole would stand violated”. Mr Rahi said the Director further suggested that granting “golden chance” would dilute the quality of training and reduce the competence of students in the highly competitive world affecting their placement. So the practice of the “golden chance” should be discouraged and stopped. Mr Rahi said in view of these recommendations, he would look into the matter after consulting gazetted lecturers and principals of the polytechnic colleges. He said the Board had also made it clear last year that the “golden chance” given in 2003 was the last one. The student leaders today said their future course of action would be decided at tomorrow’s meeting. |
|
Hamirpur NIT to begin PhD from next year Hamirpur, March 18 Talking to The Tribune, he said steps were being take to revise the course of B Tech at the IIT level so that the students of the institution were able to compete with IIT graduates. He said the M.Tech course would not be started from the next academic session. The main emphasis would be to update the B. Tech course and then begin the M.Tech course. Professor Shekhar said efforts were on to improve working conditions in the institution. He said he had also sought help from teachers and non-teaching staff so that the institution was rated on a par with IITs. Talking about the past happenings in the institution, he described them as unfortunate. He said to ensure discipline in the institution, steps had already been initiated. He clarified that indiscipline would not be tolerated and those indulging in such activities would be dealt with strongly. He said for the first time since its inception, the intake rate from campus interviews by various government organisations and private organisations had touched a new high. More and more students were getting jobs through campus interviews. He said students were free to talk to him regarding their problems and difficulties. |
|
No-trust motion against Paonta Sahib MC chief Nahan, March 18 Seven members out of a total of 11 members of the Paonta Sahib Municipal Council submitted the no-confidence motion yesterday afternoon to Mr M.L. Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, Sirmaur, and demanded early action in this regard. All members, who have signed the no-confidence motion against Mr Khapra, appeared in person before the Deputy Commissioner. The Deputy Commissioner said action on the no-confidence motion had been initiated as per the law. The SDM, Paonta Sahib, would call the general house of the municipal council to confirm the motion at the earliest. The Municipal Council members who have signed |
|
Beer bottle costs paper-setter dear Kangra, March 18 Mr B.R. Rahi Chairman of the board, said action was taken against the paper-setter and the moderators so that others should learn a lesson. Students said the beer bottles were displayed at examination centres by the superintendents concerned. Parents said it was unfortunate that students were asked to a draw the picture of the beer bottle. |
|
Pilgrims throng
Kangra for Navratra fair Kangra, March 18 The Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Mr Shrikandi Baldi, said yesterday that all arrangements for holding the fair had been completed in the three temple towns of Kangra Jwalaji and Chamunda. The parking places had been identified to regularise the traffic during the fair. |
|
Fare hike fetched HRTC Rs 21 cr more Shimla, March 18 Mr G.S. Bali, Himachal Transport Minister, said here yesterday that while the 25 per cent increase in bus fare had fetched additional revenue of over Rs 21 crore measures like loan replacement, improvement in mileage and reduction in overtime saved Rs 8.69 crore. All these steps would help bring down operational losses from last year’s Rs 77 crore to Rs 47 crore. The accumulated of loss of the corporation has crossed Rs 300 crore mark. He said since the corporation was plying buses on uneconomical routes as a social obligation, the income per bus per kilometre was still around Rs 13.00 while the expenditure was Rs 18.50 per bus per km. The government had been partially compensating the corporation by giving grants. Last year it received Rs 57 crore , this year so far only Rs 27 crore had been released. The revenue of the transport department had also increased substantially. The seven transport barriers set up in the state were collecting over Rs one lakh as tax daily. The special road tax collections had also gone up considerably. Mr Bali announced that super luxury buses would be introduced to connect Manali, Shimla and Dharamsala with Delhi soon. |
|
Forest staff threaten stir Shimla, March 18 Members of the federation, which met here yesterday, expressed resentment over the fact that the management had not implemented demands already accepted during various meetings with its representatives. Their main demand was repatriation of deputationists back to parent departments as their continuation was detrimental not only to interests of employee but was also hampering the smooth functioning of the corporation. Besides this, the federation is also demanding regularisation of daily wagers, who have completed eight years of service etc. |
|
Auction of liquor shops fetches higher prices Kulu, March 18 This was stated in a press note issued here by the Deputy Commissioner. The press note said the auction of the liquor shops in Kulu district yielded Rs 13.40 crore recording an increase of Rs 1.02 crore over last year’s amount. The auction of the liquor shops in the Lahaul area fetched Rs 60.25 lakh as compared to Rs 55.25 lakh last year. The auction was presided over by the Deputy Commissioner while the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mandi, and the local Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner were also present. |
|
Registers to curb misuse of official phones Shimla, March 18 The Secretariat administration has been forced to issue instructions right from the private secretaries of ministers and senior officers to the sectional heads to maintain the registers and intimate the action taken in the matter. They have also been asked to give reasons for not maintaining registers so far. |
|
3
killed as truck overturns Hamirpur, March 18 A police report here today said the truck was on its way to Bilaspur and was loaded with goods to be displayed at a fair there. None of the victims, who were migrant labourers, could be identified. The injured were
referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. The truck driver and his assistant fled away from the accident spot after leaving their vehicle.
— UNI |
|
Fire in village
shop Palampur, March 18 Fire-brigade teams from Kangra and Palampur were called to control the fire. After three hours the fire was controlled. Mr K.C. Chaman, SDM, Palampur, has sanctioned cash relief to the affected persons and directed revenue authorities to submit a report on loss for further relief to the victims. He also visited the spot. |
|
Panchayat pradhan suspended Chamba, March 18 The DC said the action was taken following a departmental inquiry following the receipt of a complaint against Mr Jia Lal.
— OC |
|
A clarification THE news-item “University in financial mess”
(March 11) is not based on facts. The income figure shown in the news-item as Rs 1.15 crore is not correct. The university has already generated domestic income of over Rs 2.00 crore as on Feb 29, 2004 and curtailed the wasteful expenditure. The outstanding liability, including budget deficit, which was more than Rs 10 crore, has been brought down to Rs 6.52 crore. The university has been bringing the correct financial position to the notice of the government and has requested it to provide an additional grant-in-aid of Rs 6.52 crore in the current financial year to clear the outstanding liabilities. This amount of Rs 6.52 crore includes the cumulative deficit of Rs 2.64 crore. As regards the pensionary benefits to the university retirees, the same are being paid regularly and no such payment is held up. During the current financial year, Rs 94 lakh have been paid to the retirees up to Feb 28, 2004. The liability of gratuity-cum-pension contribution amounting to Rs 2.21 crore is also included in the pending liabilities amounting to Rs 6.52 crore. Dr Y.S. Parmar, Registrar,
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | National Capital | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Video
