Dehradun, February 9
Three teenagers, who were here to appear in the entrance examination of General BC Joshi Army School, Pitthoragarh, drowned in a swimming pool in Garhi Cantt Cantonment area, here yesterday.

The deceased have been identified as Deepak Bisht (15), resident of Saung, Chamoli, Vijay Devrari (14), resident of Talwadi, Chamoli, and Pramod Singh (14), resident of Ghildiyal Dhaar, Tehri. The officiating sub-area commander of the area has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident.

According to information, eight students from Joshimath had come here on February 6 to appear in the entrance exam. After appearing in the last exam on Sunday morning, the trio were strolling in the cantonment area when the spotted the swimming pool. One of them, Deepak Bisht, entered the pool, but when he started drowning Vijay and Pramod jumped in to help him out. However, since none of them knew how to swim all of them drowned.

Later, when the trio did not return, other students informed Army personnel and after a search operation they were recovered from the pool. They were rushed to the Military Hospital where the three declared brought-dead. Garhi Cantt police station incharge inspector Dinesh Chander Bonthiyal said Deepak, Vijay and Pramod’s father work in the Garhwal Scouts, Joshimath.

Dehradun, February 9
Refusing to bow under pressure from organisations of traders, hotels and gas agencies, the district administration today upheld its stand of invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) under which six owners of commercial establishments were booked for misuse of domestic LPG cylinders.

These organisations raised a hue and cry over the development after the recent raids in which 185 domestic LPG cylinders being used for commercial purposes by hotels, sweets shops and dairies in various parts of the district were seized.

In a meeting with the District magistrate Amit Singh Negi at his office, the representatives of these organisations termed the administration’s action as draconian and demanded withdrawal of the cases registered against owners of two gas agencies and four hotels.

Rejecting their demand, Negi told them in no uncertain terms that the drive against the misuse of domestic LPG cylinders would continue as it was in the larger interest of the consumers.

He made it clear that the intention of the administration was not to victimise anybody but to curb black marketeering that is causing hardships to consumers.

“The gas agencies may not be directly involved in this illegal activity which is creating artificial scarcity of LPG, but it is thriving due to a nexus. The administration will not spare anybody indulging in this,” said Negi.

Although representatives of Beopar Mandal, Dehradun, were adamant that the administration must withdraw the cases failing which all commercial establishments would observe strike, the Hotels and Restaurants Owners Association seemed to be in a relenting mood when apprised about the gravity of the problem.

“We have not come in support of the guilty but for withdrawing invocation of ESMA which is a very harsh measure. Anybody booked under this can be put in jail without bail for six months,” said its vice-president AK Gandhi.

Negi said the administration had already taken a lenient view of offenders from whom one to two cylinders were recovered. But the measure termed as hard was wholly justified in the case of habitual offenders and mafia, he said.

During the drive started in August, 2008, the administration has seized 1,240 LPG cylinders being used for commercial purpose.

The administration believes that more than 5,000 cylinders are being misused in the district.

The owners of the agencies complained that the less supply was the cause behind the scarcity and the District Magistrate assured the delegation members that he would look into the matter. 

Dehradun, February 9
The Uttarakhand unit of the Samajwadi Party has finalised the panel of contenders for four Lok Sabha seats in the state. Its national president Mulayam Singh Yadav will take the final decision on the party candidate for remaining Haridwar seat.

The state unit president and former Haridwar legislator Amrish Kumar had recently claimed that the party supremo had given the nod to his candidature from Haridwar. Informally, he has started campaigning.

While announcing the names of contenders for the other four seats here today, Vinod Barthwal, the party’s national general secretary, said that there was no official announcement made by the high command in the case of Haridwar.

According to him, the panel for Tehri seat included names of Hussain Ahmed, Dr JP Nautiyal and Ghuloam Ali while Kuldip Rawat, Ramesh Gaur, Chander Mohan Mundapi and Komal Singh figure in the panel for Pauri seat. The contenders for the Nainital seat included Abdul Mateen Siddiqui, Abdul Aziz Qureshi, Jarnail Singh Kali, Rajiv Sabharwal and Mohammad Salim while the candidate for Almora seat will be finalised from among Narain Ram Arya, Bhagwati Prasad and Mohan Lal Tamta.

Barthwal said that in absence of an alliance with the Congress, the SP would contest from all five seats.

The high command will soon constitute an election campaign committee and prepare the party manifesto. The contenders have already started moving among the electorate in the state to press their claims for candidature.

The SP has a major influence in Haridwar constituency. Rajinder Badi is the sitting MP from this seat. 

Dehradun, February 9
The announcement to make Bhagat Singh Koshiyari election incharge of Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Chandigarh has come as a shot in the arm for him.

Koshiyari, a former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, had raised a banner of revolt against the present Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd). Koshiyari was plucked from state politics following his differences with Chief Minister Khanduri and made a member of the Rajya Sabha three months ago.

He, along with a senior BJP leader from Himachal Pradesh, will be the incharge of these five states.

Now after becoming the election incharge of his home state, Koshiyari will be used by the party for complete cohesion in the election campaign in the state, particularly in the Kumaon region from where he belongs. Since Khanduri belongs to Garhwal, the BJP high command, by elevating Koshiyari, at its Nagpur meeting has not only tried to balance the equation but also put onus on Koshiyari to make sure that the party performs well in his region.

Koshiyari was a legislator from Kapkot assembly segment in Bagheshwar district of Kumaon when he was asked to go to the Rajya Sabha. He was leading the group of BJP legislators who were not happy with the style of functioning of the Chief Minister.

They had gone enblock to the party high command to complain against the Chief Minister. As the BJP had faith in Khanduri, the dissidents were turned back with an assurance that their grievances would be looked into. Most legislators wanted positions with ministerial ranks which Khanduri assured.

However, he has not yet taken the decision to allot these positions to legislators due to the impending Lok Sabha elections and its resultant political fallout. Party insiders feel that Koshiyari, a former RSS parcharak, will be used to influence the Uttarakhandi diaspora settled in north Indian states particularly in Chandigarh and Haryana.

It is also considered a deft move by Khanduri, who by agreeing to bring in Koshiyari as election incharge, has also made him accountable for the election results of the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

Dehradun, February 9
Taking a leaf from Kerala, the state government has set up a panchkarma unit here. This treatment is slowly catching up with Dehradun people. An ayurvedic treatment, Panchkarma, promises to eradicate toxins and oxidants from the body.

The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) has started Shri Ayush Panchkarma Unit at Drona hotel under public-private partnership mode.

“The unit was started a month ago and has become popular with patients. The GMVN has entered into a partnership with Sri Ayush contributing 80 per cent, while we are contributing 20 per cent,” said RD Saklani, manager, Drona hotel.

Panchkarma treatment comprises of five therapies that help in maintaining equilibrium between mind and body. “All over the world, the doctors and scientists are engaged in research work aimed at prolonging ones life and reducing stress,” said Dr JN Nautiyal, coordinator, Panchkarma.

The treatments comprises of application of oil and massage; the special oils are procured from Uttarakhand and Kerala.

“After application of oil, massage is given to the patients that aids in circulation, it is called Snehana and then steam bath is given to the patient called Svedana. After that Vaman (medicated enema) is given which is very useful in kapha, said Dr Sangeeta Dimri, running a panchkarma unit. Doctors advise a regulated diet during the treatment.

A stress-buster treatment called Sirodhara, in which oil is poured on the head, is popular among patients suffering from headache and mental stress. 

Mussoorie, February 9
The Nagar Palika of Mussoorie today okayed the proposal to impose eco tax on tourists.

Local citizens, emergency and essential services are exempted from the tax.

However, the palika has decided to cut the tax rate.

It has now been decided that two-wheelers will pay Rs 5, cars Rs 30, and buses and heavy vehicles Rs 50.

The move comes in the wake of strong opposition by local citizenry and various associations.

It is proposed that the tax will be collected from visiting tourists at Kolhu Khet, mid-way between Mussoorie and Dehradun.

The receipts will be utilised for making the hill resort clean.

Palika chairman, OP Uniyal said, “Now the palika will forward the proposal to the commissioner for final approval.” 

Haridwar, February 9
The state police emerged champions of the first Seth Roshan Lal Jain - Taravati Jain Memorial Volleyball Tournament held in College of Engineering, Roorkee, (CORE) campus yesterday.

The police won the match by 3-2 against the City Club, Rishikesh. All five sets were keenly contested and both sides showed attacking display of play. The first four sets saw stiff resistance from City Club players but in the final set Uddham Singh Nagar won by 15-7 in a one sided set. On winning the tournament, the winners were awarded a prise of Rs 12,000. The runners up were given a prise of Rs 7,000. A total of 20 teams participated in this state-level tournament.

Chief guest JC Jain said sports brought people closer and facilities provided by CORE were commendable. Former MP Harpal Sathi said education in Roorkee, apart from having IIT, was reaching higher level with several new institutions coming up in the city. Among others present were managing director, CORE, Gopal Ranjan, SN Banerjee, Nivirkar, Taresh, Aditya Chauhan, Vishal Singhal, Harish Joseph, Professor Bhagat Singh, Khalid Khan and members of the Uttarakhand Technical Committee Sukhdev Badoni, Avtar Singh, Rajiv Gaur, Rafik Ahmed, Vahid Ahmed and Sumit Khukhsal, Astha Moudowal and Divya Ahluwalia. 

Dehradun, February 9
Tehri and Uttarakhand Police won their matches at the 57th Dehradun District Cricket League at Matawalabag here today.

In the first match between Tehri and Haridwar, Tehri batsmen piled up a total of 167 runs. Tehri began on a shaky note as it lost two batsmen at a score of two runs.

Middle-order batsman Ashish gave an outstanding performance to bring Tehri back into the match. He scored 64 runs off 67 balls. Bhagat made a useful contribution in the end making 30 runs.

In reply, Haridwar team fell 22 runs short off the target. The team was all out for 145 runs. For Haridwar, Aman and Raman was the leading run-getters. Aman made 37 runs and Raman made 35 runs.

For Tehri, Balram claimed three wickets. Bhagat, Amit and Krishna took two wickets each.

In the match between Uttarakhand Police and Tehri-B team, Uttarakhand Police won the match by nine wickets. Tehri-B batsmen put up a flop show. No batsman went on to make a big score despite having some good starts. The team was all out for 137 runs.

Imdad was the top scorer for Tehri. He made 24 runs. For Uttarakhand Police, Dhanraj, Latif and Ravindra Bisht took two wickets each.

In reply, Uttarakhand Police reached the target with nine wickets in hand. Ashish Joshi was the top-scorer for the team with 60 runs and Yogendra made 42 runs. 

Dehradun, February 9
Shemrock Kidsland Dalanwala School organised its annual sports day today. Various races were organised like balloon race, banana race, simple race, ball race, and partner race for children. The schoolchildren also participated in march past and PT display.

Results:
Balloon race: gold medal - Aanya Chauhan, silver - Udit Chaudhary, bronze - Saksham Narang

Banana race: gold - Arnav Verma, silver - Akriti Bhaskar, bronze - Sumit Singh

Simple race: gold - Yashdeep Negi, silver - Aditya Rawat, bronze - Siddhi Dwivedi

Ball race: gold - Tanishi Mishra, silver - Disha Uniyal, bronze - Geetanjali Bhambi

Partner race: gold - Ishaan Mahendru and Anshika, silver - Anmol and Meher, bronze - Harshit and Siya

Ranjana Mahendru, director of the school and the Monica Nigam, principal, gave away the prizes.