Haridwar, August 11
Former Uttarakhand Samajwadi Party president and legislator Ambrish Kumar today resigned from the primary membership of the party.

For quite some time, speculations were rife that Ambrish’s resignation was on the cards and today he finally put in his papers along with as many as 1,000 party workers.

After the debacle in the Lok Sabha polls, where Ambrish Kumar lost from the Haridwar seat, party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav made Vinod Barthwal the in-charge of state affairs. Ambrish could garner a mere 35,000 votes and his ‘hill-plain’ rift did not go down well with the electorate.

Meanwhile, after resigning, Ambrish lashed out at the party for handing over the reins to a person (referring to Barthwal) who had always been involved in anti-party activities and neglect of workers.

“Barring the last general election, the Samajwadi Party has fared well in the state since I took over the reins,” said Ambrish.

Claiming that most of the party workers and executive members were with him, Ambrish today formed a 31-member committee that would now prepare its own political agenda. On the question of whether he would now join the BJP, Congress or BSP, Ambrish said the party closest to the agenda prepared by them would be his preference.

Notably, state general secretary Murli Manohar too resigned from the party.

On the other hand, newly appointed state chief of Samajwadi Party Vinod Barthwal said Ambrish’s resignation would help rejuvenate the party in the state.

Prominent among those who resigned were city president Mohan Adhikari, state head (teachers) Dr Sunil Kumar Batra, Suresh Gulati, Surendra Saini, Garnail Singh Kali, Ajay Sharma, Mukarram Ansari, Anil Sani, Saeed Hassan, Shafi Khan, Sardar Rohitash Singh, Dharam Pal Thekedar, Ajmod Modi, Som Tyagi, Jaswant Chauhan, Talib Pradhan and Irfan Ansari

Dehradun, August 11
The state is being deprived of revenue worth crores of rupees on account of unpaid premium of land allotted to Hero Honda Motors Limited since 2006 at the integrated industrial estate of the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) at Haridwar.

Sources said that 102 acres were allotted to the company at the rate of Rs 1,000 per square metre. The total cost comes to about Rs 40 crore.

Since the company has not bothered to either pay the premium or surrender the land, the state is bearing a revenue loss of about Rs 120 crore calculated at the present rate of Rs 3,150 per square metre.

Though General Manager, SIDCUL, SP Truipathi, said that they had issued a notice to the company to deposit the payment within 30 days failing which the allotment would be cancelled.

The company has been issued three notices.

The last one, a copy of which is with The Tribune, was issued on May 1, 2009.

But no action has been taken even after three-and-a-half months.

The notice mentioned that if the company failed to deposit the land premium within the notice period, it would be presumed that it does not require the land.

It will then be allotted to other applicants as per SIDCUL norms without any further notice. Sources said that the matter has been brought to the notice of SIDCUL higher-ups as well as the Chief Minister.

Dehradun, August 11
State Congress leaders have alleged that due to inability of the Uttarakhand government to utilise funds sanctioned by the Union Government for various schemes, grants worth Rs 1557.5 crore have been lapsed during the past two financial years.

The leaders today claimed that during 2007-08, funds amounting to Rs 726 crore got lapsed and the figure increased to Rs 831.5 crore in 2008-09, which totals to Rs 1557.5 crore.

Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Yashpal Arya said albeit the BJP accuses UPA government of meting out step-motherly treatment to Uttarakhand, in reality it was the BJP government that was at fault.

“It is ridiculous that BJP government is not utilising these funds and misguiding the masses by propagating that the Centre is ignoring Uttarakhand,” he said, while adding that most of the schemes wherein the funds were not utilised 
pertained to the minority communities.

Giving details of the funds that got lapsed, Arya said out of Rs 750 crore sanctioned for the Special Component Plan (SCP) for 2007-08, only Rs 350 crore were utilised and Rs 400 crore got lapsed.

Likewise, from a total of Rs 854 crore under SCP for 2008-09, Rs 554 crore got lapsed.

“Had these funds been utilised for providing education, water, roads, power and health facilities to the Dalits, it would have definitely contributed a lot for the welfare of this particular community but unfortunately, the state government seems least concerned,” alleged Arya.

The Congress chief further informed that under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), funds to the tune of Rs 150 crore and Rs 36 crore got lapsed for 2007-08 and 2008-09, respectively. He added that under the Border Area Development Project, central funds amounting to Rs 19 crore were sanctioned for 2007-08, but the state government utilised only Rs 5 crore.

“And for the year 2008-09, the government utilised a mere Rs 1.5 crore and Rs 17.5 crore got lapsed,” he claimed.

Giving details of more schemes that suffered because of the casual attitude of the government, Arya said for 2007-08 and 2008-09, funds amounting to Rs 90 crore were sanctioned for the Backward Region Grant Fund, but state government failed to spend even a single penny and the entire grant was lapsed.

He alleged that the government was also not serious towards utilising funds sanctioned for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

Dehradun, August 11
Uttarakhand can become ideal destination for setting up of herbal export zones (HEZs) and herbal farm clusters. These will play a key role in pushing up Indian herbal industry’s annual turnover to an extent of Rs 16,000 crore by 2010, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

Currently, the annual turnover of India’s herbal industry is estimated to be over Rs 12,000 crore.

In its recommendatory paper submitted to the Uttarakhand Government following conclusion of the recent Assocham Herbal Fair, it has been stated that these export zones and farm clusters in the state would also create employment opportunities for 1.2 lakh skilled workforce and farmers.

The Assocham president, Sajjan Jindal, however, demanded that the state government should provide the proposed HEZs and farm clusters tax holidays, easy availability of loans with affordable prices of land, water, electricity etc.

It has also suggested that on the lines of Herbal Research and Development Institute, Gopeshwar, Uttarakhand, there is an urgent need to set up at least 2-3 more herbal R&D institutes in the state for the optimal use of medical and herbal plants.

By setting up these institutes, not only will the farmers benefit in terms of employment in the herbal industry but it will become a new area for students to look for avenues.

The states of Uttarakhand has over 170 medicinal and aromatic plant species in the foothills. In addition, fruits like apples, oranges, pear, grapes, peach, plum, apricot, litchi, mangoes and guava are widely grown in the state and therefore have immense potential for development of horticultural crops.

In Uttarakhand, the major species of herbs comprise Cordyceps sinnesis, Sinoarundinaria falcata, Aehmanthera gossypina, Meizotropic pillita, Morchell esculenta, Terachycarpus takin, Wyrtex Nirgundo, Geradernia hetrofila, Barebris aristata, Scentla ascetica etc.

According to the chamber, the demand for herbal medicines is increasing and it is estimated that the production of herbal drugs will increase manifold.

There are 1,650 herbal formulations in the Indian market and a number of major plants involved in their formulation is 540.

The chamber has also suggested that that the state government should identify new agro-climatic zones and provide agro-techniques to cultivate medicinal plants.

To generate awareness on various aspects of medicinal plants among farmers and people, there is need to regularly organise training camps at various places for knowledge of identification, cultivation, conservation and utility of medicinal plants.

There is also a strong need to develop pre and post-harvesting methodology for maintaining the herbal drug efficacy for quality control.

Dehradun, August 11
Blood and nasal swab samples of four more patients suspected of swine flu were today sent to the National Institute of Communicable Disease, New Delhi. Two patients belong to Dehradun while one each is from Haridwar and Haldwani.

All patients are undergoing treatment and have been quarantined, said the health authorities.

The CMS of Doon Hospital has issued guidelines to medicos and paramedics to follow safety guidelines to avoid getting infected by the influenza A(H1N1) virus. The move comes after three doctors in the capital tested positive for swine flu.

The hospital has especially asked doctors to wear masks and wash hands after treating every patient.

“As doctors are the most vulnerable, we have asked them to wear masks while examining patients,” said Dr RK Pant, CMS, Doon Hospital.

Meanwhile, Dr Mahabir Singh has been made nodal officer (swine flu) at Doon Hospital. He said that doctors have been asked to follow WHO (World Health Organisation) guidelines to prevent the spread of the flu.

The State Health authorities are also planning to designate some wards at the Coronation Hospital as isolation wards.

“We have only two single-room isolation wards at the Doon Hospital. Some more wards need to be identified,” said Dr Pankaj Jain, nodal officer, Integrated Surveillance Disease Project.

Meanwhile, Dr Uma Chawla, epidemiologist, and Dr Dipankar Das, joint director, National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), held discussions with the state health authorities about the preparedness of the state in dealing with swine flu.

Tomorrow, the members are expected to meet the Chief Minister and Principal Secretary, Health.

Mussoorie, August 11
Madan Kaushik, Minister for Tourism and Excise, has promised to develop new tourist spots around Mussoorie to attract greater number of tourists to the Queen of Hills and, at the same time, increase their duration of stay in the town.

Kaushik was addressing members of the Mussoorie Hotels Association (MHA) at their Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) late in the evening on Monday.

Reacting to the demands raised by the hoteliers regarding the promotion of tourism, Kaushik agreed to provide all possible support for the development of underdeveloped places of tourist interest around Mussoorie.

“We shall take steps to promote and develop places like Bhatta fall, Jhari Pani fall and other similar spots having tourism potential,” Kaushik promised.

He also said that his ministry was keen on promoting village-based tourism in the state in order to give a boost to the rural economy.

In this direction, he said that he was keen to develop places like Lakhamandal in the Chakrata block.

In response to the demand by MHA members to reduce the cost of liquor and licence fee for bars, Kaushik agreed to the reduction in licence fee. “A decision to this effect shall be taken soon,” Kaushik assured.

The hoteliers have heaved a sigh of relief as they felt that the current licence fee of Rs 4.5 lakh per annum is too steep to encourage the opening of new bars in the town, particularly due to the seasonal nature of the tourism business.

“A significant reduction in the licence fee shall provide a big relief to our members,” said Ajay Bhargava, secretary of Mussoorie Hotels Association.

Earlier, Ajay Bhargava read out the annual report of the MHA while RN Mathur, president of the MHA, discussed other issues with the members. Apart from MHA members, local MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, Chairman of Nagar Palika OP Uniyal, Additional Secretary, Transport, Vinod Sharma were also present.

Dehradun, August 11
The BSNL non-executive employees today staged a one-day sit-in outside their office her demanding fulfillment of their long-pending demands. The sit-in was staged at all the Telecom (District) Headquarters.

Employees owing allegiance to BSNL Employees Union, Uttaranchal Circle, also threatened to go on a 48-hour stir, starting August 19, if their demands are not met.

“We will step up our agitation if the government continues to ignore our demands and after our dharna today, we will be launching a 48-hour stir,” said PC Kandpal, secretary of BSNL Employees Union, Uttaranchal Circle.

The employees are demanding wage revision, promotion policy, implementation of Anomaly Committee Report and end to unfair labour policies.

The employees who were part of the sit-in included PC Kandpal, secretary Uttaranchal Circle, Rajveer Singh Rawat, secretary, JP Kothari, Kishore Lal Chamoli, Dhan Singh Gusain, Roop Singh Negi, KK Bhatt, Jayat Singh, Anand Singh Bisht, Jagmohan Singh, Hukam Singh, Dhan Bahadur, Balwant Singh and others.

Dehradun, August 11
St Joseph Academy, Tibetan Home, Welham Boys and Doon International School made it to the semifinals of the Carbery Memorial Football Tournament underway at St Joseph Academy here today.

In the first quarterfinal played between St Joseph Academy (SJA) and Guru Nanak Academy (GNA), SJA beat GNA 2-1.

In the first half, both teams were equally placed and launched a number of attacks at each other’s goalposts. But both teams were not able to find the net.

In the second half, SJA played attacking football from the beginning to dominate play. M Mark scored the first goal for SJA. Saurab scored the equaliser for GNA. Few minutes later, SJA scored the second goal through Kunal to win the match 2-1.

In the second quarterfinal, Tibetan Home defeated Carban School, Dalanwala, in sudden death. Navang scored the goal for Tibetan Home in the first half to take the lead. Carban School scored the equaliser in the second half through Mukesh. The result of the match came through sudden death.

In the third quarterfinal, Welham Boys beat St Georges College, Mussoorie, 3-2. In the fourth quarterfinal, Doon International School defeated T Tibetan School 2-0.

Dehradun, August 11
Tushar cruised into the semifinals of the ninth District Badminton Championship under way at Parade Ground here today.

Results: U-16 girls singles: Sara Bora beat Stuti 21-4, 21-6; Divya beat Anustha 21-4, 21-6; Ayushi beat Vanshika 21-13, 21-9; Katayani beat Paridhi 21-9, 21-10.

U-19 boys singles: Dhruv beat Gurmeet 21-19, 21-18; Vaibhav beat Saket 21-8, 21-12; Sachin beat Bhuvnesh 21-8, 21-8; Sahil beat Swapnil 21-11, 21-9; Ayan beat Nishant 21-7, 21-5; Vedant beat Mohit 21-6, 21-9; Siddhant beat Nishant 21-14, 21-17.

U-10 boys singles: Tushar beat Nilesh 21-3, 21-11.

U-16 boys singles: Siddarth beat Akshay 21-15, 21-11; Shourya beat Vansh 21-14, 19-21, 21-9; Basu Raj beat Bipender 21-9, 21-14; Arjun beat Mukund 21-7, 11-21, 21-19; Tauseef beat Shubham 21-3, 21-2; Kabeer beat Nishant 28-26, 19-21, 21-10; Abishek beat Varun 21-9, 21-12; Pankaj beat Vaibhav 21-16, 21-7.

U-10 girls singles: Deepti beat Rita 21-10, 21-14; Princpie beat Richa 21-4, 21-13.