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National Forestry Conference venue changed to Delhi
Trust launches drive to plant 1 crore trees
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Elaborate arrangements being made for ‘char dham’
Rishikesh, April 17 In view of the upcoming ‘Char Dham’ pilgrimage comprising of four revered shrines of Hindus, namely Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri, Yamunotri and also the pilgrimage to Hemkund Sahib, elaborate arrangements are being made at the yatra’s starting point in Rishikesh.
U’khand witnesses hailstorm
Nainital diary
Bright Angels crush Jai Singh XI
Juneja clinches badminton title
MC inspects five ice factories
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National Forestry Conference venue changed to Delhi
Dehradun, April 17 Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests (independent charge) Jairam Ramesh had almost a little more than a year ago announced staging of the National Forestry Conference in Dehradun, taking into account the presence of forestry institutions of national and international importance in the region. Dehradun boasts of one of Asia’s best forest research institutions like the Forest Research Institute. Besides the Forest Survey of India, the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy and even the Wildlife Institute of India are all based in Dehradun and are well acclaimed as premier institutions of forest research and wildlife. Within days of assuming charge as Minister of Environment and forests, Jairam Ramesh had dashed to Dehradun expressing his willingness to spend most of his time in Dehradun amidst forestry institutes. He had directed that the National Forestry Conference be staged in Dehradun so as to take maximum advantage of these institutions. “Dehradun could be an excellent platform for holding deliberations on forestry and it is very important that all those linked to forestry must meet at a place like Dehradun to discuss the latest in forestry and the challenges confronting it,” Jairam Ramesh had said. But the very purpose of the National Forestry Conference seems to have been defeated as the venue of the Congress that was earlier slated to take place in the sylvan surroundings of the Forest Research Institute has now been shifted to the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences complex, DPS Marg, Pusa, New Delhi. Over a hundred years old forestry institution, the Forest Research Institute campus, spread in nearly 450 hectares, has some of finest forest laboratories in the country. Its insectary and herbarium are well recognised even among European countries. Forest Research Institute sources admit that there has been hectic lobbying on the part of certain quarters to ensure shifting of the Forestry Conference venue to New Delhi. Expressing remorse, a Senior Forestry academician, Prof NP Todaria, said certainly there could be no better venue for the forestry conference than the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. He said the venue could have ensured easily availability of a battery of forest scientists during discussions. The conference comes at a time when the UN General Assembly has proclaimed 2011 as the International Year of Forests and aims to have a synergetic effect of all the efforts undertaken at present by different stakeholders in our country.
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Trust launches drive to plant 1 crore trees
Haridwar, April 17 This ambitious eco drive is being envisaged to coincide with the centenary celebrations of the Shantikunj Gayatri Parivar founder, Acharya Shri Ram Sharma. All those people who visit and partake in Shantikunj programmes will be handed over one sapling each for plantation. The horticulture in charge of Shantikunj, Gauri Shankar Sharma, said that today on the first day itself, a whopping 11,000 saplings were planted by the Gayatri family activists. “We are getting a good response to this plantation drive with people from across the country like Delhi, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Chattisgarh taking with them saplings to plant,” said Sharma. The Uttar Pradesh Regional Forest Union has also decided to contribute saplings from across 72 districts.
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Elaborate arrangements being made for ‘char dham’
Rishikesh, April 17 With the Gangotri shrine opening on May 6 on the pious occasion of ‘Akshaya Tritiya’, the Tehri Garhwal police has geared itself up to ensure a peaceful flow of pilgrims who throng in millions at these holy shrines. Keeping in view the sensitivity of the pilgrimage in Rishikesh, CCTVs have been put up at important places to monitor the proceedings from the police control room itself and have footages round the clock. Talking to The Tribune, Tehri Garhwal Superintendent of Police Rajeev Swaroop said the police was also taking suggestions from people as well as taking into account measures taken in the last few years. Swaroop said efforts were being made to rectify mistakes and sort out problems before May 6 when the ‘Char Dham’ yatra commenced as from then on a heavy rush of pilgrims and tourists would get diverted to Uttarakhand. Taking cognisance of several incidents of traffic violation and violence related particularly with Sikh pilgrims, Tehri police chief said that those violating traffic rules would be dealt with seriously as no one would be allowed to break the law as well as disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the region. “We are putting up four additional police posts falling under Muni-Ki-Reti police station as the pilgrimage starts from here only,” said Swaroop. About the department’s preparation in view of the accidents and landslides occurring on the yatra route in the Garhwal region, Swaroop said that special squads of the Border Road Organisation and local police would be deployed for quick action. Circle officer, Narendra Nagar, Rajesh Bhatt, added that strict instructions had been issued from the district chief to seize the vehicles particularly trucks that were carrying LPG cylinders for the ‘Char Dham’ purpose. “We will also be looking into the inter-city running Vikrams that ferry overloaded passengers in the yatra season, posing a danger to the lives of the commuters. Also traffic police jawans will be deployed on the city’s busiest intersections as well places like Lakshman Jhoola and other pilgrim-tourist areas where the rush will be quite heavy in coming months” said
Bhatt.
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Rain exposes poor upkeep of drainage system
Dehradun, April 17 Sources said the Municipal Corporation did not have proper drains and road gullies maintenance schedule. Potholes on various roads also created trouble for the locals. Not only this, most of the roads which have been dug by another departments for one or the other reason have become muddy forcing residents to stay inside their houses.
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U’khand witnesses hailstorm
Dehradun, April 17 “Rain and thunder showers are likely to occur at many places with snowfall in higher reaches of Uttarakhand in the next 24 hours,” said Dr Anand Sharma, Executive Director (Meteorological Department), Dehradun. According to reports, about 15 to 20 mm of rain was recorded at several places in the state
with the capital city recording up to16 mm rain. Nainital too had around 15mm of rain. Snowfall has also been reported in higher reaches of Chamoli and Pithoragarh districts. Sharma has advised the farmers to keep their harvest at safe places.
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Nainital diary
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was quick to jump on the bandwagon of political bosses in several states offering goodies to the Indian cricket team for winning the World Cup.
The very next day after the tourney was over, Nishank, while not letting a publicity opportunity slip out of his hands, made a statement before the media saying that his Cabinet would offer land to Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar in Mussoourie to make residential accommodation there. Contrary to what he expected, the announcement has had a counter impact. Pushpesh Tripathi, who is a leader of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), which is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state Assembly, was quick to post on the social networking site Facebook “The Team India ko badhai. Lekin apne CM ki soch par taras aa raha hai kyonki ye arabpati hai duniya ke kisi bhi kone mei jameen bangla kharid sakte hai. Lekin hamare yahan lakhon log 70 ke dasak se ek nali jameen ki ladai lad rahe hai wahi September, 2010, mei aai aapda se hajaro log beghar ho gaye the unki chinta kaun karega? Unke liye govt ke pas sirf Rs 40 ka muvaja hai.” (Congratulations to the Team India but I pity the sensibilities of the Chief Minister because these billionaires can purchase land and bungalows in any part of the world. But, here people have been struggling since the decade of 1970s to purchase even one nali of land. Who will think about those thousands of persons who lost their houses in the disaster that struck the state in September, 2010? For them the government has a compensation of a mere Rs 40). This message opened a can of worms and Uttarakhandis from all walks of life hit out at Nishank and his government on the website. It is an irony of sorts that the government is making promises of honouring cricketers in a state that does not even have a cricket association of its own. The plight of sportsmen and the sports infrastructure in the state is otherwise well known.
37,290 jobless in Udham Singh Nagar
There was a time when it was being assumed by the planners that Udham Singh Nagar would become an ideal employment destination for the youth seeking jobs. A rapid industrialisation in the district in the form of State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (SIDCUL) hubs that came up near Rudrapur, Kitcha and Sitarganj were expected to decimate the problem of unemployment from the district at least. But, this does not seem to have happened. Media reports suggest that there were at least 37,290 unemployed persons registered at the Employment Exchange by the end of March, 2011. The number had gone up from 13,268 in 2002. This leaves a lot to be done at the end of the planners. The district continues to attract hundreds of youth from the adjoining areas, particularly the hill districts, in search of employment.
Residents protest against policies of schools
With the new academic session starting in various schools, the parents of the wards studying in private schools are a harried and agitated lot. They have been charging that the schools are exploiting and fleecing them in every possible way. The problem is maximum in Haldwani, which has become the nerve centre of the region with everyone trying to get his wards educated there. The parents are alleging that the schools have not only hiked the fees but are also insisting that books and uniforms be purchased from select shops, which sell these goods at a premium. The township has started witnessing protests and agitations on this issue. The parents say the schools change the uniforms and books every year so that they are of no use to the younger siblings of their wards studying in these schools. The harried parents recently approached the District Administration on this issue following which a committee has been formed with the City Magistrate as its nodal officer.
Leaders watch out for Munna’s moves
One person who has had the entire political set up in the state spinning is Munna Singh Chauhan. The mainstream political parties in the state are eagerly watching with crossed fingers what Chauhan’s next step would be. His recent statement that he was planning to revive the Uttarakhand Jan Wadi Party put the political parties on the tenterhooks. There is a line of thought that if he joins hands with one or the other smaller political parties or splinter groups of any party while reviving his own outfit, this could spell trouble for the mainstream parties mainly the Congress and the BJP. It is being assumed that the Jan Wadi Party might become the asylum of all the disgruntled leaders who would be denied ticket to contest the forthcoming Assembly polls and they can be real troublemakers for the official candidates of other political parties. As of now Munna has started making surprise appearances at programmes being organised by various organisations and pressure groups, thus ending his two-year political hibernation. He had recently turned up at the Umesh Dobhal Memorial Convention at Rudrapur where he had delivered a speech while displaying his trademark oratory skills. More recent was his surprise appearance at a programme organised by Gwal Sena, an outfit comprising mainly the disgruntled element of the BJP. He was seen giving interviews to various television channels thus giving enough fodder to the grapevine. A former Samajwadi Party legislator in the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh, Chauhan had formed his own Uttarakhand Jan Wadi Party with the creation of the state but since it had failed to make an impact, he had joined the BJP and had entered the Uttarakhand state Assembly from the Vikas Nagar constituency in 2007. But, he was never comfortable with his presence in the party and his tussle with the BJP leadership had come out in the open in October, 2008, when he had single handedly manoeuvered his wife Madhu Chauhan’s victory as an independent candidate to the post of the Dehradun Zilla Panchayat Chairperson. Madhu had contested successfully against the official BJP candidate and her victory was seen as an embarrassment for then Chief Minister BC Khanduri as well as the BJP. A popular leader from the Jaunsar Babar, Chauhan had quit the BJP after having been at the loggerheads with the party leadership for several months. He had also quit his membership from the state Assembly. He had then gone on to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Tehri parliamentary constituency on the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket. He had lost the electoral battle to Vijay Bahuguna of the Congress. Chauhan was then expelled from the BSP on July 2, 2009. While the BSP leadership had accused him of gross indiscipline, the apparent reason according to Chauhan for his sacking was a letter shot off by him to the party supremo Mayawati in which he had asked her to desist from going on a statue-erection spree. He had then contested the Vikas Nagar Assembly bypoll unsuccessfully.
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Ward No. 6 Dairies, Chhoti Bindal river bane of Dobhalwala Sonika Bhatia Tribune News Service
Second-time councillor from the ward Ramesh Butola said: “Other than this major cause of concern here, there are a large number of dairies and the owners don’t mind throwing the waste and cow dung in the open, which makes the area stink all the time,” he said, adding that the Dehradun Municipal Corporation Board has decided to penalise the dairies for dumping waste into the drains but no action has been taken till now. They have also planned to shift all the dairies outside the state capital but the project has not been implemented yet. The councillor says he had got the roads constructed all over the area except the three roads that fall under the PWD purview. “All roads are in proper shape except the Nashvilla Road, Dangwal Marg Road, the road from Dobhawala to Bakralwala (near City Wood School), which are in a bad shape. These three roads are looked after by the PWD. I am planning to file an application with the PWD so that the three roads could be repaired before the rains,” Butola said. Praveen Sonker, a gym owner-cum-shopkeeper, said streets remain unclean most of the time and they have to broom these themselves. “The poor civic condition of the area is a major issue. Garbage litter and stray animals add to it. We have to clean the roads in front of our shops ourselves,” he stated.
The problem exists due to the seasonal river called Chhoti Bindal that flows close to the boundary of Dobhalwala and Green Valley (that falls in another ward). People living close to face a great difficulty, as the area keep stinking all the time. No councillor has tried to get it clean. Owing to these insanitary conditions, various viral diseases strike the area earlier. The owners of the dairies also dum their waste into the seasonal river. It gets clean naturally during the rainy season only. The councillor said he ensured that the seasonal river was bleached repeatedly and fogging was done to avoid the breeding of mosquitoes. Desh Kumari, who resides close to the river, is very upset over the unhygienic conditions. “We have to ensure that the filth does not stagnate in front of our house. My husband wades through it push it further. The sweeper never visits our area,” she said, alleging that the supervisor who visits the area take money from the owners of the dairies and never stops them from throwing the waste into the river. The dairies are a menace.” Hema, a resident of Meghdoot Enclave, is upset with the poor condition of roads. “Roads are in a very bad shape. You can see it for yourself”. When asked that have they ever complained to the councilor, she answered, “Who is he? We have no idea.” Another resident Kavita Rawat of the Kalidas Road area said: “We have been putting up here for the past one year. The only problem we face the roads are in a very bad shape.” S Kumar, a shop owner, was angry due to the unavailability of safai karamcharis in the area and precariously hanging loose electricity wires. “Safai Karamcharis rarely come here and even if they come, they don’t clean the area properly. The drains are always chocked and electricity,” he added.
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Preetam, Kavita emerge winners in mini-marathon
Dehradun, April 17 To spread awareness on education, environment and health, the Selaqui Education Group conducted the mini-marathon in collaboration with various educational institutions and the corporate organisations. A large number of students from various schools like Sri Guru Ram Rai, Olympus High, Woodstock participated in the marathon while the volunteers from the Indian Military Academy, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Uttarakhand Police also contributed to the noble cause. The mini-marathon was flagged off by Matbar Singh Kandari, state Irrigation Minister, early in the morning. The participants, amid the pleasant early morning weather at the Parade Ground, ran with passion. Some ran clad in sarees while others barefooted to lend support to the cause. The enthusiasm among the participants broke the jinx that was associated with a marathon event in Dehradun. “Previously, due to a mishap during a race, the marathons had acquired a bad name and many were afraid to participate this time too. But, I am happy that everything went off well this time,” says Aman, a participant. While addressing the prize-distribution ceremony, Prakash Pant said on the vigil by the city administration on the entire marathon route led to an incident-free run. “I also appreciate the organisers as well as the citizens of the Doon valley for conducting such an event with the aim of spreading message in public interest and turning out in large numbers to make Dehradun a better city to live in,” added Pant.
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Basketball tourney begins
Dehradun, April 17 In boys’ category, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy beat the mighty Welham Boys’ School 0-6, 8-10, 8-11, 10-25. In another match, Doon School defeated Aryan School. Welham Boys’ School in its second match got past Asian School 4-6, 14-6, 20-8, 20-13. Summer Valley School defeated St Joseph’s Academy and Doon International School surpassed St George's School. Making a good comeback, St Joseph’s Academy in its second match registered a win against St Mary’s School. Kasiga School, too, kept up the good work getting past Tibetan Valley. In the girls’ section, Unison World School got the better of Asian School. Hometown Girls’ School thrashed Hilton School. Also, Aryan School beat St Thomas’ College. In another match, St Joseph’s Academy edged past Kasiga School. Unison World School had to face defeat in its second match at the hands of Doon International School.
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Bright Angels crush Jai Singh XI
Dehradun, April 17 Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Bright Angels set a target of 198 runs losing six wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Samad (67) and Sufiyan (54) were the principal scorers for the batting side. Narender and Sukhinder of Jai Singh XI were successful in picking two wickets each while Uttam took one wicket. Batting second, the Jai Singh XI squad was packed off for a meagre 95 runs in 15.2 overs. Paramjeet (42) topscored for the side while the remaining batsmen gave a dismal performance. Saad of the winning team did the maximum damage to Jai Singh XI by claiming three wickets. Anand and Surender also got two wickets each. Maaz and Zuber took one each. In another lopsided encounter, Doon Jail Youth Club outplayed Nimbus XI by seven wickets.
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Juneja clinches badminton title
Dehradun, April 17 In 50 + doubles, Vinod Gupta and SK Patet defeated RS Rana and Rajiv Verma 21-18, 21-12. In the 40 + doubles, SK Patet and Sanjay Kumar surpassed Rajesh and Vivek Sahani 21-15, 25-23. In the 45 + doubles, a pair of D Juneja and Sunil Dang thrashed Vinod Gupta and ID Bauia 21 -10, 21-10.
— TNS
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Dehradun, April 17 