Dehradun, February 2
Putting to rest all speculation, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) today said that he did not see any possibility of changing the party nominee from Haridwar parliamentary constituency.

While making it clear that the decision regarding the candidates was taken by the BJP Central Parliamentary Board in consultation with the party’s state Parliamentary Board, Khanduri said, “Though it is the prerogative of the central leadership, but I don’t see any likelihood of reviewing the candidature of Madan Kaushik at this juncture.”

Factionalism in the Haridwar unit of the BJP had come to the fore with saints, having allegiance with the BJP, rushing to New Delhi demanding replacement of party nominee Madan Kaushik with Swami Chinmayanand, who was the Union Minister of State for Home in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

All those, including Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Ashok Singhal, who are lobbying for Chinmayanand, had met Lal Krishna Advani and demanded the change of candidate.

After Khanduri’s statement, a visibly confident Madan Kaushik told mediapersons, “I will only say that the party has fielded me from Haridwar and asked me to begin campaigning.”

“I enjoy the support of the saints.” Kaushik also claimed that 80 per cent of the Saini community in Haridwar was supporting him. Khanduri said that disappointment among party leaders, who did not get the ticket, is obvious but now every party leader has to start working on ensuring the victory of the BJP candidates in all five Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttarakhand.

He added that in order to chalk out the election strategy, brainstorming sessions within the party cadres has begun.

Meanwhile, in the presence of Khanduri and BJP chief Bachi Singh Rawat, several leaders including former DIG MS Rana, who contested last Lok Sabha election on UKD ticket from Tehri, Rajeshwar Ranoli, who contested Partapgath assembly seat in 2004 as an independent, Ranbir Singh Rana, a former CPM leader, VM Uniyal and Mamata Kukreti joined BJP in a function held at the party headquarters here today. 

Roorkee, February 2
Members of the Saini Samaj burnt effigies of the BJP leaders, including Lal Krishan Advani and Sushma Swaraj, in protest against the candidature of Madan Kaushik for the Haridwar parliamentary constituency in front of local police station at Bhagwanpura, around 20 km from here.

Earlier, the samaj, led by Gaje Singh Saini, took out a procession. "We will not support the candidature of Kaushik. The BJP leaders have betrayed us," said the members of the samaj. They demanded that a member of the Saini community should have been given the ticket.

Local leader Adesh Saini said that the Saini community has a big presence here. "As we have always extended our support to the party, it is wrong to ignore the community," said Saini.

Janeshwar Prasad Saini, Jagdish Prasad, Shiv Kumar and Sadhuram Saini were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, persons belonging to the backward classes came out openly against Kaushik’s candidature at Jhabrera, around 17 km from here.

Making allegations of discrimination against the backward classes, the protesters burnt the effigy of LK Advani at Lakhnota Chowk.

"We will oppose the BJP candidate. The party will have to bear the burnt," announced Mohkam Singh while addressing the gathering. Terming the protests as a routine affair, district president of the BJP Mayank Gupta said, "We are not bothered. Such protests take place before every election. No resentment is evident among party workers. The high command's decision should be accepted in the larger interest of the party."

Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has started holding village-to-village party workers meetings here. As the sitting MP belongs to the party, its leaders cautioned party workers from being complacent. Yesterday, party meetings were held at Bhagwanpur and nearby villages. 

Dehradun, February 2
The Uttarakhand government has failed to avail even a single penny of the Central grants to provide irrigation facilities in areas having a large Scheduled Caste and tribal population. The reason is that the state Irrigation Department has not submitted any proposal to the Union government this fiscal. The department has only been able to prepare projects worth Rs 18 crore till now against the target of Rs 42 crore set for the current financial year under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP).

It is a telling comment on the functioning of the department that it failed to submit projects worth Rs 7 crore to the Centre even after their clearance by the state finance department.

Under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), the Centre provides 90 per cent funds for each project while the state government has to contribute the rest for construction of canals and lift-irrigation schemes.

Sources said that chief secretary IK Pandey had expressed unhappiness over the matter when it was discussed in the meeting held on November 6, 2008, for monitoring of projects under the special component meant for both categories of the population.

Till then, the department had prepared proposals worth Rs 15 crore which did not constitute even half the target set for this fiscal. Not much progress could be made even after this as the department added projects of just Rs 3 crore.

When asked, secretary irrigation Vinod Fonia admitted that his department failed to identify projects and this was a matter of concern.

He evaded the reply on the reason behind it. “I can’t answer certain questions. You better ask senior officials of the department. All I can say is that the department has failed to deliver,” he said.

Interestingly, his father Kedar Singh Fonia is the sitting BJP MLA from Badrinath. Official apathy may cost the BJP government dear as the issue related to the uplift of the Scheduled Castes and tribal voters can provide political ammunition to the Opposition in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

“Since Fonia took over as secretary last year, he has been insisting on attaching the revenue map of the concerned area for which the project is prepared. This is a very cumbersome and a time-consuming exercise. Significantly, it is not required for getting the Centre’s approval for the projects,” said some officials requesting anonymity.

Another reason cited by the officials is the paucity of junior engineers (JEs) who are the first people to conduct field survey to prepare projects. A total 257 JEs are working in the department against 927 sanctioned posts.

Dehradun, February 2
Uttarakhand Governor BL Joshi today visited the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and interacted with the IMA Commandant Lt Gen RS Sujlana, Deputy Commandant Maj Gen AK Singh, academy officials and the Gentlemen Cadets.

Joshi laid a wreath and paid tributes to martyrs at the Academy War Memorial.

He said, “The Indian Army is known in the entire world for its bravery, technical expertise and commitment. Besides guarding the borders, the Army plays an important role during the natural calamities.”

Terming the IMA as a prestigious institution, the Governor said that it was a matter of pride that the IMA is in Uttarakhand.

Besides visiting the Chetwode Building, Joshi saw the weapons used in different wars, regimental colours and medals.

Dehradun, February 2
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri today instructed the state government officials to get a survey done on the connecting highways with the proposed Ganga Expressway from Noida to Saharanpur.

The state of Uttarakhand would be linked with the proposed expressway from Haridwar and Dehradun to Saharanpur. Khanduri today asked the officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), Irrigation and Power, so that no obstacle comes during the execution of the proposed project of connecting Dehradun-Haridwar with the Noida-Saharanpur Expressway.

Addressing a high level meeting with the top officials of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand at Secretariat, here today, Khanduri said in order to have proper technical information with respect to the project, survey by joint team of officials of PWD, Irrigation and Power Departments is must.

“In order to complete the project, an action plan should be prepared after having a sound technical coordination. Also, Forest Conservation Act should be taken care of,” said the CM.

Last year, Uttar Pradesh government had urged Khanduri to give his nod for the extension of the expressway from neighbouring Saharanpur to Dehradun and Haridwar as well. Subsequently, Khanduri, who himself was a Union Minister of Surface Transport during NDA had asked his officials to prepare a feasibility report about the project.

Due to excessive traffic congestion on the Delhi-Dehradun highway, it takes commuters more than 8 hours to cover a distance of 250 km but with Dehradun-Haridwar getting connected with the Noida-Saharanpur Expressway, it will be a great relief for the commuters.

As per the information, eight-lane expressway along the Hindon river, proposed to be built by UP will start from the Delhi linking cities like Ghaziabad, Meerut, Muzzafarnagar and Saharanpur.

“Kalsia in Saharanpur will be connected to Dehradun and then Gaaglaheri will connect to Haridwar as per the plan,” said UP chief secretary, Atul Gupta.

He further said UP had done the preliminary work regarding the project and Uttarakhand’s consent would be required for finalising the things.

Uttarakhand chief secretary Indu Kumar Pandey said in the wake of the adverse geographical conditions in Uttarakhand, there is a difference between the ground conditions in UP and Uttarakhand.

“Within a month, the officials of PWD, Power and Irrigation will submit their survey report”, he added.

Since Uttarakhand came into existence, there has been a tremendous growth in the industrial sector in the state particularly in Haridwar district but lack of road infrastructure was proved to be a big bottleneck for the overall growth of the area.

The connectivity of the Dehradun-Haridwar with Noida-Saharanpur Expressway is expected to boost business prospects in the 
hill state.

Mussoorie, February 2
The ‘shivling-shaped’ stone that was unearthed at a construction site inside the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration recently has given rise to a row between devotees and academy authorities.

Although senior officials of the academy were not available for comments, sources said they were in no mood to construct a temple within the academy campus. “This would not only alter the building plans, but would also jeopardise security of the entire institution in the future,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

In a bid to thwart the demand of devotees for a temple inside the academy campus, a visit by an archaeologist was also arranged by the authorities here today. BP Sharma, a senior archeologist with the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), examined the stone in detail before declaring that it was just an ordinary stone.

He said there is a possibly that flow of water through an underground aquifer or spring had altered the shape of this stone.

On the other hand, devotees have refused to accept the scientific justifications and are adamant that the temple must be constructed. “We do not believe in scientists, but only in God,” said Rakesh, a devotee. “This is a miracle and we condemn the scientist who has declared it as an ordinary stone,” added another devotee. 

Dehradun, February 2
Senior officers of the Forest Research Institute (FRI) have been asked to appear before the Patna court on February 9 in connection with a PIL filed by one Arup Brahmachari.

The petitioner has challenged the current practice of tying cloth pieces around the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya by the devotees. He has claimed that this practice causes damage to the tree as termites and other insects grow on these cloth pieces.

However, FRI sources here in Dehradun admitted of having knowledge of the development but said they were yet to know of the details from the court.

“There were some telephone calls from the Advocate General but we are yet to receive the details from the court,” director, FRI, SS Negi. The Patna High Court had on Friday issued directives to the Gaya DM and senior officers of the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, to appear in the court on February 9.

The institute had a big role in bringing the Mahabodhi tree at Gaya back to life after the tree had reported sick a few years back.

Officers of the institute have since been engaged in monitoring the health of the tree for past two years.

FRI monitor the condition of the tree from time to time as part of its MoU with Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee.

Dehradun, February 2
The death of an elephant calf by a tiger at the Corbett National Park has taken the park authorities by surprise.

The incident, which took place two days back, came into light when forest guards on patrol duty, came across the body of the female calf. The body had marks of tiger claws all over.

“The calf was more than 2 years old. The body was found between the compartment 8 and 9 of the Kalagarh range of the Park,” said DS Rawat, warden.

The killing of the calf by a tiger is a rare incident that has taken the park authorities by surprise.

There have been cases of territorial fights among tigers but death of an elephant in a tiger-elephant conflict has seldom occurred here.

But those working on pachyderms do not rule out incidents like this.

“Tiger attacking an elephant calf is rare as herds of elephants always keep a watchful eye on their young ones,” Dr AK Singh, from the Wildlife Trust of India said.

“Even if the calf falls ill, the mother elephant does not leave him alone,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Corbett authorities have buried the calf after a postmortem. The park authorities had reported an increase in the number of tigers countrywide during a census by the Wild Life Institute a year ago.

Since then, to meet the challenge of growing number of tigers, the National Tiger Conservation Authority is mulling an increase in the area of the park to prevent any territory struggle.

Dehradun, February 2
Abhimanyu Cricket Academy defeated Bharat XI at the ongoing 57th District Cricket League at Survey Stadium,here today. Bharat XI batsmen failed to achieve the target as they fall short of 66 runs. Even the five wicket haul of Rahul could not prevent Bharat XI’s defeat.

Batting first, Abhimanyu Cricket Academy did a fine job as its openers hit 24 runs in 2.3 overs. Later, it was Priyanshu for Abhimanyu Academy who scored 49 runs of 53 balls. Ravinder chipped in with 30 runs of 27 balls. It was a fine bowling display by Bharat XI as they managed to restrict Abhimanyu Academy team at the score of 196 runs. Rahul was the pick of the bowlers to bag 5 wickets in his four overs.

In reply, it was a poor batting display from Bharat XI as it failed to reach the target in allotted 40 overs. The Academy bowlers kept claiming wickets at regular intervals. Rajkumar took three wickets for Academy and Ravinder took two.