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Premature retirement for inefficient cops: DGP
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Uproar at Cong meeting
Govt to strengthen marketing, cold storage facilities: Dhumal
Haripur-Band road haven for tax evaders
I am a fighter, says Virbhadra
Rain hits life in Palampur
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High prices cheer apple growers
Shimla, July 30 Varieties such as super chief are being sold at Rs 3,500 per box in the Delhi market. Even in the local Dhalli market, some lots have fetched over Rs 3,000 per box which is better compared to Delhi as the growers are not required to pay any commission. Last year, the prices ranged between Rs 2,200 and Rs 2,500 per box, whereas in 2010, when the state had a record 4.46 crore boxes, the rates were between Rs 1,600 and Rs 1,800 per box. Though many growers have delayed plucking of the fruit, it has not helped much as the monsoon continues to play truant. As a result, the fruit has failed to acquire proper size. The bulk of the fruit is of medium and small size and there is hardly any large-sized apple on trees. Till date, only three lakh boxes have been sent out of the state as compared to 5.77 lakh last year when the total production was a meagre 1.36 crore boxes. In 2010, 32.29 lakh boxes had been exported during this period. On an average, around 120 trucks of apple are moving out of the state daily. Ranjeet Mehta, a leading grower of Kotgarh, said the season would pick up around the middle of next month as poor monsoon had forced them to delay harvesting. The crop was good. However, lack of rain had affected the size of the fruit. If the erratic weather continued, both the prices and production would be affected. The prices could go up further as so far the fruit is being harvested only in lower hills, which are not known for high-quality fruit. The best apple grows in middle and high hills and would start reaching the market from the third week of August. Last year the market stayed high all through, ensuring good returns despite a poor crop. The growers are hoping that the market stays high and they get handsome returns as the production is likely to be around 2.50 crore boxes, much more than last year. Sweet for Farmers
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Premature retirement for inefficient cops: DGP
Shimla, July 30 With the sanctioned strength of 16,845 police personnel and 2,500 vacancies, Bhandari said preference would be sought from the employees posted in the field who had completed their two-year tenure. “Though all transfer-related matters are routed through the Police Establishment Committee (PEC) which adheres to the minimum two-year tenure as per the HP Police Act Rules, it has no separate guidelines of its own,” he said. Bhandari feels that seeking preference in postings will help everyone as an employee posted in the field can give in a request for transfer along with a list of the stations he would prefer for his new posting. Enforcing premature retirement is his idea to get rid of those officers who have completed 30 years of service and are a liability for reasons like incompetence, tainted image or chronic alcoholism. “There is provision for premature retirement in such cases as per the Himachal Pradesh Civil Services (Premature Retirement) Rules, 1976, and I am keen that it is enforced in the interest of both the individual as well as the force,” he said. As per these rules, a person can retire on completing 30 years of service if it is considered in public interest. This rule can be enforced on those who have completed 30 years of service, those who have attained the age of 50 years in respect of Class I and Class II officer who entered service at the age of 35 years, 55 years in case of all Class I, II and III employees and 55 years in case of Class IV employees who entered government service after July 23, 1996. |
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Chief Secy calls for speedy implementation of schemes
Hamirpur, July 30 He also asked the officers to hold meetings of their respective departments for the speedy implementation of the schemes and also redress the grievances of the common people. He said officers of all departments should adopt an integrated approach in the implementation of government programmes and also remove hurdles in its way. Ongoing works and programmes related to the health department, PWD, IPH, MNREGA, Agriculture and Education etc were discussed at the meeting. The officers of the district administration raised the issue of short supply of pulses and edible oil for PDS distribution, use of 25,000 LPG cylinders in the area falling under Una, Bilaspur and Kangra districts, opening a new LPG agency at Nadaun etc, on the occasion. Roy also directed the departments concerned to find a solution to these problems. Secretary, Health, Ali Raza Rizvi spoke about the progress made in opening a medical college in Hamirpur and opening a Referral Medical Research Institute at Toani Devi. Earlier, DC, Hamirpur, Rajinder Singh Thakur briefed about various schemes under the 20-point economic programmes in Hamirpur district. Principal Secretaries PC Kapoor, VC Pharaka and SK Baldi, and Secretaries Ali Raza Rizvi, Sanjay Moorthi and Subhashish Panda, Divisional Commissioner Rajinder Singh Negi and several other officers were also present. |
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Uproar at Cong meeting
Bilaspur, July 30 The bone of contention among the local leaders was a leader who had recently resigned his central post and was a claimant for the party ticket from this constituency. Supporters of former MLA Tilak Raj Sharma, who had lost his security deposit in the elections as the party candidate, blamed a youth leader for his defeat. Many leaders were angry over an order of the block committee that only “pass holders” would be allowed entry into the meeting hall to maintain peace and order. They alleged that this was a clever attempt to “highjack the meeting” so that a “particular leader” could be projected as the most suitable candidate from this
constituency. There was complete anarchy at the meeting with uproarious scenes being witnessed which prompted the central observer to leave the meeting hall. It was only later that senior leaders prevailed upon the warring factions and order was restored and the meeting started again. There are many claimants to the party ticket from this constituency and all of them are at daggers drawn. The Congress observer clarified that he had not come here to allot the ticket as this would be done by the party high command. He said he was here to listen to the party workers and get a feedback from them. |
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Govt to strengthen marketing, cold storage facilities: Dhumal
Shimla, July 30 Dhumal said the opening of cold storage in the public sector would facilitate storage facility for the growers so that they could market their produce round the year at an appropriate time to get remunerative prices. He said Rs 9 crore had been sanctioned to construct the Matiyana-Parala Subzi Mandi road for which tenders had been
floated. Dhumal claimed HP had been ranked No. 1 in the implementation of 20-Point Programme for the past three years. He said in the horticulture sector also, HP ranked at No. 1 in the country, besides among the top three states in the best HRD
indictors. Dhumal said his government was keen to strengthen the horticulture sector by replacing old rootstocks with high-yielding varieties of plants being imported from apple growing countries under the Apple Rejuvenation scheme. Horticulture Minister Narender Bragta thanked the Chief Minister for dedicating the first cold storage to be managed by the
HPMC. |
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Haripur-Band road haven for tax evaders
Solan, July 30 Since the route has no inter-state barrier, it remains unmanned and provides an easy bypass route to the tax evaders. The nefarious activity starts around 10 pm and reaches its peak around 1 am when trucks come in convoys of three to five. After passing through Haripur, Patta Mehloga nd Band, the trucks either take a detour towards Arki or Kasauli from where these move further into various parts of Himachal conveniently. Though owners of these trucks are supposed to declare their goods before excise officials, they give this norm the go-by, causing loss of revenue to the state exchequer. The route has become popular as there is hardly any checking on this road. The police does carry out routine checks but these are few and far between. The route was also used by investors for carrying secondhand machinery to avail of benefits of the central incentive package. It is learnt that illicit traders of animal hides and khair have also been using this route for their nefarious purposes. Since the route is shared by two excise and police districts, lack of coordination between the authorities is helping the wrong-doers. Interestingly, the road is narrow and is not preferred by motorists due to its poor upkeep. Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner RD Janartha said they would initiate regular checking on this route to check the tax evaders. |
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I am a fighter, says Virbhadra
Solan, July 30 Talking to mediapersons at Nalagarh this evening while coming back from Una, he said such people were weakening the party. Reacting to the constitution of the state campaign committee, he said it was shocking that the committee had been constituted without consulting him and he had learnt about it from newspaper reports. He said it was surprising that despite his 50 years’ experience in the party, he was not even consulted before taking major decisions and candidates were being finalised without his knowledge. He said he was not disheartened by these happenings as he was a fighter and would give a befitting reply to his detractors. The five-time state Chief Minister said if the party was weakened by such happenings, it would sadden him the most. |
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Rain hits life in Palampur
Palampur, July 30 Several link roads have been closed to traffic because of heavy landslides. The upper Chhota Bhangal area has been cut off over past two days as buses cannot reach here. The power supply remained disrupted in the entire region for more than 20 hours as trees fell on power supply lines at various places while electricity poles were uprooted in several others. The HPSEB executive engineer told reporters here today that the field staff was working round-the-clock to restore power supply. |
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