|
|
|
|
Big firms in race for power projects
BJP has failed to deliver in the state: Kaul Singh
BJP to oppose Christian quota: Morcha
National president of the BJP Scheduled Castes Morcha Dushyant Kumar (centre) during a meeting in Shimla on Sunday. Tribune photo: Amit Kanwar |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Vidya Stokes likely to be CWC member
Children’s Day with special kids Children perform during a function in Shimla on Sunday. Photo by Amit Kanwar
Now truckers ultimatum to govt Dhumal opens health centre in Hamirpur
Paragliding Championship Ends Winners with trophies in Palampur. Photo by writer
Day-care centres for elderly on cards
Cover for wheat, barley
‘National highways being ignored’
Car falls into gorge, 2 dead
Labour pangs hit Regional Hospital
Law on stray animals soon
Power board staff not surplus: Union
Minister: Schools to be upgraded in phased manner
40 students donate blood
Seminar on legal awareness held
3.35 kg charas seized
|
|
Big firms in race for power projects
Shimla, November 14 Companies eyeing stakes in the booming hydropower sector in the state include like Reliance Power, Essar Energy, Adani Power, Larson and Toubro and GVK Energy. Moser Baer, which bagged five big projects two years ago but later surrendered three, is not in the race this time. In all, 66 tender documents have been sold and the response has been massive in view of the fact that eight major projects with aggregate capacity of 1049 MW are in the landlocked tribal district of Lahaul and Spiti. A pre-bid meeting has convened here in which all interested parties The maximum number of companies have evinced interest in two big projects on the Chenab river. The highest number of 11 tenders have been sold for the 236 MW Dugar project, followed by 9 for the 300 MW Purthi project. No company has shown interest in the 60 MW Patam project to be constructed upstream the Miyar project in the interior of Lahaul Spiti. Interestingly, the response to the three self-identified projects, 12 MW Jorbie (Kullu), 10 MW Nesang (Kinnaur) and 30 MW Malana III (Kullu), is poor as only one tender has been sold. However, the government policy to allow the party which has identified the project the first opportunity to match the highest bid if the difference is within 30 per cent may have discouraged the prospective bidders. Other major projects on offer include 130 MW Rashil, 104 MW Tandi, 94 MW Teling, 81 MW Tinget and 44 MW Shangling (all in Lahaul and Spiti) and 130 MW Sumte Kothang and 104 MW Lara Sumta (both in Kinnaur). Bids have also been invited for five small projects, 13 MW Suil, 9 MW Tanger, 12 MW Dhanchho and 9 MW Cho Tundah (all in Chamba), 7.5 MW Kilhi-Bahl (Kangra). Among the smaller projects, Dhanchho has attracted maximum number of eight companies, followed by Suil with six companies in the race. The state government has decided not to construct the 144-MW Gondhla hydroelectric project, surrendered by Moser Baer, in view of the proposal of the Government of India to build a storage dam on Chandra at the site. |
|
BJP has failed to deliver in the state: Kaul Singh
Mandi, November 14 Talking to The Tribune here, Kaul Singh said, “We will have to give a small but united push to oust the BJP from the state in the 2012 state assembly elections.” “Dhumal has adopted anti-Mandi and anti-regional policy as he has been focusing only on Hamirpur, his home district”, he charged. Thakur cited a recent example to substantiate his charge. “Dhumal announced a compensation of Rs 3 lakh to the accident victims in Hamipur and Rs 1 lakh to 39 people killed at Hatnal in Balh and he did not bother to visit the poor families till date. Even Balh Congress MLA Parkash Chaudhary has levelled this charge”, he said. Thakur alleged that not only this, Dhumal had favoured a select few lobby of outside land mafias, mainly the benami dealers from Jalandhar making room for them in the state. “Once I was in Jalandhar at a function. Jalandhar people called Dhumal, who was also present there, as their own Chief Minister ”, he asserted. When asked as to why he was dubbed as soft towards Dhumal by his Congress detractors, Kaul Singh Thakur said this charge was baseless and the “fact is that it is he who has attacked the Dhumal government both inside and outside the Vidhan Sabha cornering him on the burning issue of benami deals, private universities and regional discrimination”. “Apple growers have to pay more than four times for the transport and trays this season, roads are in a bad shape, while the Horticultural Minister has been made a scapegoat by the present government for its failure to manage the bumper apple this season”, he charged. On rampant factionalism in the Congress, Kaul Singh said he had met senior leaders like Virbhadra Singh, Vidya Stokes and Anand Sharma and they had ensured him full cooperation to oust the corrupt and regionalistic BJP from the state. “During my last term as PCC chief, I toured nook and corner of the state and am happy to say that the morale of party cadre is booming and is an indicator that the days of the BJP regime are numbered in Himachal Pradesh.” Spelling out his priority for the party, Kaul Singh said he would tour all districts and then consult the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to constitute the new state executive. “During my tour we will gear up cadre to win the panchayat and council elections”, he added. On the issue of the Chief minister’s post in the Congress in the near future, Kaul Singh said he was the soldier of the party and all Congress leaders would go by the verdict of the party high command, Sonia Gandhi.
|
|
BJP to oppose Christian quota: Morcha
Shimla, November 14 Addressing a press conference here today, he said the move was part of the hidden Christian agenda of the Sonia Gandhi and the BJP would not allow it. There was no justification for extending reservations to Christians as the religion was free from caste system. It was a political move but it would affect the Scheduled Castes that were entitled to reservations in education institutions and government jobs. The party was not averse to grant of reservations to poor underprivileged sections among other castes on the basis of economic criteria. He said the party was divided on the issue of creamy layer. He underlined the need for ending the backlog of reserved posts over the next 10 years after and only after that there could be any consideration on ending the system of caste-based reservations. He alleged that the Centre had diverted Rs 765 crore of funds meant for uplifting Scheduled Castes to Commonwealth Games which exposed the anti-Dalit face of the Congress. Not only that despite all much-publicised schemes for the uplift of the Dalits, they were not getting their due. For instance, over 60 per cent of the Dalits in the country had not been even issued the below poverty line card (BPL) so far on the basis of which various benfits were extended. The party was making efforts to expand its Dalit vote bank in accordance with the announcement made by party president Nitin Gadkari who had set a target of increasing the electoral base among the Dalits by 10 per cent. He was touring the entire country and holding meetings in every state to pursue the target.
|
|
|
Vidya Stokes likely to be CWC member
Dharamsala, November 14 The CLP leader stayed at Gia rest house, about 20 km from Dharamsala. Many senior leaders of the Congress from the district met her. Though the primary reason for her visit to Kangra district was to participate in a protest rally organised by Congress workers against the comments of former RSS chief KS Sudarshan against Congress president Sonia Gandhi, sources said it also had political overtones. Even in the protest rally, the supporters of Congress MLA GS Bali had dominated. Highly placed sources said there were chances that Vidya Stokes would be taken into the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the prime decision-making body of the Congress. Some leaders were feeling that with her inclusion into the CWC, Vidya Stokes might vacate the post of the CLP leader in the state. The sources said the Congress MLA from Nagrota Bagwan GS Bali had started efforts to claim the seat of the CLP leader in the Himachal assembly. He had already started lobbying for it. The Virbhadra camp had also started lobbying for installing someone from their camp for the post. Vidya Stokes, when contacted on the phone, said the decision regarding her inclusion in the CWC would be taken by Sonia Gandhi. She has not applied for the post. When asked if she would relinquish the post of the CLP leader after joining the CWC, she said: “Many ministers were also members of the CWC. So why should I relinquish the post of CLP leader in case I am selected as CWC member”. Virbhadra Singh, Union Minister of Steel, had been criticising the current leadership of the Congress in the state for failing to put a good opposition to the ruling BJP.
|
|
Children’s Day with special kids
Shimla, November 14 The 300-odd inmates of the School for Blinds and Deaf, Dhalli, Baika Ashram, Durgapur, and Sarvodaya Bal Ashram could not have asked for more. There was a picnic, an entertaining cultural programme, a sumptuous lunch and refreshments. But what made the day a memorable one was the film festival featuring 14 award-winning documentaries based on the success stories of special children. It was, indeed, thoughtful on the part of the local Umang Foundation to break from the routine celebrations confined to distribution of sweets and cultural programme and use the occasion to inspire, motivate and make these less-fortunate children aware of their real potential and what they could achieve in life. The film “Saksham Lok” showed that a disabled person could even succeed in business and sent the message across that they needed opportunities and not charity from the society. Similarly, “Unknown Lady” demonstrated through the story that a woman with stiff hands could lead a normal life using just her legs. Other main films included “Nine Gold Medals”, “Ruk Jana Nahin” and “Waiting for You”. The right message was sent across by honouring three special persons who have not only successfully pursued higher education but also outperformed the normal students. The children suffering from thalassaemia who have been associated with the Umang Foundation were also present. The Director of Delhi-based NGO, Brotherhood, Satish Kapoor said the main objective of the “We Care” film-festival his organisation had been conducting at various places was to build confidence among the special children that they could lead a normal life and achieve much despite physical deficiencies. The dancing and singing talent exhibited during cultural programme presented by the children left no one in doubt that they were “special”. The deaf students performed “Bhangra” marked with precision and full of energy. Chairman of the State Public Service Commission Chander Mohan Sharma was the Chief Guest at the function organised in collaboration with the state Department of Language, Art and Culture. Those honoured on the occasion included Akshay Kumar, a disabled student who passed M.Phil (English) securing 65 per cent marks and now plans to get enrolled for Ph.D, and two visually impaired Shobhu Ram and Tarachand, the first special students to obtain postgraduate diploma in journalism. A blood donation camp was also organised. Later, the children were offered chocolates, ice-creams and snacks, followed by a delicious lunch in the company of the guests.
|
|
|
Now truckers ultimatum to govt
Solan, November 14 The mahapanchayat found support from different political parties, including the CPI and the opposition Congress. President, Solan District Truck Operators, Rattan Mishra, addressing a gathering comprising more than 1,000 people, said it was unfortunate that the P Mitra Committee had failed to resolve the issue despite convening several round of talks. Other speakers like Ram Krishen Sharma, president Golden Land Losers Truck Union, Shushil Mittal, former president of Golden Land Losers Truck Union, demanded the removal of P Mitra from the high-powered committee. Tikender Pawar of the CPI said it was the failure of the state government that the dispute had extended for 41 days. The unit management was trying to prolong the strike as it wanted to frustrate the truckers and create fissures in their unity. Prakash Karar, PCC member, addressing the gathering, said the Congress had supported the cause of the truckers who had been sitting idle for 41 days now. He said it was unfortunate that even the local MLA had failed to convince the management and the state government was siding with the management. The strike had become a contentious issue now with the unit management on the one hand demanding permission to bring trucks from outside and also withdrawing its offer of effecting a freight hike of Rs 619 per tonne and the truckers too being in no mood to relent. The prolonged strike had cautioned the police. DSP Kuldeep Rana said though the situation was peaceful they had to be cautious as the truckers had gatecrashed the unit premises on Friday and had raised slogans in protest. Though no violence was witnessed, the 41-day old strike could create a volatile situation.
|
|
Dhumal opens health centre in Hamirpur
Hamirpur, November 14 Addressing a public meeting after inaugurating Primary Health Centre
(PHC) here today, Dhumal said, “People should elect honest and dedicated persons in the coming Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) election in the state so that MNREGA and other development funds are utilized properly.” He said, “Since at present a huge amount of money is coming under MNREGA and other development projects, it is of utmost importance to have honest and efficient people to head institutions like Gram Panchayat and other PRI institutions so that these funds are utilized in the most transparent and useful manner.” Talking about the state government’s emphasis on rural development Dhumal said the main thrust of our government had been on building roads, creating health and education facilities and to generate self-employment to make people self reliant. He said, “to create health facilities in the rural areas we have opened PHCs even for a population of 12,000 people against the national average of 25,000 for opening a
PHC.” Dhumal said the state government had opened the PHC with the building constructed at a cost of Rs 46
lakh, and would be equipped with complete staff. An amount of Rs 9 lakh each had also been sanctioned for three other health institutions of the area. |
|
|
Paragliding Championship Ends
Palampur, November 14 Roshan Lal Thakur from Manali bagged second position in this category receiving trophy and cash prize of Rs. 15,000, while Raj Kumar from the Army had to satisfy himself with the third position and a trophy and cash prize of Rs. 10,000. In Novice Category, Sikander Thakur, Bijay Bohra and Akhilesh Yadav were ranked first, second and third, and got trophies, certificates and cash prizes. In Women Category, Russian pilots dominated. Veranian Anstasiia walked away with the first and Zhuravlovya Maria with second prize, along with mementos. The final results of Novice Category was assessed as per “Accuracy Landing” within the marked zone at the landing site. Amit Sangrai, Shiv Chand and Jigmi Bhutia all from India were on the top three positions. In Tandem Accuracy Landing Category, Kush and Vishal Thakur bagged the first position, Samsher Singh and Jeeva Thakur were ranked second and Surinder Kumar with Surinder Kumar as his co-pilot hanged on to third position. Ravinder Singh Ravi, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, said it was a matter of pride that such a large number of participants took part in the event and the Department of Youth Services and Sports deserve all kudos for organising the event successfully. He said the state government was keen to develop sports infrastructure for adventure sports as the state had one of the world’s best site at Bir to host such events. He said the government was putting best efforts to boost water sports and other adventure sports. Maharana Ranjeet Sagar Dam and Pong dam in Kangra were the two sites where water sports were being carried out. He said the efforts were afoot to develop water sports site near Dhaula Sidh power project which would provide an opportunity to the local youths for self-employment.
|
|
Day-care centres for elderly on cards
Chamba, November 14 Announcing this here today, the district president of the forum PC Oberoy said the society had mooted an ambitious plan to set up day-care centres in all townships of Chamba districts providing facilities to those senior citizens who were actually in need of day care. It would be for the first time that such centres would be established where the senior citizens in their old age could be able to relax in community spirit. A unique proposal drawn in this regard by the district wing of the forum revealed that such centres would be built at accessible locations best suited to each senior citizen where they could pass six to eight hours in a day nicely and freely, Oberoy said. He said the centres would be constructed with the assistance of this society so that the functioning of these centres could be looked after under the aegis of such societies. These centres envisaged providing food, evening tea, indoor games, television and newspaper facility and free medical check-up by an experienced doctor to be hired by the society. |
|
Cover for wheat, barley
Shimla, November 14 Chamba, Kangra, Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Sirmour and Solan have been selected for barley, while for wheat the scheme will be implemented in all districts except Lahaul and Spiti. The company of India will be the implementing agency and risks like natural fire and lightning, storm, hailstorm, cyclone, typhoon, tempest, hurricane, tornado, drought, dry spells and pests and diseases will be covered under the scheme. The scheme is mandatory for the farmers who have raised loans from commercial banks and other financial institutions. The level of indemnity for wheat and barley has been kept at 60 per cent and 80 per cent, of the average yield. |
|
‘National highways being ignored’
Nurpur, November 14 Addressing a press conference here today he said the responsibility of maintenance and repair of the NHs was of the Centre and the state PWD was only an executing agency. “The Union Surface Transport Ministry has, however, approved five new NHs for the state following recommendation of the state government but so far the Union Finance and Planning Departments have not accorded nod,” he informed. The PWD minister, who also inspected the newly built inter-state Chakki Bridge on Pathankot- Mandi NH-20 in Nurpur subdivision, pointed out that this bridge would benefit Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh states. |
|
Car falls into gorge, 2 dead
Mandi, November 14 In the first accident, Sajesh Kumar and Dalip Negi were killed when the Maruti car HP 30 2090 they were travelling in fell into a 200-deep gorge at Karngal. Three injured travelling with them were under treatment at the local hospital, the police said. In the second case, two motor cycle, riders Vivek Sharma and Vivek Suman, who were on their way to Hamirpur, hit a pedestrian near Bhaour on the highway under Sundernagar police station. As a result, the pedestrian, identified as Hukam Chand, died on the spot. The bikers were also injured after they fell from the vehicle. The police registered a case. |
|
Labour pangs hit Regional Hospital
Hamirpur, November 14 This ward, which is invariably full with indoor patients and a large number of delivery cases, has six nurses at present, who work on shifts. During the nights, the situation is quite stressful for the two nurses on duty. Even in normal situations, the number of indoor patients in the ward is about 80, besides delivery cases, including the ones requiring caesarian. The two nurses on night duty have to conduct deliveries, provide medicines and injections to patients, look after the indoor patients and attend to emergency cases, besides other routine jobs like making admissions and discharging the patients. During the duty hours, the staff has to shuttle between labour room and the ward frequently. So great is the pressure at night that many times attendants come in direct confrontation with the staff. The nursing staff is also suppose to dispose-off bio-medical waste (Placenta) immediately after the delivery.The hospital authorities had called for about 10 nurses from the peripheral hospitals to the hospital to meet the shortage, but most of them have been sent back to their former places. Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Hamirpur DS Chandel said, “ Due to rise in the number of institutional deliveries, the number of indoor patients have increased in the Regional Hospital, as a large number of deliveries are conducted here and patients from the surrounding districts are also coming here leading to heavy work load on the staff.” “The staff requisitioned from the periphery has been sent back since we want to start deliveries at Nalti and Uhal health centers during the day,” he added.
|
|
Law on stray animals soon
(Jamali)Hamirpur, November 14 Addressing a public meeting here today after laying the foundation stone of Kamdhenu Bhawan and dedicating Narain Bhawan to people on Go-Ashtmi, Dhumal said, “Through this legislation, the fines and other legal actions will be taken against people leaving their animals to stray”. He said the state government had increased milk procurement price by Rs 5 per litre during the past two years and taken other steps to benefit the dairy farmers. Dhumal also asked the people to be cautious against consumption of artificial milk as this could be hazardous for their health. He said dairy farming had vast potential for income generation and appealed to people to adopt animal husbandry to supplement their income and take full advantage of various schemes for dairy development like Doodh- Ganga Yojna etc. Dhumal said the government would soon experiment embryo transplant technology to develop high-yielding milk species. The Chief Minister honoured Sansaro Devi of the area who had donated Rs 50,000 for the construction of Narayan Bhawan on this ocassion. He also listened to the public grievances after the public meeting.
|
|
Power board staff not surplus: Union
Shimla, November 14 Representatives of the union, led by its president Kuldeep Singh Kharwara, met Chief Minister PK Dhumal here yesterday and drew his attention to the arbitrary decision of the management of the board which had caused strong resentment among the employees. The staff strength had already declined from 43,000 to 22,000, while the workload had increased due to expansion of power network comprising transmission lines, power houses, substations, transformers and rising number of consumers, they said. They pointed out that a majority of staff had been rendered surplus, as projects, which were earlier awarded to the erstwhile board for execution, had been transferred to the state power corporation. As per the directions of the government, the first preference was to be given to the employees of the board in the deployment of staff in the corporation but it had been making direct recruitments and absorbing employees from other public sector undertakings. Not only that it had declared about 250 transfers from the board as surplus. Since BPSEB Limited was not having any project, there was no way to adjust the staff. The union demanded the creation of commercial and technical posts at induction level to strengthen the distribution system, immediate stop to outsourcing, retention of board’s staff in the state power corporation and the deployment of more manpower to take care of administrative, finance and planning and monitoring wings of the HPSEB. Kharwara said the Chief Minister had assured the union that he would intervene in the matter and ensure that the matter was settled amicably. |
|
|
Minister: Schools to be upgraded in phased manner
Shimla, November 14 Presiding over the annual school function of Government Senior Secondary School, Chopal ,he said the government was committed to providing quality education at all levels and it had earmarked 17 per cent of the total budget for the purpose. He said the Centre was spending only 2.86 per cent on education which was quite short of national target of 6 per cent. He also laid the foundation stone of science block to the tune of Rs 61 lakh. The government had provided jobs to 12,000 persons in the education department alone during last three years and thousands of teaching and non-teaching employees had been given promotions to motivate them to work with more dedication. He said technical and job-oriented education was being promoted in the state. As many as 9,000 students of XI and XII classes were being provided an annual scholarship of Rs 10,000 each. Referring to the physical infrastructure the minister said 12,800 rooms were constructed at the cost of Rs 126 crore in various schools in the state. He further added that an amount of Rs 6.42 crore was being spent under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in Chopal subdivision during the current fiscal year. |
|
40 students donate blood
Nurpur, November 14 SDM Kavita Thakur inaugurated the camp where over 40 students donated blood. The blood bank team from Pathankot led by Surinder Kumar collected blood. This camp was organised in the memory of student leader, Sunil Upadhya. — OC
|
|
|
Seminar on legal awareness held
Kullu, November 14 The District and Sessions Judge, Virender Singh said Himachal was the first state in India that had constituted the Legal Services Authority. He said the functioning of the Authority would go a long way in bringing awareness among youngsters during their school career to know about the law and legal procedures of the day-to-day life. He lauded the step taken by the government and hoped that such seminars would be organised in all schools. There would be a period fixed for law teaching in a week in every school, he added. |
|
|
3.35 kg charas seized
Sundernagar, November 14 In the second incident, the Gohar police, while on traffic checking during near Pandoh dam, seized 1.350 kg charas from the possession of Prabhat Singh, a resident of Katwali of Kullu district. According to the police, cases have been registered under Section 20 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and arrested the accused.
|
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Mandi, November 14
and nail any move of the UPA government to extend the benefit of reservations to the Christian Dalits on the basis of the Rangnath Mishra Commission report.
The recent two-day visit of Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Vidya Stokes to Kangra has sparked a debate among Congress leaders.
The CLP leader stayed at Gia rest house, about 20 km from Dharamsala. Many senior leaders of the Congress from the district met her. Though the primary reason for her visit to Kangra district was to participate in a protest rally organised by Congress workers against the comments of former RSS chief KS Sudarshan against Congress president Sonia
Gandhi
It was a Children’s Day with a difference, celebrated not just to entertain the special children and the orphans but to make a difference in their lives.
The 300-odd inmates of the School for Blinds and Deaf, Dhalli, Baika Ashram,
Durgapur, and Sarvodaya Bal Ashram could not have asked for more.
The Himalayan Open Paragliding Championship concluded here today as Arvind Paul, a local lad, secured the first position in the finals of Open Category and won the trophy and a cash prize of Rs 25,000 and a certificate.
