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hpca case
Hamir Utsav from Nov 11
Probe ordered against Mandi MC chief
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Deccan Air to start flights from HP
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh meets chairman and managing director of Deccan Airways Capt Gopinath during the investors’ meet in Bengaluru on Friday. Tribune photo
Rise in road mishaps
Delay in disaster battalion irks residents
HC upholds life term of murder convict
BJP prepares roadmap for execution of Central schemes
Central University of HP
Aadhar stall from Nov 9 in Una
Transport Minister GS Bali addresses a press conference
in Dharamsala on Friday. Tribune photo: Kamaljeet
Govt spending Rs 1.04 cr on free textbooks
Open burning of garbage
Quake in HP can hit many cities in Punjab: Study
HPSEBL withdraws notice after pollution board’s objection
Higher reaches experience snow in Chamba
Demand to lift ban on monkey culling
Panel set to prepare health roadmap for state
State roads cry for repair
Lab assistant found dead in Una
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Anurag, 5 others summoned
Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, November 7 Others who were summoned are Sanjay Sharma, spokesperson of the HPCA, Vishal Marwah, honorary secretary of the HPCA, range officer of the Forest Department Bidhi Chand, tehsildar Jagdish Ram and kanungo Kuldeep Kumar. Revenue and forest officials were posted at Dharamsala when the land for the hotel was transferred to the HPCA by the previous BJP government. All accused have been asked to be present in the court on December 15, the next date of hearing in the case. The FIR was lodged by the Vigilance Bureau on November 29, 2013. Anurag, two office-bearers of the HPCA and forest and revenue officials have been charged under Section 406 (criminal breach of trust), 447 (criminal trespass), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and 13 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The Vigilance accused the HPCA of illegally felling a large number of pine trees on the land allotted on lease to the Pavilion Hotel. The land was allotted in 2009 when the BJP government, headed by Dhumal, was in power. The investigating agency charged that the forest and revenue officials connived with the HPCA, giving wrong information in the NOC given to it. In the NOC, the forest officials had stated that there were no trees on the land. However, the Vigilance, after inquiry, has alleged that even now there were 2,023 trees. The probe also alleged that the trees were 30 years old. Inconsistencies were alleged in the records of the Forest and Revenue Department during investigation which hinted that the trees were felled illegally. The Vigilance Bureau has also sought satellite images of the land to ascertain how many trees were illegally felled. The case * The Vigilance accused the HPCA of illegally felling a large number of pine trees on the land allotted on lease to the Pavilion Hotel. * The land was allotted in 2009 when the BJP government, headed by Dhumal, was in power.
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Hamir Utsav from Nov 11
Hamirpur, November 7 This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Rohan Chand Thakur at a press conference today. The second cultural night would see performances by pahari singers Dheeraj Sharma, Geeta Bhardwaj and Thakur Dass Rathi. Singer Divya Srivastav and Kritika Tanwar would regale the audience on the last cultural night of the festival. Thakur said a major share of the funds would be spent on encouraging local folk artistes and the amount to be spent on Bollywood stars would be minimum. Last year Rs 11 lakh were spent on Bollywood stars which had been brought down to Rs 9 lakh this year, he said. Over 90 folk artistes would be given an opportunity to perform on the stage during the three-day utsav. The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) would ply special buses from the bus stand to the venue at Dosarka. Due to restrictions imposed by an order of the High Court, the function was being organised at Police Grounds, he added. He said Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh would be the chief guest on the inaugural day. Urban Development Minister Sudhir Sharma would preside over the function on the second night and Chief Parliamentary Secretary ID Lakhanpal would grace the function on the closing day on November 13. He said over Rs 20 lakh have been collected so far and some more collections were expected as some advertisers had sent their consent for displaying advertisements at the venue. The DC said the Chief Minister would also lay the foundation stone of the boys’ hostel and a laboratory of the Horticulture College at Neri on November 12. He will also inaugurate a bridge on Sukkar Khud and would address a public meeting at Bijhari in Barsar sub division.
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Probe ordered against Mandi MC chief
Mandi, November 7 DC Sandeep Kadam directed the Additional District Magistrate to conduct an inquiry into the allegations levelled against Soukhla and submit the report at the earliest, so that action could be initiated in the matter. Councillors Ashutosh Pal and Dinesh Sharma had filed a complaint with the Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh
High Court and the Chief Minister against the MC president. In the complaint, they had alleged that the president had encroached upon nearly 100 sq m PWD land at Muhal Sambal village under the Sadar tehsil on the National Highway-21, 26 bighas of forest land at Muhal Bambola under Sadar tehsil in the district and had also taken a loan of about Rs 88 lakh on about 2.5 bighas of land. They said Soukhla had taken a loan of around Rs 1 crore against the property owned by her brothers. When contacted MC president Sushila Soukhla, she said if she was found guilty, the government could take action against her. Allegations The MC president had allegedly encroached upon nearly 100 sq m PWD land at Muhal Sambal village under the Sadar tehsil on the National Highway-21, 26 bighas of forest land at Muhal Bambola under Sadar tehsil in the district and had also taken a loan of about
Rs 88 lakh on about 2.5 bighas of land. |
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People have high hopes from Modi
Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 7 It is for the first time that the BJP won all four seats in Himachal and people had high expectations that the state would get prominent representations in the Modi Cabinet. Though nobody from the state made it to the Union Cabinet earlier, now it is almost certain that Himachal will get representation as Nadda or Anurag will be elevated. BJP leaders from the state too are confident that Himachal will get representations in the expansion of the Cabinet due on Sunday. They point out that Modi during the election rallies had promised that Himachal would get due representation if BJP did well. There were two union ministers, Virbhadra Singh and Anand Sharma, in the UPA government. Moreover, Modi has had a very close association with Himachal as he remained in-charge of party affairs. Nadda, a former minister and Rajya Sabha MP, has emerged as a prominent face in the BJP organisational setup during the last four years ever since he moved to the Centre during the term of Nitin Gadkari as party chief. He is considered close to Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah and has been in-charge of bigger and politically significant states such as Maharashtra and Rajasthan. There is talk in the BJP circles of Nadda being made a minister for environment and forest. He has remained a Forest Finister in the Dhumal regime in Himachal. Anurag Thakur, son of former Chief Minister PK Dhumal, is also being considered a front-runner for the ministerial berth. Political circles are rife that the three-time MP could be made a minister for state. He has had three successive wins in the Lok Sabha elections and been nominated as the All-India president of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha. Since chances of both Nadda and Thakur making it to the Cabinet are bleak, it remains to be seen who emerges as the final choice of the Prime Minister in his team. Both contenders are holding prominent positions in the party and have been able to carve a niche for themselves in the Centre.
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Deccan Air to start flights from HP
Shimla, November 7 The assurance was given by Capt Gopinath at a one-to-one investor meet he had with Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh in Bangalore, said the press note. The Chief Minister, along with Industry Minister Mukesh Agnihotri and senior officials, interacted with several big industrialists who would be keen to invest in Himachal. The note said Capt Gopinath had said he would be happy to start three flights daily from Delhi to Shimla and two flights between Delhi-Kullu. The Chief Minister requested him to submit his proposal. The absence of reliable and regular flights from Shimla, Kullu and Dharamsala has been a major impediment to tourism promotion. He invited industrial houses to set an IT Park in Himachal. He said industry-friendly environment that the state offers, besides uninterrupted cheap power supply, was ideal for the IT sector. Virbhadra invited the Wipro Group and Dell Computers to invest for which they assured him to place their proposals. It said TVS Motor Company, which already have a unit in Himachal, offered to expand their existing unit with an additional investment of Rs 300 crore. It assured him that they would set up an engine manufacturing plant of TVS scooties. TVS also committed to start social welfare activities under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Sudhakarpal, Chairman and Managing Director of Kurlon, expressed his desire to invest Rs 250 crore in Himachal by setting up a unit for producing mattresses. Vikram Kirloskar, vice-chairman from Toyota, also showed interest in HP. Other investors who showed interest to invest in Himachal included Wipro Consumer Care, who said they would invest about Rs 500 crore. Ram Prasad, Director, Inverbras Electricals, hailing from Nurpur, who was in the business of manufacturing switch-over-switches for defence and Navy ships expressed desire to set up a unit in his home state. The Himachalis staying in Bangalore also called upon the Chief Minister to take up the matter of land with the Karnataka Government as they were willing to construct a Himachal Bhawan in Bangalore for Himachalis visiting the state. Win-win deal * CM asks firms to set up IT Park in state * TVS Motor offered to expand their existing unit with an investment of Rs 300 cr * Kurlon expresses his desire to invest Rs 250 crore * Wipro Consumer Care would invest about Rs 500 crore
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Increase use of doppler radar, alcosensors: SP
Our Correspondent
Una, November 7 Talking to The Tribune, he said the condition of the Mehatpur-Mubarikpur and Una-Bhota roads had been improved under the World Bank project. “The speed of vehicles on these roads has increased, which is the main reason for an increase in the number of accidents,” he said. He said as many as 2,283 vehicles were challaned for various offences during the current year and a sum of Rs 13.33 lakh was collected as fine. Sources said around 58 persons had died and 123 injured in 233 road accidents in 2012-13 in Una district, while the death toll during the subsequent year was 47 in 187 accidents, leaving 290 injured. During the current financial year, the data compiled till the end of September was 177 accidents, leading to 60 deaths and 278 injuries. Sharma said special drives were being conducted to check drug peddling and illegal mining in the district. He said 3.5 quintals of poppy husk, 1.2 kg charas, 10 gm smack, 3 gm heroin, besides substantial quantities of banned medicines were recovered and 27 cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act during the current year. He said in an attempt to check illegal mining, raids were being conducted on a regular basis in the Swan river and its tributaries. “Around 794 vehicles have been challaned abd fine amounting to Rs 57.07 lakh has been collected,” he added. He solicited the support and involvement of local bodies and voluntary organisations in decreasing the overall crime rate in the district.
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Delay in disaster battalion irks residents
Nurpur, November 7 Sources said the DMB was proposed during the Dhumal government and formalities of the land acquisition for acquiring private land in the gram panchayat for the project were underway till the end of the previous regime. But after the present Congress government took charge to power in December 2012, no effective steps were taken. Meanwhile, the Punjab government had offered around 50 hectare land at Ladowal free of cost to the NDRF for the establishment of the DMB. People of the lower Kangra district said they were expecting a centrally sponsored project in the area, but were of the view that the project was taken over by Punjab. Local MLA Ajay Mahajan said he had raised the issue under the rule 61 in the state Assembly last year. He said he would approach Shanta Kumar for taking up the issue with the Government of India and get the DMB restored in Nurpur area. He said initially, the establishment of a CRPF group centre had been proposed in 2005 at Kopra panchayat with the efforts of the former minister late Sat Mahajan. “But in 2008, the NDRF had announced to set up the DMB in the same area by shifting the ITBP battalion from Bhatinda in Punjab to this place,” he added. Meanwhile, former MLA Rakesh Pathania blamed the Virbhadra Singh government for delaying the project.
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HC upholds life term of murder convict
Shimla, November 7 The prosecution said on February 15, 2010, convict Sunil Kumar inflicted serious injuries on his mother Usha Devi at Badwana village in Una. Sunil had demanded money from her but when she could not provide him with the same, he got enraged and inflicted grievous injuries on her head. She died on the spot. After the completion of the trial, the lower court convicted and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Aggrieved from the sentence, Sunil had filed an appeal before the High Court. However, the court dismissed it.
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BJP prepares roadmap for execution of Central schemes
Mandi, November 7 “We are preparing a roadmap so that people can get the maximum benefit under such schemes,” he said while addressing mediapersons after launching a membership drive in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency here today. It was the third day of the membership drive after Una and Kangra and tomorrow it would be launched in Shimla, he said, adding that the party had set a target of 15 lakh new members during the drive. He said the vision of the party president was to make it the largest democratic party in the world. The government had completed five months in office and people had restored their confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said. On price rise, he said the government had put the brake on the rising inflation and reduced the prices of petrol and diesel several times within the five months. He said before the BJP came to power at the Centre, there was an atmosphere of negativity and nobody was interested in investing in India and even local investors were moving out of the country. He said after Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, he created a friendly atmosphere and encouraged investors to invest in India. He said the aim of the government was to provide 24-hour power supply, 100 per cent employment, zero tolerance towards terror, corruption-free administration and 2-digit growth in the agriculture sector. On the possibility of becoming a minister from the state in the proposed Cabinet expansion, Sharma said he communicated names to the party president and hoped that the state would get its share.
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Residents demand campus at Nurpur
Our Correspondent
Nurpur, November 7 Following his statement, government officials have started looking for a new site for the central project. After the proposed CU became a rolling stone between Dharamsala and Dehra in Kangra district, 16 NGOs and social organisations, under the banner of the NGO Crescent Club and the Nurpur Press Club, submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently, copies of which were forwarded to the CM and MP Shanta Kumar. In the memorandum, the NGOs demanded setting up the CU campus in Nurpur area as big chunks of vacant government land were available in the region. Manoj Pathania, president of the Crescent Club, appealed to the CM to order the authorities concerned to identify a site in Nurpur. They also appealed to the MLAs of Nurpur, Indora, Jawali and Fatehpur to support the cause.
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Aadhar stall from Nov 9 in Una
Una, November 7 As per an official press note here today, the DC said 91 per cent of the population in the district had been linked with the Unique Identification Authority through Aadhaar cards. He said the remaining people
would be given three months’ grace period after November 15 for getting LPG subsidies in their bank accounts. The DC said a special Aadhar stall would be
set up at the Una Mahotsav venue of the Indira stadium from November 9 to 11 where people
could register their names for the Unique Identification number. |
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Bali rules out cut in bus fares
Dharamsala, November 7 Addressing a press conference at mini secretariat here today, while reacting to the Opposition demands for reduction of bus fares, Bali said when the bus fares were increased, the diesel rates were lesser than what they were now. The HRTC and private bus operators are cribbing over losses
they are making due to lesser bus fares. Since the prices of the diesel have been deregulated, the government would have to wait for these to stabilise. The
government could not increase or decrease bus fares on a daily basis, Bali said. He, however, added that the state government would consider reduction in bus fares if there
was substantial cut in diesel rates. Bali also refuted the allegations of Prem Kumar Dhumal that benefits of the subsidised foodgrains, being given by the Union government, were not being forwarded to the poor. He said the government had decontrolled the sugar. Now the Himachal government was not receiving any subsidised sugar from the Union government. Justifying minor increase in rates of pulses being supplied through the Public Distribution System (PDS), Bali said prices of pulses in the open market had increased manifold. Some pulses were now being sold at rates beyond Rs 100 per kg. The Himachal Government also has to procure pulses from the open market. The government was supplying pulses at less than half the rate than the open market. Reacting to the statement of Dhumal that the people of the state wanted mustard oil in place of refined oil under the PDS, Bali said if the leader and the Opposition MLAs gave in writing to the state government, they would start supplying mustard oil. When asked about the financial health of the state, GS Bali said that it was not healthy but also not alarming. |
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Govt spending Rs 1.04 cr on free textbooks
Dalhousie, November 7 This was stated by MLA Asha Kumari while presiding over an annual prize distribution function of the local Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Memorial Government Senior Secondary School here today. She said under the scheme, 12,424 students of the district had been benefited while 213 intelligent students had been provided notebooks. Twentyfour government high schools had been upgraded to Plus Two and 18 schools high school, Asha said. She announced that Rs 6 lakh would be made available for the construction of a roof over the stage and a stairway on the school premises. She also granted Rs 25,000 for cultural activities of school students. On the occasion, the MLA gave away prizes to outstanding students.
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Pollution notice to panchayats
Tribune News Service
Solan, November 7 It was observed that several panchayats, including that of Kumarhatti, Barog, Jabli, Kandaghat and Garkhal-Sanawar, were dumping domestic garbage openly along the roadsides. Also, there was no system to scientifically dispose it off. Such garbage was burnt after a huge quantity was collected and this led to pollution. Brij Bhushan, Regional Officer of the SPCB, said large-scale garbage was found dumped openly along the roads and the panchayats owed no responsibility in putting in place a system to scientifically dispose the garbage. He said the panchayats have been directed to either tie-up with the adjoining municipal committees or set-up their own plants to ensure scientific disposal. It was worth mentioning that despite collecting fee from each household and shop to dispose such waste, little was being done to dispose the garbage in a scientific manner. In other panchayats, apart from earmarking a place for throwing garbage, the panchayats had failed to do anything in this direction. While the panchayats along the main roads were seen indulging in this the most, it was ironical that several panchayats located in the far-flung rural areas had set an example of cleanliness by bagging Nirmal Panchayat awards. Though municipal solid waste disposal had become a crucial part of municipal committee functioning, the rural bodies were yet to come forward and invest in this crucial sector, especially since they were registering a high population growth, thus necessitating the need to adopt scientific waste disposal mechanisms. In the absence of a disposal system, people have been habitually dumping their domestic waste virtually on the road. An illustration of this fact was the case of Barog, where there has been no let-up in dumping debris on the road, despite the officials of the Forest Department giving a firm rebuff to the panchayat for polluting a piece of forest land. The panchayat has instead selected another site where dumping of garbage has become a routine affair now.
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Quake in HP can hit many cities in Punjab: Study
Dharamsala, November 7 Scientific studies carried out by scientists during the workshop revealed that in case an 8-magnitude quake struck in Himalayan region, besides Himachal, many cities of Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir would suffer maximum damage. Dr AK Mahajan and Dr Pooja Rajput from CUHP and Central University, Srinagar (Uttarakhand), respectively, said if an 8-magnitude quake struck the region, Kangra, Palampur, Nagrota Bagwan, Mandi, Sundernagar, Shimla, Baddi, Solan, Hamirpur, Chamba, Pathankot, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Moga, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Anantnag and Jammu cities would suffer maximum destruction. Dr BK Arora and BK Bansal from the Union Ministry for Earth Sciences said assessments were being made as to what fraction of stain was accumulating from the ongoing collision between Indian and Asian plates. The 1905 infamous Kangra earthquake occurred at a time when 7 to 9 metre slip deficit had occurred. At that time just half of it was released, they said. Prabhas Pande, former Additional Director, Geological Survey of India, said in north-west Himalayas one bloc lying between the Ravi in
the west, the Sutlej and Beas in the east and the Chandra river on northern boundaries had been identified as seismically-active Kangra zone. It comprises a 16,300 square kilometre area. He said as per Census 2001, Kangra district had 5 lakh housing units. In the past decade, the figure had gone up. It was a matter of concern that most of the development had been taking place in utter disregard of the standard norms and codes for seismic zones. The situation was more alarming as Kangra fell in zone 5 in terms of seismic vulnerability, Prabhas Pande said. Dr Ajay Paul from the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said 15 local earthquakes had occurred in Himachal between August 2011 and July 2013. From their analysis, it seemed the epicentre of recent quakes lied in the area north of the epicentre of the 1905 Kangra earthquake. Dr ML Sharma from the Department of Earthquake Engineering of Indian Institute of
Technology, Roorkee, said urban development in sedimentary plains had increased their
vulnerability to earthquakes due to the presence of sediments. Sunil Dhar from the Department of Geology at Government College, Dharamsala, said data from 1980 to 2011 revealed that Gepang Gath Glacier in the Chandra valley of Himachal was melting at a very fast rate. In 1980,
the area under glacier had decreased from 12.18 square kilometre to 9.82 square kilometre. This loss of area under the glacier had led to the formation of a lake extending up to 77 hectares in the Chandra valley. The lake now posed a threat to habitations in the Lahaul valley, he said. Swati Sharma, Aditya Awasthi and AK Mahajan from CUHP presented reasons for massive landslides in the Terra Lines area near Dharamsala. They said loose cohesion in soil particles followed by excessive infiltration of rainwater led to landslides. |
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HPSEBL withdraws notice after pollution board’s objection
Solan, November 7 The orders (dated October 21) have been issued by chief engineer (commercial) who has directed chief engineer (operations) and all superintending engineers to comply with these orders with immediate effect and even submit compliance report after receipt of directions from the SPCB. The HPSEBL had put on hold power disconnections of erring units which were recommended by the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) for violating water and air Act and each
such unit was given a five-day notice to settle his case amicably with the SPCB before implementing power disconnection orders. “Since the SPCB issues notices for power disconnection after according adequate time to an erring unit to amend its treatment plants and at least three such notices are issued before the Board officials finally recommend a case for disconnecting the power supply, the move to give them five more days was tantamount to abetting the violation as the offenders have violated the air and water Acts which has a precedence over the electricity Act,” an SPCB official said. The member secretary of the SPCB had taken up this issue with the chief engineer (commercial) on September 23, while stating that the erring units did not deserve this five-day additional time period to effect disconnection of their power connections and their directions should be immediately complied with. While these orders have come as a relief to the officials of the SPCB, they would tighten the noose around field officials of the HPSEBL who have been deliberately sitting on such disconnection orders and giving additional time to such units to operate despite detection of serious violations. It, however, remains to be seen if the HPSEBL would initiate any action against such erring officials in case they fail to implement power disconnection orders in time. The SPCB had tightened its noose around units found violating various environmental norms after a writ filed before
the National Green Tribunal had asked the Board to ensure compliance of norms and submit a report regarding the erring units before it. The SPCB had ordered power disconnections of as many as nine hotels in the Kasauli and Parwanoo area in the recent past for failing to obtain consent to establish and operate before initiating their operations thus violating the laid norms. How it happened * Had put on hold power disconnections of erring units which were recommended by SPCB for violating water and air Act *
Each such unit was given a five-day notice to settle his case amicably with the SPCB before implementing power disconnection orders *
SPCB said the erring units did not deserve this five-day additional time period to effect disconnection of their power connections and their directions should be
immediately complied with |
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Higher reaches experience snow in Chamba
Chamba, November 7 Saach Pass is a (4420 m/14500 ft) high mountain pass in Chamba district
on the Pir Panjal range of the Himalayas. Forest Minister Thakur Singh Bharmouri, has directed the authorities to ensure that the stock
of ration and other edible commodities should be stored in the snowbound areas for
winter months. — OC |
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Demand to lift ban on monkey culling
Shimla, November 7 The CPM staged a protest in front of
the deputy commissioner’s office in support of the victims. “We cannot move alone in the streets,” rued Sunita Sachdeva, a house wife whose sister- in-law Mamta, 36, mother of two children, died after she fell from the balcony of her house on November 4, scared by the monkeys. “The government must drive all monkeys away from the town and save precious human lives”, she said. Mamta was not the only victim of monkey attacks. “My daughter was in Sacred Heart Convent School when monkeys attacked her and scratched her arms,” said Vijay Kaushal, demanding culling of monkeys. In fact, city hospitals get about 250 victims of monkey and stray dog bite in a month. Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) gets four- five cases of monkey bite every day, said Dr Ramesh Chand, medical superintendent of the IGMC. The Ripon hospital alone gets over 57 cases of monkey bite, while 110 cases of stray dog bites are received in a month. Shimla deputy mayor Tikender Panwar said
the menace had assumed dangerous proportions in the city. The government must wake up and allow shooting of monkeys as human life was more important than protection of monkeys, said Rohit Mohan Sharma, a city resident. The victims of monkey bite said ministers and officials had chowkidars and security staff to protect their houses, but the residents faced the menace daily. Dr Kuldip Tanvar, president of Himachal Kisan Sabha, said “It is a
pity that the state government has not sought lifting of ban on culling, while Centre can issue notification and declare monkeys and langurs as vermin, as empowered under the Section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972”. The chief wildlife warden and range officer are authorised officers to allow a person to kill or hunt animals, including monkeys, which have become dangerous to human life or property and standing crops in the area, he added, citing legal provision in the Act. The successive state governments have been
beating around the bush as monkeys and wildlife menace cost Rs 2,000 crore loss to standing crops every year in most districts in the state,
said Tanvar. The residents rejected the state wildlife department’s proposed move of a park in the city outskirts and sterilisation. The number of monkeys
had increased to over 5 lakh in the state and the residents rejected the wildlife wing’s claim
that the number has decreased by over 80,000 due to sterilisation. Shimla Mayor Sanjay Chauhan said they had proposed concrete measures like culling and export of monkeys for labs across the world. Human life is more precious than monkeys, he added. |
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Panel set to prepare health roadmap for state Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 7 It will seek opinion of all stakeholders, including elected representatives from various political parties. The Commission will hold its first meeting on November 26 and 27 to deal with the health issues confronting the state. Commission chairman Dr SK Bhan, retired secretary and a paediatrician, will chair the meeting. During their two-day visit, the medical experts will visit some health facilities to get an idea about the existing health infrastructure. The Commission is likely to meet once again in December at Dharamsala so that it can submit its interim report to the state government by March, next year. Vineet Chawdhry, additional chief secretary (health and urban development), said: “The Commission has sought data from us on health facilities, their distribution, major health concerns and the spending on healthcare.” Chawdhry said the Commission was keen on interacting with a wide variety of stakeholders, including voluntary organisations, MPs and MLAs, so that their feedback could also be taken. Other members are — Dr Vinod Pathak, HoD, Paediatrics, AIIMS; Dr SK Sharma, former Director of PGIMER, Chandigarh; Dr Rajesh Kumar, former HoD, Community Medicine, PGIMER, Chandigarh; Dr Raj Bahadur, Head of Orthopaedics at PGI; Dr Randeep Guleria, Head of Pulmonary Medicine and Nachiket Mor, member of the central board of the RBI. Issues to be taken up * Use of telemedicine and information systems to enhance the reach and quality of healthcare * The areas of concern are water-borne diseases, malnutrition, anaemia, diarrhoea and the absence of proper trauma care centre in view of fatal road mishaps * Ensuring enhanced role of nursing professionals * Despite the fact that 200 nurses have just been recruited, there is still a shortage of almost 600 nurses in the state
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State roads cry for repair
Palampur, November 7 The situation is worse in rural areas where, despite repeated requests of MLAs and ministers, no funds have been released. Congress MLAs said the development projects were hanging fire due to the absence of adequate budget allocations. During the 2012 Assembly elections, the Chief Minister promised that giving a new look to the state higways would be his top priority, but nothing has been done so far. — OC |
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Lab assistant found dead in Una
Una, November 7 According to police sources, Rajinder reached home from work at about 11pm on Thursday, after which he had his dinner and went to his room. In the morning, when he did not respond to his parent’s call, the room was broken open and the body was found hanging by the ceiling fan. Superintendent of Police Anupam Sharma, who reached the site after receiving the information, said a case had been registered. He said investigations would be initiated to know the cause of death. — OC |
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Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kangra, Davinder Singh today issued summons against Anurag Thakur, president of the HPCA and BJP MP from Hamirpur, in a case registered against him by the Vigilance for felling trees from the land on which Pavillion Hotel has been constructed.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Sandeep Kadam today ordered an inquiry into the alleged encroachment on the Public Works Department (PWD) and forest land by Mandi Municipal Council president Sushila Soukhla.
The state could finally get good air connectivity as chairman and managing director of Deccan Airways Capt Gopinath today assured the state government that he would start flights from
Shimla, Dharamsala and Kullu to Delhi and Chandigarh within a month if all clearances were granted, a press note said.
Shimla, November 7
