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Tourism corporation on economy drive
Govt drops express highway project
Restructuring of Education Dept on cards
Delimitation panel meeting put off
Legal authority stresses for free legal aid
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Gujarat Ambuja cement premises locked
Growing up at Balika Ashram
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Tourism corporation on economy drive
Shimla, November 15 In a circular issued by the Managing Director of the HPTDC last week, the incharge of various complexes have been instructed to reduce energy consumption and cut down on unnecessary spending. It has been pointed out that these simple but daily tasks be taken care of. The circular says that use of high energy consumption incandescent lamps is discouraged and energy saving PL lamps be encouraged. “Preventive maintenance of electrical panels and distribution board should be done on a monthly basis as a precaution against short circuit and over heating,” it says. It has been suggested that compact fluorescent lamps be used in public areas like offices, basements, kitchen and corridors and wherever possible sunlight should be encouraged. Keeping in view the huge electricity and fuels bills of various HPTDC hotels and restaurants, the officials thought it wise to start from these small and simple steps which will go along way in cutting down on expenditure. “Being a government undertaking nobody is serious about saving energy and making proper use of water an fuel, resulting in huge bills,” admits an official. The circular even points out to small things like proper cleaning of elements of oven, grills, and geysers. “Immersion rods, tea and coffee makers and milk boilers are getting damaged because proper levels of water and milk not being monitored, resulting in burn out,” it says. It has also been directed that gas burners be regularly cleaned and serviced for optimum efficiency. Gas burners should be replaced only after checking the gas level and the employees should be asked to reduce wastage be it of power, water or fuel. The incharge of the units have been asked to tell the staff to maintain refrigerators, deep freezers and air conditioners at the desired temperature. The letter had been issued to various hotels of the HPDTC at Shimla, Manali and all other units in the state. The authorities have also sought suggestions from the employees for reducing the unproductive expenditure and complaints. “Everyone should come out with ideas for enhancing the corporate image of the corporation, improving service and increasing occupancy,” says another circular. The HPTDC plans to get all these suggestions, not only by employees but also by visitors studied by a group of professionals so that the good ones can be incorporated.
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Govt drops express highway project
Shimla, November 15 Instead of an express highway, which would have reduced the travel time between the two places to less than an hour, the government has settled for the four-lane highway as earlier planned by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The express highway project was to be executed on the BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis by resorting to viability gap funding. The NHAI had prepared the Rs 867-crore project for the four-laning of Shimla-Parwanoo road but the government wanted to be upgraded it to an express highway by constructing some additional tunnels. The additional cost on this account was worked out to be about Rs 600 crore. Preliminary studies indicated that the viability gap would be of the order of over 70 per cent, which was too huge for a BOT project. The government was not in a position to provide the viability gap funding for the project. Unlike the express highway, a four-lane highway will marginally reduce the travel time to 90 minutes. There will be two uphill and downhill two-lane roads which will have different alignments over large portions because of the hill topography. The highway will have nine tunnels and it will bypass Pinjore and Kalka and join the existing highway at near Timber Trail hotel. It will mostly run on the left bank of the Kaushalya Khad between Pinjore and Timber trail. While the NHAI will implement the four-laning project, the government will come up with BOT projects to connect Baddi with the four-lane highway by boring a 3 km-long tunnel under the Kasauli hill. Besides, the Rs 40 crore bridge on the Una-Hamirpur highway and a tunnel under Swarghat hill to reduce the distance between Nalagarh and Bilaspur will also be implemented under public-private partnership programme by the viability gap funding mode.
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Restructuring of Education Dept on cards
Shimla, November 15 Presiding over the state-level Children’s Day function here yesterday, he said all aspects would be taken into consideration and the new directorate would be made functional on priority. The JBT teachers and para teachers would be provided opportunity to improve their qualification so that they could progress in career. Under the restructured set-up, students up to Class VIII would be taught by teachers having higher qualifications which would lead to qualitative improvement in education at primary and elementary levels. The government had sanctioned 2,350 additional posts of assistant para teachers which would enable the department to fill all vacancies in primary schools. The Chief Minister stressed that the teaching community owed the responsibility to inculcate moral values among students so that they not only acquired education, but were well prepared to shoulder responsibilities and face future challenges. Mr Virbhadra Singh also gave away prizes to the students who excelled in various extra-curricular activities. He later went to the party office and paid floral tributes to Jawahar Lal Nehru. The PCC chief, Ms Viplove Thakur, Power Minister, Ms Vidya Stokes, and other senior leaders also paid tributes to him. A function was also held at the party office under the chairmanship of Mr Harbhajan Singh, general secretary of the Pradesh Congress Committee, at which the contribution of Nehru in the creation and development of the hill state was recalled. |
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Delimitation panel meeting put off
Shimla, November 15 According to official sources, the meeting has been postponed as certain members were not available on November 18. The Commission, under the chairmanship of Justice Kuldeep Kumar, will be taking up the case of 34 Assembly segments falling in the districts of Shimla, Solan, Sirmour, Kinaur, Lahaul Spiti and Una. The Commission has earlier looked into the objections and delimitation process of 34 Assembly segments of district Kangra, Chamba, Una and other districts. Objections have been filed by not only MLAs but also other people and organisations that could be affected by the delimitation process. Apart from reserving certain assembly segments on the basis of population, areas falling in one constituency would be included in the other and new segments would be carved out. The issue of increasing the number of Assembly segments in some districts is also being considered by the Commission. The BJP on its part had alleged that the delimitation process was being undertaken solely on the recommendations of the Deputy Commissioners (DC) of the respective districts. They alleged that the DCs were acting on the directions of the political bosses and had made proposals, which suit the ruling party.
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Legal authority stresses for free legal aid
Chail, November 15 He was addressing a gathering of panchayat representatives and officials and members of mahila mandals on the occasion of a one-day legal services camp organised here today. While highlighting the facilities available to the needy, he said a needy who had an income of less than Rs 50,000 per annum could apply at the subdivisional, district or state level for free legal aid. The authority, which has enlisted a panel of lawyers, not only bears the entire cost of litigation but ensures that the needy are not made to suffer. The panel of judges has been enlisted at the subdivisional, district as well as the state levels and comprises advocates who have completed at least three years of practice. Stressing the need for the panchayat representatives to come forward and avail the facility, he rued that very few people came forward to avail these services. He said more than 30 camps had been organised across the state to educate the rural masses about this authority. Earlier the Additional District and Sessions Judge of the Fast-Track Court, Solan, Mr Bhim Chand Sharma, and the Additional CJM-cum-Civil-Judge, Kandhaghat, Mr R.S Chawdhary, educated the gathering about various laws, including the women maintenance provisions, Motor Vehicles Act, etc. |
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Gujarat Ambuja cement premises locked
Solan, November 15 The beleaguered management of the GACL had to ask for police assistance to avoid any untoward incident. Though the factory lock was finally opened after two hours, it disrupted the movement of trucks from and outside the unit for two hours causing revenue loss. The agitating workers were demanding issuance of tokens for undertaking transportation work from the truck unions. The dispute, which erupted on Sunday, reached a flashpoint with the agitated workers striking total transportation work. Two reserves of police were called to maintain the law and order in the area. The police officials said the situation was under control and talks were under way to diffuse the situation. |
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Growing up at Balika Ashram
Kalpa (Kinnaur), November 15 Seven-year-old Sita, Anju and Jai Devi of Bari village lost their father a few years back. Their three other sisters live with their mother. With little financial options to cater to the needs of the children, their mother approached the panchayat which got her three sisters admitted in the Ashram. The Ashram at a heritage village of Kalpa, was started in the early 1990’s with just 12 girl children. It now provides for as many as 53. The children here go to a nearby government school. Celebrations of birth days, picnics and healthy food ensures their all round development. Children’s Day has a special meaning for them. As in the past, yesterday also they sang and danced in the Ashram’s hall. |
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Property worth Rs 25 lakh gutted
Mandi, November 15 The villagers, who battled with the fire throughout the night to bring it under control, finally extinguished it at 4 a.m. before the fire engines arrived on the scene. Fifty members of 15 families have been rendered homeless due to the burning of their houses in the incident. The police said the fire, which started at 11 p.m., might have been caused by a short-circuit.
— UNI |
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Snags in Internet
Solan, November 15 |
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