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Govt to tighten noose around pvt varsities
Misbehaviour With Wife
Need to restore credibility of media, says Dhumal
Chief Minister PK Dhumal presides over a seminar on the media in Shimla on Sunday. A Tribune
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Civic body poll
CM’s chopper to serve snow-bound area people
Central Water Committee clears irrigation project
Adventure tourism starts in Chamera lake
Tourists board a boat at Chamera lake. Photo by writer
False HIV Report of Woman
Insurance for tomato, potato crops soon
Residents frown on proposed parking lot
The gate of the Emerson house that will be used as entry or exit point for the parking in Mandi. Photo by writer
Industrial corridor at Paonta Sahib sought
Vocational training for carpenters, welders
Bankers told to meet loan targets
Labourer dies in accident
Dental camp tomorrow
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Govt to tighten noose around pvt varsities
It has decided to make it mandatory for private universities to employ regular faculty and make payment of salaries through bank. At present, most of the universities have not recruited regular teachers and are making do with guest and visiting faculty. The government will also have power to conduct inspections to ascertain whether or not the university has requisite staff and other mandatory facilities.The existing provision under which the permission of the Vice-Chancellor was required will be amended for purpose. They will have to seek permission from government for starting new courses and the number of seats will be fixed on the basis of minimum infrastructure. Private colleges will not be allowed to run distance courses or online courses and the government has already turned down the proposal of Manav Bharati University in this regard. The decision is in line with the regulations of the UGC which has even warned state universities against offering courses through distance education outside their jurisdiction. Private universities have also been barred from conferring honorary degrees. The Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions (Regulatory Commission) Bill, which was referred to the select committee of the House, is likely to be passed during the coming winter session. Till then, there is little hope of the education department enforcing the norms. Further, the norms fall far short of the regulations framed by the UGC for deemed universities say that there should be undergraduate courses and at least five postgraduate academic departments, each having a minimum permanent faculty comprising one professor, two readers and three lecturers for general courses. For engineering, medicine and other professional courses, the faculty will be as per the norms of the respective statutory council having the qualifications and pay scales prescribed by the commission. The minimum requirement of land for main campus has been fixed at 5 acre in metropolitan area, 7 acre (non-metropolitan urban) and 10 acre (non-urban) areas and in case of multi-disciplinary institutions, the requirement will be aggregate of the land prescribed by various statutory councils for all courses. The minimum covered area for administrative building has been pegged at 1,000 sqm, academic building, including library, lecture theatres and laboratories, 10,000 sqm with 2000 sqm for the central library alone. Private universities in the state have been maintaining that they need no approval from the statutory councils under the state law and running various courses without requisite staff and other infrastructure. |
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Tanda docs scuffle at cocktail party
Dhara Katoch Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, November 28 Doctors were invited from all over the country for a two-day national-level seminar (November 27-28) here and a dinner with cocktail was organised at the hotel by the hospital authorities for the guests. There were around 135 guests with families present at the party. Vijay Sharma, senior manager of the hotel said, “Heated arguments took place between two senior doctors around 10:30 last night when one of the doctors at the party alleged that a doctor misbehaved with his wife which led to a scuffle between both doctors.” Both doctors were reportedly senior doctors. He said this had happened soon when the party was almost over. The ASP Umapati Jamwal arrived at the site after receiving a complaint about the incident. The ASP said, “We received a cross complaint last night after the two doctors ended up in fight. But now, the patch-up has been done between both parties and they don’t want to pursue the matter further.” According to senior manager, Dr Umesh Bharti, head of department, Surgery, made the booking for the party. Dr Bharti said, “It was a minor scuffle. It happens in private parties. We have better things to discuss in the national-level seminar that ended today.” He said it was a seminar on “Tanda Surgicaon, CME-cum-Live Workshop on Leparoscopic Surgery” in collaboration with the Association of Minimal Access Surgeons of India. Doctors from all over India participated at the seminar, he said.
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Need to restore credibility of media, says Dhumal
Shimla, November 28 He was speaking at a seminar on “Changing face of the Indian media”, organised by the Indian Media Centre (IMC) here. He said there had been all-round degradation in every sphere but in case of the media only a self-regulatory mechanism to curb unethical journalism could be effective. Unlike other professions, journalism was a mission and the loss of credibility would not only degrade the profession but also have serious implications for the democracy. He lamented that the print medium had been swayed by the unending “breaking news” of the 24-hour news channels and publishing reports without verifying the facts. Director of the IMC Shyam Khosla said the destruction of the “institution of editor” which insulated the journalists from pressure exerted by the management or proprietors was one of the main reasons for the present dismal state of affairs. The media was being abused by proprietors with multifarious business to further their own commercial interests. He said while campaign to expose corruption and misconduct of those occupying high offices must go on and the media should take care that it helped to bring about the desired improvement in the system and did not end up destroying the very institution.
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Use of party symbols optional: CM
Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 28 Provision had also been made for direct election of Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation and president and vice-president of Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats. It would help check horse-trading and ensure the say of electorate in the election to the top posts. Referring to the new policy for upgradation of schools, he said the Centre had set the norms for the teacher-student ratio at one was to 40 but there were a large number of schools in the state where the enrolment was much less. It was not possible to provide adequate number of teachers in such schools and with only a few students, they also lacked academic environment. However, the government had decided to set up hostels or provide transportation facility to students to ensure that they did not face any problem in pursuing further education. Asked about the fate of Renuka Dam project he said the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests had rejected the forest clearance and the matter was between the Delhi government and the Centre where the Congress was in power. As far as the state was concerned, it believed in stoking a balance between environment and development. But it expected cooperation from the Delhi government which was not forthcoming as evident from its decision to amend the law to shift the onus of payment of commissions from arhtias to apple growers. One way traffic was not conducive to promote cooperation. The state had been handed out a raw deal by the 13th Finance Commission and he had already raised the matter with the commission which had set up a committee to look into the issues being raised by the special category states. The committee was likely to submit its report soon.
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CM’s chopper to serve snow-bound area people
Shimla, November 28 Dhumal has decided to ground his flying plans so that the 26-seater chopper can be used to ferry people who remain cut-off from the rest of the country after roads close down due to heavy snow, an official said. Ajay Bhandari, secretary of the general administration department, said today that this year no special chopper would be hired for airlifting residents of Lahaul-Spiti, Kinnaur and Chamba districts as it was too expensive. Only the Chief Minister’s personal chopper would be deployed there and it would charge a fare of Rs 700 per person, he said. “The decision to not to use the chopper during official engagements was taken by the Chief Minister himself. He had directed the department that he would travel by road most of the time and the chopper would be deployed in the snow-bound areas,” Bhandari added. Last year, the government hired a five-seater private chopper during winter. For that, it had to shell out Rs 152,000 per flying hour. Currently, the government is using Jagson Airlines’ 26-seater chopper that has been provided at a rate of Rs 132,000 per hour. For more than four months every year, people of landlocked valley in Lahaul-Spiti district and some areas in Kinnaur and Chamba districts remain cut-off, owing to heavy snowfall. The climatic conditions in those areas are harsh as the temperature plummets to as low as minus 25°C. — IANS
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Central Water Committee clears irrigation project
Nurpur, November 28 He said the proposed project, which had become an election gimmick during the previous Congress regimes, was taken up by the Dhumal government following the initiative of local MLA Rakesh Pathania. “The government has prepared its detailed project report and succeeded in getting the CWC nod under the accelerated irrigation benefit programme. Rs 200 crore will be spent on it and 4,000 hectares in 16 gram panchayats of the Nurpur Assembly segment will get irrigation facility,” the minister added. Ravi said the state government had put this project in priority list to ensure early clearance from the Centre. “The government has earmarked Rs 10 crore in the current fiscal year for its construction which will be undertaken in the ratio of 90:10 by the Centre and state governments, respectively,” he asserted. The IPH minister said in order to provide pure potable water in government schools the state government had identified 15,000 schools where handpumps would be installed in a phased manner. “Apart from this, Rs 6.5 crore has been sanctioned for providing water purifiers in high and plus two level schools in the first phase,” he added. Local MLA Rakesh Pathania was also present on the occasion.
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Adventure tourism starts in Chamera lake
Dalhousie, November 28
The private entrepreneurs of Dalhousie, who are associated with the thriving hotel industry and have formed a joint venture for adventure tourism in Chamera lake, launched a 30-seater cruise, two 14-seater boats and one motorboat for tourists at Taleru in Chamera lake set in the Chamba ravine surrounded by green hills. One of the members of the joint venture, Rajinder Shingari said the state government was encouraging private entrepreneurs to embark on adventure tourism activities, thereby, promoting tourism on a large scale in this region of the state. He said with the beginning of such activities, the tourists visiting Dalhousie would be able to avail the opportunity of making their journey adventurous. Chamera lake has a lot of potential to offer opportunities for introducing various adventure tourism activities and other water sports activities in both winter and summer season, Shingari said; adding that this initiative would go a long way in revitalising the economy of the area.
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Baby died due to infection: Doc
Our Correspondent
Kangra, November 28 Dr. Sanjeev Chaudhary, press information officer, Tanda hospital, in a statement here today said a healthy baby was delivered who later developed chest infection and died after two days despite the best possible treatment. Dr. Sanjeev said the infection and the death of the baby was also no way connected to the HIV status of the mother. He said as such all allegations levelled against the college authorities and doctors were incorrect and there was no negligence of any kind on the part of doctors. Dr. Anil Chauhan, Principal, said it went to the credit of the head of department, gynaecology, Dr Suresh Verma that despite a report of the patient that she was HIV positive, he decided to operate upon the patients to save the child and mother but instead of getting a pat, he had landed in trouble. Meanwhile, Dr. Ramesh Bharati, head of department, surgery, who was appointed the inquiry officer, today visited the remote Jindral village near Khart Khas to record the statement of Anu Bala, Satish Kumar, her husband, and Maya Devi, mother-in-law of Anu Bala at their residence.
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Insurance for tomato, potato crops soon
Shimla, November 28 Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited, ICICI Lombard and GIC Limited will be the implementing agencies for the scheme to be operated on the principle of “area approach” based on the weather data for the purpose of assessment of compensation provided by the specific Reference Weather Station. The areas to be covered include Solan, Kandaghat, Arki, Kasauli and Nalagarh, Ramshahar and Kishangarh in Solan district; Sadar Bilaspur, Naina Devi, Namhole in Bilaspur district; Haroli, Una and Amb in Una district and Kangra, Dharamsala and Palampur in Kangra district. The scheme is mandatory for all farmers who have raised loans from banks and other financial institutions and also those who have been sanctioned credit limit for the notified crops. It is voluntary for non-loanee farmers. Abnormal temperature variations, high-speed wind and excess or scanty rainfall, which cause “adverse weather incidence” leading to crop loss, will be covered under the scheme. For tomato crop, the cut-off date for coverage of loanee farmers will be April 15, 2011, and for non-loanee farmers March 25, 2011. For potato crop the cut-off dates for loanee and non-loanee farmers will be Febraury 5, 2011, and January 15, 2011, respectively. The farmers will only have to pay 50 per cent of the total premium and the rest will be shared equally by the Centre and the state government.
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Residents frown on proposed parking lot
Mandi, November 28 The Citizens’ Council, the RTI Bureau, the Mandi Bar Association and other citizens said the proposal would spell doom for the 100-year-old buildings and the traffic-free Chohata Bazaar. Since the entry and exit points of the proposed parking would lead from the Chohata Bazaar, it would create more traffic congestion, they resented. YN Vaidya , president, Citizens Council, said they were striving to make Chohata a traffic-free city centre, but the proposed parking on the underground DC-SP premises would only add to traffic congestion. There was no space in the town and as such the government should construct the parking either in Kesri Bangla or some other location on the peripheries of the town. The residents said Chohata should be made a traffic-free centre as pedestrians, senior citizens, schoolchildren and others visited this area. President of the RTI Bureau Mandi Lawan Thakur said the minister was hell-bent on destroying the heritage of the town as the proposed parking would shake the Emerson house foundation and disturb Damdama palace, the seat of Shivratri fair. “The minister was guided by his team of contractors looking for big money, but we will oppose it tooth and nail,” he asserted. “Emerson building houses judicial offices and is a sitting place for over practising 320 lawyers. We want no disturbance for lawyers,” said Samir Kashyap, general secretary, Mandi Bar association. Urban Development Minister Mohinder Singh said the department was only mulling the proposal to solve the parking problem in the town. “If there is no consensus on the proposal, we will not go ahead,” he added.
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Industrial corridor at Paonta Sahib sought
Nahan, November 28 The demand was put forth before Chief Minister PK Dhumal during his recent visit to Nahan by the LUB. Its district president and member Himachal Micro, Small and Services Enterprises Board Tajinder Goyal said creation of this corridor would help in improving transportation of goods from one industrial belt to the another within the state and help develop added means of transportation. While creating more employment opportunities, it would also decrease the cost of transportation. While the Industries Minister had already announced creation of such a corridor, the investors were keen to develop an infrastructure which would reduce traffic influx on the barriers and help generate revenue by way of introducing tax within the corridor. Goyal emphasised that it would not only improve the infrastructure but also lead to cut in expenditure on fuel, thus, saving fuel and foreign exchange apart from promoting religious tourism. |
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Vocational training for carpenters, welders
Bilaspur, November 28 District youth coordinator Som Dutt Zard said here today that those who have passed class V could apply for training in the trades of plumber, pipe fitter and carpenter while those who have passed class VIII could apply for training of welder. He said the three-month courses were being organised under the “Expertise Development Training Programme” of the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) and candidates must be 14 to 35 years of age. He said those desirous of taking these trainings should report for interview on December 2 at 10.30 am at the ITI, Bilaspur, along with their applications and certificates, including those of age, educational qualifications, SC and ST, any experience etc. The training would begin in the first week of December, any day after the selection process.
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Bankers told to meet loan targets
Dharamsala, November 28 He said this while presiding over Punjab National Bank’s review meeting at the DRDA recently. He said in the current financial year 98 per cent of the target had been achieved by distributing loans amounting to Rs 465 crore. The DC said, “Bank branches will be opened in villages with a population of more than 2,000 in the district so that public can get bank services at their doorsteps.” Gupta said there were 293 branches of various co-operative and national banks working in the district through which 11,4736 Kisan Credit Cards had been issued to farmers here and 20,782 credit cards had been issued to unemployed youth to get self-employed. He asked the bank to help the government in distributing loans to farmers under various schemes run by the state government and banks should make efforts to meet targets.
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Labourer dies in accident
Bharmour, November 28 The report revealed that the labourer was injured seriously when he was unloading cement bags along with other labourers from a truck and at the same time the driver of the truck abruptly reversed the vehicle near Kharamukh powerhouse, about 15 km from here. The deceased labourer was identified as Mohd Noor Rehman of Navapara in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, the report said, adding that a case under Sections 279 and 304-A of the Indian Penal Code had been registered at police station,
Bharmour.
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Dental camp tomorrow
Bilaspur, November 28 Association’s president principal SR Kaushal (retd) said this here
yesterday. He said the dental camp would be led by dental surgeon Dr TD Tandon while the blood testing would be done by technicians of the local Roshan Hospital. The venue of the camp would be Botany Department of the college. Association’s general secretary Dr Suresh Kumar Soni said all arrangements for the camp had been finalised with cooperation of the college. He urged all students to take full advantage of the camp.
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Asserting that the credible media was essential for a healthy democracy, Chief Minister PK Dhumal today called for honest introspection by mediapersons to restore the “credibility” which had taken a severe beating, particularly after the 2G spectrum scam.
Dalhousie, November 28
Shimla, November 28
Shimla, November 28