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WHO gives 160 days to CRI
Govt issues anti-ragging directions
Ragging Death
Madan Lal gets warm welcome
Virbhadra wants Cong to reconsider decision |
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Says BJP govt encouraging lawlessness
MPs fail to utilise LAD Fund
Special Commonwealth package by HPTDC
Congress manifesto people-oriented
Govt plans to end monkey menace
Villagers meet DC on cement plant issue
Weaving industry makes women self-reliant
2 held for molesting girl
Murder mystery solved, 1 held
11 hurt in mishap
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WHO gives 160 days to CRI
Solan, March 26 This opportunity was granted after a team of WHO consultants, along with the drug controller general of India (DCGI), made a visit to the institute some days back and took stock of the situation arising out of the withdrawal of its production license in January 2008. A five-member committee, comprising two representatives of WHO, director of CRI, DCGI and his designated inspector would now closely follow the modifications, which the CRI is suppose to bring about in its laboratories to fulfill the GMP norms. It was also learnt that out of the budgetary sanction of about Rs 15 crore, a sum of one crore was slated to be released immediately to allow the institute to incorporate the requisite modifications in its lab. What was however interesting to note was the fact that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had designated the task of refurbishing the existing lab to a Delhi-based agency, Hospital Services Consultancy Corporation, which had earlier too constructed the same modern lab. While questions had been raised over the quality of the work executed by the agency earlier as its cost too had escalated to Rs 11 crore, which was several crores than the initial estimates. Even after incurring this huge expenditure, the lab had failed to meet the desired GMP norms and the institute’s license had been withdrawn. The same agency was now entrusted the task to first demolish the interiors and then reconstruct them so as to fulfill the GMP norms. However, the major challenge before the institute was to accomplish this task within a span of 160 days, which was an uphill task. The task once completed would enable the institute to manufacture the DPT, DT and TT vaccines, which were the institute’s mainstay. |
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Govt issues anti-ragging directions
Shimla, March 26 The instructions specifically refer to court orders of May 4, 2001, May 16, 2007 and February 11, 2009 regarding various steps which must be taken by educational institutions to eliminate ragging. The institutions had been asked to initiate anti-ragging measures from day one by clearly mentioning in the prospectus that ragging attracted punishment, both imprisonment and fine, expulsion from the institution and withholding scholarships or other benefits. The management, the principal and the teaching staff should interact with the “freshers” and to generate confidence in them that any complaint of ragging brought to their knowledge would be promptly dealt with. The application form for admission will have a printed undertaking to be signed by the candidate to the effect that he is aware that ragging was an offence punishable under law and. A similar undertaking will be obtained from the guardian of the applicant. A “proctorial” committee consisting of senior faculty members and hostel authorities like wardens and a few responsible senior students will be constituted to keep a continuous vigil on ragging and promptly deal with such incidents. Failure to prevent ragging will be construed as an act of negligence on the part of the management, the principal and other persons in authority like hostel wardens and superintendents. If the individuals committing or abetting ragging are not identified, collective punishment could be resorted to. The punishment for ragging has to be exemplary and if the victim or his guardian or the head of institution is not satisfied with the institutional action, an FIR must be filed without exception. If any victim or his guardian intends to file an FIR directly, it will not absolve the institutional authority from the requirement.
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Ragging Death
Kangra, March 26 Meanwhile, the five-member team holding internal inquiry comprising of HOD Surgery Dr Ramesh Bharti (currently under suspension for dereliction of duty), HOD ENT Dr SS
Dogra, HOD Medicine Dr Deepak Kapoor, HOD Anesthesia Dr RS Thakur and HOD Pathology Dr Reeta Pathania have failed to submit their report about the management (treatment) of Aman Kachroo from the morning of March 7 till his death at DRPGMC in the evening of March 8. |
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Madan Lal gets warm welcome
Bilaspur, March 26 Madan Lal was accompanied by Bilaspur district Congress president Rajesh Dharmani, MLA and state Congress party sports cell chairman RR Rohi. The welcome team of Congress workers was led by former Forest Minister and state party vice-president Ram Lal Thakur and his team of leaders. Madan Lal visited the Naina Devi shrine and sought blessings of Goddess Naina Devi. Later, he got equally enthusiastic welcome at various other places, including Tarwaad, Swahan, Suharghat, Chadole, Jaamli, Kallar and Kothipura en route to Bilaspur town. Led by district’s three former MLAs (Tilak Raj Sharma, Babu Ram Gauttam and Biru Ram Kishore), Bilaspur (Sadar) BDC chairman Babu Ram Thakur, Sadar block president and Zila Parishad member Jitender Chandel, a large number of party leaders and activists garlanded and raised victory slogans in favour of Madan Lal as soon as he arrived at the district Congress party office at Indira Bhawan in the afternoon. They assured him of all-out efforts on their part for ensuring his victory in the election. Presidents of block Congress committees, including Sarpal Singh, Daya Ram and Rajendera Kumari, were also present there. Later, Madan Lal thanked party workers for the “affection” showered on him. He assured them that he would strive hard to come up to their expectations. He said he would take suitable steps to win support of everyone, including those who had not taken kindly to his nomination by the party high command, and seek blessings of every voter and Congress supporter. He was welcomed by party workers at Bhagedh, Ghumarwin and Barthin on his way to Deoth-Sidh where he was to pay obeisance to Baba Balak Nath.
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Virbhadra wants Cong to reconsider decision
Mandi, March 26 He went on to make a strong plea that the party high command should honour the public sentiment and reconsider its decision of allotting the ticket to Madan Lal. In the beginning, Kaul Singh Thakur had advocated the name of Narinder Thakur before the party high command. Now, Virbhadra Singh’s stand on the issue has raised a storm within the party. He made this statement after meeting his supporters, former Forest Minister Ram Lal Thakur, Santokhgarh (Una) MLA Mukesh Agnihotri, former MLA from Hamirpur Anita Verma, Kaul Singh Thakur and former minister Rangila Ram Rao etc. Besides Vidya Stokes, Viplove Thakur, GS Bali and Sukvinder Sukhu, External Affairs Minister and Rajya Sabha MP from Himachal Anand Sharma was also in the firing line of Virbhadra Singh. Expressing concern over resignation by some party men and Hamirpur leaders in protest against rejection of Narinder Thakur’s candidature for the party ticket, Virbhadra Singh said the party high command should have honoured the public sentiment. On the other hand, leaders like Vidya Stokes maintained that the party men should honour the decision of the high command and support Madan Lal. Even Narinder Thakur had stated that he would work for the party, Stokes said.
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Says BJP govt encouraging lawlessness
Mandi, March 26 Addressing a press conference here, he said the present government had plunged the state into lawlessness. Over 50 police inspectors had been moved from different police stations to the Vigilance Department for framing false cases against political opponents. Instead of taking care of the law and order situation in the state, the BJP government was busy in implicating Congress men and other political opponents in various cases, he alleged. Not even a single big scheme had been initiated with funds under the present government. |
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MPs fail to utilise LAD Fund
Shimla, March 26 In a statement issued here today, a member of the state secretariat of the CPM, Tikender Singh Panwar said the fact that these MPs had not even bothered to utilise the entire amount that was at their disposal was a reflection towards their indifference towards the voters. “The four elected representatives owe an answer to the people of the state as to why this huge amount of Rs 8.62 crore was left unspent when it could have helped undertake a lot of development work and create public facilities,” he quipped. He urged the electorate to extend their support to Leftists or non-Congress secular forces in the Lok Sabha polls. Panwar said while on the one hand the two parties- the Congress and the BJP- claimed to have protected the interests of the people of the state on the other they never bothered to spend the MP LAD Fund for development of the satte and creating other facilities. Topping the list of the unspent money is the MP from Mandi, Pratibha Singh who left a sum of Rs 2.64 unspent as after June, 2006 she did not utilise any money. The Congress MP from Kangra, Chander Kumar, is second with a sum of Rs 2.17 crore unspent. He is followed by Anurag Thakur, BJP MP from Hamirpur who could not avail Rs 2.06 crore while Congress MP from Shimla, Dhani Ram Shandil left a sum of Rs 1.76 crore unspent.
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Special Commonwealth package by HPTDC
Shimla, March 26 This was stated by chief minister P.K. Dhumal while chairing the 121st Board of Directors meeting of the HPTDC held here today. “The holding of the Commonwealth Games will offer the state an opportunity to market its locations not just among those who are in India but by way of word of mouth when these visitors return home,” he said. He said the HPTDC had the entire paraphernalia, including hotels at all major destination along with transportation facilities. “Hospitality is one of the fastest growing industries in the world and the HPTDC needs to keep pace with the global trends by keeping pace by updating its professional capabilities,” he said. He lauded the HPTDC for earning a revenue of Rs 51.34 crore during the past 11 months and gaining Rs 5.54 crore as profit. “The profit making units of the HPTDC need to be upgraded to meet the increasing demand of the customers while strategy needs to be developed to see how the other units can be turned into profitable ventures,” said Dhumal.
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Congress manifesto people-oriented
Hamirpur, March 26 Addressing a joint press conference here today, former MLAs Anita Verma and Kuldeep Pathania , district Congress president Sunil Sharma and other leaders welcomed the candidature of former cricketer Madan Lal from Hamirpur. They also criticised the BJP-led state government for allegedly not doing much for the people. They said, “The Congress manifesto promises 25 kg wheat flour to each family at the rate of Rs 3 per kg. Women have also been promised 33 per cent reservation in jobs.” They said, “What is the contribution of local MP Anurag Thakur for Hamirpur during his present tenure? The state government has also failed to provide any major relief to the people and all major projects in the state are the contribution of the Central Government.” The Congress leaders also criticised the BJP government on the law and order front. Former vice-president of the Himachal Cricket association Rajinder Zar also urged the BCCI to act against HPCA president and Hamirpur MP Anurag Thakur for allegedly misusing the platform of cricket for political gains. They said they would work for the victory of Madan Lal in the election. |
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Mid-day meal workers protest
Shimla, March 26 The mid-day meal workers engaged to prepare the meal for school children today assembled under the banner of the Himachal Pradesh Mid-day Meal School Workers Union at the Panchayat Bhawan near bus stand from where they marched to the secretariat here today. They raised anti-government slogans and demanded that they should be given their wages every month and be paid extra for the additional work that they were being made to do. The president of the union, Bhikham Ram, said that the workers were being given wages varying from Rs 200 to Rs 400, which too was not being given every month. The union through a MOU submitted to the Secretary, Education, demanded that they should be given proper appointment letters by the department and a minimum wage of Rs 1,650. ‘Rather than giving us a salary on the basis of the number of children being fed the mid-day meal, a uniform pay pattern should be adopted,’ he demanded. They said like any other employees they should be entitled to all holidays and medical insurance as well.
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Govt plans to end monkey menace
Shimla, March 26 Encouraged by the success of the pilot project under which more than 4500 monkeys have been sterilised, the forest department has fixed a target to perform 20,000 sterilisations annually to cover almost one third of the total monkey population of 319,188. To achieve this it has decided to set up one more sterilisation centre at Una taking their total number to four. While two centres are already functional at Shimla and Sastar in Hamirpur, the third is coming up at Gopalpur in Kangra. Additional chief secretary, forests, Avay Shukla maintains that the government had come out with a better option than culling and if all goes well, the impact of the mass sterilisation programme will be discernible in the form of dwindling population of simians after three years. The veterinary surgeons who have been on the job for the past over two years have gained the requisite expertise and they take only six to seven minutes for performing an operation. Technically it is possible to perform about 50 operations in a day at a centre and it could easily sterilise over 10,000 animals annually. However, female monkeys go through the pregnancy from December to May during which they could not be sterilised. Taking all such practical aspects into consideration a conservative target of 6000 operations had been set for each centre. Accordingly over the next three years about 65,000 simians will be sterilised and their population will actually start declining. Studies would be conducted thereafter to ascertain the least number of sterilisations required to maintain a sustainable monkey population which is not a threat to crops and does not create nuisance in urban areas. A non-government organisation Himachal Gyan Vigyan Samiti (HGVS) had been agitating for concrete action to solve the monkey problem and it had in fact forced the forest department to start culling of animals. However, the campaign had to be given up due to public outcry and opposition from animal lovers.
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Villagers meet DC on cement plant issue
Solan, March 26 Residents of affected villages, including Bagha, Sehnali, Kander, Samtiary, Chadiyaar, etc., were here to attend a meeting convened by the deputy commissioner to find an amicable solution to their problems. They said the plant management had failed to even identify the affected families and the rehabilitation work, as stated in the MoU, had failed to take off. The villagers led by Mangal panchayat pradhan Deep Chand and other villagers, including Sanjay Awasthi, Suresh Sharma, etc., said the plant management had adopted different yardsticks while granting compensation to them for the acquired land. They demanded parity on the issue. The villagers said the plant had failed to construct the entire stretch of 12-km Khasi-Kander road and even the 6-km road stretch constructed there was not safe in view of the mining activity going on there. No alternative road had been constructed by the management and this would cause problems for residents of Beral and Kander villagers. The villagers rued that their water sources had been severely damaged due to the inflow of polluted sewage water from the housing colony of the cement plant and 12 IPH schemes had been affected. Deputy commissioner directed the plant management to gear up rehabilitation work and make a list of all affected families within 10 days. However, he could not assure anything as regards the grant of additional compensation as the land award had come 4 years ago. The villagers, who were unsatisfied with the negotiations, decided to continue with their agitation stating that the administration had failed to give them a fair deal. The JP plant management was represented by their director KP Sharma and vice-president Joginder Sheru.
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Weaving industry makes women self-reliant
Kullu, March 26 The societies perform multiple functions from coordinating with weavers to marketing, assisting them to earn money. They earn around Rs 3,000 to Rs 6,000 a month. “I have been working here for the past 15 years. We make various shawls and simultaneously I mange my household chores,” said Sharda Devi, a weaver. The societies also run various schemes and provide gratuity and bonus to the women. “They are doing all types of jobs in the weaving sector whether it is a managerial job or salesmanship job. This way they are earning good wages, approximately Rs 100 per day for ordinary people, for a master craft they are earning around Rs 200 per day,” said Satya Prakash Thakur, chairman, Bhuttia Co-Operative Society. They make shawls, mufflers and stoles in various patterns and designs and sold in the markets.
— ANI |
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1 killed in mishap
Nurpur, March 2
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2 held for molesting girl
Nurpur, March 26 According to the police, Soma Devi, the mother of the victim, had submitted complaint that her daughter was returning home last evening in a bus and the accused first outraged hemodesty. They asked for mobile number of the victim but she refused for it following which they thrashed her allegedly under the influence of liquor. A case has been registered under Sections 354,323,506 and 34 of the IPC.
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Murder mystery solved, 1 held
Hamirpur, March 26 SP Asif Jalal said, “Ravinder of Gangot village has been arrested in connection with the murder of Asha Devi (18) and he has confessed to the crime.” Asha Devi had gone missing on December 7, 2008. Her father reported the matter at the Badsar police station on December 15. Her body was found in a forest of the Nanwan area on February 26, 2009. “Ravinder confessed to his crime after he was repeatedly interrogated in connection with the case. He said he had illicit relations with her. He killed her as she had become pregnant,” the SP said. Ravinder has been arrested under Section 302 of the IPC.
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11 hurt in mishap
Chamba, March 26 The bus was on its way from Jassur to Chowari in Chamba district, while the truck belonged to Barmana, Bilaspur district. The report said the injured had immediately been rushed to a nearby civil hospital at Chowari, where these injured were undergoing medical treatment. The police had registered a case. |
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