The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Admn to install CCTV cameras in mining zones
Quarrying on the Gaula and Nandhaur rivers to start early November
Nainital, October 21
The annual mining on the Gaula and Nandhaur rivers in the region is expected to start on schedule this time. According to official sources, the mining on the bed of the Gaula river will commence from November 8, while on the Nadhaur bed it will start from November 2.

Governor, CM extend Balmiki Jayanti greetings
Dehradun, October 21
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has greeted people of the state on the eve of Maharishi Balmiki Jayanti.

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank meets a patient during a surprise visit to the Doon Hospital on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Assn submits memo to DM
Dehradun, October 21
Members of the Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR) Association submitted a memorandum to District Magistrate (DM) Sachin Kurve regarding a circular issued on July 7 about a policy on canteen smart cards. According to the policy, Honorary Capt rank has been lowered to the JCO rank, citing reasons of misuse of canteen entitlement.

IT Dept raids hotels, liquor shops
Dehradun, October 21
The Income Tax (IT) Department raided 14 offices and residences of two big hotels, liquor shops and a cable network owner here today. The raids that started this morning continued till the filing of the report late in the evening.

Thieves break into lawyers’ chambers
Dehradun, October 21
A theft attempt in about five chambers of advocates of the district court was reported here today. The theft attempt was made last night and the advocates in the morning got to know of it. However, the thieves did not find anything worth stealing. The police rushed to the spot and carried an inspection of the chambers.

Blood donation camp marks minister’s birthday
Dehradun, October 21
To celebrate the 50th birth anniversary of Agriculture Minister Trivender Singh Rawat, a blood donation camp was organised at his residence here yesterday. A total of 30 units of blood were collected in the camp. A mass feast was also organised at Raipur and people were given saplings of fruit trees.

Khanduri visits state agitationist Bamrada
Dehradun, October 21
Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister and Dhumakot MLA Major-Gen BC Khanduri (retd) today visited Mathura Prasad Bamrada, state agitationist, who is indisposed these days and has been admitted at the Doon Hospital.

	CM announces sops for cops Homage paid to police martyrs Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 21 On the occasion of Police Memorial Day, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today announced a package for the policemen of the state. A function was held to remember the sacrifices made by police personnel at the Police Lines here. He announced to additional grant of Rs 1 crore to the police welfare fund to speed up the construction work of two and three types houses for cops from the rank of Constable to Sub-Inspector at a cost of Rs 5 crore. Besides, Nishank increased the uniform allowance, which is given every five year, from Rs 1,500 to Rs 3,000 from the rank of Assistant Sub-Inspector to Inspector while the laundry allowance which is being given from constables to inspectors every month has also been raised from a meagre Rs 30 to Rs 100 per month. The Chief Minister raised the nutritional allowance for officers from Rs 550 to Rs 700 while the policemen will be getting Rs 900 against the existing Rs 750. The gram chowkidars, who assist in policing, have also got a reason to cheer as their remuneration has been raised to more than double at Rs 500 from the exiting Rs 200. While speaking to media persons, he lauding the work of the state cops. Nishank said: “The policemen who did well at the Kumbh mela and during the rain disaster to help the people will be honoured. The cops rescued as many as 6,696 people when the rain created havoc in Uttarakhand this year”. Since the cops are always vulnerable to danger during their job, he announced the increase of risk allowance from Rs 5,500 to Rs 20,000. The constables and head constables posted at police stations and police posts will also get Rs 350 as the conveyance allowance. Earlier, DGP Jyoti Swaroop Pandey handed over a cheque for Rs 60 lakh, which was contributed by the police through their one-day salary donation to help the disaster-hit people. The DGP said 792 police jawans attained martyrdom in the past one year and most of them died during encounters with Maoists. Out of the total jawans who died in harness, 17 were from Uttarakhand, 64 from the BSF, 191 from the CRPF and 29 from the SSB. Earlier, the Chief Minister laid wreaths at the martyr memorial. Senior party leaders, bureaucrats and all police officers also laid wreaths to pay homage to the martyrs. Vidhan Sabha Speaker Harbans Kapoor, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant, Agriculture Minister Matbar Singh Kandari, Disaster Management Minister Khazan Das, Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat were among dignitaries present on the occasion. Nainital: Police personnel of Nainital district observed Police Smriti Divas at the Police Lines here in the memory of those policemen working with different police wings across the country who laid down their lives in the line of duty. A wreath was laid at a memorial erected in the memory of these martyrs by Inspector General of Police (Kumaon Range) RS Meena. The day is observed to commemorate the supreme sacrifice of the 10 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) who took on the invading Chinese aggressors on the northern borders in Ladakh. They fought with normal weapons against self-loading rifles and mortars of the Chinese, sacrificing their lives while doing their duty. The incident had taken place on October 21, 1959. At the event, all 790 police personnel who had laid down their lives between September 1, 2009, and August 31, 2010, throughout the country were paid homage. These included 20 personnel of the Uttarakhand police.
	Dehradun all set to welcome President Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 21 The Dehradun district administration is set to welcome President Pratibha Patil. She will be visiting the city on Saturday to participate in the 75th anniversary celebrations of Doon Public School. Talking to The Tribune, District Magistrate Sachin Kurve said, “We have appointed 15 magistrates to take care of the President’s visit. Out of them, three are called from Haridwar. The officials in Dehradun will be on duty during her visit. The officials have been explained the details regarding the President’s visit. The areas around the airport, Raj Bhawan and school premises are crucial and everything has been planned from the security point of view”.
	Admn to install CCTV cameras in mining zones Quarrying on the Gaula and Nandhaur rivers to start early November Tribune News Service Nainital, October 21 The annual mining on the Gaula and Nandhaur rivers in the region is expected to start on schedule this time. According to official sources, the mining on the bed of the Gaula river will commence from November 8, while on the Nadhaur bed it will start from November 2. The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Mining Committee of the district headed by District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli at Haldwani yesterday. The committee was informed that the mining on the Gaula river would continue till February 8 next year, while on the Nandhaur it would continue till May 31. Officials at the meeting deliberated at length on the issues related to the safety and security of those involved in the mining operations. It was decided that only the vehicles registered for the purpose would be allowed entry in the mining zones for picking up the material. In addition to this, the administration plans to install close circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the mining zones. This would help check the vehicles that evade payment of royalty to the authorities. It has been conveyed that the vehicles involved in any sort of illegal activity, including plying through prohibited routes, would face stringent action like cancellation of their registration for a month. It has also been decided that the vehicles involved in mining operations would not ply on the roads when children are travelling to school and back. The start of mining on schedule is expected to provide a lot of economic relief to the people earning their bread and butter from the mining operations. The delay in the commencement of mining operations on the bed in the Gaula river by several months during the past mining season had caused extreme hardship to the labourers expecting to earn from the operations. The region had witnessed massive protests and political mudslinging over the issue as the clearance had to come after deliberations at both the state and Central government levels. The lease for mining at the river bank was over in July, 2009, hence the mining could not be started on time. While the state government had blamed the Centre for delay in granting clearance for the beginning of mining operations, the latter had been stating that the delay had been on the part of the state government that had failed to do the requisite paper work required for clearance on time. Lakhs of people were affected by this delay in starting mining and stone crushing. This is a major source of revenue for the state as the mined material is exported to neighbouring Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
	Governor, CM extend Balmiki Jayanti greetings Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 21 Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has greeted people of the state on the eve of Maharishi Balmiki Jayanti. In her greetings, the Governor said Maharishi Balmiki, who authored the Ramayana, had emphaised on the concept of moral values such as equality, harmony, brotherhood and humanity, inspiring people to serve and assist the oppressed and under-privileged sections of the society. “Real tribute to Maharishi Balmiki will be to imbibe his teachings of universal humanism and the oneness of mankind,” the Governor added. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank extended greetings to people of the state on Balmiki Jayanti. In his address, he appealed to them to work towards the upliftment of the socio-economically weaker sections of the society. Calling Maharishi Balmiki the greatest scholar of Sanskrit, the CM said Balmiki’s Ramayana was a source of inspiration for all sections of the society since ages. “Through the Ramayana Balmiki has taught lessons of humanity, social harmony, sacrifice, bravery and morality. It is only by encouraging social justice that we can pay a tribute to Balmiki,” the CM said.
	Assn submits memo to DM Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 21 Members of the Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR) Association submitted a memorandum to District Magistrate (DM) Sachin Kurve regarding a circular issued on July 7 about a policy on canteen smart cards. According to the policy, Honorary Capt rank has been lowered to the JCO rank, citing reasons of misuse of canteen entitlement. The association said this new circular had hurt officers of honorary ranks and was being considered contrary to the letter and spirit of the award bestowed on them by the President. Action against defaulters sought Meanwhile, PTR Samsher Singh Bisht, central president of the Purva Sainik Welfare Association, also gave a memorandum to the DM. He said the QMG Branch at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi had transferred the Honorary Capt rank 1 to the lower JCO rank on July 7. This was done due to the ones appointed on the lower rank for misusing the canteen facilities provided to them. Bisht said instead of using such procedures against them, the government should take strict action against the defaulters.
	IT Dept raids hotels, liquor shops Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 21 The Income Tax (IT) Department raided 14 offices and residences of two big hotels, liquor shops and a cable network owner here today. The raids that started this morning continued till the filing of the report late in the evening. The raids were carried out with a good number of police force accompanying the IT sleuths. According to sources, the IT sleuths conducted raids at several places, including residence and hotels belonging to MC Juyal, residence of godown of liquor businessman Prateek Juyal and offices of Uttaranchal Cable Network. The officials thoroughly searched the residence of Juyal on the Balbir Road, besides raiding his hotels, Hotel Gaurav on the Gandhi Road, Hotel Saurav on the Kuchhery Road, Hotel Shubham at Faltu Line and Hotel Competent in Selaqui. The search operation was also done at the residence of Prateek Juyal in Dalanwala. His godown and establishments of Uttaranchal Cable Network were raided. The search operation would continue even tomorrow at some of the establishments.
	Thieves break into lawyers’ chambers Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 21 A theft attempt in about five chambers of advocates of the district court was reported here today. The theft attempt was made last night and the advocates in the morning got to know of it. However, the thieves did not find anything worth stealing. The police rushed to the spot and carried an inspection of the chambers. Missing youth found dead The 24-year-old youth, who had gone missing on October 12 after reportedly being chided by his father for consuming alcohol, was found dead in the periphery of the city. The police recovered empty packets of poison and liquor bottles from the spot. As per the police, it prima facie seems to be a case of suicide. Deceased Manoj Kumar, resident of Shashtrinagar, had left home on October 12. His body was today first spotted by locals in the morning inside the forest area of the Ring Road in the Raipur area. His identity was ascertained with the help of his driving licence and other things belonging to him found in his pocket.
	Blood donation camp marks minister’s birthday Tribune News Service Dehradun, October 21 To celebrate the 50th birth anniversary of Agriculture Minister Trivender Singh Rawat, a blood donation camp was organised at his residence here yesterday. A total of 30 units of blood were collected in the camp. A mass feast was also organised at Raipur and people were given saplings of fruit trees. Speaker of the Rajya Sabha Tarun Vijay inaugurated the camp. He said, “Every politician should organise such camps on their anniversaries, as it will help those in need”. As many as 125 persons registered for donating blood in future as well.