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Accident insurance made must for workers
McLeodganj
Hotel Row
Paper mill caught polluting nullah
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Rural tourism to be promoted: CM
PM’s Shimla visit postponed
16 Tibetan kids told to leave state
2 killed, 3 hurt in accidents
Teachers appointed in closed school!
Early snowfall dips power generation
PWD, IPH workers hold protest
Second round of transport survey begins
‘Don’t allow foreign legal experts’
Life term for raping minor daughter
NIT course inaugurated
Rajats rule supreme
Larji Project delay cost state Rs 4,000 cr: BJP
Gyan vigyan samiti team visits school
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Accident insurance made must for workers
Shimla, September 27 Every such employee will be required to annually contribute Rs 50 to avail benefits of the scheme. The Cabinet met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and decided to allot four hydroelectric projects: the 25-MW Chanju-I project and 17-MW Chanju-II in Chamba, 39-MW Rupin project in Dodra Kawar and 5.5-MW Bharari project in Bilaspur through the MoU (memorandum of understanding) route. However, it decided not to privatise the 60-MW Ropa project in Kinnaur and decided to get it executed in the state or Central sector. It sanctioned 2,367 posts of different categories in various departments, boards and corporations besides, sanctioning 57 vehicles for mobility of field functionaries. It decided to exempt stamp duty and registration fee loans raised for agriculture, horticulture and allied pursuits borrowed from any financial institution or bank, including cooperative banks to all farmers in the state under different schemes. All schemes under agriculture and allied sectors to provide relief to the borrower farmers of the state without any ceiling on loan. Earlier it was subject to Rs 1 lakh. It also decided to implement instructions of the Reserve Bank of India regarding charging of interest more than the principal amount on short-term agriculture loans issued in the year 1984 with respect to commercial banks for cooperative banks and primary agriculture cooperative society (PACS) to lessen the burden on farmers. The Cabinet accorded its approval for extending the date of submitting applications for the allotment of two biswas of land in rural areas and one biswa in urban area for house construction to eligible applicants up to October 15 and directed the authorities concerned to decide on the applications by December 31. It also decided to convert the outstanding loan and interest amount to Rs 461.30 lakh as on March 31, 2006, into equity shares in the State Handicrafts and Handlooms Corporation and granted approval to open 5 Industrial Training Institutes at Junga, Arki, Kaffota, Sarahan and Chachiot along with 46 posts of different categories to man the same. It approved house rent allowance to the All India Services as per All India Services (House Rent Allowance) Rules. It gave its nod for regularisation of services of 1,722 daily-wagers who had completed 8-years of service in the Irrigation and Public Health Department and 186 daily paid labourers in the CSK Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur. It permitted re-designation of the post of district inspector food and civil supplies and consumer affairs to the food and supplies officer in Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department. It sanctioned 165 posts of regular chairman, 130 for Shimla division and 35 for Kangra division in the Revenue Department, 117 posts of block physical education teachers and 12 posts of assistant district physical education officers at district-level, besides 3 posts of physical education teachers in Elementary Education Department, 100 posts of female health workers in the Health and Family Welfare Department, one post of private secretary (feeder category) in the office of advocate general, upgraded 4 posts of personal assistant to private secretary, junior scale stenographer to senior scale stenographer, senior assistant to grade-II superintendent and peon to photostat machine operator in the Economics and Statistics Department. It cleared 5 posts, one each of accountant, clerk, rent collector, peon and driver for the state Wakf Board, 4 gate keepers in the state secretariat and 2 posts of peons in the State Legal Services Authority. The Cabinet approved the purchase of 25 light motor vehicles and 25 motorcycles. |
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McLeodganj Hotel Row Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, September 27 He had come here in response to a petition pending before the CEC filed by Atul Bhardwaj a Dharamsala-based environmentalist and Samir Mehta of the Bombay Environment Action Group. The conservator of forests (central) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had already rejected the proposal of the state government to construct the bus stand and hotel-cum-parking, a few months back. Even then, huge buildings of concrete had been raised by the contractor who got the project on BOT basis. Recently, the construction work on these controversial sites was stopped by the district administration till the final decision of the CEC. The Managing Director of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) TC Janartha, Kangra DM Ashwani Kapoor and other officials of various departments presented the factual position before the CEC chairman. The petitioner who was also present there argued against certain documents presented before the CEC by the officials of the departments concerned. Owner/director of the construction company Vijay Sood was also present on the occasion and he explained the actual construction work done at the bus stand and hotel-cum-parking sites. On the actual proposed parking site, it was found that a four-storeyed building of the hotel had already been raised without getting clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Jayakrishnan took photographs of the building and asked the officials present there to explain their position whether they had any permission to construct the hotel. Regarding this, he also asked the officials concerned to file their statements before the CEC. It came to light that a 40-room hotel was being constructed on the site that was reserved to provide parking facilities to the local public and the visiting tourists. Further, when the CEC chairman literally demanded original files of these projects on the spot visit, it was found that the two separate projects on either side of the state highway measuring 0.48 hectares and 0.093 hectares of land were clubbed together by the state government in a bid to make it a single project after the beginning of the construction, a couple of years back. With regard to this, the petitioner further argued that the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had actually given two separate permissions in the years 1997 and 2001 and therefore clubbing together of both these projects was a violation of the actual plan submitted by the state government.
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Paper mill caught polluting nullah
Solan, September 27 The team achieved an important breakthrough in catching some culprits where two pharmaceutical units J.C. International and Megha India Limited were found lacking any sludge storage facility at the unit site. Workers employed there not only agreed to have dumped toxic effluents into the water bodies, but the unit could not explain as to how they disposed their effluents. The officials have recommended disconnections of their power connections and since the units lie in the Sandholi catchments they could have caused Sunday’s fish mortality opined officials. The regional officer later recommended suspension of all production works at the unit with immediate effect. Another recommendation was also sent to the head office at Shimla to disconnect its power supply. Its approval was awaited. The dumping of toxic effluents had created an alarming situation as the Majri nullah joins Sarsa river where a major fish mortality had occurred last Sunday. The team while inspecting the unit found that its effluent treatment plant was not working and it was dumping the untreated effluents right into the water body. The officials had conducted this surprise visit so as to catch units which had been indulging in this nefarious activity. The Baddi-based regional office of the board swung into action on the directions of a high-powered committee which had visited the area on Tuesday to take stock of the fish mortality issue. The committee has directed the officials to remain vigilant and prosecute those indulging in this activity clandestinely. Brij Bhushan said samples of another unit, Megha Packaging, where some leakage in one of its tank was detected were taken and sent for laboratory analysis as they too found their way into Sarsa. In yet another case, a pesticide unit Hem n Noble which was shifting its premises was found having filled tanks of effluents. They had been directed to dispose them as per the norms before they left the premises and a notice to this effect was served on them today. Officials opined that the dumping of toxic effluents reduced the biological oxygen demand to abysmally low levels. This drastically reduced the survival rate of aquatic species. Since the effluents were laced with heavy metals they enhanced the chemical oxygen demand of the water making it difficult for the survival of any form of life. |
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Rural tourism to be promoted: CM
Shimla, September 27 This was stated by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on the occasion of World Tourism Day celebrations held here today. He also released the new edition of the Tourism Department magazine ‘Monal’. “The government has launched the ‘home stay’ scheme to associate villagers in the rural tourism promotion programme,” he said. He said villagers who could create standard tourism infrastructure to cater to the boarding and lodging needs of tourists would be registered under the programme. The step would create employment opportunities in rural areas, he said. He said tourism promotion would be undertaken in accordance with ecological safeguards. “The state is concentrating on envisioning and concentrating upon qualitative improvement in tourism infrastructural facilities so that arrival of high-end tourists could be promoted. He said a vast network of helipads had been created in the state as the government proposes to have heli-taxi service. He added that efforts were on to promote various shrines in the state and the Buddhist circuit from the tourism point of view and a lot of money had been received from the Centre for promoting these sectors. Manali: The World Tourism Day was celebrated at the tourist resort of Manali here today with great enthusiasm in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and the Manali Hoteliers Association. A large number of domestic and overseas tourists, including all tourism related organisations in Manali took part in the celebration to make it a fanfare event. On the occasion, all visitors were presented with traditional Kullu caps and garlands. A colourful traditional folk dance was also presented. The tourists also joined in the folk dance. District tourism development officer Kumud Singh said the occasion was being celebrated to promote international event in Manali which would help generate more tourist influx in the Kullu Manali region. She said all tourist destinations in Kullu-Manali were still related to ancient traditions and this was evident in the folk culture, dances, art and traditions which made its famous world over. She added that that a new airline - Alliance Air (a subsidiary of Indian Air Lines)would start operating from September 30, which would facilitate more tourist generation in the valley. ATR - 42 aircraft scheduled would operate between Delhi_Kullu- Delhi. Departure times have been scheduled at 10:45am and arrival at Bhuntar airport (Kullu) at 11:55 am. This flight will depart from Kullu at 12:50 and arrive at Delhi at 1400 hours. These flights will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. |
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PM’s Shimla visit postponed
Shimla, September 27 While no reason was given for the postponement of the programme officially, sources said the visit had been deferred on the advice of doctors as the Prime Minster had recently undergone an operation. The purpose of the visit was to launch the Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna. Meanwhile, although the cancellation of the proposed visit of the Prime Minister to Shimla might have left the Congress government disappointed, local people and security agencies have heaved a sigh of relief. The Congress regime headed by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was of hopeful of some major announcement being made by the PM. The security agencies had already made arrangements for the public meeting to be held at the Ridge before intimation about the cancellation of his visit came. As a result of barricading and creating of blocks for accommodating public on the Ridge, the people had to face a lot of inconvenience. They had to stop at every barricade or they had to take a detour and go all around the Ridge to go from one point to the other. The security agencies were sanitising the meeting area and sniffer dogs had been pressed into service. The Ridge had been closed for public for the past several months due to restoration work of the Gaiety Theatre and now the PM’s visit would have made it completely out of bounds till September 30. |
16 Tibetan kids told to leave state
Dharamsala, September 27 The SP said there was resentment prevailing among the Tibetan community against these children and a problem of law and order could emerge in McLeodganj Therefore, they had been asked to move out of the state, he said. These children were allegedly the followers of Shugden sect of the Tibetans, who were ideologically against the supremacy of the Dalai Lama. They were basically hardliners and were allegedly indulging in violent activities that could lead to breach of peace. As per the reports available, these children in the age group of 13 years to 18 years belongto the Gedang area of Tibet had arrived at McLeodganj on July 15 this year for Tibetan studies and since then they were kept in Tibetan Reception Centre, a temporary hostel run by the Tibetan government for the new arrivals from Tibet. The SP has issued notices to these children to leave the state reacting to a complaint filed by the Tibetan administration. They had come here on valid documents. The fate of these children is not known as either, the Union Government will deport them back to China where they may land into jail or the district police will arrest them as per the law of the land after one week, the expiry of the notice period. The Tribune correspondent tried to meet the children but the Tibetan authorities did not allow him to meet them. |
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2 killed, 3 hurt in accidents
Chamba, September 27 One persons was killed and another injured when their motorcycle fell into a 15-m-deep gorge at Talai, near Jot, on the Chamba-Shimla highway. The deceased had been identified as Tilak Raj, a resident of Basodhan village, while the injured was Des Raj, a contractor. The driver of a vehicle was killed when his vehicle overturned near Dharwala on the Chamba-Bharmour road. In yet another accident, two persons were injured near the Chowari area of Chamba district. |
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Teachers appointed in closed school!
Nurpur, September 27 Inquiries revealed that the school had been closed five years back. Later no efforts were made to appoint teachers in the beginning of the current academic session so that school could be re-opened but the department appointed two para teachers in the mid-session but sans any children. One of the appointed teachers had joined about two weeks ago. According to information, parents had admitted their kids in private schools as they had no hope that the school would re-open. Block primary education officer Rajesh Kumar admitted that the school had been closed five years back and that the Primary Education Department had recently appointed 13 para teachers in the block, out of which two were for Pandora primary school. He said one of the appointed teachers who had to join duty had failed to do so and his joining period ended on September 26. Interestingly, deputy director of Elementary Education O.C. Dhiman expressed his ignorance about the appointment of para teachers in the closed school and said it was surprising how it had been done. He clarified that if the school had been closed, the BPEO should not have appointed para teachers. He has sought an explanation from the BPEO in this regard. |
Early snowfall dips power generation
Shimla, September 27 Power generation at all hydroelectric projects across the state has come down by 10 to 20 per cent due to sudden reduction in discharge in all major rivers and their tributaries. The 1,500-MW Nathpa Jhakri Project that was operating at full capacity till last week is generating only 1,000 MW for the past three days. The daily generation has come down from 36 million to 20 million units. The discharge in the Sutlej has declined from 375 cumecs (cubic metre per second) to 200
cumecs. The projects has so far generated 4,590 million units of power in the current year, which was 150 million units more than the target. This became possible mainly due to low silt levels in the river. The project was shut down for only seven days because of the high-silt level as against 32 days last year. The raising of the of crest level of the dam at Nathpa from 1,485 m to 1,495 m also helped in reducing the silt level at the intake point. The generation has also declined at
Chamera-I and Chamera -II and other projects. Normally, the generation declines to such levels in the first week of October. This season, it has come down in the third week of September because of early snow in the higher reaches that brought down the mercury considerably thus slowing down the melting of snow. However, the power supply position in the state was still comfortable as 204 lakh units were available as against the peak requirement of 170 lakh units. The domestic demand for power has been increasing sharply for the past three years. It has gone up from 124 lakh units to 170 lakh units. It is expected to rise to 195 lakh units during the peak winter season. |
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PWD, IPH workers hold protest
Nurpur, September 27 Led by state INTUC secretary Mohinder Rana, they raised slogans against the alleged apathy of the IPH Department towards their demands of increase in pay and promotions of class IV employees of the department that had been pending for the past one-and-half years. The representatives of the union also met superintendent engineer (SE) R.K. Gupta of the IPH Department and apprised him of their demands. Gupta said the salary increments of workers had been held up due to certain technical reasons. These would be released after seeking clarification from the department, he added. He said the promotions of class IV employees were being given as per recruitment and promotion rules. |
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Second round of transport survey begins
Shimla, September 27 The exercise is part of the nationwide Total Transport System Study being conducted by the Planning Commission with the objective of generating and analysing inter-model transport resource costs and traffic flow. The survey will facilitate determination of an optimal inter-model mix and allocation of transport investment. The department of economics and statistics has been identified as the nodal agency and economic adviser to the state government Ashok Rajan designated the nodal officer to conduct the two-fold transport study for assessing traffic flows during rabi and kharif seasons by the Rail India Techno Economic Services (RITES) which is carrying out the study for the commission throughout the country. The first round of the survey for the Rabi season was conducted from April 26 to 28. The survey would include complete vehicle count, information on vehicles carrying goods with origin and destination. Arrangement had been made to ensure counting of all vehicles passing through various check posts during the survey period. Check posts had been set up at Swarghat and Bhahampukhar in Bilaspur, Pandoh and Darang in Mandi, Pandran, Dhalli and Shoghi in Shimla, Kala Amb and Poanta Sahib in Sirmaur, Baddi, Parwanoo and Kumarhatti in Solan, Tunuhati, in Chamba, Nadaun in Hamirpur, Chakki in Kangra, Bhuntar in Kullu and Gagret in Una. |
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‘Don’t allow foreign legal experts’
Bilaspur, September 27 |
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Life term for raping minor daughter
Kangra, September 27 Additional District Attorney B.K. Marwa said Manohar had been raping his minor daughter since the last three years and had been threatening her of dire consequences. The prosecution said the accused had two daughters who were married and his wife had died 12 years back. As such he started raping his 14-year-old daughter. The medical examination of the girl confirmed that she had been raped. |
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NIT course inaugurated
Hamirpur, September 27 It was inaugurated by Prof I.K. Bhatt, Director of the institute. He highlighted the achievements of the institute. Head of the department Dr Rajeevan Chandel briefed the audience on the activities and programmes being undertaken in the department. The course was organised under the TEQIP project and was based on multimedia and electronics equipments. About 60 participants took part. — TNS |
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Rajats rule supreme
Chamba, September 27 In final matches of the district-level championship, Government Senior Secondary School, Chamba, bagged the football trophy by routing Senior Sconce School, Kakira, while Government Secondary School, Kakira, clinched the trophy by defeating Senior Secondary School, Chamba. In volleyball, Kiani won the trophy by defeating Masroond, while in basketball Chamba won the shield by defeating Banikhet. In badminton, Holi won the shield by defeating Chowari and in kho-kho Chaned won the shield by defeating Masroond. In the district-level tournaments, 53 teams from various government schools of the district participated. Chamba S.P S.P.S. Verma presided over the function and gave away the prizes to winners and other participants of the tournaments. |
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Larji Project delay cost state Rs 4,000 cr: BJP
Shimla, September 27 In a statement issued here yesterday, he said the estimated cost of the project was Rs 500 crore when its foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Minister Shanta Kumar in 1990. The project was to be completed by 1995. However, the Virbhadra Singh government that came to power subsequently shifted the machinery and manpower deployed there to the Ghanvi project as a result of which the work on the Larji Project came to a standstill. By the time the BJP came to power again, the cost of the project had increased to Rs 800 crore. The 11-year delay in the commissioning of project and the huge cost overrun deprived the state of the revenue to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore. The project is generating power worth Rs 1 crore daily now. He said the Chief Minister should apologise to the state for the loss caused to the exchequer on this count. |
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Gyan vigyan samiti team visits school
Kullu, September 27 The team was here to study the educational, cultural and linguistic set up of Himachal Pradesh. The team members were highly impressed with the systems. Rachna from Rajasthan said they would also visit villages in the district and study their lifestyle. Anand Dinkar from Maharashtra said Himachal Pradesh was number one in literacy programme, and had become a model state in the country. Pravi Tarang from Kerala said the team would visit Neri village to study the developmental projects being done by the local
panchayat. |
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