Haridwar, February 14
Yesterday’s bombing at the German Bakery in Pune by terrorists was widely condemned in Haridwar and people paid homage to the deceased today.As a mark of unity, several organisations and people got together to pray for the peace to those killed and early recovery of those who got injured in the attack.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s city unit offered “Deep Daans” in the holy Ganga and held a two-minute silence in memory of the victims of the bombing.

Several pilgrims from other states and foreign nationals joined in the prayers. Many pilgrims were from Bangalore, Jaipur, Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad which had been witness to such blasts in the past, and they sought stringent action against the terrorists.

A family from Jaipur said they better understand the effects of the terror attacks and the loss was irreparable, but for the politicians it had become a normal thing it seemed. “Our government should do something in this regard. Terrorism is fast affecting our nation and innocent people are getting embroiled in it for no fault of theirs. We have to take stern steps as a nation against terrorism and extremism,” said Naresh Sharma, a BJP leader.

Meanwhile, BJP party workers, at another programme, lashed out at the Central government for rising prices of essential commodities. Party leaders and executive members blamed the Congress in particular for failing to control the price rise and instead focusing on non-important issues such as Bt Brinjal.

District chief of the BJP Om Prakash Jamdagni termed the present UPA government led by the Congress as a total failure, which, according to him, can’t control its allies, inflation, terrorism, Naxalism, corruption and is falling on all frontiers.

Burning an effigy of the Finance Minister and Agriculutral Minister, protesters raised slogans against the Prime Minister too. Mahila Morcha district head Sanjana Sharma said while agricultural minister should have been worried about the price rise and increasing suicides by farmers due to anti-farmer policies, he seemed to be more interested in the BCCI and cricket affairs.

“This is a shame that common man is in problem from all quarters while Central ministers are engaged in other things. From cricket to Bt Brinjal, Central ministers are grossly involved in such issues, making a mockery of common man, farmers and our soldiers who risk their lives for the sake of the country,” said Sharma.

Dehradun, February 14
“Sheesha” or “Indian Hookah” lounges have sprung up across the city. “MaaCozy” is the one such lounge most frequented by college students here. The lounge has a relaxing oriental décor and offers single and double pipe “sheeshas” in a variety of fruity flavours at a very reasonable price. The popular flavours are “apple”, “mint”, “peach” and “mixed fruit”. “Herbal Sheesha” is a speciality here.

Rakesh, working at “MaaCozy”, says: “A Valentine’s Day special menu is in the offing and we are expecting a great turnout. It is one of the most popular youth hangouts in Dehradun.” Snooker rooms like “Hot-Shot”, “Hot-Pocket” and “Cue-Club” are a good way to pass time.

The countrywide smoking ban notwithstanding, secluded underground smoking hubs or locally called “sutta points” are also quite popular. Here cheap food and a vibrant young crowd make it an interesting hangout.

Coming to the street food, the “Punjabi Foods & Rolls”, which opened eight months ago, is already a favourite spot with the youngsters. Paramjit Singh, its owner, claims: “The special “Punjabi Roll”, “Fish Barbecue” and our “Tawa Specialities” prepared with a secret recipe are sold exclusively at our shop.” The shop even offers a 10 per cent discount to their student customers.

The cluster of tiny shops offering North-Eastern and Nepalese snacks on the Rajpur road are known for their authentic spicy veg and non-veg momos: “chang pa mae” (rice with vegetables and meat), “bastenga” (bamboo shoot) and “chowmein” laced with the famous “raja mirchi”. The price and the variety make it popular with the students looking for spicy snacks.

Similar food shacks are found near “Tibetan Market”, which exclusively offers Tibetan snacks like thentuk, momos and thukpa. Low rates and a fast service are their plus points. For the vegetarians, “Bengali Fast Food” offering Indian delicacies like “chole bhature”, “kadi chawal”, “rajma chawal”, etc, is a good option.

Coffee parlours are fast becoming popular local hangouts. “Melting Moments”, “Old Ellora’s” and other such bakeries are known for their delicious pastries and confectioneries. A couple of gaming rooms and bowling arcades projects are soon to be launched in the city exclusively for the entertainment.

Haridwar, February 14
After criticism from locals as well as outside pilgrims, the mela administration has sought a detailed report from the various departments regarding the problems and inconveniences faced by them during the first Shahi Snan.

Though the mela administration has started preparing for the next month Shahi Snan, inconveniences caused to the pilgrims on February 12 Shahi Snan and certain flaws on the part of the administration and the police have blotted the mela administration’s working. To detect and remove these flaws, all departments concerned will be tabling their reports to mela officer Anand Vardhan. He will review the reports and have a discussion with DIG Alok Sharma to rectify these problems.

According to the mela officer, due to security arrangements people had to face problems and this would be surely be taken care of in the coming days. The task seems more onerous for the mela administration as in the coming Shahi Snaan all 13 akhadas will be participating while in the just concluded Maha Shivratri bath only seven akhadas had taken part while others made representation only.

The major problems to the pilgrims arose due to blocking of traffic on routes and paths, which were not initially earmarked, apart from a lack of transport and basic civic facilities. This hampered the movement of outside pilgrims and locals. It seemed this was a hidden plan of the administration to make people stop outside the city so that less number of people could come near the Har-ki-Pauri area for bath.

Also as the outside station vehicles were stopped at temporary parking stations meant for Shahi Snan, there was no availability of proper public transport services to ferry them to interior of the city. This made the pilgrims and tourists tread several kilometres and they had to contend with taking bath at the nearest ghats.

Moreover, the absence of direction boards, signages and unfriendly attitude of the police and traffic personnel had compounded the woes of the people. A lack of basic facilities at railway stations, bus stations exposed the claims of the administration of providing best of facilities to the pilgrims.

All political parties, barring the ruling BJP, have condemned the state government and the mela administration for being mute spectator as lakhs of pilgrims, devotees, tourists and local residents suffered during the Shahi Snan.

“This act will only deter people from coming for the next Shahi Snans in Haridwar and the administration should chalk out better and people friendly strategies if it really has to make the Maha Kumbh a successful fair,” said Rajesh Shivpuri, a Congress spokesman.

Pitthoragarh, February 14
Uttarakhand government will extend from March this year the National Insurance Scheme to all 13 districts of the state. This scheme is active in only two districts of the state, Dharadun, and Udham Singh Nagar at present. Uttarakhand Labour Minister Parkesh Pant informed here today.

In order to give security to the labourers of unorganised sector, the Labour Ministry of Uttarakhand has issued orders that the labour contractors having more than 10 labourers will have to obtain licence from the department and it will be compulsory for them to provide essential facilities like shelter etc to the labourers working with them,” said the minister, adding that all 6.23 lakh families under BPL in the state will also be brought under this insurance scheme.

“We are also providing essential facilities at various places in the state where these unorganised labourers gather in search of work,” said Pant.

“To increase the minimum wages of these unorganised workers we have formed a minimum wages board in the state, and will review the minimum wage after April on the lines of norms given by government of India,” said the minister.

Dehradun, February 14
Disabled in the state would now receive hiked pension, the order to this effect passed by the Social Welfare Department would become operational from this year.The disability pension has been raised from Rs 400 to Rs 600 and also for lepers from Rs 400 toRs 1,000.

The government had started the process in December 2009. The pension of the physically challenged has been raised from Rs 400 to Rs 600, but the order became effective from today onwards.

However, several organisations of the disabled are demanding that the pension should be raised to Rs 1,000per month. 

Nainital, February 14
The top brass of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) has descended on Ramnagar for the bi-annual convention of the party that is likely to have far-reaching ramifications on the future of the only regional force in one of the youngest states of the nation.

Talking to The Tribune, one of the senior-most leaders of the party, Narayan Jantwal, said: “During these next two days, our leadership will be deliberating at length on what path the party has to tread in the days to come. We will be discussing what has been achieved by the party till now and what needs to be done to address the aspirations of the people on whose support the party had come into existence.”

The party today stands as a divided house on a series of issues because of which the present convention is expected to be a landmark event.

To begin with, the party is vertically split on the issue of continuing support to the Nishank-led BJP government in the state. Party cadres want the support to be withdrawn as they feel that it is at their cost that the BJP has grown and the

Congress has benefited by default while the UKD itself has been decimated in the entire process. The cadres feel their support to the BJP government had resulted in the party faring miserably in the Lok Sabha polls held last year.

The BJP had refused to enter into any seat adjustment with the UKD, an ally in the state government, for these polls.

A large section of the cadres are of the view by continuing its alliance with the BJP, the UKD will be damaging its prospects for the next assembly polls that are less than two years away. However, a section of the party, led by present Food and Civil Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt, is in favour of continuing its support to the BJP-led state government.

In fact, the participants at the present convention will also be choosing the next party president. The candidature of senior leader Kashi Singh Airy, who recently resigned as the Chairman of Hiltron, a government subsidiary, could not become a unanimous choice as Bhatt’s action is learnt to have propelled the candidature of Trivenda Singh Panwar. This act has again established that the UKD stands a house divided.

Another issue that will come up for discussion is the persistent demand by residents of villages in Uttar Pradesh bordering Uttarakhand for their merger into the hill state. The UKD is vehemently opposed to the idea and is expected to come out with a strong-worded resolution on the issue. The UKD leadership said the purpose for which Uttarakhand was created was to bring about development in the hill regions which had been left behind in the country’s march towards development and the state has been nowhere near achieving this goal over the past 10 years.

It claims Uttarakhand, because of it’s primarily hill topography and related economy, has been getting some special benefits from the Centre which would not be justifiable once more plain areas become a part of it.

The leadership has observed that the move will also lead to a change in the demography of the state, thus defeating the purpose for which the state was carved out in 2000. The third main issue of discussion at the two-day convention will be that of a permanent capital for the state. The UKD has been demanding that the capital should be Gairsain. The party has been raking up the issue time and again by making attempts to up its ante on the issue since the one-member Justice Virendra Dixit Commission report was tabled in the state assembly on July 13 last year.

The report had found the interim capital of Dehradun and its adjoining area fit to be developed as the permanent capital of the state. The commission had submitted its report to the state government on August 17, 2008, after 10 extensions over a span of seven years. The UKD has been the most vocal in seeking Gairsain to be made the state capital. Its leaders had gone to the extreme of getting their heads shaved publicly in support of their demand in 2008.

It has dismissed the findings of the commission, which had had found Gairsain unsuitable on account of its topography, availability of land and water resources besides the possibility of inflow of investment from other parts of the country.

UKD’s critics have been questioning its continuing to be a part of the state government despite the latter not even entertaining any plea on the issue of Gairsain. A resolution by the party leadrership is on the cards at the current meet. 

Dehradun, February 14
All-India Oriental Bank Officers Association State Committee, Uttarakhand, held a meeting to establish a new panel today at Town Hall, Municipal Corporation.Officers from neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh had gathered to take part in the meeting.Members of the association nominated the new panel of the state committee.

Sanjay Sant has been elected as the president, BK Joshi as general secretary, TC Pathak treasurer, Anil Goyal, Pitambar Dutt, Lalit Gupta, Rajpal Singh, Unnat Singh, Munna Singh, Arjun Singh and many more as executive members.

The eminent guests present on the occasion were president of Uttarakhand Committee RK Pushpad, president of AIBOA DK Poddar, general secretary Ujjwal Mukherjee and many others.

Dehradun, February 14
To provide employment opportunities to students, the Dolphin (PG) Institute of Biomedical and Natural Sciences organised a job fair here today. More than 30 companies from the field of life sciences, health care, pharma, foods and other fields participated in the campus placement.

Dolphin Job Fair 2010, which was held on the premises of Dolphin (PG) Institute of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, Dehradun, was inaugurated by Avtar Singh, Senior General Manager, QA and QC, Nectar Life Sciences, Baddi (HP).

Avtar Singh appreciated the efforts of team Dolphin under the leadership of Shri Arvind Gupta, who has worked hard to create several job opportunities despite of the Global recession and workers getting laid off frequently. He specifically mentioned that it’s a great achievement that the Dolphin Group of Colleges is paying attention to education in the field of Life Sciences. It has been proved that the need for biosciences students is evergreen.

The chief guest encouraged the aspirants to make a beginning at whatever level they may enter since they stand excellent chances of achieving greater professional heights with remuneration as high as Rs 50,00,000 or more per annum within a span of 10-20 years.

Dr Shailja Pant, Principal, Dolphin Institute formally welcomed the company representatives and the ex students. She reminded them of the tough conditions ahead and advised them to take the challenges in their stride.

Dr Arun Kumar, Director Placements Dolphin Institute highlighted the objectives of holding the job fair and emphasised on the importance of conducting the placements for the alumni’s.

However, the job fair got a tremendous and fabulous response with participation of about more than 30 companies of high repute and about 300 alumni, 
which participated.

About 200 positions were available with various companies, and about 144 candidates were short-listed. Some important companies which came for placement were Alembic Ltd, Biologicals E Ltd, Dr Lal Pathology Lab, Elder pharmaceuticals Ltd, Fresenius Kabi, Ipca Laboratories Ltd, Kailash Hospitals, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Physiotherapy, Nectar Life Sciences Ltd, One for Every One, e Sharon Bio-medicine Ltd, Sozin Flora Pharma, VLCC Personal care Ltd, Windlass Halthcare, Zesius Pharmaceuticals, etc.

Apart from job and internship opportunities the fair provided a knowledge-sharing platform both to the academia and industry.

The representatives of the companies from various streams and industries were of the opinion that the universities must undertake the integration of syllabus and curriculum in such a manner so as to generate the human resource, which is productive in nature.

The event successfully concluded and was appreciated by one and all. Present alumni’s requested the management to make this event a regular annual feature and appreciated the efforts of Ashok Singh, Sanjay Kapoor and Vijaya Ratan Pawar of the Placement Cell of the Institute.

Faculty heads like Dr Shailja Pant, Arun Kumar, Saurabh Vijay, Gyanendra Awasthi, Shalini Singh, Ashok Singh and others were present. 

Dehradun February 14
The Vishwa Jan Jagriti Mission today held a prize-distribution ceremony at the Gandhi Park for slogan writing competition held on January 26.Large number of students from Col Brown Cambridge School, Carmen School, Asian School, Doon International, Ann Mary, St Jude’s, UIM/UIT, Bee Hive PG College, Law College Dehradun, Graphic Era Institute, Sai Paramedical Institute and RIMC had gathered at the function.

The mission runs a programme that are more environment-oriented and aims at establishing the possibility to explore the real life through nature and its upbringing.

The mission has taken the initiative to make earth a greener and pollution-free place to live and therefore, the members of the mission distributed Tulsi saplings to the students present at the ceremony.

They have also requested the new generation to join hands in this noble cause.

Chief secretary to the Chief Minister, Shatrughan Singh was the chief guest of the occasion who inaugurated the function by illuminating the lamp.

He also felicitated the participating kids and awarded the winners of the slogan writting competition.

Other dignitaries present at the ceremony were Dr Vinod Bhatt, Prof M M Semwal, Prof D D Chauniyal, Dr S P Sati and Prof Badkoti.

Dehradun, February 14
A student of Doon University today lodged a report that Rs 7,000, along with her mobile phone, were stolen by breaking the window of her room in the university.Stnne Bergdy, a native Norway, is doing architectural studies at Doon University. She alleged that her room’s window was found broken and when she checked her valet and mobile these were missing.