 |
|
|
Mild snowfall in Shimla, Kufri
A view of snowfall at McLeodganj on Wednesday. Tribune
photo by Kulwinder Sandhu
Shimla MC slashes film shooting charges
‘Shoe Bite’ unit to be fined
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Probe ordered into feast at school
HIMSWAN from Feb 5
HPU Campus Notes
Rs 73,555 demanded as fee for information under RTI
Frozen water, reduced power generation
Delay in release of ‘calendar of events’ hits tourist inflow
Govt jobs: Share of women dips
Exports: State plans seminars, meetings
Assistance for children of HIV+ parents
CRI staff hold gate meeting
13 members of medicinal plant board removed
Tributes paid to Mahatma Gandhi
Leaking LPG cylinder catches fire, 1 injured
Two HPSS officers shifted
|
|
Mild snowfall in Shimla, Kufri
Shimla, January 30 Kalpa in Kinnaur had 11 cm of snowfall. Shimla, Kufri, Narkanda, Kharapathar and Chail had brief spells of mild snow. There was no respite from extreme cold with Patsio and Dhundi recording a minimum of -24°C and -16°C, respectively. Kalpa had a low of -9.6°C and a high of -2.8°C. The state capital groaned under freezing conditions with the minimum temperature falling further to -2.5°C and the maximum to 1.4°C, a decline of 7°C. Snow flakes continued falling through out the day but it was too mild to drape the landscape in white. In lower hills Sundernagar was the coldest with a minimum of 0.6°C, followed by Una (1.9°C) and Bhuntar (2.3°C). Dharamsala was comparatively warmer with a low of 4.2°C and Nahan still better with a minimum of 5.1°C. According to the local Met office the cold wave will continue for the next 24 hours and there could be rain and snow at a few places.
Season’s first in Dharamsala
Dharamsala, January 30 It was bright sunshine in the morning. Around 12.30 pm, a gust of wind from the Dhauladhar range brought down dark clouds and within a few minutes it started raining, which was followed by snowfall. The weather took a U-turn and there was bright sunshine around 3.15 pm. However, the sky was overcast in the evening again. Weather experts were of the view that the area may witness another spell of snowfall in the next couple of days as western disturbance was still prevailing in the region. The lower areas of the town witnessed mild snowfall that vanished away immediately, but the adjoining areas of McLeodganj, Khaniara and Naddi received 1 to 3 cm of snowfall. While tourists were seen enjoying the weather, the farmers looked little worried over the prevailing freezing conditions. |
||
|
Shimla MC slashes film shooting charges
Shimla, January 30 In order to encourage film units from Mumbai and other parts of the country to shoot in the erstwhile summer capital of the British, the MC today reduced the rate of film shooting from Rs 50,000 daily to Rs 25,000 on The Ridge and any area on The Mall falling between Telegraph Office, Lift and the Christ Church. Even though there was barely 1 mm of snowfall in Shimla town today it saved the producer of ‘Shoe Bite’ from using salt for creating artificial snow. The shooting of the film with Amitabh was today done in the British Resort and Annadale areas as there were snow flakes throughout forenoon. They have been lucky as Sanjay Leela Bhansali had to use salt to create artificial snow for shooting his much-acclaimed film ‘Black’. Even though the producer of ‘Shoe Bite’ had earlier deposited Rs 1.50 lakh with the local MC for shooting on The Ridge, Mall and the MC building occupied by the Health Department the charges will now be made at the reduced rates. “Due to the hefty charges fixed by the MC some time back most of the film producers were preferring to go to other places than Shimla, so we have decided to bring a reduction to encourage film shooting in the ‘Queen of Hills’,” said Mayor Narender Kataria. The MC took the decision to reduce the charges as the local agents of film producers had approached the MC some time back to slash the rates as producers were reluctant to pay this amount. “Since we were told by the agents that this amount is proving to be a deterrent for film units to shoot here, we decided to go for a reduction,” said Kataria. As per the reduced rates if there is a three-day shooting schedule on The Mall and The Ridge, instead of Rs 75,000, the producer will have to pay Rs 70,000. In the areas above Cart Road and The Mall, the charges will be Rs 15,000 per day. For shooting in the Chotta Shimla area the charges have been fixed at Rs 10,000 daily. In case the film unit is keen to shoot in any of the buildings or property owned by the MC, it will have to pay additional 50 per cent of the charges in the area along with the daily charges. The MC has fixed a rate of Rs 5,000 in the areas above Cart Road and Rs 3,000 in other corporation areas for television units. |
||
|
‘Shoe Bite’ unit to be fined
Shimla, January 30 “The matter has come to my notice and I have directed the executive engineer to submit a report after which a penalty will be imposed on the unit,” Shimla mayor Narendra Kataria told PTI today. The staff of “Shoe Bite” had cut an iron rod of about one-and-a-half feet to adjust lights for shooting aside the road railing near Oak
Over area. Kataria said the penalty would be deducted from the security amount of Rs 1.5 lakh submitted by the film’s unit for shooting in Shimla in addition to the rent for the
locations. “Nobody will be allowed to destroy the government property,” Kataria said. The unit is currently shooting in Shimla after completing the shots in Manali.
— PTI |
||
|
Probe ordered into feast at school
Mandi, January 30 I have ordered sub-divisional magistrate Sadar Ashwini Raj Shah to probe the incident and submit a report to me at the earliest, Mandi deputy commissioner Onkar Sharma told PTI today. Sharma said the probe was ordered in the wake of report in local media and also complaint from the BJP workers about violation of the government directives banning feasting or wedding ceremony in educational institutions in the state. According to the report, supporters of the Congress legislator from Mandi Sadar Anil Sharma had organised a feast in Government Senior Secondary School Kotli on last Sunday to celebrate his victory in the Assembly poll. Ram, who had hit the headlines when crores of rupees was recovered from his residence in Delhi about a decade back, had announced his retirement from electoral politics on Assembly election eve and on his request the Congress had given ticket to his son Anil Sharma who won the poll. Based on the inquiry report necessary action would be initiated into the matter, the Mandi DC said. The Dhumal government in Himachal Pradesh has banned feast, wedding ceremony and community lunch in the school premises. — PTI
|
||
|
HIMSWAN from Feb 5
Shimla, January 30 The hybrid network using optical fibre and wireless connectivity will provide a bandwidth of 384 kpbs (kilo bit per second) right down to the panchayat level, ensuring triple play (voice, video and data) capability. This will help extend the videoconferencing facility, which is at present available only up to the district headquarters, to the panchayats in a phased manner. The core network based on managed leased line has 132 points of presence (PoP) with a bandwidth of 2 mpbs (mega bit per second), which cover tehsil, sub-tehsil and block headquarters. Further connectivity from the PoP’s has been provided through optical fibre and wireless systems. The dedicated network will provide connectivity to over 3,000 offices down to the lowest rung of the administrative hierarchy. It will be maintained by a private company, Hewlett and Packard, a leading multinational computer hardware company, which bagged the contract for setting up a statewide network at a price of Rs 46.81 crore. It will deploy 103 technical personnel across the state for the purpose. The system will enable remote management of machines. It will also have a hi-tech e-mail system with a host of facilities not available in the normal e-mail systems provided by various service providers. As the network could be often disrupted in the difficult hill terrain and hostile weather conditions necessary back up has been provided in the form of ISDN high speed dial up to ensure that the official work is not affected by such breakdowns. The government plans to have satellite-based connectivity for six remote PoP which could not be linked by optical fibre because of topographical constraints. The leased lines have been provided by the BSNL, hardware by Juniper and Nortel and software by Microsoft. The connectivity between the state and the district headquarters will be upgraded to 16 mbps and up to points of presence 2 mbps.
|
||
|
Victims of political vendetta pin hopes on Dhumal
Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service With the change in the regime, the university teachers and employees, who have been victims of so-called ‘political vendetta’ are pinning their hopes on Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal. The teachers, close to the ruling party have already started making efforts to get their cases settled. “It is now the time for us to turn the tables on those close to the Congress regime as they did not miss any opportunity to hit back at us,” says an enthusiastic teacher close to the ruling party. The termination of the services of three teachers and one security officer on the recommendation of the Kaul Committee report, constituted to look into the administrative lapses in appointments made in the university might also be given a fresh look. Similarly, the decision on the termination of services of five Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) officials for alleged financial and administrative irregularities is also pending before the executive council (EC). After the serving of chargesheet, replies have been filed by all, including a personal hearing before the EC. With the brother of Forest minister J.P. Nadda being one of the officer, who is facing threat of termination, it is being expected that the present regime will give relief to all officials. Good offers for MBAs
The MBA students of the university are getting jobs with the best names in the industry, not just nationally but even prominent international firms are picking up students enrolled in the management course here, with attractive salary packages. Though even in the past, the MBA students from HPU have got excellent job offers but it is for the first time that the third semester MBA students of the campus have got excellent placements with reputed firms with packages ranging from Rs 3.6 lakh to Rs 2.40 lakh per annum. The students have been selected by HCL, Hughes, Tata Indicom, Grail Research and OSRAM India. The IDBI bank has recruited students for the third consecutive year. Some other companies like Wipro are also likely to pick up students. Those selected this time include Deepu Sandhu, Natasha Rana, Puran Singh, Manish Thakur, Aftab Tanwar, Prashant Gupta, Himangi Sgarma, Pratibha Justa, among others. Promotion issue
The Non-Teaching Employees Union has urged the vice-chancellor to take up the matter of promotions against up-graded posts with the state government so that the employees get their dues. The union had pointed out that the VC must intervene to contain resentment among the employees. |
||
|
Rs 73,555 demanded as fee for information under RTI
Bilaspur, January 30 Parmar, who is beldar in HP-PWD, showed documentary evidence to mediapersons and said Rs 73,555 had been demanded by executive engineer of the HP-PWD Division No. 2 for supplying the information which was demanded by him from the department on September 20, 2007, which is perhaps the highest fee ever demanded by any officer for providing information under the RTI Act, 2005. He said in his application he had demanded the name of vehicles and machineries, cost of petrol and diesel in these vehicles during 1.3.2003 to 31.10.2007, purpose for which these vehicles were used and the name of the petrol pump from which this fuel was purchased? He said this information could be written on a single page and that is why he had submitted the requisite fee of Rs 10 with his application. He said he had not demanded any photocopies of any files and there was no justification whatsoever to demand such a huge fee for providing this simple information. Parmar said the time wasted by the department in assessing the so-called fee of Rs 73,555 could be well utilised to write the information on a single page and provide it to him, if the department wanted. Parmar said he had definite information that the department had violated several rules and norms in the matter regarding which he had sought information and that is why such an unusual contrivance is being deployed to suppress the information. He said he has presented a representation to Chief Minister Prof Prem Kumar Dhumal to order a state vigilance enquiry in to this matter while he has also urged the Himachal chief information commissioner to order the concerned officers to provide him the information at the earliest or to take suitable action under the RTI Act, 2005, for denying him the information under the excuse that he had not deposited the required fee of Rs 73,555 for the same. |
||
|
Frozen water, reduced power generation
Chamba, January 30 The mercury at Killar, the sub-divisional headquarters of Pangi tribal sub-division, has dipped to minus 15°C in the open and minus 5°C inside the houses. As a sequel to this, the water supply pipes have been frozen obstructing the water flow. Likewise, sewerage pipes have also been frozen causing malodorous smell vitiating the environment. J.S. Pathania, resident commissioner (RC) of Pangi, confirmed these reports over phone today and disclosed that the power generation on the 300-KW power station at Killar had reduced to nearly 70 KW due to freezing of water in the tributaries thereby disrupting the normal life. This was the only hydropower station in the valley, he added. He informed that the tribal inhabitants living in the snowbound valley continued to suffer as the community health centre (CHC) has been functioning without doctors, specialists and other paramedical staff. “The only doctor who is deployed on deputation is looking after the entire working of the CHC. The rural hospitals of the valley are functioning without doctors,” Pathania revealed. The valley with a population of 17,591 as per the 2001-census and situated at an altitude ranging from 2,600 to 5,600 metres remains cut off from the rest of the country during the six winter months due to heavy snow. The valley normally reopens during the month of June. |
||
|
Delay in release of ‘calendar of events’ hits tourist inflow
Mandi, January 30 The international Shivratri fair is scheduled to be held here from March 6, but the Tourism Department website provides misleading information as the department still runs the 2007 calendar of events on its website. States like Rajasthan, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir release their “calendar of events” well in advance and put up it on the website and market it among the travel agents, hoteliers across the Indian and foreign destinations. But Himachal Pradesh slacks on it every year, say travel agents. Thanks to the casual attitude of the department, lethargic officials do not practise what the department preaches in files and tourism brochures. As a result, tourist arrival in international events, fairs and festivals, like Shivratri fair of Mandi, winter carnival of Manali, Dussehra of Kullu, Lavi fair of Rampur, Minjar fair of Chamba, Hamir Utsav, pre-world paragliding cup at Biling in Kangra district, is on the decline, travel agents say. The poor inflow of tourists during these events directly and indirectly is affecting handicraft and handloom business. Tourism experts say if the department releases calendar of events well in advance and market it on the website and among hoteliers and travel agents in the country and around the world, it certainly will make a difference bringing in more tourists at main events in the lean tourist seasons. The members of hoteliers’ associations of Mandi and Kullu and Shimla say the calendar of events is one of the important components of marketing and publicity, but the department has always turned a blind eye to it over the years. Tourism secretary Manisha Nanda, who took over the charge recently, said she was not aware about it, but the department would take immediate steps in that regard and release the calendar shortly.
|
||
|
Govt jobs: Share of women dips
Shimla, January 30 The percentage of regular women employees has come down from 21.6 per cent in March, 2002, to 19.6 per cent in March, 2007 as per the latest employees census carried out by the State Economics and Statistics Department. The total number of women employees is 34,197 in the total strength of 1,74,388. The percentage of women gazetted officers is still lower compared to men. Out of the total 8,854 gazetted officers only 1281 were women. While gazetted officers accounted for 5.08 per cent of the total employees, the strength of women gazetted officers was just 0.7 per cent. They constituted only 3.7 per cent of the total women employees. The highest number of 20,971 women employees was in the Education Department, followed by 6,027 in the Health Department, 1,571 in the PWD and 1,035 in the Ayurveda Department. The decline in the overall percentage of women employees is attributed to the fact that a large number of daily-wage and work-charged employees were regularised after the completion of eight years of service and they were mostly men. Since most of the employment in the hill state is in the government sector it reflects the overall job situation in respect of women. They lag far behind men. There is no government department where the strength of women employees is anywhere near 50 per cent. The women also lag far behind in literacy in the state which boasts of the highest literacy rate after Kerela. While the overall literacy rate is 76.50 per cent only 67.03 per cent of the women are literate. The literacy rate among men is a robust 85.03 per cent. Sources in the government assert that the situation will improve over the next few years as enrolment of girls in schools is over 99 per cent which means that the literacy rate among the fair sex will keep increasing progressively. The government has introduced various schemes to help improve the socioeconomic status of women and two years ago it also started gender budgeting to focus on women which would certainly make an impact. |
||
|
Exports: State plans seminars, meetings
Shimla, January 30 This was stated by Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal while interacting with a high- level delegation of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations at New Delhi today. He said seminars would be organised shortly in Parwanoo to provide a fillip to exports as it would yield benefits like employment generation, quality enhancement and capacity building. Dhumal lauded the idea of holding an exclusive buyer-seller meet at Shimla to provide an opportunity to the companies of the state to display their products to NRIs and foreign buyers, besides other exporters and buying houses. He suggested that the federation should come out with a directory of exporters for products and services available in the state. He agreed with the idea of instituting awards to honour the companies making outstanding contribution towards exports from the state. Chairman of the federation R.K. Dhawan said his organisation could provide online chat services to the Himachali exporters so that they could seek necessary guidance on day-to-day basis. He urged the Chief Minister to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate with various organisations on all issues and problems pertaining to exporters.
|
||
|
Assistance for children of HIV+ parents
Solan, January 30 Children up to the age of 15 years will benefit under the scheme. As per the scheme, they will be offered a monthly financial assistance ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 700. This will ensure that they are able to meet some of their basic needs. With depression and ill-health plaguing the AIDS patients, their children often feel marginalised and ignored. They are not only deprived of the genuine love and care of their parents, but are, at times, left with little help even for their primary needs, including education. The availability of this assistance will ensure that these children are able to get school education. Figures available from the District AIDS Control Society show that there are 38 HIV-positive patients in the district, including 18 women. Since HIV-positive patients, after being identified, preferred to visit the Anti-Retroviral Therapy Centre at Shimla, there was little probability of their returning to the district societies, officials of the society said. It was only when some patients suffered from depression that they paid a visit to the district centres for counselling. They, however, added that they would extend assistance to the children of HIV-positive patients identified by them in the future. |
||
|
CRI staff hold gate meeting
Solan, January 30 Asserting that the move would render hundreds of employees jobless, the union leaders, including Pradeep Nathani, Naresh Attri and others, said they would form a committee to fight for their cause tomorrow. The committee would decide the future course of action. However, the decisions would be taken only after consulting others members, they added. The employees, who are having an uneasy time ever since a fax message was received from the office of the Drug Controller General of India, are now trying to get support of local politicians. They had apprised local MLA Rajiv Sehgal of the adverse decision. They would also meet health minister Rajiv Bindal to get the move stalled, the leaders said. The suspension of the institute’s licence by the Central Drug Licensing Authority has created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the institute with employees having no clue about their future. They held meetings throughout the day to deliberate on the situation. A decision was likely to be taken tomorrow about their future action.
|
||
|
13 members of medicinal plant board removed
Shimla, January 30 The terminated non-official government nominees included Kamal Kishore (Kullu), Shiv Pal, R.D. Sharma and Anurag Sharma (Kangra), Baman Dev Thakur and Munshi Ram (Mandi), Naseerudin Malik (Chamba), Jaganath Soni (Solan), Vidya Radha Krishna Gupta and Narpat Singh (Sirmaur), Col Jaswant Singh Chandel (Bilaspur), S.K. Nanda (Una) and Dr Dhiman (Shimla).
— UNI |
||
|
Tributes paid to Mahatma Gandhi
Shimla, January 30 PWD and revenue minister Gulab Singh paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at his statue on The Ridge maidan. Later, a two-minute silence was observed in memory of the martyr at 11 a.m. Mayor Narender Kataria and deputy Commissioner J.S. Rana also paid floral tributes to the Mahatma. A two-minute silence was also observed at Raj Bhawan in memory of those who made the supreme sacrifice during the freedom struggle. A two-minute silence was also observed by all officers and staff of the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Reports of tributes to the Father of the Nation were received from other places as well.
|
||
|
Leaking LPG cylinder catches fire, 1 injured
Nurpur, January 30 According to the information, Dev Dutt Sharma’s family today brought a refill from the gas agency and installed it in the kitchen. However, the refill was leaking but the family could not notice it. When a room heater was switched on, the leaking LPG cylinder suddenly caught fire. Sensing a major fire mishap the family reportedly made a hue and cry for assistance. The neighbours immediately swung into action and pulled out the burning cylinder from the house. One person sustained burn injuries on his both arms. Meanwhile, the gas agency’s staff was informed, who also rushed to the spot and helped in extinguishing the fire. The timely rescue initiated by the residents helped in averting a major fire mishap in the town.
|
||
|
Two HPSS officers shifted
Shimla, January 30 Prakash Chand Dogra, joint secretary, Ayurveda, has been posted as the joint secretary to the Chief Minister, constituency branch, while Brij Lal Verma, deputy secretary to the Chief Minister, has been posted as the deputy secretary to the Chief Minister (SAD-1).
— UNI |
||
|
| 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 | |
The hill state continued to reel under arctic conditions as middle and higher ranges experienced more snow today.
The higher reaches like the Hatu peak, Churdhar, Chanshal ranges and the tribal areas received 10 to 15 cm of snowfall over the past 24 hours.
