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Decide fate of Rampur project, Gas agency given to martyr’s kin CM’s assurance on autonomy of
HP varsity |
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Teachers hail Verma’s
elevation as VC CM inaugurates Winter Carnival
Plea to rationalise promotions of graduate engineers
Abducted boy rescued 3 chosen for best scientist awards Dogs devour master’s body
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Decide fate of Rampur project, says Centre Shimla, January 2 At present 1,732 employees, including 1,108 on secondment from the board, are working on the Nathpa Jhakri project being executed by the nigam. However, after the commissioning of the project only 950 employees will be retained for the operational and maintenance. Since the nigam has its own staff of 624, over 760 employees of the board will have to be sent back over the next four months. Mr R.V. Sahi, Union Secretary, Power, who was here to discuss the issue with the state early this week, expressed concern over the inordinate delay in taking a decision whether the project was to be assigned to the nigam or the state power board. He tried to drive home the point that expeditious and cost-effective implementation of the project was more important than the choice of executing agency. He also indicated that in case the project was allotted to some other agency then the nigam would charge the cost of supplying desilted water for the downstream project. The state and the Centre came close to signing an MoU for the Rampur project more than once but stiff opposition from employees of the board who wanted all matters concerning service conditions of the deputationists to be settled to their satisfaction came in way. The Centre is no longer keen on having a huge workforce on deputation and wants to take the board staff on permanent absorption basis to avoid a clash of interests. The central public undertakings and the state electricity board have different service rules and pay structure. It is not feasible to have two sets of rules in the same organisation. The thrust of the new power policy is on reducing the cost generation and with this objective in view stringent norms for deployment of manpower have been fixed. In case of thermal power projects, only 1.5 person per mw will be deployed at the operation stage and in hydro power projects the ratio will be half of it. Mr Sahi cited the example of the 800 MW Kol Dam project in this regard. It is being got executed with a staff strength of just 120. In fact, generation cost will be the main criterion for approval of power projects. The Centre is keen to peg the cost of hydel power in the range of Rs 2 to Rs 2.40 per unit. |
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Gas agency given to martyr’s kin faces closure Nurpur, January 2 She said the gas agency had been allocated by the Indian Government on October 31, 2002. The District Magistrate, Kangra, through a notification, had earmarked the distribution of cooking gas connections and refills in a 15-km rural area of Fatehpur in Jawali subdivision. She alleged that due to the apathy of the Himachal Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, her gas agency was facing closure as the corporation had not stopped its cooking gas supply in the area earmarked for the Martyr Ashok Kumar Gas Agency. Despite her requests to the District Magistrate and the Food and Civil Supplies authorities, Kangra, all cooking gas consumers in her distribution area have not shifted to her agency. The authorities of the Food and Civil Supplies Corporation, Nurpur, said so far only 925 gas connections had been transferred to the gas agency and more connections would be transferred in the near future. |
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Hamirpur bids adieu to martyr Hamirpur, January 2 Touching scenes were witnessed when Mukul Sharma, younger brother of the martyr, lit the pyre amid raising of slogans of “Martyr Mridul Sharma zindabad” and “Pakistan ho barbad”. Many persons broke down on the occasion. A state funeral was accorded to the martyr. Senior officers of the district administration and the Army, belonging to 514 AD Regiment, were present at the crematorium to salute the valiant officer. Jawans of the Army and the Hamirpur police reversed their arms and fired shots in the air before the pyre was lit. Mr Chander Kumar, Himachal Forest Minister, represented the state government, while the BJP team was led by Mr Prem Kumar Dhumal, former Chief Minister, to pay their respects to the martyr. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Devesh Kumar, the ADM, Mr K.D. Lakhanpal, the SP, Mr P.L. Thakur, and Army officers from various regiments also paid tributes to Mridul. Traders of Hamirpur town observed a complete bandh after they got the news of the arrival of the martyr’s body from Jammu. Even tea stall owners and rehriwalas attended the cremation. Earlier, the body was brought here from Rajouri in an Army vehicle. The body was taken to the Hathli Khad crematorium through the main bazaar after the martyr’s mother, Ms Sudesh Sharma, and other members of the family performed the pre-cremation rituals. Ms Sudesh Sharma asked the mourners not to weep as her son had made the supreme sacrifice for the nation. She, however, broke down when the coffin was lifted on way to the crematorium. Col J.K.Sharma, his father, said,” I’m proud of my son. We send our children to defend our nation and in the process many sacrifice their lives. Mridul was among those who made the nation proud by safeguarding the Indian territory from intruders”. Hundreds of residents of the town, including leaders of various political parties and other organisations, including the Hamirpur Bar Association, besides former students of the Hamirpur Kendriya Vidyalaya, where Mridul had studied, today mourned his death and offered their condolences to the bereaved family. |
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CM’s assurance on autonomy of
HP varsity Shimla, January 2 Addressing teachers, students and employees after inaugurating a new block of the boys hostel, he said the vigilance inquiry against Dr Sharma would be taken to its logical conclusion. The government only wanted to restore the image of the university which nosedived over the past two years. He said the government was keen to develop the university as an exalted centre of higher learning and funds would not be a constraint. He said the 52 bighas in possession of the government belonging to the university at Potters Hill would be returned and another five bighas allotted for the construction of tribal hostel. He also assured that adequate funds provided for the proper upkeep of buildings on the campus. |
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Teachers hail Verma’s
elevation as VC Shimla, January 2 The Himachal Pradesh University Teachers Association has hailed the elevation of the seniormost professor of the university as Vice-Chancellor and urged the government to appoint the Registrar from among the senior teachers. The association has been demanding that all statutory posts in the university like the Registrar, Controller of Examinations, Dean of College Development Council, and Secretary to the Vice-Chancellor should be filled from among the teachers only. These posts were not purely of administrative nature but also required academic inputs which could be provided by the teachers only, the association said. It also urged the government to immediately lift the ban on the filling of teaching posts, amend the Himachal Pradesh University Act to pave way for the election of Professors and Readers to the executive council, increase the tenure of heads of the Teaching Departments for three years, restore the recent budgetary cut of 30 per cent in the university grants and revised the age of superannuation of teachers to 62 years from 60 years as per the UGC rules. |
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CM inaugurates Winter Carnival Manali, January 2 Earlier, artistes drawn from various parts of the country assembled at Hadimba Devi Temple, where a pooja was performed. After the pooja a colourful procession was taken out from the temple to Manu Rangshala at Neru Park, popularly known as Ram Bagh, in which local artistes and villagers also participated. The procession included tableaux displaying tradition and folk arts of Kulu and other parts of the country. In the procession local mandals and yuvak mandals from nearby areas played a major role. In the carnival 23 troupes comprising 700 participants will perform. The main attraction is the “Winter queen” contest. Mr Virbhadra Singh also laid the foundation stone of a bridge to be constructed over the Aleo nullah on the Manali-Naggar road and inaugurated a press room at Manali. |
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Cabinet meeting rescheduled Dharamsala, January 2 Disclosing this a spokesperson for the district administration said the change had been made as the Chief Minister would come to Kangra on January 9 instead of January 5 for his winter stay. |
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Plea to rationalise promotions of graduate engineers Sundernagar, January 2 In a representation to the Chief Minister, the association said graduate civil engineers were facing stagnation with regard to their promotion to the post of Senior Executive Engineer from that of Assistant Executive Engineer, even after completing more than 19 years of service. It said diploma holders were getting promotion to this post much earlier than degree holders. In the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation and the National Thermal Power Corporation, graduate engineers are being promoted to the post of Chief Engineer. The association has demanded that for promotion, the quota system of 3:1 three graduate engineers to one diploma engineer should be followed as it would be helpful in the smooth functioning of the board. |
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3 chosen for best scientist awards Kangra, January 2 Dr Tej Partap, Vice-Chancellor of the university, addressing faculty members today, said Dr Ajai Srivastava and Dr Sanjay Choudary would get awards for their work on anti-feedant and repellent formulation from eupatorium leaf extract and Dr Sant Prakash for his scientific extension work. |
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Abducted boy rescued Solan, January 2 His interrogation revealed that the gang comprised two youths, Chandan and Manoj. They had planned to abduct the child to make easy money and had decided to catch a train to Delhi where they intended to keep the child with an acquaintance at Shakarpur. They had planned to seek ransom of Rs 50,000 from the child’s father who is a labour contractor at Barotiwala. The police flashed messages to the Kalka and Chandigarh police and alerted the general railway police. The train leaving for Delhi was checked but no success was achieved. However, a scooter bearing a Chandigarh number used by the accused was found from the site, revealing their presence at the Kalka railway station. |
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Nahan, January 2 The police said today that Sharda Devi, 85, died at her residence in Upper Street in the town. As she was staying all alone, none came to know of her death. Before her death, she locked herself in her house along with her pet dogs. The police said Sharda Devi, who worked as a maid, was fond of keeping dogs. After the death of their ‘master’, the dogs had no one left to feed them. Moreover, they could not go out as the main entrance of the house was locked. The hungry dogs fed on her body. The police was informed by neighbours of the victim when they noticed that the captive dogs barked continuously from inside the house.
The police broke open the front entrance and to their astonishment discovered that the upper portion of the body had been eaten by the dogs. — UNI |
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