Dehradun, January 20
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has laid importance on oil and gas conservation to meet the growing energy needs of the country.

Inaugurating the Oil Conservation Fortnight in the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun, Alva said with country’s dependency over imported petroleum products increasing as high as 70 per cent, the importance to save oil has assumed paramount significance.

She reminded the gathering that fossil fuel would get exhausted in a matter of few decades and thus conservation was the need of the hour. She said oil conservation must get into our habit and only public sensitisation stood as the most effective means to achieve conservation goals.

Appreciating usage of traditional water mills for power generation in Uttarakhand, the Governor said such measures would go a long way in promoting the cause of energy conservation.

She said to fulfill the Centre’s directives for Green Raj Bhawans across the country, a windmill would also be established at Raj Bhawan, Nainital.

She also did not fail to mention Uttarakhand’s contribution to environment through its vast forests.

The Governor also administered an oath to the students towards energy conservation.

Earlier, Director, IIP, Dr MO Garg said energy kept much importance in the social and economic development of the nation.

State Coordinator of Oil Companies Ashwani Dua disclosed that the oil conservation fortnight was observed every year collectively by oil companies and the Petroleum Conservation Research Association.

The Governor also released a bunch of balloons to mark the occasion. Kendriya Vidhayala IIP students gave a cultural presentation.

Territory Manager BPCL’s Samir Dange, HPCL’s Subodh Batra and Petroleum scientist Dr SK Sharma were prominent present on the occasion.

The fortnight will conclude on January 31.

Nainital, January 20
Residents of villages in the Jaspur area of Udham Singh Nagar that are located along the border with Uttar Pradesh are on tenterhooks following constant forays by robbers from across the border.

Things have come to such a pass that any unknown visitor to the area at odd hours is looked at with suspicion. The latest ones to undergo such an unsavoury experience are none other than a senior bureaucrat from Uttar Pradesh along with a female officer who was put to a scrutiny and also a gherao by residents of Narayanpur village.

At around 9 pm on Monday night, a car with no registration number stopped at the house of a villager. When the villagers enquired about the visitors, the latter started arguing with them. This led to the residents of the village converging at the spot and gheraoing the visitors. Police personnel at the Jaspur police station were also apprised of the suspicious visitors.

When police officials sought to know the identity of the visitors, senior bureaucrat Tulsi Gaud along with the said woman official and another accomplice started an argument with them.

However, when the things became clear, the visitors were taken to a guesthouse in which a booking had already been made for them.

There have been attempted robberies in the villages in the past few weeks. It was only during the past week that residents of two villages, bordering Uttar Pradesh, had foiled robbery attempts by firing at armed robbers who had attacked their villages. About 18 armed robbers had descended on Ganj and Ramnagar villages on Thursday night. To terrorise the villagers, the robbers had resorted to firing.

However, before they could do any harm, the residents of neighbouring village of Talabpur had informed the police which promptly reached the villages. Seeing that the police had arrived, the villagers attacked the robbers by firing at them. The robbers fled from the villages back into the territory of Uttar Pradesh.

Inspector General of Police (Kumaon Range) Jeevan Chandra Pande, in an interaction with The Tribune, said, “There is such a movement in that region and we have to alert all the time. The police officers are in constant touch with the visitors and are working on the lines of developing civil defence committees over there. The police has been asking the residents of border villages to remain alert”.

It is suspected that robbers from Uttar Pradesh are responsible for the series of robberies over the past few weeks in the area.

Residents of villages like Raghuwala Ganj, Ramnagar and Khaguwala and others have resorted to maintaining nightlong vigils in their villages.

Dehradun, January 20
Inspired by Bollywood’s hit movie “Sholay”, another Veeru has climbed up the high tower in the city these days. Not to entreat “Mausi ji” for marrying Basanti, but to put forth the demands of his association.

After 60 hours of hardship, Puran Singh Rana, president of the Shiksha Acharya/ Anudeshak Swayum Sewak Sangathan, Uttarakhand, decided not to climb down the 60-ft Doordarshan tower located at the Haridwar bypass here today.

Rana, who mounted up the tower demanding that all ad hoc teachers under the Shiksha Acharya Scheme be converted into the Shiksha Mitra Scheme, is still determined to come down only when they deliver the government order.

The agitated ad hoc teachers took out a rally from the Vidhan Sabha to the Rispana river in support of the trespasser, shouting slogans against the state government that alone can provide them with justice.

District Education Officer Geeta Nautiyal also visited the spot to convince Rana, but in vain.

In fact, the offender wrote a letter to the administration threatening to self-immolate at the post of the tower if no action was taken within a week’s time.

Rana was on strike and had staged protest outside the premises of the Vidhan Sabha for 718 days.

Roorkee, January 20
A local resident was awarded with a commendation certificate by a Delhi-based organisation, Public Cause Research Foundation, for his remarkable work in the RTI field.

Using the right under the Right to Information Act (RTI), 68-year-old Dr Bhushan Singh Rawat has filed as many as 900 RTI applications in 16 different departments of the state.

“This is the maximum number of RTIs filed by any individual in Uttarakhand since the Act came into being in 2005,” claimed Dr Rawat, who is a former employee of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee.

“I am elated to get the award, but my purpose of seeking information is that the public should know what is being done by the government, administration and other agencies for their welfare,” said Rawat.

Dehradun, January 20
Instead of becoming a model state by allocating handsomely towards gender budgeting, the Uttarakhand government’s allocation is less than 33 per cent.

For the 2008-2009 financial year, which about to end, the government had allocated only Rs 50 lakh, of which not much was spent towards strengthening District Protection cells in the state.

At a state-level training on “Gender Budgeting with Special Reference to the Protection of Women against Domestic Violence Act” (PWDVA) held today, these facts were brought to light.

“We have been demanding that the government gives us a clear indication on how the allocations being made under the gender budget are being spent. Initially we were told that the total allocation was around Rs 84 lakh, but through the RTI we were able to find out that the allocation was only Rs 50 lakh,” said Geeta Gairola, state Project Director, Manila Samakhya.

In Uttarakhand alone the government is yet to make an allocation for the District Protection Cell and the District Protection Officer is yet to get clerical staff and vehicle. Most of the officers have been given additional responsibilities of protection officers.

“We now demand that the state government set the Protection Officers at the block level to increase the outreach and make the Act accessible to women in far-flung areas,” said Kanta Prasad, Advocacy Officer, Women Power Connect.

The workshop was facilitated by Women Power Connect, along with resource persons from Lawyers Collective and Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability. The workshop was held to scrutinise government budgets and whether it reached the target group ie women.

Nainital, January 20
The woes of people of Kumaon with regards to power continue unabated. Residents gheraoed the Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the Power Department at Rudrapur yesterday afternoon over heavy bills.

According to the information available, a large number of residents of poor localities like Kotha Colony, Pratap Pur, Raghavnagar Colony, Gauri Kalan and Indrapur came to the office of the DGM MR Arya and protested against power bills to the tune of thousands of rupees.

The agitators contended that they had been given Janta connections at a rate of Rs 10 per month by the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh government in 1997. They pointed that although the scheme was done away later, they continued to get the power supply. The furious residents said now, after a gap of several years, they had been sent bills to the tune of as much as Rs 40,000. Stating that they belonged to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category, they expressed their inability to pay such enormous bills.

The DGM is learnt to have told them that the department is willing to waive off the penalty and they will have to make a one-time payment of Rs 5,000 only.

Meanwhile, the Power Department has booked three persons of the township for resorting to power theft. Those nabbed during a surprise raid are said to be residents of Kheda Colony.

Dehradun, January 20
During spring, Makar Sankranti and Basant Panchami are two festivals that connote sprouting of leaves, blossoming of flowers, exotic colours, warmth and smiles on every face. Since time immemorial, another attraction of these festivals is kite flying.

Mohammed Yaqub, wholesaler of kites in the city, is one person who has preserved the age-old custom of making and selling kites.

His shop by the name of ‘Mehmood Patang Vikreta’ is located on the tapered streets of Dhamawala. His 15 years of expertise comes in handy in making different types of colourful kites.

He is known as ‘chacha’ to street kids and ‘bhaijaan’ to retailers. His kites are supplied to every nook and corner of the city. From Clement Town to Premnagar and from Raipur to Jakhan, his kites are in great demand.

“I am into this business for more than 15 years. My kites are reasonably priced and are available in different varieties. Kites of Rajasthan, Bareilly, Varanasi, Lucknow, Gujarat and Hyderabad are sold at my shop,” said Yaqub.

The business is seasonal and fetches him around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 during festive time. For the rest of the year, business is below average.

“The prime motive of my trade is not to make profit, but to earn satisfaction and bring smiles on the faces of kids,” he added.

Normally, the kites sold at Yaqub’s shop are priced between 50 paise and Rs 10. A major attraction of his shop is the 1.5m wide colourful kite costing Rs 350 made from lightweight fabric. But alas, the huge flying object is not for sale.

Dehradun, January 20
A 40-year-old property dealer was murdered allegedly by one of his property dealer friends with a sharp-edged weapon following an old dispute at Shri Ram Puram Colony here this evening.

The police has arrested the “murderer” and till the filing of the report and was investigating to find out whether there was involvement of any other person(s) or not.

Both deceased Raju and accused Prakash reportedly had a fight over some issue at about 5 pm. During the fight the accused also sustained injuries on his body. However, in a fit of rage he attacked the property dealer with some sharp-edged weapon in his abdomen and neck.

Raju died on the spot and his body was spotted by some nearby residents who informed the police and the family of the deceased.

The family that was aware of their old dispute suspected Prakash of killing their ward and complained to the police. Prakash was arrested by cops later and he had reportedly confessed the crime.

Meanwhile, the police has kept the body at the mortuary of the Doon Hospital.

City Superintendent of Police (SP) Jagat Ram Joshi said they had arrested Prakash and were further questioning him and exploring other angles to find out whether there was any one else involved in the murder.

Dehradun January 20
Students of ICFAI University, Subhash Nagar campus, staged a protest demonstration against the expulsion of two students Rajan Kumar and Nishant Tripathi of BBA course here yesterday. The Disciplinary Committee of ICFAI College, expelled the students as they allegedly had caused disturbances in the classes.

All BBA students left their classes and joined hands in support of the expelled students, demanding revocation of the expulsion. The students have also declared boycott of the examinations that are to take place from January 21.

The protesting students alleged that the Principal of the college Brig ML Sabharwal (retd) was harsh with them. However, the Principal denied the allegations.

“Those students created ruckus on the campus and despite repeated warnings, showed no signs of improvement. It was on the grounds of disruption of the academic activities, that the university was compelled to expel the students,” he said.