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Keep vigil on foreigners over staying: CM
HC to have full strength of nine judges
5-yr RI for causing death
Rs 1 lakh for info on bridge burning
SJVN presents Rs 54-cr resettlement plan
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Make Nalwari fair accounts public: Thakur
Minor girl kidnapped
Grace marks in maths
Rs 2-cr loss feared as fire guts factory
Outsiders’ registration made must
Employees demand law on transfers
NIT students showcase skills
Preference for males skewing sex ratio
More funds for rural water supply scheme
Insurance co told to pay Rs 1.24 lakh to driver
Medical college delayed
Court staff seek pay as per Shetty panel
MLA to approach minority panel
Booked for black-marketing
Elected
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Keep vigil on foreigners over staying: CM
Shimla, March 31 This was stated by the chief minister Virbhadra Singh while presiding over 117th meeting of the Board of Directors of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC), here today. “Strict vigil needs to be kept on visitors especially, foreigners who overstay after the expiry of their visa and indulge in activites like drug-trafficking,” he said. The Chief Minister said the validity of their travelling documents should be monitored regularly and intimation about expiry be given to the authorities concerned. He said the HPTDC had earned a record profit of Rs 6 crore during the current financial year. “The HPTDC, which till now had been running in losses, has earned a revenue of Rs 44 crore and registered a 162 per cent increase in its turnover compared to the previous year,” he said. “The HPTDC will be opening a multipurpose tourism complex in the Baddi-Barotiwala area to cater to the growing demand of hospitality due to the industrial boom in the area. He stressed the need for creating a separate kitchen cadre in the HPTDC hotels all over the state. “The existing manpower needs to be given periodic training to update their professional skills and learn the latest trend in the hospitality industry,” he said. He said the online booking of the HPTDC hotels had helped boost business. Tourism minister G.S. Bali said the concerted efforts by the management and staff of HPTDC had succeeded in registering a profit.
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HC to have full strength of nine judges
Shimla, March 31 The assent of the President of India has been received for the appointment of two senior advocates -- Rajeev Sharma and Kanwar Kuldeep Singh -- as additional judges. With these two appointments, the high court will function with its full strength of nine judges besides the Chief Justice. Another interesting fact is that all eight appointments have come during the tenure of Chief Justice V.K. Gupta within a short span of two and a half years. At one point of time, the strength of judges in the high court had come down to three. The first appointment made by him was that of Justice Deepak Gupta, who now is the seniormost Judge after the Chief Justice himself. Justice Gupta was elevated in October 2004, after which rest of the appointments of judges came through. This was followed with the appointment of Justice Surjit Singh and Abhilasha Kumari, which too were recommended by Justice Gupta. Justice Abhilasha Kumari has now been shifted to the Gujarat High Court. It was in November 2005 that Justice D.D. Sud, Justice V.K. Ahuja and Justice S.S. Thakur were made judges. The appointment of Sanjay Karol, a senior advocate came through earlier this month. With the fresh two appointments of judges, the Himachal Pradesh High Court will function with its full strength. Besides, the appointments of the high court judges, more than 25 posts of sub-judges have also been filled. A large number of promotions and the creation of new posts of sub-judges were made due to the opening of nine fast-track courts, which have helped in the speedy disposal of cases. |
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5-yr RI for causing death
Sundernagar, March 31 Ajit was employed as a chowkidar at Senior Secondary School, Dharampur. He was reportedly beaten up by the convict with a stick. Before dying, he made a statement in front of a doctor at the Zonal Hospital, Mandi. Pronouncing the order, the court ordered that the amount of Rs 50,000 be given to the wife of Ajit. |
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Rs 1 lakh for info on bridge burning
Mandi, March 31 “The informer’s identity will be kept confidential. Any information can be forwarded to the DSP, Sundernagar, on phone No. 94180-01170,” he added. |
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SJVN presents Rs 54-cr resettlement plan
Shimla, March 31 The plan was presented at a meeting held in Bayal village in Kullu district attended by gram pradhans of the affected villages and representatives of the local administration, World Bank and the Rampur project. Under the scheme of land acquisition, a compensation ranging from Rs 45, 000 to Rs 65,000 per bigha will be paid to the displaced families. Additionally, the families rendered homeless will be given land and grant for construction at the rate of Rs 3,000 per metre up to a maximum of 60 metres. The families will also be provided a one-time grant of Rs 5,000 for transportation of household goods or the transportation facilities in lieu thereof. Further, 30 students from the affected families will be provided scholarships for vocational The plan also included income-generation schemes for promoting self-employment and small business for which a seed capital of Rs 30,000 to each family will be provided. The company will also render help to promote horticulture, agriculture and animal husbandry in the affected areas.
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Make Nalwari fair accounts public: Thakur
Bilaspur, March 31 Thakur, who is president of nearby Sihdha gram panchayat, said that officers of the mela management committee collected lakhs of rupees from villagers and organisations but have never given any detailed account of the expenditure on the fair till now. Artistes from outside the state were called for cultural programmes and local artistes were ignored. He said the mela committee should publish a detailed account of income and expenditure. — OC |
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Minor girl kidnapped
Nahan, March 31 In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, father of the girl Asgar Ali has alleged that his daughter was forcibly picked up by Tahir of Mehruwala village. He said he lodged a complaint at the Singhpura police chowki on the same day and the police registered a case on March 24. Till date, the police has failed to trace his daughter. He has urged the Chief Minister to help locate his daughter and punish the kidnapper. |
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Grace marks in maths
Bilaspur, March 31 Some glaring mistakes had appeared in these question papers and the state board was urged to give grace marks as compensation.
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Rs 2-cr loss feared as fire guts factory
Nahan, March 31 The loss due to fire has been estimated over 2.25 crore as per factory sources. A big fire reportedly broke out in the factory around 3 pm. After noticing flames, the workers came out of the factory premises and fire engines were called immediately by the management. Sunil Sharma, manager said, everything inside the factory had been destroyed. Narvir Rathour, SHO Paonta, said an inquiry had been initiated. |
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Outsiders’ registration made must
Bilaspur, March 31 The notification, which came into force immediately, will remain effective till May 31. Need to ensure safety and security of the residents is said to be the reason behind the step. As per the notification, no contractor or employer can employ and no house owner can provide shelter to any person who has come from outside the district and has not got himself registered at the nearest police station and does not have an identity card attested by the SHO concerned. |
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Employees demand law on transfers
Bilaspur, March 31 Addressing mediapersons here today, state chief adviser of the confederation and former state president of the HP State NGOs Federation Ram Singh said certain politicians sometimes created such circumstances that either employees must serve their political interests or be victimised and harassed for no fault of theirs. He said the “Kaul Singh Committee” of the Cabinet constituted by the government for deciding transfer policy several years ago, had not come out with its report yet. He said the government should also come out with a code of conduct for politicians, including ministers and MLAs, as had been done in case of employees of the state. He also said the employees should get all benefits and financial advantages on Punjab pattern. No financial crunch had ever prevented politicians from increasing their own facilities, salaries and allowances, while employees were being denied even their rights. He demanded that the state government employees should be given Rs 350 medical allowance every month, special annual increments after every four, nine and 14 years of services and also hard area allowances on the Punjab pattern, failing which the confederation would be forced to launch an agitation.
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NIT students showcase skills
Hamirpur, March 31 A third year engineering student from the electrical department, Manjeet Negi, built an electric motor on Faraday’s principle along with others, and won the first prize in the contest. On Saturday, Scientific officer from Kalappakam IGCR nuclear research centre M.P. Antony delivered lecture on nuclear power generation. Antony in his lecture dealt with functioning and techniques of nuclear reactors and power generation. |
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Preference for males skewing sex ratio
Mandi, March 31 The Census Operation, Himachal Pradesh, 2001, has painted a grim scenario for the child sex ratio in the district at a workshop held here. Voicing its concern over the dangerous social trend that could upset the population balance in the society if it was not reversed timely. The child sex ratio for Mandi district as a whole stood at 918 females per 1,000 males, and it worked out to be 922 for rural areas and 840 for urban areas in the district. Though there was no exact sociological study on the prevailing trend in the state, but the experts cited preference for the male child and spreading of the sex selection tests as prime reasons for the dangerous trend in the state. Himachal Pradesh census operation assistant director Arjun S. Negi said the child sex ratio in the age group of 0-6 years for Baldwara in Gopalpur block had turned out to be just 851, which was much lower than the average of 918 females per 1,000 males in the district. Similar reverse trend in 0-6 year’s age group has been noticed in sub-tehils of Kotli (859), Aut (861), tehsils of Jogindernagar (880) and Sundernagar (901). Negi stated that the child sex ration had turned out to be healthier in remote pockets of the district. In Balichowki tehsil it was 1,020, highest in the district, Nehri(982), Karsog (979) and Chachiot teshil sex ratio was as per 2001 census had been worked out to be 969. The ratio in urban areas of the district had more depressing figures at 840 females per 1,000 males. The Riwalsar, pilgrimage centre, at 690 had the lowest ratio among urban areas in the district, officials revealed. Though the ratio in Mandi town stands at 874, but it is woefully lower in the less urbanised semi-rural towns of Jogindernagar (784), Sarkaghat (785) and Sundernagar (839). Census Officials said the HP Census Operation had been organising workshops involving various departments and NGOs in each district to spread awareness about the rising trends in population patterns in the state, so that a comprehensive strategy could be evolved to check the social menace.
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More funds for rural water supply scheme
Shimla, March 31 An official spokesperson said while up to 15 per cent of the funds released under the sanction could be utilised for operation and maintenance, 5 per cent could be spent on taking sustainability measures. States had been asked to delegate powers for the management of rural water supply schemes through panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). As such operation and maintenance of the completed schemes had to be transferred to the PRIs. No expenditure could be incurred on taking up water quality problems as there was a separate allocation for the purpose. This funds were made available for completion of schemes to provide safe drinking water facilities to rural habitations and schools. |
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Insurance co told to pay Rs 1.24 lakh to driver
Sundernagar, March 31 The complainant had purchased a three-wheeler bearing No. HP-33B-0359, the cost of which was Rs 1.35 lakh, on March 21, 2006. The said vehicle was insured with the National Insurance Company for an amount of Rs 1.28 lakh. The accident took place on May 26, 2006. The matter was reported to the opposite party.On inspection, it was found that the vehicle was not worth repair. At one stage, the opposite party offered a sum of Rs 93,000 to the complainant as the full and final settlement which was not acceptable to the complainant, as a result, the complaint was filed before the forum. The opposite party resisted the claim of the complainant on the ground that the surveyor had assessed the loss at Rs 85,205. The forum held that, at the time of the accident, the value of the three-wheeler was Rs 1.24 lakh and the insurance company was liable to pay this amount to the complainant and the non-payment of this amount to complainant would amount to deficiency in service as provided under the Consumer Protection Act.
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Medical college delayed
Kangra, March 31 The building was ready in December 2005 and it was just a matter of shifting. The hospital building has 17 operation theaters (OTs). It was constructed by HSCC INDIA Ltd. Noida. at a cost of Rs 55 crore. It is yet to be inaugurated even after the building has been handed over to the medical college authorities nearly a year back. |
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Court staff seek pay as per Shetty panel
Dharamsala, March 31 Suresh Thakur, president of the state unit of the non-gazetted judicial employees welfare association, while talking to The Tribune, here yesterday alleged that the ‘Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Courts’ Employees (pay, allowances and other conditions of service) Act-2005’ was enacted by the state government with the main objective of not to implement Justice Shetty Commission Report, which was the first national judicial pay commission. Terming it as an injustice to the employees of the subordinate courts, the employees’ leader revealed that Punjab and nine other states of the country had already implemented this report. The employees of the subordinate courts had also demanded to provide adequate staff in the process of separation of copying agencies and record rooms at divisional and sub-divisional levels in the state from the executive as the Supreme Court in Surinder Saklani-versus-Kanwar Shamsher Singh case had also ordered to separate the record rooms and copying agencies from the control of the executive. Thakur said that there was a need to create the posts of Superintendents Grade-II, Court Nazirs, two Ahlmads, one Ardley and one Peon in the fast track courts as these courts were functioning with the help of the existing staff of the judiciary putting an extra burden of work on the employees of the subordinate courts because of shortage. The Servers and Bailiffs of the subordinate courts were getting only Rs 75 per month as fixed travel allowance that was allegedly an injustice to them. Since, they have to travel in the far-flung areas to discharge their duties regarding execution of summons issued by various courts; therefore, the amount should be increased to at least Rs 500 per month, the employees of the subordinate courts had demanded. The state government was also adopting a dilly-dallying attitude with regard to the bifurcation of subordinate courts in accordance to the Justice Shetty Commission Report that has divided the courts into three tier system, Civil Judges (junior division), Civil Judges (senior division) and Additional District and Sessions Judges Courts. This pattern is functioning in Punjab. However, in Himachal Pradesh as many as 44 judicial officers had been designated as Civil Judges (senior division) but they were not getting the benefit of senior division judicial officers. The problem was that without designation of the courts in the three tier system, the staff of the subordinate courts could not be posted against these posts as a result of which they were not able to get the benefits as per their entitlements.
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MLA to approach minority panel Kumarhatti, March 31 In a press conference held at Nalagarh today, Saini reiterated his plan to put up the matter before the Minority and the Human Rights Commissions. He said he had sufficient evidences to present his case before both commissions. On March 14, Virbhadra Singh had allegedly made derogatory comments against Saini during a Vidhan Sabha session. The party was also planning to hold a state-level protest on the issue, Saini said. Coming down heavily on the state government on the issue of setting up of six bus stands on BOT basis, he said the project involved Rs 1,000 crore scam. Irregularities were being committed by the government in the name of constructing bus stands, he alleged. The project was underway without formulating the state selection committee, he said. He accused transport minister G.S. Bali of getting most of the benefit in the scam.
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Booked for black-marketing
Dharamsala, March 31 The district food and civil supplies controller Yadwinder Paul, said an FIR was lodged following complaints.
— TNS |
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