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Weather at its worst at - 4.4°C
Ropeway projects get delayed
17 HAS officers shifted
School found violating norms
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Directive to admn on RTI Act
1,000 saplings planted
SFI holds protest
One-year RI for liquor smuggling
Girl injured as rifle goes off
Tortured girl is a minor
3 killed in two accidents
34 injured in bus mishap
Statehood Day function at Sarkaghat
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Weather at its worst at - 4.4°C Frozen pipes halt
CM The continuing drinking water woes in Shimla town today claimed their victim in Chief Minister Prem Kumar
Dhumal, who was forced to reschedule or call off his engagements after water supply lines froze following a night temperature of - 4.4°C. Dhumal had to call off his scheduled visit to the office of a local fortnightly magazine here after the water supply lines to his official residence froze, besides delaying his other engagements.
— UNI Water supply timings
changed The complaint of freezing of water pipes were addressed on priority and supply lines were being smoothened by heating the pipes, municipal engineer of the Shimla Municipal Corporation Devesh Bhardwaj said. Bhardwaj said that in view of the problem caused in the evening, the timing of water supply had been changed to day time when there was sun in many areas of the capital.
— PTI
Shimla, January 24 Water supply in more than half of the state capital remained affected as water pipes had completely frozen. Surprisingly, even in the relatively warmer localities of New Shimla, Vikasnagar and Kasumpti located at a much lower height the water pipes had frozen. The mercury dipped by 3.2°C in one day as the minimum temperature recorded for the previous night was -1.2°C. The minimum temperature of - 4.4 °C recorded today morning is probably the lowest in recent years. Despite such a low temperature, the ‘Queen of Hills’ is yet to get snow this season. At several places in the state capital even the water in the overhead tanks froze and efforts were being made to restore supply by heating up the pipes. According to the Met office the minimum temperature at this time of the year is almost - 6.4°C below normal. “The night temperature at this time of the year was normally around 2°C,” confirmed Met officials. As per the forecast according to the local meteorological office, the cold spell is likely to continue over the next 24 hours. The weather will remain mainly dry but the cold spell will continue for some more time. The minimum temperature recorded at various places was -2°C at Sundernagar, 0.6°C at Bhuntar, -11.5°C at Kalpa, -4°C at Una, -14.3°C at Keylong, - 6°C at Bhang Manali, - 2°C at Patsio, -13.5°C at Dhundi and -9°C at Solang. The entire state is reeling under a severe cold spell as the temperatures were very low. With some places remaining engulfed in thick fog till late in the morning, normal life has been severely affected by the intense cold wave conditions. |
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Ropeway projects get delayed
Shimla, January 24 Although the state government was keen that the projects aimed at promoting tourism were taken up at the earliest, the permissions from the two ministries could delay start of work. The projects include aerial ropeway from Bhuntar to Bijli Mahadev, near Kullu, and another from Manali to Palchang. Although the survey reports for the two projects have been completed by RITES, work can be allotted by floating tenders only after the go-ahead is given by the two ministries. With the presence of the Bhuntar airport in the vicinity of the proposed aerial ropeway site, the tourism department will have to send the case to the Civil Aviation Ministry so that they can give the non-objection certificate (NOC). The objection in case of the proposed ropeway between Manali and Palchang has come from the defence authorities. “Since the ropeway site falls on the strategic Manali-Leh highway, which is an alternative route for carrying defence supplies for the forces deployed on the border, the clearance from the defence authorities is mandatory,” said a senior tourism official. He added efforts would be made to get the NOC from the two ministries at the earliest so that there was minimum possible delay in the start of work. As such, the floating of tenders for the two ropeways can be delayed till the NOC from the two ministries is obtained. However, the government can take up the Dharamkot-Triund ropeway in Dharamsala since the DPR for it is ready. All these aerial ropeways are to be taken up on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis and are likely to cost over Rs 10 crore each. So far, work on only one aerial ropeway at Jakhu in the state capital has been started. The ropeway will connect the famous Hanuman temple at Jakhu with The Mall area. The government has been keen to set up aerial ropeways as they are a big attraction for promoting tourism. |
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17 HAS officers shifted
Shimla, January 24 HPMC managing director Bharat Khera will also hold additional charge as the MD of the State Electronics Development Corporation. Director, land records, V.C.Katoch has been given additional charge as settlement officer, Shimla, while director, social welfare Subhashish Panda will also function as director, information technology and biotechnology. Registrar, State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission B.R.Jamwal has been posted as special secretary, excise and taxation and public relations. Hukum Singh, additional excise and taxation commissioner, Shimla, and additional director, elementary education Ashok Sharma swap places. Balbir Chand, additional excise and taxation commissioner, south zone, goes as deputy commissioner R and R, Talwara. Narain Chaudhary, settlement officer, Shimla, has been posted as special secretary training, scientific technologies and tourism, vice S.S.Guleria, who takes over as secretary, state transport authority. Shimla ADM Rakesh Kanwar and project director, Sarva shiksha abhiyan, P.L.Negi swap places. Settlement officer, Hamirpur, D.P.Verma, and ADC, Mandi, B.S.Behl swap places. Secretary, state transport authority, Rakesh Sharma, has been posted as joint secretary, PWD, vice Sanjeev Pathania, who goes as additional director, food and supplies. Assistant settlement officer, Dharamsala, S.C.Nanda has been posted as Registrar, State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and ADM, Chamba, Gopal Sharma takes overt as joint commissioner, Shimla municipal corporation, vice O.P.Kant, who goes as assistant settlement officer, Dharamsala. Sub-divisional officer, Shimla (rural) D.C.Negi and Man Singh, additional director, IGMC,Shimla, swap places. |
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School found violating norms
Nurpur, January 24 The team comprising H. L. Acharya, principal of Bakshi Tek Chand Government Senior Secondary School for Girls, Ravinder Sharma and Rajendra Sharma, from the HP board conducted surprise visits to over 13 schools and found a school to be a defaulter. Talking to The Tribune Acharya said during the visit they found that Public Model Middle School, Bhadwar, near Nagni, was running in violation of the norms. He said the school owners and teachers were found missing from the school, while about a 12 students from different classes were present on the school premises. The team frequently visited the school but failed to locate any member of the school management. Acharya said following the directions of I.D. Dhimam, the education minister, the board had constituted teams for conducting surprise visits at different private schools all over the state running without obtaining affiliation from the board. Many schools in the state have been functioning with skeleton staff and inadequate infrastructure mandatory for running an educational institution, he added. |
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Directive to admn on RTI Act
Hamirpur, January 24 Addressing a meeting of the officers here today, he said providing copies of the RTI Act to panchayati raj and educational institutions would help in making people aware about the Act. Rana said all heads of the departments in the district and headmasters of the schools had been designated as public information officers. He has also asked all departments to maintain a register and record requests received under the Act and settle applications in 30 days. Giving details of applications received under the RTI Act, he said about 2,500 applications were received and only 150 applicants had preferred appeals. He said Hamirpur and Mandi districts had been selected as special districts for the Act and workshops and awareness camps were being held to make people aware about it. |
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1,000 saplings planted
Kullu, January 24 NGO Green Foundation for Drug Reforms and Environmental Protection in Himalayas organised the tree plantation campaign called ‘Save Green’ in the Raison area in a phased manner. Rahul Mullick, the founder of the NGO, said the campaign was started to maintain the ecological and environmental balance in the area. He said the environmental destruction during the past few years had caused many natural calamities in the district, claiming hundreds of lives. He said the flashfloods, draught and dearth of ‘cooling period’ for apple trees were all due to the environmental disturbances in the region. Pratap Chand Negi, gram panchayat pradhan, Raison, lauded the steps taken by the NGO. The NGO would also organise seminars and workshops to bring about awareness about the causes of concern for ecological imbalance among the villagers, Mullick added. |
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PTU centres organise first annual function
Nurpur, January 24 The chief guest gave away the prizes. He also gave cash prize of Rs 500 each to the best performer and Rs 200 each to those who participated in the cultural programme. |
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One-year RI for liquor smuggling
Bilaspur, January 24 He has sentenced them to one-year rigorous imprisonment and additional fine of Rs 3,000 each. In case of default of payment of the fine, they will have to undergo an additional imprisonment for six months each. The Talai police had stopped a pick-up van near Jol village on July 16, 2004 and had arrested Subhash from the vehicle after its driver Mahinder Singh fled from the scene. Earlier, the police had recovered 70 cases of illicit liquor being carried in this vehicle. Mahinder Singh was also arrested later by the police and a case was registered against both of them under the HP Excise Act. |
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Girl injured as rifle goes off
Kullu, January 24 The investigating officer said the automatic INSAS rifle was lying on the bed when it went off. He said the matter was being investigated as to how the rifle went off. He said that a case under Section 336 of the IPC has been registered. No arrest has been made, so far, he added. |
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Tortured girl is a minor
Kumarhatti, January 24 With this new fact coming to light today, the girl’s parents could find themselves in more trouble. Her father, Kuldeep, had admitted that he had married her off twice in the past. According to him, the girl was first married to a Khanna (Punjab) resident and then to a resident of Rohtak in Haryana. He had claimed since the girl was not mentally fit, she ran away from her in-laws house in both cases. “We are establishing more facts about girl’s age so that appropriate action can be taken against her parents, if found guilty of child marriage,” police officials said. Meanwhile, vice-president of the BJP’s Mahila Mandal Ravinder Sankhian and some other leaders of the party met Sandeep Dhawal, DSP, Nalagarh, today. The delegation urged the DSP to investigate the case thoroughly so that real culprits could be punished accordingly. The girl has refused to go back to her parents’ home. She can be sent to Nari Niketan at Mashobra tomorrow. Ironically the girl’s close relatives have also refused to take her custody on the pretext of her alleged mental condition. |
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3 killed in two accidents
Shimla, January 24 The mishap took place around 11 p.m. last night when the two women and five-year-old Gudia were fast asleep in the temporary hutment below Nathpa village. While 42-year-old Bhagmani died on the spot, 22-year-old Roma Devi, who was seven-month pregnant, succumbed to her injuries at Khaneri hospital in Rampur. Gudia has been admitted to the Indira Gandhi medical College here with serious injuries. In another incident, a mentally deranged person was charred to death in sleep at Indira market in Rampur last night. According to the police, the deceased set some rags and sacks on fire to keep himself warm. Later, he is reported to have jumped into the blazing fire. |
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34 injured in bus mishap
Dharamsala, January 24 Pant said that the Jawali SDM visited the injured in hospitals and disbursed immediate relief varying from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 each as per rules. |
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Statehood Day function at Sarkaghat
Mandi, January 24 The Statehood Day celebrations at Sarkhaghat comes close on the heels of the Dhumal government holding its first Assembly session and the oath-taking ceremony of the MLAs at
Taporvan, near Dharamsala, early this month. |
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