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Academic reforms: State keen on RUSA, but without financial rider
HPCA ROW
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Dhumal welcomes decision
Govt mulls action against violations of transport policy
Decision on demotion of 25 IFS officials
Traffic jams leave sisters in the lurch on Bhaiya Dooj
5 satellite townships to decongest urban areas
Delay in posting meeting details irks NIT Hamirpur staff
Villagers construct 300-m link road track for houses
Priest arrested for raping minor girl
Woman burnt to death, husband arrested
Scrub typhus fever claims another life
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Academic reforms: State keen on RUSA, but without financial rider
Shimla, November 5 The Centre had set the deadline of October 31 for states to decide whether or not they were keen on implementing RUSA for revamping and strengthening of higher education infrastructure and sought a firm commitment. Keen to secure Central funds under the scheme, the state had taken initiative to carry out academic reforms on the basis of draft RUSA document and was awaiting final notification by the Centre. However, it was irked by the condition of 2 per cent mandatory spending, which is almost impossible to adhere to for the fund-starved state. At present it is spending about Rs 300 crore annually on higher education which comes to 0.40 per cent and it will have to be increased to Rs 1,500 crore to meet the condition and further to Rs 2400 crore by the end of the 5th Plan. The state government has termed the condition as irrational and unreasonable and stressed that the allocation for various sectors was made on the basis of the annual Plan and not on the basis of the GSDP. An increase in the GSDP does not lead to a proportionate increase in tax revenue, the state said. The state had taken an initiative to carry out academic reforms on the basis of the draft RUSA document last year and by the time it was approved and notified by the Centre last month, major components like switchover to semester system, introduction of choice-based credit system (CBCS) and continuous comprehensive evaluation (CCE) had already been implemented. The state will get 90 per cent of the funds under the scheme as outright grant and it will have to contribute only 10 per cent. The scheme will be implemented over a period of 10 years up to the 13th Plan. The state will be required to prepare perspective plan for the development of higher education, set up an independent higher education council and annual plan immediately to secure fund during the current financial year. The scheme provides for the upgrade of autonomous colleges to universities and funds for creation of infrastructure and appointment of faculty required to meet norms set under RUSA. There are five autonomous colleges in the state and with the UGC insisting that a university should not have more than 100 affiliated colleges, some of these could be upgraded to a university. The state’s gross enrolment ratio of 24 is better than the national average of 18 and it has to be increased to 32 over the next 10 years under the scheme. Key Limitations
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HPCA ROW
Shimla, November 5 "The government is yet to receive a copy of the order and shall carefully examine it before proceeding further in the matter," the official spokesperson said. He said it appeared that the court had questioned neither the legality nor the merit of the decision of the government. But it had made some observations on the mode of execution of the decision which was taken after evaluating all aspects of the matter. He added that the court order was confined to the implementation aspect only. He said while ordering the status quo ante, the court had given liberty to the authorities to proceed in the matter in consonance with the law and the decision taken in accordance with it. The spokesman said the government would examine very carefully all related facts, circumstances and legal provisions in this case. He said the government was determined to ensure transparency in public affairs and would ensure that public assets were made accessible to all members of the public and citizens of the state equitably and not become a monopoly of a section of powerful individuals and interest groups. HC decision on
HPCA hailed
HAMIRPUR: Former Education Minister ID Dhiman and district president of the BJP Vijay Agnihotri have hailed the decision of the Himachal Pradesh High Court to restore cricket stadiums to the HPCA. The stadiums were recently taken over by the state government. In a press statement, both the leaders said the decision was a strong reply to the "dictatorial action of the state government and a reign of terror being created by it". BJP activists also fired crackers and distributed sweets here after the court decision. |
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Dhumal welcomes decision
Shimla, November 5 In his reaction to the court order, Dhumal said as the Chief Minister he and his government had encouraged sports and tried to provide the best possible infrastructure and latest facilities for budding sportspersons. “In the past too, we have tried to do the utmost for sports promotion and in future too, our endeavour will be to promote sports,” he said. State BJP president Satpal Singh Satti said the court order was a major setback to the politics of “vendetta being unleashed by the Virbhadra regime”. Other BJP leaders, including former minister Ravinder Singh Ravi and Shimla legislator Suresh Bhardwaj, said the “midnight political drama” of the takeover of the HPCA stadium by the government reflected the “unconstitutional and autocratic behaviour of the Congress regime”. |
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CM lays foundation stone of HC block
Shimla, November 5 He addressed the High Court Bar Association here today after laying the foundation stone of the new block of the High Court and a new building for housing the Advocate General Office in the presence of Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar, Chief Justice of the High Court of HP. Justice DD Sud, Justice Sanjay Karol, Justice Kuldip Singh, Justice Rajiv Sharma, Justice VK Sharma and Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary, Lokayukta Justice LS Panta, Advocate-General Sharvan Dogra, Principal Secretary (Law) Chirag Bhanu Singh, president of the High Court Bar Association Ashwani Pathak and other dignitaries, including members of the Bar, were present on the occasion. The new block will have more than 45 rooms, which will house various branches of the High Court, offices of the Advocate General, the Bar Council of HP, the Assistant Solicitor General of India, the Green Tribunal, separate Bar rooms for women and men, Bar library, bank, post office, separate canteen for advocates, parking and other facilities. The block has been designed keeping in mind the growing requirements of the High Court and paucity of adequate space to cater to the needs of litigants, employees and the Bar. |
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Govt mulls action against violations of transport policy
Dharamsala, November 5 Bali said route permits and other violations of the transport policy had led to huge losses to the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) in the last five years. "As per the transport policy, private transporters have to operate 60 per cent routes in rural areas and only 40 per cent in state highways or national highways. However, during the last five years, many lucrative routes on the state and national highways were allotted to private transporters in violation of the State Transport Policy, 2004, at the cost of the HRTC," he said. The government would initiate an inquiry into the allotment of routes in violation of the transport policy and initiate legal action against responsible officials and beneficiary transporters, the minister said. He said in a few cases, it had been found that seat loads of buses were reduced on papers. The seat load of many 52-seat buses was reduced to 42 seats on papers, whereas practically the vehicles retained the higher number of seats. The seats were reduced on paper just to evade tax. Not only the HRTC but also the state government lost crores of rupees in terms of taxes by such evasions, Bali alleged. He alleged that when the present Congress government took over, the financial condition of the HRTC was in a bad shape. Steps taken by the present government had reduced the losses to the HRTC to just about half, the minister said. The minister said private transporters had evaded state road tax worth crores and had not deposited the same with the state government. The sources here said during the stint of the previous government, even the HRTC had not deposited state road tax worth Rs 100 crore with the state government. The amount had now been adjusted against subsidises given by the state government as allowing free travel to various categories, they said. Bali said almost the entire old fleet of buses of the HRTC would be changed. The Union Government had sanctioned purchase of about 1,000 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, he added. |
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Monsoon gone, dredging continues in Balancing reservoir
Sundernagar, November 5 According to BBMB officials, it was precautionary dredging and permissible as per the Environment Management Plan. To use silt-free water at the 990-MW Dehar Power House, the water diverted from the Beas was stored in the Balancing reservoir, Sundernagar, so that silt could settle down. After producing power, the water ultimately falls into the Sutlej. Earlier, the BBMB used to dredge out silt into Suketi Khud throughout the year, but farmers of the Balh Valley have been objecting to this. So, the matter was taken up by the HP Government with the BBMB and certain guidelines were formulated along with the Environment Management Plan. As per the Plan formulated by the National Environmental Engineering Institute, Nagpur, now the BBMB was only allowed to dredge out silt with the help of three dredgers into Suketi Khud during monsoon (for three months). After the conclusion of the monsoon, the dredgers were not allowed into Suketi Khud. According to local residents, this year the BBMB could not dredge out the required amount of silt into Suketi Khud during the monsoon season. Though its dredgers were not functioning due to it, it was still continuing dredging. On enquiry it was found that the BBMB was continuing dredging through the Pung-Slapper tunnel and silt containing water was ultimately flowing into the Sutlej after it was used at the Dehar Power House. It was further revealed that the controlled dredging was being done in Zone III of the Balancing reservoir where only fine particles of silt were allowed to settle down and dredging was being done within the permissible limits of up to 500 PPM, the norm fixed by the Dehar Power House, which was not harmful to the machinery of
the power house. The dredging would continue for a few more days. It was further stated that the less intake of silt was due to the timely flushing of the Pandoh reservoir (from where the water of the Beas was diverted to Baggi and, ultimately, stored at the Balancing reservoir, Sundernagar) by constructing a dam on the Beas. |
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Decision on demotion of 25 IFS officials
Shimla, November 5 The Screening Committee (SC) which met here on October 30 has referred the matter back to the Forest Department, stating that it was the department which had to deal with the issue. The committee meeting was chaired by Officiating Chief Secretary P Mitra and attended by Principal Secretary, Forests, Tarun Sridhar, and Principal Chief Conservator Forests (PCCF) RK Gupta, who are its two members. Sources said the committee had observed that its job was only to look into eligibility criteria, confidential report dossier and performance appraisal of candidates being considered for promotion. “As far as promotions are concerned, it is the job of the Forest Department and the issue of the promotion of 25 IFS officers as Additional Principal Chief Conservator Forests (APCCF) will have to be looked into by them,” remarked an official. The sources said it was the Forest Department which would have to decide whether the promotion of 32 IFS officers to the rank of APCCF, when there were only seven vacant posts, was right or wrong. The committee after its last meeting held here on October 3 had sought the vacancy position from the Forest Department to see as to how many people could be accommodated. The promoted IFS officers on the other hand contend that all of them had fulfilled the minimum 25 years criteria and majority of their batch mates in other states were already holding the rank of APCCF. The committee had also sought the opinion of the Law Department on the legal implications of the demotions, in case the government decided to do so. “Since it is not only those who got promotions out of turn who will be affected but also those on ranks lower than APCCF, so we need to assess the legal fallout of the demotions,” the sources said. It was in July-August last year that the BJP regime had given promotion to 25 officers in two batches within a span of one month. This had taken the total number of APCCF in the Forest Department to 32, an all time high for a small state like Himachal. In fact, some of the officers from the 1984 and 1985 batch got two promotions within a span of less than one month. Even though all these officers have completed the mandatory 25 years service, since there were not so many posts of APCCF, the move was termed as unjustified. |
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Traffic jams leave sisters in the lurch on Bhaiya Dooj
Kangra, November 5 Kangra town witnessed several traffic jams today leaving women visiting their brothers in the lurch at different places. The traffic jam on the Dharamsala road from the new General Bus Stand to the Tehsil Chowk left hundreds of vehicles stranded. These included buses, cars and two-wheelers. A traffic jam was witnessed near the Zamanabad and SBOP Chowks. Vehicles on the Gurkhari-Palampur, Gurkahri-Kangra and Gurkhari-Dharamsala roads got stuck in a traffic jam. A single policeman at the Gurkhari Chowk failed to manage the traffic. People coming from Palampur and Nagrota Bagwan preferred to adopt the Kachiari bypass road to avoid the traffic jam at the Gurkhari Chowk, and vehicles coming from Pathankot, Gaggal and Dharamsala adopted the Zamanabad road to reach Kangra. The buses were caught in traffic jams leaving women waiting for hours at different bus stops and the general bus stand. The mad rush of women passengers for private buses was seen at the new General Bus Stand here, despite the fact that it was a free travel day for women in HRTC buses in connection with the Bhaiya Dooj festival. Residents here demanded that the authorities should put their heads together seriously to mitigate the problems of people by regularising the traffic within the town and outside. They alleged that the number of vehicles had gone up manifold coupled with road encroachments by people with money, muscle and political power, and the authorities were silent on the situation making people face difficulties day in and day out. |
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5 satellite townships to decongest urban areas
Shimla, November 5 This was stated by Sudhir Sharma, Urban Development and Town and Country Planning Minister, while presiding over the 30th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Himachal Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA) here today. He said the state government was keen to establish five new integrated townships at Shimla, Solan, Mandi, Hamirpur and Dharamsala. For this, HIMUDA intended to appoint experts having experience in development of integrated townships and related projects and would seek national and international transaction expertise on structuring of such projects, he said. He added that the interested private sector players had been invited on or before December 15. |
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Delay in posting meeting details irks NIT Hamirpur staff
Hamirpur, November 5 The last posted minutes were of the meeting held in July, 2011. Since then a few BoG meetings have been held, but the minutes have not been posted till now. The teaching community and employees of NIT always remain curious to know regarding the proceedings of the BoG meetings since several matters pertaining to them are usually discussed at the meetings. Many employees show their concern over the non-posting of the BoG minutes saying “the non-posting of the BoG meetings delays action in matters concerning the teachers and the employees.” A teacher said, “Many decisions regarding us are taken at the BoG meetings, but these are conveyed to us with delay as these are missing on the official site of NIT.” “Many employees and teachers have appealed against the actions of the NIT authorities, some of which are pending in courts. The BoG has yet to take final decisions on such cases. Various court judgments are used to ratify at the BoG meetings and delay in implementing these decisions affects us,” he added. NIT registrar AS Singha said, “It takes time to upload the BoG minutes on the website, but we will soon post them.” |
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Villagers construct 300-m link road track for houses
Bilaspur, November 5 Reports said villagers had been clamouring for this road link for long, but no leader ever listened to them and the matter was pinching them every now and then in times of emergency, particularly during sudden illness in the night hours. Villagers, led by sabha president Rattan Lal, held its inauguration function, which was presided over by gram panchayat president Sohan Lal Sharma. Sohan Lal appreciated the spirit of the villagers under the leadership of Rattan Lal as they not only donated the required money for the project, but also manually worked on the link road for several days along with womenfolk to make it a reality. Sohan Lal assured that henceforth the panchayat would take up the proper upkeep and maintenance of this road through the panchayat under various government schemes. Present on the occasion were village elders Nand Lal, Prem Lal, Sohan Lal, Raj Kumar, Hem Raj, Vipin Sharma, Dinesh Kumar and Mahila Mandal president Veena Dev, among others. |
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Priest arrested for raping minor girl
Nurpur, November 5 The accused was a priest at a temple in Luhara village and had been living there for the past 10 years. After committing the crime, he also threatened the victim with dire consequences if she disclosed it to anyone. The victim reported the matter to her parents just two days ago and her father approached the local police on Monday and lodged an FIR against the priest. According to DS Verma, DSP, Jawali, following the complaint, the Fatehpur police has registered a case under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC and arrested him last evening. He was produced in the court today and remanded in police custody till November 8. |
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Woman burnt to death, husband arrested
Kangra, November 5 She was rushed to a Sujjanpur hospital from where she was referred to the DRPGMC where she died last night. The police said Anita, in her statement, had alleged that she was set on fire by her husband Sansar Chand, whom she had married a few years ago. Anita was originally from Rajasthan and had married Sansar in Delhi. The police has registered a case under Section 302, IPC, against Sansar Chand and arrested him. Meanwhile, another woman Kamla Devi (82) of Nagrota Bagwan had received burn injuries accidentally on November 2 and was rushed to the DRPGMC, Tanda, where she succumbed to her injuries last night. The police has registered a case under Section
174, CrPC, and started investigation. Both the bodies were handed over to their relatives after postmortem. |
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Scrub typhus fever claims another life
Bilaspur, November 5 Her parents rushed her to the Talai Primary Health Centre, then to Barsar and from there she was referred to the Tanda Medical College Hospital, Kangra. Sanjana died at the Tanda hospital after three days. Doctors confirmed that she was afflicted with scrub typhus fever. Earlier also, several cases of death due to scrub typhus have been reported from this district during the last three months.
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