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IEET students forced to skip final exams
Police seeks help of revenue, forest officials
Sonia to visit Dharamsala in July
NSSO data to help planning, says Speaker
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Khab-Shasho project row: environmentalists appear in court, granted bail
Leprosy elimination programme to be launched
Horticulture graduates oppose notification
Notification for new
colleges issued
Youth falls from train, injured
17 watershed projects under way, says DC
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IEET students forced to skip final exams
Baddi, June 28 Up in arms against the college students for their repeated 'nuisance', a large number of villagers assembled at the main gate and restrained the examinees from entering the institute premises. The irate villagers had even blocked the Baddi-Nalagarh road for hours and allegedly manhandled some of the staff members if the institute who tried to intervene. A majority of the victims were final year students of trades like Mechanical, Electrical, Computer Engineering, Information Technology and Electronics and Communication. The students had to appear in their final examinations conducted by the Himachal Pradesh University, Summer Hill, Shimla. The irate villagers did not permit the buses carrying students from various places in Himachal, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Punjab to enter the institute premises even as the examinees virtually begged before them. The parents of the students were in a quandary over the future of their wards and hundreds of them made telephone calls to the institute administration asking if the university would re-conduct the exams or their children have to re-appear in the respective examinations next time. While contacted, the college Principal Dr RC Bhal said Controller of Examinations, Himachal Pradesh University, has been informed about the incident. A Fax message has also been sent to him informing him that the students were unable to appear in the examinations following closure of the main gate of the institute by hundreds of protesting villages on Tuesday morning, claimed Mr Bhal. The university authorities have also been asked for re-conducting the examinations so that the students do not suffer. "It is up to the university authorities if they reconduct the examinations for over 300 students or not", claimed Mr Bhal. Sources in the institute disclosed that students of the first year and the second year created hooliganism while the third year students will have to face consequences. Tension still prevailed in Baddi and its surrounding areas following the incident in which armed students of the engineering institute had damaged - Delhi Darbar- a dhaba located on the Baddi-Nalagarh road, beat up its seven employees along with three employees of a pharmaceutical company. The violent students had even damaged furniture and other goods inside the dhaba. Residents, owners of dhabas and restaurants of the area alleged that the student of the IEET had been often indulging in similar incidents, claimed Mr Jeet Ram, village pardhan. Efforts to contact Deputy Superintendent of the Police Sandeep Dhawal proved futile till late in the evening while Mr Kanwar Singh Guleria, Station House Officer, Barotiwala, said action has been initiated against the protesters.
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Police seeks help of revenue, forest officials
Shimla, June 28 With cultivation of poppy and cannabis spreading from Kullu to parts of Mandi, Chamba, Shimla and Sirmaur districts, the police is facing problems as revenue and forest officials, for fear of the drug mafia and action against them, do not record cultivation of cannabis. Instead of cultivating drugs on private land, those engaged in the activity use forest and revenue land for the purpose so that their direct involvement in the crime cannot be established. “We have written to the forest and revenue departments to direct their staff to clearly mention in their records wherever they detect poppy and cannabis or any other cultivation of narcotics,” said Mr I.D. Bhandari, Inspector-General of Police (CID). Keeping in view the gravity of the problem, the police will be forced to register cases against such officials for conniving and abetting in the illegal activity, he added. A recent development in the drug growing areas has been cultivation on forest and government land, which the officials do not record for fear of the drug mafia and, moreover, being locals most of them are reluctant to make mention of the illegal cultivation in the records. With the cultivation and trafficking of drugs now assuming alarming proportions, the police has been launching sustained campaigns against it. Efforts are being made to launch a project for alternate crops and other avenues, funded by an agency like the UNDP to wean those engaged in drug cultivation. “The government in on the look out for an international consultant who has past experience of dealing in drug matters so that the project can be made keeping in view the needs and requirements of the people,” informed a police official. Though the project is yet to be finalised, it is likely to be in three stages of five years each. In the first phase, the details of the area, population and their problems will be recorded, followed by creation of infrastructure and awareness generation. The people will be given opportunities to venture into areas like floriculture, cultivation of herbs and medicinal plants and other high-yielding crops, depending on the climatic conditions.
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Sonia to visit Dharamsala in July
Dharamsala, June 28 Talking to The Tribune, Ms Viplove Thakur, president of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, said though the visit had been confirmed the exact dates of the tour were yet to be finalised. “Though she was keen on coming here on July 7 and 8 but we have sought some more time to make the preparations as she would also address a public rally at Dharamsala. The impending monsoon was another factor. She has confirmed the visit, if not in July then in September,” she said. Ms Thakur said Ms Gandhi had been coming to Kangra district in the past as well and her visit would definitely help unite the party rank and file. As per the tentative programme, Ms Gandhi would unveil the statue of Rajiv Gandhi on the campus of Government Ayurvedic Medical College, Paprola. After this, she would come straight to Dharamsala and address a public rally. She would hold meetings with members of the Pradesh Congress Committee, district and block Congress committee presidents. Interestingly, Nurpur, the constituency of Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue and Panchayati Raj Minister, and Mr G.S. Bali, who is believed to be keen on having Ms Gandhi in Tanda, where a medical college is coming up in his constituency, do not figure on the proposed programme of Ms Gandhi. Both constituencies fall in Kangra district. Asked if Ms Gandhi’s visit would also help bring party dissidents from Kangra district those have been raising the issue of discrimination against the lower Himachal region back into the party fold, Ms Thakur said Ms Gandhi would surely infuse new life into the party. The BJP has been concentrating on Kangra district, which has the highest number of MLAs in the Assembly, and now the Congress wants to break even by having a leader of the stature of Ms Gandhi in the area. Senior BJP leader Sahib Singh Verma had held a meeting of the BJP executive in the neighbouring district of Hamirpur earlier this month.
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NSSO data to help planning, says Speaker
Shimla, June 28 He said NSSO members were taking painstaking efforts to reach the remotest areas of the country in adverse climatic conditions to collect information from households and enterprises. The data collected would help in formulating development policies and plans and people should cooperate by furnishing correct information. The information collected through sample surveys would be kept secret and it would be used exclusively for research, planning and policy formulation. He said no individual information would be supplied by the NSSO to any other agency like to the excise, income tax or to the police departments. He said any false information or wrong sample level could lead to wrong conclusion, resulting in wrong planning. He said awareness was essential to make sample surveys successful. Mr A.K. Sadhu, Director, NSSO (Field Operation Division) said during the survey to be conducted from July 1, 2006, to June 30,2007, data on economic and operational characteristics of enterprises in service sector (excluding trade) and household consumer expenditure would be collected. The important activities to be covered included hotel and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities, education, health, social work and other community, social and personal service activities. Ms M. Malhotra, Economic Adviser, Directorate of Economic Census, said 236 samples from 144 villages and 92 urban blocks of the state would be surveyed by the NSSO and an equal number of samples would be surveyed by the state Department of Economics and Statistics.
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Khab-Shasho project row: environmentalists appear in court, granted bail
Reckong Peo, June 28 Mr Sana and others were booked by the Kinnaur police in the police station of Pooh last week for creating hurdles in the work of the Sutlej Jal Vidhyut Nigam (SJVN). The SJVN initiated a preliminary survey on the construction of 275-metre high gravity dam to be constructed under the proposed 1020 MW Khab-Shasho hydel power project, last week, which was opposed by local tribal people in the form of protest rallies apprehending of environmental degradation in the area and threat to the national security in the border area. These activists surrendered before the CJM’s court last evening. Since, the case could not be heard in the evening, they were all sent in judicial custody for one day. Today morning, they again were produced before the court. Defence counsel Ramesh Negi argued in the court that these activists were protesting peacefully in accordance to the right granted to them in the constitution. Denying that they were involved in any destructive activity, the defence counsel argued that these activists were concerned at the ecological problems likely to occur after the coming of this project, which is an issue that could not be ignored even by policy makers of the nation. Agreeing to the arguments of the defence counsel, Chief Judicial Magistrate Virender Sharma granted bail to all of them on the condition that in future they will not be involved in destructive activities and create law and order problem. Apart from Sushil Sana, other activists who were granted bail by the court are Ashok Kumar, Jai Singh, Sher Singh, Prem Singh, Kalzan, Norbu and Shanta Kumar. After obtaining bail, Sushil Sana told The Tribune that local police of Pooh at the behest of the district administration had implicated peaceful protesters in false cases. He announced peaceful agitation against the coming of this project would continue in the area irrespective of the ‘oppressive action’ of the district administration and the state government. He also alleged that the district administration was adopting undemocratic methods to suppress their movement. He revealed that local people were planning to extend this agitation to bring their cause of concern for a debate at the national level. “For this, we have decided to rope in the support of top environmentalists like Sunder Lal Bahuguna and Medha Patekar for protecting environmental degradation of this tribal belt”, he added.
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Leprosy elimination programme to be launched
Shimla, June 28 Presiding over a meeting of the District Leprosy Elimination Society here today, Deputy Commissioner Tarun Kapoor said the programme would be implemented through the Health Department in coordination with the Education Department, the municipal corporation and the state unit of the Voluntary Health Association of India. He said the programme was aimed at creating awareness about leprosy amongst the masses. “Screening of local residents will be undertaken in different localities, especially slum areas and migrant labour colonies, to identify cases of leprosy”, he stated. He directed the Education Department to launch a special campaign at the school level to make students aware about leprosy. He said the Health Department should undertake an extensive publicity campaign to inform the public that leprosy was fully curable and anybody suffering from it should be brought to the nearest health institution. Mr Kapoor also held a meeting with zila parishad members regarding the implementation of the programme. He said medical officers, health supervisors and health workers posted in urban areas would be imparted special training to implement the programme successfully. The Chief Medical Officer of Shimla, Dr Ramlal Sharma, said 28 cases of leprosy were under treatment in the town. He said the focus of the programme would be migrant labourers, though other population would also be screened.
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Horticulture graduates oppose notification
Solan, June 28 The change has been introduced as per a notification issued by the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance). The process of framing the recruitment and promotion rules is under way. The Himachal Pradesh Unemployed Horticulture Graduates Association has condemned the decision, saying that this would affect job prospects of hundreds of horticulture graduates. The association has urged the Chief Minister to appoint horticulture graduates as horticulture development officers in the state Horticulture Department. Terming the decision as harsh and arbitrary, the association members said the posts of horticulture development officers and horticulture extension officers should be exclusively reserved for them. They demanded that the notification should be withdrawn. Its president, Dr Anil Verma, demanded an amendment in the rules to facilitate their induction into the Department of Horticulture.
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Notification for new
colleges issued
Shimla, June 28 There were reports that the college announced for Shahpur would be opened in Nagrota Bagwan because of the differences between the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh and the local MLA, Mr Vijai Singh Mankotia. With the issuing of today’s notification, all such speculation has been put to rest. Interestingly, the places for which colleges have been announced are represented by Mr Mankotia and Ms Vidya Stokes. Both are bitter political rivals of the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, on his part, has tried to send a signal that he is not discriminating against any area or constituency. Political observers say that the college has been opened so that state NSUI chief, Mr Kewal Singh Pathania, who also hails from Shahpur and is the blue eyed boy of the Chief Minister, could cash on the issue. He is a contender for the party ticket from the Assembly segment represented by Mr Mankotia. Similarly, it is Mr Pramod Sharma, a staunch supporter of Mr Virbhadra Singh, who is taking credit for the opening of the college at Sunni, which falls under the Kumarsein constituency, represented by the Power Minister, Ms Vidya Stokes.
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Youth falls from train, injured
Kumarhatti, June 28 The incident took place at around 6 a.m. when a Kalka-Shimla train was approaching Dharampur railway station. Pramod (20), a student of BA (I), was standing near the door. He tried to look outside as soon as the train entered tunnel No 21 between Dharampur and Sanawara railway stations. He got hit with a rock inside the tunnel and fell down from the train. Pramod’s friend accompanied him jumped from the running train along with their luggage after noticing the incident. He took Pramod to the Community Health Centre, Dharampur. Pramod had sustained serious injuries on the shoulders and the head. He was referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. Pramod, along with his friend, had come to Chandigarh for appearing in an examination yesterday. The both had planned a trip to Shimla by train. They hailed from Bahadurgarh tehsil in Haryana.
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17 watershed projects under way, says DC
Kangra, June 28 The Deputy Commissioner here, Mr Bharat Khera, said this while presiding over the review meeting of the rural development programmes being implemented in the district at Dharamshala today. He said under Indira Awas Yojna, 671 houses would be constructed during the current financial
year. — OC
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