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CRI’s licence suspended
Forest staff, police join hands to curb illicit felling
Traffic violators |
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Holiday on Raksha Bandhan, Bhaiya Dooj
Five Uzbek women held, remanded
Micro Hydel Projects
Snow in higher reaches
Water pipes freeze in Barog, Dagshai
Partial nod to Shetty panel report may trouble govt
BJP executive to meet from Feb 2
CM urged to convene JAC meeting
School Management Dispute
Plea to shift security checkpoints
Priest row takes new turn
Palampur R-Day faux pas accidental: report
No-trust motion to be taken up today
Revision of poll rolls planned
JEs rue lack of promotional avenues
Broadband subscribers a harried lot
2 burglars arrested
Crop insurance for wheat, barley
Apple plantation scam: Accused suspended
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CRI’s licence suspended
Kasauli, January 29 The orders to this effect, which were received by the institute on January 25, have sent shock waves among the institute staff that fear being rendered jobless now. Sources in the CRI said these orders were issued after an inspection team from the office of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) failed to find any changes in the CRI’s laboratory despite of warnings. Even an earlier inspection conducted in August last year had directed the institute to bring about certain changes as per the requirements of the schedule M. The institute has not adopted good manufacturing practices (GMP) as laid down by the WHO. These orders have now directly hit about 650 employees working in the institute. Though a modern laboratory was constructed at an expenditure of 11 crore, it also failed to adhere to the specifications as laid down in the schedule M. The manufacturing of rabies vaccine was stopped in 2005. Although CRI happened to be the lone institute manufacturing Japanese encephalitis vaccine in the country, its production was also suspended in November last year. Director Mani was not available for comments. What seems interesting is the fact that the decision to suspend the institute’s licence appears to have been taken unilaterally without taking even the Ministry of Health into confidence. The fact that the institute was receiving inquires from the MoH regarding the supply of DPT vaccines till today pointed to the fact that the ministry had no knowledge of any such development, confided employees. The manufacture of triple vaccine, which comprises nearly 10 to 12 per cent of the nation’s requirement, is the mainstay of the institute. General secretary of the employees union Pradeep Nathani, who was in Shimla today to explore legal options, said it was an unfortunate decision and they would proceed against it. A final decision would be taken in the general house of the union tomorrow, he added. The employees alleged that suspending the licence of the institute barely a week before the retirement of the DCGI was aimed at benefiting some private players. The CRI is among the five government-sector institutes the licences of which have been suspended by the
DCGI. |
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Forest staff, police join hands to curb illicit felling
Shimla, January 29 A high-level coordination meeting was held between senior officials of the Forest and Police Departments here yesterday. The meeting was jointly chaired by DGP Ashwani Kumar and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) Pankaj Khullar. D.S. Minhas, ADGP, State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, made a presentation highlighting the major issues concerning the two departments. Concern was expressed over the illegal cultivation of cannabis and opium, particularly in the districts of Chamba, Kullu, Mandi and Shimla. It was decided that the police and the Narcotics Control Bureau would share information with the Forest Department regarding illegal cultivation of cannabis and opium so that the forest staff can destroy them and keep a vigil. To check illicit felling and smuggling of forest produce, the police and the Forest Department will jointly organise surprise checks in the forests and hold roadside checks so that the offences can be jointly investigated. Both police and forest officials expressed concern over the pendency of investigations concerning FIRs lodged and the delay in disposal of forest produce and vehicles seized for their involvement in forest offences. It was decided at the meeting that information would be compiled on a war footing and further action to get these cases decided at the earliest. Deliberations were held regarding revamping the existing system for collection of information and intelligence relating to forest offences. It was decided that while the Police Department would provide training to the field-level forest functionaries in the area of prosecution and investigation, forest officials would reciprocate by training police personnel in identification and evaluation of the forest products. It was also decided to have institutional arrangement for effective coordination right up to the lowest level. It was also decided that regular meetings would be held between forest and police officials for better coordination. |
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Traffic violators
Shimla, January 29 “Instead of only challaning people for minor offences our approach will be to educate them so that traffic can be better managed, saving everyone of inconvenience and unavoidable delays,” said district police chief R.M. Sharma. Proper traffic management would be one of the priorities and efforts would also be made to identify more parking areas since there had been a manifold increase in the number of vehicles in the state capital. He said haphazardly parked vehicles along the narrow roads was one of the biggest hurdles in smooth movement of traffic. The police will take up the issue of creation of more parking areas with the district administration and other agencies. The police has also decided to issue identity cards to all citizens involved in the community policing schemes so that they too feel responsible and help the police check crimes and maintain law and order. The SP said that thrust would on pro-active policing with strict directions to police personnel to bring about a positive change in their behavioural attitude. “Shimla is not just the state capital but also a tourist destination,” he stressed. |
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Holiday on Raksha Bandhan, Bhaiya Dooj
Shimla, January 29 An official spokesperson said here today that a notification in this regard had been issued declaring August 16 ('Raksha Bandhan') and October 30 (‘Bhaiya Dooj’) as gazetted holidays. The daily-wage women employees were also covered by the decision. |
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Five Uzbek women held, remanded
Manali, January 29 Even hoteliers are found lax in filling the mandatory C-form meant for foreigners when they check-in the hotels and reporting the matter to the local police station within 24 hours under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act. This has once again brought to focus that tourist towns like Kullu-Manali, Shimla and Dharamsala, which receive over 2. 81 lakh foreigners has become safe heaven for criminals as they can enter the state under the garb of tourists. The police had also arrested around 12 foreigners last year as they were travelling without any valid documents. The five Uzbek girls, all in the age group of 22 to 24 years, have been identified as Biseroua Victoria, Imamova Intizor, Ismaibova Hazokat, Nurmetova Adolat and Buronava Gulomdon and they have been sent in judicial remand by a judge in Kullu till February 5. Few years ago, the police had arrested a terrorist from Manali and detected a racket of fake foreigners travel cheques. Several foreigners have been arrested under the NDPS Act over the years in Kullu district. In the recent case, what has raised suspicion is that these five girls were travelling with two other women from Uzbekistan, but they were carrying valid documents. The police still have to investigate as to why they were without documents and the hotel did not inform the police as per the mandatory provisions like filling up of C-form in the Foreigners Act. Ambassador Resorts, manager, Vijay Vashsisht said he was on leave and other staff in the hotel refused to comment on the issue despite repeated attempts. But the police sources confirmed that seven women had checked out from the hotel before they got tips that they were travelling without documents. SHO, Manali, Sanjiv Sharma said the police has informed the Embassy as women have been in judicial remand. “The Uzbek women told the police that they were on tourist visa for three months and have been staying in New Delhi for the last two months. They collect cheap clothes and take them back to Uzbekistan as their country is poor.” But the question remains that foreigners overstay or stay without documents in Kullu district that has emerged as a drug haven for hashish-seeking foreigners. “They enter Himachal either through the porous and open border like Nepal and under the nose of the “lax immigration authorities at airports in the country”, revealed sources here. President Manali Hoteliers Association Gautam Thakur said they have kept C-forms in the police booth on The Mall here for the convenience of the hoteliers. We hold monthly meeting with hoteliers and the police. The foreigners bring in foreign exchange and they should not be troubled unnecessarily. But we ensure that they have valid documents with them so that criminals or unwanted elements are screened properly. SP Kulu district G.D. Bhargava said the police have been on alert and screen hotels every now and then, enforcing the provisions of the Foreigners Act. The hoteliers have to fill the C-form or they can be punished under the act. |
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Micro Hydel Projects
Dharamsala, January 29 With an aim to help natives of the state in setting up their own units and developing entrepreneurship skills among them, the previous government had mooted the policy of allotting them micro hydropower projects. As per the policy, there were two types of micro hydropower projects - those identified by HIMURJA and self-identified by the local residents in their respective areas. HIMURJA had identified 168 sites of micro hydropower projects as against more than 400 sites by the local residents themselves. The state-owned power agency received 1,269 applications for the allotment of power projects identified by it. Tarsem Kaistha, director of Task Energies, who applied for the allotment of micro hydropower projects at a few self-identified sites along with the required fee of Rs 5,000 each, alleged the HIMURJA authorities were not revealing the status of her applications even after 11 months. She feared that with the change of guard in the state, the hope of setting up her own power projects might run into rough weather. “I have wasted thousands to first identify the sites and then apply for seeking allotment,” she said. Unfortunately, HIMURJA had neither returned the money received from the applicants nor given any reply. “This has put the aspirants in a peculiar situation because the delay in allotment of projects will put an extra burden in the form of cost overrun,” she says. The Union Government was giving a subsidy of 35 per cent on such small hydropower projects, but the hike in the daily wages of the labourers by Rs 25 per day by the state government would put a huge financial burden on the local aspirants hoping to set up these power projects. Meanwhile, it was learnt that the policy to allot self-identified hydropower projects was being reviewed technically by the state government because the applications were invited by HIMURJA without even conducting pre-feasibility studies. |
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Snow in higher reaches
Shimla, January 29 Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts of the state were under continuous intermittent snowfall. More than 2 cm of snowfall has been recorded at Recong Peo in Kinnaur district. Low lying areas have been reported under heavy overcast, and no snow had been recorded after the mild snowfall of forenoon there. Simultaneously, Manali had also witnessed the mild snowfall in the early hours of the day. During the early morning hours, minimum temperature at Kalpa, stood at minus 8.5°C, but later despite the heavy overcast conditions the temperature soared up and hovered around minus 0.5°C. Shimla recorded a sharp plunge of couple of points in night temperature and stood at 0.2°C, and slightly warm day here also increase the day temperature and it stood at 8.7°C. Night temperatures in the mid and lower hills of the state had plummeted by a few points and the minimum temperature at Sundernagar has been recorded at 1.1°C and maximum temperature was 15°C, at Dharamsala maximum temperature had been recorded 10.4°C.
— UNI |
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Water pipes freeze in Barog, Dagshai
Kumarhatti, January 29 The low voltage of power has added to the residents’ woes that were now totally depended on wood to counter the chilly weather. The temperature has even wreaked havoc on vegetables and the wheat crop. The wheat crop in this area has been virtually wiped out from the fields for want of water. The water discharge in most of the streams had gone low. The long duration of dry weather could cause water scarcity during summer. |
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Partial nod to Shetty panel report may trouble govt
Dharamsala, January 29 In its latest order on January 22 in connection with the civil writ petition No. 1022 of 1989, the apex court had stated, “The registrar general of each high court shall hold discussions with the finance secretary, the law secretary and the secretary in charge of personnel of their respective states in regard to recommendations. If after such discussions, any areas of differences remained, the high court and the state government shall file reports/affidavits regarding the differences and the implementation of various recommendations within a period of eight weeks.” The court further ordered: “In regard to the recommendations that have already been accepted by the state governments, pendency of other issues need not come in the way of their implementation. The state governments shall ensure that the recommendations which have been accepted are implemented without delay.” Suresh Thakur, national vice-president and also state president of the Non-Gazetted Judicial Employees Welfare Association, said in its interim order, the SC had made it clear to implement the commission’s report in the letter and spirit to enhance the pay and allowances of judicial officers as well as other employees of the judiciary. He said the Punjab Government had implemented the commission’s report, but it was not being implemented in the hill state. It may be mentioned that as a policy matter, the Himachal Government had always been implementing the financial benefits granted by the Punjab Government to its employees on the same pattern but in this matter it had not only denied financial benefits to judicial employees but also gone to the extent of framing “The Himachal Pradesh Subordinate Courts Employees (pay, allowances and other conditions of service) Act, 2005”, expressing its inability to implement the commission’s report with regard to the non-gazetted employees. Now, the BJP government had also adopted a similar attitude and given the Cabinet nod only to grant financial benefits to the judicial officers rather than all employees of the subordinate courts, alleged Thakur. The employees of subordinate courts had also demanded to fix quota of promotion of superintendents (grade-I) to HAS officers as there was frustration and resentment among these employees because of stagnation. |
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BJP executive to meet from Feb 2
Shimla, January 29 There is a possibility that a committee is constituted to look into the complaints against some party workers, who worked against the official BJP nominees in the recent assembly elections. “There has to be coordination right from the state to the constituency level so that the party worker feels that it is his government,” said a senior leader. The issue of adjusting MLAs and other party leaders against the posts of chairman of boards and corporations could also be taken up at the meeting. |
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CM urged to convene JAC meeting
Nurpur, January 29 Federation general secretary Shiv Kumar Sharma said here today that such meetings would help solve longstanding demands of the employees and create cordial relations with the government. He urged the Chief Minister to fulfil the commitments made in the manifesto relating to the employees. Urging the Chief Minister to reverse certain anti- employee decisions like stoppage of pension to employees recruited after 2003, cut in the retirement age of class four employees recruited in 2005 taken during the Virbhadra regime, Sharma demanded early recruitment against vacant posts in government departments. |
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School Management Dispute
Una, January 29 The members nominated by the DAV management committee alleged that all rules have been thrown haywire in breaking the locks of the administrative blocks. None of the district administration official was present and the entire phenomena can be termed as hostile takeover of the school. Principal S.P. Singh while talking to The Tribune said he should have been called before breaking the lock of his room. My room had many personal belonging as files and chequebooks. Now, nobody knows where they are lying. They people who have broken the locks might also manipulate with the school record. He said DAV nominated management committee had sent telegrams to district administration, Chief Minister and their Delhi office regarding the developments. We have requested authorities to take appropriate action in the matter. The members of the local society, however, maintained that since the district authorities have recognised them as managers of the school, they do not need permission to open doors of the administrative block. They also maintained that Singh had been sent suspension notice through a registered post. |
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Plea to shift security checkpoints
Chamba, January 29 This would also be a good step from the security point of view for the Gujjar families whose principal avocation is rearing of livestock. In a meeting of the Gujjar Samaj Kalyan Sabha held here under the chairmanship of its president Hassan Deen last evening, it was also demanded that the pasturelands should be allotted to the nomad Gujjar families on the basis of their grazing permits. Hassan Deen said the facilities of water in high-altitude pasturelands and paths needed to be provided to the nomad Gujjars. He demanded allotment of land to the landless Gujjar families identified by the government besides introduction of ‘Urdu’ as a subject from class VI in selected schools from this session. He demanded opening of a new Gujjar ashram in the Tissa area of Churah tehsil in Chamba district for the children of nomad Gujjars besides increasing the strength of existing Gujjar Ashram, Sahoo, from 25 to 50. |
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Priest row takes new turn
Kangra, January 29 Sub-inspector Anjana, in charge of the women cell, said she had called both parties yesterday but only 17 complainant women turned up and deposed before the cell officials. She said the president of the sabha, against whom the complaint was lodged, did not come. A “hukumnama” has been issued to the president of the sabha to record his statement in the women cell on January 31. She said the DVD supplied to her by the women in support of their statement was yet to be analysed. |
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Palampur R-Day faux pas accidental: report
Palampur, January 29 Sub-divisional magistrate of Palampur C.P. Verma in a report said the incident was accidental and no nobody shall be blamed for it, Kangra deputy commissioner K.K. Pant, who had sought a report on the incident, told PTI today. The SDM in the report said there was a sharp edge in the wheel through which the national flag was tied on the top of the iron pillar due to which it got little torn while unfurling the flag on the Republic Day, the DC said quoting from the SDM’s report. The report further said that rehearsal was done thrice for the function at the same spot and nobody had expected the unfortunate event on the function day. Accepting apology for the unfortunate incident, the Kangra DC asked the officials of the district to be careful in future so that such events do not reoccur in future. — PTI |
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No-trust motion to be taken up today
Nahan, January 29 After the trading of charges on the alleged kidnapping of a woman member of the Nahan BDC and the subsequent registration of an FIR the meeting convened on January 23 was postponed by the DPO. The ‘missing’ woman member appeared before the police two days back in a dramatic manner. |
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Revision of poll rolls planned
Shimla, January 29 The draft electoral rolls in respect of these assembly constituencies would be published on February18 and kept for public inspection up to March 3 in all polling stations, offices of ADMs , SDMs, tehsildars and naib tehsildars concerned. |
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JEs rue lack of promotional avenues
Una, January 29 Many junior engineers have retired from similar posts even after putting 32 years in the government service. They alleged that they have represented to the government many times for allowing them promotions. However, no action had been taken. |
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Broadband subscribers a harried lot
Kullu, January 29 Some consumers alleged they were not properly attended to when they wanted to know about the non-availability of the service. “Neither the SDO, nor any other responsible official was available on the official telephone numbers,” they added. A customer said the sudden withdrawal of the service took him by surprise. When he contacted the BSNL authorities, he was given a flat reply to contact the SDO. But the SDO was neither available on Monday nor today. Narender Chauhan, JTO at Bhuntar, said, “The services were being reconfigured and would not be available for two-three days.” He said the broadband service came under the SDO’s jurisdiction and he could give better details. |
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2 burglars arrested
Solan, January 29 S.P.S. Verma, SP, said the two youths were apprehended in suspicious circumstances from Children’s Park here by constables Rakesh Kumar and Dukhbhanjan. Their search led to the recovery of gold jewellery worth Rs 75,000, silver jewellery worth Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000 in cash and two mobiles worth Rs 20,000. The town had at least eight cases of burglary in the past two months. Preliminary interrogation had revealed the involvement ofthese youths in some of these cases which took place at Sunny Side and Khaleen. While Ashish hails from the Arhat Bazaar area of Kasauli, Minto is the son of an employee of the local municipal committee. |
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Crop insurance for wheat, barley
Shimla, January 29 Director of agriculture J.C.Rana said the farmers who intended to raise loans or had already taken loans for wheat and barley could insure their crops up to March 31. The scheme was compulsory for the loanee farmers. The last date for crop insurance for the non-loanee farmers was January 31. He said the sum insured extended up to the value of the threshold yield of the crop with an option to cover up to 150 per cent of average of the crop on payment of extra premium. In the case of wheat, the sum insured at the normal and maximum levels would be Rs 7,450 and Rs 18,600 per hectare and in the case of barley crop Rs 4,350 and Rs 10,900 per hectare, respectively. |
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Apple plantation scam: Accused suspended
Dharamsala, January 29 Santosh Patial, SP,said many more people were likely to fall in the net. Meanwhile, the Horticulture Department
had suspended Prakash Chand and initiated departmental action against him, revealed a senior official of the department. |
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