Page 10 - Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Congress expels 30 Chopal block leaders for anti-party activities

The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Wednesday expelled 30 office-bearers of its Chopal block committee for anti-party activities. The expulsions came just a day before the counting of votes for the assembly polls held last month. Acting on a resolution passed by the block committee, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Pratibha Singh expelled the functionaries from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect. The expelled members included vice president Dhiren Singh Chauhan and Santosh Dogra.

HP Polls: Vote counting to begin Dec 8 in 68 counting halls at 59 locations

More than 10,000 security personnel, returning officers, and other support staff will oversee the counting of votes for the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls on Thursday. The counting will start at 8 am in 68 counting halls spread across 59 locations throughout the state, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maneesh Garg said on Wednesday. The counting will start with the postal ballot at 8 am followed by EVM counting at 8.30 am. Garg said that subject to availability of space, a maximum of 14 counting tables and a minimum of eight counting tables will be placed in the counting halls, with a separate table to accommodate nearly 500 postal ballots. There will also be separate tables for scanning of electronically transmitted postal ballots linked to computers for counting. About 76.44 per cent of voters had exercised their franchise in the assembly polls held on November 12. As many as 52,859 (87 per cent approximately) postal ballots were received by December 6 by the returning officers f

Himachal Assembly polls: BJP, Congress both claim to win over 40 seats

Two days ahead of the counting of votes for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, both BJP and Congress on Tuesday claimed that they will get more than 40 seats of the total 68. Himachal Pradesh BJP president Suresh Kashyap said heavy voting by the women electorate and the overall 76.61 per cent polling in the assembly elections was an indication that the saffron party would again form the government in the state. In a press release issued here, he said a meeting of the national-level office bearers of the BJP was held in Delhi and party officials from Himachal Pradesh participated in it. He said the election results would be far more favorable than predicted in exit polls and the BJP will win more than 40 seats. State BJP general secretary Trilok Jamwal, who is contesting the elections from the Bilaspur (Sadar) constituency, also claimed that his party would form the government with a full majority as per the feedback received after the polling. Congress general secretary Nare

Exit polls predict comfortable wins for BJP in Gujarat, AAP in MCD

Himachal headed for a tight finish between BJP and Congress

Here is what exit polls predict for Gujarat, Himachal, Delhi civic body

The outcome of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections will be declared on December 8 while Delhi civic body reults will be declared on December 7

Country's first hydroelectric project in Himachal going down drain

The project in Jogindernagar in Mandi district has been facing a public outcry for long as locals say it is located in the state and using the state's water for generating power

Over 40% of total inmates lodged in Himachal jails arrested in NDPS cases

Drug abuse has become a major challenge in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh and over 40 per cent of the total inmates lodged in 14 prisons in the state have been booked in connection with drugs under NDPS Act. The prisons in Himachal are overcrowded as 2,909 inmates are lodged against the capacity of 2,437 of which 68 per cent are under trial and 32 per cent are convicted. Out of the total 2,909 inmates 1,189 (40.8 per cent) were arrested in drug-related cases, officials said. A total of 7,942 Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases were pending in the courts as on November 18, out of which 688 were pending for less than three months, 664 for three to six months, 935 for six months to one year, 953 for 12 months to 18 months, 1,110 for 18 months to two years and 3,601 were pending for more than two years. Over 40 per cent of the total inmates lodged in 14 prisons in the state have been booked in connection with drugs under NDPS Act, the officials said. As speedy .

Apple transportation through drones to become reality in Himachal's Kinnaur

Apple growers in remote and inaccessible areas of the tribal Kinnaur district are in for a new revolution as transportation of apples through drone technology would soon become a reality. Successful trials of transportation of 20 kg apple boxes were done in Rohan Kanda village in Nichar block of Kinnaur district and the boxes were transported for a distance of 12 km from an orchard to the main road in six minutes by the Vegrow apple procurement agency in collaboration with Skyeair. The trial for lifting apple boxes was done to check the feasibility, battery and rotation time and assess the load lifted in one rotation in November and the cost aspect is being worked on now. "Our target is to lift about 200 kg in one go to make the transportation economical for the apple growers and we are hopeful that the fruitful model would be implemented by the next season," said incharge of Vegrow, Dinesh Negi. Financial feasibility is being chalked out and the administration would facilitate the

Technology influencing world, says Himachal Pradesh Guv Arlekar

Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday inaugurated the opening session of a two-day national conference on Emerging Trends in Digital Crime and Forensic

HP governor stresses on need for national lab for cybercrime investigation

Himachal Pradesh Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Friday said there was a need for a national-level laboratory to investigate cybercrime, which has become a part of life. Arlekar was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day national conference on 'Emerging Trends in Digital Crime and Forensic' organised by Himachal Pradesh University's Department of Forensic Science in association with the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (Northern Range). Urging the common people to be vigilant, Arlekar said technology had become easily accessible and it was going to impact everyone. "Technology is influencing the world and we are no exception. Cybercrime is on the rise and has become a source of all crimes and we should not become victims of technology," he said. Himachal Pradesh has a long border and technology can be used in the frontier villages to keep an eye on cross-border activity, he said. Arlekar said suggestions and research papers presented at the two-day national confer

NSUI writes to HP Guv over food price, quality at joints in University

Congress' student wing NSUI on Friday urged Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to set up a committee to fix the price of food and check its quality at food joints in the Himachal Pradesh University. Yaseen Batt and Yogesh Yadav, the president and vice president of the National Students Union of India, HPU unit, in their memorandum to the governor urged him to include the members of their group too in the committee. The NSUI also demanded that students of BA, BSc, and BCom who failed in EVS exam, should be passed as there are no EVS teachers in any college of the state. In their memorandum, they also demanded a refund of fees of first year students, who passed the re-evaluation. Investigation of the quality of construction works going on in the university and cancellation of fake admissions in PhD were the two other demands that found a mention in the NSUI letter.

Fine of nearly Rs 34 lakh imposed on NCFSC group of institution: Officials

A hefty penalty of nearly Rs 34.05 lakh has been imposed NCFSC group of institution by the state's educational commission for violating the regulations of a teacher education programme, officials said. Seventeen institutions have admitted students in two years Diploma in Nursery Teacher Training (DNTT) and one-year Nursery Teacher Training (NTT) courses after getting affiliation from NCFSC in violation of Regulations on National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), the officials said. Declaring the admissions as invalid, the double bench of the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (HPPEIRC), comprising Chairman and member, Major General (Retd) Atul Kaushik and Sashi Kant Sharma directed the erring 17institutions to refund the fee with nine per cent interest. The HPPEIRC imposed a penalty of Rs 34,05,480 on the NCFSC group of institutions, kaushik said. The fee charged for DNTT and NTT course was Rs 38,940 and Rs 24,780 and the total fee recovered

10.7% increase witnessed in voters in Himachal Pradesh, says poll official

"There is an increase of 5.37 lakh voters and the number of votes polled increased by 4.33 lakh in 2022," he said

Over 6,000 govt-run schools in Himachal have less than 20 students: Report

A total of 6106 government schools in Himachal Pradesh have less than 20 students including 5113 primary and 993 middle schools in the state, according to a report. The number ranges between 21-60 in 4478 primary and 895 middle schools and 61 to 100 in 681 primary and 47 middle schools, a recent report by Unified District Information System for Education stated. There are 18,028 schools in the state of which 15,313 are government-run. According to the report, there are 65,973 teachers in government schools including 39,906 male and 26,257 female. However, 12 primary government schools are running without a teacher while 2,969 have one teacher, 5,533 have two teachers and 1,779 have three teachers, it stated. Similarly, 51 middle schools are being run by a single teacher, 416 by two teachers, 773 by three teachers and 701 by four to six teachers, it said. The report also stated that one secondary school with minimum of ten classes is being run by two teachers, ten schools by three

PMGKAY likely to end in December on fiscal, foodgrain constraints

"The food subsidy burden is already crossing Rs 3 trillion and we are hopeful that it will be brought down below that mark," said a senior government official

Trekker missing after avalanche near Friendship Peak in Himachal Pradesh

A trekker has gone missing after an avalanche near the Friendship Peak in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district, officials said on Sunday. Sachin and Ashutosh, residents of Chopal in Shimla district, and Sahil from Manali had started their trek to the peak on November 17, they said. However, Sachin returned to the base camp due to high-altitude sickness while the remaining two continued their journey, the officials said. Ashutosh, who was on the edge of the mountain, was hit by the avalanche when he was just 20 metres short of the summit and he fell towards the DhundiAtal tunnel side on Saturday, Adventure Tour Operator Association vice president Joginder Thakur said. Sahil came back to Manali and reported the matter to police following which a nine-member search team was formed to look for the missing trekker. Thakur was part of the team that carried out search operations on Sunday, with sources saying it is yet to locate Ashutosh. The team has four police personnel, including the l

For the Congress, a middle position is hard to sustain: Zoya Hasan

'While the Congress claims that the yatra is not a tool to win elections, its success will only be gauged in electoral terms in the future'

After Covid-induced lull, HP logs over three-time rise in tourist footfall

Tourism in the hill state has picked up pace after a Covid-induced lull with footfall surging over three times this year till October 31 compared to the corresponding year-ago period. According to data procured from the Tourism department, Himachal Pradesh witnessed the arrival of 1.28 crore tourists, including 28,232 foreigners, between January 1 and October 31. In the corresponding year-ago period, the state had welcomed 41.03 lakh tourists, the data showed. The maximum tourists -- 20.63 lakh -- visited in June while January recorded the lowest footfall at 7.69 lakh. At 30.4 lakh, tourist arrivals in the twin districts of Kullu and Lahaul and Spiti accounted for 23.8 per cent of the total footfall in the first 10 months of 2022. The Atal Tunnel -- an all-weather road beneath the 13,058-foot-high mountain in Rohtang Pass -- has emerged as a tourist hotspot. Visitors are also making a beeline to Sissu in Lahaul and Spiti. Amit Kashyap, tourism director and Himachal Pradesh Tourism

Dalai Lama conferred Gandhi Mandela Award by HP governor Rajendra Arlekar

The award serves to recognise the global leaders who inspire citizens for peace, unity and freedom

Earthquake of magnitude 4.1 hits Himachal: National Centre for Seismology

An earthquake of 4.1 magnitude shook parts of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, according to the National Centre for Seismology. The epicentre of the temblor, which struck at 9:32 pm, was located 27 km north northwest of Mandi in the hill state. The Himalayan region has witnessed a series of quakes over the past fortnight. The Himalayan region along the Uttarakhand-Nepal border has experienced at least 10 earthquakes of varying magnitudes between November 8 and 16, data from the National Centre of Seismology showed.