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ASI, govt lock horns over shifting Bali blames BJP for financial mess Services of four scientists terminated Varsity teachers submit demand Court allows students to take exam |
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Civic body approves budget Flesh trade racket comes to light A flesh trade racket in the region has come to light. The racket was unearthed while the police was trying to solve a murder case of a local eye surgeon, Dr Sudha Sood, and enquiries from a local hotel were being made in this regard. 
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ASI, govt lock horns over shifting of school Kangra, February 28 Encouraged by the evacuation of the Army from the Red Fort, the ASI has directed the Himachal Government to shift the school from the national monument. The government has, however, refused to shift the school citing the non-availability of a new building as reason. The school has a strength of 1,400 students. The Superintendent Archaeologist at Chandigarh, in a letter to the Director of Education, has asked him to shift the school. Mr Kishore Chand, Principal of the school, said the land for the school had been donated by the then king of Nurpur, Raja Jagat Singh, and the school had the same status as Swami Brij Raj Temple in the fort. The temple is run by a private management and the land had been donated by Raja Jagat Singh. The classes are held in the open even as pilgrims and tourists visit the fort, affecting the studies. State Education Minister Asha Kumari said the letter received by the government was not based on facts. She said the ASI had asked the government to shift the school to the newly constructed building of the Education Department outside the fort. However, the department had not constructed any new building. She said the Deputy Commissioner of Kangra had been directed to see if the school land had been transferred to the ASI. ASI sources under the condition of anonymity said as the monument was under threat by the presence of a large number of students, the shifting of the school was necessary. Chandigarh-based Superintendent Archaeologist Ram Sharan, whose office issued the letter, refused to give the details but said his office had no information about the letter. He said he was unaware that a school was running in the fort. |
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Bali blames BJP for financial mess Shimla, February 28 Addressing a press conference here he said the report had exposed how the BJP messed up the finances of the state. He said the BJP government took much credit for carrying out reforms but what it actually did had been revealed now. The government did not sign the MoU regarding reforms as a result of which the state was denied funds. Mr Bali claimed that the previous government started work on projects without proper planning and even without sanction. Referring to the overloading in buses he said a special drive would be launched to check it and those violating the conditions of route permit would be penalised. He said the government would come out with a transport policy which would take care of all aspects, including passenger transport services. He said the steps taken by the government had improved the functioning of the state road transport corporation and its income had increased by Rs 17.55 crore up to February 2004. |
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Services of four scientists terminated Solan, February 28 They were appointed in March 2002 during the BJP government’s tenure. It was alleged that the four had not only lacked the requisite three-year experience in drug-testing, but had managed appointments on political considerations. The matter was first highlighted by The Tribune in April last year. While scientists Arvind Sharma, Munish Kumar and Ripudaman were handed over termination letters by a specially sent messenger from the Director, Health Services, Shallu Sharma was away on maternity leave. The matter had generated hype in the course of investigation. While a criminal case had been registered by the Enforcement Department after experience certificates procured by Munish were found to be fake, the administrative inquiry had established irregularities in the appointments. The department had handed over its report to the government some time ago. The move comes at a time when Mr Dev Raj Sharma is being pressured to quit. |
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Varsity teachers submit demand charter to VC Shimla, February 28 The main demands include enhancement of the superannuation age of university teachers from 60 to 62 years as recommended by the University Grants Commission and lifting of the ban on filling of teaching posts. The association also demanded parity in interest rate on the general provident fund (GPF) with state government employees. It said employees of the university were incurring financial loss due to linking of interest
rate on GPF with the bank interest rate on deposits. |
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Court allows students to take exam Shimla, February 28 Petitioners who were admitted in the school to the medical stream
were denied roll numbers as they had not qualified their matriculation
with Hindi as subject. The petitioners had passed their examination
from a CBSE school in New Delhi where Hindi was not a compulsory
subject. It is compulsory to pass Hindi as a subject under the
Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education rules. They said no
objection was raised by the school at the time of admission or filling
the examination form therefore this action of suddenly denying them
the roll numbers was illegal. |
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Devotees throng Rewalsar Mandi, February 28 Dalai Lama will inaugurate the Tsechu Fair at 1.15 p.m. by lighting a lamp and cutting the ribbon at the entrance gate of the Rewalsar lake. Himachal Pradesh Governor V.S. Kokje will accompany the Dalai Lama. The fair is being celebrated for centuries by Buddhist devotees to commemorate the birthday of their guru, Padama Sambhava, on the 10th of the first month of every new year, according to the Tibetan Calendar (10th of Dawa Thangpo). Padama Sambhava came to Tibet from Nepal and preached Buddhism there in 747 AD. He meditated for many years on the banks of the sacred lake. According to Nagar Panchayat Rewalsar, about 5000 devotees have arrived there and more than 50,000 are expected to join the celebrations. All hotels in Mandi and Rewalsar are occupied. Mr A.R. Rizvi, District Commissioner, says a temporary colony equipped with basic amenities has been set up and security has been beefed up. On his arrival here tomorrow, Dalai Lama will garland the statute of Mahatama Gandhi around 10 a.m. |
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Civic body approves budget Hamirpur, February 28 The civic body has allotted Rs 94.80 lakh for development activities, Rs 40.65 lakh for the salary and other perks to the staff and Rs 25 lakh for streetlights and allied activities. Mr Ajmer Singh Thakur, Executive Officer of the civic body said no new taxes had been proposed in the budget. At the meeting, some members raised the issue of shifting of the civic body office to the Town Hall-cum-library complex without their consent. Mr Ajmer Singh justified its shifting, saying that it was done as per orders of the state government. |
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Flesh trade racket comes to light Solan, February 28 A scrutiny of phone calls received and made to the hotel revealed that a few numbers were frequently dialled from the hotel. This led the police to a woman in her late 20s who hails from the Habban area of Rajgarh and runs a dhaba at Nagali on the Kalka-Shimla Highway near Solan. The woman was detained for interrogation. Details of her cellphone bill, procured by the police from the telephone exchange, which ran into 51 pages for a single month, revealed that she had a widespread network. Numbers of surrounding areas, including Parwanoo, Shimla, Kalka, Baddi and Nalagarh were traced. As many as 80 to 100 calls were received each day. A majority of the calls were made from land lines, including PCOs and residential areas. The Superintendent of Police, Mr Abhishek Trivedi, said since their investigation was centered around the murder case of Dr Sudha, they were yet to get to the bottom of this case. He said investigations were on and the police was trying to ascertain whether Dr Sudha’s murder had anything to do with the fact that this trade was being carried out from a hotel where her husband worked. |
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Security to be stepped up in Chamba Chamba, February 28 The District Magistrate of Chamba, Mr Rahul Anand said yesterday that the security forces were prepared to foil infiltration from across the border. |
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Soni made Youth Cong gen secy Bilaspur, February 28 A party notification said Mr Sukhu had also appointed Mr Habib Khan (Nikku) of Bilaspur as chairman of the state Youth Congress minorities’ cell with immediate effect. — OC |
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Case against Punjab CM adjourned Shimla, February 28 Mr Dhumal, who was present in the court, had filed two complaints against the Congress leaders alleging that their statements during the last Assembly elections were defamatory. |
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Major Khanuria
back in BJP Shimla, February 28 Mr Suresh Bhardwaj, state BJP chief, said Major Khanuria had made a request to seek entry into the party and it was accepted. Mr Khanuria has twice represented the Kangra parliamentary constituency in the Lok Sabha as a BJP nominee. |
Joshi appointed
DGP, Vigilance Shimla, February 28 Mr Joshi is returning from a Central deputation after four
years. |
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3 killed in mishap Mandi, February 28 Those killed have been identified as Labh Singh, owner of the truck, Baldev Singh and Bhim Singh, residents of nearby villages. |
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Theft case
solved Nahan, February 28 Superintendent of Police, Sirmaur S.R. Sharma said here on Friday the theft took place a few days ago in the house of Amar Singh. |
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