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CM on stone-laying spree
HPTDC to recover
Rs 46.62 lakh
Safety training must for bus drivers
Murder case handed over to CIA
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Population of monkeys decreasing in HP
Minister’s behaviour offends judge
Rights panel seek NGOs' help
Seven held in theft case
Inquiry report of power board rejected
15 kg lahan, illicit liquor seized
Water supply hit as pipe bursts
One buried alive at Parbati project
Bank robbery case solved, claims police
Polytechnic test
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CM on stone-laying spree
Dharamsala, January 7 He also laid the foundation stone of the bridge over Sirat Khud on Mohtali Sirat-Chhouchar-Malot road to be constructed at a cost of Rs 28.59 lakh, besides laying the foundation stone of the augmentation of lift water supply scheme of Surajpur-Mohatali to be constructed at a cost of Rs 41.43 lakh. Addressing the local residents, he reiterated the resolve of his government in bringing maximum areas under irrigation to strengthen the economy of farmers. He said that after the completion of this ambitious scheme, the entire Gangath area would get sufficient water for all irrigation purposes and would bring a sea change in the agro-economy of the area. He also announced upgradation of the Government Middle School in Manowal and Ghoran to high schools. He gave financial assistance of Rs 50,00 to Vimla Devi of Gangth area, whose husband had died due to snake bite. He was later presented a draft of Rs 51,000 by Mr Jaginder Mohan Sharma, president, Damtal Stone Crushers’ Association. Mr Sat Mahajan, Revenue Minister, said that the Congress government had never discriminated against lower areas and also looked after their interests. Mr Chander Kumar, MP, said that the common minimum programme of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government focused on programmes of upliftment of weaker sections of society. Mr Bodh Raj, local MLA, welcomed the Chief Minister. Mr Vikram Katoch, former minister, appreciated the decision of the government for providing at least 70 per cent employment to local people in the industrial units. NURPUR: Unlike the previous BJP government, the present Congress government in the state would never resort to witch hunting for implicating the Opposition leaders while booking cases of corruption during the BJP regime. This was stated by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, while addressing a press conference here today before the end of his one-day sojourn in Nurpur Assembly constituency. He reiterated that corruption was a main poll plank of the Congress during Assembly elections held in 2003 and his government was committed to root out corruption in the state. Replying to the query by mediapersons about the period when the government was proposing to enforce value added tax (VAT) system in the state, the Chief Minister said that the VAT would be enforced when all states adopt the system in the country with consensus.
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HPTDC to recover
Rs 46.62 lakh
Shimla, January 7 The government has issued instructions to the HPTDC staff to be very strict while obliging customers with credit. The amount recoverable from the debtors had touched a whopping amount of Rs 1.23 crore as on March, 2004. It was only when efforts were made to recover this amount that the HPTDC was able to get Rs 76.81 lakh till the end of 2004. Even as a decision to disinvest a majority of the government-owned hotels and prime properties has been taken at the top level, the HPTDC has failed to recover almost Rs 46.62 lakh from the debtors, both government as well as private. The Tourism Minister, Mr G.S. Bali, has now directed the staff of the HPTDC not be too obliging and make exception only in case of parties, who are sure to make the payment later on. It has also been decided that serious efforts should be made to recover the remaining amount. “We have decided to ignore all amounts less than Rs 1,000, as more money and time will be wasted on recovering it and the corporation will only lose further,” he said. It is Hotel Holiday Home, the prime property of the government which has to recover Rs 17. 01 lakh from various debtors. Major debtors includes the Hospitality Department and bills from various government departments. The marketing office of the HPTDC at Delhi has to make a recovery of Rs 7.87 lakh from various debtors. The amount due from various parties includes Rs 4.19 lakh at Hotel
Peterhoff, Rs 6.69 lakh in the Transport wing of the HPTDC, Rs 2.56 lakh at Palace Hotel,
Chail, Rs 2.64 lakh at Chamba and Dalhousie units and Rs 1.83 lakh at Dharamsala Complex.
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Safety training must for bus drivers
Mandi, January 7 Sources in the Transport Department revealed that the new licensing regime had come into force in the state from January 1. “In the first phase, over 4,000 HRTC and private bus drivers will undergo safety training at the HRTC-run training centres at Shimla, Mandi and Jasur in Kangra district to get the renewal licence from the department”, the sources added. The new licensing regime for HRTC and private bus operators is part of the treaty that the Government of India, among other countries, has signed with the World Health Organisation (WHO) after the apex health body raised its concern over the mortality on the roads, which has become one of the top 10 causes of deaths in India, revealed the sources. Though the Delhi government had already introduced the new licensing regime, making it mandatory for the government and private transport operators to renew licenses after every three years after getting a training certificate, state governments in the region were slowly switching over to the new regime. The HRTC and private bus drivers would have to undergo two weeks, training to get the approval certificate from the Transport Department, paying a fee of Rs 700 at the three centres in the state, disclosed an official. “This is being done to increase and enforce the safety norms for the drivers that, in turn, will ensure safety for the passengers travelling in the buses, who are innocent victims of preventable deaths on the roads”, he added. Citing the data on deaths due to road accidents in the hill state, the officials told The Tribune that the human error had emerged as the most common cause of death in road accidents in the state. “In Mandi district alone, rash and negligent driving had caused 346 cases of accident in 2004, 21 cases up from those reported in 2003. The same holds true in most cases of accidents in other district as well”, they disclosed. What is significant was that 80 per cent of mortality on the roads was preventable if the human error was checked by practising safety norms on the roads by the common public and private and public transport drivers, the officials said. The transport officials said the drivers, after training would be exempted from it for the next renewal date. “But the norms for light motor vehicles and private cars owners are the same for the time being,” they added. |
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Murder case handed over to CIA
Kangra, January 7 According to a report, Mr Payiar Singh, 45, of Kholi village near here, who was practising medicines in the village, was found dead in a well on December 6, in Kohala. SHO Sanjeev Chouhan said the body of the deceased was recovered from the well and investigation under Section 174 Cr.P.C was begun. He said the post-mortem report indicated that the deceased had no external injuries except injury due to a fall in the well and the death caused due to drowning. He said there was no witness to the crime. The residents of the village had been demanding a high-level inquiry into the case and even protested outside the police station demanding murderers be booked and punished. They had doubt that he was murdered. They also alleged that the deceased had visited persons of a family in the village on December 5, who had borrowed Rs 15,000 from him. He wanted the money back from them. Mr G.S. Bali, Transport and Tourism Minister, and the local MLA, Mr Surender Kaku, visited the village today under the directions of the Chief Minister, along with DSP Virender Thakur, SHO Sanjeev Chohan, Dr. Sankayian of Dr R.P. Govt. Medical College, Tanda and hundreds of the villagers of Kholi also reached the spot. Mr Bali, after taking the stock of the situation, directed the police to hand over the case to the CIA for further investigation.
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Population of monkeys decreasing in HP
Shimla, January 7 The latest census carried out by the Forest Department has revealed that the population of simians has been by and large remained static over the past one year. As per the actual headcount conducted across the state on December 16 , there are 3,17,115 monkeys and 53,331 langoors in the state. The figure, in fact, shows a slight decrease as compared to the census carried out in June, 2004, which put the number of monkeys at 3,19,168 and that of langoors at 56,986. The field staff of the department, which covered all 43 forest divisions, came across 5,713 troops of monkeys and 1,354 of langoors. In all, there are 85,784 males, 1,08,774 females and 61,481 infants among monkeys. In case of langoors, there are 14,626 males, 18,510 females and 9,924 infants. The census revealed that the simians migrate to the urban areas and their peripheral rural areas from forest in the winter in search of food. The trend becomes evident from the fact that the number of troops in forest came down to 4,352 in December from 4,967 in June. The actual number of monkeys came down to 2,02,497 from 2,53,324. At the same time, the number of troops in the urban areas increased to 115 from 102 and in the rural areas from 976 to 1,079. The number of monkeys around temples also dwindled from 9,528 to 8,798 with number of troops declining from 182 to 167. Unlike monkeys, langoors are mostly located in forest. Out of the total 1,354 troops only 14 were found in the urban areas , 76 in the rural areas, 14 in the temple areas and the remaining 1,250 were in forests. Mr
A. K. Gulati , Additional Principal Chief Conservator, Wild life, said the separate head count of simians in the urban, rural temple and forest areas would enable the department to study the migration trends and formulate strategies to tackle the problem of monkey menace effectively. He said the latest census had been more accurate in comparison to the first ever head count undertaken in December, 2003, as the forest staff involved in the massive exercise had got the requisite experience. Meanwhile, the government has released the first instalment of funds to the state for implementing the action plan to check the monkey menace. |
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Minister’s behaviour offends judge
Shimla, January 7 The Judge has learnt to have taken offence to the use of word “immoral and improper” used by the minister against the court proceedings. And terming the rejection of her prayer as an “impropriety” on the part of the court. Quoting verbitem the remarks of the minister in the reference, the Special Judge pointed out that Mrs Asha Kumari had said in the court. “It is immoral and “It is not proper” to proceed with the framing of charges against her.” She further said, “she is not prepared to admit or deny the charges. It is and impropriety on behalf of the court by not allowing her time to move the high court”. The Special Judge has further pointed out in his reference that the accused Asha Kumari left the court during proceeding without the prior permission of the court. Inquiry report of power board rejected Tribune News Service Shimla, January 7 The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Regulatory Commission today rejected the report of the inquiry conducted by the state electricity board into the high costs of the 126 MW Larji Project. The commission lamented that the committee, comprising three Chief Engineers, set up by the board had failed to investigate the causes of the cost overrun and fixed the responsibility for it. It observed that the assertions made in the report, that it was difficult project and that there were geological surprises, were common features of all hydroelectric projects.
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Rights panel seek NGOs' help
Shimla, January 7 A meeting was organised by the commission here today, where various NGOs from the state were invited for discussions. The basic issues would be relating to environment, rights of women, domestic violence, counseling of couples for marital harmony, protection of children’s rights and helping senior citizens through a better environment. The chairman of the commission, Justice N.K. Jain, lauded the efforts of the commission in this regard. He also appreciated the work being done by the Police Counselling Cells, set up specially for sorting out the problems being faced by couples and arriving at a settlement rather than separation. He, announced that better coordination with the NGOs would be established so that they could be made equal partners in the promotion and protection of human rights in the state. The police department was running a special cell for extending help to the senior citizens, especially those who were not being taken care of by their kith and kin. At present, 109 senior citizens were registered with the cell, which was helping them in getting their property taxes, electricity, water and telephone bills deposited. Detailed information about other activities being undertaken by the police department for the welfare of women, children and youth were also spelled out at the meeting. The police was undertaking community policing, Samarth Yojna by training women and youth in martial arts, Sanrakshan Yojna for senior citizens, Suvidha Yojna for convenience in registering an FIR and Vishwas Yojna for separate hearing of complaints by senior officers. The commissioner-cum-secretary of the commission, Mr Vinod Kumar Gupta, requested the NGOs to give a brief as to how people can be helped through better interaction between the NGOs and the commission. He also spoke at length about issues like female foeticide, women’s rights, HIV/AIDS and environmental issues. |
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Seven held in theft case
Nahan, January 7 Talking to newsmen here, SP S.R. Sharma said the police recovered the material, worth Rs 3,50,883, from the accused who had dumped it in the forest area of Kolan-Wala-bhoor. He said a van used to carry the theft items had been impounded. Mr Sharma said the police got clue about the culprits from two persons who were caught and confessed the theft of electronic items.
— UNI
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Inquiry report of power board rejected
Shimla, January 7 The commission lamented that the committee, comprising three Chief Engineers, set up by the board had failed to investigate the causes of the cost overrun and fixed the responsibility for it. It observed that the assertions made in the report, that it was difficult project and that there were geological surprises, were common features of all hydroelectric projects. Consumer representative pointed out that if the project was uneconomical then it should not have been cleared. It was a political project. |
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15 kg lahan, illicit liquor seized
Mandi, January 7 Following a report published in The Tribune today, the district police booked over eight cases in Kotli, Sarkaghat, Jogindernagar and Balh police stations under the Excise Act, seizing 25 kg of lahan and illicit and country liquor bottles from their possession. The police arrested Devki Devi and Raklu Devi, both of Bhuira village under the Balh police station, Ranjit Singh of village Shuish, Jogindernagar, and Ratan Singh of Khalalu in Sarkaghat and seized 1,875 ml of country liquor, 10 kg of lahan, 5,000 ml illicit liquor and 4500 ml of country liquor from their possession. The police has booked them under the Excise Act. |
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Water supply hit as pipe bursts
Chamba, January 7 According to official sources in the Irrigation and Public Health Department, the work to restore the water supply was in full swing and was expected to be accomplished soon as all engineers of the department were on the job. With an increase in population, the use of water has increased manifold and the town has started facing water problem. |
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One buried alive at Parbati project
Shimla, January 7 The police identified the deceased as Man Singh, resident of Madhya Pradesh. Working as an employee of Satyam Company, he was caught in the falling debris and buried alive. The body has been sent for the post-mortem examination at Zonal Hospital at Kulu.
— UNI
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Bank robbery case solved, claims police
Nahan, January 7 On December 20, two armed robbers entered the SBI branch at Rajpura village about 80 km from here and tried to loot the bank. Looters fled after local residents raised alarm and rushed towards the bank. Robbers looted only Rs 2,511 from the Bank. While fleeing they shot at a police constable at Nav Ghat near Singhpura village when the police tried to stop them. The motor cycle and desi pistol (Katta) used in the robbery has also been recovered by the Mirja Pur police. Shakeel’s accomplice has been identified.
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Polytechnic test
Dharamsala, January 7 |
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