 |
|
HP to
tighten belt to get grant Forest
Dept gets Rs 5.13 crore Fisheries
Dept gets tough on hydel projects Complaint
against CM Wool
improvement project sanctioned |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bus
stand cries for attention NRI to
fund scheme to check monkey population Residents
air traffic grievances Vijender
Reyal tops in Class X exam 23 pc
children need eyesight correction, says survey HP to
take up apple growers’ cause with Delhi Ban
sought on daily wage earners as domestic helps Drivers’
body chief beaten up 
|
|
HP to tighten belt to get grant Shimla, June 4 According to sources, the measures include the introduction of a voluntary retirement scheme for the public-sector units, replacement of expensive loans by cheaper ones to reduce interest liability, and the redeployment of government employees after providing training to avoid fresh recruitment. According to the MoU, government support to the public-sector undertakings has to be frozen at the existing level and they will have downsize their administrative set-up, besides generating their own resources. The Centre has agreed to fully fund the proposed voluntary retirement scheme, provided it is formulated according to its guidelines. The scheme will be got approved from the Centre after the budget session. The conditions for the release of the withheld grant include 5 per cent increase in the tax revenue over the trend growth rate for the previous four years and 3 per cent reduction in expenditure, excluding committed liabilities like Plan spending, interest payments and pensions. Since there is little scope for levying fresh taxes, the government strategy is to increase the revenue by ensuring better tax realisation and taking effective measures to reduce expenditure. In all, the expenses will have to be curtailed by at least Rs 200 crore to achieve the benchmark. Since the government will be able to recruit staff only for the functional posts in the health education and a few other departments, the vacant posts in the rest of the departments will be filled only through redeployment of the existing manpower. The daily-wage workers are to be regularised after completing seven years of service and other surplus Class III and IV staff will be given training so that they may be accommodated as health workers, pump operators or for other specialised jobs. All appointments to fill the functional posts will be made on contract. The debt of the state has crossed the Rs 15,000 crore mark and the annual interest liability is over Rs 1,800 crore. The government proposes to replace the loans raised earlier at a high rate of interest with cheaper ones to take advantage of the changed market conditions. It hopes to reduce the interest liability by over Rs 700 crore over the next 10 years. |
|
|
Forest Dept gets
Rs 5.13 crore Chamba, June 4 Giving this information here today, Mr S.K. Dodeja, Executive Director of the NHPC, said around 9,890-hectare area had been identified for treatment under the plan. The plan envisaged treatment through biological and engineering methods. It would be implemented in five years and the responsibility had been entrusted to the state Forest Department, he added. A ‘compensatory afforestation scheme’ for plantation in 172.58 hectares of degraded forest tracts had also been got executed by the Forest Department at a cost of Rs 45 lakh, he said. The NHPC had also funded the development of fisheries in the area. Various afforestation and plantation programmes had also been sponsored from time to time and herbal parks, greenbelts, including picnic spots, had been developed under the project, he added. Around 17.5 lakh cubic metre of rock debris was removed while undertaking tunneling on the 21 km stretch. It was got tested for its petrography and mineralogical property and used in the project work itself. Around 4.5 lakh cubic metre of it had been dumped at eight earmarked sites thereby mitigating the apprehensions of ecological imbalance, Mr Dodeja said. He said these dumping sites had been earmarked and approved by the Forest Department and the Himachal Pradesh Environment and Pollution Control Board. Besides, the local farmers of the area had also utilised the rock debris for construction of houses, levelling their cultivable land, etc. According to the CAT plan, the rock debris had been dumped at earmarked locations along the river and adequate measures had been taken to ensure that it did not mix with river waters, he added. |
|
|
Fisheries Dept gets tough on hydel projects Shimla, June 4 A three-member fisheries committee, specially constituted by the government in April this year to give clearance to power projects after assessing the environment impact report, has recommended rejecting the Tirthan project in the Sainj area of Kulu and another project which was to come up near Patlikuhl. Seeing the damage being caused to water bodies which form main breeding ground for fisheries, the department is taking money for developing alternate water bodies and seed farms from the agency executing the project. Prior to the formation of the committee, it was the Pollution Control Board which was giving the non-objection certificates (NOC). However, now it is mandatory to obtain an NOC from this committee. It was felt that 14 micro-hydel projects to be set up between Aut and Nagni in the Sainj valley in Kulu would have caused immense damage to fisheries and as such at the recent review meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, it was recommended that the project be rejected. “We objected to the coming up of another project at Patlikuhl as this was an ideal ecological site which was a fish breeding nursery,” informed Mr Kuldeep Kumar, Adviser, Fisheries Department, and a member of the committee. The committee comprising the Secretary, the Director and the Adviser of the Fisheries Department has under its consideration the environment impact assessment report of the Kol Dam in Bilaspur; Chamera -III in Chamba; Karcham-Wangtoo in Kinnaur; and Astha project near Bhattiyat in Chamba. The money which will have to be paid for development of water bodies in case of Kol Dam is Rs two crore, Rs 2.10 crore; for Chamera-III; Rs 1.80 crore for Karcham-Wangtoo; and Rs 50 lakh for the Astha project, said Mr B.R. Koundal, Director, Fisheries. In the past the Fisheries Department has been sanctioned Rs 72 lakh by the Beas Sutlej Link for the Neri project; Rs 60 lakh for the Chamera-I project; and Rs 1.60 crore for the Nathpa Jhakri project. “This money we have spent on increasing seed production, setting up new trout and carp farms in Chamba and increasing water areas,” informed Mr Koundal. |
|
Complaint against CM Solan, June 4 The complaint, which was sent through registered post, was addressed to the SHO (Enforcement), Khalini, Shimla. The letter requested the enforcement authorities to register cases under relevant legal provisions. Non-registration of a case would amount to contempt of the high court and he would initiate necessary action for willful disobedience in such a case, he has said. Mr Verma, furnished details about this letter to mediapersons. He said these acts of commission and omission for extraneous considerations were mired in controversy. These were offences under the IPC, the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Specific Corrupt Practices Act. The letter states that the Chief Minister, who had little property by means of land and buildings, had to virtually sell some portion of his land and house at Shimla to make both ends meet. The letter also states that his only source of income was a small orchard near Taklech and the privy purse, which was stopped in 1972. But the Chief Minister has now not only acquired a fleet of costly vehicles, but also renovated and extended his old properties, besides acquiring ‘benami’ properties at Shimla, Delhi and other places. Copies of the complaint have been sent to the SP (Enforcement), the Director-General of Police, the Home Secretary and the Chief Secretary. The letter makes a mention of the ‘ill-gotten’ wealth acquired by the CM allegedly by abusing his official position. This was achieved by ordering large-scale transfers and cancellations of transfers of employees, giving jobs for extraneous considerations, illegally appointing thousands of para-teachers and cancelling MoUs for power projects and favouring big contractors. Two committees — Harsh Gupta Committee and the Avay Shukla Committee — had made such observations, the letter says. Mr Verma is already facing a trial in the high court for possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income and is currently out on bail. |
|
Wool improvement
project sanctioned Shimla, June 4 Giving details of the project Mr Harsh Mahajan, Minister of Animal Husbandry, said that the four-year project would take care of all aspects of wool production right from the scientific rearing of sheep to the marketing of wool. He said exotic blood would be inducted to improve breeds and infrastructure would be developed to provide proper veterinary care to migratory flocks, which spent most of the time in the alpine and sub-alpine areas. The health of 4.97 lakh sheep and goats would be taken care of through mobile veterinary institutions to help bring down the mortality rate. A sum of Rs 240 lakh would be spent on veterinary care under the project. Better healthcare was expected to increase the production of wool by 10 per cent. In addition, mutton production was also expected to increase. The estimated increase would be 4.72 lakh kg which would fetch an additional income of Rs 4.72 crore to the rearers. |
|
|
Bus stand cries for attention Kangra, June 4 The foundation stone of this one of the biggest bus stands of the state was laid by former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar on November 28, 1992 amid protests by a section of people who wanted that the bus stand should not be shifted from its old site. The bus stand, spread over 28 kanals, was made operational on the same day under directions of the Chief Minister. Less than half of the area of the bus stand has been mettled and so far the rest is littered with garbage. Foul smell keeps emanating from the area. The only development this bus stand has witnessed during the past 12 years is that a booking counter has been constructed here. A number of governments ruled the state during the past 12 years, but no steps were taken to redress the agony the passengers. There is no rain shelter for the passengers proceeding to Mandi, Kulu, Manali, Palampur, Baijnath and Dharamsala. There is not even a proper booking counter for buses proceeding to the above mentioned stations. Private buses remain parked in a haphazard manner at the gate, resulting in traffic jams. Mr Partap Thakur, in charge of the bus stand, said for the want of adequate police arrangements, it was difficult for the HRTC authorities to check the mess created by private bus operators. More than 1,100 buses enter this bus stand daily, but the government is hardly paying any attention to its proper development. According to HRTC sources, the passenger flow at this bus stand is the highest in the region. The residents have been demanding the bus stand should be upgraded to a depot and a workshop be set up here. As no long-distance buses start from here, pilgrims, tourists, ailing and aged passengers have to face a lot of inconvenience. There is no booking facility for buses coming from Baijnath, Palampur, Chamba, Pathankot and other stations within and outside the state as Kangra is not a depot. In 1999, there was a news that Rs 1.80 crore would be spent on the development of this bus stand and the work would be executed by the construction wing of the HPSEB, but the then Executive Engineer, Civil Construction Division, Palampur, Mr H.S. Choker, said only Rs 8 lakh had been released and that, too, was diverted to Chintpurni. Former Transport Minister Kishen Kapoor had also assured that the bus stand would be upgraded to a HRTC depot, but nothing has been done so far. Political pandits attribute the plight of the bus stand to the tussle between leaders of the BJP and the Congress. Mr H.K. Gupta, Divisional Manager, HRTC, refused to give details of the development project, if any, in respect of this bus stand. Mr Rajeev Gupta, Chief General Manager, HRTC, said there was a proposal to hand over the bus stand on BOT basis to a private party for construction, maintenance and running, but the overall control would be with the HRTC. He said the proposal would be put before the Board of Directors shortly. Mr Surender Kaku, local MLA, said the bus stand would be modernised at the cost of Rs 6.50 crore. “The Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has given a nod to the project and the work will start after the current assembly session,” he said. |
|
NRI to fund scheme to check monkey population Shimla, June 4 A monkey welfare centre will be set up in the Tutikandi area of the town. It will have modern hospital to treat and shelter sick monkeys. It will also be used to contain the simian population here by launching to sterilisation of male monkeys. The state wildlife authorities in consultation with Mr Gupta have started work on a project report, to be implemented through a society. A 10-member society headed by Mr Gupta is to be set up for it. The Principal Secretary, Forests, and other officers of the department will be the members of the society and the additional principal chief conservator the member-secretary. Modalities for the registration of the society were finalised at a meeting at Kufri, near here
yesterday. A recent survey by the department revealed that there were 720 monkeys in Shimla town. In the first phase all 305 male monkeys will be sterilised. A statewide head count of the simians early this year revealed that they were 4.55 lakh in number, including 1.12 lakh langurs. The project will be sent to the Central Zoo Authority for approval. |
|
|
Residents air traffic grievances Mandi, June 4 Facing traffic problems at Samketra, Moti Bazaar and Chauta Bazaar, the residents said the administration and the Municipal Council were doing little to improve the condition of roads and streets. Mr Ratan Lal Viadya of ward No: 9 demanded that one-way traffic should be allowed on the road leading to Paddal through Shiva Baoli. He also demanded that speed-breakers be set up on the road as two-wheeler drivers pose threat to pedestrians, especially children. “Council members have no interest to remove encroachments,” said Mr Moti Ram of ward No: 13, adding “that even dustbins placed on roadside are creating problems for pedestrians”. Mr Sanjay Sharma of ward No: 7 said shopkeepers park their vehicles in front of shops, creating congestion. Mr Naveen Bahl of ward No: 12 highlighted the problem of noise pollution. The residents also highlighted the problems of drug addiction and eve-teasing, especially around the senior secondary school. |
|
Vijender Reyal tops in Class X exam Hamirpur, June 4 Dharamsala: Students from Hamirpur bagged six of the first 10 positions in the Class X results of the Himachal Pradesh School Board which were declared here today. With equal aggregates at different positions, as many as 20 students made it to the top 10. Board Director
B.R. Rahi informed that a total of 1,27,677 students had appeared in the examination which ended on April 22. As many as 68,765 boys and 58,912 girls took the exam. Of these, 75,730 were successful, while 10,181 got compartments. The pass percentage is 60.16 per cent. The merit list is as follows: First: Vijayender Riyal (Hamirpur), Second: Nisha Jain (Solan), Third: Ashutosh Garg (Hamirpur), Fourth: Subhash Chand (Mandi), Salika Sharma (Kangra), Ritu Dhiman (Solan), Fifth: Alka Thakur (Hamirpur), Sixth: Satwik Sharma (Hamirpur), Bharti Kashyap (Shimla), Shailza Sankhyan (Hamirpur), Himanshu Sharma (Una), Akhil Ratra (Sirmaur), Seventh: Amit Kumar (Solan), Aditi Sharma (Solan), Shrinkhla (Kangra), Eighth: Ankur Bhatnagar (Sirmaur), Ninth: Rajneesh Kumar (Hamirpur), Tenth: Rajat Thakur (Kangra), Nisha Devi (Mandi) and Kanishak Patial (Bilaspur). |
|
23 pc children need eyesight correction, Barog (Solan), June 4 The NGO, at a workshop here for schoolchildren, made these observations after a survey of 20,000 children in Delhi. Dr Prakash criticised the Health Ministry for little help to the NGOs for pursuing health programmes for children. The NGO gets monetary help from Johnson and Johnson, Morepen and Medikar groups. The workshop is being attended by 75 students of 12 schools of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, including St Bosco, Delhi Public School-Delhi and Gurgaon branch, Mt Carmel, among others. The thrust of the camp is on developing health skills, personnel hygiene, first-aid activities, study techniques, memorising skills and self-defence. It was noticed that emotional stress, anger and peer pressure had emerged as major problems in schoolchildren. The camp focuses on easing stress by building better family atmosphere involving parents and children. |
|
HP to take up apple growers’ cause with Delhi Shimla, June 4 This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while talking to the Apple Growers Association, led by Mr Pratap Chauhan, Chairman, HIMFED, here today. “We will take up all possible steps to save the growers from exploitation in marketing their produce in various yards of the country where they are forced to pay excess commission,” he assured the association. He said a team of senior officers would be sent to Delhi to take up the matter with the Delhi Government so as to save the growers from the clutches of marketing agents and middlemen. He said it was unfortunate that the growers who toiled to get a good crop were exploited by such elements. |
|
Ban sought on daily wage earners Solan, June 4 In a press note signed by the INTUC organising secretary, Mr Ashok Masih, it was mentioned that such workers only signed muster rolls and collected their wages. Most such workers draw wages in the range of Rs 3000 to Rs 6,000, with some drawing as much as Rs 12,000 per month. According to a rough estimate, there are over 3000 daily paid workers who are deployed for domestic chores on any given day. Calculating on the basis of an average monthly take of Rs 4,500 by each such worker, the public exchequer is cheated of at least Rs 1.35 crore every month, he added. Mr Masih urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to impose a ban on the deployment of daily wage earners for household duties. He welcomed steps like complete ban on plying of government vehicles on Mondays. |
|
|
Drivers’ body chief beaten up Nurpur, June 4 According to an eyewitness, a mob led by a junior engineer of the department thrashed Mr Rana. Mr Suresh Thakur, DSP, said a complaint had been received in this regard. |
|
Steps to check misuse of water Dharamsala , June, 4 The Chief Engineer of IPH, Mr D.R. Gupta, said that due to summer water sources had been affected and water supply reduced. He said tourists amid greater demand for water had aggravated the problem. However, the department is taking steps to ensure supply of water to all. Mr Gupta said that Kangra district had 3620 villages and 2521 sub villages but reports of shortage of drinking water were from 2173 villages. |
|
DIG unhappy with community policing Nurpur, June 4 Later the DIG told reporters that promoting public-police cooperation, training in self-defence was being imparted to girls in government schools. Mr Thakur said that the functioning of police stations in northern range would be evaluated. For this guidelines are being given to police stations to improve working making them accountable”, he added. |
|
|
Tibetans call for boycott of Chinese products Dharamsala, June 4 Nearly all of the 200 shops and restaurants run by Tibetans in McLeodgunj, near here, have put up notices saying “We do not sell made-in-China products” and pledged not to sell or use Chinese products. |
|
One booked for assaulting doctor Una, June 4 Superintendent of Police Ashok Sharma confirmed the news saying accused Ramnish Kumar had been booked under Sections 353 and 506 of the IPC and Section 3 of the Prevention of Atrocities Act as the victim belonged to the Scheduled Caste. Parking of a private scooter at a specified place reportedly resulted in an altercation between the two. — UNI |
|
Centre’s
help in Shah Nehar dispute sought Shimla, June 4 The Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Minister, Mr Kaul
Singh Thakur, who met the Union Water Resources Minister, Mr Priyaranjan Desmunshi, said although the Centre had released Rs 89 crore assistance, Punjab had so far released only Rs 28 crore to Himachal, as a result of which work was getting affected. |
|
|
Gastro behind
monkeys’ death, say experts Shimla, June 4 While a detailed report in this regard is awaited, forest officials, acting on preliminary diagnosis, started the treatment of the monkeys around the Jakhoo Hill where the infection was confined. |
| 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 | |
