|
|
|
|
|
Law Dept’s opinion sought on merging doctors’ cadre
Ramdev criticises Sonia, Rahul
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Water ingress delays starting Parbati-III power project
Health Minister for best utilisation of NRHM funds
State Pollution Control Board fails to update website
Import of Apple
800 new bank branches to be opened by 2016
Rs 4.5-crore water supply scheme for Changer belt: Bali
Haj pilgrims told to deposit advance payment
Journalists’ arrest flayed
5 booked for thrashing man
Residents demand HRTC bus service in Chanju
|
|
Law Dept’s opinion sought on merging doctors’ cadre
Shimla, July 15 It was during the previous BJP regime that the common cadre of doctors for the two medical colleges was split. Though many doctors, who opted to go to the Tanda Medical College benefited as they were given early promotions, there were many at the IGMC, who had been adversely affected as they did not wish to leave Shimla. “The splitting of the cadres into two separate entities was not in the interest of the medical colleges and we are examining the issue so that a way can be found to merge them again,” said Health and Family Welfare Minister Kaul Singh Thakur. However, he admitted that it would be ensured that injustice was not meted out to anyone in the process. Sources said if the two cadres were merged, some of the senior doctors at the IGMC would be placed below their juniors, making their position awkward. Since it is not possible to demote those who have superseded their seniors, there is bound to be complications. As such the opinion of the Law Department is being solicited so that there are no legal complications. It was only two days ago that the State Association of Medical and Dental College Teachers (SAMDCOT) held a meeting at the IGMC. A majority of the members of SAMDCOT were of the opinion that the two cadres must remain separate as this would ensure smooth functioning of the two medical colleges. There are some doctors in the Department of Medicine who had foregone their promotion as they did not want to go to Tanda and now their juniors have become regular assistant professors. Similarly, there are almost 12 doctors who are senior to the Principal of the Tanda Medical College. “In case the cadres are merged, there will be many problems in the smooth functioning of the two colleges and doctors, who do not wish to move from the IGMC to Tanda and vice versa, will remain missing on weekends, despite being on duty, giving rise to absenteeism,” said a doctor. As compared to the teaching faculty strength of 180 at the IGMC, there are about 120 medical teachers at Tanda. However, a majority of the members of the Tanda Association of Medical College Teachers (TAMCOT) are also not keen that the two cadres should be integrated. case history
|
|
Ramdev criticises Sonia, Rahul
Hamirpur, July 15 “The Nehru-Gandhi family has created a wealth of about Rs 100 lakh crore during all these years, equivalent to half the wealth of the country,” he said. “Bringing black money stashed in foreign banks, a large amount of which belongs to Congressmen, and a big source of corruption, is a major issue at present, since all problems like unemployment, poverty and hunger in the country could be solved with this money,” he said. Earlier, replying to a question, Ramdev said, “The reports of my organisation having any poll pact with the BJP or any other party are not true and I will not contest any election or assume any political post”. “The main objective behind organising youth conventions is to propagate yoga and make the youth of the country physically and spiritually healthy,” he added. Congress activists
protest remarks
Hamirpur: Infuriated over “defamatory remarks” by yoga guru Ramdev against AICC president Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Congress activists staged a dharna at DAV School here today. They also burnt his effigy and raised slogans against him. The police had to intervene to dissuade Congress and Ramdev's supporters from coming to blows as Ramdev's supporters also started raising slogans. Later, Ramdev was taken away from the venue under heavy police protection. Deepak Sharma, state spokesman of Congress, said, “I have also filed a complaint at the local police station against Ramdev for making derogatory remarks against Rahul, as sentiments of crores of youth have been hurt. I have demanded legal action against him”. Congress activists also burnt Ramdev’s effigy at the venue of his convention. The Hamirpur SP confirmed receipt of complaint against the yoga guru. Congress leaders take on yoga guru
Shimla: Launching a scathing attack on Swami Ramdev for his outburst against Rahul Gandhi, Congress ministers Sudhir Sharma and Prakash Chaudhary and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Inder Dutt Lakhanpal have asked the yoga guru to concentrate on his profession rather than issue political and irrelevant statements. Reacting sharply to Ramdev's remarks terming Rahul as incompetent and inexperienced and not fit to lead the nation, while addressing a gathering at Salasi in Hamirpur district today, they said he had no right to testify the integrity of any person and it seemed that he had forgotten the "yog kriya" and was trying to project himself as political pundit. Regarding his advocacy of Narendra Modi as the one fit to lead the country, they said Ramdev's narrow vision of supporting communalism clearly indicated that he was a fanatic who did not believe in secularism and had a single mindset. He should not forget that the lease of the 28 acres of land given to the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust in 2010 by the previous BJP government, which was cancelled by the present government at Sadhupul in Solan district, was donated by the erstwhile royal family of Patiala in 1956 for Indira Holiday Home for children. It could not be given on lease to the trust and the power of attorney, on behalf of the trust, was given to Acharya Balkrishan, whose nationality had been in dispute, they said. |
|
Water ingress delays starting Parbati-III power project
Kullu, July 15 The NHPC had targeted to commission the two units, 130-MW capacity each, in August and the third unit in March 2014, managers of the project claimed. The project is already three years behind the schedule as it was expected to be commissioned in 2009, which was rescheduled for October 2012. It was delayed by another year and now the water ingress in its tunnel has once again thrown a spanner. “The project is expected to generate 1,963.29 million units of electricity per year at 60 per cent plant load factor. The state will get 12 per cent free electricity as per the MoU and as such losses to Himachal runs into several crores of rupees per year,” revealed power experts. The project will not get water of the Parbati river due to the non-completion of the head race tunnel of the stage-II project, which has been lingering on due to contractual hassles and cement and steel scams in the project, which are under the CBI scanner. Sources said the water ingress in five different points in the 8-km-long head race tunnel of the project stopped soon after the NHPC stopped the supply of water from the Sainj river to the tunnel on July 13. The water ingress had developed at five different points in the span of 500 m between Spangni and Bihali, where the underground powerhouse of the NHPC is located. Villagers are up in arms against the NHPC as they fear that the water ingress will pose a threat to their crops and habitations. AK Trikha, General Manager, Parbati-III, claimed that the trial run of the two units was successful and power would be evacuated through the transmission line running through the pooling station at Banala. “We hope water ingress will be fixed and the two units will be commissioned in August if all goes well,” he said. He said Sainj river water was enough to run the two units, while the third unit would be commissioned in March 2014. Trikha claimed that the stage-III was the first project in the country, which would be completed at a cost of Rs 2,100 crore, which was less than Rs 2,300 crore, the initial estimated cost of the project. |
|
Rs 50 cr relief sought for cloudburst victims
Mandi/Kolang, July 15 Schoolchildren and villagers walk over big boulders to commute from flood-ravaged villages to other places as village paths have been washed away. There is no water as the IPH scheme has been washed away, the villagers said. Contesting the losses assessed by the local administration, Kushal Bhardwaj, who led the CPM team to the Kolang today, claimed that the total losses run in excess of Rs 50 crore. Kolang and other villagers have lost their cultivable land and sources of livelihood, he claimed. The cloudburst has affected over 50 families in the area, Bhardwaj said. Even Jogindernagar BJP MLA Gulab Singh Thakur visited the spot and demanded adequate compensation for the flood victims. Jogindernagar SDM Kishori Lal said they would rebuild the two houses under MNREGA, and Rs 10,000 was paid an immediate compensation to Kalidas, who had lost his poultry farm and shop. The revenue team was still assessing the losses to the land and properties, which initially was estimated at Rs 41 lakh, he said. He said they were channelling the flooded nullah under the soil conservation plan. The village path and water supply scheme would be restored soon, he added. |
|
Health Minister for best utilisation of NRHM funds
Palampur, July 15 In bigger districts like Kangra, Shimla and Mandi, additional manpower had been provided for the implementation of social health projects launched under the NRHM, he added. Talking to this correspondent at Baijnath, the Health Minister said the state government was giving top priority for the successful execution of NRHM projects going on in the state. He said the monitoring teams had been advised to execute the projects as per directions and norms laid down by the Union Health Ministry and make efforts for the best utilisation of funds allocated. The minister said the Union government had categorically asked the state government to exhaust the funds under a time-bound plan and get additional funds allocated for pending projects next year. He said Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had lauded the efforts of the state in the proper utilisation of NRHM funds in the past six months since the Congress government took over the reins of the state. He said considering the better performance of Himachal Pradesh as compared to other states, the Union government had asked the state government to expand the NRHM programme in left-out tribal and rural areas of the state. Kaul Singh said the state government had planned to lay stress on the control of tuberculosis, blindness, leprosy, child-mother health care, integrated disease control and family planning. He appealed to all the officials of the department to work sincerely for the timely completion of all projects launched under the NRHM. |
|
State Pollution Control Board fails to update website
Solan, July 15 The site neither has updated figures of air sampling results nor water sampling results, which reflect on the working of the board. Board officials claim to be regularly conducting water and air sampling of its various industrial areas in the state and these figures are also supposed to be sent to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The latest air sampling results available on the official website date back to 2010-11, where data pertaining to various sites in the industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) have been uploaded. This sampling was done as per the old standards of the National Ambient Air Quality and only three parameters, including sulphur dioxide, oxide of nitrogen and respiratory suspended particulate matters, was taken into account. The SPCB was yet to adopt the latest national ambient air quality norms notified by the CPCB in November 2009 and even its notification was not available on the website of the board though the old notification was readily available. Similar was the plight of the water monitoring where figures of 2010-11 were the latest figures available on the website of the board. This failed to convey any information to a visitor, who wished to find out the latest position of air and water pollution in various industrial areas of the state. With the website failing to be updated on the two crucial parameters, a question mark has been put on the working of the board since 2010-11 and its claims to introduce transparency appeared to be hollow. Though various clearances like consent to operate and establish were being given through the online system, failure to update pollution-related figures meant that selective information was being deliberately concealed. However, the board was furnishing monthly reports of ambient air quality and quarterly reports of water quality on the prescribed parameters to the CPCB regularly, but these figures failed to be uploaded on the website. Vineet Kumar, member secretary, SPCB, said he would ensure that the latest information and reports sent to the CPCB were available on the website of the board at the earliest as he was in favour of complete transparency and there was no reason to conceal any information. |
|
Import of Apple
Shimla, July 15 Horticulture Minister Vidya Stokes in a letter to Union Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said SAFTA was meant to promote economic ties with neighbouring countries by allowing duty-free imports, but a large quantity of apple from non-SAFTA countries like Iran was finding way into India via Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries. The agreement was being misused by traders by routing the apple produced in non-SAFTA countries through the neighbouring countries, she said. Citing official data from the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCIS), she said the import of apple had increased by more than 50 per cent from 1, 34,576 tonnes in 2010-11 to 1, 99, 262 tonnes in 2012-13. A major factor behind the increase was SAFTA, as imports from major countries like China, which accounts for almost 30 per cent of the total imports with 77,560 tonnes, and the US with 67,059 tonnes had not increased appreciably. On the other hand, the volume of import of apple from Iran shot up from 186 tonnes in 2011-12 to 5,555 tonnes in 2012-13. She said if immediate steps were not taken to curb the misuse of SAFTA, it would hit apple growers in the state. The issue should be taken up at an appropriate level to safeguard the interests of the growers as apple formed the backbone of economy of the hills where agricultural crops could not be cultivated because of topographical constraints, she added. |
|
800 new bank branches to be opened by 2016
Shimla, July 15 Stating this while addressing the 128th meeting of the State-Level Bankers Committee convened by UCO Bank here today, Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy said a record number of 31 new branches were opened during the last quarter till March, 2013, out of which 25 were located in rural areas. The state was having a strong network of 1,666 bank branches and 861 ATMs, but more were needed to reach people in interior pockets. Roy said excessive rains during last month had caused heavy losses in the state, especially in the tribal district of Kinnaur, and the government had sought financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore from the Centre for relief, rehabilitation and re-building of damaged infrastructure. Besides, the extent of loss to farmers was being assessed to enable the banks to provide relief under a scheme framed for the purpose as per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines. The Chief Secretary reviewed the implementation of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in six districts and said some new schemes would be included under the programme. He said the state had attained 93 per cent Aadhaar coverage and the government intended to achieve nearly 100 per cent Aadhaar generation by September, 2013. Dr SK Nandi, General Manager, UCO Bank, and convenor of the committee, while presiding over the meeting said all the banks would implement the initiatives of the Centre. |
|
NSUI, ABVP activists clash
Mandi, July 15 The trouble started when both the unions tried to put their banners on the campus. They accused each other of removing their respective banners.The situation became volatile and the activists got involved into a scuffle. MS
Jamval, Principal of the college, said posters and banners were allowed at specific places on the college campus only after HP University issued students’ council elections. “We have asked for more police on the campus as only two policemen are not enough as the students’ strength is over 4,000,” he added. RS
Negi, SP, Mandi, said they deployed police as and when the college needed them. The dispute started over fixing a banner on the campus and both the wings had lodged
FIRs. |
|
Rs 4.5-crore water supply scheme for Changer belt: Bali Kangra, July 15 He said areas of Nagrota Bagwan facing drinking water scarcity had been provided with 60 hand pumps relieving them of drinking water crisis during summer this year. Bali said the Food Security Ordinance would be implemented in the hill state on August 20, this year, coinciding with former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's birth anniversary. He said Himachal Pradesh would figure among the few selected states in the country which would implement the programme urgently. Bali said to implement this ordinance, the state government had already made all the arrangements, and departmental officers had been directed to prepare a list of people living below the poverty line (BPL) and those coming under the Antodaya Food Programme. He said on July 30, a high-level meeting would be held at in Shimla in this connection to give the final shape for the implementation of this programme. He said the process for sugar supply tenders had been initiated and in near future all the 16.5 lakh ration card holders would be provided sugar for two months in one go. The Transport Minister said 500 new buses would be purchased for the HRTC and the process had already started. With this, the HRTC bus service would get strengthened, specially in rural parts of the state, he added. He was critical of the previous BJP government for putting the HRTC to Rs 385-crore loss. He said the HRTC would take all the effective steps to bring itself out of this financial mess.
|
|
|
Haj pilgrims told to deposit advance payment
Shimla, July 15 The amount was to be deposited at the Haj Committee of India's bank account maintained with the State Bank of India through the core banking system available across the country. He said the pilgrims had to remit the amount category-wise to the Central Haj Committee on or before July 27. The pilgrim's copy of the pay-in-slip had to be submitted at the time of flight booking at embarkation points in Delhi.
|
|
|
Journalists’ arrest flayed
Bilaspur, July 15 The meeting took a strong exception of the fact that the police took an “unjustified” action in a case of cross FIRs 15 months after registering the case. The journalists marched towards the office of the District Magistrate-cum-Deputy Commissioner and presented a memorandum to him for forwarding it to the Chief Minister. They urged the Chief Minister to order a high-level probe into the incident and demanded action against the guilty. They also demanded the arrest of sports officers, who had “assaulted” the journalists and “snatched their camera and a bag containing Rs 35,000”. They held a silent dharna outside the office of Superintendent of Police Anupam Sharma.
|
|
5 booked for thrashing man
Chamba, July 15 A case under Sections 147, 149 and 323, Indian Penal Code, against these persons had been registered at Chamba police station on Ravinder's complaint, the SP said. Further investigation in the case was on, he added.
|
|
|
Residents demand HRTC bus service in Chanju Dalhousie, July 15 The residents said in the absence of Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus service, they had to travel in private taxis spending a huge amount on the fare to reach their destination. They alleged that they had been meted out a step-motherly treatment due to the apathy of the successive governments. The plying of an Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus service on the Nakrod-Chaju road would facilitate students to reach their schools located far away from their homes.
|
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
