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Prayer hall near Dehradun ransacked
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Van Gujjars stage protest march
Forest dwellers take out a march from Gandhi Park to Secretariat in Dehradun on Monday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
Seat Sharing
MC chief’s mother assaults YC gen secy
Jal Vidyut Nigam strikes gold
Pathak, Sah dismayed over Kapil’s arrest
Declare Ganga a national river, say experts
Identify mishap-prone areas, says DGP
Nagaland cops bag team title
Regional athletic meet begins
Sarthak wins dist TT tourney
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Prayer hall near Dehradun ransacked
Dehradun, November 3 The attackers tore Christian literature, broke furniture and looted the donation box . They took away the Holy Bible. As the attackers threatened to desecrate a copy of the holy book at Clock Tower, Congress leaders intervened. Four workers of the sena were detained at the site this afternoon. Visibly shaken, pastor Hemant said the Bethesda Mary Trust, a registered body, had been running a prayer hall for 90 Christian families residing in the area. "Today at 9.30 am, a group of youths, numbering 50 or more, astride bikes, scooters and cars along with policemen descended on the prayer hall and started beating us up. They broke the furniture and took away Rs 6,500 from the donation box. They also took away all our literature and the holy book," he alleged. Pastor Hemant, caretaker Ranjit and another youth, Asher, was brutally assaulted. The police took away Asher. "The attackers raised slogans against Christians," said Ranjit. The left threatening to burn the the Bible at Clock Tower. W ailing Christian women and children hastened to approach a few Christian leaders who contacted Suryakant Dhasmana, a senior Congress leader. Dhasmana informed Dehradun SP Pushpak Jyoti about the incident following which policemen in strength were stationed at the Clock Tower. At noon when the Vir Savarkar Sena activists gathered there, they were taken away and the literature was seized. The workers were later let off . It was only after pressure was mounted on senior police officials that a case was registered under Sections 452, 323, 380,427 and 295, IPC, against “unknown workers of the Vir Savarkar Sena ” on a complaint by Christians. However, no one was arrested till late evening. Congress leader Dhasmana said this was the fourth attack on Christians since the BJP come to power in the state. " They are trying to turn Uttarakhand into Gujarat and Orissa," he said. |
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Van Gujjars stage protest march
Dehradun, November 3 Holding placards, forest dwellers from all across Uttarakhand expressed their anguish over the delay in the implementation of Forest Dwellers Act in the state. While staging a massive protest that started from Gandhi Park and culminated at the Secretariat, the protesters also submitted a memorandum to the state government, threatening to further intensify their agitation, if their concerns were not addressed at the earliest. The 14-point memorandum while seeking prompt implementation of the forest dwellers in the state also took up the issue of forcible eviction of Van Gujjars from the Rajaji National Park. Reconsideration of Critical Wild Life Habitat, rendering the Scheduled Tribe status to Van Gujjars and CBI probe into atrocities hurled on Rajaji Van Gujjars were other prominent issues raised in the memorandum. They also accused the forest department of acting in an autocratic manner with least regard for forest rights. The protesters, who were mostly Gujjars, while resorting to anti-BJP government sloganeering also pledged to continue with their agitation till the forest rights were restored on them. Srikant Verma of Gujjar Kalyan Samiti and Ashok Chowdhary of National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers were among the prominent participants in the protest march. |
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Seat Sharing
Dehradun, November 3 Party’s chief spokesman, Virendra Mohan Uttarakhandi and senior party leader, BD Raturi today categorically said that the party will lay claim to two Lok Sabha seats in the state including Tehri seat in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. He said the UKD was hopeful that BJP will stick to its alliance dharma and leave two seats for the party but added that if need be will also contest all the five parliamentary seats. On the on and off reports of dissatisfaction within BJP, Virendra Mohan Uttarakhandi while terming it as internal matter of BJP admitted that such rebellions put an adverse impact on the development activities of the state. Reiterating party’s commitment for permanent capital status for Gairsain, the chief spokesman of UKD, categorically held that UKD under no circumstances will budge from its stand of rendering permanent capital status for Garsain. He also demanded that the report of the Dixit commission, constituted to decide on the permanent capital of Uttarakhand be made public. Party will be holding a day’s fast programme at Gairsen on November 9. While seeking a concrete policies for agriculture and industry, UKD leader BD Raturi, who also heads the Bhagirathi Development Authority said lack of policies were only leading to rising unemployment. He also held that the party favoured implementation of 73rd and 74th amendments in the Panchayati Raj arrangements. Uttarakhandi also strongly advocated direct elections for the posts of Zila and Ksetra Panchayats. He also claimed that public support for UKD was growing. Uttarakhand Kranti Dal has a minister in the Khanduri government of Uttarakhand and some of its leaders also hold quasi-ministerial posts. |
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MC chief’s mother assaults YC gen secy
Haridwar, November 3 The incident happened when the youth Congress activists were protesting against the municipal corporation inability to handle the cleanliness in the city. They burnt the effigy of the chairperson and were shouting slogans when Johra's mother came out of the house and had a heated a argument with Youth Congress general secretary Vishal Kharewa and in the process hit him with a wooden stick. Vishal was hit on the head and it began bleeding. The incident happened barely 10m from the police post. On the intervention of the police, both parties reached an agreement. Youth Congress president Ravish Bhatija said, "We didn't file the complaint considering the age of the chairperson's mother." Johra termed the incident as unfortunate. |
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Jal Vidyut Nigam strikes gold
Dehradun, November 3 Apart from it, Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited’s chairman Yogendra Prasad has also been accorded “Bhartiya Shromani Puruskar”. Both awards will be presented at the Institute of Economic Studies function held to be in New Delhi on November 17. Disclosing this S.K. Rastogi, general manager at the nigam, said the corporation was working to renovate and upgrade its old power stations in order to achieve higher power generations targets. He recalled that the nigam not only completed the ambitious 304 Mega watt Maneri Bhali phase II project but also ensured generation of power in Jammugaad and Urgam hydroprojects. Elaborating on the achievements of Yogendra Prasad, the present chairman, he said the he had been instrumental in carrying forward Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited to new heights. He said Prasad has been a recipient of several national and international awards. |
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Pathak, Sah dismayed over Kapil’s arrest
Dehradun, November 3 In a letter written to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj-Gen. B.C. Khanduri (retired), Pathak and Sah, who were also in the 11-member team of trekkers and porters from India and got trapped on the Bhatwari-Kalindi Khal-Arbatal-Ghastoli-Mana route in September this year, mentioned, “It is shocking that Mount Shepherd employee has been arrested notwithstanding that it was Harish Rana and Sukhwinder Singh of Mountain Shepherd, who saved the lives of trekkers.” |
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Declare Ganga a national river, say experts
Dehradun, November 3 "The Ganga river is unique, " says the commission in its first interim report. Dr M. Anandakrishnan, chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-Kanpur, heads the body. The commission has eminent scientists and engineers, including Dr G.D. Agrawal, former head of the department of environmental engineering at the IIT-Kanpur, P.C. Tyagi, former chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board, Dr R.H. Siddiqui, retired professor in environmental engineering at Aligarh Muslim University, Dr K.S. Chawla, MD, CTC, Dr Ravi Chopra, director, People's Science Institute, and Dr R.C. Trivedi, retired environmental scientist, as members. The convener is Rajendra Singh of Tarun Bharat Sangh and a Magsaysay Awardee. The experts have been entrusted with the task of considering social and cultural aspects to ensure a status for the Ganga and protect the purity of its water. The panel has held that from Gaumukh to Dharasu, the river should ideally be allowed to flow in its pristine form. Since this flow has already been regulated by various projects, it is now essential that environmental standards be maintained throughout the stretch at all times. With reference to the Loharinag Pala hydel project, it has recommended that the flow at Loharinag must always be more than 16 cusecs. It has expressed concern at the loss of diversity of fish and other organisms in the Gangotri-Dharasu stretch. "The loss to power generation will be significantly below 10 per cent at Loharinag. Such losses can be reduced by suitable changes in the operational schedule or in the choice of equipment or technology," says Dr G.D. Agrawal. "Once the environmental flow regime has been decided, it must be monitored regularly, preferably with local participation," he says. The Ganga’s high-capacity for self- purification deserves special protection, says the report. "Sudden changes in velocity, flow, silt load, bed conditions and exposure to the sun, have to be avoided." The main source of pollution in the Gaumukh-Dharasu stretch, the report says, is from discharge of domestic sewage and dumping of solid waste from towns near the river. "Sewage treatment and its disposal along with solid waste need to be introduced at such places along with adequate provisions for sanitation on pilgrim routes," the report recommends. "A stage is being reached when the number of visitors may have to be regulated to manage the stress on environment and water quality,” warns Paritosh Tyagi, a former chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board. The commission has recommended that the management of the river should be in the hands of the people with the government acting as a facilitator. It has proposed a river management authority with equal representation of the main stakeholders: local residents, religious and cultural leaders, pilgrims and environmentalists or scientists. |
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Identify mishap-prone areas, says DGP
Dehradun, November 3 During the meeting, discussions were also held regarding the new community policing system introduced in Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar. The DGP also reviewed the work of the task force constituted in connection with different matters in the past one year. ADGP (CID) Vijay Raghav Pant issued directions to the cops to initiate strict action against those indulging in narcotic trade. He also appreciated the Champawat police for seizing 15kg of charas recently. In the wake of recent serial blasts in different parts of the country, IG (intelligence/security) Anil Raturi issued instructions to the cops and asked them to be alert. The SSPs and SPs informed the DGP about the law and order situation in their respective districts. Others present at the meting included ADGP (administration) J.S.Pandey, IG (PAC) Ajay Kumar, Ram Singh Meena (IG provision and modernisation), S.S.Negi (DIG, Kumaon), Alok Sharma DIG (PAC HQ) and Abhilasha Bisht (DIG crime/vigilance). |
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Nagaland cops bag team title
Dehradun, November 3 Nagaland’s V. Hibo defeated Uttarakhand’s Ashok Kumar 21-18 and 21-19 to clinch the open singles trophy. It was a close contest between the two but Hibo kept his nerves to register the win. In the team championship final, Nagaland defeated ITBP in straight sets 2-0 to grab the trophy. In the first singles match of the team championship played between V. Hibo (Nagaland) and Nishith Chandra (ITBP), Hibo lost his first match 20-21 but came back strongly in his second match defeating his opponent 21-10 to make it 1-1. In the third match, Hibo overpowered Nishith 21-13. In the doubles match, Nagaland’s Hibo and Imlisunep overpowered Nishith and V. Anand of ITBP in successive sets 21-12 and 21-14, winning the team championship trophy. In men’s open doubles match, Manipur’s Radhey Shyam and Ashok Kumar Singh defeated Nagaland’s Imlisunep and Wankhede 16-21, 21-13 and 21-11. In the mixed doubles final, Tamil Nadu emerged the winner. They defeated Uttarakhand 21-11 and 21-13 to clinch the trophy 2-0. Tamil Nadu’s L.Sanga outclassed K.Kire of Nagaland 21-12 and 21-18 in straight sets to emerge winner of 50 plus singles. Punjab’s Manmohan Singh won the 40 plus singles. He defeated Tamil Nadu’s M.Ravi in straight sets 21-14 and 21-14. |
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Regional athletic meet begins
Mussoorie, November 3 Inaugurating the meet, Jot Singh Gunsola, local MLA, said such events were a platform for nurturing young talents of the country. Sports helped in developing all-round personality of children, he said. O.P. Uniyal, chairman of Nagar Palika, said such events provided tremendous encouragement to children and expressed satisfaction over the fact that that this meet was being organised regularly here. The events that were held today included shotput, discuss throw, javelin throw and long jump. |
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Sarthak wins dist TT tourney
Dehradun, November 3 Sarthak overpowered Akshya in a closely fought five set final match by 12-10, 9-11,11-5, 10-12, 11-4. In the U-17 doubles Sarthak and Ajay defeated Suraj and Akshya 12-10, 11-6 and 11-7. Earlier in the first U-17 singles semi-finals Akshya beat Akash Gupta in a five set match 9-11, 6-11, 13-11, 11-9 and 11-5. And in the second semi-finals Sarthak outclassed Suraj Rana 7-11, 14-12, 11-8, 8-11 and 11-4. |
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Dehradun, November 3
Dehradun, November 3
