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Cong lie on funds exposed
Tibetans’ protest continues
Information panel pulls up admn
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20,000 weaver families to get health cover
With hole in heart, infant awaits succour
HPSEB staff rally tomorrow
Villages to get irrigation facility in 5 yrs: Minister
Nauni Varsity
Nadda: Govt to take up afforestation
Lists of BPL families to be reviewed
Over 1,000 bags of PDS rice, pulses seized
1 booked for cement theft
11 proclaimed offenders at large
3 HRTC officials to be chargesheeted
Donation to CM’s Relief Fund
Govt to create more jobs
NIMBUS-8 concludes
Irregularities in BDO funds
Loan waiver ‘not to benefit’ state farmers
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Cong lie on funds exposed
Shimla, March 16 The claim of the previous government that more than Rs 1500 crore will be made available for the implementation of the first phase of the plan has been exposed. The Centre will give only Rs 51.95 crore up to 2012. The Union Ministry of Urban Development had informed the state through a letter in July last but the then government kept it under wraps and continued to claim that the mission would change the face of aging erstwhile summer capital of the country. The hopes of a turnaround for the “Queen of Hills” has evaporated. Chief Minister P.K.Dhumal maintained that the Virbhadra Singh regime had been deliberating misleading the people on the issue to gain political mileage. The government had submitted projects worth only Rs 123 crore even though it kept harping about the Rs 3800 crore city development plan all this while. So far only Rs 26 crore had been received. It included Rs 25 crore for two housing colonies for the poor to be constructed at Tutu and Dhalli. The corporation has formulated a Rs 16-crore project for an urban waste treatment plant but so far only Rs 75 lakh had been released. Work is under way on the widening of the road tunnel at Auckland along with the construction of a bridge which was accepted in principle by the union ministry but so far no funds had been released for the Rs 11-crore project. This has not deterred the local Municipal Corporation from sending more projects. It submitted projects involving an expenditure of Rs 100 crore had been submitted only last week. The projects included Rs 8 crore for development of heritage walks, Rs 34 crore for widening standardisation of roads , Rs 33 crore for channelisation of nullahs, Rs 5 crore each for improvement of pedestrian paths and city parks and Rs 5 crore for providing 400 additional streetlighting points. The “Queen of Hills” has lost much of its charm sue to haphazard growth, illegal construction and congestion in recent years. A good part of the luxuriant green cover has been transformed into a concrete jungle. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed concern over the environmental and aesthetic degradation of the hill station and advised Chief Minister Dhumal to take corrective steps. However, with little possibility of funds from the Centre under the JNURM it will not be possible to stem the rot and restore the old glory of the famous hill resort.
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Tibetans’ protest continues
McLeodganj, March 16 A senior official of the district administration said tight security arrangements were made to avoid any untoward incident. The foreigners participating in protest were videographed and the details would be sent to their respective country’s embassies in New Delhi. The protesters walked over Chinese flags that were laid down on the roads of Dharamsala, christened as “Mini
Lhasa”. With faces painted in the colours of Tibetan flag, they pledged to “take strict action against” the killings in
Lhasa. At least 10 people were reportedly killed in the largest ever demonstrations in nearly two decades against Beijing’s 57-year rule over Tibet. “We are demonstrating against Chinese Army’s oppression and want the world to know about the situation in Tibet,” said
Tashi, a monk. Tibetans also expressed hope that the Indian Government would cooperate with them this time and they would not be detained en route as they would be returning to their homeland. “We have resumed our march to Tibet. We were stopped earlier. Our 102 marchers are still in detention, but now we are another 50 marchers determined to go back to Tibet. We are really hopeful that the Indian Government will not stop us. We are just refugees wanting to go back to Tibet and we are requesting the Indian Government to please not stop us,” said
Palkey, a marcher. Meanwhile, a number of Tibetan activists gathered outside the Yatri Niwas, where 102 Tibetan marchers are held, to demand their release. Meanwhile, around 70 Tibetan monks and nuns have started indefinite fast to express solidarity and support with fellow Tibetans. |
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Information panel pulls up admn
Sundernagar, March 16 State information commissioner S.S. Parmar does not seems to be satisfied with the state of affairs going on in the DC office Kullu with regards to implementation of the RTI. In the first case Yadvinder Singh, a resident of Kullu, had sought information from the Kullu administration regarding some details of the Red Cross Society, Dussehra Committee, Contingency fund of the Kullu DC office, district relief fund and heavy rains relief funds, in the month of July 2007, but his applications were rejected by the assistant commissioner to the DC Kullu and district revenue officer Kullu twice and some of the information was not supplied to him so he filed the appeal before the state information commission. As per the directions passed on previous date of the hearing by the commission the district administration supplied information to the appellant free of cost. On Tuesday on the request of the appellant the commission further asked the district administration Kullu to file a reply that why the delay was occurred in supplying information and why the penalty be imposed invoking the provisions of the RTI Act. In second case, Lavan Thakur, state convener of the Indian People Theatre Association, resident of Mandi, had asked the DC Kullu to supply information regarding details of expenditure and income of the International Dussehra Festival, Kullu, 2006, but no information was supplied to him after repeated request so he filed the appeal. The state commissioner directed ADM Kullu R.K. Pruthi during hearing of the appeal that information should be supplied to the appellant free of cost within 10 days and further asked to file a reply explaining the delay in supplying the information and with the observation as to why the official be asked to pay the penalty and compensation as per the provision of the RTI. Both the cases will be listed up in April.
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20,000 weaver families to get health cover
Shimla, March 16 A decision to this effect was taken by the Cabinet at its meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal here today. It decided to constitute a committee under the chairmanship of the chief secretary to study working of all public sector undertakings under the Industries Department and suggest measures required to reform them. It would have the principal secretary of industries, the secretary finance, the secretary (personnel) and the secretary (law) as members. The Cabinet approved an amendment to the state non-government colleges (grant-in-aid) rules, 2007, and preferential allotment of plots and sheds at confessional rates to physically challenged entrepreneurs. It also finalised norms for elementary teacher education programme as per which the eligibility for TGT (trained graduate teachers) candidates would be 50 per cent marks in graduation. It would be applicable prospectively for those who would do graduation after June 30. The Cabinet sanctioned 100 posts of Punjabi and Urdu teachers each for identified schools all over the staff. It also approved regularisation of 56 daily wager on work-charged basis in the Industrial Development Corporation and relaxed educational qualification norms for appointment as JBTs in respect of eight candidates who had passed out from RITI, Kullu. |
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With hole in heart, infant awaits succour
Nurpur, March 16 According to Dr Ashutosh Joshi, a paediatrician at the civil hospital, revealed that the child was admitted into the hospital with severe pneumonia on March 13. “But the child has now been referred to the PGI, Chandigarh, for heart surgery,” he added. Earlier too Abhimanyu was admitted into the hospital in a serious condition in November last year, the doctor said. Almost broken with the illness of her infant, Kiran Bala, said her husband was unemployed. She had sold his jewellery for the treatment of her son who has battling for the dreaded disease for the past 11 months. “My father-in-law Hind Raj has even taken bank loans for Abhimanyu’s treatment. Even after pooling all savings and selling family assets we cannot afford the expensive heart surgery of my son,” she lamented. The poor family has no financial means to purchase even medicines for the ailing infant. Begging succour from NGOs and voluntary organisations the hapless mother has appealed to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal for financial assistance for the sick child.
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HPSEB staff rally tomorrow
Shimla, March 16 Kuldeep Kharwara and Deep Chand, president and general secretary, respectively, of the union, alleged here today that new projects were not being assigned to the board for execution and the projects already allotted were being withdrawn. The leaders of various employees’ bodies were also being victimised. They threatened that the union would agitate in front of the state secretariat if the vindictive transfers of its leaders were not cancelled forthwith. They stressed that there was no need to unbundled the board as it had been earning profit for the past three years. As per the Electricity Act, 2003, only the los- incurring boards were to be unbundled to improve their functioning. The Centre could allow the state to maintain the board as a single entity under the Act. The board had no worthwhile project in hand but the government had allotted all projects right from 2 MW to 180 MW to the private sector. This would certainly weaken the board financially and provide and excuse to the government to trifurcate it. They said after trifurcation the employees might be deprived of various benefits like pension and gratuity and the system of giving employment on compassionate grounds and medical reimbursement could also be scrapped. The charges of electricity would go up putting an additional burden on the consumers. The entry of private companies would also deprive the youth of the state of employment opportunities. |
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Villages to get irrigation facility in 5 yrs: Minister
Nahan, March 16 Ravi said the government had already transferred the total cost of these six schemes to the IPH Department and would get completion on war footings. He said the BJP government was heading to fulfil its election promises under the leadership of Prof P.K. Dhumal, who had proved to be a common man’s CM by fulfilling the long pending demands of the needy and poor people. He described the achievements and welfare programmes announced by the Dhumal government during past two months. Sukh Ram Chowdhary, BJP MLA from Paonta Doon constituency, also criticised the Congress for allegedly ignoring the development of the area during its regime. He said the CM had a plan to make Paonta most developed area in the district within next five years and had promised that he would fulfil every demand of the people pleaded by him (Sukh Ram). He added that very soon the CM would pay a visit to Paonta and lay foundation stones for several development projects, including two bridges and new hospital complex at a cost of 30 lakh.
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Race for post of V-C hots up
Ambika Sharma
Solan, March 16 The March 25 meeting, which would include a nominee each from the state government, ICAR and the UGC, would shortlist three names. While by and large it is the will of the government, which decides on the final name. It has been observed that successive governments prefer to appoint a new nominee once a government undergoes a change. What has made the selection interesting is not only the second tenure sought by Dr Chauhan but also the presence of a number of former and present scientists from the university itself. It has been the university’s tradition that majority of the vice-chancellors have sought a second tenure though not many been fortunate to grab it. Interestingly, the government is also on the look out for a new V-C for the Himachal Pradesh University whose vice-chancellor resigned a few days ago. Also in the race are eminent personalities from across the nation, including Dr R.P.S. Katwal former director-general of the ICFRE Dehra Dun, Dr R.C. Sharma a senior scientist from the Department of Seed Technology PAU Ludhiana, M.R. Sharma a retired scientist from Nabard, etc. Prominent among the in-house aspirants are Dr V.K. Mishra, former dean College of Forestry, Dr N.K. Jhulka director extension and Dr S.P. Bhardwaj, professor, Department of Entomology. In majority of the terms barring Dr S.S. Negi, the university has been headed by a V-C who has been bred in the institute itself. A section of the scientists opine that the government should ideally appoint an eminent scientist capable of drawing fund from national and international funding agencies. This would also boost the economic health of the university and also help in checking inbreeding, which has been plaguing the university since long. Though an eminent scientist Dr P.L. Gautam who is deputy director general of the ICAR has been reportedly approached for the coveted post but he has declined the offer. He is not only the director of the prestigious National Agriculture Technology Project but has remained the dean of prestigious national level boards like National Board of Plant Genetic Resources. Apart from Dr S.S. Negi who had come from a Bangalore based university and L.R. Verma who came from Shimla majority of the V-Cs have been the university’s own products.
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Nadda: Govt to take up afforestation
Shimla, March 16 “The government is committed to increase the green cover in the state and all 602 gram panchayats falling under 42 development blocks in 10 districts except the tribal areas would be brought under the watershed project being funded by the World Bank,” he informed. The minister said afforestation activities would be carried out on 12,000 hectare of land, both private as well as that of the government. “Plantations will be undertaken only after examining the soil texture, climatic conditions, area-based needs and requirements of the people so that their income is supplemented besides protecting the eco-system within the next three years,” he remarked. He informed that the World Bank would be contributing Rs 270 crore, while the share of the state government would be Rs 67.50 crore and Rs 27.50 crore would be given by the targetted
beneficiaries. Nadda while thanking the World Bank team for approving the Kandi project as well as the bio-carbon revenue project assured that the beneficiaries would be motivated to ensure their active participation. He added that Himachal had emerged as the model state in the country for preparing the project design document of the bio-carbon revenue project. |
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Lists of BPL families to be reviewed
Shimla, March 16 A spokesman of the Rural Development Department said here the exercise was being undertaken to ensure selection of eligible families and remove discrepancies. He said the families having income of more than Rs 2,500 per month or a member in the government service or two hectare of non-irrigated land or one hectare of irrigated land, a pucca house or a big house, income tax payer and owners of a four-wheeler would not be included in the lists. He said the government had also decided to withdraw ration cards of families that were ineligible as per the panchayat records. On the other hand, new ration cards would be issued to newly selected families, he added. The DC and the chief executive officers of the DRDA had also been directed to ensure holding of gram sabha meetings on the fixed date to ensure proper identification of BPL families. He said the officers had also been directed to review the list of selected families for providing ration at cheap rates. Directions had also been issued to select poorest families under the Antodaya Ann Yojna. |
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Over 1,000 bags of PDS rice, pulses seized
Hamirpur, March 16 While the police initially seized 30 bags of rice from the jeep (HP-14- 6599), subsequent investigation unveiled a bigger nexus between unscrupulous traders and officials of the civil supplies corporation. More than 1000 bags of rice and some bags of pulses were seized from five stores of a Baihl-based trader. This scandal came to light when the police intercepted the Bolero jeep at Jahu last night and seized bags of rice. Harish from Baihl fell into the police trap when he tried to contact jeep driver Deep Kumar. The call details were noted down by the police. After further investigation the police managed to unearth regular sale of PDS ration to this trader. Raids on five godowns of Harish led to the seizure of 1000 bags of rice and some bags of pulses illegally sold by an official of the civil supplies depot at Tarkwari. Hamirpur SP Asif Jalal said “though the police has exposed the illicit sale of PDS ration in the open market and arrested Deep Kumar but Harish and Tarkwari-based civil supply official have absconded.”
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1 booked for cement theft
Mandi, March 16 Though the police has recovered over 123 bags from different places under the Mandi sadar police station, but the accused remained absconding from the town. According to complainant Dilu Ram and sons, a Baggi-based whole-sellers of cement, Chet Ram took 200 bags of cement from the shop on March 10 but he neither make payment nor the cement bags were delivered to the desired parties. The complainant stated in the FIR that Chet Ram was in owner’s truck (HP 63-8241) and bags were unloaded at different places. “He had told the driver that he would pay them by draft and had asked him to wait for him till he come back. But he never came there and did not make payment of Rs 45,000 at rate of Rs 232 per bag to me”, he complained. Investigating officer in the case an IPS probationer-cum-SHO Ashok Kumar said, “The police has recovered 123 bags of cement so far and trying to search for rest. The police has launched a manhunt to nab him at different places, he added.
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11 proclaimed offenders at large
Nurpur, March 16 According to the sub divisional police officer Bidhi Chand, the police has launched a state wide drive to nab POs and the local police has also formulated a strategy to track these wanted culprits with assistance of the public. He told that most of the declared POs could not be traced due to their wrong addresses, but the police would now incorporate the public in its mission to trace them.
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3 HRTC officials to be chargesheeted
Shimla, March 16 The special audit revealed that an amount of Rs 1,21,253 was embezzled out of which Rs 44,784 was recovered subsequently. Thus, there was misappropriation of Rs 71,365. HRTC managing director T.C.Janartha said that action had been initiated against the three guilty officials. Traffic manager Beni Prashad, currenly working as a regional manager, would be chargesheeted along with Chamba traffic manager Sudershan Kumar, who was earlier working as chief inspector at Baijnath. Junior assistant Mohinder Singh would also be chargesheeted and the embezzled amount recovered from him. He said the inquiry would be competed in six months.
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Donation to CM’s Relief Fund
Shimla, March 16 The entire amount has been donated to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Bindal presented a cheque for Rs 11,33,454 to Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal here . An amount of Rs. 10 lakh has already been donated to the fund. Dhumal thanked the organisations for making generous donations to the fund which was utilised to provide succour to the poor and the needy in the hour of distress.
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Govt to create more jobs
Una, March 16 Dhiman said all efforts were being made to stop copying in various board examinations. He called upon the teaching community to help stop copying inside the school. He presided over the annual prize distribution function of Shri Ravishankar Vidya Mandir here.
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NIMBUS-8 concludes
Hamirpur, March 16 Dr. R.L. Chauhan, chairman of the Board of Governors of the NIT, was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. In the three-day programme, the students organised various mind- stimulating events. While architecture students organised a studio design and photography contest, the civil engineering wing organised a sukriti, shaastrarth quiz and sanrachna filter design contest. The Mechanical Department made a working model of junk while electrical engineering students dissected a transformer and made models of wind rider. Computer science students organised a game arena, including a software programming and debugging contest. |
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Irregularities in BDO funds
Kullu, March 16 DSP (vigilance) Prem Chand said a complaint was filed against Sita Ram Yadav, a JE at the Ani BDO office, in 2002 and an inquiry initiated. The irregularities were confirmed and the accused was arrested on March 10 this year. He was produced in the CJM’s court on March 11 who remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days. The DSP said the inquiry took long as the signatures on the muster-roll for Rs 1.5 lakh were to be verified. He said the inquiry had also confirmed that the signatures were fake. |
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Loan waiver ‘not to benefit’ state farmers
Shimla, March 16 He said the average small holding was too small and uneconomical as result of which the farmers did not raise loans from banks. Even otherwise the farmers in the hill state made it point to repay the loans raised mostly through cooperative institutions for various purposes. Not even 5 per cent of the farmers would be covered under the scheme in the state. It was only a move to mislead the farmers to believe that the Congress was concerned about them but the farmers were not going to benefit from it.
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While the Dalai Lama offered prayers for peace and security of his fellow countrymen at the main temple complex here,
thousands of Tibetans sat in dharna outside temple and held a protest march from
McLeodganj to Dharamsala raising anti-China slogans.
Nurpur, March 16
