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HPPSC rules amended in absence of chief
Dhumal blasts UPA Govt on bus pact
Plan panel for directorate of elementary
education
More charges framed against
11 HAS officers transferred
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20 passengers stranded in Lahaul valley
Mandi, February 19 Twenty persons, including four crew members of the state-owned helicopter, remained stranded at Sissu village in the Lahaul valley for the second day today as there was no let-up in snowfall till late evening. 
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HPPSC rules amended in absence of chief
Shimla, February 19 The three members, Mr M. S. Chopra, Mr P. C. Katoch and Mr V. P. Malik, today held a meeting and decided to implement the amended Rules of Business with a view to bringing about transparency and impartiality in the functioning of the commission. The members had given a notice about the meeting to the Chairman on December 28 when they had discussed the issue of amendment of the Rules of Business. The Chairman, Mr Arvind Kaul, who was out of station, while feigning ignorance about notice for the meeting had earlier said that no meeting could be held in his absence and moreover the Secretary of the commission would be away on election duty on February 19. Sources said the three members met under the chairmanship of the senior-most member, Mr M. S. Chopra, and decided to bring the amended Rules of Business into force with immediate effect. It is also learnt that legal counsel of the commission was also consulted on the issue and rules of the Union Public Service Commission and other state commissions had also been looked into. "Being a collegium of members, a meeting can be held under the chairmanship of the senior-most member to take up a matter in case of an emergency, and is reported to the Chairman later," said sources. They said the issue of amendment of Rules of Business had been pending for long and it had been over 10 months since the High Court had directed the commission to do this suitably so as to ensure transparency and impartiality. The proposed amendment pertains to non-disclosure of marks obtained by a candidate in a written test before the interview so that the person gets a fair and impartial deal. Another issue is regarding having a foolproof system for maintaining secrecy in roll numbers, which at present can be decoded. Another issue in the amendment is about giving more powers to the members of the commission. The commission had been in news some time back also as interviews for the Himachal Pradesh Administrative Services (HAS) were held by ignoring all three members. "Despite all three members being present in office on that day, the interviews were taken by the Chairman and experts on various subjects, sidelining the members," said sources. |
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Dhumal blasts UPA Govt on bus pact
Hamirpur, February 19 Addressing a public meeting at Samirpur village, he said the bus service would provide a safe passage to militants. He alleged that UPA Government was in league with foreign powers and was trying to destabilise the nation Mr Kripal Parmar, MP and Mr Rajendra Rana, HP BJP joint media in charge, were among those present at the function. Earlier, Prof Dhumal and Mr Parmar jointly inaugurated four rooms of the Samirpur school, for which money was given by Mr Parmar from the MP’s fund. Prof Dhumal emphasised on education and its related activities and added that the UPA Government was set to change it functioning under the influence of Left parties. He said in the name of secularism, the UPA Government was working against the interests of the people. The BJP leader came down heavily on the central government for allegedly conniving with the sugar mafia to increase the sugar rates. He claimed that the UPA Government would fall on the sugar issue as the entire country was affected by the sharp rise in its price. |
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Plan panel for directorate of elementary
education
Shimla, February 19 The commission, while approving the annual Plan, took notice of the fact that a separate directorate has not been set up so far. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 553 crore for the universalisation of elementary education programme which is to be implemented through the proposed directorate. An outlay of Rs 140 crore has been approved for the ensuring year for the programme. An exercise to carve out a new directorate was initiated in 2003 but nothing concrete emerged. The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has also asked the state to complete the exercise at the earliest. The Education Department is now taking up the matter seriously and modalities for setting up the directorate are being finalised. The proposal is to have a two-tier school education system by upgrading the directorate of primary education to elementary level to care of Class I to VIII. The four senior classes from IX to XII will be under the directorate of higher education. The existing 10,660 primary schools will be either upgraded in a phased manner or attached to the middle schools. There are 2,088 middle schools at present and there number will go manifold. Similarly, the 938 high schools will be either upgraded or phased out over the next three years. As such the number of senior secondary schools is likely to increase from the present 686 to around 1,300. The main problem being faced in carrying out the exercise is the management of TGT cadre, language teachers and some other categories of staff which is engaged in teaching from Class VI to X. The JBT teachers will have to be phased out with elementary teachers. |
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More charges framed against
Dharamsala, February 19 Talking to The Tribune, SP (Enforcement) G.D. Bhargav, said while two new cases had been put up in the court at Hamirpur, dates for consideration of charges were given today by the court in two previous cases. Officials of the board have been charged with misuse of official capacity, criminal misconduct and tampering with interview marks in these cases. One of the new cases pertains to recruitment of graduate teachers in medical and non-medical streams. "It has been alleged that duplicate interview sheets were prepared to give benefits to certain candidates. The marks of one were increased from 10 to 18 to ensure that he gets through," said the SP. In another case regarding recruitment of vidya upasaks in Kasok subdivision, it has been alleged that the interview mark sheets were tampered. March 21 has been fixed as the date for consideration of charges in the case. The third case involves recruitment of physical education teachers. "It was found that the computer evaluation of the board did not match with the manual evaluation. The cases were put up in the court on February 11 and the next date is March 17. In this case, Mr Vidya Nath, an ex-member of the board is also an accused, besides Mr Katwal," Mr Bhargav said. The recruitment of senior scientists at Composite Testing Laboratory is also under the scanner. It has been alleged that fake experience certificate was produced by one of the candidates, Munish. The case was put up in the court in December last year and the next date for the case is March 10. |
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11 HAS officers transferred
Shimla, February 19 Mr Rajiv Shankar, Registrar, National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur, shall take over as the Additional District Magistrate, Mandi. Mr S.S. Guleria, at present Additional Director, Secondary Education, has been posted as Land Acquisition Officer (LAO), HPSEB. Mr Hira Singh Thakur (LAO), PWD, Mandi, has been posted as Additional Director, Ayurveda. Mr Sanjeev Pathania, SDO (Civil), Tissa, Chamba, has been posted Registrar, Chaudhary Sarvan Kumar Agricultural University, Palampur. Mr Rajdev Singh Jasrotia, SDO (Civil)-cum-Project Officer, ITDP, Bharmour, has been appointed SDO (Civil), Una. Mr Sanjay Sharma, at present under transfer as Assistant Commissioner to Divisional Officer, Kangra Division, Dharamsala, has been posted as SDO (Civil) Tissa in Chamba district. Mr K.K. Khanna, Deputy Director, Tourism and Civil Aviation, has been posted as Deputy Director, Secondary Education. Mr Ginnu Ram Bharti, SDO (Civil) Chopal, shall now be the Registrar at the National Institute of Technology, Hamirpur. Mr Shiv Lal Saini, District Tourism Development Officer, Kulu shall take over as SDO (Civil), Ani, Kulu district. Mr Yash Pal Sharma, SDO (Civil), Ani, has been posted against the same post at Chopal. Mr Harbans Singh Negi, LAO, HPSEB, has been posted as SDO (Civil)-cum-project officer, ITDP, Bharmour. He shall also function as Assistant Commissioner (Development), Block Development Officer, Bharmour. The government has also given additional charge to three HAS officers besides their existing posts. Mr R.N. Batta, Secretary, State Transport Authority-cum-Additional Director, Transport, shall hold additional charge of Additional Director, Tourism and Civil Aviation. Mr Ashwani Raj Shah, RTO, Kulu, has been given additional charge of District Tourism Development Officer, Kulu. Mr Rameshwar Singh, AC to Deputy Commissioner, Mandi, will hold additional charge of the post of LAO (PWD), Mandi. The government also cancelled the transfer of Mr Vinod Kumar, Assistant Commissioner to Divisional Commissioner, Kangra, as SDO (Civil) Una. |
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20 passengers stranded in Lahaul valley
Mandi, February 19 The passengers, including three patients, were reported to be safe as all of them were being looked after by residents of Sissu village, near the Sissu helipad, about 30 km from Keylong, the district headquarters. The reports from Keylong revealed that more than 80 passengers were stuck up there as the weather was showing no signs of respite. Meanwhile the entire region continued to reel under an intense cold wave throwing normal life out of gear. |
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Cell phones banned in exam centres
Nurpur, February 19 Mr Rahi said the board was committed to fighting the menace of copying sternly in the board examinations. “In order to curb this menace the board has constituted flying squads at state, district and subdivisional headquarters.” He said the board committee had also decided to cancel examination centres where mass copying was detected. |
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K. C. Azad appointed horticulture consultant
Shimla, February 19 At present, he is the member of the State Planning board. With his joining as the Consultant the horticulture sector will get the required boost, according to an official press note issued here today. Services of Dr Azad will also be utilised for infrastructural development and his expertise would be beneficial for HPMC, AIPIL, Agro Industries Corporation, the National Horticulture Mission and the Asian Development Bank Project on Horticulture.
— UNI |
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