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Govt mulls reduction in industrial plot rates
Construction ban in green areas not taken up by Cabinet
Truckers boycott meet with cement firm
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Ensure timely completion of hydel projects: Centre
BBN development panel hails plan to set up garbage plant
Nod to Biometric Smart Card Scheme
Goldfinger Vijay to get Rs 35 lakh
PTA teachers to hold meeting on Oct 22
SJVN bags trophy for excellence
U’khand, HP ink pact on bus services
Punjab trader held with 4.6 kg gold
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Govt mulls reduction in industrial plot rates
Shimla, October 11 With the Central Excise Duty exemption being done away with on industries in the state, it is apprehended that some of them might shift operation. Hence, efforts have been stepped up to take some concrete steps which can create a congenial and industry-friendly atmosphere. “We are considering reviewing the rates of industrial plots which had been enhanced in April this year on the recommendations of the standing committee,” Additional Chief Secretary (Industries) Harinder Hira confirmed. She said the land rate had been raised from about Rs 1,300 per sq m to Rs 2,200 per sq m about six months back. Hira said a proposal was being prepared by the department with inputs from various quarters to review the rates so that more industrialists show interest in investing in the state. “We have the advantage of uninterrupted and cheap power supply and pollution-free environment which are a boon for most industries and we will capitalise on this to the maximum,” she remarked. With most of the industrial belts being confined to the border areas of the state, especially the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area, efforts have been stepped up to identify land in other districts like Kangra, Mandi and Una. “We have taken up the issue of transferring the redundant agriculture farm at Milwa in Kangra to the Industries Department so that the site can be developed into an agro-based industrial hub which can utilise the agriculture and horticultural produce of the adjoining areas,” Hira added. It is learnt that the Industries Department has already initiated the process of identifying additional land so that self-contained integrated industrial areas can be created. With good rail connectivity and location advantage the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh area has attracted most of the investment but the government is keen that other areas also witnesses growth of industry. Efforts are being made to attract investment as officials of the Industries Department prepare to take part in Mumbai Utsav and Gujarat Gaurav, which is likely to have participation from industry bigwigs. Despite the hullabaloo over adverse impact of withdrawal of special industrial package by the Centre, there seems to be no immediate adverse impact so far. The Industries Department too has not undertaken any survey to make such assessment. |
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Construction ban in green areas not taken up by Cabinet
Shimla, October 11 An official said the Law Department was still mulling over the new notification, which would deal with all issues, including construction in green, heritage, core and restricted areas of the town. “As such, the move to lift the ban on construction activity in the green areas has also been put on the hold. The idea is to have a single regulatory authority with most of the powers to vest with the MC as this will simplify matters,” the official added. A lot of pressure is being mounted by people owning plots in green belts to give relaxation so that they can construct houses in this no construction zone. It was way back in 2000 that the government had identified 17 green belts and imposed complete ban on construction. The government is now considering lifting the ban, notwithstanding the fact that the “Queen of Hills” has virtually turned into a concrete jungle with the trees being the biggest casualty. Even though the proposal includes certain provisions like increasing the minimum plot size to enable construction, giving all powers to the MC could prove to be disastrous. At present, the plot size must be at least 150 sq m to allow construction but now this could be raised to 250 sq m. |
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Truckers boycott meet with cement firm
Solan, October 11 While the high-powered committee, comprising representatives of four truck unions---Ambuja Darlaghat Kashlog Mangu (ADKM), Golden Land Losers (GLL), Baghal Land Losers (BLL) and Solan District Truck Operators (SDTO)---failed to agree to the management’s demand of withdrawing only 10 per cent discount as against 20 per cent on transportation from the unit and another 40 per cent on backload, the truckers boycotted the meeting midway. Balak Ram Sharma, president, ADKM said it was unfair on the part of the company to quote comparative rates of other cement plants, including JP and ACC, as each situation differed. He added that the financial losses incurred by 3,000 truckers on the prevailing rates had forced them to demand freight hike. The truckers were paid freight charges at the rate of Rs 478 per tonne for transporting clinker and they were demanding that this rate should be hiked to Rs 709 per tonne. Similarly, as against the prevailing rate of Rs 5.73 per km per tonne for cement, the truckers demanded that this rate should be revised to Rs 8.86 per km per tonne. The truckers, however, said since efficiency of the unit had decreased, they could not continue with 20 per cent discount along with 5 per cent discount on every inter-state distance of 150 km. Withdrawal of all these discounts led them to demand a freight charge of Rs 886 per tonne per km which was 65 per cent hike thus putting a burden of Rs 202 crores on the
unit annually. The truckers had, however, decided to demand a hike of Rs 709 per tonne per km and this would put an added burden of Rs 150 crore per annum on the unit management. Arki SDM Balbir Singh said the unit management had put up comparative rates and this peeved the truckers who said the management was indulging
in jugglery of figures rather than addressing the core issue. President of committee Jagdigh Thakur said since no authorised management representative was present to take an authoritative decision, the meeting failed to be conclusive. The truckers would now meet tomorrow and chalk out their future course of action tomorrow. |
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Ensure timely completion of hydel projects: Centre
Shimla, October 11 The position is worse in case of mini and micro-hydel projects up to 5 MW capacities and there are as many as 22 projects out of the 46 projects allotted before 1997 which have not been completed for one reason or the other. The progress of small hydropower projects was reviewed at a meeting here last week which was presided over by Union Secretary for Non-Conventional Energy Resources Deepak Gupta who expressed concern over indifferent implementation of the projects for which the Centre was granting liberal subsidy. He wanted the state to take steps to remove bottlenecks and fix a deadline for exploitation of the entire small hydro potential of 2,900 MW. The IPPs, who were also present at the meeting, blamed the cumbersome and time-consuming process for getting various clearances and arrange finances. They were also discouraged by uncertainty over the ability of the state power utility to put the required transmission infrastructure in place for evacuation of power. Some of the projects commissioned recently faced problems on this account as the system for evacuation of power was not available. However, they maintained that the system of granting techno-economic clearance has become smoother and faster after the task was assigned to the Directorate of Energy. Out of the total 470 mini projects of 1,200 MW, implementation agreements have been signed for only 133 projects (457.7 MW), while another 25 are at the stage of techno-economic clearance. The total installed small hydro capacity was not likely to exceed 350 MW at the current pace. Gupta assured all possible help to the state for expeditious execution of the projects, including creation of transmission infrastructure. However, the state must do its bit to put execution of projects on the fast track, he added. |
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BBN development panel hails plan to set up garbage plant
Solan, October 11 CEO of the authority Meera Mohanty said a consultant would be hired to draw up a detailed project report (DPR) within three months. He would estimate the overall waste generation based on various types, extent and composition of waste generated in the area to enable setting up of a waste management plant for its hygienic disposal. Meera said the absence of the plant was polluting various water bodies leading to a rise in the coli form and fecal coliform count besides heavy metals in the water content. The alarming rise in their numbers had deteriorated the water quality and unscientific disposal of solid waste had often become a point of dispute. Various industrial associations had been pleading the case for setting up a waste disposal plant, especially after the Centre approved the Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) earlier this year at a cost of about Rs 70 crore, Meera added. Meera said the issue had also been raised before the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, who was here to lay the foundation stone of the CETP this May. A beginning has now been made to work out the modalities for setting up the plant after assessing its pollution load. The consultant will be responsible for predicting the future solid waste scenario based upon demographic and economic growth trends and will also take current waste management practices into consideration, including segregation, collection, storage, transportation, processing and disposal. Surveys will be carried out for collection of data on waste generation covering each local rural body and each ward of urban local body. Besides households, the survey will be required to cover industrial and institutional enterprises. |
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Nod to Biometric Smart Card Scheme
Shimla, October 11 With its extension to the entire state, all 2, 67,282 beneficiaries will be paid the social security pension through nationalised banks. During a meeting, which was presided over by Chief Minister PK Dhumal, guidelines were approved for management and upkeep of the Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bhawans being constructed in each Assembly segment. It decided to hand over the management of three bhawans to the local gram panchayat and in case it declined to take over, the responsibility will be handed over to a registered local society, preferably consisting of SC members. It decided to hand over the operation of existing fleet of 75 buses in Shimla under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission to the Transport Department to deliver efficient facility to commuters. It decided to amend the HP Value Added Tax Act, 2005, and Rules to provide e-filing facility of returns and e-payment of tax by dealers. |
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Goldfinger Vijay to get Rs 35 lakh
Hamirpur, October 11 Talking to mediapersons at the Circuit House here today, Dhumal said, “The state has decided to give Rs 10 lakh for winning a gold medal, Rs 5 lakh for a silver and Rs 3 lakh for winning a bronze medal at the Games to any sportsperson.” Congratulating Vijay for his glorious achievements, Dhumal said, “The state is proud of him. He has set an example for the youth of the state who will now be encouraged to take up sports a career.” “Vijay has urged the state government to open an animal dispensary and dig a hand pump at his ancestral Harsour village. I have announced to give Rs 5 lakh for opening the dispensary, work on which will begin after land is identified,” he added. |
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PTA teachers to hold meeting on Oct 22
Shimla, October 11 The state president of the association, Vivek Mehta, said here today that despite assurance by Chief Minister PK Dhumal that no PTA teacher would be removed, two teachers had been fired from the job not to
make way for regular appointment but to adjust other teachers. “The termination of the two teachers --- Ajay Kumar, posted in Kuttha Ranital School, and Rahul Singh Rana, posted at Sansai School in Baijnath, has forced us to reconsider our strategy,” he remarked. He said the termination of Ajay Kumar was even more serious as it amounted to contempt of court orders as he had obtained a stay from the court. Mehta alleged that the Education Department was not only flouting court directives but also instructions from the Chief Minister. “The termination of the services of these two teachers has led to a lot of resentment among the PTA teachers who will be meeting here on October 22 to decide the future strategy,” he added. He said in case the government did not want the PTA teachers to be agitating on the roads, it was for the Chief Minister to direct the Education Department to not to remove any PTA teacher. |
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SJVN bags trophy for excellence
Shimla, October 11 Under this category, the award is given to the best public sector enterprise having a turnover between Rs 500-Rs 5000 crore during the preceding two years. The performance is evaluated on the basis of financial results, leadership and strategies, human resource development, research development, corporate social responsibility, corporate image and corporate governance. The nominations were adjudged by the jury of the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (SCOPE). For 2008-09, there were 52 nominations in the institutional category of the SCOPE. The winner was selected on the basis of stringent criteria devised by International Management Institute (IMI) and a panel of eminent persons. The awards will be presented by the SCOPE on December 15, 2010.The SJVN was recently conferred the “Best of All” Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award -2008 for achieving excellence of the highest order by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Earlier, it received the MoU Excellence Certificate for exemplary performance for the year 2005-06 from the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. |
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U’khand, HP ink pact on bus services
Shimla, October 11 With this accord, it will be possible to introduce new bus services connecting Haridwar, Dehradun, Shimla, Manali, Dharmsala and other important stations in the two states. Managing directors of the two corporations will be able to introduce additional new bus services
up to 1,000 km with mutual consent. |
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Punjab trader held with 4.6 kg gold
Mandi, October 11 Acting on a tip-off, the vigilance team nabbed the taxi (PB-01-6192) that was parked at a local parking lot and caught Virinder with the gold consignment along with Rs 11.18 lakh without any documents. Virinder was then handed over to the police after some local jewellers identified him as a regular authorised trader. He has been visiting Himachal for long and had been evading tax while crossing the barriers at Swarghat, Parwanoo and Gagret, the team said. The vigilance and the police then handed over the case to the Excise and Income Tax Department, which penalised them Rs 18.96 lakh.
— TNS |
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