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Centre’s move on forest land to boost development
Narayan is new DGP of Himachal
Govt indifference leads to closure of education centre
Online booking for tourists at Youth Hostel
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Men behind spate of thefts held
Dharamsala, January 31 The police has arrested two thieves believed to be behind the spate of burglaries in Kangra district during the past six months. 
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Centre’s move on forest land to boost development
Shimla, January 31 The states have been finding it difficult to implement various development works as Under the Forest Conservation Act forest land cannot be diverted for non-forestry use without prior approval of the Centre. The hill states like Himachal Pradesh were the worst affected as almost 67 per cent of the total land has been classified as forest. There is virtually no other land available for the construction of educational institutions, dispensaries, hospitals and other developmental activities. The implementation of various schemes was invariably delayed as it took a long time to get Centre's approval for diverting the forest land. Cases were prepared for transfer of forest land after it was certified by a designated committee that no other land was available for the scheme. The case was then sent to the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment for clearance. As per the communication received from the Centre the state government will approve diversion of forest land up to one hectare at its level for setting up schools, dispensaries, power and telecommunication lines, water harvesting structures, non-conventional sources of energy projects, water supply schemes, storage tanks and minor irrigation canals, police stations and police posts , power substations and watch towers. However, the cases of new roads will have to be sent to the Centre. The decision will also help the Forest Department in seeking cooperation of the people for various forestry programmes. Hitherto, the people viewed the department as a bottleneck and a major hurdle in the implementation of development works. The inordinate delay in clearance of cases, which were at times rejected altogether, caused much resentment among the people against the department. The previous BJP government had even taken out certain categories of land like the "gair mumkin and charagah bila drakhtan" from the ambit of forest land through a notification as non-forest land was not available for development works. However, the Centre had termed its action as illegal and asked the state to withdraw the notification. |
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Narayan is new DGP of Himachal
Shimla, January 31 A 1970-batch officer, Mr Narayan was presently holding the charge of Director-General of Police Vigilance and (Enforcement). The choice fell on Mr Narayan as the only state cadre officer senior to him, Mr N.C.Joshi, has proceeded on Central deputation to take over as Director-General of Police, Bureau of Police Research and Development. Mr Anirudh Uppal, Additional Director-General of Police, Law and Order, takes over as Additional Director-General of Police (Vigilance and Enforcement). Mr B.S. Thind, Additional Director-General of Police, CID, has been given the additional charge of law and order. Earlier, Mr A.K.Puri was given an emotional send-off by officers and jawans of the force at the Bharari police grounds. In his farewell address, Mr Puri said discipline, exemplary behaviour and ability to muster cooperation of public were the hallmarks of a good policemen. They should take pride in their job and have an goal-oriented approach. He was also presented a ceremonial guard of honour on the occasion. |
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Govt indifference leads to closure of education centre
Dharamsala, January 31 Started with a view to providing free in-service and pre-service academic inputs and guidance to English teachers in the state, the centre was set up by the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL), Hyderabad, and was taken over by the state government. Mr Anil Nag, convener of the Himachal Pradesh School Lectures’ Association, said the centre managed to impart training to thousands of in-service teachers working in schools over the years. “But it has been allowed to die down due to the indifference of the government and the local administration,” he said. “Set up in 1998, with equipment worth thousands, including projectors, recorders and a full-fledged language laboratory, the centre had become very popular with teachers as it was a good way to get themselves updated,” he added. Another teacher said now that the government had decided to introduce English from Class I in the state schools, it was all the more reason to revive the centre for the benefit of English teachers. Secondary teachers have also written to the Minister for Human Resource and Development but to no avail, he said. “The state government only needs to create two posts of teacher there as the equipment is already available. The feud between college and school cadres over who should be accommodated on these posts also contributed to the closure of the centre,” said the teacher. When contacted, the Education Minister, Ms Asha Kumari, said that she would look into the matter if the teachers approached her with a formal representation in this regard. “We can examine the viability of the centre in case it can play a constructive role in providing training,” she said. |
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Online booking for tourists at Youth Hostel
Dalhousie, January 31 In a communique issued here today, Dr Harish K. Saxena, president, International Youth Hostels Federation (IYHF), asserted that the Youth Hostel, Dalhousie, met the minimum international standards and once it was linked to the IBN facility, Dalhousie would automatically come on the international map of tourism and it was bound to attract international tourists to this hill resort. |
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Men behind spate of thefts held
Dharamsala, January 31 Officiating Superintendent of Police Ashok Sharma said that the two thieves, Anil Kumar (24) of Dharoh and Sanjiv Kumar (20) of Khaniara, used to break into secluded houses. During interrogation, the two confessed to as many as 10 thefts in and around Dharamsala. These included an attempt to break the locks of Punjab National Bank in July, 2004, stealing of Rs 30,000 from the house of Tenzin Namgyal on the Jogibada road in McLeodganj in September, 2004. They also confessed to breaking into Panchayat House of Dari in October, 2004, fleeing with Rs 20,000 and some jewellery from the house of Rakesh Sharma in Shamnagar in November, 2004. The burglary in Ramnagar, in which Dinesh Kumar had lost jewellery and Rs 20,000 in November, 2004, and theft of goods from the house of Nek Ram Thakur, Tehsildar, Dharamsala, were also committed by these thieves. The two also confessed to stealing gold items from the Durga Mata Mandir of the Forest Department earlier this month. |
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