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IGMC, RPGMC staff to form separate cadre: CM
Price Rise |
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BJP ‘claiming credit’ for Cong works
BSP splits, Kaundal convener of new outfit
Plan to exploit tourism potential
Shimla faces thirst
Cement Plant
Assault on girl
Rs 4 cr for loans to backward families
MDLR flights from April 28
BSNL told to pay Rs 50,000
Attorneys demand better pay scales
Minimum wages hiked
Registration mandatory for outsiders
Minister’s foreign trip disallowed
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Devotees spending nights on footpaths
Kangra, April 12 Nearly 60,000 pilgrims visited Bajjreshwari temple during the first seven days of the chaitra Navratras, when there is accommodation available for only 800 persons in temple sarais and yatri sadan, both run by the temple Trust. Though private hotels are available in the town, they are out of reach of followers of Daynoo Baghat, who visit in large numbers here. During early nineties, the district administration headed by Manisha Shridhar, the then DC, had established tent colonies in the town to provide accommodation during nights to the pilgrims. These tent colonies were disapproved later on by the authorities without any concrete reason and the pilgrims are now spending nights in open. Mahesh Yadav from Faizabad, UP, said they arrived here last evening for the devi dharshan but they had no option but to spend the night on the street outside the old bus stand. The information center established at the Tehsil Chowk sans a public address system thus has lost its utility and the pilgrims had to suffer for right information. Sandeep Sareen, a social activist, said that the economy of this temple town gets a boost due to pilgrim influx and and so the pilgrims should be given better facilities. Temple authorities today said more than Rs 7 lakh was offered in the temple during the seven days of the Navrarta besides gold and silver. P.R.Agnihotri, a retired Executive Engineer, said the state government. should take the issue seriously to provide facilities to the visiting pilgrims, in order to boost the temple tourism in the state. |
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IGMC, RPGMC staff to form separate cadre: CM
Docs hail decision SHIMLA:
The State Association of Medical and Dental College Teachers has welcomed the government move to separate the cadre of Indira Gandhi Medical College and Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda. In a statement issued here on Saturday, general secretary of the association Manoj Thakur said the decision would help improve functioning of both institutions. He said the association was of the view that the IGMC should be converted into an autonomous institution so that financial aid from other sources could be raised.
Shimla, April 12 Replying to a question of G.S. Bali he said as many as 431 posts out of the total 936 sanctioned posts were vacant in the RPGMC as on February 28, 2008. The reason for such high number of vacancies was that 238 posts were created only in March 2007. He informed that during the past three years a sum of Rs 114 crore was spent on the college, which included capital expenditure of about Rs 45 crore. Replying to another question he informed the House that 112 memorandum of understanding (MoU) were signed by the government with private parties for execution of hydroelectric projects from April 2003 to December 2007. Out of these 105 projects were up to 5 MW capacity and their aggregate generation capacity came to 338 MW. The remaining seven projects had a total capacity of 364.5 MW. The previous government used different yardsticks as evident from the fact that in one case a company was given repeated extension for depositing the upfront money and in the other the allotment was cancelled and the second highest bidder was assigned the project. He said the Brakel Corporation, which secured the Thopan-Powari and Jhangi-Thpoan projects had deposited Rs 173.40 crore as the first instalment of upfront money. However, there were several issues involved as the company was given extension more than once. The allotment was under consideration of the government. Civil supplies minister Ramesh Dhawala told Harsh Wardhan that the availability of cooking gas had improved due to steps taken by the government to curb issue of domestic refills for commercial purpose. He said the state was facing shortage of cooking gas refills after the high court banned on private felling which created shortage of fuel wood. |
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Price Rise
Dimmi (Hamirpur), April 12 Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating the new building of Government Primary School Dimmi and Parwati telemedicine kiosk here today he said, “Though the state government has taken several steps for the social welfare during the past 100 days but prices are rising due to faulty policies of the Central Government and people should grow more vegetables and pulses to beat price rise and inflation.” Dhumal said, “The Vajpayee government had not only exported 55 lakh tonne grains but had also supplied it in abundance to needy people at cheap rates during its tenure and kept the prices under check.” He said, “Telemedicine kiosk at Dimmi would ensure consultation to patients from medical experts from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, through videoconferencing which he said is a big facility and thanked Dr D.S. Rana for starting this.” Appreciating the work done by Rana for his people Dhumal said, “It is a great thing for doing something for the birth place of a person and his own people.” He said since treatments have become costly and transportation entails heavy costs; more people should take inspiration from Dr Rana to provide medical facilities in the rural areas. Dhumal said, “The state government has accepted the proposal of board of governors of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital to train the doctors from the state in the Nephrology Department to provide kind treatment facility at the district level.” Talking about various welfare measures and schemes undertaken by the government Dhumal said, “Dr B.R. Ambedkar scheme to construct community halls has been extended to all 68 Assembly constituencies of the state with a budget of Rs 6.80 crore and this scheme was appreciated in the NDA Chief Minister’s conference too.” Education minister I.D. Dhiman and Hamirpur MLA Urmil Thakur also addressed on this
occasion. |
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BJP ‘claiming credit’ for Cong works
Solan, April 12 He was interacting with mediapersons here today. This was his second interaction with the media here in the past three months. He said the performance of the BJP government had been dismal. It had merely endeavoured to take credit for the developmental works executed by the previous Congress government. He said the sudden announcement of elections did not give the Congress government any time to commission projects like Giri water scheme for Solan town, the Bumsen-Mewa scheme and the Shimla water augmentation scheme, although these projects were complete. He said Dhumal was still living in the euphoria of the BJP victory in the state. He was uselessly blaming the Union Government for the price rise while his own government had failed to provide food grains to all sections of the society at reasonable rates. He was accompanied by Santokhgarh MLA Mukesh Agnihotri. |
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BSP splits, Kaundal convener of new outfit
Nurpur, April 12 Kaundal had been removed from the post of the district BSP president by the state party leadership a few days back. The dissidents nominated Naresh Pal as co-convener, S.S. Guleria as spokesman, Manish Kohli as senior vice-president, Charan Dass as secretary and Prithi Chand as joint-secretary of the
BSP. A five members working committee of the state BSP was also constituted on this occasion. The new outfit declared itself an actual BSP in the state. Ex-president of Kangra district BSP Amar Kaundal had given an ultimatum to the BSP supreme to remove Vijay Singh Mankotia from the post of convener of the state BSP by April 11, alleging that he had ignored OBCs and Dalits earlier in distribution of party tickets in Assembly elections and now in party
organisation. |
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Plan to exploit tourism potential
Shimla, April 12 This was stated Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal while replying to a debate on a private member resolution moved by Gobind Thakur. He said the government would seek suggestions from members while preparing the plan and it would be placed before the House. The objective was to attract high-end tourists for which the air and rail connectivity would have to be improved and road infrastructure upgraded. The policy would be a short-term affair so that it could be implemented during the five-year period. Effort would be made to develop new destinations by providing the required infrastructure. He said the three airports would soon have the night landing facilities. The emphasis would be on promoting adventure tourism by organising water sports, skiing, paragliding other such activities. Facilities like ayurvedic treatment, including panchkarma, would be provided as part of promoting health tourism. The state also had vast potential for eco-tourism which would be exploited in a planned manner to extend the stay of tourists. He said there was no need for a brand ambassador to promote the state as a tourist destination at the moment. The first priority was to develop requisite infrastructure to make the stay of tourists comfortable and enjoyable. Earlier, Gobind Thakur underlined the need for a comprehensive plan for development of tourism. |
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Eco-tourism to get boost
Shimla, April 12 He also announced that “vanmahotsava” would be observed on the same day throughout the state so that it became a mass movement. Even during “vanmahotsava”, the thrust should be on planting medicinal plants and herbs, he added. |
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Shimla faces thirst
Shimla, April 12 Although water supply in the town is made on alternate days, those living on the outskirts sometimes have to go without water for four days at a stretch. The worst-hit localities include Chakkar, Summer Hill, Boileauganj, Totu, Maliana, Chamiana, Batta Kuffer and Bharari and others living in the suburbs. The government has been claiming that the Giri water scheme will be made operational by April, 15, but the IPH department is still engaged in trial runs in its efforts to plug the leakage points. The launch of the scheme is expected to solve the water problem of the town. Deputy mayor Harish Janartha said the daily water requirement of the town had gone up to almost 45 mld while the IPH Department was supplying only 26 mld. Besides 45 mld daily requirement of local residents, an additional supply of 5 mld was needed to meet the requirement of tourists who thronged the state capital during the summer season. Janartha admitted that a lot of work on the Giri water scheme was yet to be completed. He also admitted that certain
areas had been hit very badly by water shortage. |
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Cement Plant
Sundernagar, April 12 According to information, the government had deputed Mandi ADM to act as a mediator between Harish Cement Ltd and local farmers. As per the order of the government the Mandi ADM called the meeting of panchayat representatives of the area and representatives of the company. But the representatives were of the view that representatives of the farmers be taken in to confidence, who were favouring the cement plant. Listening the rates, the representatives of the farmers urged the company that if it cannot pay more it is better to leave the present project. Now once again the meeting is fixed for April 16, 2008, for further negotiation. The representatives of farmers were also annoyed over the rate worked out by the revenue officials of different locations. In the rates, the most fertile and planned land of Kharwari, Bhari and Chambi villages were shown ranging form 2.25 lakh to 7 lakh per bigha and on the other hand the rates of barren and sloppy land of Keran village was shown as 65 lakh per bigha. The farmers were further annoyed over the policy of the company to acquire land on different locations vide different awards. According to them, the company wants to grab the fertile land at throw a away price for its plant site and when it would acquire the land here it would further force the farmers on other site to receive less amount. But the farmers were not seen ready to give land on the rates offered by the company. |
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Assault on girl
Kangra, April 12 Ravinder Kumar, father of the victim, said today that his daughter Monika, who was assaulted and pushed in to a drain by a home guard, Gurbachan, and had allegedly received injury was today discharged from the hospital. He charged that the police had failed to register an FIR against the erring home guard. Ravinder alleged that the police told him that the medical summary would reach them after Wednesday as there were four holidays in the state and the case would be registered only after that. The Kangra police said the case was under investigation and the police was waiting for the treatment summary on the basis of which the case would be registered. The legal experts here said thepolice should have registered a case and arrested the home guard and after receiving the medical report the relevant sections could have been included in the case. |
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Rs 4 cr for loans to backward families
Bilaspur, April 12 Gazta said last year the corporation had provided loans worth Rs 86 lakh to families of these classes in Bilaspur district. He exhorted concerned families to come forward to take full advantage of this facility as the corporation provided much cheaper loans for agricultural, small trade, transport sector and self-employment schemes on 6 per cent rate of interest. Gazta said doctors, engineers and technical trained persons of these classes could get loans up to Rs 5 lakh for starting their own ventures, while women of these classes, who were living below poverty line could get a loan up to Rs 50,000 on 4 per cent rate of interest under the “Swarnim Yojna”. Managing director also said that in association with the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation, New Delhi, the state corporation had started a new education scheme for students of these categories and families having an income of Rs 40,000 could get an annual loan worth Rs 1.25 lakh to Rs 5 lakh at 4 per cent rate of interest for four years for educational purposes. |
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MDLR flights from April 28
Kullu, April 12 The 70-seater aircraft having six club-class seats will start two commercial flights from April 28 this year on a daily basis from Chandigarh-Kullu-Delhi and Delhi-Kullu-Chandigarh. Koustav M. Dhar, executive director, marketing and planning, while talking to mediapersons at the Bhuntar airport said the MDLR would be the first ever shortest and cheapest jet flight from Kullu. The flight would take 40 minutes to Delhi and 20 minutes to Chandigarh he added. He said the aircraft had 64 economy and 6 club-fare seats and provided ‘full service’ on board to the passengers. He claimed that the MDLR was the first pure vegetarian cuisine-serving airlines in the world. He said the airlines would float an introductory price of Rs 1,800 (inclusive of all taxes) on the Kullu-Delhi and Kullu-Chandigarh sectors. Dhar further revealed that the Kullu-Delhi flight would further go to Kolkota thereby provide Kullu-Kolkota flight to the passengers via Delhi. |
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BSNL told to pay Rs 50,000
Bilaspur, April 12 Guleria had submitted a complaint with the district consumers’ forum on June 14, 2006, saying that she had applied for a fixed phone along with required fee of Rs 500 on February 20, 1998. Later, a phone was installed at her house but it stopped functioning after about one year. It was later replaced by a WLL phone by BSNL. Since this WLL phone did not had a proper range, she requested BSNL to provide her the general fixed phone. But despite repeated requests the department did not take any action whatsoever and she remained without telephone service till date of filing the complaint. |
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Attorneys demand better pay scales
Bilaspur, April 12 To press the resolutions at the annual state general house meeting held here today, state press secretary N.C. Ghai said the attorneys and prosecutors should be paid non-practicing allowance on the pattern of medical officers, ayurveda and veterinary doctors, while they should also be provided earmarked accommodation throughout the state and all modern infrastructural facilities should be provided to them in the offices to enable them to perform their duties efficiently. They gave a call to all prosecutors to work to the best of their ability in public interest as they had a very important role to play in the administration of criminal justice system in the state. The following have been elected as the office- bearers of the association: president -Vinod Chaudhary (Mandi); general secretary - Sharad Lagwal (Badsar); vice-presidents - Ajmer singh (Shimla) and Kuldip Sen (Dharamshala); joint secretaries - N.S. Katoch (Kullu) and Manu Kalia (Shimla); press secretary - N.C. Ghai (Bilaspur); finance secretary - Ajay Thakur (Mandi) and state executive members - R.L. Saini, Ravinder Chaudhary, K.S. Verma, Randip Parmar, Dr D.S. Parmar, Ramdev, Sandeep Attri, Ashok Sugyan, B.N. Shandil, Sanjiv Barwal and L. S.
Negi. |
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Minimum wages hiked
Kumarhatti, April 12 AITUC president Jagdish Bhardwaj stated this here yesterday. He said the government had earlier decided to make the hike from the start of the current financial year but the AITUC efforts to implement the hike from January had finally borne fruit following a decision to this effect made by the HP Minimum Wages Board in a meeting held at Shimla on Thursday. Bhardwaj, who was also a member of the Wages Board, said the wages of un-skilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled labourers have been hiked to Rs 3,000, Rs 3,185, Rs 3,350 and Rs 3,600, respectively. |
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Registration mandatory for outsiders
Bilaspur, April 12 The notification has been issued under Section 188 of the IPC and it has come into force with immediate effect and will remain in force till June 8, 2008. According to the notification, the arrangement has been made for ensuring human and public safety and also for maintenance of peace and law and order and safety of property of citizens. |
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Minister’s foreign trip disallowed
Shimla, April 12 Kapoor told mediapersons that he and an official of the state government had clearance from the Union Housing Ministry for participation in a training programme in Sydney and Aucland from April 10 to April 20. However, he could not get political clearance for the tour from the External Affairs ministry, he said.
— PTI |
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