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30,000 students face uncertain
future
Special status for
Bir-Billing
Dasehra organisers under
fire
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Where Dasehra is not
celebrated
Selection for JBT course
stayed
Stress on variety in animal production
Gere attends meeting on learning
skills
Forest corpn official suspended for
fraud
HP gets Rs 10 cr for water
supply
Dalit woman alleges harassment by upper castes
Student commits suicide
Youth escapes from police custody
6 accused of theft arrested
Cable operator offers lower charges
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30,000 students face uncertain
future
Sundernagar, October 19 In order to check the menace of fake institutions, the state government has decided to run 10 different courses recognised by the State Council for Vocational Training through different private institutions. These private institutions were to be recognised by the inspection committee of the officers from Technical Directorate, Sundernagar. Interestingly, the Directorate of Technical Education, situated at Sundernagar, had sold the prospectus along with the application form for these different courses without mentioning the exact number of seats. The counselling was to take place on September 10, 11 and 12. This move got an overwhelming response from the applicants and more than 30,000 applied for different courses although the number of prospectuses sold touched 33,000, the cost of one prospectus was fixed at Rs 200 on the counter and Rs 250 through registered post. This way the Directorate of Technical Education had earned more than Rs 60 lakh. It was mentioned in the prospectus that the list of affiliated institutions will be made available at the time of counselling but till date no date has been fixed for counselling. For the admission purpose applications were invited at three different places— Sundernagar, Kangra and Solan. As per information, about 250 institutions had applied for affiliation. Each paid Rs 1000 with the application and Rs 5,000 as inspection fee. Out of these 135 institutions were issued letter of intent ,the committee framed for this purpose inspected different institutions but till date no final list has been approved. According to sources, the list was yet to be cleared by the political bosses. The Directorate of Technical Education minted lots of money in this process also. According to the persons who had applied for affiliation, they had to spend a minimum of Rs 10 lakh to raise infrastructure for the courses prior to the inspection. But even after three months no decision had been taken and this had caused a huge loss to the owners of these institutions. The delay in affiliating the institutions , fixing the date of counselling is causing a loss to the institutions and the students. According to sources, the whole exercise was wrong as the government should have affiliated the different institutions and fixed the number of seats first and sought applications for admissions afterwards. But it was done in the reverse order as the applications were invited first and till now no institutes were affiliated and above all no number of seats had been fixed. Mr R.D. Kanwar, Director, Technical Education, said the date of counselling for these courses and the list of affiliated institutes would be released soon. He further admitted that there had been a delay in the whole process. Whatever be the reason but one thing is clear that 30,000 students who have applied for admission to various courses feel that they have been cheated by the state government. According to the students, now they were not able to seek admission in various other institutes. |
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Special status for
Bir-Billing
Shimla, October 19 The Cabinet also decided to extend the limits of the Theog Planning area along the National Highway-22 from the boundary of Bani revenue village to the existing Theog Planning Area. Addressing a press conference here today, the Tourism Minister, Mr G.S. Bali, said the Cabinet at its meeting here today had approved the decision. He said the areas had been declared as SADA so that no unwanted construction activity, which could hamper the sport, could mushroom in the vicinity of the take off and landing sites. It also gave approval for filling up of 100 posts of MBBS doctor and 14 posts of Medical Officers. He also announced that seeing tremendous response towards the Paragliding Pre- World Cup being organised at Bir-Billing in Kangra in November, the government had decided to hold the event for a period of two months every year from next year. So far 90 pilots, including 74 foreigners had already registered for the event which would be organised from November 6 to November 9, he said. “A technical committee will not just inspect the equipment being used but even the pilots will have to pass a test so that element of risk which is part of adventure sport can be minimised,” said Mr Ashok Thakur, Secretary Tourism. The helicopter of the state government will remain on stand-by at Baijnath for rescue in case of emergency. The Cabinet has given approval to the agreement for handing over of the 430 MW Rampur Hydel Project to the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, at its meeting today. According to sources, the changes which were made by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, were given approval by the Cabinet. The agreement between the state government and the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, is likely to be signed within this week. The Cabinet had earlier authorized the Chief Minister to make changes in the agreement in the interest of the state. Mr Bali also announced that more than 115 government and private projects would be offered to the private sector for developing tourism infrastructure in the state with the help of their investment at the tourism conclave being organised here from December 10. He said the conclave with the theme “Explore Himachal- Invest Himachal” was basically being organised to showcase the tourism potential and cultural heritage of the state. The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), had already prepared a project directory, having details of all 12 government properties and 105 private properties to be offered to the corporate houses, big chain of hotels and others during the three-day conclave. |
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Dasehra organisers under
fire
KULU: The organisers of Kulu Dasehra, which is being organised from October 23 to October 29 at Dhalpur maidan here, are under fire from artists and local kargars. The organisers are being charged with selecting performers under political influence rather than on the basis of merit. They alleged that the cultural committee headed by Mr Rajkishan Gaur, a local MLA and Agricultural Minister, has invited a galaxy of artists ranging from Vinod Rathaur, the Silk Route troupe, Balwant Mann, Sunidhi Chauhan and Jasbir Jassi, ignoring local artists from the state.
Even the scion of the erstwhile Kulu state, Mr Maheshwar Singh, a former Mandi BJP MP, who is the central figure of the Dasehra traditional procession along with Kulu’s over 365 devtas, said meetings were delayed this time, raising objections over the Jalaib procession. “I took up the matter with Mr Virbhadra Singh, CM, who has assured that security will be provided to me during the procession,” he told The Tribune. It alleged that Dasehra has become a political stage to promote pop artists at the cost of local performers. To add foreign flavour to Dasehra, cultural troupes from Russia, Kazhakistan, Indonesia will enthral the audience during the festivities. Folk artists from Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Orissa will also give their performances. The new attraction being included for the first time is Kathak presentation performed by foreign artists from the Kathak Academy, Delhi. Rural games like volleyball, kabaddi and boxing will also be organised. A special attraction this time during Dasehra is snow after a gap of 34 years, said Mr Gautam Thakur, President of the Hotel Association, Manali. Mr R.D. Nazeem, DCwho is the Chairman of the organising committee, however, dismissed the allegations, declaring that “we have completed all arrangements and artists have been finalised”. |
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Where Dasehra is not
celebrated
Baijnath, October 19 According to the locals, the attempt to start the practice of celebrating Dasehra had proved suicidal for a group of organisers in the early 70’s. “My grandfather, Lala Gyan Chand Nanda, was the first to spearhead the first Dasehra celebrations, that too in a big way with sports competitions and a mela. He died within a year of this attempt. His successor, Diwan Walaiti Ram, also died after a few years”, says Arun Nanda, a local journalist. So, even though the entire country will burn effigies of Ravana on October 23, Baijnath would be quiet, he says. “But it is more to do with superstitions. Even though all deaths in this period were either accidental or natural, people linked it to celebrations of Dasehra against the wishes of Lord Shiva,” he adds. Kishori Lal, president of the panchayat, says despite all his wrong deeds, Ravana was a learned man and a known devotee of Lord Shiva. “According to Vedas, Ravana performed puja at the Baijnath temple and sacrificed his head 10 times at a place identified in the temple. There is also a small temple where the footprints of Ravana are also preserved. “As per the ASI, the temple belonged to the 12th century and is supposed to have been built during the reign of Raja Lakshmana Chandra of Trigarta,” he says. There is, however, a proposal to start holding Dasehra celebrations in the stadium that is coming up near the temple. “A section of residents feel that burning effigies of Ravana within the temple premises may be a forbidden thing but this can definitely be done outside”, says Kishori Lal. Bhupinder Kumar, advocate, points out that due to the superstitions, there is no jewellery shop in the town. “People narrate different stories about how those who tried to open shops were ruined in no time and link gold to Ravana’s golden capital Lanka. Incidentally, the largest jewellery market is in the adjoining Paprola”, he says. |
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Selection for JBT course
stayed
Shimla, October 19 A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vinod Kumar Gupta and Mr Justice Deepak Gupta issued notice to the Secretary, Education, and the Secretary, Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education, and directed them to file a reply by November 15, when the case would come up for further hearing. The Bench passed the order on a petition filed by one Mr Rakesh Singh, who alleged that the government had not disclosed the marks of the written examination for the selection even to those who had qualified. It was alleged that only the roll numbers of the qualifying candidates were published in the newspapers, while the marks had not been made public till date. The petitioner claimed that as per policy results were to be declared district wise, but this requirement had not been observed in the declaration of the result on October16. He alleged the reservation roster had also not been followed. Each district had been allocated a seat, but in the result no such allocation was there. More than five petitions have been filed in the court in connection with the selection. In the other petitions, filed before the declaration of the result, the provision of granting 10 marks to the candidates from rural areas has been challenged. |
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Stress on variety in animal production
Palampur, October 19 Mr G.S. Bali, Transport & Tourism Minister, Himachal, while addressing the delegates said value addition and variety in animal production could fetch more income for livestock keepers. Mr G.S. Bali also discussed the problem of infertility in cattle. Presiding over the function, Dr Jag Mohan Singh, Vice-Chancellor, said animal rearing was an important component of farming in the state. So, it was the duty of scientists to protect the interests of farmers in the post-WTO scenario. |
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Gere attends meeting on learning
skills
Dharamsala, October 19 Asked by mediapersons about what he thought of Dharamsala, Gere said he had been coming here for years now. He refused to answer any more questions. The Mind and Life Institute has been organising the conference since 1987. Nearly 130 delegates, including scientists and academics from various countries, especially the USA, have come to McLeodganj to take part in the closed-door conference. The five-day conference began yesterday and the Dalai Lama is expected to attend all its sessions. No other celebrity from Hollywood arrived for the conference today, but several noted educationists are already in McLeodganj, said an official of the Central Tibetan Administration. The themes for the conference include an overview of the cellular and synaptic substrates of plasticity; latest developments in neurogenesis, the capacity of the brain to generate new neurons which have been found to critically impact learning and memory; the nature of practice and skill development to address issues of how mental skills can best be acquired; the role of pre-existing individual differences and their impact on methods of skills development; Buddhist perspectives on learning and transformation; developmental issues and the importance of early experience. |
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Forest corpn official suspended for
fraud
Nurpur, October 19 The former had been issuing bills of the timber auctioned at various open bids to the latter at less amount than the actual worth settled during the bids. The SFC has suspended the office assistant who had allegedly manipulated the bills to cause monetary loss to the corporation. The SFC has, however, recovered the loss incurred to the corporation from the buyer. The Divisional Manager of the SFC, Nurpur, Mr Swaran Singh, admitted that the erring office assistant had been suspended and a departmental inquiry was initiated against him. He, however, termed it a case of clerical mistake. There is a demand for an independent probe into the alleged manipulations in the forest corporation depot. |
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HP gets Rs 10 cr for water
supply
New Delhi, October 19 “The government has to fix realistic and practical targets under various schemes and also provide sufficient funds to achieve them. We told the Union Minister that whereas last year Rs 50 crore had been allocated for supplementing existing water supply to 1,500 partially covered villages under the scheme, this year only Rs 40 crore had been provided for 1,700 villages.” He said the Centre had also sanctioned an additional fund of Rs 1.2 crore under the Desert Development Project for providing green cover to snow-bound areas of Lahaul, Spiti and Kinnaur districts. Construction of additional check dams and flood control methods were also in the pipeline, to improve its irrigation system, he said. The Centre, he said, had also agreed in principle to revise norms for setting up hand pumps in hilly areas of the state. “The centre has agreed to increase the amount for setting up a hand pump from Rs 31,500 to Rs 1 lakh”. The hilly areas of the state, he said, suffered from extremely low ground water levels and it was not possible to set up a hand pump in the allotted amount in Himachal Pradesh. Since water was generally found below 250 feet in the state, on recommendations of an expert committee set up to examine the issue of tough geographical conditions of the state. Moreover, to supplement existing water supply, as many as 1,250 hand pumps would be set up in different parts of the state. He said Himachal Pradesh had been facing severe drought conditions for the past five years for which the Centre had also agreed to release Rs 5 crore from the Natural Calamity Fund. To maintain and rejuvenate traditional water supply, the state was liaisoning with people, NGOs and other social and charitable organisations. Besides this, the state government had also released Rs 3.5 crore for the purpose. |
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Dalit woman alleges
harassment by upper castes
Solan, October 19 Employed as a cook in the village primary school after a unanimous gram panchayat decision by the pradhan, the woman has been at the receiving end for cooking meals for the children of the upper caste community. Dominating the village, which has barely three Dalit families, they have not been able to come to terms with the fact that a Dalit could cook meals for their children. First they tried to browbeat her father-in-law to ensure that she did not continue with the job. Later they tried to influence the pradhan to assign the job to someone else. But since she was appointed after a unanimous panchayat decision and there was no complaint against her, the pradhan refused to accept their demands. The Additional Deputy Commissioner who received the complaint today has asked the SDM to conduct an inquiry into the allegations. Taking a serious note of the allegations seven persons, who have been named in the complaint are now being served notices to appear before the SDM. Narrating her tale of woes the traumatised woman said after having failed to achieve their purpose members of the irate upper community had instructed the only shop in the village to stop supplying them any ration. They further ensured that a vehicle which had been transporting their agricultural produce to the market discontinued the services and no other vehicle obliged the family. Forced to carry the produce of peas, tomatoes and other vegetables on their back the family members were living under constant fear of facing further onslaught lamented Hema Devi. They had also threatened to stop their water supply and other means of tending to agricultural practices which was the sole mode of their survival. The family was also intimidated from sending their small children to a government child care centre by the influential villagers some time back alleged Hema. The woman has sought the intervention of the Deputy Commissioner to put an end to the atrocities committed on the family. |
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Student commits suicide
Solan, October 19 He took the extreme stepwhen his parents had gone out. Preliminary investigations revealed that the student, who had been shunning school for some time, hung himself with a dupatta. The parents, who came home in the evening, found the door of the room bolted. The body was sent for post-mortem to the local District Hospital. |
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Youth escapes from police custody
Hamirpur, October 19 An official spokesman confirmed that Pawan managed to escape from the hospital. Meanwhile, the district police chief, Mr Shyam Bhagat Negi, has placed the two police personnel under suspension for dereliction of duty. They are Head Constable, Pratap Chand and Constable, Vinod Kumar. —
OC |
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6 accused of theft arrested
Mandi, October 19 The police has also arrested one Thakudas of Thata village wanted in a case under Section 376, 452, 504, 506 of the IPC. Sarandas of Balh and Bitu of Sundernagar were arrested in connection with the purse snatching case that took place yesterday.
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Cable operator offers lower charges
Mandi, October 19 The new operator has announced monthly charges that are almost half of what the present operator is charging. The earlier operator was charging Rs 275 per month. |
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