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Pharmacists boycott work, patients suffer
Patients wait outside the pharmacy in Doon Hospital on Saturday. Tribune photo: Anil P Rawat
Seminar held on adverse impacts of climate change
Environmentalist Vandana Shiva addresses a gathering at a seminar on climate change in Dehradun on Saturday. A Tribune photograph |
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Lok Ayukat Secy’s daughter commits suicide
Shahi Snan: A day after, holy city breathes easy
A view of the Rishikul Inter-Bus Station in Haridwar on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
Revenue Earnings
Rs 3,600-crore plan to evolve medical sector
Van Gujjars attend a conference of the National Forum of Forest People and Forest Workers held in Dehradun
on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
Pancheshwar Dam
Expand tiger territories: Experts
Death of Two Leopards
Acharya Kothiyal remembered
CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank releases a souvenir at the 100th birth anniversary of Acharya Gopeshwar Kothiyal in Dehradun on Saturday.
ITBP jazz band main attraction at Basant Mela
Panel to survey rail tracks
Labourer dies in road accident
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Pharmacists boycott work, patients suffer
Dehradun, February 13 The pharmacists owing allegiance to the Diploma Pharmacist Association, Uttaranchal, had already apprised the government about their decision to boycott work in advance. “We had informed the authorities in advance about our decision to boycott work and also submitted a memorandum of demands during the last cabinet meeting in January,” said BS Payal, regional president of the association. The main demands include addressing problem of anomalies existing in the Sixth Pay Commission, framing rules for gazetted and non-gazetted staff and seniority list of pharmacists and implementing salary in lieu of work scheme for gazetted pharmacists in line with that of police service rules. “The government has not implemented the decision taken by a high-powered committee constituted by the Congress-led ND Tiwari government in 2006, about raising the number of posts of pharmacist (officer) form 14 to 30 and also increasing posts of Chief Pharmacist to 230,” said Payal. Meanwhile, the boycott call had a disastrous effect on the patients, unaware of the strike. They kept waiting at the counters for getting medicines, but to no avail. Others coming from neighbouring villages will now have to make another trip to the hospital to get the medicines that are sold free at the Doon Hospital. |
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Seminar held on adverse impacts of climate change
Dehradun, February 13 The mission chief, Acharya Ashish Semwal, presided over the seminar that emphasised on environment conservation, while eminent speakers Rajender Singh, Magsaysay award winner, Dr Vandana Shiva, Sunderlal Bahuguna, Swami Agnivesh and Prof SP Singh, former Vice-Chancellor of Garhwal University, addressed the gathering. “The climatic changes, pollution and environmental degradations are hampering the planet adversely. It is our endeavour to draw the attention of individuals and governments alike to address the problems and contribute towards a viable and sustainable solution. “Therefore, we have organised a seminar where such leading luminaries come together on one platform to enlighten the common person and share their concerns on climate changes and genetically modified food,” said Acharya Semwal. The mission has also announced The Doon Declaration, strategies to combat changing climate scenario, the recommendations of the scientists and development professionals of Uttarakhand. The declaration symbolised the adverse impact of climatic changes and how it can be dealt through the conservation of land, forests, water, energy and biodiversity as solutions. Another prominent topic of discussion at the seminar was “Ganga Bachao”. To mark the importance of the Ganga, speakers requested people at the gathering to say no to polythene bags and their usage. This seminar was an alert to the country by spreading awareness to save the priceless asset of the country. The programmes, levied under the aegis of the mission, are more environment-oriented that aim at establishing
the possibility to explore real life through nature and its upbringing. Therefore, the initiative of the mission in particular will perhaps make a difference to the lives of several, if done step by step. Dr SP Sati, from Garhwal University anchored
the programme. Anti-polythene rally held
A big torch procession was carried out during a “Say no to polythene” programme by the Devbhumi Vikas Sanasthan here today. The workers raising slogans of “Say no to polythene” marched around the city. College students and environmentalists participated with
a passion. Trivender Singh Rawat, patron of the association, said polythene had become the most convenient part in our day-to-day life, but had increased the ill consequences. There was no other way out but banning the use of polythene. He also said the waste of polythene often eaten by cows and dogs affected them adversely. Due to the procession, traffic jams were witnessed in the city. |
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Lok Ayukat Secy’s daughter commits suicide
Dehradun, February 13 The family handed over a suicide note to the police left by Priyanka. According to the police, the note said she was taking this step as she couldn’t live up to the expectations of her family and had failed to clear several competitive examinations like the PCS (Judicial) and BEd. The note added that she was unable to comprehend whatever she studied and often forgot that. She also requested that her suicide not be highlighted or appear in the press. According to the police, the matter came to light to the family in the morning when Priyanka didn’t open the door of her room even after repeated attempts. The family members later managed to enter the room only to see the girl hanging from the ceiling fan. The police after examining the spot sent the body for a postmortem exam. The police said the girl had been appearing for competitive examinations for a long time. And she took the extreme step under depression as she could not succeed in the examinations. She had appeared in the PCS (Judicial) examination earlier, but couldn’t make it. Labourer murdered in
property dispute
A 21-year-old labourer was allegedly murdered by his neighbour, also a labourer, after the two got into a fight reportedly over property outside their house on the DL Road this evening. According to the police, the accused hit the labourer with an iron rod on his head twice and the latter died on the spot. The police reached the spot and
arrested him. Accused Navbharat said they had an old property dispute, following which both had a heated argument today. He also alleged that victim Dharamveer had illicit relations with his sister-in-law. He said the victim was today coming out of the room of his sister-in-law that further infuriated him. He has a son and two daughters. His wife died about a year ago and he had gone to jail in that connection. The Dalanwala SHO said both
were labourers and had entered into a brawl that resulted in the killing of
Dharamveer. The accused has been sent to jail and a case of murder has been registered in the Dalanwala police station. Taxi driver found dead
in hotel room
NAINITAL: A taxi driver from Nainital was found dead last morning in a
hotel room that he had rented in Haldwani. It is being suspected that he committed suicide. According to information, Keshav Dutt Budlakoti, a resident of Nalini Mallital in Nainital, had rented a room in a
hotel in Railway Bazaar in Haldwani since Tuesday. Hotel staff informed the police that he had left his room on Thursday afternoon and returned by the evening, following which he did not come out of his room. Getting suspicious, the hotel owner, along with his employees, broke into his room on Friday morning and found him lying dead. The police said he died after consuming a pesticide. After postmortem, the body has been handed over to his family members. Budlakoti had been depressed over the past few days. It is learnt that he had
purchased a second-hand vehicle after borrowing money and accidentally hit it into a stationary truck a few days back. Ever since the incident happened, he was in depression. |
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Shahi Snan: A day after, holy city breathes easy
Haridwar, February 13 A day after seven akhadas and millions of people took a holy dip, Haridwar today bore a different look. The faces in the crowd and the expressions on the face of security personnel looked relaxed and there was restriction-free movement. Security personnel had begun to extend some leverage in movement in the mela area by late last night. Crowds were seen at the bus station and railway station,
but these were lesser than those witnessed in the past two days. Around 5.30 am at Rishikul
Bus station No. 1 and No. 2, there were a few buses and a few passengers. Compare this to the past two days where many persons didn’t get buses even after waiting for hours and had to walk 10-12 kms to get to the temporary bus stations at the outskirts of the city. “We had to go to Roorkee yesterday, but as there was no bus, we stayed here. We came to Jwalapur early in the morning and have been waiting long, but the conductor is not letting the bus leave the bus station as there are very few passengers,” said bemused Roorkee-bound Pawan and Neetu Singh. At the railway station, there was a crowd of pilgrims but the serpentine queues were missing. The intense checking, frisking and monitoring by security
personnel had made movement of people difficult, but today the extra strictness was missing and one could easily move at stations, temples, institutions and on roads. Many denizens of Haridwar were angry with the mela administration’s traffic plan and the way barricades were put up in the whole city hindering people’s movement. Congress organisations secretary Tejiyan said that while the mela administration is claiming the successful completion of the first royal bath, it showed no concern for pilgrims who had to tread several kms. “Hundreds of pilgrims blamed the administration for maltreatment and it looked as if they were a burden on the mela administration,” said Tejiyan. Traders too felt the heat
and lamented that they could not reach their shops on time as their foot-passes were deemed cancelled from early
morning yesterday. “We will take up this matter with the administration as three more Shahi Snans are to follow. We cooperate with the administration, but at such occasions, they should also consider our problems and its effect on our trade,” said a garment shopkeeper at Upper Bazaar. The media fraternity too has raised the issue of the unhelpful attitude of police personnel, who didn’t give weight to their passes. This proved a major problem in covering the Maha Kumbh’s first Shahi Snan. |
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Nano parcels propel Haldi Road station on top Tribune News Service
Nainital, February 13 During his visit, he disclosed that the Haldi Road station near Rudrapur had achieved the distinction of being a topper in India with regards to the revenue earned for parcel bookings. It has earned a revenue of Rs 756 crore. The station has achieved this distinction with the transportation of Nano cars being manufactured by Tata Motors at its Pantnagar facility. Besides, a large number of other industrial houses are also booking their consignment from this station. A delegation of representing various industries called on him during his visit and sought further improvement in facilitation of freight carriage from the station. He promised to look into the matter and do the needful. Replying to a media query regarding the persistent demand for the Bageshwar-Tanakpur rail connectivity, the General Manager said as of now there was no such proposal with regards to the budgetary allocation for the railways. Regarding the construction of an over bridge on a railway crossing in Rudrapur, he said the matter could only be taken up once there was a proposal from the district administration. At Lal Kuan, he once again raised the concern of the Indian Railways with regards to the large-scale encroachments on its land and hoped that the state government would come forward in getting the land vacated. On the issue of gauge conversion between Bareilley and Lal Kuan, he said it would take at least a year-and-half more for the track to be converted from metre gauge to broad gauge. It was also informed that an island platform had been sanctioned for Lal Kuan station and this would increase the number of platforms at the station to five. At Kashipur, Dwadsh Shreni stressed upon the need to make the functioning of various sections computerised and said high mast lights would be installed at the freight godown for the convenience of the traders. He also disclosed that the height of two platforms at the station would be increased.
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Rs 3,600-crore plan to evolve medical sector
Dehradun, February 13 The recently released data by the Ministry of Health and Welfare showcases a shocking shortfall of doctors, nurses, health assistants, radiographers, pharmacists and other personnel in rural health delivery structure. Alarmed by the findings, Nachiket intends to build a process excellence framework, which will integrate the best practices of total quality management and knowledge management in medical sector, costing Rs 3,600 crore annually. “We are committed to achieve the objectives of Nachiket Vision 2012 within the stipulated period of time. Funds will be generated through donations for emancipation of the medical sector,” said Parmeet Singh, treasurer, Nachiket Medical Initiative. The health agenda includes providing 100 per cent scholarship to all
medical and para-medical students, irrespective of their religion, caste, gender or economic status on a first-come first-served basis. This is aimed at
filling the demand-supply gap of qualified medical professionals. PK Goel, vice-president, said, “We will sharpen the execution plan and gets its strategy right”. Sudhir Kumar, general secretary, said, “We will achieve goals set for various health indicators”. |
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Workshop on tribal rights organised
Dehradun, February 13 The workshop was inaugurated by former Rural Development Secretary KB Saxena, who expressed concern over the lack of willingness on the part of various state governments towards the implementation of the Tribal Act in the state. Convener of the workshop Munni Lal said the forum would continue to struggle for forest dwellers till the Act was implemented in letter and
in spirit. He also reminded that it was due to the long efforts on the part of the forum that at least the tribes reached the implementation stage in
the country. The speakers also criticised the recently constituted committee at the national level for the review of the Act asserting that the committee had an overwhelming presence of
forest officers. Significantly, the Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), who was one of the key guests at the function, was conspicuous by his absence. Interestingly, the PCCF preferred wildlife conservation over the Tribal Act and was busy attending a tiger conservation seminar at Corbett. |
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To reduce submerged area, Nepal favours less height
Our Correspondent
Pitthoragarh, February 13 “The Nepali delegation after visiting the villages likely to be submerged under the water of this dam expressed the view that instead of the higher dam at Pancheshwar they would prefer the more heights of the supplementary dam to be constructed at Rupali Garh which will be of 2,500 MW capacity,” said SD Joshi, an engineer of the Centre Water Commission, who on behalf of commission accompanied the Nepali delegation. The Nepali officials were of the view that Nepal did not want to construct the third phase of the dam of this project at Purnagiri as this dam would create bigger problems of rehabilitation in the Terai area of Nepal. “Instead of this, the Nepali want to generate more electricity from the dam to be constructed at Rupali Garh,” said Joshi. The Pancheshwar project which was proposed some 40 years back was to be constructed jointly by India and Nepal.
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Expand tiger territories: Experts
Dehradun, February 13 A recommendation to this effect was made at the Wildlife Institute of India’s (WII) initiated consultation workshop on “Emerging Trends and Future Challenges in Wildlife Sector” that concluded at the Corbett Park today. Among recommendations to be submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, the WII emphasised on the importance of increasing the territory of
tiger reserves. For this, it also supported the constitution of a task force that would be working in coordination with the Forest and Revenue authorities towards shifting of human settlements inside critical wildlife habitats. The workshop also sought a uniform support policy for providing compensation to the wildlife attack victims, irrespective of the species of the attacking wildlife animal. The need for sensitisation of villages in the periphery of reserve areas of the importance of wildlife was
also sought. A day earlier, the workshop had emphasised on the benefits of tiger collaring for studying tigers. After the Union Minsiter of Enviroment and Forests failed to turn up, Director, WII, PR Sinha had inaugurated the workshop. He had expressed concern over rising tiger fatalities in 2009. Sinha asked the tiger state to extract maximum benefit from the workshop. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr RBS Rawat and State Chief Wildlife Warden KL Arya represented Uttarakhand in the workshop. Tiger expert Dr YV Jhala dwelt at length on the importance of tiger collaring and precautions linked to the exercise. Dr BC Melkini and Vinod Mathur Dean were other scientists who represented the WII at the workshop. |
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2 watchmen sent to judicial remand
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, February 13 Divisional Forest Officer, Dehradun, Meenakshi Joshi said those behind the two leopard deaths would not be spared under any circumstances. She said if needed, sniffer dogs would also be pressed into service to zero in on to the poachers. Only a day back, the body of a leopard with its legs chopped off was recovered from a private farm house in Barowala, while another was recovered from Jhanjara range. Meanwhile, the Rudrapur police today arrested two persons and seized a leopard skin from their possession. As many as 268 leopard deaths have been recorded in Uttarakhand during the past five years, and this year itself, 18 leopard causalities have taken place. 78-yr-old woman forces leopard to flee. Nainital: Displaying extraordinary courage and resolve, a septuagenarian woman forced a leopard to flee following an almost 10 minute one-to-one fight with the animal. The incident happened at Rupapani Tok in Dwarahat near Ranikhet on yesterday morning when the wild cat hiding in a bush attacked 78-year-old Pana Devi who was cutting grass in a field. The woman did not lose her cool on being confronted by the animal and instead counter attacked it with a sickle. The fight continued for several minutes. At one point the animal managed to throw the woman in a bush, but she re-emerged with the sickle firmly in her hand. Other women working in the adjacent fields raised an alarm, but the animal kept on attacking Pana Devi who repulsed the charges. Eventually, the leopard fled from the spot. The injured woman was later admitted to the Government Hospital in Ranikhet. The animal had torn her thigh. She said she would not have survived the attack if she did not have her sickle.
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Acharya Kothiyal remembered
Dehradun, February 13 Addressing a gathering, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank recalled Kothiyal’s contribution to journalism in the Uttarakhand region. “Through his writing in
Yugwani, Gopeshwar Kothiyal stood for the cause of people giving priority to the issues that affected the common man those days,” Nishank said. He exhorted the young to emulate the journalistic values as revealed in the Acharya’s writings. The Chief Minister also released
“Jandhara”, a compilation of write-ups on Acharya Kothiyal by his contemporary literary personalities.
Sajay Kothiyal, son of Acharya, said it had been his endeavour to follow in the footsteps of his father. He said his father always believed in values of life and had tried to stick to those values.
Charu Chandra Chandola, Dhom Singh Negi and Shekhar Pathak dwelt at length on the life of
Kothiyal, recalling some of the memorable events from his life. They said Acharya Kothiyal never compromised on principles and firmly stood for journalistic ethics. Later in the evening, Garhwali singer Narendra Singh Negi’s performance was highly appreciated by the audience. Former Chief Minister Major-Gen BC Khanduri
(retd), Congress MP Pradeep Tamta and scores of literary personalities of the state were present on the occasion. |
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ITBP jazz band main attraction at Basant Mela
Dehradun, February 13 Marking the advent of spring, compared to the first two days, today, apart from swings like the giant wheel, columbus train, break dance attracting kids, there were stalls of regional handicrafts, handlooms, ITBP welfare centres’ products and local articles. However, the ITBP jazz band display and Jaunsari and European cultural programmes remained the main attraction. IG (Northern Frontier) MC Bhatt, Dehradun IPS (Deputy General) Sanjay Singhal, DIG Ishan Pradeep, Comdt of the 12th Battalion Matali Bhanwar Singh and many other distinguished guests were present at the mela. The closing ceremony of Basant Mela will be carried out tomorrow. |
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Panel to survey rail tracks
Dehradun, February 13 He said at the Doiwala Railway Station, the sale of unreserved tickets had been started and a proposal was also underway to start a reservation counter over there. A decision had also been taken to upgrade the railway station.
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Labourer dies in road accident
Nainital, February 13 Rajbhar, 28, died on the spot, while Hira Lal, who was seriously injured, was sent to Haldwani for treatment. The police has nabbed the driver, Raju, who was in an inebriated state. The two labourers were employed for mining activity on the banks of the Nandhor river and going to the Ghosapur temple for offering Shivratri prayers. |
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Diploma pharmacists boycotted work today at all government hospitals in the state, leaving scores of patients stranded and without any medicines.
The Vishwa Jan Jagrati Mission held a day-long seminar on “Climate Change-Its Impact and Solution” here today.
Residents of Haridwar heaved a sigh of relief in the morning today, a day after the first Shahi Snan of the Maha Kumbh here.
For the past two-three days, the holy city couldn’t sleep due to the hustle bustle of pilgrims, tourists and vehicles. The difference between day and night was blurred by the constant activity taking place in the mela area.
