 |
|
|
Transfer orders spell mess in police dept
Green tax fine but where is development?
Darjeeling rhododendrons to bloom in Shimla |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
106 deodar sleepers seized
MC elections on May 23
Review exam system, plead forestry graduates
e-tendering to ease workload
Horticulture tech mission in Pangi valley
Centre promises Rs 50 cr for Nahan Foundry
Mother alleges threat to son’s life from BSF
2 minor sisters sold for Rs 20,000, one raped
Two killed in road mishap
Woman commits suicide
Higher age limit for VRS irks medicos
Unemployed JEs threaten stir
25,000 pension cases cleared in a year
Conference on design techniques
Rs 1.5 lakh stolen
|
|
Move to end stagnation
Shimla, April 23 Announcing this while addressing the first state PWD Ministerial Employees Association general conference here today Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the government would also consider promoting work-charged and daily-wage employees who fulfilled the requisite educational qualifications and other conditions. The necessary modalities would be worked out in this connection shortly. He said 68 additional posts of senior assistant for looking after accounts work, 24 posts of superintendent grade -I and 73 of superintendent grade-II would be sanctioned. Besides, three additional posts of private secretary and nine posts of senior-scale stenographer would also be provided. This would enable the department to cope with the increased workload. The government was annually spending Rs 3,880 crore on salary and pensions of employees, who were paid the highest in the country. Further, the state had the highest percentage of the population in government employment with a total of 2.78 lakh employees in the government and public sector undertakings. The scenario was changing with the spurt in industrial activity and execution of hydel power projects. Over the past four years 60,000 jobs had been created and the target for the current year was 33,000. Himachal was the first state where regularised daily-wage workers were being given the benefit of pension after retirement. In all 47, 000 workers had been regularised, which included 16,000 workers of the PWD.
|
|
Transfer orders spell mess in police dept
Solan, April 23 While three officials, including DSP Parwanoo, DSP (headquarters) and additional SP were transferred here as per the April 18 order, but till today only ASP Ajay Bodh could join the duty. It is learnt that DSP Parwanoo Ravinder Sharma, who was posted within less than a year of joining, had contested his posting. Asserting that as per the apex court ruling no police official could be posted before completing his tenure as it disturbed crucial investigations, he managed to put his posting on hold. His move, however, was subverted when Bhaghat Thakur, who had managed to procure this plum posting came to join at Parwanoo the very next day. An intimation regarding his joining was sent to the headquarters and SP Solan the same day by his staff. Confusion prevailed over the situation with the PHQ issuing notification stating that he along with other officials will not move till further orders on April 20. Still worse, another order issued by the secretary home the same day stated that all officials, including Sharma could move without the approval of the PHQ. Similarly, though Virender Sharma was posted here as ASP on April 18, but these orders were put on hold a day later and as per fresh orders Ajay Bodh was transferred as ASP. He resumed charge today. In yet another case, DSP (headquarters), R.C. Chhajta, who was earlier transferred to the vigilance department, has also been directed not to join. According to reliable sources in the PHQ, only those officials have been directed to join against whom fax messages have been received today from the PHQ. Discontent was simmering within the department as barely five officials had been promoted from DSP to ASP despite prevalence of nine vacancies. Senior officials said certain officials were posted at sensitive border areas though they figured high on the latest list of “officials of doubtful integrity (ODI)”, prepared by the PHQ. This had earned a bad name for the department as their performance had been dismal and they had earned dubious fame. |
|
Green tax fine but where is development?
Manali, April 23 Imposed in June 2004, the Tourism Department has collected Rs 5.36 crore from the green tax till the end of last year at the convenience of tourists. The department has been charging from every vehicle, including two wheelers bearing a non-Himachal registration number. The green tax charged from a scooter is Rs 100, car — Rs 200, Tata Sumo — Rs 300 and bus — Rs 500. The tax is for a period of seven days. A tax collection barrier on the national highway about 5 km behind the city has been proving a spot of inconvenience for motorists during the peak season, when scores of vehicles line along the highway and wait for their turn to pay the fee. Even though the Tourism Department claims to have spent the money on creating parking lots, musical fountain, solar lights, bypass, parks, illumination of the ancient Hadimba temple and some others, but the reality is other wise. Every nook and corner of the town has been virtually taken-over by heaps of garbage, stray donkeys and cows. The authorities have hardly given any thought to provide basic amenities for the tourists. The road leading to the town and other tourist spots has developed potholes. Filth and trash dot the storm-water-drains and streets in the town. The sunken manholes of sewerage pipe amid a road leading to Hadimba temple from local Mall Road have been proving major bottlenecks in a smooth drive to the historical temple. The tourists hardly find any space for parking their vehicle. Long queues of vehicles could be seen along the highway leaving no space for the tourist vehicles. The shopkeepers charge exorbitantly from the tourists. Moreover, constructed in 1962 a narrow bridge on the Manali-Leh highway over River Beas has further been a bottleneck for the vehicular traffic heading towards Leh. The authorities, despite of earning crores of rupees, have not chalked out any plan for widening it or constructing another parallel bridge to ease the tourists. “It is quite strange that you pay Rs 30 for a car to enter the state and Rs 200 to enter a small town. Charging heavily from the tourist on the name of facilities and infrastructures, which are missing. It is nothing but cheating the tourists. The government should charge one time from the tourists,” lamented A.N. Suman, a tourist from Delhi. “Hardship and cheating tourists in the name of facilities, infrastructure and other civic amenities in the town has been putting a blot on the image of the state. The state government instead of treating the ‘guests’ warmly has been disappointing them. This is going to affect the tourism in the state adversely,” claimed S.N. Rattan, a local banker.
President of hotel and restaurant association, Manali, G.N. Thakur claimed that the issue of reducing the green tax to almost half would be raised in the next meeting again of the Manali Tourism Development Council. “The government should abolish the green tax so that the tourism industry could flourish in this part of the state too”, added Ravinder Bhardwaj, a resident of Badah. The state transport and tourism minister G.S. Bali denied any adverse affect on tourism industry with the imposition of green tax. He said that the tax had been imposed on the directions of the court. The tourism council was doing its best to provide basic facilities to the tourists, he claimed. |
|
Darjeeling rhododendrons to bloom in Shimla
Shimla, April 23 With the depleting green cover on account of excessive urbanization and haphazard construction activity, efforts are now being made to ensure that there is enough greenery in and around the town. The forest department has already asked the conservator, Darjeeling, to provide 5,000 rhododendrons trees for being planted here. In contrast to the flaming red rhododendron found in areas like Jhaku, Summer Hill, Tara Devi and other parts of Shimla, the varieties being brought from Darjeeling will be in different colours like pink, yellow and cream. Along with this, they will have flowers which are bell shaped and in clusters and are suited for different heights. “The trials that the department had conducted last year by planting 1,500 trees have been quite successful and this year we will undertake rhododendron plantation on a larger scale,” informed R.K. Raj, DFO, Shimla Forest Division. He said after last year’s trials the forest staff was confident about the planting technique and were keen that the survival rate of the plants would be high. The fact that the survival rate of the rhododendrons planted last year was not very high, the forest authorities got the soil tested from the Agriculture and the Horticulture department to ensure that conditions were ideal for a high survival rate. In order to ensure that the soil was not too alkaline, a layer of dry leaves would be mixed with the soil to make it more acidic. This would further enhance the survival rate of the plants, he added. Moreover with monkeys and dogs causing damage to a large number of plants last year, the department would be protecting individual rhododendron plant by having a mud guard around it. Since water clogging is very harmful for the rhododendron plants, efforts would be made to plant it on slopes so that the excess water flows out. Unlike last year when 1,500 rhododendron trees were sent from Darjeeling, this time the forest staff would go and get the plants themselves to ensure that there was minimum damage done during transportation. |
|
106 deodar sleepers seized
Mandi, April 23 Though the police has arrested five persons, all poor local villagers, including a Gorkha labour in connection with two cases detected at Pabbas, but the Forest Department and the police have “yet to reach to the bottom of the racket that has been running in the area over the past three years”, revealed sources. The arrested persons have been identified as Suresh, Ramesh, Sant Ram, Sukh Ram, Shyam Singh, all workers and two of them work in an apple orchard in Pabbas owned by a top official in the Department of Advocate-General of the state. But the main kingpin, who has been identified as Kewal Ram is still absconding, the sources said. Chopal SHO Govind Ram, who is the investigating officer in the case told The Tribune on phone that the police has seized 74 sleepers at one spot, and 32 sleepers and three deodar logs from another spot in Pabbas forest and has also recovered the timber-cutting tools from there. The investigation revealed that as many as 19 trees have been cut down at the spot. The police has registered two cases under Sections 143, 149 and 379 of the IPC and 33, 41, 42, of the Indian Forest Act against the accused. The accused are in 10-day police remand. The three accused were bailed out today at Chopal and the bail applications of the other two will be taken up tomorrow, the sources said. The sources alleged that as many as four trucks of timber have already been smuggled out from the Pabbas beat in connivance with the field forest staff in the past few years into Shimla and Yamunagar timber markets, but both police and forest officials denied the allegations, stating that no villager was coming forward to say so. The family members of the arrested persons, who are poor agricultural workers rued that they had become victims of official apathy as they were caught cutting down a tree and two influential persons had smuggled out major chunk of sleepers over the years in connivance with the forest field staff. Chopal Divisional Forest Officer Ajay Srivastava said more than 100 deodar sleepers had been seized and the departmental inquiry into the illegal felling was on. “I do not know about the past three years, as I have joined eight months ago. Involvement of field staff has not come to light so far. The department has increased the vigilance”, he claimed. |
|
|
MC elections on May 23
Shimla, April 23 With the tenure of the existing elected body of the MC expiring on June 2, the State Election Commission today issued the election programme for the conduct of poll. With the addition of one more ward, elections will now be held for 25 wards. The MC is under the control of the ruling Congress party having a total of 16 councillors. The secretary of the State Election Commission, D.K. Gupta said the date for filing of nominations had been fixed for May 1, 3 and 4 between 11 am to 3 pm . Scrutiny of nomination papers would be held on May 5. The day for withdrawal of nominations has been fixed for May 7 upto 3 pm. Polling will be held on May 23 from 7 am to 4 pm . The counting of votes will however take place on May 25 from 8 am onwards in the deputy commissioner’s office and the results will be announced later. Gupta said the model code of conduct would also come into effect within the jurisdiction of the Shimla MC from today itself. This shall remain in effect till the election process is completed on May 27. The BJP is trying its level best to ensure that the party is able to gain control over the lone MC in the state for the first time since it was formed in 1986. While the ruling Congress party has a majority of 16 councillors in the present 24 ward MC, the BJP has seven councillors, while the CPM has control over one. This time one additional ward has been created after the merger of the three special area development authorities of New Shimla, Vikasnagar and Tutu into the Shimla MC. |
|
|
Review exam system, plead forestry graduates
Shimla, April 23 It also maintained that the pattern of the question paper of general studies was changed and it was not as per the syllabus. Most of the candidates who failed to qualify this time had cleared the written examination held in 2003. The Dr Y.S.Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry was the first in the country to introduce a forestry degree course and it had maintained high standards as evident from the fact it attracted students from over 12 countries. The association urged the government to treat the forestry graduate on a par with the agriculture and horticulture graduates who were appointed as development officer on the basis of interviews without undertaking any written examination. Further the posts of assistant conservator of forests and forest rangers should be filled only through the forestry stream as forestry graduates had no other opening for employment. |
|
e-tendering to ease workload
Shimla, April 23 The registered vendors will be intimated about tenders through e-mail. Bids will be filed online for which each vendor will be allotted a username and password. Thus, the entire process will not involve any paperwork. More importantly, the technical bids will be scrutinised and evaluated by the computer in accordance with the fixed parameters. The financial bids of the vendors whose technical bids are rejected will be automatically discarded by the computer. It will open the financial bids of only those companies who qualify the evaluation of technical bids. Further, the computer will compare the financial bids and display the outcome at the time fixed for opening the tenders. With computer taking over the job of scrutinising and evaluating tenders there would be no scope for manipulation at any stage. The new system will not only bring transparency but also speed up the material procurement process and the corporation will not be required to advertise the tenders in newspapers which will help save about Rs 30 - 35 lakh annually. The competition will be global for all the purchases since the corporation makes purchases worth Rs 45 crore every year. As the small vendors within the state are not computer savvy, the corporation is providing them guidance on how to participate in the e-tenders. The e-ticketing scheme for the Volvo and Deluxe buses introduced last year had evoked good response and the total booking through internet portal amounted to Rs 25 lakh. |
|
Horticulture tech mission in Pangi valley
Dalhousie, April 23 Disclosing this in an official communiqué, Jagdev Singh Pathania, Resident Commissioner of Pangi said the work to bring tribal valley under apple cover has been envisaged under the Rs 80 crore horticulture technology mission launched in the state. The climate of the abundantly fertile valley is best suited for making the valley ‘a bowl of apples’, which will revitalise the economy of the local tribal people who since time immemorial could not take advantage of their productive land and suitable climate of the valley for the cultivation of apples and production of cash crops, the RC observed. “Efforts were also being made to cultivate medicinal and aromatic plants like sea buckthorn plant (chharma, a local name). The sea buckthorn is a very costly medicinal plant”, the RC claimed. The isolated but picturesque Pangi valley is situated at an altitude ranging from 4413 to 2600 metres in the Chamba district overlooking the Pir Panjal ranges of Jammu and Kashmir. The snow-clad Pangi valley having a population of 17,591 remains cut off from the outer world during the winter due to snowfall for about eight months. |
|
Centre promises Rs 50 cr for Nahan Foundry
Nahan, April 23 The union government would meet 90 per cent of the expenditure for setting up a tool room-cum-training centre while the state would have to pool in the balance. Chauhan urged the government to revive the foundry at the earliest so that it contributes to the economic development of the area. The MLA said if the government did not take effective steps in this connection, the Lok Janshakti Party would be forced to start indefinite dharnas in front of the foundry. The foundry’s revival would supplement the growth of
industries in Kala-Amb, Baddi, Paonta Sahib and Nalagarh. The MLA said the government should seize the opportunity offered by the Centre in the interest of this area in particular and the state in general. |
|
Mother alleges threat to son’s life from BSF
Bilaspur, April 23 Addressing mediapersons here along with her younger son, Karmi Devi said her son Gurmel, was recruited in the BSF in 1998 and was posted at the Bangladesh border in West Bengal in 191 Battalion since the last two years. She said Gurmel found that some BSF Officers, who should have prevented smuggling and illegal activities at the international border, were actually themselves involved in these anti-national activities which included smuggling of costly goods, cows and commodities. These officers also facilitated the infiltration of Bangladeshis in India. Devi said her son got so worried about this that he wrote a detailed letter to the higher officials, in which he gave details about the activities of these officers and demanded action against them. She said his officers got so much annoyed with him that they conspired to annihilate him through a false encounter one night, but he was fortunate to save himself from their bullets. The next day, these officers persuaded Gurmel to go on a one month leave and assured to get him transferred to some other place and instructed him not to disclose these incidents to anybody. Gurmel reached home on December 17, 2006, and disclosed it to his family. He waited for some time and later addressed a representation to the President, and sent its copies to the Prime Minister, the Home Minister, higher BSF officers and even to the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, in which he gave details of these incidents and had urged that a CBI enquiry be ordered. She said he was arrested by the police and handed over to the BSF authorities without recording his statement or grievances. The BSF authorities tortured him and got him admitted to AIIMS declaring him of unsound mind. The AIIMS authorities did not relieve him as he was in custody of the BSF. She has alleged that BSF officers interrogate and torture him every now and then and her son’s life was in danger. Karmi has now sent a detailed representation to the President and has demanded that her son be released immediately from BSF custody and the matter be probed by the CBI. |
|
2 minor sisters sold for Rs 20,000, one raped
Mandi, April 23 The accused were sent in judicial custody for 13 days here today after they were arrested by the police earlier, but the rapist is still at large. Sources said medical report of Shalu had revealed that she was raped. She has told the police that she was raped by a member of the family to whom both sisters were sold for Rs 20,000 by the accused, Salu Ram of Mohal, Kullu, and Roopi Devi, alias Kulvinder Kaur, who is married in Batala, but hails from Bamsoi, native village of the two sisters. The victims hailed from Bamsoi village in the Aut area where they used to live with their uncle, as their mother was murdered by their father, who has been in jail for the past few months. It was their aunt who had registered a missing report a few days ago at Aut police station last week. Ghanshayam Singh, ASI, who is the investigation officer in the case, said the two minor sisters were recovered from Batala yesterday. The police had registered a case under Sections 363, 366, 365 and 376 of the IPC. The police had raided several places to nab the alleged rapist. Additional SP Rajesh Kumar said, “The girls were recovered from Batala and are restored to the custody of their guardian. We are probing other allegations”. |
|
|
Two killed in road mishap
Chamba, April 23 According to the report, the bodies had been extricated from the mangled remains of the truck with the help of locals. The victims had been identified as Madam and Heemo Ram, both residents of the nearby villages. The driver Sukhdev and cleaner Rakesh of the truck had been rushed to a nearby Civil Hospital at Diur where they were undergoing medical treatment. The bodies had been handed over to the families of the deceased after conducting the postmortem examination. According to eyewitnesses, the truck tilted towards slope of the gorge when the retaining wall of the road suddenly sunk and the truck rolled down into the gorge, the driver and the cleaner, meanwhile, jumped from the truck and got injured. |
|
Woman commits suicide
Dharamsala, April 23 Amar Singh, father of the deceased, alleged that both her mother-in-law and father-in-law used to harass the deceased in the absence of her husband. The police has registered a case and arrested mother-in-law Jebon Devi and father-in-law Jagdish Chand. The body has been sent to a local hospital for a post-mortem. |
|
Higher age limit for VRS irks medicos
Kangra, April 23 Disclosing this here today, Dr Susheel Sharma, spokesman for the Himachal Pradesh Medical Officers Association (HMOA), said the HMOA had condemned the government order and sought its immediate revocation. He said that the under the central service rules for all categories of employees one could seek voluntary retirement either after attaining the age of 45 years or after rendering services for 20 years, but here the government had singled out the doctors and increased the age limit for VRS from 45 to 55 years and service time from 20 to 30 years. Dr Sharma said if the government failed to withdraw the decision the doctors would launch an agitation and would also take legal recourse if required. He said there were fixed working hours for all categories of employees in the state except for the doctors. He said the government had done nothing to improve the working conditions for the doctors in the rural areas and in difficult terrains. He demanded postgraduate increments, NPA and rural health allowance for the doctors. |
|
|
Unemployed JEs threaten stir
Kangra, April 23 Sanjeev Kumar Ratra, coordinator of the HP Unemployed Junior Engineer Association, said after a meeting of the association here today that the decision to appoint 129 JEs on contract basis and the same number on regular basis in the HPSEB on merit basis and not batch wise was deplorable.
Ratra said 93 electrical, nine mechanical and 27 civil posts of JEs were to be filled on contract and the same number on regular basis and stressed that these appointments should be made on 50 per cent batch wise basis and 50 per cent merit basis. He alleged that the government was contemplating to accommodate the “blue-eyed boys” by switching to the new policy of merit basis only with an eye on the forthcoming elections. |
|
|
25,000 pension cases cleared in a year
Kumarhatti, April 23 Under the scheme, widows, handicapped and old-aged persons would get Rs 200 as pension. In the past four years the government had cleared 43,249 cases of pension, he said, adding that the process to open the 10,894 new anganwari centers had been started. “The government was incurring Rs 100 crore on providing subsidised food items to ration cardholders in the state. Each cardholder would get 15 kg of wheat, 20 kg of rice, 3 kg of pulses, 1 kg each of oil and salt every month.” |
|
|
Conference on design techniques
Hamirpur, April 23 |
|
|
Nalagarh, April 23
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
