Haridwar, December 31
On the eve of New Year, the Haridwar police succeeded in unearthing a drug racket with the arrest of three persons from city’s busy intersection Rishikul Chowk with smack worth Rs 50 lakh. They had been selling narcotic drugs in Haridwar district for a long time.

On a tip-off, the police laid a trap near the Rishikul Medical College intersection. All three arrested persons belonged to Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh.

Yogesh Kumar of Thana Thakurdwara, Moradabad, was caught with 200 gram smack and a 315 bore revolver. He is also an accused in a murder case registered in Bijnore district of Uttar Pradesh. Roop Singh and Nitin Singh were caught with a 150-gm smack packet each.

They had been in this drug trade for the past few years and used to bring the contraband from Bareilly in phases. They used to target youth, tourists and would sell the drug separately, but owing to a good demand on New Year Eve, they were at the spot collectively for a mass selling.

In charge of the kotwali RK Chamoli said all three had been actively involved in this illegal trade and had several youth as their 
regular customers.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sanjay Gunjiyal has lauded the efforts of the police team and said this was also a result of police alertness and specially the beat constable methodology being currently adopted in Haridwar.

The team that succeeded in nabbing these culprits included station in charge SSI Dinesh Kumar, head constable Balbir Pawar, constables Sushil, Rajwardhan and Uttam Ramola. A cash reward of Rs 2,500 has been announced by the SSP for arresting the drug racketeers who have been booked under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances Act. 

Dehradun, December 31
Contractual employees attached with the Tuberculosis Control Programme in the state are demanding absorption in government cadres and have now asked Uttarakhand

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to intervene in the matter.

Rajender Prasad Thapliyal, president of the Tuberculosis Control Employees Welfare Association, said there were more than 100 contractual employees in the state who were working in the DOTS programme for the past seven years and needed to be absorbed.

He said most of the employees after putting in seven years of service were no longer eligible for government jobs.

“We have urged the Chief Minister for absorption of contractual employees with immediate effect,” said Thapliyal.

“The government and political leaders had given time-to-time assurances that their case would be heard,” he added. 

Dehradun, December 31
A week after a former Brigadier’s e-mail was hacked by a con man for monetary benefits, another senior retired defence personnel has been duped of over Rs 4 lakh in another gory incident of cyber crime in alleged connivance with bank staff.

Lt Col D Chaturvedi (retd) was in a shock when, on December 28, he came to know that an amount of Rs 4, 93, 528 has been debited from his pension account at the Survey of India branch of Punjab National Bank fraudulently.

In his complaint lodged with Kotwali police station, Lt Col Chaturvedi, accusing the PNB authorities of fraudulent entries, said the amount in question had been credited to Philomena Caterers, Mumbai, through RTGS (third party transfer) through the means of hacking of his account.

He alleged that it was not possible without the active involvement of someone from the bank. He charged that even after RTGS transaction was allowed, the bank had not felt any requirement of intimating him through e-mail or SMS or telephone.

His did not get the right response from the PNB authorities when he appealed for help. Quite perturbed, the complaintant has now brought the matter to the notice of PNB Customer Care, New Delhi, GM Malathi Mohan.

“I have not shared my transaction password or login password with anyone and I am not aware how this hacking of my account has taken place,” Lt Col Chaturvedi said in his complaint.

The fact that such a large chunk of money was transferred through RTGS facility without the customer ever asking for. It shows the inherent loopholes in the system put in place by the bank.

The complaintant has also written to the grievances cell of PNB in New Delhi seeking its prompt intervention.

Lt Col Chaturvedi has old parents and family to support and fraudulent syphoning of such a staggering amount has come as a rude shock, who is now running from pillar to post for remedial action.

Dehradun, December 31
It is true “Necessity is the mother of invention”. Unemployment and financial crunch made Devendra Dhyani formulate training for converting raw fabric materials into thread at Rikhnikhal, Pauri district.

With the support of the Uttarakhand Khadi Evam Gramudhyog Board, Srinagar, Garhwal, Devendra Dhyani, an active politician and the Block Development Committee member, held the responsibility of providing employment and an accurate source of income to native women of Rikhnikhal.

“There is no source of income in hilly regions of Garhwal, specially in Pauri district. Men indulge in gambling and drinking liquor, while women do the household work, along with taking care of the cattle and fields. To help the less fortunate bread winners, we have introduced the most effective and valuable way of earning through spinning of natural fibres into fine threads,” said Dhyani.

During the training period, the Khadi Gramudhyog Board gives modern and advanced spinning machines to trainers, along with raw material. A sum of Rs 1,000 as stipend is also given to people attending the workshop. The women also get paid a minimum of Rs 60 to Rs 125 per kg of the thread made. Thinner and finer the thread, the higher will be the bonus paid to the workers. Once the one-month training is over, women can also start spinning work from home.

Working women are provided with machines and raw materials too. Currently, 80 women are running the business from home, while 60 more are taking training from experts.

Dhyani also said, “The planning body of the board is soon to start the weaving wing. They will also get training on how to extract natural fibres from bhimal, bhang and nettle (indigenously known as kandali). This training will not be restricted only to extraction, but the natural process of dyeing from turmeric, henna, walnut and pine tree leaves will also be taught to the workers”.

Dehradun, December 31
Following a rap from the party high command, a section of the state Congress leaders who had planned a rally in support of former Andhra Pradesh Governor ND Tiwari, cancelled their proposed demonstration against a non-governmental organisation (ngo) here today.

In a clear signal from the party high command, the Uttarakhand Congress leaders have been told that any proximity or support shown to the tainted veteran leader would not be taken lightly. Interestingly, a section of the state Congress leaders, led by former Congress minister Navparbhat, owing allegiance to former Chief Minister ND Tiwari, had received him on his arrival from Hyderabad after his resignation. Navparbhat is a relative of Tiwari and son of former union minister Brahma Dutt.

The group had also planned a demonstration against the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) here today. Workers of the RLEK and other civil society members had protested against the alleged sex scandal of Tiwari by burning his effigy in front of his official residence at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) on December 27.

Enraged by the protest, Tiwari supporters, led by Navparbhat, had planned a counter-protest demonstration in front of the office of the RLEK on Wednesday. However, none of the Congress workers turned up at the protest venue. “The proposed programme has been cancelled,” Surendra Arya, a spokesperson for the Uttarakhand Congress told The Tribune.

According to Congress sources, Bhola Nath Pandey, All-India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary and co-in charge of party affairs of Uttarakhand, reportedly talked to those who had planned the demonstration and told them plainly that any show of public support to Tiwari under the banner of the Congress would not be liked by the party leadership.

Yashpal Arya, state Congress chief, who is considered close to Tiwari, had denied that the proposed demonstration in support of Tiwari was being held by the state Congress party.

Haridwar, December 31
While a normal protest form is to give a memorandum to the authority concerned, vendors and hawkers of Haridwar have adopted a unique way to bring state government’s attention towards their woes.

Small vendors and traders have resorted to the usage of facsimile to put forth their demands of allotting them a separate vendor-hawker zone during the Maha Kumbh mela.

Today, they sent 151 fax pages addressed to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, urging him to direct the mela administration to allot them a separate trading zone during the Maha Kumbh only as due to a anti-encroachment drive their trade is already suffering.

Tej Prakash Sahu, chief spokesperson for the association, highlighted the meagre daily wage being given to workers hired on contract for Kumbh projects. While the Kumbh budget was exceeding crores, daily wage earners were getting just Rs 80 or Rs 100 and this was affecting their economic and family life as now they had no side business in the form of vending.

The traders also got a fax from CM’s office stating that their demand has been forwarded to Dr Nishank and their fax machine was unable to respond to other fax messages coming from across state. 

Dehradun, December 31
A book, "Katha Sarovar, Ek Din Ki Baat Hai-Garhwal Ki Lok Katha", under the aegis of Himalayan Trust was launched at the Himadri Doon Library and Research Centre here today. The book is based on the short folk stories of the interiors in Garhwal. “Ek Din Ki Baat Hai...” is an initiative taken to preserve the traditional storytelling in a new modified form.

It is basically for children with fairytales, tales of witches and story of daily life.

Other guests present at the event were Subhash Pant, ND Juyal, and Indira Ramesh.

Haridwar, December 31
While most youths were involved in merrymaking on New Year’s eve, a group of students celebrated New Year by breaking pots as a mark of protest against the slow pace of Maha Kumbh works in the city.

Students gathered on the municipality premises with pots and banners and raised slogans against the mela administration for toying with the sentiments of Hindus. They hoped that the New Year would unveil the corrupt acts of officials.

Student leader Varun Baliyan said while the New year would bring crores of persons to Haridwar for the Maha Kumbh, the inferior quality of works due to the misuse of Kumbh funds would disappoint them as the city still lacked proper infrastructure for the pilgrims.

“This is due to corrupt bureaucrats and some politicians who instead of providing the best of facilities are filling their bank accounts with Kumbh funds,” said Baliyan, a protester.

Students said they didn’t feel that they could celebrate New Year after seeing the misuse of public funds.

SMJN College Union president Shakti Tyagi remarked that they didn’t want to put hurdles on Kumbh works, but wanted to expose the corruption involved and also see that the works got completed at a fast pace.

The protesters said they would carry forward their movement to the next year and would try to involve the local people so that the image of Haridwar didn’t suffer due to a few corrupt people.

Among those who addressed the gathering were Anamika Sharma, Mahima, Swati, Prashant Malik, Hardeep Tomar, Narendra Chaudhari, Shiv Chaudhari, Gaurav Giri, Mukesh, Mohit, Shvam, Sunil, Arun, Rohti, Ritesh, Vishwajeet, Bhakti and Rahul. 

Dehradun, December 31
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said forest assets are a major source of economy in the state even while asking the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation for making concrete work plans for harnessing forest assets available in abundance in the state.

The Chief Minister was addressing the valedictory function of a two-day convention of the employees of the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation. He asked the corporation employees to ensure a new work culture in Uttarakhand.

Dr Nishank assured the employees of a sympathetic consideration of their demand of time-scale pay for those working as scalars in the corporation. For maintaining ecological balance of the country through its 65 per cent forest cover, he reiterated that Uttarakhand should be provided green bonus.

The Chief Minister recalled that when Uttarakhand was carved out from UP in November 9, 2000, he then shouldered the responsibility of Finance Minister and had challenging task to overcome a debt of Rs 3,000 crore. “Despite adverse circumstances, we have maintained financial discipline 
all through”.

He also released a souvenir “Jiwan Jyoti”. Earlier, Santosh Rawat, president of the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation Employees Association submitted a memorandum to the CM. 

Dehradun, December 31
The sex scandal involving veteran Congress leader ND Tiwari, who hails from Uttarakhand, at the fag end of the year and his arrival in Dehradun were the highlights of 2009 that was also marked as a year of changing political fortunes of leaders of the state.

The first half of the year saw dissidence in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against then Chief Minister BC Khanduri. Finally, a crushing defeat of the BJP on all five Lok Sabha seats of the state sealed the fate of Khanduri. After a long drawn battle, Khanduri bowed out of the office on the directions of BJP president Rajnath Singh, making way for the new Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in June, 2009.

It was former state Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari who orchestrated a rebellion against Khanduri, but failed to make it to the top post. He was edged out by a much younger Nishank. Nishank has been working hard since day one and surprised even his detractors by winning the Vikasnagar assembly byelection, a traditional Congress stronghold, after taking over the reins of the state. Even earlier, just after the Lok sabha defeat, the ruling BJP won the Kapkot byelection caused by the resignation of Koshiyari who was sent to the Rajya Sabha to quell the infighting in the state BJP.

However, the biggest story to emerge was the alleged sex scandal involving Andhra Pradesh Governor ND Tiwari in the last week of the year and his resignation from the post. Tiwari returned to Dehradun and has been making headlines in national as well as international dailies as the sun sets on 2009.