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Rs 1.85 crore for a 250 sq m plot!
Govt may serve legal notice on Cong leaders: Dhumal
Cong, BJP lobby for nagar parishad chief’s ticket
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State won’t send IAS officers on deputation
Question Hour
Health minister’s car hits woman
Fellowship for IGMC principal
Workshop on hydropower development
Woman shot at
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Rs 1.85 crore for a 250 sq m plot!
Shimla, December 6 As the issue of fixing property tax in the town on the basis of zones created as per commercial viability of the area is being deliberated upon, New Shimla could be rated as a highly commercial area. The issue came up for discussion during the MC house meeting where it was pointed out that property tax in New Shimla must be at par with the Mall Road as a 250 sq m plot during auction by the Himachal Urban Development Authority fetched Rs 1.85 crore. The proposal was, however, met with resistance by the councillors, who were of the opinion that a stray case could not become the rule for an entire area. They pointed out that since New Shimla was only recently merged with the MC, it lacked even basic civic amenities so the question of imposing property tax as high as on the Mall would be absurd. It was pointed out that other areas like the Lower Bazaar, Sanjauli, Chotta Shimla and Bus Stand, which had established markets and better civic amenities, would have less property tax than New Shimla if the proposal was passed. They also pointed out that the said plot is at a prime location and other sectors way below the present site would not fetch even one fourth the price for the same plot size. Delhi-based agency PRUDA is still in the process of undertaking a survey to assess the commercial viability of the town and provide the MC with complete database concerning the number of dwellings, their use, age of the structures, their type and to what use they were being put. It is on the basis of this date that the MC will place different categories in zones that will have varying property tax. |
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Govt may serve legal notice on Cong leaders: Dhumal
Dharamsala, December 6 While replying to a debate on awards given to the state by various organisations for good performance in different fields, the CM said the said leaders were levelling baseless allegations of benami land deals and amendments in Section 118 of the Land Tenancy Act against the present government. No amendment in Section 118 has been affected by the present government. All amendments had been affected during the regime of the previous Congress government, he stated. Such allegations were maligning the reputation of state and so a legal notice would be served on the said Congress leaders, he said. The CM also stated that the present government had given only 1,240 permissions under Section 118 in the last three years. However, the previous Congress government had given 2,000 permissions in a single year. The discussion on awards given to the state was brought by Independent MLA from Nurpur Rakesh Pathania. He said the state had progressed in all fields under the present government and it reflected in the awards bagged by the state in surveys conducted by various reputed magazines. He credited the state for starting the construction work of Shah Canal and making budgetary provision for Phina Singh Canal. BJP MLA from Shimla Suresh Baradwaj, while participating in the debate, said various programmes launched by the present government as poly-house scheme has also helped the state progress in the field of agriculture. Vidya Stokes said the programmes for which the state was being awarded in the present were started during the Congress regime. “The present government has not conducted any magic that the state has started getting awards,” she said. Stokes also brought a discussion on delay in power projects implementation in the state and loss of revenue being caused due to it. She said major power projects in the state were being delayed inordinately due to which the state was loosing 12 per cent royalty. |
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Cong, BJP lobby for nagar parishad chief’s ticket
Hamirpur, December 6 Since this is the first time that election for the nagar parishad president will be held directly and be contested on party symbol, the party ticket will be quite significant for the contesting candidates. Though both the parties have already invited applications from the candidates desirous of contesting election, they have decided to allot the tickets with approval of their state leaderships. As lobbying within the parties has begun several names are being floated to contest this post in the BJP and the Congress. Till now in the BJP names of sitting nagar parishad president Deep Kumar, sitting members Vijay Pal Soharu and Kashmiri Lal Handa, BJP leader Dharmender and former student leader Avnish Sharma have been doing the rounds. Deep Kumar is an old party activist for almost three decades and has been elected many times. At present he is representing ward No. 2 in the nagar parishad. Vijay Pal Soharu is a sitting member of the house from ward No. 3 and also co-convener of the district BJP media cell. He is also active in the BJYM. Kashmiri Lal Handa, who has also been elected to the nagar parishad several times, is representing ward No. 4 in the present house and has joined the BJP some time back. A former student leader Avnish Sharma is also seeking the BJP ticket from here. In the Congress three candidates had shown their inclination to contest for this post — namely Prakash Chand, a sitting member from ward No. 8; Manoj Kumar, who was nominated member of the nagar parishad during the Congress regime; and Ajay Sharma, who had also
represented ward No. 7 in the previous term and had been active in the party organisation and social forums. While the BJP district committee is reportedly sending a list of names to the state president, but the state election committee will take the final decision in a meeting at Dharamsala on December 9. On the other hand, the district Congress committee has formed a screening committee, which will seek the HPCC chief’s approval for allotting ticket to their candidate. |
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State won’t send IAS officers on deputation
Dharamsala, December 6 Sandhu was responding to queries regarding many IAS officers from the state seeking Central deputation. In last few years many young IAS officers from the state have gone on central deputation. When asked about resentment in a section of IAS officers due to posting of IFS officers on their cadre posts, the Chief Secretary said some IAS officers were against the posting of an IFS officer as the managing director of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation. However, they were clarified that the IFS officer had ample experience in implementing eco-tourism projects. The matter is now settled. She also said at present 21 IAS officers from the state were on Central deputation and the state was facing a shortage of officers having 8-9 years of experience where as there are ample numbers at the rank of principal secretaries. When asked about the allegations that prime postings were being given to HAS officers, the Chief Secretary said this because the state was short of IAS officers. Sandhu also stated that the panel headed by her had studied the Onkar Committee report in the examination scam. “Our mandate was to go through the Onkar Committee report and give suggestions for its implementation. Suggestions of our panel have been submitted to the Chief Minister,” she said, adding: “We are of the view that the scam was a total failure of system in Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education. Computerisation of entire system seems to be only solution. It has also been observed that certain employees of the education board had been occupying same seat for the past many years. They need
to be rotated on sensitive seats.” |
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Study to check impact of climate change on forests
Shimla, December 6 The main objective of the research project , to be implemented in collaboration with scientific organisation like the Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology and Himalayan Forest Research Institute. is to ascertain whether or not certain species are moving up due to rising temperatures. Such studies are being carried out in the West and they have indicated that various species are moving up in altitude due to global warming. However, not much research has been carried out in the environmentally sensitive Himalayas, often dubbed as the third pole. The project will generate authentic data for the region that accounts for a huge chunk of global bio-diversity. “Under the project, five plots will be set up in the range of 11,000 ft to 13,000 ft, depending on latitude and geography of site, to observe any shift in the vegetation. Each plot will be spread over five hectare but the observation will be confined to the core hectare, which would be further divided into four subplots for the purpose,” said GS Goraya, Chief Conservator of Forests, in charge of floral diversity and research. Electronic devices will be installed to collect relevant data like temperature, snowfall and soil moisture. The first two years of study will generate baseline data for the project. The main focus of study will be on high altitude species like ‘Betula utilis’ (Bhojpatra) and ‘Abies spectabilis’ (Fir), but the shift in vegetation will be discernible in the species like Sorbus that grows underneath these trees. While four plots will be established in the Sutlej basin, one will be set up in the catchment of Beas. Studies conducted in Uttarakhand indicate that wild fruit species ‘Kaafal’ and ‘Blue pine’, a conifer species, are moving up. However, no data is available for the species growing in high altitude transition zones which are more sensitive to cleat change. |
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Wood worth Rs 1 cr destroyed in fire
Shimla, December 6 Police said since the wood was seasoned, the fire spread rapidly due to the chemical used. The entire stock of wood was gutted causing a loss of over Rs 1 crore. The cause of the fire is still being ascertained. It was after a three-hour-long struggle that the fire personnel were able to bring the fire under control and prevent it from spreading to the adjoining Ganga Singh Depot, Hotel Green and a labour hostel. As a result of the fire, traffic from the Lakkar Bazaar remained disrupted till afternoon. |
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Question Hour
Dharamsala, December 6 Replying to the query, Chief Minister PK Dhumal said the state received a sanction of Rs 107.24 crore from the Centre for promotion of touris. Out of it, Rs 78.65 crore had been released by the Centre. The state had further released Rs 59.85 crore to the executing agencies out of which Rs 23.86 crore had been spent. The Chief Minister also informed the House that helicopter service was being started at 26 routes in the state. The service is intended at targeting high-end tourists to the state, he added. Meanwhile, monkey menace in the state dominated the question hour session. Congress MLAs Gangu Ram Musafir and Rajesh Dhirmani stated that due to wildlife animal menace in many areas people have given up farming. They asked about steps being taken by the government to tackle the problem. While answering the query, the CM said the chief wildlife warden had allowed hunting of wild boar, blue bull and monkeys in case they damage public property, including crops of farmers. All range officers had been authorised to issue permits to kill the said wild animals. “Monkey sterilisation programme has been started and till date 19,187 monkeys has been sterilised. An amount of Rs 1.39 crore has been spent on the sterilisation programme of monkeys,” he added. To a supplementary query raised by PCC chief Kaul Singh, the Chief Minister said the state government had sent a proposal to the Centre for exporting monkeys to China. However, the proposal was turned down by the Centre. In case the Centre allows the state to export monkeys, we are ready to do so, he added. Sundernagar MLA Rup Singh asked what special financial package the state had received from the Union Government in the last three years. The Chief Minister, in reply to the House, said in the last three years the state government had not received anything as special package from
the Centre. |
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Home Guards celebrate Raising Day
Dharamsala, December 6 Addressing the Home Guard volunteers on the occasion, the Chief Minister lauded their role as auxiliary force to the police in maintenance of internal security. He said the motive behind raising the Home Guards and Civil Defence Organisation was to infuse a spirit of service, courage and patriotism among the people and channelise their energies in the service of the nation. Dhumal said the Home Guards had been provided 100 per cent reservation in the recruitment of firemen and 82 had been recruited in fire service during the past two years. He said the state government had raised the age limit of the Home Guards to render service up to 58 years. Himachal was the first state to do so in the country. The daily allowance of the Home Guards had also been increased twice; first from Rs 130 to Rs 150 and then from Rs 150 to Rs 170 from September 1, 2009, onwards. The daily allowance was also enhanced earlier from Rs 51 to Rs 60 in 1998 when the BJP came to power in the state. The CM lauded the role of the Home Guards and congratulated them for winning 12 gallantry, seven distinguished and 88 meritorious service medals. The state had an authorised strength of 8,000 Home Guards out of which over 5,100 remain called-out throughout the year on various assignments. |
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Health minister’s car hits woman
Kangra, December 6 According to the police, Health Minister Dr Rajeev Bindal was on way to Dharamsala yesterday when his car hit a van (HP55A-5251) coming from the opposite direction at Badoli village. Investigating officer ASI Bupender said Brahmi Devi (60), a resident of Kola village, was injured in the accident. She was rushed to Dr RP Government Medical College Hospital at Tanda. She had fractured her arm in the accident. He said a case had been registered against driver of the Health Minister Prem Raj for rash and negligent driving under Sections 337, 338 and 279 of the IPC. Meanwhile, the Health Minister today visited the Tanda hospital to inquire about the condition of Brahmi Devi. Meanwhile, in another accident Barkat Ali was injured when he was hit by a motorcycle at Piasa. The police had registered a case against Sarwan Kumar, driver of the motorcycle. Rajat, alias Sunny, a resident of Dehan village, was hit by a car at Dehan. He succumbed to his injuries at the Tanda hospital last night. Car driver Chhunnu had been arrested. In another accident, Vidiya Devi was hit by a motorcycle at Tharu Nagrota Bagwan today and was rushed to the Tanda hospital. A case has been registered against motorcycle driver Chirag Pal of Nagrota Bagwan. Three persons were injured when two motorcycles collided on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway today. |
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Fellowship for IGMC principal
Shimla, December 6 Prof Kashyap has been awarded the fellowship for his commendable work in the field of medical education and administration. He is the first doctor from Himachal to get this honour. Prof Kashyap, who is a former member of the Medical Council of India (MCI), is on the Advisory Board of the Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences and Lung India. Prof Kashyap has contributed to several international and national journals and has been a fellow to University of South Florida, USA, and Harvard Medical School, Boston.
— TNS
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Workshop on hydropower development
Hamirpur, December 6 In his inaugural address Sharma laid emphasise on the development of hydro generation in the region and also talked about factors responsible for its slow growth. As many as 75 delegates from across the country are attending this workshop.
— TNS
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Woman shot at
Nurpur, December 6 According to DSP Hari Ram, Akshey Kumar of the same village reported the matter to the police that his aunt Sulochana was fired at. She was injured in the foot. The accused fled from the spot and Sulochana was rushed to the Civil Hospital here. The condition of the victim is stated to be out of danger. A case has been
registered.
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