|
|
|
|
|
Govt considers road
repair charges on cement firms
Private polytechnic colleges, state govt at loggerheads
Compensate for loss to apple, mango crops due to hailstorm, say
farmers
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Students up in arms
MCI lands in
controversy
Only one Miss Tibet contestant this year
Conference on trends in chemical sciences
Single campus for Central University
Govt to open generic medicine stores: Minister
Parents held for murder
Non-release of pension
Nature study camps in Dalhousie conclude
ABVP asks new govt to come up to expectations of youth
Students start signature campaign to press for basic facilities at HPU
Mankotia welcomed in Kangra
Samata Sainik Dal to hold annual conference
Teacher held for outraging modesty of woman
Leopard died due to old injury: Report 3-storey toilet block to come up in Chintpurni Governor, CM mourn Munde's death
20 model literacy centres to go high-tech in Chamba
Woman hit by HRTC bus, dies
|
|
Govt considers road
repair charges on cement firms
Shimla, June 3 Industry Minister
Mukesh Agnihotri has asked the department to seek complete data
pertaining to the number of trucks transporting cement and the road
stretch that they are using so that the charges to be taken from each of
the cement plants can be worked out. “Once the modalities are worked
out, we will make it mandatory for all cement companies to share a
portion of the road maintenance charges,” said Agnihotri. He said the
government would be very strict in dealing with the violations by the
cement companies whether these pertain to pollution, excise, mining or
other issues. “Whenever an agreement is signed for a new cement plant
or their case comes up for extension or lease renewal, all new
conditions like making their own road, parking provision and
contributing towards road maintenance will be imposed,” he said. The
minister has convened a meeting of senior officials of the department
here tomorrow to discuss all issues pertaining to the cement
companies. Travelling on some of the roads in Himachal, especially the
National Highway-21 (Chandigarh-Bilaspur-Mandi-Kullu-Manali) is nothing
less than a nightmare with traffic moving at a snail’s pace due to
long queues of loaded trucks. Environmentalists and those associated
with the tourism industry have time and again echoed their concern at
the adverse impact of these trucks, numbering thousands, on environment
and tourism. People have even demanded that a separate track be made so
that tourists and locals do not suffer the traffic snarls because of the
movement of trucks. The worst stretch on the NH-21 is the 42-km road
from Swarghat to Bilaspur. The volume of traffic is huge with trucks
from three cement plants -- ACC at Barmana, Ambuja Cement at Darlaghat
and JP Cement at Bagha -- plying round the clock. Surveys by the
Department of Environment, too, have indicated that the emission from
the trucks and other vehicles is amongst the biggest cause of pollution
in the state and could also be a deterrent to tourism promotion if steps
are not taken to regulate it. With some more cement plants proposed
elsewhere in the state, including at Sundernagar, Karsog and Chopal, the
traffic situation could become even worse. The issue of making it
mandatory for the cement companies to share road maintenance expenditure
has also been raised in the state Assembly with many legislators seeking
attention of the government on the issue. The road ahead
|
||
|
Private polytechnic colleges, state govt at loggerheads
Dharamsala, June 3 The case pertains to a decision taken by the Board during the 2013-14 academic session. The board had decided that students who had failed to qualify 50 per cent of their theory subjects would not be promoted/admitted to the next semester. Hundreds of students of polytechnic colleges in the state were affected by the decision, as on an average the result of most of the private polytechnic colleges in the state was about 12 per cent. Had the decision been implemented it would have meant that about 80 per cent of the students mainly in private polytechnic could not be admitted to the next semester unless they cleared at least 50 per cent of their theory papers. This could mean that students would have lost their academic year and the college its annual fee, which was necessary for them to retain the faculty. The affected students moved the state HC. The court after considering their petitions directed the Board to give a one-time relaxation to the affected students in the interest of justice. The Board referred the HC order to the state government. The state government has, however, decided against giving one-time relaxation. The examinations at polytechnic colleges will start from June 5. After receiving the letter from the Board, private polytechnic college owners in the state left for Shimla to lobby their case. One of them said in case their demands were not met, they would sit on a dharna in front of the Shimla secretariat. GS Bali, Minister for Technical Education, Food and Civil Supplies and Transport, when contacted, said: “The state government wants to maintain the quality in technical education institutes in the state. For that some harsh measures have been to taken. The state government will stick to its decision.” Sources said the state government might also move the Supreme Court against the High Court’s decision. However, the owners of polytechnic colleges maintained that until a stay was granted on the HC order, the state government could not restraint students from sitting in the examinations starting from June 5. |
||
|
Compensate for loss to apple, mango crops due to hailstorm, say
farmers
Shimla, June 3 Farmers said the fresh hailstorm damaged apples and vegetables such as peas and potatoes causing a loss of several
crores. The Horticulture Department has put the loss to apple and mango crops at Rs 89 crore from March to May 15. Farmers in
Rohru, Jubbal-Kotkhai and Chopal in Shimla district suffered maximum damage worth Rs 66.98 crore to the apple crop, a senior horticulture official said. Farmers in Kullu district were the second worst hit, as they suffered Rs 9.44 crore loss, followed by Sirmaur (Rs 5.52 crore), Kangra (Rs 2.57 crore), Mandi (Rs 2.37 crore), Chamba (Rs 48 lakh) and Solan (Rs 33 lakh). Other districts were not affected much during this period, the official said. Farmers said the state government relief manual was not updated, adding that they gave them peanuts in the name of relief. “Nearly 20-40 per cent cash crops damage due to bad weather every year,” they said. Dr Kuldip Singh
Tanwar, president, Himachal Kisan Sabha, said the Ministry of Agriculture should carry out a survey to assess the loss caused to the crops and compensate farmers. “But the government has neither assessed the loss properly nor has paid any compensation,” Tanwar said. SS
Verma, in charge of the assessment cell at the Directorate of Horticulture, said: “Last year the Horticulture Department got Rs 9.14 crore as relief for farmers. But the department instead of giving cash gave only assistance in terms of subsidised pesticides or other materials to farmers.” Adverse weather and hailstorms have damaged about 40 per cent apple crops in the apple belt and the mango crop during flowering time in Kangra district and Paonta Sahib in Sirmaur district. Director, Agriculture, JC
Rana, said: “The vegetable crops were damaged in the upper hills by hailstorm and the losses are being assessed.” Affected Estimated districts loss Shimla Rs 66.98 cr
|
||
|
Students up in arms
Shimla, June 3 They raised slogans against the government. Later, a deputation of the agitating students met Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who assured them that they would be permitted to appear for the examination. There are nearly 3,400 odd students studying in 17 government and 23 private institutions across the state. They are feeling cheated as they have not been promoted to the next semester on the pretext that they failed to fulfil the revised criteria of clearing minimum 50 per cent subjects. The State Technical Education Board had on July 1, 2013, conveyed to all institutions that the students should pass at least 50 per cent of the subjects, which would be the minimum criteria for promotion to the next semester. Students alleged that the institutions deliberately kept them in dark about the new criteria, fearing that several students may opt out leaving the seats vacant. The institutions failed to abide by the instructions and even failed to inform the admissions seekers about the change in criteria. The students, who had protested in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office on March 31 to highlight their grievances, said about 80 per cent of the total students failed to clear 50 per cent of the subjects and hence they would not be promoted to the next semester. Students said the condition was not mentioned anywhere in the prospectus and if the results were poor, the Technical Education Board should crack down on the institution and teachers and not penalise students.
The Board had taken this decision keeping in view the fact that in the past five years only 50 per cent of the students enrolled in polytechnic could clear the three-year diploma course in six years. The decision was aimed at improving the standards and quality of technical education in the state and it was the duty of the institutions to convey the decision to the students at the time of admissions, the Board officials said. |
||
|
MCI lands in
controversy
Shimla, June 3 Reason: It has recommended to the Union Government to not renew the enhanced quota of MBBS seats of the two established government medical colleges in the state. The MCI failed to inform the state government about its recommendations and instead posted it on its website, creating confusion. This anguished students, who made frantic calls to know the exact position. The 65 seats at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) in Shimla and 50 seats at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College at Tanda were increased to 100 each in 2010 and 2011, respectively, and the students are already in their third semester now. The MCI teams inspected the two colleges recently and made it recommendations. But nothing in regard to the observations of the inspection teams was communicated to the state government. On the other hand, the MCI gave permission to admit 150 students to a medical college at Kumarhatti in Solan without ascertaining whether it had sought environmental clearance or not. It also failed to find out whether the private university to which the college was affiliated was empowered to give affiliation to any college or not. The state government had clearly asked the college to get affiliation from Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) and also informed the MCI about the “irregularities”, but it had not taken any action to rectify the mistake even after five months. Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Vineet Chowdhary said: “The news reports appearing in this regard are misleading and posting reports on the website is a routine process.” “The observations will be sent to the government for comments and we will respond to the objections and also remove the shortcomings pointed out in the reports and ensure that the interests of the students are safeguarded,” he said. The officials are piqued over different yardsticks adopted by the MCI for the two government medical colleges and a private medical college, which is on the government’s radar and had also been served a notice for the violation of the Environment Act. |
||
|
Only one Miss Tibet contestant this year
Dharamsala, June 3 It is the fourth time that the pageant will have only one contestant vying for the crown. This is the second consecutive year with lone contestant. The same scenario arose in two earlier editions, 2003 and 2005, said Lobsang Wangyal, the organiser of the event. He said, “We had shifted the beauty pageant to Bylakuppe, Karnataka, the largest Tibetan settlement, last year. But we received a poor response with only one contestant registering for the event. The event was held without competition last year too.” “We received eight applications this year. Five were confirmed, but four withdrew at the last minute, expressing various personal problems,” he said. “Since the pageant is to empower young Tibetan women, it is important to respect and appreciate the commitment and enthusiasm of the lone contestant,” he added. He said the organisers were ready to welcome more contestants and put on a full-fledged pageant, but how many would come was not in their hands. “There should be individual as well as community initiative for a bigger number of participants. On our part, we have not given up and will never give up. We hope that there will be more contestants in the next year's contest,” he said. Tenzin Yangzom has done Bachelor of Education (B Ed) from Bangalore and has graduated in psychology, sociology and English. Yangzom said, "Miss Tibet can voice the worsening human rights situation in Tibet on national and international forums, and gain world-wide support." She will be crowned the new Miss Tibet and will be given a cheque of Rs 1 lakh as prize money on June 8. The Miss Tibet beauty contest was started in 2002 amid mixed response from the exiled community. Many, including the Tibetan government-in-exile, had vehemently opposed the event, saying it was not part of the Tibetan tradition. Besides, it remained in many other controversies during different editions. In 2012, the contest was not held due to financial constraints and grim situation in Tibet due to self immolations.
|
|
Conference on trends in chemical sciences
Hamirpur, June 3 Prof Grijesh Govil, Golden Jubilee, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), fellow and recipient of Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar award from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and Prof Ritu Barthwal from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, were guests of honour on the occasion. In his lecture, Professor Govil briefed the audience regarding the discovery of NMR machine and its present state-of-the-art Prominent among those who presented their research papers were Dr Sushil Kansal, UICT, PU Chandigarh, Dr Krishan Mohan, IIT Roorkee, and Dr Anuj Sharma, IIT Roorkee . Ashhar Musharib Firdausi from the Department of Biotechnology, IIT Roorkee, was awarded the best poster presentation award in the conference. Dr Pamita Awasthi, co-convener of the conference, said this conference was sponsored by the Scientific and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Department of Atomic Energy, INSA and Defence Research and Developmental Organisation. |
|
|
Single campus for Central University Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, June 3 Now that the NDA government was in, power it could not undo the decision of the previous government. But it could take any decision regarding the location of the university, in consultation with the state government, he said. The leaders should not cause loss to the state due to their infighting, he added. The previous BJP government had proposed about 500 acre land for Central University at Dehra and about 200 acres at Dharamsala. Furqan Qumar, Vice-Chancellor, CUHP, said both proposals were lying before the Union Ministry for HRD. It was now the discretion of the Union Government to accept the said proposals. The university authorities are hoping that this clash between Congress and the BJP should not delay the allotment of land to the institute, which is already without any infrastructure for the past about four years.
|
|
Govt to open generic medicine stores: Minister
Shimla, June 3 The minister said during last year, many milestones were achieved in the health sector, including the establishment of three medical colleges, two tertiary cancer care
centres, two mother and child hospitals and superspeciality blocks at
IGMC, Shimla, and DRPGMC, Tanda, in Kangra. “The government will soon launch transport service under the Janani-Shishu Suraksha Karyakram and mobile medical units for people residing in far-flung areas of the state by further strengthening the 108 ambulance network,” he said. Besides specialised doctors, these mobile medical units would have ultrasound facility and all life-saving drugs, he added. He said all health institutions in the state would be computerised in a phased manner. He said ASHA workers would also soon be a part of the health teams. |
|
|
Parents held for murder
Nurpur, June 3 Sources said Shah had some family dispute with his parents for the past some time. He had an altercation with his parents yesterday and he later lodged a complaint with the police. Balkar Singh, a local resident, spotted the body in the morning and informed his father who further informed the police. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Manoj Joshi, along with a team of forensic experts led by SK Paul, Assistant Director, Regional Forensic Laboratory, Dharamsala, rushed to the spot. The DSP said a case under relevant sections of the IPC had been registered against the father and stepmother of the deceased. He said a sharp-edged weapon was used in the crime. The DSP said after conducting the post-mortem examination, the body was handed over to the family. Shah, father of two sons, was working as a security guard in a private institute here. |
|
|
Agri varsity retired staff threaten to move court
Our Correspondent
Palampur, June 3 Condemning the non-cooperative attitude of the university authorities, Phull said the university did not release their pension despite orders of the HP High Court in this regard. Phull said the university authorities were meting out step-motherly treatment to its retired teaching and non-teaching employees. He said earlier they had to move the High Court to get their arrears. He said the authorities were delaying their dues under the pretext of financial crises. However, the university was releasing all benefits to its serving employees regularly. He said if the university failed to release their pension within the next 10 days, they would file a contempt petition in the High Court.
|
|
|
Nature study camps in Dalhousie conclude
Dalhousie, June 3 The campers took part in activities like rock climbing, river crossing, trek in
Dainkund, Jot and Kalatop itinerary, drawing competition, bird watching, star gazing and camp fire during these camps. In the last batch, 143 participants from
Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Sainik School, Nagrota (J&K), took
part. Sunita Eadnol, Principal, Sacred Heart Convent School, Dalhousie, was the chief guest at the valedictory function of the group.
Chaitanya from the Maharashtra group was the master of ceremony. Rajvinder Singh, escort of the Sainik School,
Nagrota, proposed a vote of thanks. Capt RS Rana (retd), field director and manager of the youth hostel,
Dalhousie, Kunal Joshi, co-director, and Suraj Sharma and Sunil
Mandeliya, camp leaders, attended the function. |
|
|
Mushroom festival held in Dalhousie
Dalhousie, June 3 Asha said the DRDA was providing financial assistance for promoting mushroom farming. This season the production of mushroom had increased threefold, even then demand for it was increasing day by day. She said the fertile land of Chamba was also helpful in producing a sufficient quantity of vegetables of different varieties. She appealed to farmers to come forward for getting assistance from the
DRDA. Earlier, Asha lit the lamp to inaugurate the festival and gave away prizes to progressive farmers engaged in mushroom
cultivation. Chamba Deputy Commissioner Kadam Sandeep Vasant underscored the need to adopt the latest knowhow and techniques to boost agriculture production. |
|
|
ABVP asks new govt to come up to expectations of youth
Shimla, June 3 Ajay Thakur, general secretary of the state BJP, while talking to mediapersons here today said, “The commercialisation of education had severely affected the quality and standard of education. The existing private educational universities and colleges should be brought under a regulatory regime to save the students from exploitation and stop the institutions from becoming ‘teaching shops’. He urged the Central Government to fulfil the promises made to the youth. Expressing serious concerns over the alleged rise of Naxalism at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Ajay Thakur demanded a ban on pro-Naxal teachers and student unions. |
|
Students start signature campaign to press for basic facilities at HPU
Shimla, June 3 Rajan and Piyush
Sewal, president and general secretary of the SCA, respectively, said the university had failed to meet petty demands like hostel and library facility, filling the vacant posts of teacher and beautification of the campus. They alleged that Rs 62 lakh was sanctioned for wi-fi, Rs 66 lakh for campus development, Rs 80 lakh for laboratories, Rs 7 lakh for cultural activities and Rs 5 lakh each for training duty officers, amenities for women and publication, but 90 per cent of the works had not even started or
were incomplete.
|
|
|
Mankotia welcomed in Kangra
Kangra, June 3 Mankotia said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh had assigned him the responsibility and he would bring the state on the global tourism map in the right perspective. He added that the state had a terrific tourism potential which would be exploited
completely. Mankotia said shrines of religious importance and places of historical importance had been ignored by the former BJP government. These would be taken care of with tourism point of view. |
|
Samata Sainik Dal to hold annual conference
Una, June 3 He said the organisation had its presence in about 20 states of the country. Virender said, eminent speakers, including S Chandrayya, Chairman of the organisation, Dr YK Khillare from Dr Ambedkar University, Aurangabad, litterateurs Soma Sablok from Banga and Kusum Meghwal from Udaipur, would speak on the opening day besides others. The second day would have an open session, wherein people from all sections of the society would be invited to take part.
|
||
|
|
|
| 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 | |
Shimla, June 3
Farmers living in Shimla,
Kullu, Sirmaur, Mandi, Kangra and Chamba districts have sought compensation for the damage caused to apple, mango crops and vegetables after a recent spell of hailstorm, sleet and rain.
The police have arrested the parents of 30-year-old Fouju Shah for allegedly murdering him. Shah’s body was found at Malkwal near here this morning.
After conducting preliminary investigations, the police arrested Shah’s father Roshan Deen and stepmother Fatima Bibi.
About 1,500 students today signed the signature campaign started by the Students Central Association
of Himachal Pradesh University, to demand basic infrastructure.
Claiming that the university received a grant of Rs 35 lakh for a library from the University Grant Commission, the students rued that the library lacked basic facilities such as internet LAN connection, charging points and new edition books.
Kangra, June 3
