H I M A C H A L   P R A D E S H

Private universities Bill introduced
Shimla, March 29
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today introduced the Himachal Pradesh Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Bill, 2006, in the state Assembly to pave the way for opening of universities in the private sector.

Cancellation of evaluation centre resented
Bilaspur, March 29
Local unit of Himachal Pradesh Government Post-graduate College Teachers Association here has strongly resented cancellation of age-old evaluation centre of HP University exams from this college. This was the only such centre in entire Bilaspur District.

Major road upgrade project on anvil
Shimla, March 29
The Himachal Government has formulated a four-pronged strategy to upgrade the road network and provide connectivity to left-out villages, under which over Rs 2,000 crore will be spend over the next two years.

Govt for mass sterilisation of monkeys
Shimla, March 29
Appreciating the concern of the House regarding the damage being caused to crops by wild animals, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, today outlined a multi-pronged strategy to contain the growing monkey menace and eliminate beasts making frequent forays into villages.

Draft delimitation proposals published
Shimla, March 29
The delimitation Commission will hold public hearings from April 21 to listen to objections and suggestions regarding the draft proposals framed by it for redrawing the boundaries of the four parliamentary and 68 assembly constituencies in the state.

Farmers demand relief for damaged crops
Nahan, March 29
Farmers of Sirmaur district under the banner of the Kisan Sabha held a protest march here yesterday to press for the acceptance of their demands to protect farmers and their crops.

Stokes clarifies on mini hydel projects
Shimla, March 29
Mrs Vidya Stokes, Power Minister, today asserted in the Vidhan Sabha that the Congress government had not made large-scale allotments of mini and micro hydroelectric projects to private companies of Andhra Pradesh, and maintained that these companies were invited during the previous BJP regime.

Private universities Bill introduced
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 29
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today introduced the Himachal Pradesh Private Universities (Establishment and Regulation) Bill, 2006, in the state Assembly to pave the way for opening of universities in the private sector.

Stating the objectives of the Bill, the chief minister said that several societies and private parties were keen to set up universities in the hill state making it imperative for the government to bring an omnibus legislation to provide for establishment, incorporation and regulation of private universities in the state.

The bill seeks to obviate the need for bringing separate legislations for setting up private parties universities. The notification for setting up the university would be issued only after a resolution was passed by the Assembly.

A letter of intent would be issued after ascertaining the expertise and financial standing of the party and steps to notify the university would be taken after obtaining report about the creation of required facilities and expenditure incurred.

A minimum of 10,000 sq mtr of constructed area would be required to obtain accreditation from the National Council of Assessment and Accreditation (NAAC) within three years. The university would be bound to comply with all the rules, regulations, norms of various regulatory bodies.

The fee structure of the university would be decided by the university, subject to approval by the government. The government would grant approval within two months. If approval was not conveyed within two months, it shall be deemed to have been approved.

The fees would so structured that it would be sufficient for meeting the recurring expenditure and savings required for further development and not unreasonably high.

The Chancellor of the university would be appointed by the promoter and the vice-chancellor by the Chancellor.

The sponsoring body would also be required to establish an endowment fund of Rs 2 crore for the university to be pledged to the government and the amount would be Rs 75 lakh for universities to be set up in tribal areas.

Cancellation of evaluation centre resented
Our Correspondent

Bilaspur, March 29
Local unit of Himachal Pradesh Government Post-graduate College Teachers Association here has strongly resented cancellation of age-old evaluation centre of HP University exams from this college. This was the only such centre in entire Bilaspur District. The association has called this decision of HP University as totally unjustified and whimsical. It has warned that all college teachers of Bilaspur district would boycott annual examination work and duty from April 3 if the evaluation centre is not restored immediately.

Association general secretary Professor Satish Chandel said here yesterday that this was unanimously decided in an emergency meeting of association here which was presided over by Dr Rakesh Bhardwaj. A representation has been sent to the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and Controller of Examinations of HP University.

The association has argued that this evaluation centre was functioning here successfully for the past several years. Twenty six thousand answer books were evaluated in this centre and teachers from this college fully cooperated with HP University and went for evaluation at RKMV College, Shimla.

They said that all districts in Himachal Pradesh have evaluation centre. Some districts have even more than one centre.

The university has not given any reason why Bilaspur centre has been cancelled.

Major road upgrade project on anvil
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 29
The Himachal Government has formulated a four-pronged strategy to upgrade the road network and provide connectivity to left-out villages, under which over Rs 2,000 crore will be spend over the next two years.

Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, said all villages with a population of over 500 would be connected by roads and the backlog of surface renewal of metalled roads would be cleared. Major roads would be widened and improved and the national highways would be upgraded.

The Government of India had agreed to provide 3.5 times outlay as against the existing 2.5 times of the annual allocation which would ensure better utilisation of funds.

As per the strategic options study (SOS) carried out for major roads, apart from the Shimla-Kalka highway, no other road was found economically viable for four laning. However, some national highways were required to be double laned. The government proposed to under take the double-laning work under the World Bank project.

The Baddi-Chandigarh road had been approved by the Ministry of Surface Transport and would be completed by October 2007 at a cost of Rs 13 crore.

The Zirakpur-Pinjore-Parwanoo-Shimla road, which included the 13-km Kalka bypass, would be four laned by the National Highway Authority of India at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore.

Roads stretching to about 800 km would be widened. These included Mehatpur-Una-Amb, Una-Barsar-Jahu-Rewalsar-Mandi, Ghumarvin-Sarkaghat- Jogindernagar, Theog-Kotkhai-Rohru and Kumarhatti-Sarhan-Nahan roads. About 400-km length of major roads would be selected for double laning after a feasibility report.

Govt for mass sterilisation of monkeys
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 29
Appreciating the concern of the House regarding the damage being caused to crops by wild animals, Mr Ram Lal Thakur, Forest Minister, today outlined a multi-pronged strategy to contain the growing monkey menace and eliminate beasts making frequent forays into villages.

Replying to the debate on the discussion raised by Mr Mukesh Agnihotri of the Congress, he said the Wildlife Department would come out with a comprehensive plan for getting rid of wild boars, which were giving sleepless night to farmers across the state, within a month. The government also proposed to carry out mass sterilisation of monkeys to contain their ever-growing population.

He said the Chief Minister, Mr Virbhadra Singh , was equally concerned about the problem and he had assured to provide required funds for the sterilisation programme.

The department proposed to acquire two laser machines for sterilisations of monkeys but the Chief Minister asked it to have four machines. Once the machines were available, mobile units would be established to carry out sterilisations all over the state.

He said permits were available for killing of wild boars and monkeys but the villagers did not come forward for them. However, he maintained that permits for killing nilgai were not being given liberally.

Simultaneously, the government had increased the budgetary allocation for afforestation so that suitable fruit trees could be planted to ensure that enough food was available for wild animals in forests. Besides, water holes would also be developed so that the wild animals did not venture into human habitation in search of food and water.

Regarding the stray cattle menace he said proper enumeration and registration of domestic animals was essential at the panchayat level so that owners of such animals could be identified and penalised.

Draft delimitation proposals published
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 29
The delimitation Commission will hold public hearings from April 21 to listen to objections and suggestions regarding the draft proposals framed by it for redrawing the boundaries of the four parliamentary and 68 assembly constituencies in the state.

Mr Prem Kumar, Chief Electoral Officer, said here that the draft delimitation proposals had been published on Monday. Objections and suggestions, if any, could be sent to the Secretary, Delimitation Commission, New Delhi, before April 10. He said these objections and suggestions would considered by the delimitation commission during public sittings in the state.

The hearings for Chamba, Kangra, Hamirpur and Una districts will be held at Government Polytechnic College, Kangra, on April 21.

For Mandi, Kullu, Bilaspur, Lahaul and Spiti (except Spiti) the public hearings will take place at Vipasha Sadan in Mandi on April 23 and for Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Kinnaur, Spiti sub-division of Lahaul Spiti district the hearings will be held at Peterhoff State Guest House at Shimla on April 25.

Farmers demand relief for damaged crops
Our Correspondent

Nahan, March 29
Farmers of Sirmaur district under the banner of the Kisan Sabha held a protest march here yesterday to press for the acceptance of their demands to protect farmers and their crops.

A group of farmers under the leadership of Mr Jasmat Singh, district president of the Kisan Sabha, held a protest march from Katcha Tank to the office of the Deputy Commissioner. Farmers were demanding that they should be given compensation in lieu of their crops which were damaged due to a long dry spell. They wanted the government to conduct a survey to assess the damage caused to the crops.

The farmers submitted a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister to the Deputy Commissioner.

Stokes clarifies on mini hydel projects
Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 29
Mrs Vidya Stokes, Power Minister, today asserted in the Vidhan Sabha that the Congress government had not made large-scale allotments of mini and micro hydroelectric projects to private companies of Andhra Pradesh, and maintained that these companies were invited during the previous BJP regime.

Stating this during question hour, she said in all 40 companies of Andhra Pradesh were allotted projects but out of these only five were initiated during the Congress regime and the rest were the legacy of the BJP government.