Mussoorie, July 26
The Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan, in a letter written to the Mussoorie Nagar Palika on July 15, has demanded land in lieu of the area it had vacated in the Town Hall area for the construction of a new multiplex auditorium-cum-Town Hall.

Jal Sansthan Executive Engineer DK Singh, perusing the site plan of the Town Hall, explained that the Palika had requested them to vacate the land in possession of the Jal Sansthan on the Town Hall premises that had been demolished to make way for the Town Hall construction on the plea that they did not want to exceed the 11-metre guideline provided by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA).

The Jal Sansthan had several offices on the Town Hall premises earlier. It vacated its premises on the request of Palika president OP Uniyal after the assurance that the land equivalent to the same carpet area would be provided after the construction of the Town Hall.

However, the Jal Sansthan is planning to expand the area of the present Mussoorie division and incorporate Jaunpur block in it, which will require additional workforce and offices on a regular basis. Hence, the Jal Sansthan has requested the Palika to provide thrice the amount of the carpet area land to it. Singh said they were also demanding additional land from the previously agreed area that was around 177.73 sq m to 5,333.19 sqm.

The expanded Mussoorie division will require more workers and space to carry out their routine work on a daily basis so that there is no hindrance in the supply of drinking water in the town. Singh also said the Palika should expedite the matter urgently keeping the larger interest of the town in the forefront.

The Palika officials have acknowledged the fact that they have received a letter in this regard from the Jal Sansthan and are working on the modalities of the demand put forth by them.

The Palika has removed the Jal Sansthan’s office as it was planning to convert the Town Hall into a five-star hotel and a multiplex in the area. The plans went astray after the request for constructing a hotel was overturned by the Chief Secretary in a recent meeting in Dehradun, where it was decided that the Palika would only construct a Town Hall and nothing else.

It is important to note that getting back the said land would be a Herculean task as there is no time period allotted to the construction of the Town Hall.

Pithoragarh, July 26
To promote the cultivation of apple in the state, the Uttarakhand Horticulture Department held a state-level Apple Day on Saturday, which was inaugurated by Trivendra Singh Rawat, Horticulture Minister of Uttarakhand in Ranikhet, Almora district, where the Directorate of the Horticulture Department is situated.

“The Apple Day which was followed by an exhibition of apple varieties grown in the state and a seminar on apple production, will be celebrated every year by the directorate to promote the apple cultivation in the state,” said BP Nautiyal, Director of the Horticulture Department.

According to the information given by the directorate, more than 50 selected apple growers from across the state participated in the programme. “Nearly 25 varieties of apples, including some new varieties like Red Fusi and Spur have been recently been introduced in the state and are rich in taste and yield, were exhibited in the apple show,” said the director.

“At present the apple cultivation in the state is growing as new places from Chamoli and Pithoragarh district have been included under the apple crop which is at present nearly one lakh tonne,” said the Director adding that the district of Uttarkashi and Nanital are leading in apple production in the state followed by Tihri, Pithoragarh, Chamoli and Champawat districts.

The Horticulture Minister said Uttarakhand should aim to reach the level of Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh in terms of apple economy which is more than Rs 500 crore in each state, whereas our apple economy is not more than Rs 50 crore per annum. “These states had planned the apple economy some 50 years back, whereas we are planning today and if the pace of horticulture incentives remain constant, we can touch that point in 20 years from now,” said the minister.

According to the Horticulture Directorate, the varieties of apple introduced by the British some 150 years ago in Ranikhet and adjoining areas are still under cultivation and need new incentives and places to grow the production. “At present we are providing 50 per cent subsidy to apple growers of the state under the Horticulture Technology Mission,” said the Director. 

Haridwar, July 26
While the population and the number of pilgrims keep surging in Haridwar, the green cover in the city is depleting. But, a scheme, Harit Vikas Yojana, has been launched to restore greenery of the city by carrying out mass plantation, initially in the mela area and later in other parts.

The aim is that by the next Maha Kumbh, scheduled to be held in 2021, the mela area will be lush-green, providing not only shade to the pilgrims, but also fruits to satiate their hunger.

The scheme got under way at Bishankpur Block-I near the famous temple of Daksh Maha Dev here under the supervision of forest officials.

Inaugurating the scheme, Agriculture Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat remarked that the scheme was being implemented in other districts of the state too, so that the hilly state got a wider green cover negating the impact of global warming.

Though several such plantation schemes get started with a bang, the real test of looking after the plants is a more important phase. Thus, to ensure that the tree saplings sown under this scheme sustain, the onus will be on the Forest Department to take good care of these.

District Forest Officer Gopal Singh Rana said the department would take care of the saplings planted under this scheme, and urged local residents as well as pilgrims to plant as many trees as they could, simultaneously taking steps to preserve these.

Dehradun, July 26
Mayor Vinod Chamoli called a meeting today afternoon with heads of all departments connected with the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) to assess their progress on various issues.

The meeting was seen as the Mayor’s response to the complaints which were piling up in the corporation and were related to the problems cropping up due to monsoon these days.

The meeting was attended by Additional Mukhaya Nagar Adhikari Harak Singh Rawat, Uppar Nagar Adhikari Harshvardhan Mishra, Health Officer Dr Gurpal Singh, Executive Engineer Ravi Pandey and others.

The much-awaited Board meeting however continues to elude team members of the DMC. The Mayor does not seem to be interested in holding it any time in the near future. He deferred the matter till the Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA) is removed from his office in the corporation.

“I don’t want to call a Board meeting as long as the MNA is in his chair. He is someone who never goes along with my decisions. Let the state government first decide on him and only then I’ll think of a Board meeting”.

The Mayor defended his stance saying that the election of the working committee held in March this year was a part of a similar kind of exercise, where all members got together and decisions were also taken on other important matters. Therefore, there should not be any urgency in holding the Board meeting, he replied.

But the pressure seems to be mounting on him from all sides to expedite his actions on the issues which deserve quick attention and reaction, especially the insurmountable problems the public is facing in the rainy season. The assessment meeting is being linked to that.

The Mayor who refused to do any file work till quite late in the wake of his tussle with the MNA on the hoarding issue has begun to attend to the public and their problems. “I can not continue to sit still for longer as people have huge expectations from me and I am answerable to them”.

Haridwar, July 26
It was a day to remember for students of Shiv Dale Public School, Haridwar, as they witnessed the shooting of a documentary film based on yoga guru Ramdev’s real life and also became a part it.

The shooting of “Yatra” based on the life of Swami Ramdev was taking place at Gurukul Kangri University. The shooting began late in the evening and the crew was busy rehearsing extensively with students of Shiv Dale Public School.

As per the bound script, scenes were enacted with the students actively partaking and cooperating as per the instructions of the director. The director of the documentary film is Kavita Chaudhary who had written and directed popular Doordarshan serial “Udaan”.

Yoga guru Ramdev interacted with the students and answered all their queries.

“I am having a nice feeling on seeing and meeting Swami Ramdev whom we daily see on television. Besides, he is from our own Haridwar. He made us happy with his witty answers and smile and I will try to follow his prescribed routine schedule,” said Tesu Raj Gaur, a student. 

Mussoorie, July 26
Mussoorie has the proud distinction of being the birth place of renowned women writers who have made their mark in the literary world of which Anita Desai is one. However, very little is known about British crime fiction writer Patricia Wentworth, alias Dora Amy Elles, in 1878 who presumably lived at Landour Cantonment, Mussoorie.

Patricia was the daughter of British Army officer Lt-Gen Sir Edmond Roche Elles who married Clare Gertrude Rothney in 1878. Lt-General Elles was commissioned in 1867 in the service of the Royal Artillery. He married Clare, daughter of General Rothney, in January 1878 and in November the same year Patricia Wentworth was born in Mussoorie. She was baptised in one of the churches of the town. The year of her birth also coincided with the establishment of Scotland Yard’s CID. Patricia, alias Dora, and her two brothers were brought by their parents to live with a grandmother. Later, she attended Black Heath High School for Girls, a well-to-do day school located not far from the military establishments at Woolwich, London.

After her graduation, she returned to India. She was first married to Lt Col George Dillon in 1906. He died shortly after and left her with a young daughter and three stepsons. Patricia’s first published work appeared, like Rudyard Kipling’s, in the pages of the Civil and Military Gazette, a leading newspaper of the British Raj in Punjab.

She went back with her children to England and published six historical fiction novels between 1910 and 1915. In 1920 she married Lt Col George Oliver Turnbull and had one daughter. Lt Colonel Turnbull assisted her in preparing her manuscripts for publication. Patricia lived in Surrey, and after writing several romance stories, in 1920 she turned her hand at crime. She wrote her first mystery novel “The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith” in 1923. Her first Maud Silver book, “Grey Mask” was written in 1928. Nine years and 15 mystery novels later, she returned to Maud Silver, who became her most popular character. In her novels, Miss Silver is a retired governess who becomes a private detective and works closely with Scotland Yard, especially Inspector Frank Abbott.

Patricia wrote over 70 novels. Her other novels are “The Fire Within” (1913), “The Astonishing Adventure of Jane Smith” (1923), “The Annam Jewel” 1924, “The Red Lacquer Case” (1924), “The Black Cabinet” (1925), “The Dower House Mystery” (1925), “The Amazing Chance” (1926), “Anne Belinda” (1927), “Hue and Cry” (1927), to name few, but Maud Silver is perhaps Patricia’s best-known character. Patricia’s other characters include Ernest Lamb, a chief investigator who sometimes works with Miss Silver, and Randal March, chief constable of the county where many of Miss Silver’s cases occur.

Despite her growing reputation as a writer, she never courted fame, preferring a quiet existence devoted to such typical British middle-class pleasures as the theatre, gardening, motoring and keeping pet dachshunds. Her last novel “The Girl in the Cellar” was published in the year of her death, in January 28, 1961.

Mussoorie can cherish the fact that Patricia Wentworth will always be remembered as one of the mistresses of classic crime on par with other mystery writers of the time.

Nainital, July 26
Four youngsters died in separate road accidents across the region yesterday. In the first instance, two boys, identified as Mayank Bhatt and Vijay Garhwal, died when the motorcycle, on which they were riding, hit a stationary truck from behind.

The incident took place yesterday on the Nainital Road in Haldwani.

The third boy Sandip Bora, who was also on the vehicle, has been admitted to a private hospital with serious injuries. The police is probing the possibility of the boys being hit by a stick flung from one of the three motorcycles that were following their vehicle. Both deceased were 20-year-old students.

In the second instance, Raghunath (22), a resident of Jainti in Almora, was hit by a speeding vehicle as he was returning home from the factory in the Chhatarpur area of Rudrapur. He died on the way to hospital. The police is trying to trace the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run case.

In the third instance, 17-year-old girl Suman Chand was crushed to death by a tractor in Khatima as she was returning after taking tuition last evening. Efforts are on to nab the tractor driver.

Dehradun, July 26
In the first phase of the unique identification exercise to commence from September, people working with five state government departments will be the first few recipients.

As per the directives of the Central government, people working with the five departments comprising the Social Welfare Department, Public Distribution System, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, Health and the Education Department will be roped in first. These departments have been roped in because of the large number of people working here having unique identity (UID) numbers.

In all, a population of one crore is expected to get UID numbers. Alok Chakravorty, Deputy Director of UID for Uttarakhand and Uttar pradesh, who was here recently said these departments were chosen as most of them had some identity proof or the other, be it health cards or ration cards.

The UIDs will not substitute other existing numbers a person may have, including PAN, passport number, ration number, etc. It will actually be an additional unique number to be cited along with existing numbers for different purposes.

This will help weed out widespread problem of duplicacy of cards issued to people for various purposes. Though it is being considered very useful, the scheme is purely on a voluntary basis.

Last year officials from the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) had held discussions regarding ground work to be undertaken for issuing unique identity (UID) numbers.

Nainital, July 26
Income tax (IT) assessees in Almora having an annual income of more than Rs 5 lakh can now file their returns at Almora itself, instead of coming to the office of the Deputy Commissioner in Nainital.

These orders were given by newly appointed Income Tax Commissioner for Kumaon SC Aggarwal here today. He held a meeting with his subordinates to take stock of the tax collection in the region and ordered that people evading tax payments must be brought into the tax net.

He also said the tax collection must be further strengthened.

Replying to a query about taxpayers receiving spam e-mails about their tax refunds, he said the Income Tax Department was not sending any such e-mails and the tax payers must ignore these.

He underlined that only e-mails about acknowledgement of filing of tax returns were being sent by the department.