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Budget disappoints Dhumal, CPM
HPU reluctant to bring transparency in exam
RKMV denies ragging incident
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Single women rue govt apathy
Campaign on 3G awareness kicked off
Summer vacation from July 13
Cops recover cash
Seminar on glaciers
Tibetans celebrate Dalai Lama’s birthday
Building gutted
Stolen soap sold in market even before launch
Alert bus drivers avert accidents
37 tins, 12 packets of adulterated ghee seized
Cops face accommodation problem
NHPC spends Rs 60 cr on roads
Fernandes improving, says doctor
2 boys go missing
Plea to postpone counselling
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Budget disappoints Dhumal, CPM
Shimla, July 6 No relief had been given to any section and the disillusionment was truly reflected in the crash the stock market witnessed today. Sensex plummeted even as the Union Finance Minister was presenting the budget, providing ample indications of its likely adverse impact on growth, he said. There had been no relief for the income tax payers and employees, in particular, would be at the receiving end as their income had increased due to revision of the pay scale, he added. Relief in income tax given to senior citizens and women was also insignificant. There had been no change in the corporate tax structure, much to the disappointment of the corporate world, he said. People of the state had been expecting the restoration of the Industrial Package up to 2013 but there was no mention of it. As a result, the excise-duty exemption for industries would be available only up to March, 2010, and it would seriously hamper the industrial investment, he claimed. The state’s plea for imposition of a nominal generation tax on the power produced in the state as a measure of resource mobilisation had also been ignored. Levy of generation tax at 10 paise per unit would fetch additional revenue of over Rs 150 crore to the state annually. The Chief Minister said if there was a proposal worth welcoming, it was the decision to implement “one rank-one pension” for ex-servicemen. It had been a long-pending demand of the armed personnel, and one only hoped that the decision would be implemented in letter and spirit, he said. Meanwhile, terming the budget as grossly inadequate in meeting challenges of economic recession, growing job losses and declining purchasing power, the CPM today said the budget neither provided stimulus for growth nor met the needs of “aam admi”. In a statement issued here today, Tikender Panwar, member, State Secretariat, said the budget had failed to provide resources required to stimulate the economy. “Crucial sectors like agriculture and rural development, where effects of agrarian crisis and agricultural growth slow down has been severe, have bene provided little support,” he said. He said request for a special financial package for the hill state had also been ignored. “The euphoria created at having two Union ministers in the Cabinet has also died down as their presence have made little difference,” he added. |
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HPU reluctant to bring transparency in exam
Shimla, July 6 This is quite evident from the reply given by the university to the queries posed by RTI activist Dev Ashish Bhattacharya who wanted to know if it had been following the practices adopted elsewhere in the country to ensure transparency and fair play. In a point-wise reply to his application, BD Sharma, deputy registrar, (secrecy), stated that as per the past practice, candidates were not allowed to take home the test booklets (question papers) which were received back from the examination centre in a sealed manner and disposed of after two years as per procedure. There was no provision for providing carbon copies of OMR answer sheets to candidates and also no proposal pending with the university in this regard. However, a candidate could get a copy of the OMR sheet duly authenticated if he or she applied under the RTI Act to the Dean of Studies, he added. Sharma further said the answer key was neither put on the website nor published in newspapers. However, key, along with the test booklet, was displayed on the notice board of the university after declaration of the result for at least two days. The candidates could also apply under the RTI Act for the purpose. Meanwhile, Bhattacharya said if other universities and boards could provide test booklets, carbon copies of OMR answer sheets and put the answer key on the web after examination, the HPU should also follow suit. The only reason could be that it did not want transparency in the conduct of test, he added. He said there was no point in displaying the key after declaration of results on the university notice board as candidates from not only Himachal Pradesh but also other states appeared in the test. Moreover, without test booklet and carbon copy of OMR sheets, candidates would not be in a position to evaluate their performances, he observed. The university was willing to give information only under the RTI Act which would not serve any purpose as by the time the desired information was available, the process of admissions would be completed, he added.
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RKMV denies ragging incident
Shimla, July 6 “It was simply an altercation which was exaggerated by various student wings to exploit the issue in their favour,” she remarked. It was following allegations of ragging levelled by certain students that the college authorities probed the entire matter. The issue assumed political overtones with the SFI and the ABVP accusing each other of indulging in ragging. The college authorities, however, denied that there was ragging of any kind in the college by seniors. |
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Single women rue govt apathy
Shimla, July 6 Despite tall claims and political assurances, the plight of single women remains deplorable as they face problem at every step, right from getting a simple ration card or widow pension, besides having to live with the social stigma of being “ekaal naaris”. The public hearing (jan sunvai), organised by the Ekal Naree Shakti Sangathan (ENSS), here today, turned out to be one such occasion where 120 women from eight districts of Himachal Pradesh related their tale of woes before panelists, including former bureaucrat CP Sujaya and Firoza Mehrotra, senior adviser, Planning Commisison. Notwithstanding the fact that there can be no will of the inherited property which is to be distributed equally amongst natural heirs, names of single women and their daughters are going missing from the revenue records. “My in-laws have willed their ancestral property with no mention of either my daughter or myself, which I cannot fight legally as I can barely make ends meet what to talk of litigation,” said Sundri from Chauntra village in Mandi. In case of sons of single women, grandparents have made the paternal uncles as guardians of the boy in the will, denying the woman her right in the ancestral property. Another legal problem being faced by many women was that their husbands had gone missing and in the absence of any concrete evidence about their whereabouts, they were being denied their rights.
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Campaign on 3G awareness kicked off
Shimla, July 6 The van will move around in the city for the next two months to provide hands on experience of the new services to the prospective customers. It has also established a 3G experience centre at the Central Telegraph Office (CTO) and the Shimla Development Authority Complex, Kasumpti. Besides, people could also have 3G experience at the Rotary Town Hall on every Saturday and Sunday. Kaushal said apart from being the largest service provider in the state with 13 lakh mobile, WLL and landline subscribers, the BSNL had also emerged as the leading broadband services provider. It was also providing blackberry and IPTV services. The 3G services, launched in Shimla in the first phase, would be made available in Solan and Mandi shortly.
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Summer vacation from July 13
Shimla, July 6 The winter-closing schools will have a six-day monsoon break which will start exactly a week before the opening of the summer-closing school. All schools will reopen on August 22, according to OP Sharma, director, education. |
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Cops recover cash
Chamba, July 6 The currency was dug out from the deep layers of the sand when contractor Rajesh Kumar working for the local hydropower project gave a clue to the police, as soon as he found a note of Rs 1,000 when his workforce was at work on the site; a report disclosed. The currency notes were in a mutilated condition. This amount, out of a total amount of Rs 23 lakh, was being brought by officials of the IPH Department, who had died in an accident when their vehicle rolled down into the Budhil rivulet near Bharmour, in November. — OC
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Seminar on glaciers
Shimla, July 6 Chief Ministers of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh will also be invited for the seminar. Chief Minister PK Dhumal stated this at a function organised to mark the 74th birth anniversary of the Dalai Lama at New Delhi today. The seminar would be held in collaboration with the Tata Energy Research Institute (TERI), in which experts on environment, weather and policy formulation, besides scientists and representatives of various NGOs would participate. |
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Tibetans celebrate Dalai Lama’s birthday
Dharamsala, July 6 The 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, presided over the function, which was attended by dignitaries, including the visiting Australian Parliamentary delegation and heads of the three pillars of Tibetan democratic institutions in-exile. The Kashag expressed concern over the ongoing repression inside Tibet, including killing, beating, torture and incarceration of Tibetans by the Chinese government since it crushed the Tibetan people’s peaceful protests in Tibet in March, 2008. Paying tributes to all those men and women of Tibet, as well as expressing solidarity with them, the Kashag reassured all those people that their sacrifices would never go in vain. The Kashag expressed his disappointment over the Chinese government’s failure in providing a rational explanation as to whether it agreed or disagreed with the memorandum on genuine autonomy for all Tibetans presented to the Chinese government last year. The Chinese side has resorted to distorting the Tibetan proposal and leading the international public up the garden path by quoting bits and pieces of the Dalai Lama’s statements issued many years ago, the Kashag added. The Kashag said the administration and Tibetans-in-exile would focus their efforts in reaching out to Chinese people living across the globe to raise awareness among them about the truth of the Tibet issue.
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Building gutted
Shimla, July 6 As the fire engulfed the building, there was little that villagers could do to bring it under control. With no time the structure was reduced to ashes. At the time of mishap only Bhupinder’s aged parents were at home. The damage has been assessed to be over Rs 70 lakh. |
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Stolen soap sold in market even before launch
Solan, July 6 Parwanoo SDPO Ramesh Pathania said the company, which had unit and godown at Parwanoo, had stacked the soap in its Sector-2 outlet and it was supposed to be stacked in its Zirakpur-based godown for distribution in the markets once it was officially launched. The company had hired a truck from the Mittal Transport Company, with which it had a contract, to transport the soap to their Zirakpur-based godown on June 2. The transporter, however, hired a truck from a local transport company and truck driver Tinku instead of delivering this consignment connived with some locals- Naresh and Vijay- and sold it to Gautam and Ashok, who run shops at Kalka and Barotiwala, respectively. Tinku, Naresh and Vijay pocketed a total of Rs 4 lakh in this deal while selling off 650 boxes of soap amounting to Rs 11.9 lakh. Gautam further sold it to Rajesh who owns a shop in Panchkula. However, when the entire consignment failed to reach the godown, the company informed the police on June 6. The police picked up leads by arresting Naresh, Vijay and Rajesh. An out of court settlement was worked out between Rajesh, Gautam, Ashok and Tinku who was directed to give damages worth Rs 18 lakh to the company. Tinku took Rs 9 lakh from Rajesh and assured him that he would have to face no police action. Rajesh took the the remaining boxes amounting to 102 to Delhi in order to sell them. But the alert shopkeepers there informed the police and they in turn informed the Parwanoo police about the recovery of 90 boxes while 12 boxes were conveniently misplaced. Pathania revealed that nearly 250 boxes had been sold in Chandigarh, 100 in Ambala, some in Panchkula, Kalka and also Delhi. The police had recovered this Rs 9 lakh from the truck owner and had returned Rs 6 lakh to Rajesh after recovering the due amount from him. Intriguingly, a retired DSP of the Haryana police while trying to broker a deal between Ashok, Gautam and Rakesh pocketed Rs 35,000 in the case.
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Alert bus drivers avert accidents
Bilaspur, July 6 HRTC bus driver Kartar Singh was faced with a situation of receiving direct hit from a truck ahead of him as another speeding tanker coming from the opposite direction gave a direct hit to it. Kartar at once diverted the bus to the left side and also away from the hit of the badly smashed truck, but lost balance in the process due to boulders lying on the roadside and turned turtle. However, the bus was saved from rolling off the road, which would have resulted in a big mishap. However, 14 passengers received injuries, none of them seriously. This accident occurred near Bamta village. In another accident, near Baned, driver of the Punjab Roadways bus lost control over the vehicle as brakes of the vehicle suddenly failed on an inclined road. He immediately diverted the bus towards the hillside and dashed the bus into it. The bus stopped with a thud and 10 passengers received minor injuries. However, the presence of mind and quick action of the driver saved the bus from rolling off the road.
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37 tins, 12 packets of adulterated ghee seized
Mandi, July 6 The use of adulterated ghee and other milk products is rampant among ‘halwais’ and common man in the state as the Food and Health Department rarely bothers to check adulteration of food items, residents complained, pleading their support for the raid on agents playing with the health of consumers. Acting on a tip-off that adulterated ghee smuggled from Delhi and Chandigarh was being sold to local sweets shops at Rs 80 per kg, the team raided the godown. The team seized 37 tins out of which 30 tins of pure desi ghee were of Kanhiya brand, five tins had no brand on them and two tins had the Milkfood brand. Each tin weighs 15 kg. It also seized a box containing 12 packets of “adulterated pure desi ghee”, each of one kg, of Bansiwala brand,” Thakur said. The consignment was brought at the godown by the Chamba-Manali transport company owned by one Dheeraj Gupta, from Chandigarh, Thakur said. The consignments were either brought from Delhi or Chandigarh as Inderjit did not give proper addresses of the owners of the adulterated ghee, team members revealed. Investigation revealed that Inderjit when asked to produce bills of the ghee beat about the bush and named one Dheeraj Gupta, a resident of Chandigarh, as owner of the transport company. These consignments were also sent in other parts of the state, including Kullu and Manali, revealed sources. Mandi Health Officer Dr PC Mahant said they had launched a campaign to check adulteration of food items and seized the ghee. “We have given week’s time to Inderjit and Dheeraj to produce bills and are awaiting testing reports from the Khandaghat lab, he added. Mandi SP Sonal Agnihotri said the police had assisted the raid and would lodge an FIR after getting a report from the Health Department.
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Cops face accommodation problem
Hamirpur, July 6 The problem of providing accommodation to police staff is so acute that some of the police stations are functioning in dilapidated buildings where not even a single room has been added
for years. Though many of the police officials are involved in round-the-clock duty, still they have to live in rented accommodations. Worst is the condition of women police staff since police stations pose limited or no accommodation for this category. The Hamirpur police station, which is the oldest and biggest police station in the district, was established in the
present building about a century back. Though at present 53 personnel are working with this police station, there are only nine
quarters. Similarly, the Sujanpur police station, also established about a century back, has only four quarters for the strength of 23 constables. Four officials, working in the police station, are living jointly in one residence available for an official. Even in the Nadaun police station, which is housed in a comparatively new building, thee is
no provision for women staff. Worst is the condition of the Deoth-Sidh police post which is functioning from two rooms of Baba Balak Nath temple Serai. Ongoing construction work in most of police station to provide accommodation is quite tardy. Financial crunch is stated to be the main reason for poor progress in carrying the construction. Work started in 2003-04 to construct type two quarters at the Bhoranj police station is still at masonry work stage. Construction work of quarters at Jahu police post and residential barrack, Awah Devi, is still at masonry work stage. Work on quarters at Hamirpur, Nadaun, and at Bhoranj police station is yet to begin due to varied reasons though all of these works were initiated long back. Talking about this problem, Hamirpur SP Asif Jalal said, “We initiate construction of accommodation for the staff as per allocation of funds under the police- modernisation programme in stages. Since several agencies are involved, construction also gets delayed but we are making efforts to complete all these works at the earliest.”
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NHPC spends Rs 60 cr on roads
Chamba, July 6 According to official sources, the widening of 46-km Jarangala to Kharamukh tribal highway was in full swing for which Rs 16.04 crore had already been funded to the PWD, besides commissioning of a half-km tunnel aligned with the Chamba-Bharmour highway, near Kharamukh, leading to Manimahesh. A sum of Rs 8 crore was also being funded to the state PWD in a phased manner for widening of a 30-km portion of the Chamba-Pathankot highway from Goli to Chamba so that the accident-prone narrow road could be widened for comfortable journey of pilgrims and tourists, the sources added. The sources said nearly five prestigious bridges costing approximately Rs 13 crore had already been put through and dedicated to the people of Chamba by the NHPC.
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Fernandes improving, says doctor
Kangra, July 6 Research Director, Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute of Dalai Lama (Men-t-kasng), Dr Tenzin Lhadon, who was treating Fernandes, said here today that Fernandes had a fall few years back in his bathroom, which resulted in a clot in his brain. She said she found that his nervous system was quite weak and his hand movement too was affected. Lhadon said Fernandes was put on the traditional Tibetan herbal treatment, which had shown some remarkable results and the balanced body energy started rejuvenating in him. Before leaving for Delhi on Sunday, Fernandes expressed dismay over the present politics, which had in no way remained a social service and named it as a business not in the larger interests of the country. Lhadon said Dr Yanksan would now treat Fernandes in Delhi.
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2 boys go missing
Dalhousie, July 6 According to the report, Sunni (13), a student of class VII, and Anup (16) of class X, studying in the Government High School, Khaddar, had been missing since June 24. The report was lodged by their parents when their sons did not turn up home at Devgaha village from the school.
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Plea to postpone counselling
Mandi, July 6 As a considerable time of the day would be spent in Chandigarh, it would be difficult for them to make it to Shimla, they claimed. |
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The anti-ragging committee of the local Rajkiya Kanya Maha Vidyalaya (RKMV) today held a meeting to look into the verbal complaints by some of the students.
The Tibetans today celebrated the 74th birthday of the Dalai Lama. On the occasion, Tibetans living-in-exile implored their spiritual and temporal leader to continue to live as the sole protector and savior of all
sentients. Thousands of Tibetans and people from across the world participated in the function in
Mcleodganj. Colourful Tibetan and Indian cultural performances added grandeur to the celebratory function.
