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Vikas Yatra
Harak blames Nishank for misusing Central funds
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Deoli is Dehradun Zila Panchayat Chairman
Police personnel complete search, rescue training at Kempty
State to have new Revenue Police Act soon
Mahila Cong gen secy’s tour of HP begins
Kumaon Briefs
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Vikas Yatra
Pithoragarh, February 20 “The CM distributed Rs 1 crore among 525 beneficiaries under various schemes like Gaura Devi, Nanda Devi Kanya Dhan and Atal Awas Yojana. He also inaugurated 21 projects worth Rs 16 crore,” said Champawat District Magistrate Pankaj Pandey. “The CM also released Rs 25 lakh for the development of the Goril Chaur Ground,” said the DM. The CM, who landed in the Goril Chaur Ground at 11.30 am drove directly to the Goril temple, the deity known for justice in the Kumoan region. “A large number of people gathered in the ground,” said BJP chief in Champawat Naresh Karayat. “The CM also assured to form a trust for the Purnagiri temple on the lines of the Vaishno Devi shrine,” said Karayat. “He also sanctioned a 132-KV sub-station for Champawat. The sub-station will solve the power-related problems of the district,” said the BJP president. The CM agreed to bring about betterment of schools, roads and solve the problem of shortage of doctors in the district. He also announced the opening up of a high school in the Manch and Dubchaur area. The Congress members also organised a protest on the arrival of the CM, but were promptly arrested by the police. “The BJP Government will perish in the coming elections, as it has stopped development works started by the previous Congress Government,” said former Congress legislator of Champawat Hemesh
Kharkwal. |
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Harak blames Nishank for misusing Central funds
Haridwar, February 20 “We saw it in the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar, where misuse of Central funds to the tune of Rs 750 crore was done by the state government. Similar thing was done to the flood relief provided by the Centre last year. Every time the state government fails to properly implement the social schemes, it accuses the Congress-led Central Government for not giving sufficient aid and is unable to utilise the given funds. This has been the norm since Nishank was appointed as the second CM of this BJP Government,” said Harak. Rawat also met agitating traders, who were on strike for the past 90 days owing to their displacement in view of upgradation of the bus stand. The traders have been demanding the allocation of shops, as they do not have any other option of livelihood. Harak assured the traders of full cooperation. Taking a dig on Madan Kaushik and Diwakar Bhatt, the two state Cabinet Ministers in the state government, Harak said, “Despite two ministers hailing from the city, yet people are forced to agitate for almost three months without these ministers taking cognisance of the matter. This itself speaks of the tyrant attitude of the governance in the state”.
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My removal is politically motivated: Madhu Chauhan
Dehradun, February 20 “My termination is politically motivated, as BJP leaders could not digest my popularity. I refused to become a puppet in the hands of the BJP Government that tried every trick to demoralise me, thinking that I am a green horn in politics. The suspension orders are arbitrary and I will approach the High Court against this injustice,” she told The Tribune here today. She has also been charged for taking up the development projects in Chakrata and Kalsi blocks aimed at benefiting her husband, who stood for the Vikas Nagar byelections in 2009. Madhu denied these charges and said, “All the projects had the approval of the panchayat board members and were not proposed by me alone. I am very proud of the community courts that were created for the villagers of Mehuwala,” she said. She also said there was no violation of the model code of conduct during the Vikas Nagar byelections. “It is a flimsy charge. The District Magistrate had filed a report against me, though the Uttarakhand Chief Election Officer Radha Raturi had given me a clean chit,” said Madhu. She also dismissed her bete noire Dehradun Zila Panchayat member Neeru Devi, on whose complaint the probe was set up. “She is acting at the behest of the CM and has not been able to come to the terms with the stunning defeat that I had given her during the zila panchayat chairman elections. I continue to be popular. This could even be gauged by the district planning committee elections held last year, in which our supporters bagged 14 seats,” she said. |
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Deoli is Dehradun Zila Panchayat Chairman
Dehradun, February 20 Taking over the office, Deoli said the government should not impediment the functioning of the panchayat. He expressed disapproval at the manner in which Madhu Chauhan was given the marching orders. “It is undemocratic and has set a bad precedent,” said Deoli. The Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), an NGO working to strengthen grassroot democracy in the state, has also come out in Madhu’s support. “In case Madhu Chauhan approaches the court, RLEK will lend support to her. The removal of Madhu on the basis of a ‘biased’ report by bureaucrats is unconstitutional and undemocratic,” said Avdhash Kaushal. He said Madhu was the third woman chairperson of Zila Panchayat who had been removed. Earlier, Rameshwar Devi, chairperson Zila Panchayat Haridwar, was divested of administrative and financial powers and Ranjana Devi was removed after a no-confidence motion was moved against her. |
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ND Tiwari visits NCP office
Dehradun, February 20 There were speculations about his joining the party, but later he clarified that he had come to attend the party convention after being invited by the Uttarakhand unit of the party. He said he was only for the development of the state and would continue to work for that. Last week he had attended the inauguration ceremony of the ambitious project of Atal Khadyann Yojana launched by the BJP state government in the presence of national BJP President Nitin Gadkari. This led to a lot of heartburn amongst his detractors in the Congress party who wanted action against him. Asked about the formation of a third front in Uttarakhand, he replied that it was a good move aimed at the betterment of the state. |
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Govt officials give gender sensitisation workshop a miss
Dehradun, February 20 “As a law-enforcing agency, the police needs to be gender sensitised to curb incidents of violence against women,” said gender consultant from Bangalore Asha Ramesh. She said the police stations should be women friendly, so that they could lodge a complaint without being intimidated. “It is the fear factor that prevents women from lodging their complaints at the police station,” she said. Social activist Anuradha Joshia also asked the society not to shut eyes to the increasing number of crimes being committed against women in the state. Chairman of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) Avdhash Kaushal said the community police should be strengthened to curb crime against women. “Incidents of ‘reverse dowry’ are increasing in the state, whereby men from outside the state marry poor girls by paying some amount to the family and then push them into the flesh trade. This can only be curbed through community policing,” he said. Thana in charge, Vikas Nagar, DS Rawat said while claims were being made that cases of crime against women had increased, awareness, too, had increased and women were coming forward to lodge complaints. Jahnavi Tiwari of Disha said the workshop was organised to bring the police, government officials and social activists on one platform. Meanwhile, none of the government officials turned up for the workshop, which was to conclude with state DGP JS Pandey’s address. The organisation had invited officials of all the departments, including senior bureaucrats who were responsible for the implementation of the schemes for women and children. All the officials gave it a miss due to reasons better known to them. Only Thana in charge, Vikas Nagar, DS Rawat and Thana in charge, Sahaspur, Praveen Singh were present on the occasion. |
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Police personnel complete search, rescue training at Kempty
Mussoorie, February 20 The participants, through a mock drill, showed the technique of saving victims from disaster zones. They also demonstrated ways to rescue victims with speed and finesse and assist them from the casualty site promptly. The police personnel also demonstrated skills in climbing, grapling, casualty transportation and ways to use the locally available equipments like peek bag, two-hand sack, four-hand sack etc. They also showed ways to carry injured victims to a safe destination using wooden rods, handmade stretchers and blankets from the incident site, so that the first aid can be provided to the victims. Manvendar Singh was adjudged winner, while Jati Ram and Parvind Singh were 1st and 2nd runner-up, respectively, during the training session. Disaster Management Centre (DMC) Director Dr Piyush Rautela was the chief guest on the occasion who distributed the awards. Addressing the gathering, Rautela said such effective training was necessary considering the geographical terrain of the state where disasters, be it accidental or natural, were a common occurrence. He said the state was sensitive to disasters like floods, landslides, forest fires and vehicle accidents. The only way to save the victims was with the effective training that was being imparted at the centre here. DIG, ITBP, SP Chamoli (retd), Director of the institute, thanked all on the occasion and said the institute had completed 50 courses so far. |
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Nadi Bachao Andolan members threaten stir
Dehradun, February 20 The duo were arrested on January 30 from Agustmani, the site of the Singoli-Bhatwari hydropower project, where they were participating in a peaceful march on the issue of control of local resources. “The illegal detention of Sushila is aimed at terrorising women, so that they do not raise their voice against the environment havoc caused by the construction of big dams and the loss of natural resources,” said Suresh Bhai of the Nadi Bachao Andolan while addressing a press conference. He said what had hurt the villagers was that the vehicle of Larsen and Toubro (L&T), the company working at the dam site, was used to transport Bhandari and Jhinkwan. “L&T is one of the companies that is constructing a dam on the Mandakini river. The administration seems to be on the side of the dam authorities,” said Suresh. The members of the andolan have held protests outside the office of the District Magistrate of Rudraprayag in protest against the detention of Bhandari and Jhinkwan and on Saturday they dispatched letters to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Pauri MP Satpal Maharaj. Around 36 villages are in the danger zone due to intense blasting being carried out by the company. |
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UKD against eviction of residents from Hakmans Hotel
Mussoorie, February 20 The UKD leaders raised slogans against the land mafias and said they respected the decision of the court, but the owners were using forceful means, like making them sign on blank papers, in the name of the court order. Another UKD leader Pramila Rawat said it was wrong for the owners to evict people, who had been residing in the compound for the past 50 years and had the documents to prove it. The leaders further said they would also apprise the court of the whole activity being conducted in such a dubious manner. They also demanded that till the time the families affected by this eviction exercise were rehabilitated, they should be allowed to live in this compound. The tourism adviser to the Chief Minister also visited the affected families and said even the court did not allow forceful eviction, as was in the case of Kanak Cinema. He, however, said since he did not have full details of the case, he would not comment on anything else, but was of the view that the delegation should go and meet the Dehradun District Magistrate and lay all facts in front of him. A delegation, led by Municipal Council president OP Uniyal, even went to Dehradun to meet the DM, but he was not available at his office. However, the delegates met other officials, who told them to come back with their documents in a couple of days. Mandi Parishad ex-vice-president Billo Thapli also extended his support to the affected families and said the role of the local MLA was suspicious in this whole matter. |
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State to have new Revenue Police Act soon
Dehradun, February 20 “The Act will fulfil the long-standing demand of patwaris in the state. The government will also begin computerisation of the land records by the year end. A sum of Rs 200 crore will be required for the purpose. It includes Rs 120 which has to be given by the Centre and the rest to be borne by the state,” he said. Bhatt said the government had also decided to go in for the simplification of caste certification preparation process strictly under the Centre’s guidelines. In another major decision, those with domicile certificate would not require a permanent resident certificate. Bhatt also held that his ministry had decided to transfer category VI land to the municipalities and other local bodies. He said this account for a major part of 4,75,000 hectares. |
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Mahila Cong gen secy’s tour of HP begins
Dehradun, February 20 She said, “I will review the activities of the Mahila Congress at the panchayat and the local body election, and will bring to light the failure of the state BJP Government in every block by organising various
programmes”. |
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Jan Aakrosh rally in Nainital on Monday
The Congress party will hold a Jan Aakrosh rally in Nainital on Monday to highlight the failures of the Nishank-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in the state. The party workers have been gearing up over the past 20 days to make the event a success. It is being seen as a counter event to the recent launching of the Atal Khadyann Yojana by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank himself at the Divisional Headquarters. The message from Nainital is expected to travel wide. Leaders expected to attend the rally, along with the state Congress President Yashpal Arya, are Lok Sabha members Satpal Maharaj and KC Singh ‘Baba’ MP, besides Rudrapur legislator Tilak Raj Behed. The rally will be held near the Govind Ballabh Pant statue near the rickshaw stand in the Mallital area of the town. Special arrangements have been made to manage the traffic. Unit manufacturing illegal liquor unearthed
Carrying out its drive against the illegal manufacture of liquor in the district, the authorities have unearthed a major manufacturing unit set up in the Tanda forest near Haldwani. Equipment and a huge quantity of raw material used for manufacturing the illegal liquor were recovered during the raid carried out following a tip-off. The persons involved in manufacturing the illegal product managed to flee from the spot. This is the second major unearthing by the authorities in the past two decades. The liquor being manufactured at the Tanda unit was sold in nearby villages like Lamachaud, Fetehpur, Basani and
Bhankhda. Housewives protest against poor supply of cooking gas
Housewives residing in certain colonies of Haldwani staged a protest in the town on Saturday to express their resentment against the mismanagement with regards to the supply of cooking gas. They went to the office of City Magistrate Prakash Chandra and handed him a memorandum seeking an early solution to the problems being faced by them. They were told that the supply would be streamlined soon and the administration was taking various steps to put an end to the problem. The agitators came from areas like Chhoti Mukhani, Mitra Colony, Ganesh Nagar, Basant Vihar, Krishna Colony, Durga Colony, Roop Nagar and
Daharia. Children in school bus have miraculous escape
Children travelling in a school bus had a miraculous escape when the bus rammed into a dumper that had been parked in the centre of a road in Haldwani on Saturday afternoon. The bus was carrying two dozen students when the accident took place. An agitated mob, comprising mainly the parents of the children travelling in the bus, gathered at the spot and tried to set the dumper ablaze. The police had a tough time pacifying the mob that was demanding immediate action against the driver of the dumper. The police seized two dumpers that had been wrongly parked after the incident. Shiksha Mitras seek regular jobs in govt schools
A large number of Shiksha Mitras posted across Udham Singh Nagar staged a dharna at the Collectorate Office on Saturday. They were demanding regular appointments in various government schools. They have threatened to launch an agitation in the state capital if their demands are not met by the government at the earliest. They have accused the government of violating the guidelines laid down regarding their employment. |
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