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Mass transfers likely in view of EC directive
Illegal Construction
IIT director: Better road, air connectivity needed
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Sacrificing green cover in the name of development
LS Polls
5 blocks to get model schools
IAS, HAS officers shifted
Devtas denied ration at Shivratri fair
Budget passed
Star night turns out to be flop show
EVMs for visually impaired
Seven SPs shifted
One held for raping girl
Rs 350.33 cr for rail track
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Mass transfers likely in view of EC directive
Dharamsala, February 26 Interestingly, most of these revenue officers were transferred recently as the new transfer policy adopted by the present government. Earlier, the tehsildars were not allowed to serve in their parent district. The present government in new policy had allowed the tehsildars to serve in their parent district. They, however, barred from serving in their home tehsils. Most of the tehsildars who got benefited from the new policy of present government are once again being transferred as per the directive of the election commission. In the copy of election commission orders that have circulated in the state bureaucracy it has been stated that any officer connected with election process who has completed three years during the last four years in a district shall be transferred. While calculating three years promotion to a higher post within the district shall also be counted. The election commission has also directed the officials to make sure that transferred officials are not posted in their home districts. In police the above said criteria would also be applicable up to the sub inspector level officers. The election commission has also directed the Chief Election Commissioners of the state to maintain a register in which information about IAS/IPS officers, district election officers and returning officers transferred by the order of Election Commission would be recorded. The information regarding the officers against whom the commission recommended a disciplinary action or charges for lapse in election duty have been levelled would also be maintained in the same register. The commission has recommended that such should not be posted on election duty. Directions have also been issued that within seveb days of the announcement of elections the Chief Election Commission would send a compliance letter to zonal secretary in the election commission. The sources available here said that the secretaries of various government departments had started collecting information regarding home districts and period of stay in district of the officials. Though generally the officials of the government departments as the public health or the PWD are not associated directly with the election process the data regarding them was also being collected by senior government officials. |
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Deviations up to 40 pc to be regularised
Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 26 Responding to a joint question of Sukhwinder, Prem Singh and Neeraj Bharati (all from the Congress), he said the compounding fee would be charged separately for each storey. The regularisation of deviation in setbacks would be done only if such residential buildings had a minimum 3-m-wide access path. The attic constructed for habitation would be counted as a separate storey and regularisation of deviations in respect of setbacks on the valley side carried out up to June 30, 2006, would be compounded up to such number of storeys as prescribed for the respective zone. No compounding would be done on controlled area of national and state highways and scheduled roads. The required setback on highways and roads would be 8 m from the edge of the road. The applicant would submit no objection certificate of competent authority in that regard. Compounding would be allowed in respect of buildings the boundaries of which had been changed at the time of revenue settlement operations. The deviations falling in areas earmarked for parks, sewerage or any other facilities in any approved subdivision of land by any competent authority would not be compounded. The compounding fee for deviations from 10 to 20 per cent will be Rs 600 per sq m for structures under the Shimla Municipal Corporation, Rs 500 per sq m for municipal councils and nagar panchayats and Rs 300 per sq m for planning areas and special areas outside municipal areas. Similarly, for deviations ranging from 20 to 30 per cent, the rates per sq m for three categories would be Rs 700, Rs 600 and Rs 400, respectively, and for deviations from 30 to 40 per cent the rates would be Rs 800, Rs 700 and Rs 500. Public works minister Gulab Singh informed Hari Narain Saini (BJP) that the government had taken up the issue of upgrading the 106-km Taradevi-Jabbar Hatti-Kunihar-Nalagarh-Ghanoli road as a national highway with the union ministry of surface transport.
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IIT director: Better road, air connectivity needed
Mandi, February 26 Director, IIT, Roorkee, Suresh C Saxena said, “We need double-lane 15-km road between Kamand and Mandi town and the 30-km road between Kullu-Manali airport and Kamand to make transportation smooth.” Saxena was here in connection with the foundation stone-laying ceremony at Kamand. He said it was the responsibility of the state government to provide proper road and air connectivity as the IIT would invite international faculty for academic interaction with students. “We also need 100 acres of land in Mandi,” he added. When quizzed as to whether Kamand site was ideal for the IIT, he said it was alright, but Kamand is an isolated place that needs proper road and air-connectivity. “It would take another 15 years to develop a full-fledged self-contained IIT at Kamand as we will have to start from the scratch to build up the IIT, including laboratories, hostels and other facilities for over 7,000 students. The institute will be on a par with the top established IITs in the country,” he added. He said the IIT would start its first academic session from July this year in electronics, computer and mechanical engineering. “We will take 40 students in each stream on the basis of merit in the joint engineering entrance test,” he added. |
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Sacrificing green cover in the name of development
Solan, February 26 What was indeed surprising was the fact that though the state government had been trumpeting the fact that it should be adequately compensated for preserving green cover after the apex court imposed a ban on green felling, it had been encouraging such misadventures. The outright permission granted to Maharishi Markandeshwar University to set up a medical college and 500-bedded hospital without caring for the loss of green cover has proved beyond doubt the difference in what the government professed and practised. Chief Minister PK Dhumal himself laid the foundation stone of the institute on Sunday. The 332.13 bighas of land in question comprises pine and oak trees and as per the state government’s own directions it had banned felling of oak trees since they help conserve water and moisture and thus help prevent soil erosion. Even the clarification issued by the state government’s Law Department fails to justify this large-scale felling. As per this clarification, no tree felling can be permitted over a continuous stretch of forest land measuring more than 5 hectares. The clarification applies for private land as well. Solan DFO YP Gupta said the MM Trust had sought an evaluation report from them, which had been granted to them, but it had been amply made clear that the report should not be construed as permission to fell trees. He agreed that as per the Land Preservation Act permission to axe oak trees was banned in the state and whenever they had to be axed for constructing roads permission under the FCA was sought from the Ministry of Environment and Forests. With two more such cases involving large-scale felling of trees surfacing in the Kumarhatti area alone in the past less than one year it appeared that this area had become the latest haunt of the commercial property dealers. While in the first case a resort had come up, in the second land was granted to 18 influential people, including a Punjab and Haryana High Court judge where too felling of nearly 344 trees had to be brought about. |
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None coming forward to confirm Zinta’s name
Dharam Prakash Gupta Tribune News Service
Hamirpur, February 26 The delay in the announcement of the Congress candidate for the coming general parliamentary election by the Congress high command has given chance to give credence to such talks here. Since the high command has not come out with any list of candidates, the names of probable candidates have been doing the round for quite some time. The name of Priety Zinta has been doing the rounds for the past few days as there are reports she has officially joined the Congress but the Congress leadership has also not given any indication about her entering the party or fielding her in this election. The decision to allot party ticket to the Congress candidate is proving a bit ticklish since Hamirpur is considered a stronghold of the BJP where the party candidate has been winning for the five consecutive terms and in the last election Anurag Thakur, son of Prem Kumar Dhumal was returned with a record margin of 174666. Since Congress candidate Narinder Thakur, who had joined the Congress after revolting against the BJP, is being considered a front-runner for the ticket from Hamirpur and also stated to be facing opposition from a section of the party, uncertainty about party candidate from Hamirpur is still continuing. The talks of fielding Zinta to hold some ground since the actress has an old connection with this place and had been visiting Hamirpur frequently as one of her aunts reside here ; more so since she can prove to be a very strong opponent to Anurag. HPCC president Kaul Singh Thakur said, “The list of Congress candidates would be finalised soon; however there is no move to field Priety Zinta from Hamirpur.”
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5 blocks to get model schools
Shimla, February 26 Replying to a cut-motion moved by Congress legislators Rajesh Dharmani, Gangu Ram Musafir, Yog Raj, Mukesh Agnihotri, Kaul Singh Thakur and Harshwardhan Chauhan in the Assembly today, Education Minister ID Dhiman said efforts were bring made to make available quality education in all areas of the state. “The five blocks where model schools will be opened are Shillai, Pangi, Tissa, Salooni and Mehla,” he said. To make education job-oriented, thrust was on providing vocational education. “At present, vocational education is being provided in only 25 senior secondary schools. However, the government intends to raise this number to 63 so that educated youth get jobs or can set up their own ventures,” he said. Addressing the concern of the members about the large number of vacancies in educational institutions, especially in difficult areas, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said directions had already been issued to the department to post selected JBT teachers close to their home so that they willingly served and the students did not have to suffer. Kaul Singh said the government should reconsider its earlier decision of de-notifying educational institutions announced during the previous Congress regime. In reply to the cut-motion on health brought by Dharmani and Harshwardhan, Health Minister Rajiv Bindal said a central control room would be created for ensuring timely availability of ambulances and a Rs 16-crore tender had already been floated. The cut-motions on both education and health were rejected.
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IAS, HAS officers shifted
Shimla, February 26 Additional Chief Secretary (Food and Civil Supplies) Harinder Hira has been posted as the Additional Chief Secretary-cum-Financial Commissioner (Revenue) with additional charge of food and civil supplies. Financial Commissioner-cum-Principal Secretary (Revenue) Prem Kumar takes over as the Principal Secretary (Horticulture) with additional charge of technical education. Principal Secretary (Horticulture) PC Kapoor takes over as the Principal Secretary
(PWD). Director (Vigilance) and Secretary (Home) Ram Subhag Singh has been posted as the Secretary (Agriculture, Information and Public Relations), while Secretary (Forests) Sanjay Gupta takes over as the Managing Director of the Financial Corporation vice Kashmir Chand who goes as the Managing Director of Industrial Development Corporation. Secretary to Governor JP Singh has been posted as the Director (Vigilance and Secretary (Home). Managing Director (HPMC) Bharat Khera goes as the Secretary to Governor. Managing Director of the Electronics Development Corporation VC Katoch has been posted as the Settlement Officer, Shimla, while director (IT) Devesh Kumar will hold additional charge of the Managing Director of the Electronics Development Corporation. Deputy Commissioner of Shimla JS Rana, and Deputy Commissioner of Bilaspur, vice Amar Singh Rathore, swap places. Secretary of the state public services commission Priyanka Basu and Deputy Commissioner of Kinnaur, vice PS Draik, swap places. Twenty-four other HAS officers were also shifted. IFS officer RK Sood has been posted as the Managing Director of the Small-Scale Industries and Exports Corporation, relieving HS Kingra of the additional charge. Chief Conservator of Forests, Rampur, FS Nagi, takes over as the Managing Director of
Milkfed, Shimla.
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Devtas denied ration at Shivratri fair
Mandi, February 26 On the other hand, mela committee members said certain individual devtas were mushrooming in the region as it had become a sort of business. It was difficult to accommodate the mushrooming number, they added. However, the devotes of the five devtas, namely Laxmin Narayana, Banshira (Panjain), Panchvir (Kulthani), Mahasagar (Bharichi)and Shikari Mata (Sarohi), have alleged that earlier they were promised that they would be given coupons for the ration other facilities. But when they approached the in charge, they were sent back saying they were not invited by the committee and hence they would not be given ration. They have thanked IPTA convener Lawan Thakur for arranging their stay in the town at his private accommodation. Thakur alleged the mela committee was squandering money on useless things, but denying ration to these devtas. On the other hand, president of the committee-cum- Mandi DC Onkar Sharma said it was decided in the general house of the committee that no uninvited devtas would be provided any facilities.
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Budget passed
Shimla, February 26 The House also discussed and passed the demands in respect of the home, public works, education and health departments while other demands were approved without discussion after Speaker Tulsi Ram applied the guillotine. Replying to a cut motion, PWD Minister Gulab Singh Thakur said 242 detailed project reports
(DPRs) worth Rs 365 crore had been sent to the Centre for improving road connectivity. He added 68 road projects worth Rs 152 crore had been approved by
NABARD. “The budget had been enhanced from last year’s Rs 304 crore to Rs 480 crore to ensure that every village has road link,” he said. He said the target of providing road link to all villages having a population of 500 or above would be met by March. Satisfied with the reply given by the minister, the cut motion was withdrawn by Congress legislators.
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Star night turns out to be flop show
Mandi, February 26 The Surtal group from Delhi played a CD on the “Navdurga Stuti” that extended for well over an hour, leaving the audience impatient. There was no original choreography involved in the dance. It was during this time that Dhumal and other dignitaries left the venue as they had other important engagements. Then came the stars: Jubin and Arshpreet of Voice of India fame. Arshpreet could not strike chord with the young hooting audience. Ditto hold true for Jubin, he sang well but remained glued to the hand held mike giving impression that he was not at ease with himself at the stage. President mela committee Onkar Sharma said they performed well in the end and managed to strike personal chord swinging the young crowd.
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EVMs for visually impaired
Shimla, February 26 Chief electoral officer Anil Khachi informed here today that the Election Commission of India had taken a decision in this regard. The provision of Rule 49 N of the Election Conduction Rule, 1961, had also been kept in force under which visually impaired or other physically challenged voters could bring along with them a companion above 18 years of age to facilitate them to exercise their franchise. He said only such voters would be eligible to cast their votes provided their names were enlisted in the photo electoral rolls.
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Seven SPs shifted
Shimla, February 26 Superintendent of police, Vigilance, Shimla, AP Singh has been posted the Sirmaur SP vice JP Singh who takes over as the SP of the CID, Shimla. SP CID KK Indoria will be the new district police, Kullu, in place of Jagat Ram who has been posted as the SP, headquarters, Shimla. Additional superintendent of police, Solan, Soju Ram has been posted as district police chief, Lahaul-Spiti, vice Prem Thakur who has been posted as superintendent of police, CID, vice Daljit Thakur who takes over the charge of vigilance at Shimla. |
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One held for raping girl
Hamirpur, February 26 SP, Hamirpur, Asif Jalal has said ‘Vipin Kumar (30) of Lohakhar under Suajnpur police station went to the house of the victim residing in his neighbourhood under the influence of liquor on the pretext of searching for his dog last evening and broke open the door of her house and later raped her.’ He said ‘on the complaint of the victim who had received bruises on her body, the accused was arrested under Section 376 and 506 of the IPC and later produced in the court where he has been remanded to police custody for three days.’ |
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Rs 350.33 cr for rail track
Shimla, February 26 Making a suo-motto statement in the Assembly today, Chief Minister PK Dhumal informed that the Rail Ministry had conveyed the sanction of this amount to the state government on February 23. “The acquisition process for starting of work on the 20 km stretch has previously been initiated in 10 villages falling in Bilaspur district and 14 villages of Ropar district of Punjab,” he disclosed. He said even though the survey work on the project had been started way back in 1985, it was now nearing completion. “It is expected that the broad gauging of this 63 km stretch would be completed by 2015 at an estimated cost of Rs 1,040 crore,” he said.
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Welfare steps for media suggested
Solan, February 26 |
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