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Kargil Vijay Diwas
CM announces cut in sales tax of bikes, cars for ex-servicemen
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Relief adequate, but little share for parents
Need for national policy to increase agri produce, says VC
Collective efforts of masses need of hour, says Prof Shastri
Seminar held to upgrade primary teachers
CNI girls plant saplings
Race Course school defeat SGRRR Talab 6-4
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Kargil Vijay Diwas
Dehradun, July 26 Members of the Kargil heroes’ families were honoured by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank who was the chief guest at the function. He presented mementos, shawls and decorations to the next of kin of the martyrs. Rajpur MLA Ganesh Joshi, who was the guest of honour, was also present with the Chief Minister. It was an emotional moment for the family members and some of them couldn’t help sobbing when they received the honours from the Chief Minister. “My husband died while fighting with militants in the Kargil war. It is a matter of pride for us and I want my son also to serve the country by joining the force,” said widow of a martyr. Speaking on the occasion, Brig PS Gurung, who lost his son Lieut Gautam Gurung (Sena Medal) in an encounter with militants, shared his experience on how proud he felt. “My three generations have served in the Army since my father joined the force. I cannot explain how great I felt when the body of my son was being carried and my father said he also wanted to give his shoulder,” said Brigadier Gurung. “Honours and prizes which are given every year are minor things, but it brings in a great deal of encouragement in the coming generation which is a major thing,” the Brigadier added. Nishank lauded the state for its great contribution in serving the nation. He said: “According to population ratio, our state gives the maximum number of jawans to the country in times of war”. Paying homage to those who laid down their lives for the country, Nishank said if the mother gave birth to a baby, then he became her son, but if her son died for the country, he became the son of the nation. A total of 35 martyrs from Dehradun district were paid tributes today. “We had the list of 22 families of martyrs belonging to Dehradun and we had asked those whom we might have missed to come to the spot. Thirteen more joined us today and they were also felicitated,” said Lieut-Col BM Thapa (retd), general secretary, Dehradun Ex-Services League. The president of the league, Brig KG Behl (retd) said there were very tough conditions in the areas where our jawans had to fight. “The height of the Kargil peaks range from 10,000 to 18,000 feet and these are covered with snow for about six to seven months. And the jawans showed tremendous courage to win the Kargil war in such conditions,” Brigadier Behl added.
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CM announces cut in sales tax of bikes, cars for ex-servicemen
Dehradun, July 26 Nishank made announcements to fulfil some of the long-pending demands of the ex-servicemen. Among those was the announcement of Rs 1 crore for the construction of a war memorial. The Chief Minister asked to earmark land for the war memorial and speed up the work as early as possibly for the same. “There is not even a single war memorial in the state capital. There is one memorial in the Gandhi Park, but that too is not a good enough,” said Lieut-Col BM Thapa (retd), general secretary, Dehradun Ex-Servicemen League. Another the long-awaited demand of the ex-servicemen, which could bring respite to many, was concession in the sales tax. Nishank declared that within a week the concession in the sales tax for the ex-servicemen would be made applicable. This would provide big discounts on stuffs, including cars, bikes and liquors. Colonel Thapa said there was sales tax concession in other minor items, but not on things like cars and bikes. Besides being beneficial to the ex-servicemen, it would also increase the revenue of the state, he added. Whereas on the issue of the house tax the Chief Minister said he would look into it, but also categorically maintained that if any state of the country offered house tax free, he
would do the same. The house tax would be lesser than other states, he added. The ex-servicemen had also put forth the demand of raising a Gorkha Training Centre in Dehradun to which Nishank said he would meet the Defence Minister and press for the demand. There were three Gorkha Training Centres in Dehradun earlier, namely 39 Gorkha Training Centre, 58 Gorkha Training Centre and 11 Gorkha Training Centre. The opening up of the centre in Dehradun would be an honour for the state and would create job opportunities for the youth of Uttarakhand, Colonel Thapa told The Tribune.
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Relief adequate, but little share for parents
Pitthoragarh, July 26 The parents of these brave men also faced apathy of their daughter-in-laws after their sons died in the line of service. The wife of Kewalanand Diwedi, martyr of the Kargil war, shifted to Lucknow just after she received the financial package, leaving her in-laws in Baman Goan of Munsiyari subdivision in a dejected condition. “I have no complaint towards my daughter-in-law except that we want our grandchildren to visit the village regularly where their father grew up,” said Bala Dutt Diwedi, father of Kewalanand. The mother of another Kargil martyr Khim Singh Kunwar, who is living in the Banbasa area of Champawat district, has not seen her grandson since 2001 when her daughter-in-law left the family to settle down at Bareilly. “I don’t need a single penny from the package my daughter-in-law received after the death of my son, but I want to see my grandson as I see the face of my son in him,” said Laxmi Devi, mother of Khim Singh. Out of 12 jawans who attained martyrdom in the Kargil war, only four were given the status of martyr with the special package, including a good financial package by the Centre, pension from the state government and the allotment of petrol stations to their families for a living. “While the parents of rifleman Johar Singh are getting state pension, the parents of another martyr Kundal Singh appealed to the government to give them a share of family pension of which only 30 per cent has been granted to them,” said Mehta, adding that the wife of another Kargil martyr is running a petrol station near the town and his parents are living on the pension granted by the state government. In 1999 so many political promises were made to the native villages of Kargil martyrs but barring one or tow no promise has been fulfilled so far. “The promised motor road to the village of Johar Singh is still incomplete whereas the motor road to the village of another Kargil martyr Kundal Singh has not been started even after 11 years have passed,” said Ram Singh, father of Kundal Singh. The government has not treated all martyrs who died in wars after 1962 whereas the Kargil martyrs have been given big relief packages and multiple incentives. The parents and families of martyrs of wars of 1962 and 1971 have been neglected. “There are nearly 200 war widows of 1971 war martyrs in Pitthoragarh and Champawat districts who are living in a distressed condition in their remote villages, but have never been asked about their condition by any government agency,” said Major Mehta. “Only a sum of Rs 1 lakh has been given to the families of 1971 martyrs after the government felt they have been neglected,” said Mehta.
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DMC’s big plan rhetoric comes hollow
The much-hyped hoarding policy and a new set of house taxes have got stuck in a feud between Mayor Vinod Chamoli and the Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA). “Unless this MNA is not removed, these issues will continue to hang fire,” says the Mayor. The city is not yet clear of illegal hoardings which are not only defacing the city, but also becoming the cause of many accidents and deaths in the city during bad weather. Clearing the position of the DMC on these plans, Chamoli reiterates his oft-repeated complaint of paucity of working hands and officials to regulate and supervise these schemes and the non-cooperative attitude of the state government. Elucidating more about the latter, he talks about his proposals which have been waiting for a nod from the state government for years together. “The state government has blatantly been refusing to acknowledge the rights which come along with the status of the Municipal Corporation (MC) to the DMC. Just leaving one proposal whereby an increase of Rs 500 was made in the wages of sanitation workers of the Swachhta Committee, the rest of the proposal files are collecting dust. Be it amending the DMC provisions, preparing a blueprint of its structure, paying back the pending dues to the DMC or providing resources such as vehicles, etc. to the employees, none has been cleared till date”. Chamoli alleges that despite the fact the DMC which acquired the status of the MC from a local body after the state was formed has been devoid of the rights of the MC. Its dependency on the state government, which does not approve its proposals in time, has become the biggest bottleneck in the smooth progress of its projects. Nevertheless, he assures that some of the grand projects are likely to see light of the day within a year. He talks of revamping the old and worn out structure of the DMC premises, for which, a proposal of Rs 20 crore has been sent to the state government. The matter got stuck on the point where the corporation turned down the suggestion of the state government to give the project on the PPP mode. “We are not willing to go by the PPP method and have asked the state government to return Rs 11 crore given as our share for the project, so that we can, at least, start with the Sabha Bhawan which will incur expenditure of Rs 3.5 crore”. He informs that the other much-hyped plan, solid waste management, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Renewal Urban Mission is about to take off as an amount of Rs 24.6 crore has been sanctioned by the Union government and the tender process will take place on August 10. For the garbage removal, the drive carried by both DMC and the District Magistrate is bound to set stage right for the ensuing solid waste management plan. He also derives satisfaction from the drive carried out on ban on the use of polythene below 20 microns and says he desisted from coming with a list of parameters on the issue as the state government was all set to bring it as a law in the state. In other facet of providing streetlights, he says the DMC has installed 600 lighting poles worth Rs 2.5 crore, central poles worth Rs 60 lakh from tehsil to Lalpul and LED lights on the Chakrota road. Underground cabling on the JMS road and timers, too, have been fixed, which, according to him, completed 90 per cent of lighting work in the city. For the repair of roads and streets, he says that the DMC has spent Rs 20 crore which has completed almost all repair work except only Parade Ground, Prince Chowk and Ghanta Ghar to be focused on in this
regard.
The drainage master plan, to be exucuted at a cost of Rs 400 crore, is being prepared. The network of the sewerage system, which earlier covered up to 25 per cent of the city, has been expanded to 60 per cent and with the participation of the JNNRUM and 13th Financial Plan, the scope is likely to increase to 85 per cent, he says. The DMC has invested Rs 72 crore in the drinking water scheme, he says. “The other projects which are funded more by the Centre under the JNNRUM, including creation of three subway costing Rs 50 crore, shifting of Adat Bazar costing Rs 160 crore, widening up of 30 roundabouts of which new DPR is to be sent and rehabilitation of nine slum colonies to the tune of Rs 70 crore, are proceeding well”. He also throws light on other big plans such as beautification of the site around the Clock Tower, Gandhi Park, widening of the Chakrota Road which are also underway. The city is also being considered under the purview of the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana and solar city and metro status by the Centre for which the DMC’s participation will be mandatory, he says. To make up the crunch of officials to oversee these projects, he asked for six more Junior Engineer, four Assistant Engineers and one Superintendent Engineer.
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IMA remembers valiant soldiers
Dehradun, July 26 The event was followed by screening of a war movie at the Khetrapal Auditorium and culminated with the lighting of candles by the gentlemen cadets at the war memorial in the evening. The Vijay Diwas is celebrated every year to commemorate the eviction of Pakistani intruders by the Indian troops from the dizzy heights of Kargil and Dras. The Kargil war was fought for more than 60 days, the conflict finally terminated on July 26, 1999. This day marks the 11th anniversary of successful conclusion of Operation Vijay launched in the wake of Pakistan aggression in Kargil and Dras sector. For the honour and glory of our motherland more than 500 soldiers attained martyrdom during the operation. CM pays homage to martyrs
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank laid a wreath at the Kargil war memorial at the Gandhi Park here today. Top brass of the state BJP party was present on the occasion. All paid respect to the martyrs of the Kargil war. Chufal takes part in plantation programme
To pay homage to the martyrs of the Kargil war, a plantation programme was held by the BJP. Party state president Bishan Singh Chaufal planted saplings to pay obeisance to the martyrs. He said they wanted to remember the martyrs forever. State minister Khazan Das, vice-president Antriksh Saini, office in charge Narenderpal Singh Rawat, office chief Ubaardat Bhatt and BJP leader Ishwar Singh Negi planted the saplings on the occasion. The Uttarakhand Pradesh Yuva Congress also paid respect to the Kargil war martyrs by planting saplings at the Gandhi Park here today. They said this was the greatest sacrifice to give away ones life for the sake of the
nation. Youth Congress workers plant saplings in Dehradun on
Monday. A Tribune photograph
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Need for national policy to increase agri produce, says VC
Nainital, July 26 Speaking at a programme, Dr Arora pointed out that bringing together a series of programmes and schemes did not make an agriculture policy and said, “We do not have an agriculture policy at the national level”. He was responding to a query related to repeated appeals being made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and top planners of the country to increase agriculture produce. Dr Arora also said the problem being faced by the agriculture sector was that farmers were not getting extension information benefits as the government extension system had failed to deliver while the private one had thrived. He said Krishi Vikas Kendras and other similar institutions needed to play a much larger role than what they had played till now. He was also critical of the technologies being developed and stated that these technologies were being developed keeping in mind the
personal benefits rather than the collective benefits of the farmers. He pointed out that a section of the agricultural scientists was more interested in seeing their names on the variety of crops developed rather than ensuring that what benefit the variety had brought to the farmers as a whole? Dr Arora was very candid in his speech and pointed out that the agricultural sector had also been lacking in providing market intelligence. “The farmers must be informed what crop will be beneficial for them at the time of sowing and what price they can expect at the time of harvest? Such a beginning has now been made and is proving beneficial, as the forecasts are being made in the most sophisticated manner,” he said. He also asserted that there was a great need for cohesion between public and private sectors, and superficial implementation of schemes must be avoided. He also said efforts to promote the growth of plants giving bio-fuel like jatropha must be made on the lands that were not under cultivation so that the produce of foodgrain was not
affected adversely. Dr Arora also highlighted the need for a political consensus on agricultural issues. He pointed out that efforts made in the forms of reports and draft bills were yet to see the light of the day in the form of policy measures. Rural activist and a teacher from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, Prof Trilochan Shastri said India needed to tap the potential of 70 per cent of the total land under agriculture that was not irrigated. “We have 30 per cent of irrigated land that give us 80 per cent of total produce while the remaining was not used and had only one crop being grown on it during the year,” he added.
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Collective efforts of masses need of hour, says Prof Shastri
Nainital, July 26 Delivering a lecture organised by the Kumaon
University Teachers’ Association (KUTA) here today morning, Professor Shastri asserted that India was witnessing two distinct phenomenon that were moving in a parallel direction. He elaborated, “On the one side we are having Special Economic Zones (SEZs) with special laws, emphasis on Private Public Partnership (PPP) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) coming into banking and insurance sectors, and on the other there are things like the Right to Information (RTI) and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). We are talking of a Food Security Bill and also of a whole lot of social security bills that are in the pipeline”. Professor Shastri underlined that the masses were caught between the class of politicians and capitalists on the one hand, which is very united, and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on the other, that are totally disunited and while debating issues at length are unable to provide constructive solutions. “Privatisation and government interventions are here to stay. My concern is that whatever system is introduced, it should be people oriented. There is a line of thought that the government should be responsible for the development processes. There is a second line of thought that the government should not interfere at all in the development exercise. It is in this gap where people stand and they should know how they can do things for themselves,” he asserted. Referring to rural development, he said things needed to be looked from the viewpoint of small and marginal farmers who were facing indebtedness to money lenders, who did not get seeds on time and who had to sell their produce to a particular set of people comprising
moneylenders and middlemen, thus getting exploited in this chain. He said interventions by certain groups had helped farmers sell their produce independently and had made them aware how by getting together they could do away with the system of middlemen and improve their economic loss. Professor Shastri also talked about the activities of theorganisation National Election Watch with whom he had been associated and how its efforts had helped in curtailing, although marginally, the use of money and muscle power in politics. The organisation had been making public the backgrounds of various candidates contesting polls to Parliament and the state assemblies. It was also involved in an effort to check the unbridled spending by candidates. “People need to understand that the person who is purchasing their votes today will sell them off tomorrow,” he emphasised.
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Graphic Era Varsity
Dehradun, July 26 However, due to the increase in the number of seats in computer science, electronics and communication, mechanical, electrical and electronics engineering by 240, students from different states had gathered to seek admission to engineering as per their preference. The Vice-Chancellor has announced to run two shifts of classes in the four applied courses. The first shift will run in the morning, and the second in the afternoon. Sixty seats were increased in all branches and accordingly the faculty, facilities and requirements in the laboratory will be done. Counselling head Prof Anil Kumar Baliga said, “Quality education, best faculty and 70 per cent college placement are attracting students from far-flung areas to seek admission to their desired branch of engineering”.
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Education, careers fair today
Dehradun, July 26 While addressing mediapersons, Nidhi Vij, SIEC event head, said, “The fair will give opportunities to interested students for collecting information
to make decisions for their future”. “There will a detailed and indepth presentation from 11 am to 12.30 pm in which students will learn about various courses and universities overseas. The unique feature of the presentation is the comparative analysis of different study destinations helping students to make a best-suited decision,” said Vij. The experts will deliver presentation followed by one-on-one interactive
session with representatives of international universities. Centre head, SIEC, Dehradun, Abhishek Randhar said getting information under one roof about different career options in different countries as well as meeting different representatives that would be of great benefit for Uttarakhand youth.
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Seminar held to upgrade primary teachers
Dehradun, July 26 The events are being organised at the Survey of India auditorium. The seminar is organised for primary teachers with an aim to update them with the innovative and modern technology that can help in the way of learning-teaching methods. More than 125 teachers are participating. The seminar is conducted with the assistance of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration, Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Centre Water Commission and Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Eminent guests who graced the seminar were Dr T Ramaswami, Padma Shri and Secretary to Science and Technology, Dr B Bhattacharya, Dr M Sudhakar, Major General Manoj Tayal, Dr SK Mahajan, Dr S Srivastava and Dr PLN Raju.
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CNI girls plant saplings
Dehradun, July 26 Chief guest of the event was Assistant Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harak Singh Rawat from the Dehradun Municipal Corporation initiated the drive by planting the neem sapling. Chandra Gupt, Sushil Virmani, Neeraj Yadav, Pankaj Negi, Prabhat Dandriyal and many more were present on the occasion.
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Paralympic Games-2010
Dehradun, July 26 A total six players from Uttarakhand participated in the event out of them Prem is the only one who won accolades for the state. Other than Prem two players from Dehradun district, two and one from Almora and Tehri districts respectively took part in athletics in the national. “I am elated at the
success and this win will boost other players’ confidence too. All other than me who participated in this national competition were first timers,”
said Prem. Kumar said in total 13 sports disciplines were played during the national championship, including badminton, athletics,
sitting volleyball, swimming, wheelchair basketball, archery, table tennis and lawn tennis.
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Ashok fashions U’khand Police team’s victory
Dehradun, July 26 While Eleven Star scored empathic 5-1 victory over Vijay Cantt. Dipen (14th), Gopal (17th), Adhikari (23rd) and Surendra (48th and 55th) netted a goal each in the win. Nitin (43rd) was the only scorer for Vijay Cantt. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Police will face Eleven Star in tomorrow’s last super league match. Gorkha United beat Sunderwala
Lone goal of Gorkha United FC’s Narender sank Sunderwala 1-0 at the ongoing Nemidass Super District Football League held on the Pavilion Ground here today. He scored in the 26th minute to become the star of the day. The rival team failed to retaliate throughout the match. However, good goal attempts it made couldn’t be neglected. It also defended well to keep at bay the strikes of Gorkha United FC. The first half ended on 1-0 in its favour due to the goal by Narender. Whereas the second half went barren. Akranta is scheduled to play Sarvodaya in tomorrow’s match.
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Race Course school defeat SGRRR Talab 6-4
Dehradun, July 26 Rajeev scored the first goal for the Race Course in the eighth minute of the match, followed by another goal in the in the 62nd minute. But, soon Vivek from SGRR Talab scored a goal in the 64 minute taking the score to 2-1, which was followed by another goal in the 69th minute scored by Sagar taking the score to 2-2. In the tie-breaker Mohit, Adil, Akshay and Abhishek scored useful one goal each for the team taking the score to six goals. For Talab team Mohit and Sushant scored one goal each.
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Dehradun, July 26
Yuva Cong workers plant saplings