 |
|
2 ministers ready for debate with Dhumal
Directorate of elementary education on anvil
Scheme to market trout
Yechury for UGC-like
body in states
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Plan to attract visitors from West Asia
Cong ministers violating
poll code: BJP
Power board employee electrocuted
|
|
2 ministers ready for debate with Dhumal
Dharamsala, November 27 The statement by the two ministers comes in response to the allegations made by Mr Dhumal in Dharamsala yesterday that the pace of development had slowed down in the lower Himachal region ever since the Congress government took over. He had said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh could have an open debate with him on this. The two ministers said that since they were representing the district in the Cabinet and were, therefore, responsible for vouching for the interests of the people of Kangra district and could debate the issues raised by the BJP leader at any place and time convenient to Mr Dhumal. “Before debating the issue with the Chief Minister, Mr Dhumal will have to debate it with us and reply to the charges of corruption, nepotism and selling the interests of the state levelled against him by his then Cabinet colleagues and BJP MLAs in a charge sheet, who also boycotted the proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha sessions to protest against his style of functioning,” they said. The charges, they said, were yet to be replied by Mr Dhumal and the people of the state, especially the voters of Kangra district who had a right to know the reality along with the relevant facts and figures. Mr Mahajan and Mr Bali said that Mr Dhumal should first reply to the charges of discrimination against Kangra and other lower Himachal areas by the BJP governments. The people of the district suffered tremendously as development and related activities had come to a halt during the BJP regimes, which forced the ministers from Kangra to raise their voice against Mr Dhumal’s discriminatory attitude. |
|
Directorate of elementary education on anvil
Chamba, November 27 This was stated by Mr Harsh Mahajan, Animal Husbandry and Urban Development Minister, while presiding over the annual prize distribution function of the DAV Public School here today. Mr Mahajan said under the restructured set-up, students up to class VIII would be taught by teachers having higher qualifications which would lead to a qualitative improvement in education at primary and elementary levels. “The JBT teachers and para-teachers would, however, be provided an opportunity to improve their qualification so that they could also progress in their career,” Mr Mahajan said. Taking into account that Himachal Pradesh had excelled in the field of education and had been placed at number one in education in the country, Mr Mahajan pointed out that the education from the primary level to elementary level had been made mandatory by the government. Mr Mahajan claimed that the state had also achieved the second place in health services as well as in the welfare services and adjudged as a “well-governed welfare state” in the country. Emphasising the need for professional education, Mr Mahajan appealed to the students to embark on education based on technology for better careers and thereby ushering in an era of prosperity. He also stressed the need for overall development of education and the students’ personality too. Applauding the DAV management for maintaining the high-level of the values of educational parameters, Mr Mahajan said DAV was one of the premier educational organisations in the country. Mr Mahajan also gave away the prizes to the students of DAV School. |
|
Scheme to market trout
Shimla, November 27 The Centre has sanctioned a Rs 1-crore scheme for the marketing of the cold water fish, known for its taste. The Himachal Pradesh Aquaculture Fishing and Marketing Society received the first installment of Rs 50 lakh under the Post Harvest Infrastructure Development scheme on November 21. This will maximise the profits of trout producers, who in the absence of the required infrastructure and marketing facilities, could not send their produce directly to markets in Delhi. The Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Harsh Mahajan, said after consultations with trout farmers cooperatives, the government would open aqua shops and kiosks at various places in the state. “At present practically the entire trout produce from the state is sent to five-star hotels through private agents in Delhi who purchase it from the farms,” he said. Under the present circumstances, the trout farmers get between Rs 200 to 300 per kg, whereas the agents who buy it sell it at almost Rs 500 per kg to five-star hotels. He said there was a lot of demand for trout as it was a cold water fish. Under the scheme, the government would be able to provide better storage and marketing infrastructure to the trout farm owners. With the money received from the centre ice plants, aqua shops, insulated vehicles and fish kiosks would be set up. There are six government and 27 private trout farms in the state. The production in the government sector was 15 tonnes, while the private farms were also able to produce a little more than this. Even with this much production, the trout demand from the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana cannot be met and moreover it is hardy available within Himachal Pradesh. In the year 2000, trout at all farms had been completely wiped out due to the outbreak of a disease and widespread damage caused by floods. All trout farms were renovated and eggs imported from Norway. It was with the Norwegian assistance that the trout production was revived and now a lot of people are keen to set up farms.
|
|
Yechury for UGC-like
body in states
Shimla, November 27 Addressing a press conference here today, he said a number of issues like admission criteria, fee structure, reservations for underprivileged and curriculum were involved and since education was on the Concurrent List a constitutional Amendment Bill was required for the purpose. He said the University Grants Commission was doing the job at the national level and similar bodies were required in the states for effectively curbing malpractices in admissions and capitation fee. The CPM did not want government control over private institutions and only wanted social control through some regulatory mechanism to ensure quality education. If there could be regulator for the insurance sector, a similar control was more than justified for the education sector. Referring to the recent defeat of the RJD in Bihar, Mr Yechury asserted that it would neither have any adverse fallout for the UPA government not help revive the fortunes of the BJP as the NDA thrived solely due to the division of secular vote. He said the CPM was not a part of the UPA which had to sort out matters with its allies who were contesting against each other in the states. He said paramilitary analysis of the elections results indicated that the division of vote helped the NDA win in as many as 72 constituencies. Regarding the Volcker report, he said his party was satisfied with the inquiry ordered by the government but it wanted that it should not confine only to Mr Natwar Singh or the Congress but cover all companies named in the food-for-oil scam. It was essential to ascertain who the real beneficiaries of the scam were. Replying to questions regarding encroachments on forest land, the CPM leader said that a Bill was being introduced to confer ownership right on tribesmen and other permanent forest dwellers. |
|
Plan to attract visitors from West Asia
Shimla, November 27 Lush green mountains have always lured the desert dwellers but the affluent sections from the region have of late been very keen to visit the Himalayas. The state tourism authorities got an indication about this during the recent World Travel Mart held at London during which tour operators from the West Asia sought the maximum inquires about the hill state and also discussed the possibilities of special packages for bringing tourists, including school and college students, in groups. The idea behind introducing special packages is two-pronged — ensuring a regular inflow of high-spending tourists and keep the tourism industry going during the off-season, says Mr Tarun Sridhar, Managing Director of the corporation, who was one of the officers who attended the mart on behalf of the state. The packages would be customised to suit the visitors and take care of them after they land in Delhi. The corporation would appoint some tour operators as its sales agent in these countries, he added. Besides monsoon, the corporation had identified the lean periods of November, December and March, April for bringing tourists in groups from the desert countries. It is not the snow but the greenery and the typical alpine vegetation, particularly the cedars, which fascinate the visitors from the desert countries. This aspect will be kept in mind while finalising the packages, Mr Sridhar points out. The tour and travel operators from Europe, on the other hand, evinced interests in the hill state as adventure sports destination. Besides para-sailing, which already attracts enthusiasts from across the world during the pre-World Cup Championship which is being regularly held at Bir- Billing, the tourists from these countries are keen on white water rafting.
|
|
Cong ministers violating
poll code: BJP
Shimla, November 27 The party which held a meeting of senior leaders under the chairmanship of Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, state party Chief, here today expressed concern over the misuse of government machinery by the ruling party in the elections by ministers and legislators and said that it would lodge a complaint with the state Election Commission. It further alleged that the Deputy Commissioners and other officers concerned were not giving the required information to the Opposition and only helping the Congress. It condemned the behaviour of the District Panchayat Officer of Hamirpur in this regard. It was decided that, besides highlighting the failures of the Congress government, it would also focus on price rise, particularly of the petroleum products, and the deteriorating law and order situation. It decided to set up elections cells at the assembly constituency level for the panchayat poll. |
|
Power board employee electrocuted
Sundernagar, November 27 According to official sources, the employees were doing repairs work on a pole but some person switched on electricity due to which Sunder Lal died and Lal Singh was injured due to electric shock. The police has started investigation under Section 174 of the Cr PC. Although senior officials of the board were admitting that there had been negligence on the part of some employee, no criminal case was registered till now. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Dharamsala, November 27
