HIMACHAL PRADESH

The Himachal Pradesh Police have won the National e-Governance Silver award for their Third Eye, evidence-based policing with CCTV surveillance matrix in the industrial hub of Baddi.

Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu said: Our Command and Control Centre and CCTV Surveillance Matrix (Project Third Eye), which we implemented in Baddi police district, has been awarded the Silver Category Award for National e-Governance-2022 in the district-level category for 2021-22, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievance, Government of India.

He said: It is an exemplary achievement and our efforts have borne fruit where we were able to encourage industries to contribute. The area has around 5,000 units and heinous crimes such as murders and dacoity were solved. It will be replicated in other districts with intelligence traffic management system and automatic number plate in major tourist clusters. I congratulate Superintendent of Police Rohit Malpani who had initiated it during his tenure in Baddi.

The has decided not to seek the renewal of permission from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest for the culling of monkeys as only five simians have been killed since 2016, owing to religious beliefs.

It was after holding a detailed discussion with experts and wildlife officials last week that the Forest Department decided not to push the case for further renewal of the earlier notification, declaring monkeys as vermin in 93 tehsils across the state. The earlier notification, allowing scientific culling of monkeys across the state, including Shimla, had expired over two and a half years ago.

As per the official records, only five monkeys have been killed in the state since they were declared as vermin. So, we felt there was no justification in seeking the renewal of the order from the Centre, said Rajiv Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator Forest (Wildlife).

Moreover, decline in the number of monkeys from 1.36 lakh in the 2019 Census was also taken into consideration before arriving at the decision, he added.

The announced the schedule for assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh.

Notification for the polls will be issued on October 17, last date for making nominations is October 25, last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 29 and counting will take place on December 8.

The term of Himachal Pradesh Assembly ends on January 8, 2023.

The Commission had recently visited the state to take stock of poll preparedness.

The Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education (HPBSE) has decided to change the evaluation system of board classes. The evaluation of Class III, V, VIII and IX to XII will now not be entirely on the basis of written examinations held by the board.

It was decided at the meeting that for Class III, V and VIII, 50 per cent marks would be given on the basis of the exams conducted by the education board and 50 per cent on the basis of internal assessment by their schools.

Of the 50 per cent, the schools would give 25 per cent marks on the basis of the comprehensive academic evaluation of students and 25 per cent on the basis of extra-curricular activities.

The has denotified 117 primary and middle across the state with zero enrolment. The denotified schools include 78 primary schools and 39 middle schools. These schools had zero enrolment as on May 3, 2023.

The maximum number of schools has been denotified in Shimla district. As for the primary schools, 20 have been denotified in Shimla district, 15 in Mandi district and 11 in Kangra district. Among middle schools also, Shimla tops the list with 20 schools.

Maharishi Markandeshwar (MM) Hospital, Kumarhatti, has received the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals accreditation, which is the highest body which monitors hospital quality and safety standards.

It is the second hospital in the state to attain this accreditation. MM medical college is the lone such college to get this accreditation in the state. It is a 810-bed tertiary care hospital providing Services in all specialties besides RT-PCR lab (accredited by NABL) and 24-hour emergency, besides intensive care units, 10 operation theatres and labour room services. The hospital also organizes regular Health camps in rural areas of Solan, Sirmour and Shimla districts.

Himachal Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that classes 11th and 12th in government schools would be made smart in a phased manner.

Sukhu directed the Education Department to identify schools with good student strength, Internet connectivity and good buildings, to implement this facility efficiently. He said that in the subsequent phases, this facility would be extended to classes 8th to 10th and then classes 7th to 1st.

He said that the is paying special attention to improve the education standards in government schools, particularly in the remote areas of the State so that students studying in these institutions are not deprived of quality education. He said the State Government has laid special emphasis on the Education sector in the current budget. As part of these efforts, library rooms will be established in every Senior Secondary School and 40,000 modern desks will be provided to government schools this year.

The CM said that more than 17,000 primary school teachers will receive tablets to adopt best educational practices in facilitating better education for students. Additionally, the government would also encourage high-achieving students in government educational institutions, he added.

The Union Government today approved 12 projects amounting to Rs 194.58 crore under Central Road and Fund (CRIF) scheme for the state.

The approved projects include Rs 16.62-crore bridge over Markanda river in Sirmaur district, Rs 22.82 crore bridge over Beas at Kothipattan on Dharampur Sandhole road in Mandi district, Rs 10.07 crore bridge over Markanda river on Moginand to Suketi road in Sirmaur district, Rs 8.39 crore project for widening of Ara Chowk to Jourbar road in Kangra district, Rs 14.60 crore for double lane pre-bridge with footpath over Beas at Thalout in Mandi district and Rs 21.03 crore for widening of Parour Dheera Naura road in Kangra district.

The was committed to uniform development of the state. This was stated by Virender Kanwar, Rural Development Minister, while addressing people on the Himachal Day.

He said that despite corona virus pandemic, the development works in the district continued uninterrupted. He said that Rs 46 crore were spent on MNERGA works in the previous year while Rs 110 crore were spent in the past three years. As many as 119 farmers were provided Rs 2.8 crore for solar fencing in the district to protect crops while 900 hectare land area would be covered under Shiva Project. He said that over 843 hectare area was already identified and being developed.

Virender Kanwar said that 4,417 families were provided assistance for house construction and over Rs 60 crore were given to the beneficiaries in the state.

According a top priority to uphold the sanctity of examination, the Himachal Pradesh government is adopting a zero Tolerance policy towards the use of any unfair means in examinations to encourage the honest and hard-working students.

Stating this, the state Education Minister Rohit Thakur on Sunday informed that directions have been issued to all the private and government institutions to take appropriate steps to keep a strict vigil during the examinations and ensure stern action against those found guilty.

Directions have been issued to constitute a special high-level committee at the university or education institution level to check and prevent the use of unfair means in the examinations and the committee would be held accountable, in case any such malpractices are found to be in use, added the Minister.