|
|
|
|
|
Private universities in State
Fresh snowfall in Manali
Tourists have a photo session with a snowman near Manali on Sunday. Photo: MC Thakur
Didn’t gift George Cross, says awardee’s widow
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Work on Mehatpur-Amb road comes to a standstill
College violence: CPM wants Hamirpur SP shifted
Activists of the ABVP hold a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Shimla on Sunday.
Nerve-related hearing disability more in Himachal Pradesh
An audiometry test in progress at a free OPD ENT camp in Kangra on Sunday. Photo: Ashok Raina
Another nun commits self-immolation in Tibet
Pakistani pop duo plays unity tune
Wajhiuddin Farouqui and Sunny Ghanshayam of Pakistani pop band Raeth perform during a fest of the IIT, Mandi. Photo: Jai Kumar
Party workers welcome BJP state co-in charge Shyam Jaju and national general secretary JP Nadda at the party office in Shimla on Sunday.
Health cover for MNREGA beneficiaries
NGO not to manage gausadan from today
Scholarships for needy students
Anshu Kataria, Chairman, Aryans Group of Colleges, Chandigarh, talks to mediapersons in Shimla on Sunday.
Schools to have smart classes
2 held for beating up parents-in-law, wives
Rent Control Act
Annual Plan
4.5 kg charas seized in Chamba dist
|
|
ABVP report slams Dhumal govt
Rakesh Lohumi Tribune News Service
Shimla, February 12
The managements of all universities have purchased land from poor farmers by posing as educational charitable trusts in the documents submitted to the government. Intriguingly, these have been asked to run the universities only for a period of 25 years after which the managements can change the land use and use it for real estate. It is strange that eight of the 13 private universities have been opened in Solan district which has only three government colleges, the report points out. The report of one of the front organisations of the RSS has come as a big embarrassment as it vindicates the stand of the opposition Congress and the CPM that the government has been promoting the land mafia in the name of opening of private universities. “At present, 13 private universities have started functioning and seven more are in the pipeline. It appears that politicians, bureaucrats and business and industrial houses are working hand in glove for opening up of these commercial shops. None of the universities has past experience of imparting higher education and these are running only BTech courses and not offering any courses in social sciences. Only two universities are running MSc programmes in a few basic science subjects. These are not genuinely catering to the needs of society,” the report reveals. No institution, except Jaypee University, has qualified teaching faculty and none of these is paying the requisite salary to the faculty. There is no reservation system for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Backward Classes. The fee structure is very high and a poor, middle-class student cannot afford to seek admission. The quality of education is very poor and a student failing in any subject is asked to pay more fee the next time and the third time much more. Teachers are asked to promote the chosen students as there is no transparent examination system. According to the the report, there has been large-scale privatisation of education in the country over the past decade as evident from the fact that of the total 3,419 engineering colleges, 3,235 are in the private sector. Similarly, there are 153 private medical colleges of the total 258, 197 private dental colleges of the total 228 and 2,512 private MBA colleges of the total 2,849. There is a huge disparity in the fees with a student of government engineering college in Gujarat paying just Rs 2,500 and that of a private engineering college in Punjab Rs 83,000.
|
|
Fresh snowfall in Manali
Manali, February 12 The entire upper Manali region was enveloped with a fresh snowfall today. Tourists were thrilled to see upper areas of the Manali region covered with fresh snow. They rushed to nearby interesting places to see the snowfall. They were also seen enjoying different snow-related activities like making a snowman, riding a yak and having photo sessions. The ski slopes of the Solang valley, which are used for skiing courses, also experienced a fresh spell of snowfall. The snowfall on the ski slopes brought cheer on the faces of winter sports lovers as now the slopes had enough snow for their skiing courses. The 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass, the gateway to the Lahaul-Spiti valley, also experienced heavy snowfall. Due to moderate-to-heavy snowfall on the Manali-Rohtang Pass road, people in the tourism industry were happy. They felt that it would boost winter tourism and also bring in a long summer session in the Manali region, giving a rise in tourist inflow to Kullu-Manali. It was shivering cold in the upper Kullu valley with icy cold winds blowing throughout the day. Markets in Manali experienced a day of slump as local residents and those of surrounding villages did not visit the town due to snowfall.
|
|
|
Tribal areas cut off
Chamba, February 12 Though the facilities of transportation and power supply had been restored in the mountainous tribal subdivisional headquarters of Bharmour, yet 20 interior panchayats had been facing problems due to power breakdown and disruption of transportation services for the past several days. Kugti, Qwarshi, Tundah, Badgran, Nayagran and Bajol panchayats of the tribal subdivision were still under snow.
|
|
|
Didn’t gift George Cross, says awardee’s widow
Talking to The Tribune, Brahmi Devi said, “I did not gift or sold the medal to anyone, and it was stolen from my house many years ago. I had registered a case with the police in this regard.” Commenting on the issue after the report of a British investigating agency that the present owner of the medal, Ashok Nath, had acquired it through the legal process, she said, “A few years ago, a person claiming to be a representative of the Army came to me and said the Army authorities intended to give me financial help for the renovation of my dilapidated house and asked me to show him the medal, which I refused.” She said, “Later, this person (Charan Singh) came again and gave me Rs 20,000, saying this money had been sent by the Army authorities and another Rs 30,000 would be given later for repairs of my house, and obtained my signature on an agreement, but I, being an illiterate, could not read its contents.” She said, “During his second visit, I had shown him the medal and after some time this medal was stolen from my house.” “I had not gifted this medal since I knew this medal was given to my husband for the bravery shown in the British army,” she said. Brahmi Devi said, “I do not want to sell the medal and want it back since this is the only belonging of my late husband, which I would cherish to possess.” |
|
Work on Mehatpur-Amb road comes to a standstill
Una, February 12 After Longjian officials left the country, sub-contractors of the company also stopped the work apprehending that they would not be made payments on time. However, the delay in the work has angered traders in Mehatpur and Una towns. The traders have already held demonstrations and disrupted traffic on the road in protest against the delay in the construction. The traders allege that the dug-up portions of the road are adversely affecting their retail business. As hardly any place has been left for parking and pits have been dug on the sides of the road, people are finding it difficult to reach their shops. Officials admitted that there was a delay in the construction of the road. They said the state government had imposed a penalty of about Rs 1 crore on the Longjian company for the delay in the construction. The Executive Engineer supervising the construction of the road said the project manager of the Chinese company was likely to return soon. After that the work would start, he said. The Chief Engineer of Himachal Pradesh Road and Other Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, the agency that is supervising the project, said the Chinese company was to complete the 45-km Mehatpur-Amb road in three phases. The deadlines of all three phases were different. For a delay in the completion of each phase, a penalty of about Rs 1 lakh per day was imposed on the company. He said the company had sought extension till November this year to complete the road. However, the decision regarding this would be taken by the government. Meanwhile, the sources said the Chinese company was to complete the road by December 2010. However, till date even half of the road had not been completed. Work on many bridges to be constructed on the road was yet to be started. Though none of the Chinese company officials was available for comments here, the sources said the company was also blaming various government departments like Power and the Irrigation and Public Health for the delay in the construction of the road. They alleged that the departments did not hand over the road to them after clearing their infrastructure in time. The Revenue Department also allegedly delayed the acquisition of land for the project. Whatever may be the reason, the way the work on the project, the lifeline of Una district, is going on, it may end up as an embarrassment for the state government, which has to face elections at the end of the year. The hurdles
|
|
|
College violence: CPM wants Hamirpur SP shifted
Shimla, February 12 Organising secretary of the ABVP Ajay Bekta blamed the Students Central Association (SCA) of the local college for the incident and demanded its dissolution. He alleged that violence had been increasing ever since the SFI took charge of the SCA and there had been dozens of violent incidents. The CPM and the SFI on the other hand alleged that the SP was acting as an agent of the BJP and he had let loose a reign of terror on activists of Left organisations. Goons of the ruling party attacked houses, a gym run by a CPM cadre and even the party office at Hamirpur in broad daylight, but no arrests had been made. On the contrary, massive search operations had been conducted by the police to target SFI students. The SP acted in a most partisan manner, even depriving the victims of medical assistance. This police officer had been pursuing a one-point programme to curb all forms of dissent in the district and to ensure that whosoever raised his voice was dealt with strictly. During the process of police recruitment, he personally used to ask the candidates whether they belonged to the SFI or the ABVP. Such officers were a slur on the Police Department and undermined its neutrality. |
|
|
Nerve-related hearing disability more in Himachal Pradesh
Kangra, February 12 This was disclosed by Dr Sanjay Sachdeva, Director, ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, Max Group of Hospitals, here today at the beginning of a two-day free ENT camp organised by the local branch of Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari, a spiritually oriented service mission, as its monthly feature. He said 7 to 10 per cent of the population of this hill state, above the age of 50 years, was suffering from nerve-related hearing
disability. Dr Sachdeva said in major cities of the country the prevalence of this type of hearing disability was commonly seen in people in the age group of 65 to 70 years, whereas it was early 50s in this hill state. He said this 7 to 10 per cent population did not include those who sufferred deafness because of ear discharge and other reasons. Expressing concern that though in Himachal Pradesh noise pollution was lesser than major cities of the country, the prevalence was more in this state. He said there were certain factors responsible for this prevalence and needed to be evaluated with urgency. He said this nerve-related deafness was more prevalent among men than in women. He suggested that on the national level a mass awareness programme needed to be launched to create awareness among people regarding deafness and steps taken for its prevention. On the first day of the camp, 106 patients from all over the state were treated for ENT ailments at Gopal Bagh here and 33 free audiometry testings were performed in collaboration with the Chinmayanand Organisation for Rural Development (CORD) during the camp. Tomorrow a free endoscopic ENT surgical camp, organised by the kendra, will be held at the local Civil Hospital here. |
|
|
Another nun commits self-immolation in Tibet
Dharamsala, February 12 She had been identified as 18-year-old Tenzin Choedron, a nun at Mamae nunnery in Ngaba. The sources here said eyewitnesses in exile revealed that Tenzin did not die on the spot and was immediately taken away by Chinese security personnel towards the Barkham region. Following the self-immolation, Chinese armed forces surrounded the nunnery and sealed it. Born to Lopay and Tsepo, Tenzin Choedron is the eldest of her four siblings. The Mamae nunnery located around 3 km from Ngaba and is the largest nunnery in the region with more than 350 nuns. The entire Ngaba region, which alone has witnessed 14 instances of self-immolation, continues to
remain tense. In Tibet, 22 Tibetans have committed self-immolation demanding the return of exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama
and protesting against China’s continued occupation of Tibet. Meanwhile, the sources here also said the Chinese leadership had approached the Panchen Lama installed by them to issue an appeal to Tibetans against committing self-immolation. The Panchen Lama installed by the Chinese authorities is not recognised by the Dalai Lama. The Tibetans in exile have been maintaining that the real Panchen Lama, who was identified by the Dalai Lama at the age of 5, was taken away by the Chinese authorities. There is no information regarding the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama identified by Dalai Lama for the past about 15 years now. |
|
|
Pakistani pop duo plays unity tune
Mandi, February 12 For Farouqui and Sunny, here for Exodia-12 organised by students of the IIT, Mandi, it was a feeling of deja vu as well. “My ancestors came from Bhopal,” said Sunny, a guitarist of Raeth, which has been making waves on IIT campuses from Guwahati to Ahmedabad over the years. The Raeth maestros say music knows no boundaries of regions, nations and religions. “The youth of both countries feel that since Pakistan and India have a common culture, they can prosper in peace and mutual coexistence,” says Farouqui, a pop singer who has blockbuster albums like “Bhula Do” and “Yadaon Ke Sang” to his credit. Farouqui is a fan of Mohit Chauhan, a Bollywood singer, and likes his folk numbers from Chamba like “Amma Puch Di Sun Dhiya Mera Hai” and believes in fusion of sufi and classical music. The Raethi duo says there are fundamentalists everywhere in the world, including Pakistan, who always try to divide people on the basis of religion and nationalities. “Young musicians can break these narrow shackles of divide if there is frequent exchange of cultural programmes in both countries,” they add. During their performance, Farouqui and Sunni conquered the hearts and minds of IITians and the youth here, who had gathered in large numbers at the open-air Paddal stadium. Exodia-2012 coordinator Sakshaat Grover and co-coordinator Sanchit Khattri said more than 10 musical bands performed at the cultural night. Mandi IIT OSD Samual Simon said the progrmme was organised entirely by students and more than 300 students from different IITs, NITs and other institutions participated in the event. The other highlight of Exodia was the showcasing of products made from junk, he added.
|
|
|
Central BJP team holds talks with party men
Shimla, February 12 National general secretary JP Nadda and secretary Shyam Jaju made it clear at the very outset that they were here to listen to those in the party and had nothing to do with those who have left the organisation. They held one-to-one talks with a number of senior leaders, including chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of various boards and corporations, office-bearers of the constituency and district units throughout the day. Late in the evening, a meeting with the state office-bearers and district presidents, which was also attended by Chief Minister PK Dhumal, was convened. A number of those who met the team were from the Dhumal camp and they were largely satisfied with the functioning of the government and the party. However, a few dissidents were reportedly very vocal against the government and even cautioned that there could be a vertical split if issues were not sorted out in time. One of the leaders from Kangra lamented that Dhumal became the Chief Minister twice due to the efforts of Shanta Kumar who worked hard to ensure the party’s victory. However, his supporters were denigrated and termed as dissidents, while Congress leaders were calling the shots in the government. The round of consultations tomorrow when MLAs and ministers will interact with the team will be important. The meeting with Shanta Kumar loyalists, particularly two ministers, Krishan Kapoor and Ramesh Dhwala, and four MLAs, holds the key to resolving the crisis as the party will not hold any direct talks with the breakaway group, which has floated a separate party. Prominent among those who met the team included Suresh Bhardwaj, MLA, Vimla Kashyap, Rajya Sabha MP, Virender Kashyap, MP, Ram Swaroop Sharma, Chander Mohan, Ganesh Dutt, Sher Chauhan, Balbir Chauhan and Rajeev Bhardwaj. |
|
Health cover for MNREGA beneficiaries
Shimla, February 12 According to the memorandum of understanding (MoU) involving the Centre, the state government and New India Insurance Company for the implementation of the third phase, street vendors, industrial workers, taxi drivers and domestic workers and persons with 70 per cent disability will be covered. Till date a sum of Rs 26 crore has been spent by the state under the scheme and 2.35 lakh smart cards issued. In the second phase, 64,300 smart cards were provided to BPL families till December 2011. Under the scheme, the beneficiaries are entitled to a financial assistance of Rs 30,000 for undertaking medical treatment in recognised health institutions in the state. The government is also providing additional assistance for critical illness up to Rs 1.75 lakh for meeting the expenses of hospitalisation and surgical procedures. Of the total premium of Rs 33 crore, Rs 18 crore was paid by the state and Rs 15 crore by the Centre. The beneficiary has to pay Rs 30 per annum as renewal fee. Every claim under the scheme will be settled within 21 days for the convenience of the aggrieved persons. Those who have worked for 15 days or more during the previous financial year under MNREGA will be eligible for the RSBY cover.
|
|
NGO not to manage gausadan from today
Nurpur, February 12 The society members convened a meeting today which was presided over by its president Ashok Pathania. It decided to leave the responsibility of managing the gausadan from tomorrow. Holding the Animal Husbandry Department responsible for the present mess of the gausadan, he said it had only 83 animals when the department had handed over the gausadan to the society, but now the strength was touching 250. “The society had written to the department as well as to the district administration for its inability to run the gausadan, but no action was taken. The failure of the department to render veterinary treatment to the cattle and defective cattle sheds opened from all sides had led to the deaths of animals in the gausadan,” he claimed. HR Sakhayan, Deputy Director of the department, said he had no information about the decision of the society. |
|
Scholarships for needy students
Shimla, February 12 The scholarships would be given for the MBA, PGDM, BBA, BCA, BTech (LEET) and BTech (Civil, Mechanical, CSE, EEE & ECE) courses. The date and venue for the scholarship mela would be announced soon. The scholarships would be given to students from families with an annual income up to Rs 3 lakh. The scholarship amount would be between Rs 10,000 and Rs 3,00,000 per student. A part of the expenses would be funded by the college, a part by the student and the rest by a bank. The purpose of the scheme was to find meritorious and talented candidates from this region and provide them opportunities for pursuing professional education.
|
|
Schools to have smart classes
Bilaspur, February 12 This was stated by OP Sharma, Director, HP Higher Education, while presiding over the annual prize distribution function of Shaheed Vijay Pal Memorial Government Girls Senior Secondary School at Ghumarwin, near here, yesterday. He said this girls’ school had been declared a “smart school” and would be the first to start this education under which “smart classes” were allowed in schools. This would change the face of the traditional educational system and equip students to face competition. He said the government had taken innovative steps in the field of education and stress was being laid on girls’ education. Principal Neelam Sharma read out the annual progress report of the school. Sharma gave away the prizes to students who had excelled in various fields. Among those present on the occasion were Deputy Director of Education Bir Singh, Principal of Government Postgraduate College, Bilaspur, RP Chopra and Mansha Ram, father of Shaheed Vijay Pal and school management committee president Banke Bihari
Chandel. |
|
2 held for beating up parents-in-law, wives
Bilaspur, February 12 Reports said Khyali Ram’s sons-in-law had arrived at his house about three days ago and had been drinking and maltreating their in-laws and also their wives when they intervened in favour of their parents. Even neighbours’ intervention several times proved fruitless as they did not desist from this objectionable behaviour, and finally Khyali Ram reported the matter to the police on the phone. A police team immediately rushed to the spot and tried to persuade the youths, but they did not stop. The police then arrested the youths and will now present them in the court.
|
|
|
Scope of urban tenancy law under SC lens
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, February 12 A Bench comprising Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra stayed on Friday an HP High Court verdict, ordering the eviction of two third-generation tenants in Shimla following their father’s death. The Bench also issued a notice to the landlord on a petition filed by tenants Kushwant Mallick and Shekhar Mallick seeking the permission to retain the tenancy of a three-bedroom house at Tuti Kandi. The petitioners’ grandfather had taken the house on rent way back in 1950 and the tenancy was continued by their father Ramesh Mallick until his death a few years ago. Arguing for the petitioners, counsel Anil Nag contended that under Section 2J of the 1987 Act, tenancy could be retained by his clients for their lifetime and only then would it come to an end. In other words, the tenancy would not lapse immediately after the death of an originally inducted tenant or his successors, but would continue for one more generation after the filing of an eviction suit, Nag argued. In fact, the High Court was hearing a petition filed by landlord Gurdev Singh in 2007 seeking eviction of his tenant for not staying in the house for more than one year in violation of the Act. The tenant, however, died when the case was pending in the High Court, following which the High Court ruled that the tenancy had come to an end and directed the landlord to take possession of the house. The Supreme Court will now determine when the tenancy will cease to exist.
|
|
Annual Plan
Shimla, February 12 On February13, the Chief Minister will hold a meeting with the MLAs of Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur districts in the forenoon from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm, while a meeting with the MLAs of Mandi, Chamba and Bilaspur districts will be held from 2 pm to 5 pm in the afternoon on the same day. On the following day, the Chief Minister will hold discussions with the MLAs of Kangra and Kullu districts in the forenoon and those of Una, Hamirpur, Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti in the afternoon session. The meetings will also be attended by the ministers of respective districts in their respective sessions, besides senior officers of the state government.
|
|
|
4.5 kg charas seized in Chamba dist
Chamba, February 12 With this the police had recovered 14.5 kg of charas in five cases of drug-trafficking in the past few days from the charas mafia in different parts of the district, the DSP said. The DSP said a police party which was on a patrol near Shikari Mor in the district intercepted three persons and on inspecting their luggage recovered charas weighing 4.5 kg from their possession. The accused identified as Puneet of Haryana, Gian of Delhi and Lachho of the local area had been arrested and a case under Section 20, NDPS Act, had been registered against them, the DSP revealed. |
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
A fresh spell of snowfall in the entire upper Kullu valley today threw life out of gear.
Manali and its surrounding areas experienced a fresh spell of snowfall, while lower parts were lashed by rain today. This brought the temperature substantially down in the region.
Shimla, February 12
Kangra, February 12
Band casts a spell on IITians during festival
lakh to needy students of Himachal Pradesh under the “scholarship-cum-admission mela” to be organised shortly.
Stating this here today, Anshu Kataria, chairman of the group, said the scholarships would be given purely on merit-cum-means basis and the interested students needed to get prior registration through the helpline number 084277-78000 or the website www.aryans.edu.in to avail of the benefit.
Bhapral (Hamirpur), February 12