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Gill appointed DGP
HPU Student Body Poll
Govt may stop domestic LPG to temples
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Students face disqualification in elections
Rathore assails BJP on apple growers’ plight
Govt to launch parivahan yojna soon
Fate of IT courses hangs in the balance
Rights panel defunct for 3 yrs
Plan to bring back lion idols to Jawalamukhi temple
Amarnath Land Row
Rejection of Nominations
No controversy over labour officer’s post: Katoch
Council alleges violation of decision by authorities
Railway Jobs for Land
ABVP bags all seats in govt colleges
HAS results declared
Waiting for benefits of Independence
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Gill appointed DGP
Shimla, August 19 The government notification issued today said Gill had been appointed DGP with immediate effect, relieving Sohan Singh of the charge of the acting DGP. Amid speculations that the government could ignore seniority and appoint another ADGP-rank officer, D.S. Manhas, to the top police post, the government decided to seek repatriation of Gill from the central deputation. He was serving in the BSF at Chandigarh. Although Gill met Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal within two days after Ashwani Kumar’s appointment as the CBI Director, there was speculation that he could be reluctant to come back to the state as he was likely to get the top post even in the BSF. Besides Gill, B.S. Thind, Sohan Singh and Ajit Lal are also of the 1974 batch. However, with the Centre giving the go-ahead for Gill’s repatriation, he arrived in town today to take charge of the post. The race for the top post had basically been between Gill and Manhas. With many of the senior IPS officers on central deputation not keen to return to the state, Manhas, a 1977-batch IPS officer had emerged as a strong contender despite being at number eight in seniority. At present, he is serving as the ADGP, CID.
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14 in fray after withdrawal
Tribune News Service
Shimla, August 19 It was way back in 2001 that the ABVP was able to register victory on all four seats of the SCA. In 2003, they were able to wrest the posts of the vice-president and the general secretary from the activists of the SFI. There are 14 candidates in the fray for the posts of the president, the vice-president, the secretary and the joint secretary after the withdrawal. Seven candidates withdrew their candidature today. While the SFI, the ABVP and the NSUI have fielded candidates for all four posts, the All-India Students Federation (AISF) has fielded candidate for the posts of the president and the general secretary only. Besides the four main posts, elections will also be held for 39 posts of department representatives (DR). Six candidates had already been elected unopposed. The ABVP is banking on the anti-incumbency factor. The outfit is trying to highlight failures of the SFI during its long control over the SCA. Moreover, with the ABVP being the student outfit backed by the BJP, the party in power in the state, they are hoping to repeat their performance of 2001. State organising secretary of the ABVP Umesh Dutt said the SFI had failed to address the main problems being faced by the student community. The SFI and the NSUI have made the alleged saffronisation of HPU and other educational institutions their main poll plank. They accused the authorities of behaving in a partisan manner to benefit the ABVP, as it is backed by the ruling party.
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Govt may stop domestic LPG to temples
Dharamsala, August 19 Food and civil supplies minister Ramesh Dhawala, who was at Dharamsala mini secretariat today, admitted that the government was considering withdrawal of domestic LPG cylinders from the temples. “The temples have ample income to buy commercial cylinders,” the minister said while justifying the proposed move. Domestic LPG cylinders are used in all temples and religious places across the country for community kitchen. As the state government controls the management of all main temples in the state, the proposed move is likely to earn the ire of a particular community. The minister accused the Union Government of reducing rice supply for public distribution system (PDS) in the state. The state needs 13,900 MT rice for PDS distribution per month. However, it is getting only 7,118 MT per month. Due to shortage of supply from the Centre, the state was providing just 5 kg rice per month to above poverty line (APL) families against 20 kg per month prescribed for them. He said the state was going to replace mustard and refined oil with soya bean oil for PDS distribution. This could help the state in bringing down subsidy bill on edible oils. |
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Students face disqualification in elections
Solan, August 19 This has come as an embarrassment to the ruling BJP, which was also the home turf of health minister Dr Rajiv Bindal, which had bagged all five Vidhan Sabha seats in the elections. It was more so as no covering candidate had filed any nomination and immense pressure had been exerted on the college administration to cancel the rejections. Though even the NSUI, the student wing of the Congress, faced disqualification of at least one candidate, the unopposed nomination of general secretary Lata Devi and joint secretary Dilawar Singh has come as a saving grace. Even the SFI, the student wing of the communist, faced disqualification of some of their nominees leaving them with barely two contenders for the post of president and vice-president. A forced nomination of an NSUI activist for the post of joint secretary as an ABVP candidate was withdrawn today leaving them with virtually no candidate. Nalagarh Degree College faced the worst situation where no panel of any political party could contest. With merely one candidate of the ABVP and the NSUI remaining in the fray due to disqualification of all other contestants even they chose to withdraw today. This has created a piquant situation in the college, which will be bereft of any Students Central Association (SCA) for the current session. Situation was seemingly better in the other colleges at Subathu and Arki where baring one or two disqualifications, the SCA polls were sure to witness keen contest between the NSUI and the ABVP. Being the first campus elections in the state where recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee were being implemented, the large-scale disqualification had exposed the lack of coordination between the frontal organisations and their parent political parties. Since three key national parties, the Congress, the BJP and the Leftists, had a sizeable presence of their student wings in the state, this failure indicated that little was done to even educate their own cadres about the key recommendations of the committee. Furthermore, the compliance of this report would help instill some discipline in the colleges where the students had been hitherto paying little heed to the minimum lecture condition. Students desirous of pursuing politics would have to be even more careful as non-seriousness towards attending classes could put an end to the political aspirations of several candidates. The large-scale rejection also revealed the little significance attached to classroom teaching by the aspiring student leaders.
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Rathore assails BJP on apple growers’ plight
Shimla, August 19 Addressing a press conference here today he said the government failed to make adequate arrangements for marketing of apple as a result of which the growers faced many problems. The supply of apple cartons had been inadequate and the growers were left on the mercy of private suppliers who charged exorbitant rates. Worse, most of the roads in the apple belt remained blocked due to landslides during peak season and the produce could not be transported to various markets in time. The outbreak of fungal diseases further added to their woes as plants started shedding leaves prematurely. The growers were forced to pluck the fruit early but they could not transport it to the market. Similar was the story of vegetables growers who suffered even more because of highly perishable nature of the produce. In the lower hills floods in the Swan river had washed away large chunks of fertile land in Una. Several parts of the states were cut off due to road blockades and snapping of telecom lines while some others had to go without power and water supply because of failure of the authorities concerned to carry out prompt restoration works. The PCC chief had constituted a five-member committee to assess the loss in Una and he had also asked all district presidents of the party to send reports of damage caused by rains in their area. Rathore alleged that the government machinery was being misused in favour of the ABVP in the elections to the students central associations of Himachal Pradesh University and affiliated colleges. The candidates of the
NSUI, particularly those whose parents were in government service, were being pressured to withdraw from contest. Some NSUI leaders had been implicated in false cases. The Lyngdoh committee recommendations were being enforced a far as the BJP was concerned. |
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Govt to launch parivahan yojna soon
Shimla, August 19 This was stated by Chief Minister P.K. Dhumal, who chaired the review meeting of the Transport Department and Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC), here today. “Unemployed youth would be provided permits for operating buses and light transport vehicles along with tax concessions to encourage private participation in a big way,” he said. The Chief Minister said the state Transport Department had fixed a financial target of Rs 136.50 crore for the current financial year out of which Rs 49.24 crore had already been collected up to July. Dhumal said the government is providing free and concession travelling facility to various sections worth Rs 63.50 crore annually as its social responsibility. He said school students and government employees had been provided concession travelling facility while police personnel, jail wardens, handicapped, MPs, MLAs, war widows, gallantry award winners, Padamshree awardees and others had been given free travelling facility. He said the driving license and vehicle registration system was being modernised and in future computerised documents would be made available to the applicants. Dhumal said the state had a fleet of 1,866 buses, which were catering to the transportation requirement of the commuters. “The HRTC is providing bus services even on the most uneconomical routes, incurring heavy losses with a view to deliver transportation services to the people,” he said. Transport minister Kishan Kapoor said the HRTC was operating 34 per cent on rural roads, 14 per cent on state highways, 23 per cent on national highways within the state and 29 per cent outside the state. He said the HRTC was operating on 958 uneconomical routes causing a loss of Rs 28.24 crore annually.
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Fate of IT courses hangs in the balance
Mandi, August 19 The state government has given 45-days time to the company to put its infrastructure in place in over 588 schools chosen for the IT education in the state. “But even grace period for the deadline has passed and the company has neither issued letters of appointment to the IT teachers teaching in these schools nor has it set up computers as per the MoU signed with the government so far”, charged IT teachers. On the other hand, students rued half of the academic session is over, but they know nothing about fate of the IT courses. “All three classes-10th, 11th and 12th have to face board examinations, but the IT courses are yet to start in the schools”, they complained. Apart from delaying the IT education, the Computers Teachers Association (CTA), alleged that the company was demanding Rs 5,000 per teacher as security and denying appointment to old IT teachers under pressure heads in the Education Department. CTA’s general secretary, Santosh Pathania said, “We have requested the education minister to adjust our security deposited earlier with the new company. We have deposited Rs 5,000 as a security thrice in the past. As per the MoU all IT teachers teaching in 588 schools will be employed by the company, but there are teachers, who have not got fresh letters from the company so far”. Area manager, Everonn, Rajpal Sharma, claimed that over 80 per cent infrastructure has been put in place and rest 20 per cent will be completed in this week. “We are continuing with the old IT teachers. The IT courses will be started as soon as schools open after vacations next week”, he claimed. He said issue related to the security deposit would be taken up at a higher level but he had no knowledge about it. “We will start the IT in 588 ‘old schools’ then in another 216 new schools allotted to us under the MoU signed with the government for four years. We charge Rs 125 as monthly IT fee from each student”, he claimed.
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Rights panel defunct for 3 yrs
Shimla, August 19 The post of commission’s chairperson, which fell vacant in July 2005 when Justice N.K. Jain quit office to take over as the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Rajasthan. Subsequently, one of the two members, I.D. Bali resigned in protest against the failure of the government to make the institution functional. At present only one member B.S. Chauhan is in position. He is also completing his term next month. The commission could not be made functional all this while due to the failure of the government to appoint an acting chairperson, despite the fact that there is specific provision to this effect in the relevant act. It clearly reflects the abject lack of concern of successive governments for human rights. Those who have filed complaints are gradually losing hope, as meetings of commission to take up complaints could not be held in absence of the chairperson. The commission had been without any staff and other infrastructure and regular office. In fact, the BJP government had scrapped the commission in 2002 and it was reconstituted by the Congress, which came to power subsequently, on the directions of the state high court on public interest litigation. Initially, the government had given additional charge of chairperson to the Lokayukta, but the arrangement was illegal as neither could hold the other office as per the provisions in the respective acts. The commission can still be made functional only by appointing a chairperson or an acting chairperson and a member, of course, if the government wants. There was no point in setting up an institution if it is not to be made functional. The concern and respect the government shows for human rights is an indicator of the quality of governance and life in a democratic set up. A defunct human rights institution reflects poorly on the government of the day. |
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Plan to bring back lion idols to Jawalamukhi temple
Dharamsala, August 19 Food and civil supplies minister Ramesh Dhawala, who represent the Jawalamukhi constituency, said the lion idols were part of the temple heritage. “These were sold illegally by the previous management committee. We have now come to know that these are being put to commercial use at Ludhiana,” he said. The government would try to bring these back to the Jawalamukhi temple. During the stint of the previous government, the then management committee of the temple had sold these idols on the plea that they were broken and keeping these on the temple premises was against the sanctity of the temple. The sale had, however, evoked protest from various sections. The minister said the government was also mulling the idea of restoring the historical canal said to have got dug by Mughal emperor Akbar in an effort to douse the sacred flame at the Jawalamukhi temple. The haphazard development at the temple in the past had spoiled the heritage, he said. Most of the constructions carried out by an NRI on the temple premises might also be dismantled, he added. |
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Ex-servicemen ready to take up arms: Mankotia
Our Correspondent
Kangra, August 19 Major Vijay Singh Mankotia, president of the Indian Ex-servicemen League of Himachal Pradesh and former tourism minister, said this while talking to The Tribune at his residence in Tiara village today. He said, “The league has resolved that the sacrifices made by thousands of brave soldiers and Kashmiri Pandits should not go in vain. If it so happens, we are willing to take to arms to save the sovereignty of the country.” He said whatever was happening in Jammu and Kashmir was one of the biggest national tragedy and trauma. He said, “The ex-servicemen cannot remain mute spectators to the situation there.” “Out of 2,68,000 sq km territory of Jammu and Kashmir, 48 per cent of it was under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and now anti-national elements were again raising head to divide the country, but no power will be allowed to do so,” he said. Mankotia said the call of Hurriyat leader Syeed Ali Shah Geelani that Kashmir should be under the UN control was ridiculous. He said the Indian leadership should convey it in clear terms to the Hurriyat leadership that waving Pakistani flags and raising pro-Pakistan slogans on the Indian soil would not be tolerated. He described the uprooting of Kashmiri Pandits out of the valley and making them refugees in their own country as the biggest human tragedy after repression of Jews by Germans in 1940s.
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Principal asked to appear in court
Our Correspondent
Kangra, August 19 Nitin Kumar and Anoop Singh Rana both from the SFI and Swan Chauhan and Rajesh Kumar both from the ACS moved court today against Ohri in his personal and administrative capacity for rejecting their nomination papers in the SCA polls claiming that the college was dependent on the present government for 95 per cent grant-in-aid and so the principal and the in charge of the election committee could not go against the wishes of the government and allegedly rejected their nominations on unreasonable and illegal grounds. Ohri confirmed that he had received the court notice today. Meanwhile, students belonging to the SFI and the ACS today held demonstration on the college campus. The students protesting on the campus were warned by the college authorities for holding demonstration on the campus.
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No controversy over labour officer’s post: Katoch
Solan, August 19 Clarifying his stand he said the essential qualification was as per the Recruitment and Promotion Rules notified under Article 309 of the Constitution. He added that since there are no provisions for postgraduate diploma in labour welfare, hence such candidates were rejected and there was no scope for any executive clarification unless these were incorporated in the statutory Recruitment and Promotion rules. He also asserted that this august body of commission takes up the tasks assigned to it by the government strictly in accordance with the laid rules. Meanwhile, reacting to the news item, officials of the Labour and Employment Department said it was unfortunate that candidates having diploma in personal management and labour welfare were rejected and this issue had come up before them. They also added that as per Section 49 of the Factories Act, 1948, persons possessing this qualification are supposed to be appointed as labour welfare officers in industrial units where the number of employees exceeded 500. With an influx of industries to the state after the 2003 Central industrial package the large industrial units could suitably employ such candidates. |
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Council alleges violation of decision by authorities
Chamba, August 19 In a memo presented to the DC, Major S. C. Nayyar, senior vice-president of the council, disclosed that the Chowgan No.1 and 2 were rented out for commercial purpose where marquee, shops and dhabas were installed resulting a lot of destruction and damage caused to the Chowgan, which is the lifeline of Chamba town. The Chowgan was closed for two years for repair and regeneration work of “drub” grass, spending a lot of funds on it, Major said.
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Railway Jobs for Land
Nurpur, August 19 He was addressing a press conference here before leaving for Bihar on Sunday night. He said the Nitish Kumar government was also examining legal aspect in that connection. The JD(U) and the BJP would meet the Prime Minister within couple of days in this connection, he said. Modi, who visited a number of temples in Kangra and Una districts, appreciated the cleanliness and management of temples in the hill state.
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ABVP bags all seats in govt colleges
Chamba, August 19 Government college, Salooni, falls in the Banikhet assembly constituency and Killar in the Pangi area of the Bharmaur tribal assembly constituency in Chamba district. In government college, Salooni, president - Sachin Kumar, vice-president - Parmod Kumar, general secretary - Sapna Sharma and joint secretary - Nand Kishore were declared elected uncontested. While in the government college, Killar (Pangi), president - Jiwan Kumar, vice-president - Ram Kumar, general secretary - San Dei and joint secretary - Sunita Devi were elected.
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HAS results declared
Shimla, August 19 The interview of the shortlisted candidates were held on July 21. Those selected for various posts in order of merit include: Rana Pritpal Singh, Vivek Gupta, Sharwan Kumar (HAS); Prashant Deshta (HPS); Arun Kumar (tehsildar); Kulbhushan Verma, Man Mohan Singh, Praveer Kumar Thakur, Sagar Chander (HPS); Vinay Dhiman (HAS); Amit Sharma (HPS); Ajay Prashar and Raman Gharsanghi (tehsildar); Varun Katoch and Naraneder Sen (ETO); Anil Kumar Bhardwaj, Chandan Kapoor and Rohit Rathour (HAS); Hem Chand (tehsildar); Praveen Dhinam (HPS); Swapan Sharma (BDO); Gaurav Mahajan and Vikram Mahajan (tehsildar); Puneet Raghu (HPS); Manoj Joshi, Sanjay Kumar and Vinay Kaushal (tehsildar); Rajesh Kumar (HPS); Vijay Kumar, Shiv Mohan Singh Saini and Anil Kumar Sharma (tehsildar); and Pramod Kumar (ETO). |
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Waiting for benefits of Independence
Dalhousie, August 19 Residents of these areas said the Congress government had claimed complete electrification while certain habitations in these areas were still without electricity. While urging the government to take notice of these panchayats, they demanded that authorities should be directed not to escape its attention towards their afflictions. |
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It is after a gap of seven years that the ABVP is striving hard to gain control over the Students Central Association of Himachal Pradesh University, which has been under the control of the Students Federation of India.
