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Probe sought against education board chief
Delimitation panel’s move triggers anxiety
Separate society for wetlands
Guidelines for fisheries Act
Private colonisers active in Baddi area
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Uneasy calm in Birla factory
2,000 asst teachers to be recruited
CITU seeks probe into lathicharge
Father, daughter killed in mishap
Snowfall in tribal areas
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Probe sought against education board chief
Kangra, October 11 Raising the demands at a press conference here today, the state president and general secretary of the union, Mr Roshan Lal Sharma, and Mr Shiv Dayal Choudary, respectively, alleged that when Mr Rahi took over as the Chairman of the board, there were 1,163 examination centres, including 998 in government schools and 165 in private schools. Mr Sharma alleged that during the past over a year, the board had created 307 centres and an equal number of schools were affiliated by the board. The board had violated norms while creating these examination centres and granting affiliation to private schools. He said some students who failed in government schools and appeared for the board examination through private schools, passed with more than 70 per cent. He accused board officials of changing answer sheets and replacing them with pages with correct answers. He showed such answer sheets to the media, with roll numbers and stamps of the centres and demanded an inquiry into the scam. They also demanded that the Board should adopt NCERT syllabus. Mr Sharma said despite an assurance by the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh, to order a probe into these allegations, nothing concrete had been done. Mr Rahi denied the allegations as baseless, and said these individuals were dancing to the tunes of a public representative as certain differences had cropped up between him and the government. He said the examination centres were created on the recommendations of panchayats, schools and public representatives followed by an inspection by the board authorities. He said even then if there was any stray case where the norms were violated, the centre would be closed and the affiliation would be scrapped. |
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Delimitation panel’s move triggers anxiety
Solan, October 11 Some politicians, while opposing the move said there was no rationale behind transferring these areas to Kasauli as they were not contiguous to it. Also the move to add areas like Jabbal, Gamjhoon, Haripur and Bharti from the existing Kasauli constituency to Solan would create administrative problems as they were 30-40 km from Solan. The population of Solan constituency is 99,987 as per the 2001 Census. Hence there was no need to change its present status, stressed the public representatives. This was more so as its population fulfilled the mandate of lying between 90,100 and 1,10,123 figure. The Delimitation Commission, which had directed its members to evolve a consensus and submit their proposals by October 10, was to convene a meeting on October 18 to deliberate on the matter. The politicians here were now lobbying to save the prevailing status of their respective constituencies. The constituency of Arki was another such constituency. The draft proposal had, however, added areas of Ukhu, Jai Nagar, Loharghat, Bhiunkari, Saur, Kohu, Lonus and Doli which had brought about a deviation of 12.82 from its present status. This had come in for sharp criticism from the elected representatives. Politicians said that when the population of Kasauli, Solan, Nalagarh and Doon constituencies was well within the limit prescribed by the commission there was little reason to bring about undue changes in the present status of the constituencies. |
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Separate society for wetlands
Shimla, October 11 A proposal has already been worked out for the formal handing over of various wetlands from the Department of Science and Technology to the Wildlife wing of the Forest Department. The proposal, presently with the Special Secretary, Forests, will be placed before the Cabinet for the formal handing over of wetlands like the Gobindsagar, Kol dam, Chamera and Pandoh in Mandi district. The primary objective behind this idea is to create facilities and congenial habitats at the wetlands for attract migratory birds. Thousands of migratory birds descend at Pong Dam in Kangra district every winter from as far as Siberia. With the creation of a separate Wetland Society, the Wildlife Department will develop marshy areas and grow plants on which the migratory birds feed. The government has already sent a Rs 20 crore proposal for developing the Gobindsagar wetland to the Centre. “Apart from creating habitats which will attract migratory birds we will develop small trails, cafes and other facilities so that larger number of tourists visit the area,” said Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister. The creation of a separate society will also serve the purpose of promoting water sports activities in the state, which get ignored with the focus remaining on winter sports. “Even the Mountaineering Institute and Allied Sports department, which is looking after the water sports activities has not been able to do justice to this area as such we will create a separate society of wetlands,” said a senior official. One of the very important aspect of the proposal will be thrust on community participation. “A government project can be a success only if the locals are taken into confidence and if possible assured some economic benefits,” emphasised Mr Thakur. He said people living in and around the wetlands would be involved in developing the area. |
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Guidelines for fisheries Act
Shimla, October 11 Though the department has till now been charging compensation from power projects, which were affecting the fish production in these rivers, but no specific criteria has been fixed and it varied from project to project. However, proper guidelines have now been framed, which are being incorporated into the Fisheries Act, 1976. The government has now fixed that a compensation at the rate of Rs 5 lakh per MW and Rs 1 lakh per km upwards from the tail race will be charged in case micro hydel projects. In case of the mega hydel projects, compensation will be assessed on the basis of the reservoir area. “Compensation will be fixed after preparing the project proposal and exploring the possibility of employment for the fishermen in case of mega projects,” informed the Minister for Fisheries, Mr Harsh Mahajan. He added that in order to ensure that the flora, fauna and fisheries was not affected, the government had already directed that the projects must ensure a discharge of atleast 15 per cent of the total flow. The coming up of power projects has to a great extent affected the fish production and in order to keep this damage to the minimum and create infrastructure, it has been decided that non objection certificate would be issued only after the compensation assessed by the Fisheries Department is paid. So far the Fisheries Department has received Rs 60 lakh from Chamera II, Rs 72 lakh from the Bhakra-Beas Management Board and Rs 1.20 crore from Chamers - III. This money would be utilised for the setting up new farms and breeding centres to replenish the depleting fish in the rivers. One important provision that is now being incorporated into the Fisheries Act is to make it binding on the companies executing the projects that no muck or silt is dumped on the river bank. “This has been the major problem so far as the dumping of silt and muck on the banks has destroyed the feeding and breeding grounds of the fish,” informed Mr B.D. Sharma, Director, Fisheries. The department has received a sum of Rs 1 crore as compensation from the Centre for the damage caused to the fish farm at Nagni in Kullu, during the recent floods. However, the money being received from the power projects as compensation will help the department in strengthening the existing farms at Patlikuhl, Barot, Holi, Chirgaon and Sangla. |
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Private colonisers active in Baddi area
Baddi, October 11 The area, which has witnessed investment worth crores after the announcement of the central industrial package, has attracted a workforce of more than one lakh. The fact that the authority has made it mandatory for a coloniser to seek mandatory registration if he plans to construct more than eight flats the large colonisers from Chandigarh and its periphery have begun assessing the land prices. Property dealers in the region opined that this would further boost land prices in the region. The fact that land prices have already touched Rs 8 lakh to 12 lakh per bigha in the peripheral areas of the prime industrial estates, the procurement of land has already begun. Real estate owners, who have dubbed the construction of housing colonies as a parallel industry here, said it was the emerging area of interest. With the population burgeoning here the demand for one, two and three-room apartments had gone up rapidly. While a single room shared by four to five members fetched a rental of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000, a two rooms and three rooms flat fetched between Rs 6,000 and 18,000 here. The government agencies were also acquiring land in various villages. The government had decided to adopt Gujarat Ambuja Cement Limited’s Kolkata model, where one-room tenements at cheap rates would be provided to the industrial workers. |
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Uneasy calm in Birla factory Baddi, October 11 The SDM, Ms Rupali Thakur, DSP, Mr Sandip
Dhawal, SHO, Mr Bhisham Thakur, and Labour Officer, Mr Randir Sipahia, held several rounds of meetings with the workers and management of Birla Textiles today to
resolve the issue. The workers, however, were adamant on their demands and preferred to strike work today with no one turning up. The Labour Officer said the management’s step of taking to task two workers — Manas Ranjan and Ravinder Kumar — for inciting the others had ignited a spark of protest from the others. An eerie silence prevailed on the premises of Birla Textiles here as no work has been executed since last afternoon. The management was trying to assess the loss incurred by an unruly mob which had caused widespread damage in the production units after being driven away from the administrative block. The police remained deployed in strength to avoid any untoward incident. The SP, Mr Gianeshwar Singh, said two reserves had been deployed and an additional one kept ready to deal with any eventuality. The Executive President of Birla Textiles, Mr D.L. Birla, who was in a visible state of shock told The Tribune that the workers had not bothered to present any demand charter before taking this extreme step nor had they given any prior notice of any strike. Dismissing their demand of effecting a 20 per cent bonus, he said it was irrational and against all norms. Reacting sharply to the upheaval, he said the erring workers who had incited the others would be dealt with a disciplinary action as failure to punish the guilty would set a wrong precedence. Mr Birla, while not ruling out the possibility of outsiders having vitiated the work atmosphere, said the attack had left the management traumatised. Sources informed that a recent visit of the Industries Minister where the interns were promised a raise in their daily wages had created a rift between the senior and junior level workers.
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2,000 asst teachers to be recruited
Shimla, October 11 Stating this while addressing a public meeting at Rampur, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, said that the basic infrastructure of education was being strengthened at all levels in a phased manner. The functional posts of various categories of staff were being filled on a priority. He said the state government had earlier created a large number of posts of para-teacher to fill vacancies in the remote areas. He said 1,410 such teachers had so far been recruited and posted locally. The number of seats in JBT training course had been increased from 1,055 to 1,800 he said. The focus was on the universalisation of elementary education for which the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan was being implemented in the state. |
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CITU seeks probe into lathicharge
Shimla, October 11 In a representation to the DGP, the union today demanded that an inquiry should be held into the incident, with an assurance that such an action would not be repeated.
— TNS |
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Father, daughter killed in mishap
Kangra, October 11 The police said that an Alto car, which was driven by Dr R.S.Verma, smashed against the pillar of the Gandhi park in Dharamshala. Dr Verma died on the spot. His wife, Ramesh Verma, and daughter and a child travelling in the car received injuries and were admitted to Dr R.P. Government Medical College Hospital at Dharamshala. The daughter later died in CMC, Ludhiana.
— OC |
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Snowfall in tribal areas
Shimla, October 11 The Dhauladhar hills in Kangra district, the Rohtang Pass, Kunzam Pass, Saach Pass and Pin-Parvati Pass were experiencing intermittent heavy snowfall since this afternoon while the lower areas had widespread rains.
— PTI |
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Lakhanpal
takes over
Kangra, October 11 |
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Freshers’ party at Baddi college Chandigarh, October 11 A cultural show was also organised which included solo dance, solo songs, hilarious skits by first year B.Tech students. A modelling show was also the part of the colourful evening.
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