Roorkee, August 20
Within 48 hours, the police has solved the mystery behind the twin-murders that took place during the intervening night of Tuesday-Wednesday night at Teliwala village.

Two youths of the same village - Shoaib (23) and Shahnawaz (22) - have been arrested, but their third accomplice, Jasheen (21), is still at large.

Shahnawaz is a relative of the victims, Samar Jahan (40), a widow, and her daughter Shazia (18). Shoaib was allegedly involved with Shazia, who was engaged to a local advocate recently.

Following information from their neighbour, the police recovered bodies of the victims from inside the burning house at around 4 am yesterday.

The accused have confessed and revealed that they set the bodies on fire after murdering the duo in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Investigations revealed that while Shazia was strangulated, her mother’s head was smashed by a stone while she was sleeping in the lobby.

The police suspected “love angle” and loot as the motive behind the crime. Both the accused also confessed that they looted jewellery worth several lakhs, but Jasheen had fled away with it.

However, they did not find any cash in the house. The accused were hoping for a bigger booty as Shazia’s marriage was on the cards. Notably, the police got a breakthrough in the case after Shazia’s mobile was recovered by a boy from a street in the village. It was allegedly stolen by Shoaib, but fell off while he was on the run.

SSP Sanjay Gunjyal said Shoaib, who runs a dairy in the same locality, was having an affair with Shazia and they used to talk regularly on phone.

“From the SMSes stored in Shazia’s phone, it came to light that she used to give her mother sleeping pills in meals and then call Shoaib over to her house. On the fateful night, she sent 10 SMSes and made four calls to Shoaib in a duration of less than one hour asking for some more sleeping pills, as her mother did not take the ‘daal’ in which she had put the sedatives,” said the SSP.

“Her cousin Shahnawaz, who was also involved in the murder of his aunt and cousin, provided the pills that night,” he added. “Even I assaulted Shazia before I let in my friends and committed the crime,” confessed Shoaib in front of mediapersons.

Meanwhile, a murder case has been registered against the trio. The SSP has announced an award of Rs 2,500 for the team that was involved in cracking the case.

Dehradun, August 20
After previous days talks with the Uttarakhand Forests Minister Bisan Singh Chufal, rafting operators in Uttarakhand have decided to defer their stir even as the state tourism department has decided to provide them with rafting permits at the earliest.

Dinesh Kathait, member Uttarakhand Rafting Operators Joint Action Committee mentioned that after much of agitation on part of Uttarakhand rafting operators, the tourism department has decided to issue five-year permits to the rafting companies.

He however, admitted that stand off with the forest authorities however continues.

“Forest authorities are persistently seeking auction of the beaches alleging that some of the rafting companies had aspired for such auction, which is completely false. None of the rafting companies keep such opinion,” Kathait said.

He said the forest authorities were repeatedly harassing them on one pretext or the other. “Even this year, we will have to construct approach roads to the beaches at our own costs in order to ensure smooth rafting activities,” he said. There is also a strong opinion among the rafting operators that while the rafting operations in the state has come up at the pure initiative of local entrepreneurs, the authorities were now trying to force their wishes on them.

Rafting operators here had earlier decided to start an agitation commencing August 20 accusing both the tourism and forest authorities of resorting to autocratic attitude. Three major companies that occupy most of the rafting business in the state for past many years-Indian Association of Professional Rafting Outfitters, Himalayan Adventure Operators Association and Uttaranchal’s Finest Outdoors had recently constituted a joint steering committee and decided to take to agitate to fulfil their demands.

Meanwhile, tourism authorities confirmed issuing permits to the rafter at the earliest.

There are as many as 109 companies in the state. The rafting season here begins from September 1 and conclude by June end. 

Dehradun, August 20
The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Uttarakhand State Council is considering to equip architects with practical knowledge for designing green buildings. The step is the follow up of awareness session organised here recently to introduce the concept of green buildings in the environmentally fragile state.

“We feel that architects are one of the important stakeholders in the implementation of this concept.

“So we have worked out an intensive practical training programme for them involving all the related technical details for the purpose,” said Vibha Malhotra, director CII State Council.

Notably, as many as 21 prominent industrial units in the state have voluntarily signed Eco-Code developed by the CII.

The CII has taken upon itself to introduce green practices in the hill state as part of its nationwide programme.

It has set up the first Green Business Centre in the state, which will offer advisory services to the industry in the areas of green buildings, energy efficiency, water management, environment management, renewable energy, green business incubation and climate change activities. The awareness session organised by it was the first step towards this aim.

On the occasion, the experts termed the construction sector as the major contributor to global warming.

In the proposed first of its kind training programme, about 50 architects based in Dehradun, Haridwar, Roorkee and Rishikesh will be invited. These are the places where maximum construction activities are going on.

The focus will be on voluntary participation irrespective of status of any architect in business terms.

The CII proposes to invite them through their association as well as on individual basis.

Though the date of the training programme is yet to be decided but it may organised in the second fortnight of September.

Haridwar, August 20
With several developmental works going on in the city for Mahakumbh, residents here are a greatly inconvenienced lot.

Two-thirds of the city’s roads have been dug up for the laying of roads, sewer lines and other works. Even after the works have been completed, the roads have not been levelled.

Taking cognisance of the problem, mela officer Anand Vardhan has come down heavily on the departments who dug up the roads but had left them uneven or ill-repaired.

Vardhan said that the accumulation of rain water was aggravating the condition of these roads and adding to the woes of the residents.

“The onus of filling and levelling lies on the agency which digs the road. If it is not done, then the cost of the repair will have to be borne by the same department,” he said.

During field inspection, he found that the slabs laid in nullahs were quite heavy and these may pose a problem while cleaning.

He gave directions that the slabs must be light so that cleaners can easily do their work.

Meanwhile, with the central government increasing the Mahakumbh budget, various areas in the city have started demanding the inclusion of developmental works of their areas in the allocated budget.

The residents of Dalit colony Khadach have demanded a water pipeline and a sewer line in their area. They also demanded the installation of hand pumps and street lights.

The residents also demanded that the passage of heavy vehicles through the colony be stopped. Local BSP leader Samay Singh Dabde said that the mela officer has taken note of the demands.

“The budget is huge and if work starts early, then it can easily be completed before the deadline,” said Samay. 

Haridwar, August 20
On the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi several functions were held in the district and floral tributes were paid to the country’s youngest Prime Minister.

Apart from this the day was also celebrated as ‘Akshay Urja Divas’ to make people aware about the renewable energy.

A special programme was held at Congress headquarter in Subash Ghat where party leaders spoke on his life and his contributions to the nation.

Presiding over the function city congress chief OP Chauhan spoke on his role of introducing India with technology.

“Rajiv Gandhi was way ahead in his vision and knew youth power and technological prowess is essential to make India a world power. He envisaged what India is today in IT and related fields,” said Chauhan.

Lauding his role in curbing terrorism BP Tejiyan general secretary city Congress said that Rajiv Gandhi never succumbed to terror and though his mother Indira had become the victim of terrorists yet he didn’t hesitated a bit to send Indian troops to help Sri Lanka to fight LTTE. Soon, he too was assassinated.

In another function by Shramik Samasya Nivaran Prakosth and State Congress Dev Bhoomi Samman Manch at Bhoopatwala where orators highlighted role of Rajiv Gandhi in the aftermath of assassination of his mother and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Chief guest Rajesh Rastogi, spokesperson of Harish Rawat said that Rajiv Gandhi’s life passed through several phases and he emerged triumphant in all of them. He took India from a underdeveloped nation to a developing nation and had the guts to say no to Ronald Reagan when US President offered free arms to us when Rajiv visited USA in late 80’s.

He wanted India to be self-reliant and tap its own resources on which present UPA is successfully treading,” said Annu Sen Gupta secretary of city Congress committee.

Uttarakhand Mahila Congress Committee also organised a function in remembrance of the great leader.

Meanwhile, schools too celebrated the birth anniversary of the leader. At Saraswati Foundation Public School Ranipur a special function was organised where students vowed to follow the path and ideals of the late leader.

Dehradun: The state Congress party organised various programmes to commemorate the 65th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi here today.

Suryakant Dhasmana, media spokesperson of the Congress Committee, addressed the gathering at Vasant Vihar.

He said that the revolution in the field of information technology was the result of Rajiv Gandhi’s efforts.

Dhasmana said that in Rajiv’s time, his efforts to introduce computers in India earned criticism from all quarters, but today, the move has turned India into a superpower in the field of information.

Naveen Bisht appealed to the people to plant trees on Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

Congress MLA Dinesh Agarwal organised a symposium. While addressing the people, he said that Rajiv Gandhi thought about the needs of the common man and worked for their uplift. He said that his efforts gave new direction to the country’s youth.

Uttarakhand State Congress Committee organised a blood donation camp at Congress Bhawan which saw huge participation from Congress workers. The team of doctors from Doon Hospital collected 45 units of blood.

In another event, former Congress MLA Hira Singh Bisht planted saplings. Congress workers cleaned the statue of Gandhi at Gandhi Park.

Meanwhile, ‘Rajiv Gandhi Akshay Urja Divas’ was celebrated in the state capital.

Various programmes were organised in schools. In the morning, around 200 students took out a rally at Parade Ground. The rally was inaugurated by chief secretary IK Pandey.

Addressing the students, Pandey said that with the increase in population, the need for power has also gone up.

“Though the country is progressing in all fields, but still for petroleum needs, we are dependent on foreign countries. It is important to utilise solar, wind and tidal power,” he said.

Members at the rally pledged to propagate the judicious usage of resources so that not only our dependence on other countries gets reduced, but also India becomes pollution free.

The rally, which began at Parade Ground, went through the busiest locations in the city and finally ended at Parade Ground.

Meanwhile, Nari Shilp Inter-College organised debate, painting competition and quiz competition. In the senior section, Priyanka Dashmana of Nari Shilip Inter-College bagged the first position in debate while the second place went to Divya Jain of Government Girls Inter-College, Lakhibagh.

In the junior section, the first position was bagged by Mahaviya of Government Girls Inter College, Rajpur Road, with Sapna Thakur of Nari Shilp Inter-College coming second and Jitan of Mahadev Kanya Pathshalaya coming third.

The chief guests on the occasion were Ureda’s chief development officer SC Badoni and chief project officer SK Tyagi.

Mussoorie, August 20
On the top (7,000 ft) of an isolated meadow, 14 km west of Mussoorie, stands the temple of the celestial serpent king Sheshnaag, who accompanied lord Vishnu's incarnation Krishna as his elder brother Balram, also known as Bhadraaj.

The route to the temple and its vicinity is one of the most beautiful places around Mussoorie.

The otherwise silent and green passage to the temple came to life this Saawan-Bhaadon Sankranti and Jayestha Mass Sankranti which fell on August 16 and 17 respectively.

People from villages near and far gather at the temple to witness the festivity that has been echoing in the mountains since ages.

A stone outside the temple bears the name of a few visitors of the past. Bhadraaj temple lies in the Jaunpur belt of the Jaunpur region of Uttarakhand which is inhabited by the followers of the Pandavas.

It is believed that the Pandavas spend quite some time in the region. Bhadraaj or Sheshnaag is the prime deity of the people of the region and places like Naagthaat and Naagtibba justifies this belief.

Bhadraaj temple is believed to be the place were Bhadraaj taught passing herdsmen the skills of cattle-rearing as he himself was a cowherd.

People paid heed to the lord’s advice and were blessed with livestock wealth which they enjoy till date.

As a gesture of gratitude, people started offering milk and ghee to the deity on the auspicious occasion of Saawan-Bhaadon Sankranti and Jayestha Mass Sankranti.

Eventually, the festivities took form of a fair in which people gathered in their finery to sing, dance, eat and meet. Men used to organise wrestling competitions but this is no more a part of the festivity.

The Nagar Palika conducted the two-day festival with an idea to promote cultural tourism.

Dehradun, August 20
Finally, the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL) has ordered that allotment of land to Hero Honda Motors Limited at Integrated Industrial Estate (IIE), Haridwar will be cancelled if the company fails to deposit the land premium by August 31.

MD, SIDCUL Kunal Sharma issued the order yesterday. The copies of the order have been endorsed to chief secretary and principal secretary, Industries.

The company never bothered to respond to any of the notices given to it for the purpose, including the final one issued on May 1, 2009.

It was allotted 102 acres in 2006 for setting up unit at subsidised rates allowed under special package of industrial incentives.

On the basis of The Tribune report published in its August 12 edition, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank had summoned details of the case from the principal secretary, Industries as well as MD, SIDCUL.

Sources said that SIDCUL authorities had been delaying the cancellation order for the reason best known to them.

It is surprising that they hesitated from doing so even two-and-half months after expiry of the period of the final notice.

Sources said the intervention by the CM in this high profile case, worked.

He took a strong exception to the fact that non-payment of premium caused direct loss of revenue worth about Rs 120 crore to the state.

It also came in way of allotting the land to other companies keen on investing in the state.

The company has still been given 12 days to comply before order becomes effective to preempt any legal action.

Dehradun, August 20
DAV Inter-College lifted the u-19 District Football trophy here today. In the finals they comfortably defeated SGRR team by a margin of 4-0.

It proved to be a one-sided final match as DAV Inter-College team dominated the game right from the beginning, leaving no space for SGRR team to make a come back in the match.

Manoj scored the first goal for DAV in the 9th minute to give SGRR team the first setback.

SGRR team players tried hard to find an equaliser in the initial minute of the match, but the DAV College’s strong defense denied them any scoring opportunity.

Barely 10 minutes later Manoj struck again for his team through a powerful kick that sail to the right corner of the post to earn DAV its second goal in the first half.

In the second half, DAV team completely outplayed SGRR team in the 45th minute of the match. SGRR team goalkeeper failed to make a clean collect, taking advantage of which DAV forward Bhagwant scored third goal for his team in the 39th minute.

The fourth goal for the team came in the 60th minute.

Pankaj scored the fourth goal through a clean header to beat goalkeeper all quarters and helping his team take a 4-0 lead in the match.