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New sewerage scheme for Shimla
Centre nod to partial revival of Hindustan-Tibet Road HP to take up LPG quota issue with Centre |
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HP pension for aged, widows
Row over appointment of retired CE
CBI refuses to pursue Nigam graft cases
HPU to re-advertise post of Reader
EC orders revision of
electoral rolls
Safety norms for
labourers at Baddi
in name only
Blood banks face shortage of donors
Plea to restore grants to leprosy patients
Medical camp held in tribal village
Experts want panel
for disabled
200 women stage dharna
Boy, girl take poison, in hospital
Rs 6 lakh property destroyed in fire
Schools to harvest rainwater
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New sewerage scheme for Shimla
Shimla, October 2 The Rs 73-crore scheme has been completed with the assistance of OPEC which provided Rs 40 crore. It has been designed for a population of 5,45,722. The capacity of the sewerage treatment plant is 35.63 million litres per day. The first sewerage network system of Shimla town was laid in the year 1880 to provide basic amenity to the population of 18,000 persons. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Virbhadra Singh said that the water supply to Shimla town was also being augmented and work on Rs 40 crore scheme to left water from Giri river was underway. Besides the government was also contemplating to implement a gravity water supply scheme to bring water from the Chohara area of Shimla district. He said it was the policy of state government to provide basic amenities at all the places of tourist interest. The government was identifying new tourist destination and creating the required infrastructure. Mr Virbhadra Singh said that work to provide drinking water to 6000 left-out habitations was in progress. A sum of over Rs 500 crore would be spent on the project. The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had announced that funds would be provided by the Centre. Besides, an amount Rs 350 crore was being spent under Accelerated Power Development Programme on system improvement and Rs 200 crore on providing road connectivity to 200 gram panchayats. Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, said all towns in the state would be provided sewerage facility in a phased manner. He said that Gumma water supply scheme would also be strengthened by replacing the existing pumps. |
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Tributes paid to Bapu, Shastri
Shimla, October 2 Chief Minister, Virbhadra Singh, garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi on the Ridge
Maidan. He was followed by Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, local MLA Har Bhajan Singh
Bhajji, Mayor of Municipal Corporation, Shimla Sohan Lal and senior Congress leaders and prominent persons from all walks of life, in paying tributes to the Mahatma. Later, the Chief Minister also garlanded the statue of Lal Bahadur Shastri at Shastri Chowk along with other leaders. He also flagged off prohibition rally of school-children from the Ridge
Maidan, which was organised by the state Department of Information and Public Relations. It passed through Mall Road, Share-e-Punjab, Lower Bazar and culminated at Shastri Chowk. |
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Centre nod to partial revival of Hindustan-Tibet Road Shimla, October 2 A Central team, which visited the area in the wake of Parechu Lake disaster, has given its nod to the proposal under which a 75-km road will be constructed from Tapri to Kiran Khad. It will be a single-lane road at a much higher alignment than the national highway, which runs dangerously close to the Sutlej. Funds for the Rs 50-crore project will be provided by the Centre under the border areas development scheme. Starting from Tapri, the proposed road will pass through Karcham, Peo, Pangi, Thopan ,Rarang and Kirang Khad on the right bank before rejoining it. While about 40 km road will be mostly aligned along the abandoned old Hindustan-Tibet road, the rest will be realigned to bypass very high portions. It will not cross over the river and thus no big bridges will be required. The existing national highway criss-crosses the river six times between Wangtu and Khab. Its vulnerability was exposed during the August 2000 floods when 18 small, big bridges on the river and vast stretches of road, about 20 km in length, were washed away. Consequently, large parts of the tribal belt remained cut off for almost a year. The calamity repeated early this year when floods, caused due to the breaching of the Parechu Lake in Tibet, washed away as many as eight important bridges and wiped out large portions of road. The road will also help provide connectivity to villages which are mostly located at higher elevations at a safe distance from the river. There is very little population along the banks of the river. Another alternative road will be built to bypass the treacherous hill terrain at Malling Nullah, which has been constantly on slide for the past about eight years. The road remains blocked for months together. The 11-km road will pass through Leo on the right bank of Spiti and rejoin the existing highway at Chango.
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HP to take up LPG quota issue with Centre Shimla, October 2 Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, the Civil Supplies Minister, Mr Singhi Ram, said that though the government had not received anything in black and white, some dealers had received letters from agencies that a cut of 15 per cent would be made in allotment of cylinders. This would obviously lead to LPG shortage and could put pressure on forests. “In order to ensure that people do not face inconvenience, we will take up the matter with the Centre so that no cut is made in Himachal’s quota of LPG,” he stated. He added that Himachal should be adequately compensated as in the larger interest of the country, it had imposed a complete ban on green felling and all those using fuel wood earlier too had started using LPG. He further said that the government had taken up the issue of giving temporary white ration cards to migrant labour in the state. “There was consensus over the issue and the matter had been taken up with the Centre so that other ration card holders do not get affected,” he said. He said these migrant labourers were already being given kerosene at subsidised rates. Mr Singhi Ram said as per a national survey, there was the lowest leakage of merely 0.41 per cent in public distribution as compared to national figure of 20 per cent.
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Shimla, October 2 Of the 15,000, 10,000 are elderly people and 5,000 widows, the spokesman said yesterday, quoting state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. He said the government was committed to the welfare of the vulnerable and weaker sections of society. He said the Chief Minister had fulfilled his August 15 promise for providing social security pension to the elderly and widows. — UNI
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Row over appointment of retired CE
Shimla, October 2 The four main employees bodies, representing the power engineers ,project engineers, junior engineers and employees of the board, held an emergency meeting to condemn the appointment of Mr L.D. Singla as advisor to the board on matters pertaining to the state electricity regulatory commission. They demanded immediate cancellation of the appointment failing which they would start a direct action. The associations alleged that he was appointed purely on “extraneous” considerations. Mr Singla was simply a mechanical engineer with no background or experience of the related field. Moreover, his appointment was against all norms. There was no dearth of eminent professionals in the state and there was no justification in appointing an outsider. While fresh recruitment had been banned under the fiscal reforms, retired IAS officers and engineers were being rewarded with undue extensions in service and appointments as consultants and advisors. Mr Sunil Grover, general secretary of the state power engineers association, Mr H.M. Dhareulla, general secretary of the project engineers
association and Mr C.S. Mandyal, general secretary of the employees union,
urged the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to issue directions to the board to immediately cancel the
appointment. |
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CBI refuses to pursue Nigam graft cases
Shimla, October 2 According to sources, the country’s apex investigating agency has informed the Union Ministry of Power that it could not take up such old cases. The cases were registered in July 1999 by the state Vigilance Department in connection with financial irregularities to the tune of over Rs 4 crore on the basis of a complaint filed by an officer of the nigam. However, the management of the nigam, which is joint venture of the Centre and the state with an equity share of 75 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively, maintained that the state Vigilance Department did not have jurisdiction over a Central Government undertaking. The state government sat over the cases for almost more than a year and finally forwarded these to the Union Ministry of Power for further action in 2000. However, the ministry took no action in the matter. The issue was revived in 2004 when the complainant moved the high court to get the cases investigated by the CBI. The Union Power Ministry finally handed over the cases to the CBI and informed the court accordingly. However, the CBI has now expressed its inability to take up the cases which, it maintained, are very old. The ministry has asked the state government to get the cases investigated by the state vigilance agency which has also expressed its inability to take up the cases the matter was in the in the high court. In the meantime, two of the three senior officers involved in the cases have retired. While Mr V.K. Sharma, General Manager, even got promoted as Executive Director before the superannuation, Mr V. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, was repatriated to his parent department and retired subsequently. The third officer, Mr Mohan Bagh, who was a senior vigilance officer when the case was registered against him, is now a deputy manager. A departmental inquiry was conducted against him on which action is yet to be taken. |
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HPU to re-advertise post of Reader
Shimla, October 2 The issue had led to a major controversy as it was being alleged that candidates eligible for the post were not considered as one of the candidates found to be ineligible was being favoured against norms. Prof Sharma, had objected to the appointment of the said candidate to the post of lecturer as it was the post of Reader which had been advertised. The council in its meeting also approved the allocation of special package of Rs 9 crores by the Prime Minister for infrastructural development of the university. The request for package had been sent through the state Planning Commission. Another important decision taken at the council meeting was the approval for setting up of a Training and Placement Cell for professional courses being run in HPU. The issue of review of termination of services of three teachers generated much heat as one of the EC members, Prof M.K. Sharma, left the meeting in protest against the decision of the council not to take up the matter as it was sub judice. He had sought discussion on the matter even though it had not been included in the agenda for the meeting. The Executive Council, also approved the appointments of Reader in the Department of Public Administration and that of lecturer in psychology. The promotions of about a dozen persons under the career advancement scheme were also approved by the council. Besides, approval was granted for the appointment of four persons as consultants in the Department of Correspondence Courses (DCC). The council also granted the rank of teacher to Mr P.N. Chauhan, Director, Physical Education, giving him a benefit of nine months of service. |
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EC orders revision of
electoral rolls
Shimla, October 2 Ms Manisha Nanda, Chief Electoral Officer, said summary revision would not be carried out in the five Assembly constituencies in Solan district where intensive revision of photo electoral rolls was being undertaken, the qualifying date would be January
1, 2006 and the draft publication of rolls would be displayed at polling stations on October 20, 2005. Claims and objections could be filed
up to November 19, 2005. Verification of draft electoral rolls would be carried out on October 23, 2005, in special meetings of gram sabhas and urban local bodies throughout the state. Disposal of claims and objections would be completed by December 22, 2005 and the final publication of electoral rolls would be done on January 24, 2006. A copy of relevant part of draft electoral rolls will be made available for free inspection by public at 5,778 polling stations of 11 districts with the designated officers from October 20 to November 19, 2005. E-registration facility would be provided to public during the
revision process. Under this facility, one could apply on-line through Internet. The electoral rolls of the whole state, with
relevant forms are available on Internet. |
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Safety norms for
labourers at Baddi in name only Baddi: The death of a labourer after he was crushed under marble slabs while unloading them from a truck has again exposed the lack of safety norms in this industrial belt. Managements of various units and private contractors are least bothered to providing security at work places. In less than 15 days Bhola Singh from Bihar was killed while unloading huge marble slabs from a truck on Tuesday near here. On September 16 two migrant labourers were crushed to death in a similar accident in the Naya Nalagarh area. Bhola Singh, along with other three labourers from Bihar, was busy in digging work at Emsar India Ltd at Jharmazri, near here, when their private contractor Satya Narain asked them to unload the marble slabs from a truck. The pile of the slabs fell on Bhola after a piece of wood kept inside them to maintain balance slipped out accidentally. He succumbed to his injuries on the way to the PGI, Chandigarh. A case under Section 304-A has been registered against the contractor for showing negligence towards safety of labourers. At Naya Nalagarh the marble slabs fell on the two labourers when the truck driver pushed the vehicle further in an efforts to park it properly. In most cases security norms are thrown to the winds, even in the cases involving sensitive type of work. Unscrupulous contractors are only concerned about making money. For them security of their labourers holds no importance. A random survey of various units in this belt has showed that most of the units pay little heed to providing floor-level workers with security kits. In most cases they have to work in highly risky conditions. Accidents involving workers at work places have been on the rise here for the past some time. The law-enforcing agencies prefer to be mute spectators rather than acting strongly against the defaulters.
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Blood banks face shortage of donors
Mandi, October 2 Private hospitals need more blood as these perform more “profitable caesarians”. Keylong in Lahaul has no blood bank. Jogindernagar blood bank project has been hanging fire over the years. Patient load has shot up in the Kulu and Mandi hospitals due to the labourers’ accidents in the hydro-projects and roads accidents, that in turn has raised demand for more blood, revealed the officials. Talking to The Tribune on the sideline of the World Blood Donation today celebrated in the Industrial Training Institute(ITI) here the officials said blood bank Mandi needed over 2500 units of blood every year, but supply was around 2200 units. “We need 5 units of blood every day for surgeries, to treat accident victims rushed in here from all over the region and national highway-21”, said Dr J.N. Chauhan, Medical Officer, Blood Bank, Mandi. “The demand has increased many times, but there is no NGO, to promote blood donation here. The potential donors still fear that blood donation harms them, he added. The three private hospitals — Mandav, Sanjivani, and Harihar — consume on an average two units of blood every day as they perform “caesarian surgeries” that need more blood than normal deliveries, revealed the officials. “But they never come forward to promote blood donation among the masses”, they added. “The blood donation needs a voluntary spirit, which is not being promoted among the youth. Majority still harbour a fear of donating blood, said Mr Rajinder Mohan, Pardhan, Gram panyat Bhong, who has donated blood for 23 times. Chief Medical Officer, Mandi Dr K.C. Sharma urged the ITI students, who later on took out an awareness rally in the town said that the blood is restored to the body within three months and it runs no risk to the donor. “Every patients who suffers a loss of 30 per cent blood needs blood transfusion for survival”, he said. Under the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO) guidelines, the blood bank needs trained staff and at least five technicians. But Mandi bank has just two technicians, which has been compromising safety of the blood, the sources said. Officials said that over 70 per cent of blood is raised through the voluntary donation during the camps by the Narankari association, students wings of the NCC, NSUI, ABVP, SFI, the Sai Baba society and the Red Cross. Red Cross Society and private hospitals should come forward to promote blood donation among the religious organisations, government officials, trusts and private institutes, and the private hospitals to meet the demand”, they stressed. |
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Plea to restore grants to leprosy patients
Palampur, October 2 Speaking on the occasion, Mrs Neelam Sood, chairperson of Save Palampur, a voluntary organisation, said leprosy patients needed public sympathy. As leprosy was a curable disease, no isolation was needed for these patients. She said Mahatma Gandhi had special love and affection for the leprosy patients and he had been regularly visiting several leprosy homes in the country. She urged the state Chief Minister Virbhadara Singh to restore the grants to leprosy patients which was discontinued two years ago. She urged the Chief Minister to look into the matter and find out why aid was stopped to leprosy patients. In the absence of any grant from the state government, leprosy patients living in leprosy home had been finding it very difficult to pull on. Even they were not getting any assistance from government for food and clothing etc. At present, a Christian NGO was providing them food and shelter. Mrs Sood appreciated the efforts of government of Tibetans in exile, which had been providing liberal financial aid to Tibetan patients living in the leprosy home. Earlier, several leprosy patients urged the state government to provide them free electricity as they had no money to pay their power bills. |
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Medical camp held in tribal village
Chamba, October 2 Mr Thakur Singh Bharmouri, local MLA approached the doctors for attending to ailment of poor tribal people. Later, Mrs Suman Thakur, President of the Association, informed that the patients of 13 villages, which comprised of Garola Durgathi, Khadamukh, Dhakog, Bhutti, Gowad, Ulansa, Ratni, Auraphati, Holi, Pulli and Aud were benefited by this camp. Medicines worth rupees 5000 were distributed free of cost to the patients. |
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Lawrence School to restore glory
Sanawar, October 2 Speaking to mediapersons at the start of the three-day functions to mark the institute’s158th Founder’s Day here today, he admitted that over the years there had been a slide in standards. “We have initiated a number of steps to strive for excellence,” he said. The Chairman of the Academic Council, Brig I S Cheema (retd), added that more intensive assessments for students had been introduced. Earlier in the day, the students and staff of the school paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. Later a chapel service was held, where old Sanawarians from batches between 1955 and 1980 joined the students and staff in prayers. This also marks the golden jubilee of the 1955 batch and silver jubilee of the 1980 batch. Brigadier G S Lamba and Mr Ashish Bhatia of the 1955 and 1980 batches, respectively, addressed the gathering at the chapel and shared their experiences. The Lawrence School near Kasauli, in the Shimla Hills, was founded by Sir Henry M. Lawrence and his wife Honoria. It was one of the few of its kind in the world of that time and started with 14 boys and girls on April 17,1847, and grew to a strength of 195 pupils by 1853. This was the year the school was presented the Kings Colours by Lord Dalhousie. Sanawar was the first School in the entire British Empire to be presented the Kings Colours. |
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Experts want panel
for disabled
Shimla, October 2 The seminar organised by the Society for Social Empowerment focused on the need for attitudinal change in behaviour towards disabled persons. A number of scholars, experts and social activists working in the disability sector presented papers highlighting various issues. Dr G.N. Karna, an expert on the topic and head of the Disability Studies and Human Rights Issues at Jawaharlal Nehru University, stressed the need for incorporating disability, human rights and rehabilitation components in the curricula of schools, colleges and universities. “The problems of disabled persons can be properly addressed only if a National Commission, headed by a disabled person is set up,” he demanded. He said since there was a wide gap between policy and implementation, there was need for a monitoring agency and giving more teeth and legal powers. He stressed that the government must allocate more funds for the disabled persons. “Despite the provision of three per cent reservation in jobs for disabled person, very few had got jobs and as such there is need for modification in the Disabilities Act 1995,” he stressed. Dr Sudhir Kumar Singh, from the Society for Social Empowerment, said that economic empowerment of the disabled was the single most important factor. He advocated the need for decentralisation so that the concessions and benefits for the disabled reach to right people at the grass root level. He said it was only possible by creating a strong pressure group and better implementation of provisions of the Disability Act.
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200 women stage dharna
Palampur, October 2 The protesters passed through the town and raised anti-government slogans. Later, they staged a dharna in front of the office of Mr Ratan Gautam, SDM, Jaisinghpur, and submitted a memorandum requesting him to cancel the lease of the stone crusher. They said the stone crusher would adversely affect the ecology of the region would become an environment hazard. Later, briefing mediapersons outside the office of the SDM, they said if the administration failed to cancel the lease, the women organisation would stage a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, Dharmshala. Meanwhile, Mr Gautam said he had forwarded the memorandum of the mahila mandals to the Mining Department. He said while finalising the matter, public sentiment would be taken into consideration. |
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Boy, girl take poison, in hospital
Kangra, October 2 According to a report Ashok (21) and Aneeta (19) residents of Dhariwal in Punjab checked in local ‘Preet Hotel’ in the town last evening. The duo asked for cold drinks at 9 in the morning and after some time Aneeta rushed out of her room crying for help, the police said. When the hotel management entered the room it found Ashok in the bathroom in unconscious condition. Both were rushed to Kangra Civil Hospital where they were fighting for their lives till this evening. Kangra SP S.P. Singh said that the police was investigating the matter and both youths were not in a position to say anything. SMO Kangra D.B. Sood told The Tribune that the smell of celphas was belt when they were brought here. He said that samples of the poison had been sent for chemical examination. He said that Aneeta managed to give the phone number of her parents. He said that the relatives of both were yet to reach here till this evening. Meanwhile both have been refereed to Dr R.P. Govt Medical College Hospital Dharamshala. |
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Rs 6 lakh property destroyed in fire
Mandi, October 2 Two flour mills, a multi-purpose sawing machine, wool processing machines and huge stocks of deodar sleepers were reduced to ashes in the fire. People from the adjoining houses battled the flames for more than three hours without any success. The police said the exact cause of the fire was not yet known, adding that it may have been caused by a short circuit. A case has been registered and investigations were on.
— UNI |
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Schools to harvest rainwater
Shimla, October 2 Stating this here yesterday, the Irrigation and Public Health Minister, Mr Kaul Singh Thakur, instructed officers of the IPH department to provide technical know-how for construction of rain harvesting structures. He said a sum of Rs 2.15 crore had already been distributed for construction of 286 rain water harvesting structures in the state.
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