Dehradun, December 1
In one of the biggest rallies of teachers witnessed in the recent times, at least 8000 teachers under the aegis of Uttarakhand State Teachers Coordination Committee today took to streets in Dehradun.

Seeking pay scale at par with the central teachers, teachers from all across Uttarakhand today marched to Vidhan Sabha starting from Gandhi park and criss-crossing all prominent roads of the Dehradun city. A strong posse of policemen at Rispana Bridge however prevented the protesters from storming Vidhan Sabha. The protesting teachers squatted on the very road and resorted to anti-state government sloganeering. Interestingly, the protesting teachers also had a difference of opinion linked to intensity of protest. However, the strong police presence prevented the teachers on resorting to any misadventure.

The aggrieved teachers asserted that while the state employees are getting full benefits of the sixth pay commission recommendations, it is not the same with state teachers.

In a memorandum addressed to the Chief Minister submitted on the occasion, the teachers pledged to continue with the agitation till their genuine concerns were accepted.

The teachers have also threatened to go for pen-down strike from December 2 to December 5 if government did not accede to their demands. “If still the state government did not budge, the teachers will be forced to go for indefinite boycott of works from December 6”, said Karnail Singh, one of the agitating teachers.

Teachers continue to be the backbone of school education in Uttarakhand with large scale and their protests could affect the daily teaching works. “We will continue with our protests and if necessary will resort to complete boycott of teaching works if need be,” said another teacher Sardar Singh Chauhan, who held the state government completely responsible if the teaching work is affected due to the stir.

Dehradun, December 1
The shadow of veteran Congress leader and Governor of Andhra Pradesh Narain Datt Tiwari seems to be looming large over politics in his native region of Kumaon. The selection of party candidates for the two seats of Lok Sabha are also linked to Tiwari’s willingness to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

This was evident during the visit of Congress observer Viplav Thakur to scout potential candidates for the two Lok Sabha seats of Almora and Nainital today. She was told by majority of the party men that Congress veteran leader N.D. Tiwari would be the most formidable candidate if he wishes to contest the next general election from his home constituency of Nainital. However, if he wishes to take a break due to his advanced age, then Tilak Raj Behad, former minister and Congress legislator from Rudrapur, would be the main candidate due to his strong following in the Udham Singh Nagar district.

Congress has done well in the Panchayat and civic elections in the district. Tiwari protégé and former Congress minister Indira Hariydesh, sitting Congress MP K.C. Singh Baba, former MPs Mohinder Pal and Satyander Gudia are also in the race for the party nomination. But it all depends on the decision of Tiwari.

For Almora seat, there is lot of acrimony between Tiwari and his rival Harish Rawat camp. Rawat used to fight from his home constituency of Almora but in the last delimitation, done during Tiwari regime, Almora seat was declared as reserved seat for scheduled caste candidate, making him ineligible.

Now, Ram Parsad Tamta, a former Uttarakhand minister and a die-hard Tiwari supporter has claimed nomination while Pardeep Tamta, a former legislator and a Harish Rawat supporter, is also in the reckoning. It would be difficult for the party high command to ignore Harish Rawat from his home constituency.

Viplav Thakur who along with Uttarakhand Congress Chief Yashpal Arya met hundreds of Congress party workers said she would report about the prospective candidates to the party high command.

Haridwar, December 1
The demand for inclusion of Saharanpur in Uttarakhand state is gaining ground, with people feeling neglected at the hands of Uttar Pradesh government.

Since the inception of Uttarakhand, which was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in the year 2000, the demand for inclusion of Saharanpur in the hill state is being made at various forums by different organisations, especially traders.

The traders under the banner of Saharanpur Mukti Morcha (SMM) recently held an agitation in the city at the Clock Tower and demanded inclusion of Saharanpur in Uttarakhand.

The traders are upset with inconsistent electricity supply, which is affecting their trade, apart from the Value Added Tax (VAT).

Unlike other states, the rate of VAT is considerably higher in Uttar Pradesh. The excess hike in VAT rate by the state government is affecting traders across Uttar Pradesh and they are not able to compete with their counterparts from other states where VAT rate is a mere four per cent. Also the entry tax levied in the state, which varies from 2-3% according to consumer items, has severely affected traders in the district.

“The demand is justifiable as we are being ill treated in the state. The supply of electricity is very scarce in Saharanpur, apart from water shortage, law and order problems etc. And despite repeated pleas, the UP government is turning a blind eye to the issue,” Uttaranchal head of the Morcha M. Shahzad said.

The SMM is also planning to move the apex court in this regard and is consulting legal advisers.

Incidentally, Haridwar was part of the Saharanpur district till 1989 (in the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh) and presently Saharanpur division comprises two districts - Saharanpur and Muzzaffarnagar.

Meanwhile, traders in Haridwar have supported the move by Saharanpur Mukti Morcha. “It seems beneficial for Uttarakhand, economically and trade-wise,” said Sanjay Chopra of Haridwar mini-trader association.

But many people believe that it would have been much better had the morcha protested during the creation of Uttaranchal and when the areas were being identified for the new state.

“Even at that time it was an arduous task to include Haridwar and Roorkee in Uttaranchal, and after eight years chances of Saharanpur getting into Uttarakhand are bleak,” said J.P. Pandey, member of Uttarakhand Sangharsh Samiti. 

Haridwar, December 1
People thronged at Har-Ki-Pauri to pay their tributes to the son of Uttarakhand, NSG Commando Gajendra who laid his life while repulsing the terrorists attack in Nariman House in Mumbai as his ashes being immersed in river Ganga by his son Gaurav. The scene at the ghat was very emotional and was full of patriotic sentiments.

The family of Gajendra Singh reached at 1pm at the ghat and performed the rites for one hour. Police had a tough time in handling the crowd. “My heart comes out to see Gaurav performing all rituals in this young age,” expressed Gayatri Bhandari a tourist from Dehradun.

Surprisingly, no one from the district administration was present on the occasion. Gajendra Bisht hailed from Ganeshpur village and has made the state proud by laying his life in rescuing and saving hostage’s life.

Uttarakhand is one of the highly decorated states to have maximum number of bravery and martyrdom. In the 1999 war of Kargil War Uttarakhand was the single state which had the highest number of martyrs. About 75 out of total 527 soldiers who laid their life in the Operation Vijay were from Uttarakhand. This year too in August Rifleman, Pankaj Gurung of Johri village, Dehradun was martyred in Manipur while fighting with terrorists and last month only Nayak Pratap Singh hailing from Karanprayag district, of 14- Rashtriya Rifles laid his life in Jammu and Kashmir during Operation Rakshak. 

Dehradun, December 1
Social activist Dr Ravi Chopra said the river conservation in Uttarakhand is of immense importance and appealed for active involvement of people in river management.

Delivering a lecture to Dehradun intelligentsia at MKP (PG) College organised by Doon Library and Research Centre, Dr Chopra asserted that official policies only viewed water as a commodity and not as a community resource essential for survival.

Referring to Uttarakhand, Dr Chopra said the hydropower projects did not follow good river management practices. “There were better ways to generate hydropower that least threaten people’s lives and livelihood.”

He said the state government needs to carefully study the issues and prepare a comprehensive policy with the genuine involvement of the affected communities thus making people partners in the development process.

He warned if serious and sustained efforts are not made to recharge and revive the state’s rain-fed waters, they may go dry in 10 to 15 years.

Dehradun, December 1
Maj. Gen. A.K. Singh has taken over as the deputy commandant and chief instructor of Indian Military Academy (IMA) from Maj. Gen. T.P.S. Bakhshi, Sena Medal, who retired after 37 years of distinguished service.

An alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Singh passed out from the IMA in June 1974. Commissioned into the 4th Battalion “The Bihar Regiment”, the officer has served in all terrains in the country, including Operation Pawan and Operation Parakram, and commanded the 4th Battalion “The Bihar Regiment” in Operation Rakshak.

Before taking over the deputy commandant and chief instructor (DC and CI) of the prestigious IMA, Maj Gen. Singh held the post of General Officer Commanding, Infantry Division. During his 34 years of service, besides making a mark in all facets of soldiering and profession of arms, he has excelled in basketball, cricket, badminton and golf. For his distinguished services, he has been awarded Chief of the Army Staff Commendation Card twice; once during Operation Parakram and the second time in 2006 for his distinguished service as Brigadier General Staff at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.

He was also awarded the Army Commander Central Command Commendation Card in 1991. Maj Gen T.P.S. Bakhshi is credited with the rare distinction of successfully completing the Army Staff College Course at Camberley UK, a distinction earned by very few officers of the Indian army.

As young Officer he had been an instructor at Junior Leadership Wing, Belgaum, and member of Indian Army Training Team at Botswana.

Maj. Gen. Bakhshi was commissioned into the 16th Battalion “The Dogra Regiment” from the IMA in 1971 and commanded 14th Battalion “The Dogra Regiment” during counter- insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir. He also earned the prestigious “Sena Medal” for gallantry during his Battalion command. Besides his professional service, the tall and athletic Maj. Gen. Bakhshi excelled himself in almost all the sports and also played in Services championship in Golf.

Dehradun, December 1
Uttarakhand Technical University’s prize distribution ceremony for Inter-College Cultural and Games Competition took place today.

Graphic Era Institute of Technology, Dehradun, won the best college award. Vice-chancellor of the University Prof V.K. Tiwari, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said, “The purpose behind organising such programmes was to instill competitive spirit in students.”

Talking about two years of progress witnessed at the university, Prof Tiwari, said that while the number of technical institute have increased to 45, the quality of technical educations was being maintained. The student also gave cultural performances at the function.

Present on the occasion were Prof A.K. Mathur, Dr S.K. Mukharji, Dr P.S. Bedi, Urmial Chaursia, Dr Kumud, Dr Rakam Singh, chairman, UIT, Jitendra Joshi, managing director J.P. Sharma.

Dehradun, December 1
Even as the request for a CBI probe into the alleged multi-crore bank fraud by, Dr. Shyam Sunder Sharma, chairman of Doon Dhruva Public School, a well-known residential school affiliated to ICSE here, is in process, the Central Bank of India is worried about recovery of the public money availed as loans by the accused, as it failed to attract bidders for the auction under provisions of the Securitisation Act.

According to sources, the bank is finding itself in a bind over the recovery issue as it involves a huge amount of public money availed fraudulently as loans by the school chairman, who has since expired. The recovery does not seem to materialise in the near future as the All India Neelkanth Educational Society, which runs the school, moved the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Lucknow, for a stay against the bank’s move. Accordingly, the DRT directed the bank not to open the bids. The case is fixed for the next hearing in February 2009.

Moreover, the bank’s worry has compounded as for unknown reasons no bidder responded to its notice of auction of the school property mortgaged with it. Refusing to comment on the recovery aspect, AGM of the bank, Geeta Kapoor, however, confirmed that a formal written request was sent to the CBI through registered post on November 14, 2008, for registration of the case. “We are awaiting their response,” she said, but as per sources the CBI can legally take up the case if either the complainant bank gets permission of the Uttarakhand High Court for transferring the case to it or the state government hands the probe to it. In fact, the bank preferred to lodge an FIR at Sahaspur police station instead of approaching the CBI for registration of a case in accordance with the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India.

The case came to light in February this year when officials of the Selaqui branch of the bank came to the school asking for repayment of the loans after the sudden death of the school chairman Dr. Shyam Sunder Sharma. The teachers were aghast to know that Sharma had availed personal loans against their names without their knowledge. As per the in-house enquiries by the bank, Sharma had availed 74 personal and 296 educational loans worth Rs 7.48 crore against the names of the staff and students by allegedly using forged documents.

The bank authorities expressed dissatisfaction over the progress of the case since lodging of the FIR on February 27, 2008. But the investigating officer Basant Lal said enquiries had almost been completed. “Now the two bank officials concerned are to be arrested. Both were found absent from their houses in Dehradun whenever we went to arrest them,” he said when asked about the delay. Lal, however, gave a clean chit to the three employees of the school named by the bank in the FIR along with both bank officials suspected for their complicity in the fraud.