 |
| Thursday, August 9, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
HP’s bid
to increase IGMC seats HP in Rs
5,000 cr debt: Virbhadra Attack on
Dalai Lama: probe sought Engineers
flay Nathpa corpn on Rampur project Poll
campaign for SCA in full swing |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Council
to inspect homes for children Himurja
office without power HRTC
inspectors to work to rule Shortage
of Kisan Vikas Patras Punjabi
teachers in schools sought Sirmaur
agro project scrapped MARKET PULSE Workers
for removal of corporate heads Girl
commits suicide Landslips
cause traffic hazards
|
|
HP’s bid to
increase IGMC seats Shimla, August 8 The college, initially, had 65 seats in the MBBS course. These were increased to 100 in 1994-95 without the approval of the MCI. While the council refused to accord recognition for the excess seats, the government kept admitting new batches of students every year. Finally, when the council threatened to withdraw recognition to the college on the grounds that it lacked requisite staff and infrastructure for 100 seats, the government had no option but to reduce the number of seats to 65 again. The government now again proposes to approach the MCI for increasing the number of seats. It has decided to set up a committee of senior faculty members to inspect the facilities so that the shortfall in infrastructure and staff could be made up. The committee will submit its report within a month. It has already sent requisition to the state public service commission for the recruitment of 18 more teachers. The required infrastructure will be provided on the basis of the report of the committee. Senior doctors of the college, however, wonder from where the government will bring the additional staff when it has not been able to do so for Tanda Medical College, which is yet to get recognition. In fact, the government had been deputing staff from Indira Gandhi Medical College everytime the MCI team visits the Tanda college for inspection. Besides, over the past three years, a large number of professors, associate professors and assistant professors from the IGMC had been shifted to Tanda. If the MCI conducts a joint inspection of both colleges, it may have to derecognise the IGMC where the strength of the teaching staff has been declining. The functioning of the IGMC has been severely affected due to the shifting of most of the senior doctors to Tanda. Also in a bid to fulfil the requirement of staff at Tanda, even those not eligible have been promoted as professors. Meanwhile, the fate of the students admitted against the unauthorised 35 seats from 1994-95 to 1997-98 is hanging in the balance. The first batch will pass out shortly. In all, 140 students were admitted against these seats. |
|
HP in Rs
5,000 cr debt: Virbhadra Mandi, August 8 “We had taken only a loan of Rs 800 crore in February, 1998, of which Rs 305 crore had been left unspent when the BJP-HVC government came to power in the state. Subsequently, the ruling combine took a loan of Rs 2,300 crore and proposed in the 2001-2002 Budget to take another loan of Rs 2,370 crore,” he said. Mr Virbhadra Singh said the BJP government had brought out a “white paper” on the financial affairs of the Congress between 1992 and 1998. He demanded a similar “white paper for the period of the BJP rule, containing details about the special assistance received from the Centre. When asked about the cause of the financial crises, he said financial mismanagement, extravagance and lack of experience had brought about bankruptcy in the state. He declared that all “anti-people” decisions taken by the BJP government, such as users charges in hospitals, would be reversed when the Congress would come to power. PALAMPUR: Mr Virbhadra Singh, addressing a press conference here on Wednesday said development in the state was restricted only to two or three constituencies. He said it was a matter of concern that Kangra, the largest district in the state, was being ignored by the government. He alleged that funds had not been sanctioned for several important projects in the district in the past two years. He alleged that an important functionary of the Himachal Government had purchased 5 kanals of land at Palampur at a very high rate but the sale deed was registered at Rs 5 lakh only. |
|
Attack on
Dalai Lama: probe sought Shimla, August 8 Addressing a press conference here today, he said there could be a foreign hand behind the attack, which had shocked the Buddhist world over. There were many questions which required an answer. For instance why the Dalai Lama was taken to Dharamsala via Jammu when the area was under curfew due to killings? Was his programme leaked? Could a leader provided with Z plus security be attacked so easily? What had hurt the Buddhists the most was the fact that the Government of India had not expressed regrets over the incident so far. It was for the first time that the Dalai Lama, who had been moving around across the world, was attacked in such a manner. The government had only reacted to his statement and not the attack which left his car damaged. The incident would tarnish India’s image in the world community. The silence of the Indian Government was baffling as it had been repeatedly saying that the Dalai Lama was an honoured guest, he added. |
|
Engineers
flay Nathpa corpn on Rampur project Shimla, August 8 Mr Suneel Grover, general secretary of the association, said the acting chairman had not made any real effort to remove the major irritants, which had soured the relationship between the direct recruits of the corporation and the seconded staff. He had during his visit to the project on April 7 assured that the issue of “equivalence” of posts of the direct recruits and the seconded staff would be resolved within a month. However, more than four months had passed since, but no further action had been taken in the matter. Moreover, the so-called order granting financial benefits to the seconded staff proved detrimental to the interests of board engineers whose salaries were reduced and certain perks like attached vehicles were withdrawn. Mr Grover said this type of step-motherly treatment being meted out to the board engineers and staff was highly objectionable and could not be tolerated. Granting of any package or whatsoever without notifying the equivalences as agreed to in 1999 was of no consequence. The settlement in 1999-2000 was arrived at after the personal intervention of the Chief Minister and it should be adopted in letter and in spirit without any further delay, he added. The association expressed anguish over the matter in which the senior officers of the board were being marginalised by the Nathpa Jhakri Power Corporation authorities by inducting relatively junior officers of the NHPC and placing them in important components of the project, heretofore being looked after by board engineers. |
|
Poll campaign
for SCA in full swing Shimla, August 8 The campaign is being spearheaded by the Students Federation of India (SFI), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and National Students Union of India (NSUI). The SFI and ABVP are running neck and neck in the contest. The SFI candidates for various posts are president — Mr Sudhir Dutta; vice-president — Mr Vigender Mehra; general secretary — Mr Kuldeep Bhardwaj; joint secretary — Mr Ranjeet Chauhan. The
ABVP candidates for respective posts are: Mr Narinder Atri, Mr Sudarshan Saknha, Mr Vikram Banshtu and Mr Shashi Kant Sharma and the NSUI candidates are; Mr D.D. Kashyap, Mr Joginder Derta, Mr Kamal Kishor and Mr Pankaj Dhiman. Posters have been pasted on the walls of the campus and colleges. Activists of various students organisations are actively canvassing for their candidates. Last year the SFI made a clean sweep of the poll by winning all seats. There is much
enthusiasm among the students organisations about the election in various colleges here. Government College, Sanjauli, RKMV, Kotshira colleges have formed their panels and the campaign is in full swing. |
|
Council to
inspect homes for children Shimla, August 8 The meeting was presided over by Dr Suraj Bhan, Governor, who underlined the importance of voluntary organisations in serving society. He said such organisations helped in supplementing the welfare and developmental works and should be activated towards helping the poor and the needy. He also emphasised the need for making voluntary organisations self-reliant, besides infusing a spirit of selfless service and compassion among their members. He stressed the need for paying proper attention and taking due care of the destitute and physically challenged children. He said homes for the destitute and physically challenged children should be properly maintained and their progress monitored regularly. Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister, stressed the need for imparting training to the inmates of these homes in various trades with a view to making them self-dependent. He suggested to the Child Welfare Council to carry out practical schemes for the welfare of the children and concentrate more on strengthening the existing “bal ashrams” and homes being run by it rather than opening new centres. He said schemes should be implemented in a time-bound manner to avoid escalation in cost. He asked the council to avoid duplication of welfare works by choosing only unserved areas. The general body of the council approved the starting of four new anganwari training centres at Karsog, Dharamsala, Palampur and Hamirpur. |
|
Himurja office without
power Kulu, August 8 He lamented, that repeated requests and personal visits to the office concerned had yielded no result. The HPSEB told him that the department was having short supply of energy meters and PVC service wire. The Project Officer said the non-availability of power to the office has affected the repair works of the solar lights and other equipment had brought down the efficiency of the staff as their rooms are darks and without fans. The HPSEB authorities confirmed that there was a short supply of energy meters and PVC for many months. The Assistant Executive Engineer informed that more than 1000 applications, including 300 from the district headquarters, were pending for connection, in the eight sub-divisions of this division. He said only 10 per cent of the required supply was being given. The short supply of energy meters and PVC service wire appeared to be man-made. It was alleged by some of the unsuccessful applicants that HPSEB staff here advised them to buy energy meter and PVC from certain particular shop. It was also alleged that many have got out of turn connections by buying the meters and PVC from the open market or through political links. |
|
HRTC inspectors to work to rule Mandi, August 8 A spokesman for the association told mediapersons that the inspectors would not do touring for more than seven days in a month from September 1. They would go on inspection only if the advance travelling allowance would be given to them. The inspectors deputed on the bus stands would do duty for eight hours only because they were not being paid any overtime allowance. Similarly, the jackpot survey would not be done for more than eight hours. The association lamented that “step-motherly” treatment was being meted out to them in the grant of TD and DA. While officers and other staff were getting all allowances in accordance with the rules, the inspectors were being treated differently. The spokesman for the union said the Managing Director of the HRTC had assured the representatives of the union to reconsider their demands and had constituted a committee. Seven months had elapsed since the committee report was submitted to the MD, but the management had done nothing to redress the grievances of the
inspectors forcing them to work to rule. |
|
Shortage
of Kisan Vikas Patras Shimla, August 8 The spokesman has urged savings scheme agents and the public to bear with this difficulty and added that the Small Savings Department and the Postal Department are making efforts to overcome this shortage. He said the shortage of big denomination Kisan Vikas Patras was at the source and till this shortage was overcome, the people should buy Kisan Vikas Patras of small denominations. |
|
Punjabi
teachers in schools sought Shimla, August 8 A delegation of the dal led by Mr Harbhajan Singh, president submitted a memorandum to Mr Dhumal here today and demanded that Punjabi should also be taught at the sixth class level. It should also be taught in the schools in Shimla and Mandi districts. The memorandum demanded that the liquor shops and the club in the vicinity of the historic gurdwara at Poanta Sahib should be removed and the land transferred to the gurdwara. It demanded that reservation should be made for Sikhs in government jobs and the community should be represented in the services selection board. Hola Mohalla celebrated at Poanta Sahib should be declared a state-level fair. It demanded that all those residing in Himachal Pradesh should be given the rights to purchase land or houses. Sikhs should also be given representation in the district-level grievance committees. |
|
Sirmaur agro
project scrapped Nahan, August 8 Mr Kaushal said the state government had agreed to bear the total liabilities of the
SADP, amounting to nearly Rs 65 lakh. He clarified that now the property of the SADP would not be auctioned. He said there was no other way to stop further burden of liabilities on the SADP and to give its employees their pending dues under the VRS. According to reliable sources, in the governing body discussed at length that since the state government had agreed to bear the total liabilities of the
SADP, there was no need to keep this institution in existence. Moreover, a liability of Rs 5,000 was being added per day.
|
|
MARKET PULSE Parwanoo, August 8 The representatives of the management and the workers’ unions arrived at a four-point agreement under which all workers have been taken back on duty from August 6. The lay-off was initially declared from May 8, and it was clarified that the lay-off would be ended subject to the availability of raw material and sufficient orders. The workmen had also approached the high court for obtaining stay order against the lay-off which was not granted. During the three-month period, the workmen resorted to dharnas, gate meetings, slogan shouting even as the management had obtained injunction against all such activities from a Solan court. Amidst this deadlock, several rounds of discussions were held between the management and the workers’ union. The management had offered to partially end the lay-off and allow the workmen to work in batches as per the availability of raw material at different stages of production, but office-bearers of the workers’ union remained adamant and insisted that all workers should together be taken on duty for any period of duration for which the work could be made available to them. |
|
Workers for
removal of corporate heads Shimla, August 8 The committee, which met here today, criticised the move of the government to privatise 23 restaurants of the
HPTDC. The committee also opposed the move of the government to shift the headquarters of the Minority Finance and Development Corporation to Kangra. Mr Gripta said the committee in a unanimous resolution, urged the Chief Minister, Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, to ask the Chief Secretary to fix a meeting of the joint consulative committee of the corporate sector within 15 days to settle their 23-point demand charter. |
|
Girl commits suicide Kulu, August 8 The body of the deceased was found near Pirdi, which was retrieved and brought to the Zonal Hospital here for postmortem. Mr
N. Venugopal, Superintendent of Police, in a press note, said, the deceased had been staying with her brother-in-law since yesterday at Forest Colony here. The press note also stated a driver of the 103 construction company C/o 99 APO was found dead in a Haryana Roadways bus today. The driver Yoginder Singh, son of Mohinder Singh, resident of Alwar Haripur, Lakhouti police station, Bulandshehar district, Uttar Pradesh, was going to Satingri in Lahaul and Spiti district. Two cases have been registered under Section 174 of the CRPC. |
|
Landslips
cause traffic hazards Kasauli, August 8 The debris has worn away the sides of the roads at many points and this has affected motorists especially those driving at night. A number of vulnerable points on the highway have already given way. It takes a long time to repair the damaged roads, say PWD officials. Water-filled potholes create problems when vehicles get struck there. |
|
Chief Wildlife Warden’s
office shifted Hamirpur, August 8 The office was shifted here to bring efficiency in under a state Cabinet decision. |
|
Minister: HP 2nd in literacy Kulu, August 8 |
|
Truck falls into nullah, 4 dead Shimla, August 8 |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
