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Septicemia kills 3 more head of cattle
Govt to hike bus fares
MP to move privilege motion against ADM
Selection of 4 HP varsity employees
CM sends Rs 3 crore for tsunami relief
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Row over Sukh Ram’s membership ends
NABARD staff stage dharna
Man sentenced to life imprisonment
3 shops damaged in cylinder blast
Sadhu held in murder case
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Septicemia kills 3 more head of cattle
Hamirpur, February 18 The latest casualties have been reported from Bara, Faste and Andara villages of the area and all dead animals were buffaloes. Sources in the state government told The Tribune that following the publication of a report in The Tribune today, the authorities in Shimla were taken by surprise and demanded a complete report from their Hamirpur-based officers. There are reports that the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has deputed Minister for Animal Husbandry Harsh Mahajan to visit the affected areas of Hamirpur and to review the situation along with the departmental officers and the cattle owners. Dr B.C. Bisht Director of the Animal Husbandry Department, will also visit Hamirpur, according to the sources. Latest reports from Nadaun area say that farmers of the area are highly upset over the outbreak of the disease, which has diminished their cattle wealth. They are also upset over the way they are forced to purchase costly medicines to cure their animals. These medicines are not available in plenty with the Animal Husbandry Department. The department had earlier claimed that there was no shortage of medicines with them to cure the animals of the dreaded HS. It is learnt that scientists of the animal wing of the HP Krishi Vishvidyalya, Palampur have also decided to visit the Nadaun area to ascertain the real cause of the outbreak of the HS in the area. Meanwhile, farmers who have lost their cattle wealth due to the HS have demanded cash compensation, as most of them have lost their all animals. No official comments were made by the Animal Husbandry Department today as the officialdom was preparing itself for the visit of the minister and the Director of the department on Saturday. Meanwhile, a three-member team of the scientists of the HP Veterinary College, Palampur, led by Dr V.K. Gupta and consisting of Dr K.V. Nagal, head of the Department of Medicines, and Dr Vipan Katoch, microbiologist, visited three HS-affected villages of the district. They reached Nadaun in the late afternoon today and straightway drove to Rit, Rail and Tillu villages where three buffaloes had died of septicemia. The examined the ailing animals and suggested various courses of treatment. They also collected blood samples of the animals. Dr Nagal said the root cause of the disease was inclement weather and it was helping the disease to spread further. |
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Govt to hike bus fares
Shimla, February 18 According to sources, the government is contemplating a hike so that the commuters are not burdened and at the sane time the fleecing by private bus operators is put to an end by bringing their fares on a par with that of the HRTC. The last time the government had ordered a hike in bus fares was in April 2003. Despite registering an increase in revenue by Rs 6 crore this year, the HRTC continues to remain in the red due to increasing diesel prices. “Ever since the last hike in bus fares there has been a total increase of Rs 4 in the price of one litre of diesel which has put an additional liability of Rs 16 crore on the HRTC during the past one year alone,” the sources said. It is being felt that commuters are being fleeced by private bus operators who are charging fares far higher than those being charged by the HRTC. It is learnt that the officials concerned would shortly meet to discuss the issue. “We shall hold talks with individual private bus operators and not the transport unions so that the reasons for overcharging and fleecing can be looked into and their genuine problems can be heard and resolved,” said an official. The HRTC, which has six women conductors, has decided to appoint 35 more. Officials said the routes on which those women conductors had been deputed had shown improvement in earnings. |
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MP to move privilege motion against ADM
Hamirpur, February 18 The MP has even threatened to move a privilege motion in the Rajya Sabha against the ADM. Mr Parmar gave an indication to this effect at a press conference here today. He said that he had sent a fax message to the district administration of Hamirpur for reserving accommodation for him in the Circuit House. He said,“When I reached the Circuit House, the chowkidar told me that room No. 6 is reserved for him. I asked him to open room no. 4 which is known as the VIP room. When the chowkidar refused to open the room, I rang up the ADM, who refused to oblige me, saying that the room is reserved for the Chief Minister and ministers only.” Mr Parmar said that when he checked the register of the Circuit house, it was found that the VIP room was allotted to local MLA Anita Verma on February 3 and another MLA Chandresh Kumari had stayed in the VIP room on February 16. The MP charged the district administration in general and the ADM in particular with working on the instructions of the Congress leaders and were trying to downgrade the position and prestige of opposition leaders. Mr Parmar said that he would also take up this issue with the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and move a privilege motion against the ADM, Hamirpur. However, when contacted, the ADM, Dr K.D. Lakhanpal, said the administration followed the rules and regulations. He said that the MP had been allotted room no. 6 and when he insisted he was allotted another VIP room no. 14. He said that as per directions from the state government, only Governors, Chief Minister, ministers and other VIPs were entitled to stay in the VIP rooms. |
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Selection of 4 HP varsity employees termed illegal
Shimla, February 18 The discussion on the contentious issue of fate of these four teachers dominated the proceedings of the meeting today. The issue generated a lot of heat with majority of the EC members from the teaching fraternity opposing the move to terminate the services of the four employees, appointed during the BJP regime. Today's decision will finally pave the way for termination of the services of these employees. The four employees, whose appointments have been termed illegal, include Mr Ajay Srivastav, Reader in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication ICDEOL, Ms Mamta Sharma, lecturer in the Bio-Sciences Department, Mr Kuldeep Chand Agnihotri, currently on an extraordinary leave and Mr I.S Dogra, Security Officer. During the EC meeting, some of the members pointed out that the criteria of having qualification in a relevant and related subject could be applied to many other senior teachers and as such why should it be applied selectively. Senior HPU officials said in view of the EC decision today, further action with regard to termination of their services would be taken shortly. The EC also took decision on promotions of some employees and the upgradation of certain posts, including that of Superintendents. The Kaul Committee report had initially pointed out irregularities in the appointment of about 250 employees, both from the teaching and non-teaching group. However, cases against majority of these non-teaching employees were dropped and show-cause notices were issued only to 11 employees. Later, cases were dropped against seven of these employees, as the EC approved their appointment by terming their qualifications adequate for the job. The show-cause notice was pursued against only these four employees, whose services were finally termed
illegal. One of the affected teachers, Mr Ajay Srivastav, termed the decision of the EC as illegal and said he would move court. "Taking the decision at a stage when the matter regarding these appointments is already in the court is totally
wrong," he said. |
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CM sends Rs 3 crore for tsunami relief
Shimla, February 18 He said people of Himachal Pradesh were deeply concerned over the devastation caused by the tsunami waves in the coastal areas of southern India and stood by them during this hour of grief. |
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Row over Sukh Ram’s membership ends
Shimla, February 18 A dispute had arisen on the issue as the Mandi Block Congress Committee had said that Mr Sukh Ram, who merged his Himachal Vikas Congress into the party in May last, could not be made an active member as he had not completed one year in the party. Mr Lenka said the party constitution was amended recently and now panchayat pradhans, panchayat samiti members and other party-supported panchayat functionaries become active members of the party, automatically. He said he would decide all complaints and disputes pertaining to membership by February 21 and the high command would decide appeals against his decision by February 27. The final voter list would be made by March 5 and thereafter the election process would get underway. |
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NABARD staff stage dharna
Shimla, February 18 The entire staff, including senior officers like General Manager and Deputy General Manager, have been agitating since June, 2004. The main demands include maintenance of parity in the pay scales and other service conditions with the employees and officers of the Reserve Bank of India and continuation of Development Financial Institution status of NABARD. The secretary of the officers’ association, Mr Sunil Kaushik, and the secretary of the employees’ association, Mr Balwant Singh Thakur, said that the staff would observe “work-to-rule principle” from February 22 and hold weekly demonstrations during lunch time from March. If the demands were not accepted, the staff would go on strike on March 23 and 24. |
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Man sentenced to life imprisonment
Chamba, February 18 According to the judgement, the convict on the night of August 26, 2003 had confined his wife Anjali Devi to a room and thereafter sprinkled kerosene on her body and set her on fire. The prosecution examined 12 witnesses. |
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Two sentenced to 3 years’ RI
Bilaspur, February 18 The Judge also sentenced both of them to one month’s rigorous imprisonment under Section 477, IPC. Earlier, District Attorney R.R. Mastana told the court that accompanied by seven others persons, both Ramlal and Devraj attacked with a sharp edged weapon relations of Jamna Devi and her sister-in-law after an altercation. The incident occurred on November 7, 1997 and a number of witnesses were examined in court. Earlier, the court acquitted seven persons giving them the benefit of doubt. |
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3 shops damaged in cylinder blast
Mandi, February 18 According to residents, the shops were gutted in the fire as there were no fire engines available around to control the flames, which were put out by local residents. “I heard a powerful blast around 1.25 am. I woke up in panic like others in the neighbourhood and saw flames coming out of the panwala shop,” said Mr Girdhari Lal, a resident of Kotli. The residents said they controlled the fire after fighting the flames for one and half hours. Sita Ram, who owned the pan shop where the blast occurred, said that he had closed his shop around 12 midnight and left for his sister’s place. |
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Sadhu held in murder case
Kulu, February 18 Mohar Singh (65), son of Jagat Ram of Dhaman village in this district, was allegedly murdered by a sadhu in his room at the serai. Police sources said the sadhu, who was drunk, picked up an altercation with the victim. He beat Mohar Singh to death with a rod and threw the body on the bank of the Beas The sadhu, Kanda Swami, who belonged to Chennai, has been arrested. He has confessed to the crime. |
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