Doon hospital awaits release of funds 
Dehradun, April 14
With the government failing to release the budget for the financial year 2011-2012, the District Doon Hospital authorities are facing a difficulty in paying salaries of contractual employees and replenishing stocks of medicine under Local Purchase (LP).

Sikhs celebrate Baisakhi in Dehradun
Dehradun, April 14
The Baisakhi festival was celebrated by the Punjabi community with great enthusiasm. On the occasion, the community also commemorated the 312th Khalsa Sajna Divas.

Haridwar, April 14
The advent of the harvesting season and New Year was welcomed with fervour in the pilgrim city of Haridwar on the occasion of Baisakhi today. Lakhs of devotees took a dip in the holy Ganga at Har-ki- Pauri and the adjacent ghats.

Since last evening the city had been witnessing a heavy arrival of pilgrims from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and other regions.

Be it the government transport services, private vehicles, trucks, jeeps or trains, all were seen full of pilgrims.

In view of the terror threat looming large on the pilgrim city post Varanasi blast and the intelligence agencies warning the Uttarakhand Police of a suspected terror attack, elaborate security arrangements were done to ward off any untoward incident.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Sanjay Gunjiyal monitored the security arrangements from the Mela Control Room along with Superintendent of City Police Kiran Lal Shaw the whole day. A heavy deployment of the state police as well as the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) was done across the mela core zone and vital city points.

Snipers, elite commandos from the ‘Guldaar’ unit, bomb disposal squad, quick reaction teams, sniffer dogs and policemen in plain clothes were deployed at the strategic points. Personnel of the Jal Police were deployed on the river stretch from Har-ki-Pauri to Jwalapur.

Speaking to The Tribune about the security arrangements, Dr Shaw said the festive bath-cum-fair passed off peacefully with no untoward incident reported.

The mela zone was divided into 39 special sectors. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nivedita Kukreti said prior to the bath, the ghats adjacent to the Har-ki-Pauri were cleared of beggars and slum dwellers to make sure they didn’t inconvenience the pilgrims.

Haridwar, April 14
Exactly a year ago, when the world’s greatest fair Maha Kumbh’s ‘shahi snaan’ was going on, a major tragedy had struck, putting a black spot on the otherwise smooth conduct of the Maha Kumbh till then.

Residents of the city as well as those who had been in Haridwar for the mega fair couldn’t forget that shocking incident when the stampede took toll of seven people on the spot while many fell from the Birla Setu on Alaknanda ghat to save themselves from the stampede.

Though a probe was ordered into the stampede with renowned religious guru Pilot Baba and his followers coming under the scanner as the vehicle that tried to enter the Birla bridge, having restricted entry, had initiated the stampede.

Balbir Singh, driver of the Pilot Baba cavalcade, was booked under Sections 304 A, 338 and 279, IPC. Pilot Baba was questioned by the investigation team was later given a clean chit.

However, the probe is still going on and the affected people of the stampede are still hoping that the culprits will get behind the bar. 

Dehradun, April 14
Members of Uttrakhand Vishwavidyalay, Mahavidyala Shikshak Sangharsh Samiti called off their protest against the state government and withdrew their proposed move to boycott the university degree examinations from April 19, 2011.

The decision was taken after talks were held with the state Education Minister, Govind Singh Bisht, on their pending demands. The members of the samiti met Govind Bisht on Wednesday at Haldwani where he assured the teachers to provide them arrears according to the Sixth Pay Commission along with the implementation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) benefits to all teachers without any delay.

While talking to The Tribune, Dr Ajay Arora, convener of the samiti and president of the Kumaon University Teachers Association (KUTA) said, “During the meeting yesterday, Bisht assured the teachers to recommend their demands in the Cabinet while he has called upon to constitute a committee of six members to submit a report on the samiti in a month’s time.

“The committee will comprise two government officers, two teachers of the samiti and two members of the Education Department,” he asserted.

The samiti has raised demands, including raising the age of retirement of teachers from 60 to 65 years, granting four increments to the newly recruited PhD holders, two increments to the newly recruited MPhil holders, who are recruited as teachers by the university, post of Professor with a proper scale should be incorporated in the PG colleges, to issue “Smart Health Scheme” for the welfare of the teachers and employees of the universities and colleges of Uttrakhand and others.

According to VC Pandey, co-convener of the samiti and general secretary, FUUCTA, earlier the state Education Minister had organised a meeting on April 4 with the samiti to discuss the pending demands, but had cancelled it without notice.

“We have also met the principal secretary (education), chief secretary (education) and Harbans Kapoor, state Assembly speaker regarding our demands. We have given a memorandum to Uttrakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal on these issues,” added Pandey.

Members of the Kumaon University Teachers Association (KUTA), Pantnagar University Teachers Association (PUTA), Garhwal University Teachers Association (GRUTA), Federation of Uttaranchal University and College Teachers Association (FUUCTA) and the Federation of Uttarakhand Government Teachers Association (FUGTA) participated in the meeting. 

Dehradun, April 14
With the government failing to release the budget for the financial year 2011-2012, the District Doon Hospital authorities are facing a difficulty in paying salaries of contractual employees and replenishing stocks of medicine under Local Purchase (LP).

“We have placed before the government the budget demand of Rs 11 crore, but the amount has not been released and we are being forced to cut corners. A part of our daily expenditure is being met through the collections that we receive through the user-charge levied by the hospital,” said Dr BC Pathak, CMS of Doon Hospital.

The hospital authorities say that delay on the part of the Director-General (Health) to respond to a query put up by the government regarding the budget resulted in the delay.

In addition, the hospital authorities are yet to receive a pending instalment of Rs 2.80 crore from the last year’s budget. The last instalment that the hospital received was in December last year and that year the hospital had put up a demand of Rs 9 crore.

There are around 115 contractual employees working in the hospital who have to be paid and the hospital also has to replenish its stock of medicines and injections. “Every day, the hospital receives around 40 cases of dog bites. These require immediate availability of vaccinations and finances. The monthly expenditure of some of the contractual employees is around Rs 10 lakh,” said Dr Pathak.

Along with the budget blues, the hospital is also facing problems in the renovation of operating theater that has to be refurbished and completed in a month’s time.

There has been a lukewarm response to the tenders invited by the hospital authorities, making it difficult to select companies. “At least three companies should have applied for shortlisting and then be eligible for selection as per tender rules,” said Pathak.

Sources say that pressure is being built by a construction agency from Uttar Pradesh to give it a go ahead. 

Dehradun, April 14
The Baisakhi festival was celebrated by the Punjabi community with great enthusiasm. On the occasion, the community also commemorated the 312th Khalsa Sajna Divas.

Gurdwara Guru Sangat Dhamawala held a “katha and kirtan” at Nanak Niwas and organised a langar. The programme was attended by the president of gurdwara Manmohan Singh Bedi, Satnam Singh, Rajender Singh Rajan and many others.

Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Panditwari, too celebrated Baisakhi in a similar way where MP Vijay Bahuguna was also present. President of the Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Harpal Singh Sethi offered a sword to him. While wishing peace and brotherhood to people, Bahuguna listened to their problems related to drainage. He called up the Mayor and asked him to resolve the matter.

Senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana addressed devotees at Gurdwara Patel Nagar and Prem Nagar. He said the day had further significance for being the birth anniversary of Baba Bhim Rao Ambedkar. President of Patel Nagar Gurdwara Committee Gurdip Singh Toni and Prem Nagar Gurdwara Committee chief Manmohan Singh presented him with swords. 

Dehradun, April 14
Members of the Gramin Vikas Samiti, Kaulagarh, are of the view that the Uttarakhand Government should take initiative in restarting the construction of rainwater harvesting tanks, which was banned by the Gramin Vikas Ministry of the state a few years ago.

While presiding over a meeting of the members here yesterday, Kunwar Singh, president of the samiti, said there was a vast chunk of barren lands in the state and agriculture in these areas was totally dependent on rain. Moreover, farmers had no other option to store water for themselves. If the rainwater was harvested, then the farmers could grow vegetables to earn handsome profits. Many people are leaving villages and by constructing the rainwater harvesting tanks, this migration of villagers could be checked.

He cited the example of the villages like Paundha, Kandoli, Dhollas, Hariyawala, Shivpuri, Aamwala, Jamunwala, Nakat Pura and Foolsani in Sahaspur block where rainwater harvesting tanks with a capacity 3,000 litres were constructed. Villagers of this block were growing various vegetables and making good profits. 

Haridwar, April 14
With the century-old Gurukul Kangri University playing a pivotal role in Indian freedom movement and post Independence in churning out morally educated students, the traditional philosophy of guru-shisya still holds true in today’s modern era.

University Vice-Chancellor Prof Swatantra Kumar stated this at the 111th annual function of the university here yesterday. “Apart from education, morality, character and healthy society have been the motive of the university”.

A yagna was also performed on the occasion. Uttarakhand Sanskrit University Prof Mahavir Aggarwal related the need of yagna and hawan to making the atmosphere and thoughts pure in today’s hectic life schedule.

Chief Proctor Acharya Yashpal said, “Despite market-oriented education system, Gurukul is still following the Mackaulay educational role model and strongly putting in cultural and moral traits in students.”

Lamenting the condition of the country after Independence, Acharya Arya Naresh from Himachal Pradesh said, “We have gained Independence, but it seems it was just transfer of power as poverty, corruption, social malpractices and cultural and moral degradation have only ascended”.

Dr Somdev Shastri, Tanveer Ahmed, Pratap Singh, while Dr Kartar Singh, Dr RK Khanna, Dr Pradeep Joshi, Dr Mahipal Singh, Dr Ishwar Bharadwaj, Dr Sangeeta Vidyalankar of Kanya Gurukul College, Vijendra Shastri, Dr Kamal Kant Budhkar, Kulbhushan Sharma, Lalit Kishore Sharma, teaching and non-teaching staff and students were present on the occasion.

Dehradun April 14
Under an international partnership programme, Sri Guru Ram Rai Medical and Health Sciences College has decided to join hands with the University of Kansas, USA, in the field of health and medical research.

Two representatives from the University of Kansas, Dr Donna Elaine Sweet and Dr Therese Cusick, have reached the college for a three-day visit. Both the institutions have decided to arrange exchange programmes for students and faculty members. The guests also addressed MBBS students and the faculty. The head of all the departments accorded warm welcome to them.

Both the guest doctors from the University of Kansas visited the pathology department, microbiology department, immunology department, pharmacology department, biochemistry department and other departments of the college and agreed to work on different researches as well as on studies of medical together.

Giving a lecture during a seminar, Dr Donna Elaine Sweet shared her views and experiences with students and faculty members. She also interacted with medical students and informed them about advanced technologies that could help them in treating diseases like breast cancer and HIV.

Dehradun, April 14
Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli today visited some areas of the state capital and inspected the ongoing works.

He examined the lane from Vasant Vihar towards Pandit Vadi where water gets stagnated due to no exit point.

He asked officials to make a temporary arrangement till they were able to get any permanent solution. The Mayor also asked residents to ensure that water did not flow out of their houses.

He also visited Subash Nagar where a drain is being constructed. Chamoli told officials to launch a long-term scheme to get rid 
of the problem of flooding during the rainy season. — TNS

Mussoorie, April 14
Sports lovers of the town, who have been seeking a stadium equipped with modern sports facilities, would have to wait, thanks to the apathy of the various departments in clearing the file of the proposed stadium project. The cricket stadium to be built at Bhilaru on the Kempty Road was among one of the announcements made by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank last year.

It has been learnt that the file of the stadium project has been returned by the Urban Development Department to the Sports Department without clearance, citing a shortage of funds. Earlier, the project had been lying dormant due to a controversy between the Forest Department and the Mussoorie Municipal Council over the land for the project. Sports Minister Khajan Das, taking personal interest in the project, had resolved the matter and the land for the stadium was earmarked after a joint survey recently. Khajan Das, after inspecting the file, had passed it on to the Urban Department for clearance.

The Sports Minister admitted that the file had been returned by the Urban Development Department to the Sports Department without clearance. He said the government was searching for sources to generate funds for the project.

Meanwhile, the sports lovers said the government had funds for unnecessary projects, but it was adopting a dilly-dallying attitude towards the stadium project. A sports coach of the town, Roop Chand, said Sunil Gavaskar, on his visit to Mussoorie, had said if the project was cleared, then he would try to get funds from the BCCI for the project. However, the state government had failed to contact Gavaskar and was shirking from executing the project, which was of great significance to the people of the town, he added.

Khajan Das said the BCCI would provide grant for the stadium only when there was a state cricket association affiliated to it. As several associations have been fighting among themselves claiming to be the rightful bodies to get the BCCI affiliation, it has become difficult for the government to contact the BCCI, he added.

Khajan Das has convened a meeting of the warring associations on April 18 to resolve the matter amicably.

Dehradun, April 14
Uttarakhand continued its good show in the ongoing All-India Talent Series Tennis Tournament-2011 underway at the Shanti Tennis Academy, here today.

Dhruvpal and Mayuk of Uttarakhand outplayed Utkarsh Bhardwaj and Mritunjay Badola 6-2, 6-0 of the same state to claim the title of boys’ doubles under-14.

Earlier in the semifinals, Dhruvpal and Mayuk defeated Ritwik Kashyap and Danish Ahmed (DLI) 5-3, 4-1 and Utkarsh Bhardwaj and Mritunjay Badola surpassed Atishay Jain (UK) and Abhilaksh Uniyal (DLI) 4-2, 4-1.

While in singles, state’s Dhruvpal, Mritunjay, Utkarsh, Mayuk and Sachi Belwal entered the finals. In the boys’ singles u-12 semifinals, Utkarsh Bhardwaj (UK) beat 6-7(2-7), 6-2, 6-0 and Rishabh Sharda (CHD) and Mritunjay Badola (UK) defeated Danish Ahmed (DLI) 6-1 6-3.

While in the boys’ singles u-14 semifinals, state’s Dhruv Pal thrashed Mritunjay Badola (UK) 6-14, 6-1. Mayuk Rawat, also of Uttarakhand (UK), defeated Atishay Jain (UK) 6-2, 6-4.

Other results: Girls singles U-12 semifinals: Shrishty Dhanda (HAR) beat Verma RHEA (DLI) 6-0, 6-0 and Sabhyata Nihlani (DLI) beat Rubani Ahluwalia (CHD) 6-2, 6-1.

Girls singles u-14 semifinals

Shrishty Dhanda (HAR) beat Verma RHEA (DLI) 6-4, 6-1 and Sachi Belwal (UK) 
beat Sabhyata Nihlani (DLI) 6-2, 6-1.

Dehradun, April 14
Pen Business Limited (PBL) posted a huge win by 234 runs over Doon Combined in the ongoing district cricket league, here today.

Winning the toss, PBL chose to bat first and the team set a target of 284 runs in 40 overs. Subodh (100) struck a ton in just 82 balls to guide his team to set a big total.

Yasir (54) supported him ably in the pursuit. While Yash of Doon Combined got three wickets, Nishu and Manish also got two wickets each.

Batting second, Doon Combined was packed off for 49 runs in 16.5 overs. Pankaj (15) was the top scorer of the batting side even as all batsmen got out on disgraceful individual scores.