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CPM opposes pvt varsities
Power cuts to hit industry
Rs 3.6 lakh grant for fire victims
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17 hurt in road mishap
Special area authorities to go
All dists to have waste paper recycling units
Cong flays land lease rules
BJP rally venue changed
District second in 20-point programme
6 booked for thrashing guard
Student dies while playing cricket
Man killed
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CPM opposes pvt varsities
Shimla, May 2 The state secretariat of the party in a statement here today ridiculed the decision of the government to give nod to opening of 18 private universities in the state and allowing their promoters to acquire huge chunks of land in the name of making the state an education hub. It urged the government to come clean on the allegation that family members of a top BJP politician of the state and another from a neighbouring state had a stake in a private university in Kangra district for which 125 acres of land had been provided. The CPM alleged that “commodification of education” was taking place in the garb of neo-liberalism and public investments in education at all levels, right from primary and secondary to tertiary education, were being withdrawn. The state government had lost Central grant running into crores of rupees by refusing to bear its share of 20 per cent of financial burden. The attitude of the previous Virbhadra regime had also been negative in this regard. Similarly, the BJP government had also not done anything in this regard and till date not a penny had been spent. The party pointed out that more than 3,000 college teachers would have benefited, had the conditions been adhered to. By implementing pay scales in a truncated manner in which the state’s burden was only 20 per cent, the state had given up the financial benefits to the tune of more than Rs 30 crore annually under housing, medical, research grant and other heads. The government was hell bent to completely change the nature of higher education and turn into a commodity and to achieve this end, it was systematically withdrawing public investment to force students to move towards private education. |
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Power cuts to hit industry
Solan, May 2 Suneel Grover, director, Power Regulation, said as per the directions of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, the new Indian Electricity Grid Code and UI regulations, which come into effect from May 3, had restricted the overdraw of power when the grid frequency was below 49.5 hertz and each unit drawn at this frequency would cost Rs 8.73 and 40 per cent surcharge while 100 per cent surcharge would be charged if excess power was withdrawn at a frequency of 49.2 hertz. The frequency band had been narrowed down, further making the situation grim for drawing power. This step was taken to restrict excess withdrawal of power from the grid. Field officials opined that, on an average, there was 100 mw shortage of power in the day and about 60 mw at night, forcing them to impose scheduled cuts. Seeing the power situation worsening, a delegation of investors met Chief Minister PK Dhumal yesterday. President of Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries’ Association Rajinder Guleria said 12 per cent power share, which the state government traded with other states at higher costs ranging from Rs 8 to Rs 12 per unit, should be suspended and instead the state government should hike the power tariff by a reasonable amount so that the industries had uniform power availability throughout the year. Since the power was sold at Rs 3.50 to Rs 4.00 per unit, a reasonable increase could be effected which could enhance the state’s revenue and deter its trading. With 40 per cent power being consumed by industrial areas of the BBN and Parwanoo, investors felt it was unfair to first invite the industry and then trade power for higher gains at the cost of creating deficit for the industry. |
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Rs 3.6 lakh grant for fire victims
Mandi, May 2 Here on a private visit to mourn the death of the wife of former Union Minister Sukh Ram at latter’s residence, Virbhadra met the fire victims in Darmanayana mohala and gave Rs 1 lakh each to Harish Deepak and Vinod Kumari and Rs 50,000 assistance to Jagdish Kapur whose house was partially damaged by the fire. Meanwhile, Chief Minister PK Dhumal, who also visited Sukh Ram here on Saturday, also visited the fire victims and directed the administration to provide all assistance as per the relief manual. The Mandi DC had given immediate grant of Rs 10,000 each to the fire victims and Rs 2,000 each as medical help to four persons who sustained injuries in the fire. According to the police, the fire broke out in the kitchen of a house due to leakage in the gas cylinder. Two houses were gutted while the third was damaged partially. |
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17 hurt in road mishap
Palampur, May 2 According to eyewitnesses, the high speed and reckless driving was the main cause of the accident as the driver lost control and the vehicle rammed into a roadside house, causing heavy damage to the building. A police team rushed to the spot and started the rescue operation. One of the injured, a woman, lost her arm, while the driver lost an eye in the accident. Out of the total injured, 12 were admitted to Palampur sub-divisional hospital, while four critically injured were referred to Tanda Medical College. Local tehsildar RD Harnot extended a grant of Rs 10,000 each to the injured as immediate relief. Former minister BBL Butail visited the site of the accident and assured all possible help to the injured. The police has registered a case under Section 304 of the IPC for reckless driving against the driver. |
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Special area authorities to go
Shimla, May 2 The sub-committee of cabinet ministers, specially constituted to examine and finalise the Town and Country Planning Act, 2009, has agreed in principle for creation of the integrated regulatory authority. As such, the 34 SADAs would be wound up once the Cabinet gives the go-ahead and the Bill is passed by the Assembly. At present the state has 20 planning areas and 34 special areas whereby all construction activity is regulated under the TCP Act, 1977. The new Town and Country Development Act will replace the three-decade-old Act, which does not cover the entire state. The main reason behind winding up SADAs to have an integrated body was the failure of these bodies under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner concerned to undertake planning and enforcing provisions of the TCP Act. “Though the regulatory powers were vested with the SADAs, the entire burden of work still remained on the TCP Department, leading to gross violations,” said an official. In the past too, there have been regulatory bodies like the Shimla Development Authority (SADA) and Nagar Vikas Pradhikaran, which was later merged with housing board to form the Himachal Urban Development Authority (HIMUDA). The new TCP Act will help regulate all development and construction activity even in the rural areas as now the entire state will come under its ambit. However, it is only for commercial ventures in these rural areas that permission will have to be sought from TCP authorities as all other domestic construction activity for personal use would be totally exempted. One of the main purposes behind extending the Act to the entire state is to ensure that big projects like educational and health institutes, coming up in rural areas, seek permission from the TCP. However, contrary to earlier proposal of giving powers to the Panchayati Raj institutions and other rural local bodies to regulate construction activity, now this would be done in a phased manner once they are adequately equipped and trained to handle regulatory work. |
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All dists to have waste paper recycling units
Shimla, May 2 The decision follows the success of pilot scheme under which a waste paper recycling unit had already been made functional in the state secretariat. The recycled paper will be used for making hand-made file covers for use in the offices. To discourage the use of tobacco, the government is contemplating a ban on the throwing of tobacco sachets at public places. A buyback scheme for plastic waste from urban local bodies will be started shortly under which it will be bought at Rs 3 per kg and an additional rupee will be given as handling charges. The rag pickers will find collection of plastic waste a remunerative proposition. The government will also provide fiscal incentives to panchayats, urban bodies and individuals for facilitating proper collection of waste plastic in their respective areas. Out of 1,200 to 1,500 tonne of solid waste collected during the first phase of “plastic hatao” campaign, 50 to 60 tonne of the collected waste will be used in the tarring of roads. Apart from construction of roads, efforts are being made to use plastic waste in cement plants. Cement kilns at ACC, Barmana, and Ambuja Cements have already started co-processing of plastic waste. Hotels and resorts will also be encouraged to adopt eco-friendly practices and they will be given a rating on the basis of set parameters by the authorities. |
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Cong flays land lease rules
Shimla, May 2 Reacting sharply to the proposal finalised by the Cabinet sub-committee headed by Revenue Minister Gulab Singh, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kaul Singh said when the government had no land for allotting the poor for housing and its own projects, how could it allot land for industrial and other purposes. It was pursuing a hidden agenda in the garb of creating self-employment opportunities in the state, he added. The government had already sold out most of the land in Solan and Shimla district by indiscriminately allowing private universities and other institutions to come up. The section 118 of the Land Reforms and Tenancy Act, which debarred outsiders from acquiring land in the state, had been virtually made irrelevant in the process. Not only that, it also introduced a bill to amend the Act which was strongly opposed by the Congress and ultimately referred to the select committee of the House, he said. |
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BJP rally venue changed
Shimla, May 2 He said the decision to shift the venue was taken at a meeting of senior party leaders, including Chief Minister PK Dhumal, state BJP chief Khimi Ram, secretary Mohinder Pandey and local legislature Suresh Bhardwaj, who found Chaura Maidan much bigger and more suitable for it. Gadkari would arrive here on May 8 for two days and be present at the meeting of the state executive of the party. |
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District second in 20-point programme
Bilaspur, May 2 She said the district had excelled in self-employment generation, job generation, encouragement in income generation to the self-help groups of women, Indira Awas Yojna and afforestation. She said the mines and minerals department had started a campaign against the “quarry mafia” in the district and flying squads of the department had caught 11 cases of illegal mining and charged spot fines of Rs 40,200 from the guilty during last three months. |
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6 booked for thrashing guard
Chamba, May 2 The police said today
an FIR in this connection had been registered on the statement of security guard Sanjay Kumar at Bharmour police station yesterday, stating that he was abused and beaten up by six persons on Friday. The six persons named in the FIR were Rakesh, Anil, Jaspal, Parvinder, Madan and Vineet Kumar, the report revealed
adding that further investigations in the case were underway. |
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Student dies while playing cricket
Chamba, May 2
On receiving the information, teachers of the school rushed to the spot and called his parents and the police. The body was handed to his family after a post-mortem.
— OC
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Man killed
Bilaspur, May 2 According to reports, the tractor was returning after unloading gravel at Sunhani bazaar when the accident occurred. Some villagers who heard the noise rushed to the spot and informed the police. The body was handed to his family after conducting a post-mortem examination.
— OC |
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