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Short attendance may mar prospects of agitating students
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Raid De Himalaya
Chandra river’s rocky bed forces champions to quit
Contestants stuck in traffic jam at
Bhuntar-Bailey bridge
Illegal constructions galore
Weapons become thieves’ new fancy
Grant of mining lease delayed, residents face high costs
Israeli national held with charas
Congress to woo young voters through social networking sites
Poaching threat looms large over Hamirpur forests
Job-hopping technical staff losing out on benefits
Dasehra sports festival concludes
Ex-minister blames govt for road mishap
Stolen car found, culprit held
HP inks pact with Dutch firm for ‘zero waste’ status
Health research challenges for medical colleges discussed
Woman commits suicide
1 killed as van falls into gorge
Driver killed, 18 hurt as bus falls into gorge
Nurse killed in accident
Youth dies in road mishap
Palampur-Pathankot train service restored
Mysterious fire incidents leave Nurpur family in distress
SJVNL gets gold plate award for health services
Samiti holds refresher course for teachers
Medical college in Chamba in the offing
Mayo boys win hockey tourney
Driver injured in road accident
MC to recover rent from shopkeepers
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Short attendance may mar prospects of agitating students
Shimla, October 6 As per the rules, it is mandatory to have 90 teaching days in a semester and students are required to have minimum 75 per cent attendance. But due to the ongoing agitation, a large number of students are skipping classes while in several colleges classes are not being held on a regular basis. The session has already started and most of the colleges are unlikely to have 90 teaching days during the semester, a mandatory provision laid down by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under RUSA and as such students would not be able to have minimum 65 days’ attendance. “There are nearly 36,000 students in undergraduate courses in the colleges affiliated to Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) and unless the semester is extended and additional classes are held, the future of a large number of agitating students will be at stake,” Rahul Parashar, a student activist, said. There is no exemption from minimum attendance in colleges affiliated to state-run universities and they are at par with private universities in this matter. Students of post-graduate courses are also facing the similar problem. The Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions’ Regulatory Commission had already directed the vice-chancellors of all private universities vide its letter of August 1, 2013, that 90 days teaching in each semester was mandatory. The UGC has also laid down the condition of minimum 180 days’ teaching in a year which means 90 days of regular teaching in each semester. The admissions to technical institutions closed on August 15 and the academic session has started, but whether the institutions and colleges would be able to meet the requirement of 90 days’ minimum teaching under the present turmoil and loss of teaching days would be a big question. Rahul demanded that all government institutions and universities be brought under the purview of the regulatory commission for uniformity in enforcement of regulatory provisions of statutory bodies such as UGC. Not only this, the UGC has given clear directions that the total periods provided in the time-table shall not be less than 40 clock hours a week. Calling upon students to immediately resume classes, HPU Vice-Chancellor ADN Bajpai said: “The UGC guidelines will be strictly adhered to and students having short attendance will have to bear the consequences. Students should ensure that they fulfil the mandatory condition of 75 per cent attendance as short attendance would not be condoned.” Trouble begins
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Organisers invite ire of tribals, NGOs in Lahaul & Spiti
Say vehicles leave carbon footprints behind in eco-sensitive zone Kuldeep Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla/Keylong, October 6 Sources said the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI), a national body recognised by the government of India, controls motorsports events in the country. They said it had laid rules that participants be given proper training. Interestingly the Raid De Himalaya does not figure in its list of nine recognised motorsports championships, despite the Maruti Suzuki Raid launching its 16th addition on October 5. Dr CM Parshira, convener, Lahaul-Spiti Janjatiya Kalyan Samiti (LSJKS), said: “Some hoteliers may get some rooms booked, but residents of Lahaul & Spiti have got nothing except dust and vehicular exhausts over the years.” “Nobody has ever thought of an actual tourism promotion plan for Lahaul & Spiti and the rally is not giving any direct or indirect benefit to locals,” he said. The organisers don’t give a damn to forewarn residents about the timing and route, Dr Parshira said. He said the impact of noise and dust on local flora and fauna is quite significant as wildlife descends from higher reaches to lower areas at this time around along the rally route — Kaza-Kunzam-Koksar-Sissui-Keylong-Jispa-Darcha. Scientists rubbished the claims of organisers that that they had employed pollution norms prescribed by the FMSCI and Association Internationale de I’ Automobile (AIA), a body that governs motorsports in the world. Dr JC Kuniyal, a senior scientist at GB Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED), said high-speed vehicles in high-altitude region produce local cyclonic activity. The particulate matter of below 10 microgram and finer particles of 2.5 microgram deposit on herbs, shrubs, plants and stunt their growth. “The aerosols stay on in the atmosphere for weeks and spread around and get deposited on glaciers speeding up melting process,” he said. As the rally steamed off through the Palchan-Kothi on its way to Rohtang Pass while on its way to Kaza in Spiti today, the noisy vehicles woke up residents in the wee hours. “The vehicles leave heaps of dust and half-burnt carbon footprints on the patches of snow on the Tailing-Gondla-Tandi-Keylong stretch every year,” said Prem Lal, a resident of Sissu. The participants forayed through the duty trail around the Kibbar and Chandertal wildlife sanctuary on the way to Kaza crossing the 15,000 ft high Kunjam Pass. The organiser has aroused the grouse of environmentalists as the National Green Tribunal has taken a serious view of the pollution at Rohtang Pass due to tourist traffic. “All motor sports rallies should either go green or it should stop,” demanded F Smith, a Canadian national and a motorsports activist. Vice-president of Himalayan Motor Sports Manjiv Bhalla, however, said they have mandatory permission from the government and have tested all rally vehicles as per the FMSCI rules.
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Chandra river’s rocky bed forces champions to quit
Shimla, October 6 Among champion bikers competing in Raid Xtreme (Moto), Mohit Verma of Chandigarh and Arvind KP of Bangalore were also knocked out. Arvind was leading the Raid on Day One yesterday with an overall time-score of 54.11 minutes, and Mohit was third with a time-score of one hour approximately. Raid officials said on Day Two, 38 vehicles participated in the rally Xtreme, and 34 vehicles were able to successfully reach the finish line. In Raid Xtreme (motorcycles), 37 bikers took a start in the morning, and 30 were able to make it to Kaza at the end of the day. Nine-time Raid champion Suresh Rana, driving a Grand Vitara, maintained his fantastic lead. Rana is driving for Team Maruti. Abhishek Mishra of Jaipur was behind Rana by six minutes, Mishra is driving a Grand Vitara for Team Thunderbolt. Capt AVS Gill of Team Army was running third driving his Maruti Gypsy. Among bikers, Natraj R of Bangalore maintained the top position on Day Two driving a TVS RTR 450. Second among bikers was Suresh Babu of Delhi, driving a Suzuki RMX 450Z, Nick Sarao, an NRI from Canada driving a WR450 was third. Superstar Salman’s brother Sohail Khan, who is competing in Raid Adventure, was performing well, but lost time after he miscalculated a tricky time-check point on the first day of the rally. Sohail was going strong on the second day, and Raid officials said his overall timing might have improved today.
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Contestants stuck in traffic jam at
Bhuntar-Bailey bridge
Kullu, October 6 The single-lane bridge is a regular cause of annoyance for local residents and commuters alike, especially during the tourist season. With the ongoing Dasehra season, the tourist influx to the valley had increased, thereby causing traffic jam at the Bhuntar-Bailey bridge. Despite protests by residents and multiple assurances by the authorities concerned, the plight of the bridge remains unchanged. The bridge acts as the main passage for vehicular traffic, connecting the Kullu bypass road and the entire traffic is diverted through this bridge. Besides, most of the tourists prefer this route to get to Kullu town or move ahead to Manali. The bridge also acts as the sole link connecting Parla Bhuntar and the Parbati valley to the Bhuntar town. Residents rued that the concrete bridge was washed away in the 1995 floods. Since then, no efforts or proposals had been made to expand the existing stop-gap arrangement, functioning for the past two decades. The lone private hospital in the region is also located on the Bhuntar-Manikaran road connected through this bridge and patients have to bear the hardships in case of medical emergencies. Meanwhile, the orchardists of the Parbati valley, who need to
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Illegal constructions galore
Shimla, October 6 The government set the ball rolling during the Budget session in February this year and brought an amendment bill to regularise deviations up to 70 per cent, which was an all-time high and the bill was sent to the Select Committee, but could not be passed even after the committee gave its recommendations during the monsoon session as the House was adjourned sine die prematurely amid ruckus. The government did not fix any cutoff date for the regularisation of illegal constructions and kept it open ended. The HP Town and Country Planning (amendment) Ordinance, 2014, promulgated on September 6, 2014, said that all illegal constructions carried out on or before the commencement of the ordinance shall be eligible for regularisation, thereby meaning that the additional constructions carried out from February to September would also be covered for exemption. The government has withdrawn the controversial ordinance and said that a fresh ordinance would be issues but is dithering on deciding the cutoff date. In the past eight months, constructions are going on in various towns, including the most sensitive Shimla Municipal Corporation areas, but the authorities have turned a blind eye. The proposals floated by the government also permitted raising the number of storeys up to six which was a high-risk proposition in the earthquake-prone area, but powerful lobbies are at work to ensure that the another ordinance be issued immediately to give relief to “law breakers”. Senior retired engineer RL Justa has urged Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to have fresh look on the proposals. He said: “Not only the fragile ecology of the state would be damaged, but it would also be a great setback for law-abiding citizens, who have resisted the temptation of carrying out massive illegal constructions.” As per the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act, deviations up to 10 per cent could be regularised, but the proposed amendments provide for the regularisation of deviations up to 70 per cent was preposterous, he added. The BJP has not opposed the amendments, but alleged that this would not benefit the poor. The party said the entire exercise was focused on regularising the deviations of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee office. The government has already reduced the rates for compounding illegal constructions by 50 per cent, but it would benefit big sharks more than poor people, feel old Shimlaites, who have been watching the gradual decay of the Queen of Hills.
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Weapons become thieves’ new fancy
Hamirpur, October 6 The administration does not have any data on the exact number of fire arms owned by people in the district. There is no official record of the total number of armed licenses that have been issued. As the graph of crime is increasing alarmingly, theft of weapons has also become a major cause of concern. It was only after several cases of arms thefts that the administration has now swung into action to collect data of the licensed weapons. Additional Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Shekhar Chaudhary said the licensing branch had been put on the task to enlist the licensees. The entire record, since 1972, was being updated and the process might take three months’ time. Sources said till now details of 1,500 licencees had been recorded, though, as per a rough estimate, there could be around 3,500 arms licenses issued by the district administration. Some people could also be possessing illegal arms. Recently, a person was seriously injured in a shootout at Niyati village and the police were unable to nab the culprit. The victim is still under treatment at the PGI, Chandigarh. Last year, two guns were stolen from Swahal village near here, which the police failed to trace. Hamirpur became a district in 1972, after the reorganisation of Punjab hill states for the creation of Himachal Pradesh. Since then, the district administration is issuing licenses to public for self protection and protection of crops form wild animals. But unfortunately, the guns are being used for poaching and other criminal activities. There have been numerous instances in which these weapons were misused and are now lying in police custody.
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Grant of mining lease delayed, residents face high costs
Shimla, October 6 The state government had sent the names of the chairman and members of the EIA Committee, but the NGT did not approve them, maintaining that he should be a known environmentalist. Now the government has sent another name and the clearance is awaited. The procedural delay is costing the local people heavily as the rates of construction material have gone sky-high and with the expiry of the existing lease, the situation is turning from bad to worse. About 150 cases for mining lease are pending with the NGT, while 85 cases are struck up in the state. The government is contemplating to send these cases also to the NGT. The tribunal’s condition that the mining lease in river beds will not be granted for less than 5 hectare area has caused serious concerns as the river beds in the state are not so wide and people prefer extraction in small areas. The NGT put the condition in response to the Union Environment and Forest Ministry which said it was difficult to monitor mining activities in areas smaller than five hectares. Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri had also met Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Prakash Javadekar and explained to him the difficulties being faced by the people, but nothing has been done so far. He said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had also taken up the matter with Javadekar. Auctions of the mines are held up due to delay in clearing cases pending with the NGT and the government has now urged the tribunal to clear the cases pertaining to river basins in Una, Kangra and Hamirpur districts and the Yamuna basin in Sirmaur.
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Israeli national held with charas
Kullu, October 6 DSP Sanjay Sharma said a case under Section 20 of the NDPS Act had been registered and the accused sent to police custody for three days. SP Surinder Verma said the district police had intensified its anti-charas drive to curb the illegal drug trade from the valley.
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Congress to woo young voters through social networking sites
Shimla, October 6 Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) President Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu today presided over the meeting of party’s social media department. Even though some Congress leaders, including ministers and MLA’s, are quite active on various social networking sites such as twitter, facebook and WhatsApp, majority are still not conversant with such channels which in today’s times are the most-effective means to reach out to young voters. In Himachal, 45.86 per cent of the electorate is below the age of 40 years. There are 62,133 youngsters in the age group of 18 to 19 years, 10,22,690 in the 20 to 29 age group and 11,60,683 in the 30 to 40 group. “Considering the importance of youth, especially those below the age of 40, in any election, it is imperative that we reach out to them with our party’s ideology and the achievements and welfare schemes launched by our government,” he said. He said the party was preparing its data base separately for youth between the age of 18 and 19 years, 20 and 30 years and 30 and 40 years. “Social media is a very effective and powerful medium to reach out to a maximum number of people in the shortest-possible time and within very limited resources. So why not make its optimum use?” he stressed. He said in a state like Himachal, which had severe geographical constraints, social media was a very useful medium. All block and district units would be connected through social networking sites such as facebook and WhatsApp to give people a chance to connect with their leaders and representatives. “Besides this, BCC and DCC office-bearers will be asked to give updates regarding their functioning and other developmental schemes of the state government to the general public through their respective pages on social networking sites,” Sukhu said. He said this would help the party in reaching out to a maximum number of people living in far-flung and remote area of the state. Sukhu also discussed the strategy for popularising Himachal Congress on social media platforms and also took suggestions from office-bearers as to how the party could widen its reach among online media-savvy younger generation.
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Poaching threat looms large over Hamirpur forests
Hamirpur, October 6 Poachers even venture into forests of Peer Saluhi and Santla at the border areas of Hamirpur, Una and Kangra districts, as they can easily escape from here. They not only kill wild animals for personal consumption, but for earning extra bucks as they sell meat in black. The meat of wild animal is considered better than that of livestock such as goat, ram reared by humans. Poachers prey on wild boars, porcupines, barking deer, rabbits, sambhar deer, partridge and peahens among other animals. They kill leopards as its skin is sold at a very high price. Forest Department officials said poachers use fire arms, steel traps and even poison to kill wild animals. Pardeep Thakur, Conservator of Forest, said the department was in the process of forming flying squads and the field staff had already been put on alert to protect the wildlife. “The Forest Department will keep a strict vigil during winters to protect thousands of migratory birds that land in this area,” he said. Notably, the protection of migratory birds is a tough task for the Forest Department as over 50 species of birds migrate to the district, especially to Balla Tapu near Nadaun, hence poaching has becomes a major threat here. He said: “We have not received any complaint of poaching so far, but we have activated our mechanism against poaching. This will help in protecting our forest property as well.” Superintendent of Police Ajay Bodh said: “Hunting is prohibited and anyone found poaching will be booked and brought to law. With the help of people, we can provide better protection, not only to wildlife but to the society as well.” The Forest Department and the police, however, denied that any such illegal activity was going on.
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Job-hopping technical staff losing out on benefits
Solan, October 6 Not only has investment declined to a trickle and expansion of the existing industries drastically reduced, the existing units are scaling down their employee strength due to decline in production. The spare labour force is thus looking for new jobs and do not hesitate to switch to new industrial units for the lure of some extra remuneration. Though the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) had introduced online registration of employees, which is compulsory within 10 days, such employees failed to be registered by an employer as they were employed on contract and are not retained even for a year, after which an employee is confirmed. Arun Rawat, president, Himachal chapter of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), said the situation was tougher for the fresh pass outs of professional courses as even engineering, pharmacy and management graduates failed to get jobs due to decline in investment. The prime concern of the investors was to ensure sustainability as the prevailing recession had failed to fetch new investment in the state’s industrial hub of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh, he added. Despite dire shortage of unskilled labour in the area, few youth came forward to opt for such jobs and their shortage persisted throughout the year, he said. Human Resources (HR) head of a leading pharmaceutical unit, on the condition of anonymity, said the technically trained youth hopped jobs every few months as they get a higher package and this had made it difficult to retain them. He confirmed that such employees did not care much for benefits like the EPF and gratuity as the units where production was low often had adequate spare force. Such employees constituted nearly 35 per cent of an industrial unit. The trend of poaching of experienced technical staff was on the rise in the present scenario, he added. The industry would further face shortage of migrant labour, who do loading, unloading and other such jobs, with the festival season leading to exodus of such labourers to their parent states.
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Dasehra sports festival concludes
Kullu, October 6 During his address, he appealed to the youth to refrain from drug abuse. He appreciated the efforts of the Dasehra Sports Festival Committee for promoting sports and other activities to keep the youth far from the clutches of drugs. Earlier, Chairman of the committee SP Surinder Verma welcomed the chief guest. Later, the minister presented awards to the winning teams of various events.
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Ex-minister blames govt for road mishap
Mandi, October 6 He said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Transport Minister GS Bali were responsible for the poor condition of roads and collapse of the traffic and road safety process in the state. He urged the Governor to increase the relief amount (from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh) to be paid to kin of those killed in road accidents in the past two years.
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Stolen car found, culprit held
Nurpur, October 6 The police alerted surrounding police stations and chowkis. The police found the car parked on a roadside as it had developed a fault at Dagla near Indora last evening and the accused was trying to rectify it. The police took the car into their possession and nabbed the accused, identified as Harminder Singh of Rehan. A case under Section 379, IPC, was registered against him. Harminder was produced in the court, which sent him to two-day police remand today. |
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HP inks pact with Dutch firm for ‘zero waste’ status
Shimla, October 6
The Urban Development Department will provide all field-level assistance to the company for undertaking the study which will be completed in six months. The study will cover three clusters, namely Dharamsala-Kangra, Shimla-Solan and Mandi-Kullu-Manali-Sundernagar. This agreement is the result of the mutual technical cooperation meetings between delegations of the Netherlands, headed by Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador of the Netherlands, and Sudhir Sharma, Urban Development Minister, held here in June. The problems being faced in municipal waste management in the state will be taken care of with the expertise of the Netherlands in the field of waste management. The Dutch side will be providing technological and management solution to the problems being faced by almost all major urban centres in the state, including tourist destinations. Other important sectors in which Himachal has sought technical know-how from the Netherlands are urban and regional planning, city development plan, water management, sewerage, transport management, saving of energy and capacity building for all urban local bodies in the state. The state government has already sent a proposal to the Government of India for including two cities of the state under the City Sanitation Plan being funded by the Netherlands. Certain towns of Himachal will also be developed as model towns for energy efficiency and this experiment will help the state to take steps for saving energy. Captain Pathania said Nexus Novus would be assisting the state in finding an appropriate technological and management solution and a policy framework required in the field of waste management through the feasibility study. He said the Urban Development Department would launch a mass community mobilisation drive throughout the state to involve all communities in waste management. He said the focus of this drive would be on the segregation of waste at source. He said the community mobilisation drive had already been started in Dharamsala and Sundernagar towns. |
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Health research challenges for medical colleges discussed
Kangra, October 6 Dr Anil Chauhan, Principal,Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, yesterday said Dr Bhardwaj elaborated on the details of the Tanda model in research that triggered the initiation of research activities in peripheral medical colleges and was followed by other medical colleges of the country. As a nodal officer for HIV/AIDS in Himachal Pradesh, Dr Bhardwaj was invited by the International Epidemiologists Association (IEA) to speak on “Challenges and the way forward” to win the battle against HIV/AIDS in the South-East Asian region in an international conference held recently. Dr Chauhan said Bhardwaj was a distinguished teacher in public health discipline. His expertise in public health practice was often shared at different levels of meetings in the state, country and world, he added. He said along with a member apex committee and various project review committees (PRCs) of the Indian Council of Medical Research, his efforts had been acknowledged all over the country. Dr Bhardwaj was currently the national president of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM). He was also the Chairman of the ZTF (Zonal Task Force: North), along with Chairman of the State Task Force: Himachal Pradesh (STF ) and worked for the involvement of Medical Colleges in Revised National Tuberculosis Programme (RNTCP). He continue to extend his services as a facilitator for capacity building of young public health professionals in various national health programmes for tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, reproductive and child health, vector borne diseases.
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Woman commits suicide
Solan, October 6 As per preliminary investigations undertaken by the police, the victim was in an advanced stage of pregnancy and suffering from depression due to earlier miscarriages though her parental family blamed the in-laws for these. Her husband Dheeraj, who worked in a private company, was residing with other family members in the servant quarters. The police had started inquest proceedings under Section 174, CrPC. The postmortem will be conducted tomorrow.
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1 killed as van falls into gorge
Dalhousie, October 6 The police had registered a case and started investigation, the report added. — OC |
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Driver killed, 18 hurt as bus falls into gorge
Mandi, October 6 The SP said other injured, including four women and four children, were taken to a hospital at Aani in Kullu district. Sources said the bus (HP-66-1431), going from Kasog to Aani, fell into a nearly 400-m-deep gorge as the driver had lost control on the vehicle. Soon after the accident, local residents rushed to the site and took the injured to the nearest hospital in their own vehicles. The SP, Gohar, SDM Dile Ram, Kasog SDM Vivek Chauhan and other officials of the district administration also visited the spot.
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Nurse killed in accident
Hamirpur, October 6 The police registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the husband and handed over the body to the relatives after a postmortem. |
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Youth dies in road mishap
Kullu, October 6
The deceased was identified as Ranjan (20) of Ridu village in Mandi district. The injured, Piyush of Bhatgran village near Bhuntar, had been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh. SP Surinder Verma said a case under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A, IPC, had been registered and the body handed over to the relatives after a postmortem. |
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Palampur-Pathankot train service restored
Palampur, October 6 Official sources said in the first phase only two trains were flagged off while other trains would be made operational in the next few days. The first train from Palampur to Pathankot left at 8 am, while the second left in the afternoon. Night trains on this section would also be made operational soon as train engines were under repair at Paprola workshop. Besides, new coaches with the latest technology had been procured by the Railways recently and these would also be added to the trains plying on this section. At present, seven trains are plying on this route daily, passing through Nurpur, Jwali, Jwalamukhi, Kangra, Nagrota Bagwan, Chamunda, Palampur, Baijnath and Joginder Nagar, which are also the major tourist attractions of the state. However, all the 33 railway stations of the Kangra valley railway line lack basic facilities like drinking water, cleanliness and waiting room for the passengers. A dozen railway stations have been functioning from one room. Patti, Chauntra, Paror and Chamunda railway stations have no room for the passengers to sit. These stations do not even have a temporary shed to save the passengers from inclement weather. On Track
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Mysterious fire incidents leave Nurpur family in distress
Nurpur, October 6 During a visit to the family’s home last evening, Parkash Chand, alias Pasho, the house owner, showed the recently burnt beddings and other items. Even after spending thousands of rupees after falling prey to tantriks to rectify the problem, he could not ascertain the reason behind the unnatural predicament, he said. The mysterious fire incidents have engulfed a number of household items like refrigerator, clothes, foodgrains and beddings during the past two years. The fire had no fix time or schedule and could break out any time. He had tried his best to control it, he added. The hapless family has seven members and the younger son, Tinku, recently lost his job due to the calamity. He worked for a private security company as a marshal guard and the bag containing his uniform and job documents caught fire. He was sacked saying that a person who could not guard his uniform and personal belongings could not do his duty. Krishna Devi, pradhan of the Suliali gram panchayat, said the family had been suffering from this unnatural calamity for the past two years. Last year, the fire had engulfed the roof of the living room and the incident was reported to the government. The local administration had released ~2,500 as financial relief to the family, she said.
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SJVNL gets gold plate award for health services
Shimla, October 6 As per a press note, the award was given by Lise Grande, UN resident co-coordinator and UNDP resident representative, at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, to SJVNL managers Bijay Prasad, KL Vashishta and Awadhesh Prasad. SJVNL, through mobile health vans, had provided free medical consultancy and medicines to over 1.5 lakh needy persons. It also provided healthcare services through specialised health camps to more than 25,000 persons in the states of Himachal, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Maharashtra under its Corporate Social Responsibility Policy. SJVNL had also organised 30 specialised health camps during the last financial year, while 40 specialised health camps were being organised during the current financial year, the note said.
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Samiti holds refresher course for teachers
Una, October 6 The samiti, being run and managed by retired government teachers and philanthropists, has appointed 32 teachers, who are paid honorarium from contributions made by its members. Samiti president Chitt Vilas Pathak and secretary Succha Singh Kang said the members raised funds to make a monthly payment of Rs 1 lakh as honorarium to the staff. Besides, they said the samiti distributed uniforms, notebooks and scholarships to students belonging to poor families and studying in government schools. Samiti adviser Prem Rajput said next month, they would distribute 800 sweaters and 700 shoes to deserving students. They said their efforts were to upgrade the quality of education in understaffed schools. Teachers were also given tips on trauma management and first aid at the school level by former Chief Medical officer Shiv Paul Kanwar, management of special children by Shailza Sharma and Anjali Saini and healthy food for a fit body by food technology specialist Rohit Verma.
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Medical college in Chamba in the offing
Chamba, October 6 Sudarshan said Harsh, during his tenure as Cabinet minister, had opened the government millennium polytechnic college, college of education, constructed major market complexes, a new building for government post-graduate college, museum administration blocks and other educational and health institutions in the area. The medical college would be built soon in a phased manner, Sudarshan Thakur added.
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Mayo boys win hockey tourney
Solan, October 6 In the final match of the tournament, played last evening, Mayo College boys defeated Motilal Nehru Sports School, Rai, Sonepat, 2-1. Sheresh scored both the goals for Mayo College and bagged the highest scorer award. Anshu Hooda of Pinegrove School walked away with the best upcoming player award. The best goalkeeper award was taken by Viraj of Mayo College while Ashish of Moti Lal Nehru School emerged as the best defender. The player of the tournament award was bagged by Shivam of Mayo College.
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Shimla/Keylong, October 6
Kullu, October 6
The vacillating stand of the government on the latest retention policy, which is still on the anvil, has opened the “floodgates” for illegal construction in Shimla and other towns in the state.
Unscrupulous elements, enthused by government announcements that deviations up to 70 per cent, including those on setbacks, would be allowed, are constructing extra storeys and opening basements in a tearing haste to reap maximum benefits.
With a view to making Himachal “zero waste” state, the state government signed a feasibility study agreement with a Dutch company, Nexus Novus, here today.
The agreement was signed between Capt JM Pathania, Director, Urban Development, and Rutger De Brujin, Managing Director, Nexus Novas. The study will cost about Rs 40 lakh and the entire cost will be borne by Nexus
Novus.
Palampur, October 6
Nurpur, October 6
Shimla, October 6
