Shimla, June 29
Even as the government said today that it was open to talks to resolve the stalemate over the metered taxi scheme being implemented in Shimla and Dharamsala, the cab operators all over the state decided to proceed on an indefinite strike.

Tourists visiting the state were put to a lot of inconvenience as taxi owners kept their vehicles off the road in protest against the metered taxi scheme being implemented within 40 km of the tourist destinations of Shimla and Dharamsala.

The strike was complete as practically no cabs plied locally or on long routes. The tourists were inconvenienced a lot as no taxis were available.

The president of the joint action committee of taxi and maxi owners Madan Bansal said today that taxi owners had decided to proceed on an indefinite strike as no talks had been held with the government. They were willing to hold talks with the government to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, the principal secretary, transport, said that the government was ready to hold talks within the purview of the taxi meters scheme, 2006, and the orders of the High Court in this regard. The taxi operators in other districts of the hill state also kept their vehicles off the road today in support of the taxi operators of Shimla and Dharamsala.

Dharamsala, June 29
The state government has increased the road tax by about 50 per cent from July 1. The token tax on maxi cab has been increased from the existing Rs 500 to Rs 750 per seat per annum, subject to a maximum of Rs 15,000 per year.

Similarly, for taxis, it has been increased from existing Rs 250 per seat to Rs 350 per seat per annum, subject to a maximum of Rs 10,000 per year, while on auto-rickshaws it has been fixed at Rs 200 per seat per annum. A sum of Rs 500 per seat, per annum, has been levied on all types of ordinary, express, semi-deluxe, deluxe and air-conditioned buses as well as on mini buses for the first 15 years while Rs 550 per seat, per annum, after 15 years of their registration. The maximum limit of the tax for the mini buses will be Rs 25,000 per year, while for all types of other buses it will be Rs 35,000 per year.

The token tax on buses for contract carriages will now be Rs 1,000 per seat, per annum, subject to a maximum limit of Rs 35,000 per year. The token tax on private vehicles/buses owned by all private institutions has been increased from the existing rate of Rs 250 per seat to Rs 500 per seat for the first 15 years marking a hike of 100 per cent. After 15 years, these vehicles will have to pay at the rate of Rs 550 per seat per annum, while there was no such extra sum being charged earlier after 15 years of the registration of vehicles.

On private service motor cabs owned by commercial organisations used for carrying persons on behalf of the owner of such vehicles or in connection with his trade/business it has been increased from the existing Rs 250 per seat to Rs 500 per seat per annum.

The token tax on personal two-wheeler motor vehicles having engine capacity up to 50 cc and above 50 cc has now been fixed at the rate of 3 per cent and 4 per cent of the total cost of the vehicle, respectively. On personal four-wheelers having engine capacity up to 1,000 cc and above 1,000 cc, the token tax has been fixed at the rate of 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent of the total cost of the vehicle, respectively.

Meanwhile, the token tax on goods carriage vehicles has also been re-fixed by similar notification. The token tax on such motor vehicles for the first 15 years and after 15 years has been fixed at the rate of Rs 1,500 and Rs1,650 per annum, respectively.

Dharamsala, June 29
The Himachal Pradesh School Education Board has decided to introduce internal assessment of 15 per cent marks, restructure the setting of question papers and amend the syllabus in accordance with the guidelines of the ‘national curriculum framework’.

After a meeting of the Board of Directors, chairman of the education board B.R. Rahi said the decision to introduce the internal assessment system from Class-VIII onwards from 2008-2009 would help the students develop a sense of responsibility. While 10 marks have been fixed for the academic achievements, two marks would be for general assessment and three marks for attendance. One mark would be given for 85 per cent attendance, two marks for 95 per cent attendance and three marks for 100 per cent attendance.

The board had also decided to restructure the setting of question papers for the middle, matric and senior secondary classes. As much as 40 per cent of the question paper would be set up in accordance with the natural learning skills of below-average students and 40 per cent for average students while the rest 20 per cent keeping in view the intelligent students. The board would be the first in the country to put into practice this pattern from the next academic session.

The board also decided to change the syllabus for class VII, class X and Class XII from the 2008 academic session.

Rahi announced the opening of teachers’ homes at Mandi and Shahtalai in Una district. It was also decided grant one more opportunity to 6,300 students of old syllabus who had failed in the matriculation examinations on the pattern of old syllabus.

He announced that 935 students who could not appear in the practical examinations, could now appear in the fresh practical examination along with candidates appearing in the supplementary examinations to be conducted on September 6, 7 and 8.

The board would float a trust with an initial capital of Rs 20 lakh to support the studies of children from lower income group families and provide scholarships to the meritorious students.

Palampur, June 29
Palampur and 10 adjoining panchayats today remained without drinking water as the sources of water supply schemes feeding these areas were damaged by the debris thrown into the Neugal river by a private company which is executing a power project near the town.

Naresh Sharma, IPH executive engineer, said that with the first showers of the monsoon the debris and clay thrown by the company damaged the water sources of these water supply schemes last night, resulting in an acute shortage of water in these areas. He said entire mud and clay had entered the channels of water supply schemes releasing muddy water not fit for drinking. The IPH authorities had to close its filtration and sedimentation system to save it from further damage.

Sharma said all efforts were being made to restore the drinking water supply to the town and other areas. He regretted that despite repeated requests in the past three months, the company continued to dump debris and clay in the Neugal river which is a major source of drinking water supply to this region.

Owing to acute scarcity of drinking water here, people were seen bringing water from far-off places. There were long queues of people in front of hand pumps and other natural water sources.

Dharamsala, June 29
Responding to the news item ‘Kerosene quota down 50 per cent’ published in The Tribune today, R.S. Gupta, director, Food and Civil Supplies Department, has stated that there was no shortage of kerosene.

Admitting that the government had reduced the kerosene quota to the ration card holders keeping in view their cooking needs, he said it would not affect the common man using it for cooking purposes.

It had been observed during the past few years that a family was not able to utilise its limit of 20 litres in non-tribal areas and 25 litres in tribal areas, he said. But kerosene was supplied to the depot holders for all 14 lakh ration card holders in accordance with this limit. He revealed that not more than 3.5 lakh ration card holders used kerosene for cooking purposes while the rest was probably sold in the open market by depot holders.

The kerosene quota was reduced to rationalise its supply and ensure proper utilisation to check black-marketing, he said.

Solan, June 29
The high-handedness of the pick-up operators union in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial area has become a cause of contention among the investors who rued that they were unable to use their own vehicles even for transportation works within the area. In a complaint to the Baddi police, Vikram Singh, an investor owning Raven Print Services, has stated that the union was not only stopping their vehicles throughout the area but also forcing them to pay Rs 500 as the union fee.

The money was being collected by the union in lieu of a secret donation and the names of units were also not being mentioned in the slips given to the vehicle owners. The investors rued that this had become a daily nuisance and even personal vehicles where small quantities of material was transported were stopped and issued slips worth Rs 1,500.

The investors said despite complaints to the local police nothing had been done to put an end to this practice. — OC

Solan, June 29
The Jogon police today seized around 114 tinned boxes of resin worth Rs 50,000 from a Mahindra Pick-Up van (Pb-06-F-2230) on the Swarghat road near Panimor this morning.

The driver, however, managed to flee the vehicle after he was chased by the police and he vanished in the nearby forests.

Range forest officer Jawahar Sarup Sharma said he along with the DFO were on their way to Bilaspur to conduct some interviews when they saw this pick-up moving ahead on the road. They suspected foul play and signalled the vehicle to stop. The driver of the pick-up refused to pay heed to their signal and instead drove ahead at high speed, he added. The pick-up van did not stop at the naka put up by the police and speeded ahead.

The policemen on duty followed the vehicle and tried to stop it. The driver fled towards the nearby forests after deserting his vehicle.