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Education Minister must quit: Nadda HP Govt to computerise revenue records Cong rejects demand for fresh mandate Kulu Dasehra reduced to a local mela Registration of outsiders made compulsory |
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Recruitment for class III posts begins 6 dead as truck falls into khud Man dies of burns, wife in hospital Mahatma’s statue
damaged
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Education Minister must quit: Nadda
Shimla, October 26 Addressing a press conference here today, the BJP leader said the historical decision of the court was a step towards elimination of rampant nepotism being indulged in by the government in appointing its own people as lecturers on a contract basis. “The Education Minister should have resigned on her own, but since she has not done so, I request the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to seek the resignations of Mrs Asha Kumari for the irregularities in these appointments,” he said. “The High Court ruled that the selection of lecturers on a contract basis had the potential for plenty of mischief, arbitrariness, favouritism and nepotism.” Hence, the court could not allow the government to go ahead with further selection of lecturers on contract basis. Mr Nadda said Mr Virbhadra Singh had demanded the resignation of the Chairman of the HP Public Service Commission when doubts were raised regarding the selection of Junior Engineers in the Irrigation and Public Health Department during the BJP regime. “I want to know from Mr Virbhadra Singh whether he will apply the same criteria now when the High Court has found the selection procedure to be totally unfair or will he exhibit double-standards when it comes to his own minister, asked Mr Nadda. Mr Nadda said strangely the Congress government had changed the state cadre of lecturers to district cadre, where a committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner (DC) was making selections. “The very fact that the DC, who cannot select a patwari, has been empowered to appoint Class I gazetted officers, clearly indicates that this is being done to facilitate back-door entry of those close to the ruling party,” he remarked. Mr Nadda clarified that he was in no way opposed to contractual appointments but was questioning the procedure being adopted by the government. “The government has not just made a mockery of the education system, but also lowered academic standards to give benefit to its own people,” he regretted. Mr Nadda said the government was clearly ignoring merit with the criteria that a candidate must have cleared the state eligibility test (SET) or the national eligibility test (NET) not being followed. “Though the court has not allowed the government to go ahead with further selection of lecturers on a contract basis, I apprehend that efforts are still on to somehow do this by getting the matter cleared through the Cabinet,” he added. |
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HP Govt to computerise revenue records Shimla, October 26 Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue Minister, said here today that a brain storming session would be convened under the chairmanship of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, in which the deputy commissioners would come up with status of revenue record, pending cases, encroachments and other relevant data and problems being faced by them. Senior revenue officers and experts would also participate in the session to suggest ways and means to streamline the system. The recommendations of the session would form the basis for the new revenue policy the government wanted to frame to remove the distortions that had crept in the administration. He said the previous BJP regime encouraged people to grab government land coming out a policy for regularisation of encroachments. In all over 1.67 lakh persons applied for regularisation under the policy. The government had decided to reject encroachers from forest land and set up a cabinet sub-committee to decide the fate of other encroachments. He said a situation had arisen where there was no land available for developmental activities, while encroachers were having a field day. He said computers had already been installed at all block headquarters and the system would become functional from January 1. The government proposed to provide two junior engineers in every block to take care of the development activities in the panchayat areas. |
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Cong rejects demand for fresh mandate Shimla, October 26 The party asserted that it had been voted to power with a huge majority for a five-year term only 18 months ago. The mandate had been endorsed by the people during the recent Lok Sabha elections when the party wrested three of the four seats, polling 52 per cent of the votes. Reacting sharply to the demand at a joint press conference here today, Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue Minister, and Mr Mukesh Agnihotri, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, said Mr Dhumal had not as yet reconciled to his defeat in the last Assembly elections and had been seeking the ouster of the Congress government from day one on one pretext or the other. They said there was no justification for making such a demand.
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Kulu Dasehra reduced to a local mela Kulu, October 26 The fear of flooding of the Parchu river in Kinnaur district has resulted in 40-60 per cent cancellation for the trekking season, according to local hoteliers. “Only foreigners with low budgets, who come for charas in the cannabis belt of Malana and Manikaran, have arrived here to witness Dasehra,” they said. Mr Sunder Thakur, a local hotelier, said, “It has been a lean trekking season as snow closed the passes very early this year,” he added. Though hoteliers have reported over 90 per cent occupancy rates this week, this is not due to a spurt in tourist activity, but due to the presence of traders and business executives who have set up their stalls in the Dhalpur Maidan. “Dasehra has increased the occupancy rate to over 90 to 100 per cent for the past three days, but most of the guests are traders”, said Mr Jagatnath, president, Kulu Hotels and Guest Houses Association. “As compared to last year, tourist arrival has dropped due to fear of trouble in the North-East and Kashmir,” he said. Though the Kulu Dasehra Committee (KDC) has invited Discovery Channel, Zee TV and Star TV for special coverage to publicise the event, the committee has failed to offer much to tourists. “There are no arrangements for tourists, even for night-time cultural events, as entry is on the basis of passes, not tickets. There is no counter to guide tourists,” rued Anil Malhotra, a tourist from Delhi. “We wanted to see cultural events at night, but there was no one to guide us,” he added. Citing an example of the Ladakh festival, which attracts high-budgeted tourists, tourist operators informed that foreigners who fled the Manikaran and Malana valleys during the anti-cannabis drive last month had been spotted during Kulu Dasehra. “Nobody knows about Kulu Dasehra in Denmark,” said Harinder Singh, a local resident, who spent seven years in Denmark and got married to a Dutch lady and came back here with his family. “This Dasehra is a local mela. They should add more attractions for tourists, who will buy local handicrafts, not local residents, who have limited paying capacity,” he added. Tourists said Kulu Dasehra attracted mostly hawkers from Lal Qila, New Delhi, and ‘rag traders’ from Saharanpur selling second-hand items, rather than tourists from the rest of the country. “The exhibition section showcases mostly the same old ‘sarkari items’ which have been exhibited for the past many years,” said Pankaj Malhotra, a tourist from Ludhiana, adding that unlike the Ladakh festival, tourists got the same consumer goods and junk food, but no Himachali cuisine. Kulu Dasehra has come as a surprise for a couple from Austria. “The devtas in palanquins are unique, so are the attires worn by some of the women, sevaks and the ‘royals’ of the erstwhile Kulu state. But we never know that Dasehra was special like Ladakh festival,” said Ms Hasalsteiner, a tourist from Austria, accompanied by her husband. Mr HL Saini, District Tourism Officer, Kulu, said the KDC had not kept tickets this time. “But we have a stall to provide all sorts of information to the tourists. We expect that tourists arrival would pick up in the coming days,” he added. |
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Registration of outsiders made compulsory Hamirpur, October 26 He has issued an order to this effect under Section 144, CrPC. Interrogation of criminals engaged in petty trade has revealed that some of them or their accomplices are from amongst the migrant labourers. Mr Davesh Kumar said since persons engaged in petty trade or services did not get their antecedents verified, crime prevention became difficult. If the situation continued, there was every apprehension of branch of peace. The order shall remain in force till December 18. |
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Recruitment for class III posts begins Hamirpur, October 26 The Board has decided to fill 100 posts of Shastri teachers, plumbers, electricians, language teachers, excise and taxation inspectors and statistical assistants by holding written screening tests from November 7 to 10. Rakhi Kahlon, Secretary of the Board, said here today that roll numbers to all applicants had been sent by post. The written test for the posts of Shastri would be held at Hamirpur and Shimla, respectively. The test for other categories would be held in the Board office at Hamirpur. |
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6 dead as truck falls into khud Nahan, October 26 According to information, the ill-fated truck was carrying labourers to their home villages. The truck fell into the khud when the driver was reversing it. More information about the accident was awaited. The dead have been identified as Ram Bhaj of Shiv Pur village, Bhajnu (Kuffar), Mohan Singh (Chunuvi), Bhajan (Kaithu), Jeevan Das (Bhawai) and Chottu (Chunuvi). All the injured have been shifted to the Rajgarh sub-divisional hospital. Senior officials of the PWD, district administration and the police have left for the spot to supervise the rescue work.
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Man dies of burns, wife in hospital Hamirpur, October 26 DSP Madan Lal Grewal told The Tribune here this evening that Pradeep Kumar was upset due to some domestic reasons and that was why he tried to burn himself and his wife. He said that the condition of the woman was stable. |
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Mahatma’s statue
damaged Nahan, October 26 The statue was installed a few years ago in the compound of Government Shamsher Singh Senior Secondary School near Chowgan here. School staff found the head of the statue broken this morning. The matter was reported to the local police which has registered a case and started investigation in this matter. However, a school chowkidar is also deputed to watch the school property during night hours but somehow he could not notice the mischievous incident.
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