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Decks cleared for smart classrooms in 1,466 schools
Kullu Dasehra festival begins with rath yatra
Devotees at the Kullu Dasehra fair in Kullu on Monday. No state minister in Congress coordination, disciplinary panels
Finally, UP pays Rs
157 crore power dues
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HRTC to add 1,100 buses to its fleet, says Bali
Transport Minister GS Bali being honoured at a function in Kangra on Monday.
Photo: Ashok Raina
CBI probe sought into seizure of ‘hawala’ money
Dhumal flays Cong
leaders
Direct buses from Dalhousie to other states sought
Electoral rolls available for inspection
Principals seek regularisation of promotions
Cheap Chinese ingredients worry pharma
units Man arrested for snatching bike Kisan Morcha Adhikar Yatra from Oct 20 Ex-MLA flays delay in bridge completion
HPU to act tough on student violence
HC summons CD case record
Pangi valley temple to have trust Virbhadra visits PGI to enquire about Chief Secy’s health Man found murdered in Paonta Sahib Five convicted for trespassing BJYM holds protest Randhir takes on Cong gen secy e-declaration made mandatory in
VAT MLA redresses villagers' grievances A deputation of village elders led by Mahila Mandal president Sarla Devi, Sunder Singh, Mansha Ram, Asha Devi, Kamla Devi, Mahant Ram, Gajjan Ram, Naresh Kumar and Prakash Chand told the MLA that their village had become a victim of “political neglect” as nobody was there to hear their grievances.
— OC
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Decks cleared for smart classrooms in 1,466 schools
Shimla, October 14 There was only one bidder for the Rs 150-crore project for which fresh tenders had to be invited as the company, which was initially awarded the contract, failed to implement it. The matter was put up before the Cabinet which granted approval for considering the single bid of the public undertaking of Karnataka which has vast experience in implementation of ICT projects. The project has already been delayed by more than a year. However, the delay will have a positive impact as the amount quoted in the bid is slightly lower than the earlier bid. Further, the company will supply better 3D laptops with LCD projectors, a smart screen and with two servers and eight terminals in each of the 1,466 schools, 618 senior secondary schools and 848 high schools, which will be equipped with two smart classrooms and an ICT lab. In addition, five smart schools, which will have four classrooms with 40 computers each, will be set up over the next four years. The company will also provide teachers and maintain the system for the four years. The Education Department has started further action and convened a meeting with the KSEC for award of the contract. The department is keen to ensure that the project was implemented within four months so that smart classrooms were made functional before the start of the next academic session. The effort will be to ensure that 45 schools in tribal and other remote areas, which are cut-off due to snow during winter, are covered before snowfall. The project was to be implemented by February, but Core Technologies, a private company which was awarded the contract, failed to start the work due to financial problems. The department had to rescind the contract and it also forfeited the bank guarantee of Rs 7.87 crore furnished by it for its failure to implement the project. Hi-tech Schools
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Kullu Dasehra festival begins with rath yatra
Kullu, October 14 Devtas participated in the Lord Raghunath yatra from its abode with musicians playing the unique Dasehra music with the beating of dhols and cymbals. Thousands of devotees caught hold of the sacred rope of the rath as soon as the chief priest performed the ritual of going round (parikarma) the rath to prepare the ground for the yatra. The Dhalpur Maidan echoed with the chants of "Har Har Mahadev" as the devotees pulled the rope of the rath to Dasehra camp in the Dhalpur Maidan where it would stay on for the rest of the six days. The rath yatra was witnessed by thousands of visitors, including the chief guest, Chief Justice of the Himachal High Court AM Khanwalikar, who was accompanied by DC-cum-president of the Kullu Dasehra Committee Rakesh Kanwar as Governor Urmila Singh could not keep date with the Dasehra inauguration. The Lord Raghunath yatra started without the participation of the two major deities, Shringi Rishi and Balu Nag, believed to be the avatar of the guru of Lord Raghunath and Laxman, his brother. Both are staking claim to walk to the right side of the lord in the rath yatra and dispute is pending in the high court. The mela committee deployed a large number of policemen in Dhalpur Maidan and kept both devtas confined to their camps. But they performed the puja at Raghunath temple. On the left, the rath was accompanied by Bijli Mahadev and Joini Mahadev of Pirdi. In the absence of the Shringi Rishi and Balu Nag, Jamdagni Rishi walked with Lord Raghunath on the extreme right. Maheshwar Singh, the royal household of the erstwhile kingdom of Kullu, performed the ritual. But his younger brother Karan Singh, MLA from Banjar, and his sons Danvinder and Hiteshwar Singh walked separately with their clique of supporters in the rath yatra. It was for the first time that the visitors got the live commentary by Dr Surat Thakur, a local writer. "I have not seen a crowd and colourful palanquin of gods like this anywhere in the world in my life", exclaimed Fukima, a tourist from Japan, who had come here for the first time. Rakesh Kanwar said the yatra started peacefully and all rituals related to the Dasehra were performed by the major deities. |
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No state minister in Congress coordination, disciplinary panels Shimla, October 14 Unlike in the past, the panels declared by the AICC in Delhi today are small. The coordination committee headed by AICC general secretary Ambika Soni, who is the in charge of party affairs in the state, has only six other members, including AICC secretary Raja Ram Pal. Five members from the state are Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sukhwinder Singh, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, ex-PCC chief and MLA from Chintpurni Kuldeep Kumar, ex-PCC chief Viplove Thakur and former minister Rangila Ram Rao. The high command turned down all the names of ministers and opted for leaders who could work whole time for the party giving precedence to the principle of “one-man one-post”. In the earlier coordination committee constituted in 2011, when the party was in Opposition, there were 11 members, five of whom are ministers now. The five-member disciplinary committee is headed by AN Vidyarthi, a former Chief Secretary who joined the Congress after superannuation more than a decade ago. He was a member of the disciplinary committee and now made the chairman. He was the top bureaucrat while Virbhadra Singh was the Chief Minister. The other members of the committee are Naresh Chauhan, spokesperson of the party and a close confidante of PCC chief Sukhwinder Singh, Sohan Lal, a former MLA from Kusumpti, Ajay Mahajan, Nurpur MLA and son of late Congress stalwart Sat Mahajan, and Krishna Mohini, a senior leader who remained associated with the Sewa Dal and the Mahila Congress. As the party is in power, discipline will not be a major issue and as such the committee will not have much to do. However, the coordination committee will have a major role and with senior leaders, including two former PCC chiefs, it could be quite effective.
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Finally, UP pays Rs
157 crore power dues
Shimla, October 14 Though the total pending power arrears from Uttar Pradesh were Rs 231 crore, it was in March earlier this year that Rs 30 crore had been paid. This money too had been released after the Himachal Government pursued the matter vigorously with the UP Government and the PTC. RD Nazeem, Director of Energy, confirmed that the entire principal amount of Rs 157 crore had been paid by UP. "Though about Rs 45 crore remains to be paid, the payment of Rs 21 crore is to be paid in one month's time," he stated. The receipt of Rs 157 crore has come as a major relief to Himachal which has specially sent Nazeem to UP to take up the matter with the PTC and the UP Government. The matter was also taken up with Chairman of the PTC Deepak Amitabh during his visit to Shimla in March earlier this year. It was in March 2011 that Himachal had decided to supply 1900 million units of power to Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) between April and September. The UP Government, however, stopped payment for the power supplied in June but the PTC continued to pay Himachal till August 15, 2011. A total of Rs 367 crore payment was made to Himachal before the payments stopped. The decision to supply power to UP was made by Himachal when the power market was at its worst and the power rates were very low. With UP due for the Assembly poll in 2011, the Mayawati government did not want adverse public reaction due to power cuts and thus agreed to purchase power from Himachal at a rate of Rs 4.30 per unit. UP purchased 200 MW in April, 400 MW in May and June and from July onwards, the quantum was increased to 623 MW. The very fact that Himachal had been able to get a buyer when the power market was so grim made the hill state happy. The prevailing market rate at that point of time was Rs 2.50 and Rs 3 per unit so getting Rs 4.30 from UP was more than welcome. |
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HRTC to add 1,100 buses to its fleet, says Bali
Kangra, October 14 Bali said though there was no bus fare hike in the state during the last few years, cost of diesel was hiked time and again, which resulted in heavy losses to the people connected with the transport industry. He said a number of people related to the industry had made up their mind to leave the business. He said in view of these circumstances the state government was forced to hike the fare. He said the state government conducted various surveys on the basis of which the bus fare hike was decided. He said private bus operators should provide training to drivers and conductors on good etiquettes so that they should behave properly with passengers travelling in these buses. He said private bus operators should make sure that all the passengers be provided with tickets. He said the decision to hike the minimum bus fare to Rs 5 was rolled back by the Chief Minister to Rs 3 and if any bus operator was found charging Rs 5 as the minimum fare, action would be taken against him. He said the Himachal Roadways Ttransport Corporation (HRTC) would add 1,100 buses to its fleet to provide better facilities to passengers. He said route permits for rural areas would provide incentives to bus operators and they should come forward to avail the same. Happy Awasthi and Shiv Choudary, president and vice-president of the District Kangra Bus Operators Association, respectively, welcomed the Transport Minister and gave him a painting. Representatives for the Bus Operators Associations of Una and Shimla also attended the function. RS Bali, Youth Congress leader, former minister Shiv Kumar Sharma, officials of the HRTC and the administration were present on the occasion. |
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CBI probe sought into seizure of ‘hawala’ money
Hamirpur, October 14 Reacting to the accusation of Congress leader Ram Lal Thakur against the previous BJP government for hiding facts in the matter, Dhiman said, “The allegation of hawala transaction to purchase land on behalf of Tibetan guru Karmapa and the issue of alleged recovery of money should be investigated by the CBI for bringing out the truth”. Rebutting the recent charges against BJP leaders for illegal land purchase, Dhiman said, “A Congress leader who is levelling baseless allegations should know that he should not forget he just had a single-room house before becoming an MLA and accumulated a huge property during the last few years”. “At present the Congress leader and his family owns two four-storeyed houses at Bilaspur, one at Swarghat, two at Panthaghati and New Shimla, one in his village, a petrol pump in Bilaspur, running 80 trucks attached with ACC for cement carriage, besides owning eight luxury vehicles,” Dhiman said. He said, “The Congress leaders should first look into their own assets and deeds before commenting on others”. Adding a new dimension to the illness of Chief Secretary Sudripta Roy, who is under treatment at the PGI, Chandigarh, after having a massive brain stroke a few days ago, Dhiman said, “The undue pressure exerted by the state government on the Chief Secretary to commit several irregularities has resulted into a brain stroke and an inquiry should be conducted in this matter”. “The state government has failed to provide school uniforms to students and a large number of posts of teacher are lying vacant. The only work which the state government has done during its present tenure is transferring 20,000 school teachers,” he added. |
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Dhumal flays Cong
leaders
Shimla, October 14 In a statement here, Dhumal lashed out at Congress leaders for levelling baseless charges. “It is only a CBI or judicial inquiry which will bring the facts to light as charges being levelled by Congress leaders are baseless,” he said. “The allegation that the case was not properly investigated is totally wrong as it was probed by various investigating agencies and the challan was put up in the court,” he said. He added that the accused were quizzed by the Intelligence Bureau, the Enforcement Directorate and the Income Tax Department and the matter is now sub judice. “By levelling false allegations, the Congress leader is only interfering in the functioning of the court,” he said. He said since the Congress was in power at the Centre and in Himachal, it could get the matter investigated so that the truth could be known. |
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Direct buses from Dalhousie to other states sought
Dalhousie, October 14 The residents demanded that the long-route bus services should be introduced from Dalhousie to Shimla via Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Delhi. They wanted buses to start in the early hours for the convenience of tourists and passengers. In fact, all buses, including two semi-deluxe buses which ply from Chamba to the neighbouring states, pass via Banikhet township. It takes 45 minutes for any bus, including the two deluxe buses, to ply via Dalhousie, which falls out of the highway. This irks passengers. The local populace also demanded the opening of a regional depot of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) either at Chowari or Banikhet. The only regional depot workshop at Chamba could hardly look after the maintenance of a large fleet of 100 buses.
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Electoral rolls available for inspection
Bilaspur, October 14 Mehta said, “If anyone attains the age of 18 years on January 1, 2014 (is not born after January 1, 1996), he/she can register himself/ herself as new voter after filling Form No. 6 available free at the polling booth.” He said, “Similarly, if anyone is not alive now or has shifted his residence to some other place, his name can be deleted after filling Form No.7. If any correction is to be made in this voters list, then Form No. 8 should be filled up there.” Mehta said these lists would also be read out in the gram sabha, which would be organised on October 20 (Sunday). A similar drive would be held for this purpose on October 27 (Sunday) at each polling booth. Vote registration would also be done in educational institutes of the district like Government Post Graduate College, Bilaspur and Jukhala, ITI Bilaspur and Suharghat, and Siva Engineering Institute, Chandpur, DIET, Jukhala, and all Government Senior Secondary Schools in areas of the Bilaspur Sadar and Naina Devi constituencies. |
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Principals seek regularisation of promotions
Bilaspur, October 14 Senior vice-president of the association Principal KL Sharma told mediapersons here today that the association had also demanded the enhancement of their administrative allowance from Rs 300 to Rs 1,500. Sharma said the newly elected state executive committee of the association would meet at Government Boys Senior Secondary School here on October 16. He said all presidents and general secretaries of district associations would also attend this meeting. Sharma said in this meeting the future strategy of the association would be decided and final touches would be given to their demands charter, which would be presented to the Chief Minister in Shimla by a deputation of the state executive. |
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Cheap Chinese ingredients worry pharma
units Solan, October 14 Since the Union Government has failed to address the issue of availability of cheaper APIs from China, the domestic units, manufacturing these ingredients, had closed their shops as they failed to compete. With profit margins being razor-thin for the domestic API manufacturers, the availability of cheaper Chinese alternative had severely affected the domestic market forcing a large number of bulk drug manufacturers to close their
operations. Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, Solan, Parwanoo, Kala Amb and Paonta Sahib house nearly 700 pharmaceutical units and the import of cheaper APIs has been a cause for concern for the industry in the state. Strict policy decisions are required to be taken to encourage the domestic manufacturers of bulk drugs and though various industry associations had been representing this issue before the government time and again, little had been done to curb the rising imports from China, opined Vinod Gupta, president, Baghat Pharmaceutical Drug Manufactures Association, Solan. The ministry had now sought suggestions from the Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance and the Federation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs on various issues such as the import of APIs for domestic consumption and their export, impact of trade balance with the USA, China, Germany, Korea, Italy, etc. Comments have also been sought on the growth of imports and its impact on the domestic industry. A large-scale manufacturing capacities and cost leadership in vitamins and antibiotics and strong technological capabilities in China along with government support such as providing loan on lower costs had helped them establish themselves as leaders in API manufacturing, said SL
Singla, president, Himachal Drug Manufacturers Association. According to an estimate made by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, almost 40 per cent of the APIs are being imported from China and this has affected the manufacturers in the country as they failed to compete with the cheaper imported chemicals. Though the industry has been demanding imposition of anti-dumping duties on the Chinese APIs along with strict inspection norms, the government is yet to take sufficient steps to save the domestic bulk drug manufacturers.
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Man arrested for snatching bike Bilaspur, October 14 Krishnu Ram was reportedly coming from his native village Behal for night duty on his bike when Rohit, who was walking on a road near a petrol pump at Garamoda on the Chandigarh-Manali NH-21, asked for a lift. After going some distance, Rohit told Krishnu to let him drive his bike, as he was in a hurry. Krishnu obliged him and sat pillion on the motorcycle. Instead of stopping the bike at the stipulated destination, Rohit drove towards Bilaspur after crossing Suharghat. As there a was traffic jam at the Santoshi Mata temple, a few kms away, Krishnu jumped off the bike and informed the police about his bike being taken away. The police caught Rohit with the bike at a naka put up some distance down the road and placed him under arrest.
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Kisan Morcha Adhikar Yatra from Oct 20 Bilaspur, October 14 Roshan said to highlight these issues, the Kisan Morcha would hold a two-day state-level Kisan Adhikar Yatra from October 20 from Kandaghat, near Solan, and present a memorandum to the Governor the next day in Shimla after a night halt at Shoghi. He said this yatra would be led by national Kisan Morcha president OP Dhanakkad, former Chief Minister PK Dhumal and state BJP president Satpal Sattti. Around 5,000 farmers from different parts of the state would participate in the
yatra.
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Ex-MLA flays delay in bridge completion Bilaspur, October 14 Talking to mediapersons here on Friday, Kaushal said the stone of the bridge was laid by the Chief Minister more than six years ago and was to be completed within three years. But its construction work had been stopped for the past more than three years as one of its pillars was ready to fall. Kaushal said the bridge would link all areas
around Gobind Sagar of Jhandutta and Naina Deviji constituencies. Kaushal urged the Chief Minister to look into the matter and order a vigilance inquiry into this fact and fix responsibility for this lapse. "The state has already spent Rs 22 crore on the construction," he said.
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HPU to act tough on student violence
Shimla, October 14 Vice-Chancellor (VC) ADN Bajpai presided over a meeting of the Executive Council (EC) held at HPU today. EC members took a serious view of the violence that broke out between activists of two student outfits on October 3. The VC and other EC members, including Inder Dutt
Lakhanpal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Bambar Thakur, MLA, Harish Janartha and Chandershekhar expressed concern over the incident of violence. The EC could not arrive at any conclusion on the appointment of 35 assistant professors and two professors, results of which have been withheld. The EC observed that a detailed chart would be prepared according to the advertisement that had been published on November 3, 2012, to be placed before the special meeting of the EC. The EC also accepted the recommendations of the sub-committee headed by Bambar Thakur regarding the conversion of the Himalayan Research Institute into a department and regularisation of the services of its employees and research scholars. |
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HC summons CD case record
Shimla, October 14 This order was passed by Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary on an application filed by former IAS officer SM Katwal for condoning the delay in filing an appeal filed by him against their acquittal passed by a Special Judge, Shimla.
Katwal had pleaded in his application that the technicalities of law could not be made applicable strictly to the extent of snatching away the right to appeal earned by the victim. He further contended that he was made to search for relevant record for the purpose of preparing the appeal and in this process, some delay had occurred, which was beyond his control.
Virbhadra and his wife were acquitted on December 24, 2012, by a Special Judge, Shimla, and Katwal had approached the High Court for seeking leave to file an appeal against the acquittal order.
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Pangi valley temple to have trust Chamba, October 14 This was stated by Himachal Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri while listening to the grievances of people of the valley, including priests of the Mindhal temple, at a "khula darbar" organised in the valley. The minister addressed various grievances of residents residing in the far-flung terrains of the valley and said the state government was making endeavours towards the conservation and development of the state. The minister also issued directives for the conservation of the temple premises. He also inaugurated a traditional district-level Fullyatar Festival of the valley. To mark the start of the fair, a shobha yatra was taken out, which was led by the deities of the valley. The fair is celebrated in the valley with the advent of the winter season.
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A sea of devotees from every part of the district converged here today on the first day of the six-day Kullu Dasehra festival.
Transport Minister GS Bali said today that the recent bus fare hike was proving a succour to the transport industry in the state as it would bring the industry out of the losses it was facing.
He was addressing a meeting of private transporters at Matour, which was organised to express gratitude to the minister for his fare hike decision.
