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Taxis off the road in Shimla, Dharamsala
Memo submitted to Governor on audio CD
Kerosene quota down 50 pc
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Residents disrupt traffic for 4 hours
Centre to form policy on road safety
US envoy meets Dalai Lama
HPU disaffiliates sports college
JBT trainees protest
Five classes, one teacher
Electricity wires worth Rs 1.3 cr stolen
Expedite work on rail lines: Residents
Students exhorted to shun drugs
Photography for voters I-cards
Mankotia seeks CBI probe into scam
Visually impaired seek better job opportunities
Nominated councillors take oath
Ravi Dhingra is new chief secy
Entries for national awards invited
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Taxis off the road in Shimla, Dharamsala
Shimla, June 28 While taxi operators in Shimla and Dharamsala have been observing an indefinite strike, operators from other parts of the state will also join in the strike. The stalemate over the implementation of the metered-taxi scheme continues as the government is also keen to start the scheme. President of the joint action committee of taxi and maxi owners Madan Bansal said depending on the attitude of the government, they would decide on the future course of action. While taxi operators in other parts of the state will keep their vehicles off the roads for a day tomorrow, the operators in Dharamsala and Shimla have decided to continue the indefinite strike. Transport minister G.S. Bali today said those taxi owners who did not wish to install the meters as they did not ply locally should file an affidavit before the government stating that they would not operate their vehicles within the town. He added that in case any such taxi owner who had filed an affidavit, if found plying locally will be liable for cancellation of his license. The taxi operators are opposed to the meterd-taxi scheme being implemented by the state government on the direction of the high court. They have been demanding that only those vehicles which ply locally should be asked to install meters and not the long-route vehicles. The taxi operators have also rejected the rates fixed by the government under the metered -taxi scheme. They have also pointed out that the Rs 3,400 rate of the meters and Rs 400 as installation charges were too high. Hamirpur: Local taxi operators under the banner of the Veer Bhoomi Taxi Union today observed a two hour strike in solidarity with agitating taxi operators of Shimla and Dharamsala. All taxis remained off the roads in and around Hamirpur from 12 noon to 2 pm. The taxi union has also decided to observe complete strike on Friday, president of Veer Bhoomi taxi union Rakesh Kumar said. The taxi operators said though at present they were observing strike in support of taxi operators opposing installation of meters on taxis they were also opposed to the move of state government since putting meters on taxis was not viable in the towns. The union has also opposed the proposed increase in token tax by 50 per cent from July 1. Manali, Kullu operators don’t join stir Taxi operators in Kullu and Manali are not on strike. “Since we have been spared of punitive action for not installing meters because of a case pending in the SC, the taxi operators here have not joined the strike,” president of Manali Taxi Union Raj Kumar Dogra said. — PTI
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Memo submitted to Governor on audio CD
Shimla, June 28 Senior party leaders led by vice-president of the national BJP and former union minister Shanta Kumar requested Governor
V.S. Kokje to order an inquiry into serious allegations of corruption against the Chief Minister and his
governemnt. The BJP also provided a copy of the CD released by Congress legislator Vijai Singh Mankotia against the Chief Minister and his wife, along with the memorandum. “We are confident that the Governor will order an inquiry into the allegations against the Chief Minister and his wife or else we will take the issue before the public right up to the village level,” said Shanta Kumar. He was accompanied by Lok Sabha member
P.K. Dhumal, state BJP chief Jai Ram Thakur, Khushi Ram Balnatah, Narinder Bragta and Harinarain
Saini. Shanta Kumar told the Governor that it was for the first time in the 60-year history of independent India that such serious allegations with proof had been levelled against any Chief Minister. Kokje assured the BJP delegation that he would look into it and see what could be done. Shanta Kumar said that the CD clearly proved that the money being collected through officers was being deposited with Pratibha Singh. “As some MPs were suspended from Parliament for seeking money for raising issues in the House, she too should be removed,” he remarked. The BJP said the CD clearly proved the fact that money was being charged from industrialists for clearing their projects. Based on the contents of the CD, the BJP also raised the issue of Virbhadra Singh planning certain alleged irregularities in connivance with officials for the Assembly elections. Besides the CD issue the BJP also demanded an inquiry into the manner in which IPS officer B.S. Thind was reinstated. “The manner in which he was reinstated without completion of the inquiry indicates that probably he has some secrets of the Chief Minister,” the BJP leaders said. The memorandum also seeks an inquiry into the disappearance of a bag containing Rs 1.50 crore from the Chief Minister’s office. The BJP leaders said an inquiry must be ordered into the fact that why an FIR was not registered in the case and efforts made to hush up the issue by transferring the principal private secretary to the Chief Minister. The memorandum also makes mention of jobs being given on chits, along with certain proofs. |
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Kerosene quota down 50 pc
Dharamsala, June 28 There is resentment among leaders of the ruling Congress as well as other political parties on the issue. What is even more surprising is that while the quota for the poor has been scaled down, the allocation to depot holders and contractors has not been curtailed for the moment. Even the elected representatives have been taken by a surprise as there has been no cut in the state’s quota from the Union Government. Ration card holders in the poor category in non-tribal areas and having no LPG cylinder got a maximum of 20 litre kerosene till recently. In the tribal areas, the maximum limit was 25 litres. The quota has been drastically reduced to 10 litres for those residing in the non-tribal areas and having no LPG connection. For those living in tribal areas, it quota has been brought down to 15 litres per card. For those residing in tribal areas and having one LPG cylinder, the quota has been reduced from 10 litres to 5 litres and for those having two LPG cylinders, it has come down to 3 litres from 5 litres. For those living in non-tribal areas and having one LPG cylinder, the quota has been reduced from 5 litres to 3 litres and for those having two LPG cylinders it has been reduced from 3 litres to nil. A senior official of the state government said the exercise was aimed at rationalising the distribution process that was being misused at several ends. The orders issued by the Food and Civil Supplies Department in this regard had already come into force from the current month. It has led to a strong resentment among the common people of the state. “The government has committed a blunder and we are going to strongly oppose it. There is no justification in reducing the quota for the poor. It goes against the commitment made in the common minimum programme of the UPA government,” said suspended Congress MLA Major Vijay Singh Mankotia. Tejwant Negi, member of the state working committee of the BJP, said the consumption of kerosene in tribal areas was more in all categories (even for those having two LPG cylinders) as kerosene heaters were used for protection against biting cold during winters. Therefore, the reduction in quota was not justified, he added. BSP’s state unit secretary Prakash Chand Sanyal has termed it as an unwise decision and announced that his party would soon decide its course of action against the state government. |
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Residents disrupt traffic for 4 hours
Nahan, June 28 The Nahan police arrested the driver of the Jeep, Sheesha Singh, a resident of Patiala, at Dosarka near here, within half an hour of the incident, after it received a message from the Paonta police. The administration and the police of the area were taken in by surprise when even after the prompt action by the police the residents blocked the national highway. When Paonta police station house officer Narvir Rathour asked the residents to lift the dharna as the driver of the vehicle had been arrested, local leaders demanded that after the arrival of SDM Paonta on the accident spot they would lift the Dharna. Paonta SDM Sandeep Kumar and Paonta Dy SP Shubhra Tiwari reached the spot but the dharna did not end there, they again put in a fresh demand to call the Sirmour DC on the spot. The Sirmour DC also rushed to the spot and after his arrival the leaders raised another demand to produce the driver of the vehicle before them, who was in custody of the Nahan police. Finally, after persuading the people, the dharna ended after over four hours at 2.30 pm. Thousands of tourists and pilgrims on their way to Uttrakhand, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh were stranded on both sides of the road. As per the eyewitnesses some very serious patients on their way to different hospitals in Uttrakhand were rushed to Yamuna Nagar. Tourist families with children had a hard time as for four hours there was no water, milk or any food available for them. The Paonta police has registered three cases in this regard. A case has been registered against 30 persons who resorted to sit on the road and created problems for common people, another case was registered against 15 persons who pelted stones on a passenger bus and caused damage to its body including, breaking its glasses. Paonta police sources claimed that all offenders had been identified in this connection. A third case had been registered against the driver of the Jeep, under Sections 279 and 304A. |
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Centre to form policy on road safety
Dharamsala, June 28 Himachal transport minister G.S. Bali said the recent experiences had revealed that there were problems relating to enforcement of norms with regard to overloading and speed limit for vehicles. He said the union government recently set up a special committee to form a uniform policy under the chairmanship of union minister of surface transport and highways T.R. Balu. Bali said with regard to overloading of commercial vehicles a major constraint during enforcement was offloading the excess weight from trucks at transporter’s cost as per the rules. Offloading was possible in the case of divisible goods only while in the case of others it was practically impossible. There was need for integrated check-posts on inter-state borders with adequate facilities for offloading excess quantity and storing it safely. Similar facilities for safe storage were also required on national highways within the states, the minister added. There was no uniform policy for fixing speed governors in the country. The instrument would help reduce accidents due to over-speeding, particularly at night. Refresher course for drivers
The state government would raise the issue of a ‘compulsory refresher course’ for the bus drivers and motorists coming to the hill states from the plains to train them in negotiating steep curves and the difficult terrain of high-altitude roads. “I am going to raise this issue of a refresher course for bus drivers from outside coming to the hill states with the National Road Safety Council,” Bali said on the telephone. |
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US envoy meets Dalai Lama
McLeodganj, June 28 The US envoy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama at the exiled Tibetan leader’s residence in McLeodganj yesterday lasted more than an hour. The envoy later also met top officials of the Tibetan government-in-exile. The visiting guests also paid a quick visit to Tibetan Children’s Village last evening before attending an official dinner hosted by Prof. Rinpoche and members of his Cabinet. The dinner coincided with the US Ambassador’s 70th birthday. The visit comes at a time when a Tibetan delegation led by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari is due to leave for China tomorrow for the next round of Sino-Tibetan dialogue. Gyari is the special envoy of the Dalai Lama. As part of the visit, the group will visit some of the key Tibetan cultural centres and institutions established there. Dalai Lama’s security reviewed
The district police, Intelligence Bureau and the state intelligence agency at a joint meeting here today reviewed the security arrangements for the Dalai Lama. Sources revealed that instructions were recently given by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to the security agencies to beef up the Tibetan leader’s security. |
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HPU disaffiliates sports college
Shimla, June 28 The EC also approved promotions under the career advancement scheme in departments like computer science, English, political science, law and psychology. It also approved fresh appointments of lecturers in the political science, English and law departments. The Supreme Court orders requiring the implementation of the Lyngdoh Committee report on the functioning of Students’ Central Associations in various institutions of the university, and the modalities of elections, was taken up. The EC approved the amendments to the constitutions of these associations so that the directives of the Supreme Court are duly complied with. This would be implemented in the coming academic year. The EC also took up the report on the anomalies in pay fixation and accepted the recommendations made to resolve the same. Among the other decisions taken was the revision of rates for the evaluation of answerbooks on the Panjab University pattern, formation of a corpus for the purposes of meeting the financial requirements for payment of pension and gratuity, approval of the recommendations of the standing committee regarding various academic matters, including approval of new courses like the one on journalism as an “add-on course”, as well as modalities for staring new “add-on courses” in various colleges. |
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JBT trainees protest
Bilaspur, June 28 Union president Sanjiv Kumar Sharma, general secretary Vivek Sheel Gautam and senior finance secretary Shashi Pal Sharma said they were protesting against the government decision of filling 2,400 JBT posts by appointing primary assistant teachers (PAT) in schools. They said this would fill 85 per cent of the present vacant posts in state schools making it very difficult for them to get employment as they were still trainees. They said the government itself had given an affidavit in the Supreme Court that all vacant JBT posts would be filled from among under-trainees as soon as they completed their training, but if these posts were filled as per the present move, it would leave hardly any scope for them to get employment. Union leaders said the government should immediately clarify its position in the matter and should state categorically that filling of these 2,400 posts would not adversely affect their employment
avenues. Chamba: Those pursuing the JBT course at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET),
Saroo, in Chamba district have expressed anguish over the recent decision to fill about 2400 vacant posts of JBT teachers by appointing primary assistant teachers
(PATs) against these posts. These JBT trainees said here that on the one hand the government was training 1800 JBT teachers and on the other hand taking the decision to absorb PATs against JBT posts. In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh through the local administration, these JBT candidates sought withdrawal of the decision. |
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Five classes, one teacher
Bilaspur, June 28 Surender Singh Thakur, Satpal, Rajpal Dhiman, Gagan Dhiman, Ramlal, Guddu, Ram Prakash, Hari Ram and Budhi Ram of the Swahan panchayat area in Kot-Kehloor Assembly constituency said Government Primary School at Dhara was being run by one teacher only. That teacher had to teach five classes, attending to his other departmental and public duties and also cook midday meal for the children. They said their repeated requests to the Education Department had fallen on deaf ears and no other teachers had been posted in the school. This was affecting education of the children, they said. They said earlier there were three teachers in this school and the student strength was 80. Later, two teachers were transferred elsewhere. Non-appointment of teachers has resulted in reduction in number of students. Now there are 40 students in five classes. |
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Electricity wires worth Rs 1.3 cr stolen
Solan, June 28 Officials of the Electricity Department said they received information about the theft around 7 am. While power supply from the Gwalser-based transformer was restored by the evening, the other transformer was likely to be repaired by tomorrow. The presence of empty liquor bottles and glasses indicated that the thieves stayed there for quite some time. A marriage function was being held in the area close to one of the transformers. The party went on till around 1 am. Officials said it appeared that the theft took place between 1 am and 4 am and at least two gangs were involved in it. |
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Expedite work on rail lines: Residents
Mandi, June 28 In a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Citizens’ Council, Mandi, has demanded that the railways projects in the state should be expedited as this is a must for ensuring all-round development of the state and dealing with increased rush of commuters. Copies of the memorandum have also been sent to Mandi MP Pratibha Singh, Hampirpur MP Prem Kumar Dhumal, Kangra MP Chander Kumar and Shimla MP D.R. Shandil. Railways officials maintain the work on the Nangal-Talwara rail line will resume soon as the railway minister had assured so in Parliament. As regards the Bhanupali-Bilaspur-Rampur line, they say the survey has been completed and modalities for funding the projects are being worked out.
— TNS |
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Students exhorted to shun drugs
Bilaspur, June 28 This was advised by Birooram Kishore, MLA, while presiding over a block-level prohibition function organised by the office of the district public relations officer at Government Senior Secondary School, Barthin, on Tuesday. He urged teachers to take special care to ensure that students did not fall in to bad habits as such addictions were bound to spoil there future. Several competitions on the subject were also organised for schoolchildren. |
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Photography for voters I-cards
Hamirpur, June 28 He said 330 centres have been setup for the photography and only registered voters would be covered under the drive. The voters can also get his/ her photo-identity card made by sending a passport size photograph at the centre he added. He said voters could contact the respective SDM’s for further information. |
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Mankotia seeks CBI probe into scam
Dharamsala, June 28 As the state Vigilance and Anti-corruption Bureau could not do a fair inquiry into the case as there was a possibility of many senior politicians and bureaucrats being involved in this scam, it should ideally be investigated by the CBI, Mankotia said. He alleged that such illegal minting of money by industrialists was rampant in all industrial hubs of the state to avail transport and tax subsidies. There should be a random checking of all registered firms/industries to detect such frauds. He also demanded the resignation of industry minister Kuldip Kumar on moral grounds. |
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Visually impaired seek better job opportunities
Shimla, June 28 The association today organised a cultural programme at the Kali Bari hall here on the occasion of 128th birth anniversary of Lady Helen Keller. The members of the association submitted a memorandum to power minister Vidya Stokes who was the chief guest at the function. President of the association Shobu Ram said in the memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, they had sought better educational facilities and employment opportunities. He said despite reservations for the handicapped persons in jobs at times the posts were being left vacant. |
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Nominated councillors take oath
Shimla, June 28 Besides the 25 elected councillors, the government nominates three councillors. The three councillors who took oath today include Archana
Dhawan, Kanwaljeet Singh and Om Prakash Sood. While Archana Dhawan has been an elected councillor
in the last House, Kanwaljeet Singh is the president of the Shimla Beopar Mandal. Sood too has been a
nominated councillor in the last House. |
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Ravi Dhingra is new chief secy
Shimla, June 28 Dhingra replaces S.S.Parmar, who is retiring on June 30. Dhingra was on central deputation and posted as secretary, National Minority Commission. There were three senior officers, Renu Sahni Dhar (1970 batch), A.K.Mahapatra and S.K.Sood (both 1971 batch) but all of them were due to retire by March, 2008. The Chief Minister, it seems, had the tenure in mind while opting for Dhingra, who is due for superannuation in March, 2009. The government promoted Avay Shukla, principal secretary, tourism and transport; and J.P.Negi, principal secretary, power and environment, to the rank of additional chief secretary. With this, the state now has three additional chief secretaries. Parmar is info commissioner
The state government today appointed S.S. Parmar, who is retiring as the chief secretary on June 30, as the state information commissioner. He has been appointed for a term of 5 years. |
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Entries for national awards invited
Shimla, June 28 Director of elementary education B.M. Nainta said here today that teachers whose names were recommended during previous years could be considered again, The last date for receipt of applications was July 15. |
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