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CID prepares action plan to combat drug menace
Project to promote tourism around Pong Dam
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World heritage site status soon for Great Himalayan National Park
BJP rally to celebrate completion of 4-yr term
Appointment scam: SC notice to ex-VC, registrar of Nauni varsity
HPU proposes first fee hike since 1973
HC ex-Judge is chief of redressal panel
Jadera water supply feeding Chamba resumes
SIHM students complain to district admn
Palampur youth dies in Iran
2 lecturers killed in road mishap
Shepherd looted
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CID prepares action plan to combat drug menace
Even though a high-powered committee had been set up under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary and senior functionaries of all major departments like Forest, Revenue, PWD, Education and Health as its members but the absence of an action plan was not bringing about the desired results. The Action Plan prepared by Vinod Dhawan, Superintendent of Police (CID), deals with all the issues concerning cultivation of cannabis and poppy both on government as well as private land in detail. The action plan has specified the timing of the destruction campaigns to be undertaken separately for cannabis and poppy. While for destruction of cannabis plants, the season has been specified from April to October, for poppy cultivation it would be from February to July. The plan also lays down the kind of action to be initiated by the district-level committees headed by respective Deputy Commissioners when the illegal cultivation is being done on private land or government land. With the police stepping up destruction campaigns and registering cases, the locals have now started planting cannabis and opium on government land rather on their own land. The government has made it mandatory for officials of the forest, revenue and public works department to ensure that there is no such cultivation on their land, failing which action would be taken against them. However, till date no action has been taken against any officials. The CID is also seeking an assistance package of Rs 4.5 crore to be better equipped with all the modern equipment and gadgetry to combat drug menace. They have cited lack of adequate monetary funding as the main reason for not being able to undertake field study of all the endemic areas, which can support the satellite imagery inputs that they are receiving. They have cited problems like unavailability of camping tents and less manpower, which hampers effective operations by them especially in view of the fact that such illegal cultivation is mainly found in the inaccessible tracts at high altitudes. |
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Project to promote tourism around Pong Dam
Dhameta (Dharamsala), December 17 The project for development of tourism around the Pong Dam has been funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB). While talking to The Tribune, Dhumal said Rs 1.22 crore was being spent on development of the Tourist Reception Centre, Rs 70 lakh on creating parking place and public toilets, Rs 9 lakh for construction of a jetty along the lake for parking of boats, Rs 18 lakh on developing camping sites on a hillock in the area and Rs 11 lakh on landscaping and erecting signage in area for tourists. All these works was likely to be completed within one year, he said. The said facilities are being created near the Pong Dam structure. The area is already popular among anglers and water sports lovers, who come here during winters. The development of a jetty for parking of boats in the area was a long-pending demand for water sportspersons visiting the area. However, critics said despite spending such a huge amount, the government might fail to attract tourists to the area. They said these facilities were being created close to the Pong Dam structure. Due to security on the Pong Dam, which would soon be handed over to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), tourists might find difficulties in freely visiting the area, they said. The Chief Minister, when asked about the Dam security bottleneck for promotion of tourism in the area, said in view of the current threat perception to vital installations in the country, the security aspect could not be ignored. The critics, including former Congress MP Chander Kumar, were of the view that the government should have created tourism promotion for the Pong Dam in the Nagrota Surian area that was more assessable tourists. The Chief Minister complemented the state Tourism Department of the state for getting $95 million sanctioned from the ADB, the current value of which amounts to about Rs 500 crore. The government has planned to spend Rs 22 crore on development of tourism infrastructure in the Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district and the Chintpurni temple in Una district, Rs 15 crore in Kangra and 18 crore in Shimla district. He also said the state government was planning to develop a research centre for ornithologists coming for research on migratory birds visiting the Pong Dam. The local youth would be recruited as guides for visiting tourists. He said the Pong Dam was receiving over 50 per cent of the total population of the Bar Headed Geese, a migratory bird. The Chief Minister received rousing welcome from villagers, en route his visit to the Indora and the Fatehpur areas of the district today. |
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World heritage site status soon for Great Himalayan National Park
This was stated by Chief Minister PK Dhumal while chairing the 5th Wildlife Board meeting held here yesterday. “The rationalisation process of the 33 wildlife sanctuaries and two national parks spread over an area of 7,161 km is underway to take the inhabited areas out of the purview of the sanctuaries,” he said. He said the rationalisation process was nearing completion and would take 1.5 lakh population of 775 villages out of the sanctuary area, which had been a pressing demand of the villagers falling in the area. He expressed concern over the increasing monkey and wildlife menace among the farming community and said the state government had set up 4 monkey sterilisation centres in different parts of the state, while 21 more centres had been proposed. He said 35,000 monkeys had so far been sterilised. Dhumal said The Himalayan Snow Leopard Research Centre would soon be developed near Kibbar village of the Spiti valley at a cost of Rs 5.15 crore to preserve the animal in its natural habitat and carry research and development programme. He said a migratory bird research centre would also be set up at the Pong Dam by including local youth in their preservation. The Chief Minister said Himachal Pradesh was the first state in the world where successful breeding of the Western Tragopan had taken place at Sarahan village in Shimla district. He said a conservation and breeding programme of Monal would also be strengthened by developing a phesantry near Manali and Rs 2 crore would be spent in the first phase. Dhumal said a wildlife crime bureau would also be set up by working out modalities with the Centre. He underlined the need for setting up of an online wildlife information management system. Sudipto Roy, Additional Chief Secretary (Forests), said the wildlife wing was working overtime to identify different species of birds and wild animals and taking effective steps to preserve the endangered species. He said 130 species of birds had been identified in Shimla recently. AK Gulati, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden, conducted the proceedings of the board meeting and invited suggestions from the non-official and official members on each of the items. |
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BJP rally to celebrate completion of 4-yr term
Kullu, December 17 Apart from Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and other senior BJP leaders, including national vice-president Shanta Kumar, who is also expected at the rally, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari will be addressing this rally here for the first time in the state. Kullu is part of the Mandi parliamentary constituency represented by Union Minister Virbhadra Singh and the BJP want to dent the Congress votebank in the region. But the BMM leaders led by former Mandi MP and senior Kullu leader Maheshwar Singh are unlikely to attend this rally. Singh was suspended as a member of the national executive on November 16, the day when LK Advani had addressed the Jan Chetna rally in Mandi, on the charge that he allegedly had issued a statement to boycott Advani’s rally. The BMM members claimed that the BJP national high command has paid no heed to their grouse even after 30 days have passed since November 19 when they had met Gadkari and BJP general secretary JP Nadda in New Delhi. The members were accompanied by Cabinet Ministers Ramesh Dhawala and Kishan Kapur; and four BJP MLAs who are Shanta Kumar’s supporters. But after wresting the Renuka seat from the Congress and losing Nalagarh in the recent byelection, Dhumal has emerged stronger as Gurnam Kaur, wife of the late Harinarain Saini, was a staunch supporter of Shanta Kumar. BMM spokesperson Mohinder Sofat said that the morcha would continue its anti-corruption campaign in Una and Nahan in the coming week. “We will constitute a 51-member state executive in early January. We have not decided to take part in the BJP government rally in Kullu,” he added. Brushing aside the BMM’s anti-corruption campaign, state BJP chief Khimi Ram claimed the party was with Dhumal and would retain power in the 2012 Assembly election as the Congress has no polls issues. “Gadkari along with senior BJP leaders will address the rally to make it a show of strength and highlight its achievements on all fronts,” he said. It is for the first time that the BJP government would complete its full term on its own in the state. During his last term (1997-2002), Dhumal had led the BJP-HVC combine government with the support of former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram. Earlier, the two BJP regimes under the then Chief Minister Shanta Kumar had lasted only for half terms in 1977 and 1991. “This is all the more reason why Kullu rally is historic,” said party workers. |
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Appointment scam: SC notice to ex-VC, registrar of Nauni varsity
New Delhi, December 17 A Bench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and TS Thakur also sought the response of assistant librarian Sharmila Sharma, whose appointment had been made by the accused officials in January 1998 allegedly on the recommendation of the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh without going through the employment exchange and ignoring the merit of other candidates. The Bench passed the order yesterday after senior counsel Satya Pal Jain and Mohan Lal Sharma, appearing for the state, contended that the HC had erred in setting aside the charges framed against the three under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the Employments Exchange (Compulsory Notification of vacancies) Act, 1959. The HC had delivered its judgment on August 30, 2011, quashing the charges framed against the three by the Special Judge, Solan, on June 21, 2011. The HC had taken exception to prosecuting them without getting the necessary sanction under Section 21 (3) of the HP Universities of Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry Act, 1986, and other relevant laws. Permission was necessary to prosecute only those who were still in service and not the persons who had ceased to be public servants, the state contended. No doubt the VC had the power to appoint suitable persons for a period not exceeding six months, but this could not be exercised arbitrarily without following the proper procedure, it reasoned. The HC had also observed that “no case is made out against” the two former officials. In fact, the case was the result of a November 2005 HC order on a writ petition, directing a probe by the Vigilance Department on the basis of the report of the Avay Shukla Committee and the final reports of the Harsha Gupta Committee on illegal appointments. |
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HPU proposes first fee hike since 1973
Shimla, December 17 Keen to implement the recommendations of the RMC at the earliest, HPU is likely to place the matter before its apex decision-making body, the Executive Council, at its meeting scheduled for December 27. Now it remains to be seen whether the EC will grant its nod or seeks certain modifications in the recommendations made by the RMC. The hike in the tuition, examination, re-evaluation and late fee, duplicate degrees, mark sheets and roll number is likely to generate an additional income of Rs 8 crore to HPU, a year after its implementation. This, in turn, will help the university, which receives Rs 50 crore grant-on-aid from the state government to improve its financial position. Considering the fact that HPU had never increased the fee or other charges in the past four decades, the move is quite justifiable, but now it remains to be seen to what extent it is hiked. Officials point out that as compared to over Rs 1,000 charged by other universities, the cost of a prospectus for combined entrance tests at HPU costs Rs 140. Interestingly, the report of the RMC was received in 2006 and it is only now that it is being implemented. There is also a provision to make a 10 per cent hike in fee and other charges
annually. The state government has been asking HPU to generate its own resources rather than seeking funds from it. The financial liabilities of HPU for the past three years have increased by Rs 12 crore on the account of the Sixth Pay Commission. |
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HC ex-Judge is chief of redressal panel
Shimla, December 17 He was welcomed by both members of the state commission, Chander Shekhar Sharma and Prem Chauhan, and the other staff of the commission. Justice Singh has taken over as the president of the commission after demitting the office of the judge of the high court recently. Justice Singh was elevated as the Judge of the state high court on April 11, 2005, and served the post for seven years. Born on December 18, 1949, at Shahzadpur, Ambala district, Justice Singh had his schooling at his birth place and passed the Matriculation Examination from MRSD High School in 1965. In 1970, he graduated from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He obtained a degree in law from the same university in 1973. He joined Himachal Pradesh Judicial Service in 1974, after passing the competitive examination and had the distinction of standing first in the said examination. In June 1984, he was promoted to the HP Higher Judicial Service and posted as Special Judge (Forest), Shimla. He remained posted as such till 1988, when he was appointed as District and Sessions Judge. He held various positions, including the post of registrar general of the HP high court, from 2001 to 2004. During an interaction with the newly appointed president, bar members of consumer courts apprised him of the functioning of the commission as well as the district forum and highlighted the achievements as well as issues being faced by consumer courts in districts. Responding to the briefings and suggestions, Justice Singh has assured his full cooperation in solving the issues of consumer courts in the state. |
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Jadera water supply feeding Chamba resumes
Chamba, December 17 It was an uninformed move of the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department to carry out the replacement and renovation work on
the main gravity pipeline of the Jadera scheme feeding the district headquarter town of Chamba. According to the IPH executive engineer RC Kapoor, the main gravity water pipe, which had been laid during the construction of the Jadera scheme in 1987 near Galidhaar, had rusted away and burst resulting in the seepage of water. Feeling apprehension about the contamination in the water supply, it was essential to replace these pipes, the XEN revealed; adding that to expedite the replacement and renovation work on the gravity pipeline, the new water pipes had been laid through an alongside course covering a distance of about 70 m. Despite intense cold, the workforce of the IPH Department worked day and night and completed the renovation work within a short time of two days, he said. The XEN claimed that now the town would get routine water supply and there would not be any shortage of water. |
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Teachers hold protest
Mandi, December 17 If their demand was not met, then they would go on a chain hunger strike soon, they warned. Addressing the rally, ETTA’s state president Gurdev Singh Chandel said the government had promised that they would fill the posts of ETT in primary schools this year. But nothing concrete has been done in this regard so far, he added. He said they would gherao ministers and directorate of elementary education as the government was not serious about the future of elementary teachers.
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SIHM students complain to district admn
Hamirpur, December 17 The students expressed their resentment over the attitude of the management in “ignoring” their genuine grievances. The students said though the SIHM management had charged Rs 9,000 each from them for food and practical classes, neither were these classes held properly even after six months nor were they being provided with proper food. They said Rs 6,600 each was also charged from them for providing dresses but these had not been given even after six months. Hamirpur DC Rajinder Singh Thakur said the complaints by the students had been brought to his notice for the first time.
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Palampur youth dies in Iran
Dharamsala, December 17 One of their acquaintances Ramesh, who is a computer teacher in Paror, tried to search the whereabouts of Dinesh on Internet. He found the photo of his body on Internet that was identified by his parents on November 30. Amarnath said they had sent the photo to the shipping company with request that the body of their son should be sent back. However, the company officials have not cooperated. Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who was here today, said the state government would take up the issue of bringing back the body of Dinesh back to his native village with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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2 lecturers killed in road mishap
Jawali (Nurpur), December 17 Pushpinder was driving the vehicle and the duo was going to Guglara. According to
DSP, Jawali, BS Negi, the bodies have been handed over to the families after post-mortem examination and a case has been lodged.
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Mandi, December 17 According to the migratory shepherd, he has 200 sheep and goats and was grazing them in the Mandi Sadar area yesterday. Kalidas and two women came and decamped with sheep and five shawls from his camp. — TNS
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Shimla, December 17
Shimla, December 17