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From the Assembly From the Assembly
Age limit: Ayurvedic docs seek exemption No employment officer at Nahan Weather causes Rs 5-cr loss in Chamba Cement Plant
No evidence of forced conversion: CM SAARC car rally to pass by Nahan Civil hospital begs for staff Allowances Bill sent to select panel Mend ways or face action, Kangra cops warned Lack of staff stunts horticulture project No enrolment as advocate after 45 Nalwari fair from March 17 HC directive on MC wards Rs 14.2 crore given under Swajaldhara plan One held for abducting girl
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From the Assembly Shimla, March 15 Participating in the debate on budget proposal for 2007-08, he said the Congress was answerable to the people of the state as the elections were due within a year. “I would advice the Congress to stop talking about BJP’s past and focus on its present,” he said. Talking about the charge sheet issued by the BJP, he said the party had communicated to the Governor that in case the probe was handed over to the CBI, the party would provide all proofs and documents. He said all issues that had been raised by the BJP members in the House would be raised during the elections for which the Congress would be answerable. He said it was not important as to many how many years one had remained the Chief Minister of the state, what mattered was the contribution made during one’s tenure. “BJP Chief Ministers Shanta Kumar and P.K. Dhumal are remembered for their contribution in providing drinking water and road network,” he said. He said the Congress was responsible for pushing the state into a debt trap. However, BJP members got agitated and raised slogans when Thakur’s request for more time to the deputy speaker was not accepted. They left the House raising slogans, but returned after some time. Earlier, IPH minister Kaul Singh Thakur accused the BJP of raising the bogey of regionalism. He said the Congress government was committed to undertake uniform and balanced development of the state. He said the BJP had no right to talk about corruption as during their rule, their ministers and MLAs had accused their own government of regional discrimination. He read out the letter written by them to Dhumal. He said the charge sheet issued by the BJP was a bundle of lies. He said the election manifesto of the Congress had been adopted as a policy document and all promises would be fulfilled.
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From the Assembly Tribune News Service Shimla March 15 Replying to Ramesh Chand (BJP) in the Assembly today, he said though the fares had been increased by 25 per cent, the corresponding increase in earnings was only 12.71 per cent.The main reason for the profit not being lower was the rise in diesel prices from Rs 21.76 per litre to Rs 31.77 per litre. The earnings of the HRTC, which was Rs 193.70 crore in 2003-04 had gone up to Rs 195.69 crore in 2004-05 and 204.06 crore in 2005-06 and it did not have to pay any special route tax, which was Rs 7.20 crore from Oct 2006 to Feb 2007. He added that the revenue of the HRTC had gone up by almost 40 per cent. Responding to a query by Mohinder Singh and Damodar Dass of the BJP, Bali said work on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis was being undertaken on four bus stands in the state, which were ISBT at Shimla, Mandi, Kangra and Mcleodganj and work for their construction had been awarded. He informed that barring the Mandi bus stand, the work on the other bus stands was in progress and Rs 50 lakh was given for it under the MP Fund by former MP Anil Sharma. It was lying with the Bus Stand Management Authority and not a single penny from it had been utilised elsewhere. Power minister Vidya Stokes in a written reply to Harbhajan Singh Bhajji of the Congress said work on the 4.50 MW Hul hydel power project started in December 2006 and it was likely to be completed in Sept 2008. While the two MW Kalm project, the government had extended the time limit to June 2007.It was likely to be completed in June 2009. She said both projects were located in Chamba district.
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Age limit: Ayurvedic docs seek exemption Nurpur, March 15 State president of the association Sanjiv Guleria in a press note issued here today lamented that the candidates who had been interviewed against vacant posts sanctioned by the present as well as previous state governments failed to get appointments due to revocation of the recruitments. “Ironically, the Virbhadra Singh government had earlier approved 85 posts of ayurvedic doctors in its first Budget presented in March 2003 for 2003-2004, but these could not be filled in four years but in the last Budget for 2007-2008 same 85 posts were given approval," he rowed. He termed these posts as ridiculous to the unemployed doctors who had been waiting for their batch wise appointments and had crossed the maximum age limit. He alleged that the government's apathy to formulate any recruitment policy for ayurvedic doctors had left the unemployed in the lurch. "It is a pity that the Ayurvedic Department retained by the Chief Minister himself could not appoint 85 ayurvedic doctors in four years for which nod had been given in 2003," he lamented. He also demanded to fill 170 posts of ayurvedic doctors in place of 85 posts, which had been approved by the state government twice within four years of its rule.
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No employment officer at Nahan Nahan, March 15 The employment officer has to supervise the functioning of employment exchange branches at Rajgarh, Sarahan, Sanghra, Paonta Sahib, Shillai and Kamrao. According to sources, the post has been lying vacant for the past over 7 years. The office is also faced with shortage of other staff. Only one clerk is reportedly shouldering the routine workload that sometimes goes over 100 registrations per day. Two posts of clerk and one peon are reportedly lying vacant at present. The employment office has so far enrolled 48,515 persons, including 15,611 women candidates, according to office superintendent R.S. Rawat, who is also discharging the duties of the employment Officer. |
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Weather causes Rs 5-cr loss in Chamba Dalhousie, March 5 Officials said the main roads connecting the district headquarters town of Chamba were cleared of debris and vehicular traffic was resumed. The work to restore link roads in the interior-most parts of the district was in progress and would soon be opened to traffic thereby returning the life to normal. Pangi Resident Commissioner Jagdev Singh Pathania informed that the government schools in the tribal valley had been closed till March 16 owing to heavy snowfall which till yesterday had been recorded to 150 cm varying from location to location. |
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Cement Plant Our Correspondent Chamba, March 15 These organisations demand the formulation of a welfare policy for the well-being of inhabitants of Sikridhar zone. They are seeking commercial prices for their land, permanent jobs, conservation of surrounding environment and all-round development of the area. They have decided to continue their protest till their welfare was ensured by the government. The Rs 800-crore two-million tonne capacity plant will be operational after five years.
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No evidence of forced conversion: CM Shimla, March 15 The issue of forced conversion and 'nikah' of a girl abducted from Nalagarh by some Kashmiri youth was raised in the House by the leader of the opposition P.K. Dhumal. He expressed concern at media reports indicating that the girl had been abducted, raped and forced to convert before a nikah was performed. He said the government must look into the matter and ascertain if there had been forced conversion as it was a matter of grave concern as the H.P. Freedom of Religion Bill, 2006, had been enacted. Mr Virbhadra Singh said a missing report had been made in Nalagarh police station by the family of a 14-year old girl, a class eight student in a government school there. It was found that the girl had been seen with one Manzoor Ahmed Lone, a resident of Warsun village in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. A police team was later sent to Kupwara and the girl along with Mushtaaq Ahmed was brought to Nalagarh. A case has been registered at Nalagarh police station. Mushtaaq had been remanded in police custody while the girl had been handed over to her mother. He said during investigations there had been no mention of conversion or forced marriage but the medical report of the girl had confirmed rape.
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SAARC car rally to pass by Nahan Nahan, March 15 Sirmour unit chief of the BJP Baldev Bhandari said the rally would strengthen relations among member constituents which was also the need of the hour. He underlined the need of re-carpeting the road from Kala-Amb to Naraingarh as it was full of potholes. The participants would face a nightmarish experience, if road was not re-carpeted, he added. V.R. Chouhan, advocate, said it was an applaudable step taken by the SAARC community. The rally would reflect solidarity and goodwill gesture of the SAARC countries. It would help in strengthening international ties. He emphasised the need for reinventing cross-border routes that were lying closed, including the Hindustan-Tibetan road and the Indo-Sikkim border routes.
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Civil hospital begs for staff Hamirpur, March 15 The case of up-gradation of the only Civil Hospital at Tohni Devi in Hamirpur district is a living example. Even after eight years of its up-gradation, the staff in the hospital have not been appointed. The Tohni Devi Primary Health Centre (PHC) was up-graded on March 4, 1999, and the foundation of the new building, was laid in October 2000.Though the hospital was designated as the Civil Hospital with 50 beds more than 8 years back, only medical staff of the PHC are still working here. According to norms, eight medical doctors, three pharmacists and 5 nurses were to be appointed. At present, only three doctors of the PHC are working with two pharmacists. A nurse on contract basis has been appointed. Tohni Devi Block medical officer Dr K. K. Sharma said, “The staff of three doctors are working here and has bed capacity of 6 as per the PHC norms.” Hamirpur officiating chief medical officer Dr P.R. Katwal said “The posts of doctors and other medical staff were to be created by the government.” While the health under secretary at Shimla said “ The government is now considering to convert it in to a first referral unit in Hamirpur district and will appoint adequate staff”.
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Allowances Bill sent to select panel Shimla, March 15 The Bill was presented in the House on Monday by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. When the Chief Minister presented the Bill for discussion in the House, Kuldeep Sing Pathania took strong notice to some of the provisions in the Bill, including sumtures allowance and provision of free petrol and other incentives in the Bill. He said though the Bill had been introduced in the House on the direction of the Supreme Court on the recommendations of the Shetty Commission. He said he had no objection, but the judicial officers were not only the privileged services, there were other classes of privileged services, including that of legislators who did not get such allowances. — PTI
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Mend ways or face action, Kangra cops warned Dharamsala, March 15 A move has been initiated to weed out unscrupulous elements among the force. Superintendent of police Ajay Yadav said 19 police personnel had been identified as habitual drunkards and special de-addiction camps arranged for them. The initiative had borne results as there had been some improvement and such cops were mending their ways. Those who had shown no signs of improvement, “we have taken away responsible positions from them”, the SP said. Some harsh steps had also been taken to teach them a lesson so that they realise their basic duty as 'public servants'. He revealed one sub-inspector, one ASI and two constables had been served with notices of compulsory retirement for having failed to carry out their duty properly, wilful absence and heavy drinking. Maintaining that policemen of doubtful integrity were under surveillance, the SP said that nobody indulging in corrupt practices would be spared.
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Lack of staff stunts horticulture project Solan, March 15 The project was sanctioned for a period of five years which expired in March this year. With an acute scarcity of staff in the department, the project failed to utilise the entire amount sanctioned for various developmental activities. Officials confirmed that merely Rs 60.5 crore could be utilised out of the total Rs 80 crore, while another Rs 10 crore were presently being disbursed. This amount of Rs 10 crore was received about 3-4 months back and hence failed to be utilised till today. The remaining amount was likely to lapse now. Officials admitted that it was the lack of adequate staff which impeded the project’s proper implementation. While as many as 129 posts of HDOs were lying vacant, out of the sanctioned strength of 263 posts the department could not even appoint contractual staff to meet the requirement. Sources said a case to amend the essential qualification of HDOs from the existing B.Sc to M.Sc had been taken up in the Cabinet. It could not be approved due to certain objections. Since no serious attention has been given to remove the objections, the matter has been hanging fire since the past several months. Even contractual staff could not be appointed due to non-amendment of recruitment and promotion rules. Director Horticulture Gurdev Singh said they were preparing the modalities to extend the project period as directed by the Centre and it was likely to be extended. He said a proposal to appoint adequate staff had been taken up with the government. The project could only utilise Rs 6.50 crore in the year 2003-2004 as the funds were received in October 2003. While an amount of another 13 crore were used till February 2004-2005, while another Rs 11 crore were spent in 2005-2006. A sum of Rs 52.80 crore were demanded by the project for the current financial year out of which Rs 5 crore were spent till July 2006. Sources said it was the delay in sending utilisation certificates due to the tardy progress of work which had delayed the grant from the Centre.BJP state secretary H.N.Kashyap said lack of proper fund utilisation and pick and choose approach had been adopted to carry out developmental work under the mission where the officials had been directed to benefit those owing allegiance to the congress while ignoring the common man.
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No enrolment as advocate after 45 Shimla, March 15 Earlier, there was no such age limit, chairman of the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh Ramakant Sharma said. He said the Bar Council of India had approved the HP Advocates Enrolment Rules, 2006. As per the new rules, a person, who has completed the age of 45 years on the date on which he submitted his application for enrolment as an advocate to the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh, will not be entitled for enrolment. Ramakant further said every advocate who was on the rolls of the Bar Council of Himachal Pradesh would have to be a member of at least one bar association in the state where he ordinarily practised. In case an advocate enrolled with the council did not obtain membership of one such association, he would not be entitled to practise and the violation of the rule would be deemed to be a professional misconduct. |
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Nalwari fair from March 17 Bilaspur, March 15 Forests, youth services and sports minister Ramlal Thakur would inaugurate the fair on March 17 while Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would be chief guest at the concluding function on March 23. He would give away prizes to the wrestlers who emerged at the top in the four-day competitions during the fair. |
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HC directive on MC wards Shimla, March 15 A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice V.K. Gupta and Mr Justice V.K. Ahuja passed this order on a petition filed by Rajeev Sood wherein he had challenged the process adopted for reservation of Shimla municipal wards for the forthcoming elections. During the hearing of the petition, counsel for the state government sought one week for reconsidering the matter. The case will come up for further hearing on March 22. |
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Rs 14.2 crore given under Swajaldhara plan Shimla, March 15 Stating this while presiding over a meeting of the Water Sanitation Mission Implementation Committee
(SWSM) here recently, chief secretary S.S. Parmar said 568 schemes were sanctioned under the SWSM programme during 2006-07 out of which 80 had been completed. He directed the officers to make efforts to complete the schemes in the stipulated time. |
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One held for abducting girl Mandi, March 15 Chowki in-charge ASI Ratan Chand, who was investigating the case said the girl had been identified and she belonged to Saigalu village in Mandi Sada. The victim was staying with her sister and was taking her Class X examinations. She was allegedly abducted by one Reena and her husband Vijay under the pretext that they would get her married in Delhi or Jalandhar. The police has arrested one Ravi, who was known to both Reena and the victim, under Sections 363, 366 A of the IPC. Ravi belongs to Barni, Hamirpur, and works with a cable contractor. He was produced in the district court today, which sent him on 2-day-long police remand. Though the police has yet to investigate whether the husband-wife duo and Ravi ran a racket of luring innocent village girls into immoral trafficking, but the conflicting statements have puzzled the police. Sarla, mother of the abducted girl, who works at a primary health centre in Kotli said the girl was lured and abducted from their rented house in the Jail Road locality. Reena and the victim had told latter’s sister Kusma that they were going to Jalandhar where they would find a suitable match for the victim. Both Vijay and Reena have no children and Vijay wanted to marry the victim, the police said. But the police revealed that Reena and the victim were staying in New Delhi at the residence of some Sompal and not in Jalandhar, as they had told Kusma. Mandi district SP M. Chandersekhar said the police was investigating all angels in the case. “It is too early to say anything as the police has registered a case of kidnapping and abduction”, he said. A police team will be dispatched to Delhi. The police said it had sought more days of police remand for Ravi, as he could help in solving the case.
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70 liquor vends allotted Bharat Vikas Parishad Doc's transfer resented Consumer rights 10-year RI
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