Haridwar, April 10
A day after casting aspersions on the induction of the father-son duo of former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan in the joint committee on the Lokpal Bill, yoga guru Ramdev has retracted his comments, saying it was just a “communication gap”.

Inviting ire due to his comments, which he gave a day before at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar soon after arriving from New Delhi where he had supported Anna Hazare’s agitation against corruption at Jantar Mantar, Ramdev now seems to be bridging the communication gap, as he called up Anna Hazare and Arvind Kezriwal to apprise him of the whole situation, terming it as a media hype.

Ramdev told The Tribune that it was only you (media) who had questioned him on the panel members and he himself had not said anything about it. He blamed the media for the misinterpretation of his statement, which he didn’t intend to make.

When asked about his suggestion to put former IPS officer Kiran Bedi on the committee, Ramdev said: “No comments”.

On not being put on the panel, Ramdev said he had no charm or ambition of any post as he was loved by 1.12 billion Indians, which was of much more value than any coveted post.

Reiterating his fight against corruption, the yoga guru, who has formed the Bharat Swabhiman Trust to involve the common people across the country in its fight against the menace of corruption, said he was committed to taking this movement further and called for more sincere efforts like that of Anna Hazare.

“Don’t be under the illusion that by just having civil representatives on the Jan Lokpal Bill draft committee corruption will be eradicated from the Indian society. Rather cumulative and consistent efforts are needed to make a corruption-free India,” signed off Ramdev, to be with his thousands of followers who throng Patanjali Yogpeeth daily.

Dehradun, April 10
Despite instructions passed by the government to ban polythene bags in the city, the Dehradun administration and the Municipal Corporation (MC) has failed to implement the rules.

The administration seems to be busy with its other tasks, while the DMC officials are waiting for the orders from the administration.

All the polythene bags, including those measuring more than 20 microns, were slated to be completely banned in the state capital from April 1. However, the preliminary preparations for implementing the ban could not be undertaken. As a result, the ban on the sale and use of all the polythene bags is now expected to be implemented by the next month only.

The polythene bags are considered as a major cause of concern in Dehradun, a city that generates more than 200 metric tonne of solid municipal waste per day. But the MC is unable to scientifically dispose of all the waste using present resources and facilities.

This problem is expected to be redressed with the construction of the Solid Waste Management (SWM) facility being made by the MCD with Rs 24.6 crore provided under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), but the work still needs to see the light of the day.

However, the indiscriminate use of polythene bags will continue to cause problems and environmental damage even after the SWM facility gets functional, as it is considered to be the most harmful content of the solid waste being generated.

These bags block the sewer system causing water logging in the rainy season and ineffective drainage at other times apart from which its improper dumping is damaging the environment and cattle which end up eating polythene bags filled with biodegradable waste causing intestinal blockage and eventual death.

Considering these factors, Dehradun District Magistrate Sachin Kurve had directed a ban on all the polythene bags, including those measuring more than 20 microns. This ban was to be implemented from April 1, but the authorities have been unable to facilitate this.

While the sources maintain that though the ban on polythene bags will benefit the public, the measures taken by the authorities so far are not adequate to ensure an effective ban.

Assistant Executive Engineer, MC, HR Rawat said, “The polythene bags needed to be banned from April 1, but we are waiting for the proper order to be passed by the District Magistrate. As soon as he asks us to take steps, we will start work on it. We just cannot take any action without the bylaws”.

While the DM said the officials and departments concerned were occupied in the tasks related to the recently concluded budget session of the Vidhan Sabha and the end of the financial year. This prevented the organisation of public awareness drives and other preliminary tasks to be undertaken before implementation of the ban. “The measures required for implementing the ban will be undertaken in the near future,” added Kurve.

Nainital, April 10
Aiming to garner 'dwindling' public support in his favour in the poll year, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is desperately trying to connect with the masses by making ample use of 'theatrics' during his visits across the state. However, people are not much impressed with the technique adopted by him.

Nishank has dwelt upon a ‘novel’ way to connect with the masses, whereby he is assuming the role of a moderator at various public functions. He is going around initiating a direct interface between people and officials. For example, he randomly asks a person in the crowd to relate his problems. If the person says that there is no road to his village, Nishank asks the Public Works Department (PWD) to give an explanation and there have been occasions where he has ordered suspension of officials on the spot.

A couple of days back, he ordered the suspension of two pharmacists at a meeting in Leti-Bunga of Nainital district, while also ordering the removal of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), who is learnt to have been reinstated the very next day. Observers point out that all these 'theatrics' are of no use, as people clearly understand that all this is being done in the election year with a 'hawk's eye' on the polls.

Even the officials are agitated over the treatment being meted out to them in public presence. They say that they are being humiliated without being given a chance to explain their side of the story and Nishank must not forget the important role the employees play in the state politics.

Observers further pointed out Nishank’s tendency to simply walk off from the spots, where he is likely to face hostile questions or criticisms. The examples being pointed out in this regard is his departure from a function in Delhi, where journalists from Uttarakhand countered his tall claims with uncomfortable questions and a public meet organised in Gadarpur last month.

Just to propagate the achievements of the government, he has been asking questions about government schemes in every public meet. For example, he has been going around asking schoolchildren, “Which is the only medical college that gives medical education for a mere Rs 15,000 per year?" and the children reply, "Srinagar Medical College".

Thereafter, a beaming Nishank is seen ordering his legislators to reward the children with Rs 500 currency notes. His critics say, “People know why he is going around laying foundation stones and making promises by the dozen in the poll year.

Experience has proved that such promises never see the light of the day. Where was this government for the last more than four years when people have been demanding basics like water, power and roads? The people know what has woken them up now."

His recent visit to Nainital and his dramatic walk down the Mall Road has not gone down well with local residents. "It was a wonder to see the Mall Road being swept at around 9.30 pm. It reminds one of the colonial era. Nobody gives any attention to the filth that has gathered in the storm water drains and the problems being faced by the people," said a local resident.

Dehradun, April 10
Newly appointed general secretary in charge of the Uttarakhand Congress and senior Haryana Congress leader Birender Singh has come up with the “Ghulam Nabi Azad formula” to fight factionalism and galvanise the state party unit before the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Birender Singh during his first visit to the state capital to attend a meeting of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) said he would be touring the length and breadth of the state with all the top 50 senior leaders of the Congress party in a bus. A similar exercise was initiated by senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad during his tenure as in charge of the Andhra Pradesh Congress a few years ago.

Birender said the bus travel would give an opportunity to the state Congress leaders to sort out their differences in the long campaign. “We will be charting out the route and the dates of the proposed yatra in the days to come,” he added.

On the performance of the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government, Birender said a charge sheet on all the scandals and scams of the state government would be prepared and a delegation of Uttarakhand Congress leaders, including all the five MPs, would meet the President of India to demand a probe by a higher authority in all these scandals.

Asked about the delay in the announcement of office-bearers of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Birender replied that he would take another 15 days to study the issue and decide accordingly.

Giving a tough message to party workers, he announced that he would not tolerate indiscipline and act tough on such issues. “When it comes to acting on such issues, either they will be in the party or I will remain in the party,” he said. He also said new blood would be infused in the Uttarakhand party.

Interestingly, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari also reached the venue of the PCC meeting as he was considered close to Birender Singh.

Dehradun, April 10
An Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship mobile repairing training course for unemployed youth of Uttarakhand concluded here yesterday.

Chief guest SK Goyal, Director, Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises, said the ministry was committed to creating employment opportunities for the unemployed youth. He said developing entrepreneurship qualities among unemployed youth was also part of these training programmes.

Dr Punam Sinha, Regional Head, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship, Dehradun, disclosed that youth had participated in the mobile repairing training course in a big way. She said in the world of telecommunication, mobile business was soaring and so were the works linked to its repairing. She said apart from providing them training, the course also imparted knowhow about government schemes that were aimed to help in setting up enterprises.

Shantanu Pathak, secretary, Association for Community Entitlement, coordinated the proceedings. A total of 30 participants were handed course certificates.

Dehradun April 10
As many as four proposals, two political proposals, one on finance and another on party organisation, were approved in the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) meeting held here. All the Congress MPs, party legislators, former legislators and members of the PCC attended the meeting. It was first meeting to be attended by Birender Singh, newly appointed in charge, general secretary of the Uttarakhand Congress.

The first political proposal focused on existing political scenario in Uttarakhand. Calling for staging mass protests at every Assembly segment, the proposal asked the partymen to take the agitations to the village level. It forewarned the state party leaders to go for a review of its poll strategy taking in view the reorganisation of the number of Assembly constituencies in the state.

It termed the BSP as a spoiler alleging that the party had a tendency to cut into Congress votes. The proposal also made a passing remark to the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal describing it as a party on a decline. It also accused the BJP of promoting infighting in the Congress and asked the partymen to be on alert to defeat the saffron party’s ulterior motives.

The second political proposal approved at the meeting accused the incumbent BJP Government of encouraging mafia elements in the state. It referred to Centurgia land scam, allotment of 56 hydro projects issue, Chandak land scandal and Kumbh irregularities. The proposal said the CAG report had amply revealed the wrong doings of the state government.

As of the proposal of finance, the Uttarakhand Congress alleged that since the day the BJP assumed power in the state, it had been wrongly accusing the Centre of giving the state less funds. It said while the Centre had been benevolent to the state in disbursal of funds. It asks the state BJP government of releasing a white paper on the central government schemes in implementation in the state.

The meeting called for prompt constitution of booth-level Congress committees. It said the organisational coordination at the Assembly segment level was found lacking. The organisation had a key role in ensuring the success of a party in the Assembly polls.

Haridwar, April 10
Amid the chanting of hymns, 96 families performed religious rites in 24 hawan kunds at the Arya Samaj Temple here today. The occasion was the annual religious function of the Arya sect, which entered its 47th phase this year.

Addressing the devotees, Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy Vice-Chairperson Prof Mahavir Aggarwal highlighted the importance of a guru, who is instrumental in guiding us to worship the Almighty.

On the occasion, Girdhari Lal, Chandrabadni and Rama Krishna were given ‘Arya Samman’ for various works.

The three-day annual function saw mass participation from people with Pandit Ramesh Chandra Snehi mesmerising the devotees with his soulful rendition of religious hymns and bhajans. Swami Ved Prakash and Dr Yogesh Kumar gave religious sermons.

“I spent all the three days with my parents, got to listen to bhajans and more importantly served food to people, which I will note down in my school social service book too,” said 12-year-old Rishi Maniktala.

Nainital, April 10
Experts from investment sector have called upon the need to make potential investors in the stock markets aware of the working mechanism, so that they do not fall into hands of fraudsters.

In investor-awareness programme organised by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Stock Exchange at Kanpur KD Gupta said, “SEBI is laying maximum emphasis on investor education and is spending a percentage of its income on investor education and protection”.

"The investors need to know the formalities of operating in the market. They should know who are the registered brokers through whom they can invest and what is the brokerage percentage they have to pay for various transactions. What is being seen is that people invest through certain brokers in off-market operations. In the process, the brokers fleece them in making profit payments and just shrug off their responsibilities when investors incur heavy losses," said Gupta.

Ironically, despite being amongst the most populous states of the nation, Uttar Pradesh, along with Uttarakhand, amounts for less than 3 per cent of the total investor base in the country. To add to this, the operations being carried out by the Uttar Pradesh Stock Exchange amount to less than 1 per cent.

Gupta said the reason for fewer operations by the stock exchange was that regional listing by companies was no longer necessary and people trade through the Internet. He pointed out that most of the bigger companies go for listings in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

However, he pointed out that the number of people taking to investing in the stock markets was definitely on the rise. He said most of the towns and even certain rural areas were witnessing an increase in the number of people wanting to invest in the stock markets through banks and other institutions. Referring to the initiatives of SEBI, he said SEBI has also approached the government for introducing market operations as a part of the academic curriculum.

Dehradun, April 10
A monumental shift in the leadership of the Indian National Trade Union of Congress (INTUC) after 40 years has revived hope that this labour organisation will be able to contribute significantly for the welfare of the labour, especially the unorganised labour sector in the country.

While talking to The Tribune, national president of INTUC Ambati Krishna Murthy, who was in the town to formally announce the selection of Dinesh Sharma as the state president of INTUC, said, “Unfortunately, INTUC became a personal property of former President Sanjiva Reddy, who held its reins for 40 years. He had been making huge money by selling the interests of the labourers and became millionaires in the process. As a result, the INTUC members came down heavily from 2 lakh to mere 30,000 nationwide. The change became imminent in 2007, when he removed the word ‘Congress’ from the title of the organisation and began new registration drive. The movement that started against him from thereon culminated in the national convention at Ranchi in July last year, where 85-year-old Sanjiva Reddy was finally replaced by me by 6,000 union units of the INTUC in a peaceful manner. We have done away with all the registration done under the aegis of his party and accepted only those registered after 1947”.

The next course of action before him is to strengthen the organisation from the very start and at the very base by raising party units. He said, “Till date, we did not have any clear demarcation of the leadership at the state units, as any leader of the Congress shouldered the responsibility of INTUC, along with his other organisational obligations, which was why INTUC went completely ignored. Now, we have undertaken the exercise of floating state units, which hereon, are creating their own working committees. Barring a couple of states, he had almost finished the task.

Enumerating his priorities, he said, “We will fight against the contractual system, under which labourers are hired through outsourcing and made to work for as long as excruciating 12 hours without any proper salary, gratuity or other emoluments. As per the findings submitted by the Commission of Enterprises, nothing has changed for the betterment of the unorganised workers in the past 10 years, which is very sad and disappointing. Under the new Social Security Act, Rs 10,000 crore has already been sanctioned in this direction. We are demanding Rs 20 crore from the Finance Minister instead”.

He said, “We will hold a convention at the Takotra Stadium on May 1 on the International Labour Day.

Dehradun, April 10
Rural Development Minister Vijaya Bartwal yesterday inaugurated the Block Development Office at Raipur, Dehradun.

Speaking on the occasion, she said the office would prove handy as villagers could come directly and ask for details of various schemes launched by the government for their block.

She said the office was taking up schemes under farming, education, medical, small irrigation etc.