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Government drops 17-yr-old case against minister
Immoral Trafficking: 14-day judicial custody for accused
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No dhols at state functions
Experts: Fight eco terrorism
For traffic sake, protesters allotted space
Armed robbers loot PNB
Authorities want man-eater caged
Doon Star thump Tapowan
CM Club register win
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Government drops 17-yr-old case against minister
Dehradun, December 29 On a petition by the state government, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Haridwar, has discharged cabinet minister Diwaker Bhatt from a pending case of fraudulent use of government land by him in Haridwar. The case has been pending in the court for the past 17 years. Diwakar Bhatt is the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies in the Khanduri government. The case pertains to the use of fraudulent papers to lease a large chunk of land belonging to the Municipal Council, Haridwar. Diwakar Bhatt, a senior leader of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), an ally of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has been running his organisation named ‘Tarun Himalaya’ on the land. As per the case registered against Diwakar Bhatt in 1991, the agreement papers submitted by Bhatt regarding the lease agreement between his organisation and the then Uttar Pradesh government was found fake on an inquiry by the then state government. A case under Section 442, 462, 465 of the IPC was registered against Bhatt, Ashutosh Gautam and Balwant Rana on the orders of the Uttar Pradesh government. The case has been dragging in the lower court for the past 17 years. After the formation of the separate state of Uttarakhand, the first elected government of Chief Minister ND Tiwari decided to take back the case against Bhatt. Diwakar Bhatt is a senior statehood agitationist and was known as " field marshal" of the statehood agitation which had raged in Garhwal and Kumoan hills from 1993. However, the then Chief Judicial Magistrate, Haridwar, had rejected the contention of the state government to take back the case on the grounds that there were no such orders for the other two co-accused. When the BJP came to power after the second assembly elections in the state and Diwakar Bhatt became a cabinet minister, the state government again asked the court to withdraw the case against all accused. The court asked the state government about the grounds of taking back the case. The state government contended that the case was being withdrawn in 'public interest'. The CJM, Haridwar, rejected the plea of the state government prompting Diwakar Bhatt to knock at the door of District Judge, Haridwar. The district court directed the CJM’s court to hear the matter again. On August 2, a fresh application was moved for the withdrawal of the case against the minister and two others. Later, the CJM, Haridwar, ordered the withdrawal of cases against the accused. Diwakar Bhatt said it was a false case which was the result of political vendetta. "The then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav was personally against me as I did not allow him to land in Tehri during the statehood agitation. So, somebody forged the lease documents to get me into trouble," he said. "It was a political case. Regarding the organisation named 'Tarun Himalayas' on the land, it was for society and would remain with the people. It is not my personal property. Nowadays, I am not even associated with 'Tarun Himalayas'," he said. |
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Immoral Trafficking: 14-day judicial custody for accused
Dehradun, December 29 Rajpur police station in charge SS Negi said that on a tip-off, the police nabbed Kuldeep, Deepak, Pawan, Jagveer, Vijay and Praveen, all residents of Ladpur (Delhi), Puja and Reena, both residents of New Delhi, and Poonam and Heena, both residents of
Gurgaon, on charges of immoral trafficking from a house on Shastardhara Road. “When the police reached the spot, people in large number had ghearoed the house and were pelting stones,” said Negi. The police officials further said that when the cops barged into the house, they found the boys and girls in a compromising position following which they were arrested. The police has also seized
Rs 50,000 from the custody of the youth. |
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No dhols at state functions
Dehradun, December 29 Members of the community are engaged in playing traditional musical instruments like dhol, dhamau and nagara. They alleged that they had not been provided with any remuneration for their compulsory performances at government functions. “Shilpkars, who are at the forefront to represent the indigenous culture of Uttarakhand at every government function, today have become more or less like mascots. They are provided least remuneration for these performances,” Jauhari Lal Suman, convener, Vishwakarma Shilpkar Jagrati Mission, said. “We seek nothing less than state musical instrument status for Uttarakhand’s traditional musical instruments,” he categorically held. Suman also sought state-agitationist status for shilpkars, who through their musical instruments, made the masses realise the importance of a separate state during the statehood movement. Criticising the present reservation policy, Suman said the mission supports the exclusion of creamy layer from the benefits of reservations. “Only a few among the deprived sections have benefited from reservations. The majority of shilpkars have not benefited from the policy,” Suman said. He also said that the mission would shortly organise a membership drive in the state and put forth the issues concerning the shilpkar community in a forceful manner. |
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Experts: Fight eco terrorism
Haridwar, December 29 Experts present at the seminar on ‘Global warming and its effects on environment, earth and people’ expressed that the sole solution to control global warming is to plant trees as much as possible. Also, it is very important to spread awareness about the problem otherwise it would be difficult to control the damage. “Conservation of environment is the cure of this problem and it’s in the interest of every country to formulate policies and plans to reduce the effects of global warming,” said Dr Mridula Joshi. Dr Hitesh Joshi called global warming a threat bigger than terrorism, saying that terrorism has spread in many parts of the world but the global warming effects the whole universe. At the seminar, 14 research papers were presented. Professor, BD Joshi projected the negatives of global warming through pictures. Most of the scholars expressed their concern over reduction of ozone layer and the meltdown of glaciers. Dr AR Dave urged that awareness should be spread among youngsters and also suggested that we all should plant a tree on special occasions like birthdays, marriages etc. Present at the conference were Prof Naresh Mishra of MD University, Rohtak, Dr Yogendra Nath Sharma of Garhwal University, Dr Tejvir Singh Tomar, Mahant Triyambaki Bharati, Dr SN Jaiswal, Dr Saraswati Pathak among others. |
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Vociferous protest by Jal Sansthan members
Dehradun, December 29 Since the police did not allow the protesters to enter the Civil Secretariat, the union members sat on a dharna outside the main gate of the secretariat. Addressing the protesters, Union president Narender Thaledi demanded that Jal Sansthan employees should be given benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission at par with the Central government employees. “Besides, department officials and employees should be given waiver for water charges. Also the diploma holder employees should be given appointments against the vacant posts of junior engineers,” he demanded. In his speech, the Union general secretary Vijay Bisht said the Khanduri government is least bothered about the welfare of government employees. He threatened that in case their demands were not accepted, they would intensify the agitation. In another development, the District Mahila Congress Committee activists today submitted a memorandum to the District Magistrate Amit Singh Negi in connection with non-disbursal of pensions to the aged and disabled from 16 villages coming under jurisdiction of Arcadia Gramsabha from the past one year. The secretary of the Committee Geeta Bisht said people from some of the villages, including Mohanpur, Telpur, Dharawali, Baniyawala, and Chandrmani, have not been given pensions since a year. She said on account of non-disbursal of pensions, people are facing a lot of difficulties. Meanwhile, the Trained Unemployed Teachers Association members also staged a dharna at the Gandhi Park today and threaten to intensify stir. |
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Suresh Oberoi visits Haridwar temple
Haridwar, December 29 Suresh Oberoi, father of Bollywood actor, Vivek Oberoi was accompanied by his wife and relatives. They offered prayers and performed rituals at the temple. Suresh Oberoi is a devotee of Maa Chandi and is a regular visitor of the temple. As soon as the news spread about their visit, media and fans thronged at the temple site to take glimpse of their favourite star but the Oberoi family left the temple as soon as the rituals were performed. The marriage of Oberoi’s daughter Meghna was held in Rishikesh at Paramarth Niketan on November 19. |
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For traffic sake, protesters allotted space
Dehradun, December 29 The officials also visited Clock Tower area and gave instructions to provide better lighting facilities at the Mussooorie-Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) parking area to ease the pressure of parking on roads. District Magistrate ordered that even two-wheelers should be parked at the designated parking lots. Since there are regular demonstrations by various organisations from all over the state in the city, the residents especially the school children have to bear the burnt of traffic jams that continue for hours. The situation gets worse when big demonstrations or religious processions pass through various parts of the city. There have been demand for a designated place for holding demonstrations like Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. The move would bring some semblance of order in chaotic traffic scenario and would also help the police in managing the traffic as well as the demonstrations. |
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Armed robbers loot PNB
Dehradun, December 29 According to the information, five robbers, wearing masks reached the bank on two motorcycles. Wasting no time, the robbers stormed into the bank and took the bank manager, PKSharma on gunpoint. The robbers also pointed guns at customers present in the bank and snatched mobile phones from everyone present in the bank. Within minutes, the robbers looted cash and fled from the scene. While the robbers were on the run, they also fired at Ramesh Chand, head constable at forest department police picket. Ramesh suffered injuries as splinter hit his forehead. There was no armed security guard at the bank also the police reached bank one hour after the robbery. |
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Authorities want man-eater caged
Dehradun, December 29 The two and a half-year-old, Sushil Thapa was playing outside his
house in Sumgarh village of the district yesterday when the animal attacked him, official sources
said today. The villagers, on seeing the big cat attacking the kid, raised an alarm and chased the beast, they said adding the animal, however, took away the child in nearby jungles. After a long search the villagers recovered half-eaten body of the child from the jungle. It has been sent for postmortem, they said. Meanwhile, the district administration ordered the forest officials to immediately cage the man-eater animal.
— PTI |
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Doon Star thump Tapowan
Dehradun, December 29 In another match, Doon Star beat Tapowan XI 5-0. Praveen struck the first goal in the 15th minute. He was followed by Rahul and Krishna who scored in the 20th and 27th minutes. Rahul scored once again in the 29th minute. The fifth goal for Doon Star was scored in the 29th minute of the second half. |
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CM Club register win
Dehradun, December 29 Batting first, Garhwal Sport put up 145 runs and lost all its wickets in process. Shyam scored 32 runs, Krishna 32 and Sahil with 45 runs was the top scorers for Garhwal Sport. As of CM Club bowlers, Guddu took four wickets in seven overs, which also included a maiden. Ankush took three wickets in his eight over spell. Chasing the target, CM Club managed to get to the score losing only eight wickets in process. Club’s Bhagat scored 51 runs of 69 balls, which included a six thereby ensuring an easy victory for his team. He was equally assisted by Satendra who scored 22 runs and the duo ensured victory for their Club. Among Garhwal Sport, Himanshu and Suraj took two wickets each but that did not turn the match in their favour. Tomorrow’s match will be between Doon Giants and Rao club at the same venue. |
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