|
|
|
|
BJP, Cong in hoarding war
Congress dares BJP on ‘progress’ report
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Crusaders in England
Nodal agency for fibre works sought
Meanwhile, B.Ed teachers released
New Year Eve
CM favours herb zones
Woman, her aide held for marriage racket
Pbi varsity boy leads in shooting with 583 points
8-wkt triumph for Rao Academy
One charred to death
|
|
BJP, Cong in hoarding war
Dehradun, December 30 While the state government has virtually flooded Uttarakhand, especially the state capital Dehradun, with billboards displaying the achievements of the Khanduri government, the Congress is also not far behind. The Congress is also putting up political hoardings in every nook and corner of the city. A visit to various city areas and markets including Clock Tower, Survey Chowk, Chakrata Road, Tehsil Chowk, Rajpur Road and EC Road revealed that hoardings displaying the achievements of the state government, along with a big portrait of Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd), have come up in the past few days. Special provision for flourescent lights has been made so that the hoardings glow during the evening hours as well. Put up by the Department of Information and Public Relations, Uttarakhand, the hoardings list the work done by the state government in health sector, education and for the welfare of the aged and disabled besides other achievements. Justifying the government’s move, Devender Bhasin, chairman of the Uttarakhand Media Advisory Committee, said, “We have planned to put up around 250-300 hoardings in the state in order to take the achievements of the government to the masses.” Bhasin also said that besides hoardings, brochures highlighting the “good works” of the government would also be circulated among the masses. “The objective behind the hoardings and media campaign is to make the people aware that the government is doing a lot for the overall development of the state and welfare of all.” Following in the footsteps of the BJP, the Congress has also initiated an exercise to install hoardings in Dehradun and other districts. The majority of the Congress’ hoardings simply display the photographs of the party leaders with different messages. Party insiders, however, disclosed that the Congress leaders are putting up the hoardings at their own level. Party sources also claimed that expenses being incurred on hoardings are being borne by the party leaders, whereas Khanduri is wasting public funds to gain publicity. Media in charge of the Uttarakhand State Congress Committee, Suryakant Dhasmana, claimed that state government’s exercise to install hoardings is nothing but a wastage of public funds. “Crores of rupees are being wasted on false claims. The government has miserably failed on all fronts but still the government is putting up hoardings,” he said. |
||
|
Congress dares BJP on ‘progress’ report
Dehradun, December 30 Ridiculing the BJP’s claims of overall development of the state during the 20-month rule of the Khanduri government, media in charge of the state Congress Suryakant Dhasmana said that during the first eight months of the fiscal year 2008-09, the state government has not spent even 10 per cent of the budgetary allocations for several departments. Dhasmana said, “The allocated budget for Panchayati Raj, Minor Irrigation and Irrigation departments for the fiscal year 2008-09 is Rs 95 lakh, Rs 83 lakh and Rs 949 lakh, respectively, but in first eight months, the state government has not spent even a single penny.” He pointed out that in other departments, the government has failed to spend even 10 per cent of the funds allocated in
the budget. “The BJP government has also reduced the budget of the departments of animal husbandry, fertiliser and power by Rs 27 lakh, Rs 99 lakh and Rs 545 lakh respectively,” said Dhasmana. He added that ever since Khanduri came to power, the development of the state is progressing at a snail’s pace. “The previous Congress government laid the foundation of the development of Uttarakhand but unfortunately, the BJP government had completely derailed the development of the state,” he rued. Accusing the state government of ignoring the Dalits and minorities, Dhasmana said that in the annual budget for 2008-09, the allocation of the Special Component Plan, which is for the Schedule Castes, was reduced by a whopping Rs 108 crore. He alleged that the Khanduri government has completely ignored the minorities. “Till date, the Waqf Board has not been constituted in Uttarakhand. Furthermore, schemes like Muslim Education Mission started by the previous Congress regime for the welfare of minorities have been discontinued. These things speak of the step-motherly attitude of the state government towards minorities,” said Dhasmana. |
||
|
U’khand can lead in Hindi revival: Guv
Dehradun, December 30 The Governor was addressing the inaugural session of International Hindi Conference here. He said Uttarakhand being one of most literate states in the country and can lead the revival of Hindi in the country. He said there have been concerted efforts on part of both government and individuals towards promotion of Hindi. The Governor also held that any effort to promote Hindi should not be limited to programmes held only on occasions but conferences of such nature should be held regularly. Uttarakhand minister of linguistics Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said people from the state have contributed to Hindi literature in a big way and reiterated his pledge for its promotion. Later addressing the valedictory session of the conference, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) said promoting Hindi was the collective responsibility of one and all. He said that it was matter of honour for the country that people are coming forward to promote Hindi abroad. He also lauded Nishank’s role in the promotion of vernacular languages. The Chief Minister also honoured non-resident Indian literary personalities like Dr Arun Agarwal, Jaya Verma, Jyoti Ahuja, Arun Sabbarwal, Narendra Agarwal, Dr Krishna Kumar, Shail Agarwal, Dr Mahipal Verma, Dr Mahendra Ahuja and Naveen Lohani. Uttarakhand women’s empowerment state minister Been Maharana, MLAs Munna Singh Chauhan and Om Gopal were present on the occasion. |
||
|
Crusaders in England
Dehradun, December 30 Both nations celebrated their Independence Days in August together by organising “Culture 60 years”, a programme with the intention to promote Hindi and Urdu in England. Working for the promotion of Hindi in Nottingham, England, for past many decades, Jai Verma, who was in Dehradun today to attend the conference, said that as many as 5,000 persons of Indian and Pakistani origin settled in England came for “Culture 60 years”. “Hindi and Urdu are getting new births in England,” said Verma, chairperson of Gitanjali Multilingual Literacy Circle Trent, Nottingham. She has been working untiringly for Hindi’s promotion in the land of Macaulay. Another crusader for the cause in England has been Krishna Kumar who is promoting Hindi in the land of Shakespeare - Birmingham. He said Hindi has confronted challenges starting from 1834 when the Macaulay system was introduced in India. He admitted that Hindi had been pushed to hilt in its very own country. He said that there was certainly a glimmer of hope as the young generation of both India and Pakistan settled in England had a great liking for the language. Recalling Chanakya’s words ‘If you want to end a country, change its language’, Krishna Kumar said the British systematically worked to annihilate Hindi language and the trend still continues. Poet Sohan Rahi, who is settled in England and is a regular participant to poetic seminars there, said he finds himself among the most fortunate as he regularly interacts with poets both from India and Pakistan. |
||
|
Nodal agency for fibre works sought
Dehradun, December 30 Presiding over the workshop, District Magistrate Amit Negi called for bringing self-help groups, fibre experts and other agencies on a common platform to get the
desired results. “Till now, it has only been individual efforts in this field and thus, an agency that has the representation of all stakeholders and experts is needed that would look into all aspects linked to fibre species, its demands and ultimately, the requirements in the market,”
Negi said. While lauding the initiative of women in coming up with bamboo and fibre products, the district magistrate admitted that a lot still needed to be done on part of the government machinery to match the work capabilities of self-help groups. Dr KK Sharma, secretary, Women’s Development Organisation, too emphasised on the need for an apex regulatory authority for streamlining fibre-related works
in villages. She said the sensitisation on fibre products was of enormous importance as consumers too had realised that it was the best available option for them to replace polythene with fibre and jute bags as polythene had proven to be a big pollution menace. She also recalled the WDO’s efforts towards strengthening self-help groups towards promotion of fibre products. Nabard general manager Dr BP Nautiyal, bamboo expert HB Naithani and representatives from as many as 20 self-help groups took part in the workshop that was sponsored by the National Centre for Jute Diversification, Ministry of Textiles. |
|
Another rally by Shiksha Mitras
Dehradun, December 30 State General Secretary of Uttarakhand Shiksha Mitra Mahasangh, Lalit Divedi said, “Siksha Mitra Mahasang will work as per the assurance given by the Chief Minister during the talks but in case the government pays no heed to our demands, we will continue with our protest.” Joint Secretary, Kamlesh Pandey of the Mahasangh said, “Government should give us justice or we would be forced to call upon all the Shiksha Mitras working in the state to join the protest. We would even hold protest outside the Secretariat, Chief Minister’s residence and will also resort to Chakka Jam.” |
|
Meanwhile, B.Ed teachers released
Dehradun, December 30 Rawat said the government has no right to prevent anyone from staging protest in a democratic manner. After two hours, the police released the
teachers. The teachers had been arrested yesterday while they were heading to stage a demonstration at the CM’s residence. |
|
New Year Eve
Haridwar, December 30 With companies resorting to sacking of employees in thousands and devising methods to cut costs, few are willing to spend lavishly to celebrate New Year this time. Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, Haridwar Hotel Association said, “The tourists are here but there is no party mood as every one is hurt by what happened in Mumbai.” Sighting the public mood, many hotels and restaurants have opted for simple New Year preparations with emphasis on food and providing extra services to their
customers. But some hotels have not given up hope. Hotel Dream Land, eyeing corporate executives in SIDCUL, has aggressively launched an advertising campaign about its New Year bash. Along with a gala dinner, sure gifts for children, best couple dress, all night DJ and cocktails, the hotel has roped in a New Delhi-based musical group "Pooja". At Fun Valley resort on the Dehradun-Haridwar highway, preparations are in full swing for the New Year party. A campfire will be the added attraction for the guests at restaurant "KockTail". “Flavours” has announced a heavy discount for the BHEL employees. Siddhartha Kaushik of Flavours said, “We expect people to come in large numbers because of the discount.” |
|
CM favours herb zones
Dehradun, December 30 He sought better coordination between state departments linked to medicinal plants and directed officials to ensure that research done by the Central departments on medicinal plants also reaches out to the cultivators. Khanduri called for developing exclusive zones for cultivation of medicinal plants and introduction of better marketing mechanism. Taking part in the deliberations, environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt said cultivation of medicinal plants on panchayat land should be done through the Van Panchayats. Chief Secretary Indu Kumar Pandey and principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat were also present on the occasion. |
|
Woman, her aide held for marriage racket
Dehradun, December 30 Giving details, the investigating officer of the case Yogender Singh said Afsari was committing the crime in connivance with Bharat, his wife Usha, his brother Karan and Mohsin. While Bharat and Karan are on the run, police has arrested Mohsin and Afsari. “Usha was arrested earlier this month and was later released on bail. Afsari’s real husband Mohammad Shahid died four years ago leaving behind four children,” said Yogender Singh. He said while committing the crime, Afsari used to adopt the fake identity
of Seema. “Following a complaint filed by a person alleging that his wife had fled
with Rs 85,000 in cash and some jewellery, police conducted investigations and arrested Afsari
from Badrish Colony yesterday evening,” said Yogender Singh. Suresh, a resident of Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, had told them that he
had married Afsari through Bharat. During the course of investigation, the police discovered that Bharat and other accomplices used to take money from older men, belonging to Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, to get them married to Afsari. “And then Afsari used to flee with the money and jewellery from her husband’s house,” said Yogender Singh. He added that the accused have duped at least a dozen people in this manner. |
|
Eleven Star, Gorkha Rifle win
Dehradun, December 30 In the first match, 2/3 Gorkha Rifle crushed Bajrang XI by 3-0 in a one sided encounter. Gorkha Rifle was on the attack right from the beginning and scored first goal in the 28th minute of the first half through the boots of Vishal Gurung. At the end of the first-half, the score was 1-0 in Gorkha Rifle’s favour. In the second half, Gorkha Rifle players were on the attack again as they scored in the very initial minutes of this half, making the score 2-0 in their favour with Santosh earning the goals. Santosh scored again in the 56th minute to make the score 3-0. Bajrang team was certainly no match for the Gorkha Rifle. Vishal Gurung was given man of the match. In the second match, Eleven Star registered a thumping victory against IIT Jhajara by a score of 4-0. Vijay scored for Eleven Star in the 28 minute of the game to make the score 1-0. Eleven Star team scored again in the 34th minute of the game through Satya Prasad to make it 2-0 in their favour before the half time. The Eleven Star forward penetrated the defense of the IIT Jhajara on many occasion in the second half, they succeeded again in finding the nets of their opponents in 38th minute. This time it was Amit for Eleven Star who gave his team a formidable lead of 3-0. Satya Prasad scored his second goal of the game and in the 54th minute, to give Eleven Star lead of 4-0. |
|
Pbi varsity boy leads in shooting with 583 points
Dehradun, December 30 Air rifle for men: Jagpreet Singh of Punjabi University, Patiala had scored 583 points out of 600 to lead the men air rifle competition. Navendeep of Delhi University closely followed him at the second spot with 578 points and Vijay Tomar of Delhi University was placed at third spot with 576 points. Air pistol for men: Manpreet Singh of Amritser University with 571 points lead in air pistol event, Manhindar of Kurushetra University scored 563 points to place him at second spot, Ankesh Bhartwaj of Delhi University stood at third place with 560 points. Air rifle for women: Radhika of Kolapur University had scored 396 out of 400 points to lead the tally, Sneha Borsa of Pune University with 392 points was placed second and Supreya Jahadhav of Mumabi University stood third at the end of the second days. Air pistol for women: Rube Tomar of Panjab University, Chandigarh lead the pistol competition with 372 points, S Tomar with 370 points stood second and Ritika of Delhi University with 369 points was bagged the third spot. |
|
|
8-wkt triumph for Rao Academy
Dehradun, December 30 Doon Giant scored a decent total of 167 runs after winning the toss and elected to bad. Paras and Ankit gave a flying start to the Doon Giant team. Paras went on to score his half-century before getting bold at 54 runs. The rest of the batsmen could not do much. For the opening wicket partnership, Paras and Ankit went on to contribute 39 runs. After Ankit’s wicket at the score of 23 runs, the Pradeep too followed Ankit and got out cheaply. He made one run. The rest of the batsmen showed little resistance and were out for a modest total of 167 runs on board. Imran picked four wicket by 20 runs in just 3.4 overs for Rao Cricket Academy. Chasing the target of 167 runs, Rao Cricket Academy reached the target in just 20 overs. Rao team had a shaky start as it lost its first wicket at 26 runs and the second wicket at the score of 76 runs. But thereafter, Sharad and Imran help their team register an eight wickets victory. Sharad made 60 run, showing a range of strokes in his innings, he hit ten fours. He was accompanied well by Imran on the other end, who also finished his half-century, he made 52 runs. |
|
|
One charred to death
Dehradun, December 30 The incident occurred on Sunday night when the truck, which was going to Pithoragarh from Haldwani, caught fire, which triggered an explosion in LPG cylinders. Pawan, who was sitting in the rear side of the truck, was charred to death in the explosion. The truck driver Narendra Kholia and helper Kheemanand were seriously injured and were admitted to a local hospital. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
