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Kala
azar subsides in state School
Board calls meeting on caste references in textbooks Staff
oppose move on pay panel
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eggs of rare captive pheasant hatch? Shimla, June 23 Hope is gradually giving way to disappointment as the three eggs laid by the lone female of the highly endangered western tragopan species at the Sarhan pheasantry are showing no signs of hatching even after a month.
Five
held for illegal mining ABVP
seeks Rahi’s removal Anti-encroachment
drive starts 
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Kala azar subsides in state Shimla, June 23 The two patients under treatment are Mr Tej Ram Negi (44), a bank manager from Rekong Peo, and Mr Surinder Kumar (34), an engineer from Parwanoo. “We have provided the patients with the injections and medicines for the treatment of the disease and they have responded well to it,” said Dr Hardyal, Medical Superintendent, IGMC. While Mr Negi was admitted on June 12, Mr Surinder has been receiving treatment since May 25. Another patient from Karsog in Mandi district, suffering from the disease, was shifted to the PGI. A team of microbiologists from the IGMC, has been sent to Kinnaur where some cases of the disease have been reported. The team, led by Dr N.L. Sharma, head of the Dermatology, department is likely to return within two days. Doctors at the IGMC said there were chances of the disease being carried by migrant labour from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to Kinnaur, where they were working on various projects. |
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School Board calls meeting on Dharamsala, June 23 Confirming this, board chairman
B.R. Rahi said yesterday that certain organisations had met him, seeking the removal of words like ‘julahe’ and ‘nai’, which had been used in the grammatical portion to teach change of gender. ``Now, the experts will look into the issue and incorporate the changes in the next edition of books,’’ he said. Leading a delegation, which met Mr Rahi last week, Mr Vijay Kumar
Heer, had submitted a representation, giving details of the alleged derogatory words used in the books, besides printing mistakes. “Repeated usage of words like ‘julahe’ gives an inferiority complex to the students belonging to this caste when they read the books,’’ it reads. “The most objectionable thing is the story about ‘Manthrak Kohlika’ prescribed in Class IX Sanskrit textbook. After a few paragraphs, the name of the protagonist goes missing and he is repeatedly referred to by his caste,’’ said Mr
Heer. The representation also highlights certain idioms and proverbs like ‘Gadha khet
khai, julaha mara jai’ and ‘Sau sunar ki, ek luhar ki’. “And in case it is absolutely necessary to use these nomenclatures of castes, the authors should give a footnote for the students and teachers that the exercise is for sheer academic purpose,’’ said Mr
Heer. He also demanded that an autobiography of Dr B.R. Ambedkar be included in the textbooks at the primary level. He claimed that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes had also written to the Himachal Pradesh Education Department in this regard. Mr
R.K. Prashar, academic officer of the board, said these issues were being looked into. “We are open to making changes and carrying out recommendations made by the subjects experts. The printing mistakes will be removed from the next edition of books, due to be printed later this year,’’ he said. |
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Staff oppose move on pay panel Shimla, June 23 Addressing a press conference, here today, he said the government was bound to follow the Punjab pattern in the matter of pay structure and any attempt to delink the pay scales would be opposed. He said employees had secured parity in pay scales with their Punjab counterparts after a 35- day agitation in 1971. The federation would not allow the government to disturb it as it would harm the interests of employees, he said. He also demanded the cancellation of the MoU signed by the state government with the Centre and said it would not only seal the fate of employees, but affect the jobless. As per the terms and conditions of the MoU, posts lying vacant for three years would have to be abolished. As a result, thousands of posts would be done away with every year. This would affect the promotional avenues of employees and cause further distress to the jobless, he said. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the purchase scam in the Fire Department, in which he had been booked along with some other employees. He alleged that the culprits were being shielded and he did not expect a fair probe by state agencies. |
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Leopard cub found dead Sundernagar, June 23 Residents informed forest officials about it. Later on the cub was removed from the national highway. As this news spread in the locality, large numbers of people started gathering on the spot in order to see the cub. On the complaint of a forest official, a case under Section 51 of the Wild Life Protection Act was registered. After the post-mortem, a committee was formed as per the Wild Life Protection Act for the disposal of the carcass. Possibility of hunting incident was ruled out since there was no marks of any injury on the cub, said Mr C.S. Singh, Conservator of Forests, Mandi Circle. According to Dr
J.L. Sharma, who conducted the post-mortem, the cub was female and about six-month-old. He said the liver of the animal was totally damaged. |
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Will eggs of rare captive pheasant hatch? Shimla, June 23 The Sarahan pheasantry is the only place in the world to have the rare pheasant in captivity. It has three males and a female. The survival of the species, which is placed high on the Red Data Book of the International Union for Nature Conservation (IUCN) listing the highly endangered species, will largely depend on the success of the breeding programme. Wildlife experts managing the captive breeding programme were very excited when the female laid the eggs on May 19 and showed an interest in brooding. It stayed put over the eggs all these days and came out of her roost only for feeding. It was for the first time that the bird actually looked for eggs to hatch. However, the eggs are already 34 days old and the chances of hatching are receding with each passing day. Normally, the eggs hatch in 28 to 30 days. Wildlife officials now fear that the eggs might not have been fertilised. Mr John
Corder, conservation breeding expert from the World Pheasant Association who is guiding the programme, has
asked the officials to examine the eggs to ascertain whether or not they were fertilised. He has been keeping in touch with the developments telephonically. However, Dr Lalit Mohan, Conservator of Forests and in charge of the programme, has not given up hope. “We will wait for another three or four days as during the current breeding season, the hatching of eggs had been delayed by two three days”, he says. The fact that the female sat on the eggs for a month indicates that things were moving in the right direction. All that is required for successful breeding had been achieved and it was just a matter of time and luck. The female was only two years of age and still young for successful breeding. The ideal age was after three years. If the eggs did not hatch this season, there was a possibility of a successful breeding in the next season, Dr Lalit who achieved the rare feat by successful parent rearing of the rare cheer pheasant last year, explained. All this was made
possible by changing the diet and crating a stress-free environment, which was essential for natural breeding. Efforts to breed the pheasant in captivity are being carried out for the past about 15 years, but with little success. There was only one accidental breeding in 1993. The egg was hatched using a broody hen as the female showed no interest in brooding after laying the egg. But no further progress could be made because of lack of technical expertise and experience. However, much progress has been made over the past three years after the department hired the services of Mr John Corder. A Rs 4.93-crore project was sanctioned early this year for the breeding programme. |
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Five held for illegal mining Hamirpur, June 23 The state government had told the Assembly last week that action would be taken against those indulging in illegal mining operations all over the state. The Nadaun SDM too has instructed the mining mafia to stop illegal operations or face action. The SDM, Mr Rakesh Dhiman, visited the Beas river following the publication of a report in The Tribune regarding illegal mining there and directed the contractor concerned to stop the activity or face action. Bihari labourers living in the Beas area and doing the mining operation have been directed to shift from there, as there was a threat to their lives due to heavy rains in the catchments of the river in Kulu and Mandi districts. |
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ABVP seeks Rahi’s removal Shimla, June 23 Addressing a press conference here today, the state secretary of the ABVP, Mr Ravi Mehta, said Mr Rahi had been behaving in a irresponsible manner by issuing political statements every now and then. “The fact that all documents and CDs related to the JBT entrance examination conducted for the third time, were in the possession of Mr Rahi, raises suspicion and as such the state government must remove him immediately,” said Mr Mehta. Mr Mehta said the MoU on fiscal reforms that the state government had signed with the Centre was against the interest of the youths of the state as this would further worsen the alarming unemployment scenario in the state. “The ABVP will launch a statewide agitation from June 25, which will include educating and mobilising the student community for agitation,” he said. Lamenting the political interference and falling academic standard in the three universities in the state, Mr Mehta said it was surprising that while the government has no shortage of funds for being spent on ministers and bureaucrats, it has ordered a 30 per cent cut in the HP University budget, which was affecting academic activities. The state joint secretary of the ABVP, Mr Sunil Mankotia, demanded that the government should appoint a director and regular staff at the postgraduate centre of the university at Dharamsala as it was under staffed. Giving details of their action plan, ABVP leaders said on June 29, they would present a memorandum to heads of all the educational institutions in the state, which would be addressed to the Chief Minister. “We will try and seek an appointment with the Chief Minister on July 2 to discuss all these issues and in case the government fails to accept these demands, we will launch a state-wide agitation from July 26,” they said. Dharamsala:
Activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) today took out a rally and sat on dharna outside the office of the Himachal Pradesh School Education Board to protest against the ‘autocratic style of functioning of the board authorities’. ABVP leader Rakesh Kumar Sharma said despite conducting JBT examination thrice, the board has still not declared results. He alleged that this was giving an impression to students that the merit list was being tampered under political pressure. |
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Anti-encroachment drive starts Hamirpur, June 23 A team of the district administration led by SDM Hamirpur B.R. Kaundel and DSPs Madan Lal and K.G. Kapoor and Mr Ajmer Singh Thakur had paid a surprise visit to the town. They had instructed the traders not to obstruct the traffic, failing which action would be taken against them. A number of encroachers had removed their goods in the morning today. Mr Devesh Kumar, Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner, said the drive would continue, as it was for the benefit of the people and the town.
— OC |
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Audit Dept
has retained credibility, says Kokje Shimla, June 23 Addressing probationers of the Indian Accounts and Audit Service at the National Academy of Audit and Accounts here on Monday, he appreciated the fact that amidst a general perception of an all-round decline in the basic values, the Audit Department had retained its credibility. He said an auditor was a knowledge worker who had to function in the context of a legal, financial and administrative set-up of the government. |
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Virbhadra turns 70 Shimla, June 23 A bouquet, on behalf of the Governor, was presented to Mr Virbhadra Singh. The Speaker, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, ministers, MLAs, officials and party workers greeted Mr Virbhadra Singh at his residence and office.
— TNS |
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