Pithoragarh April 23
“The Rang community, living on the Indo-China border in the high Himalayan valleys in the state, that was forced to leave its centuries-old settlements after the 1962 India-China war when the trade as well as the employment opportunities ended, now wants to go back to its ancestral home in the high Himalayan region if motor connectivity and other facilities like education, health and employment are made available there,” said NS Napalchayal, the Chief Information Commissioner, Uttarakhand, who himself belongs to the community and is a guardian of the Rang Kalyan Sanstha at the conclusion of the two-day congregation of the community, here today.

According to Napalchayal, after the construction work on the Tawaghat-Lipulekh motor road has started, the community living nowadays in Chadians and Byans valleys at the India-China border has some hope to settle in their ancestral homes at the border. ”Even after the Kailash Mansarowar Yatra and India-China border trade began after 1981, most of the villagers in these border villages have started going to villages as their products are being purchased,” said Napalchayal.

NS Napalchayalm, who started the oragnisation of his own community in 1989, believes that the construction of motor roads would help the community.

Giving details of the organisation and its future plan, Napalchayal said that the Rang Kalyan Sanstha was also concerned about preserving the unique and one of the oldest cultures of their community. “Every year, during the annual general meeting of the sanstha, we are coming out with more and more publications on Rang culture and encouraging Rang writers and cultural linguists. We are also publishing an annual magazine of the community named “Amtekar,” he said.

“After the Rang museum in Dharchula comes into existence by the next year, it will house rare manuscripts as well as old cultural goods of the Rang people,” said Napalchayal.

According to the Rang historians, the Rang culture in this region of Himalaya is in existence from the Vedic period and it has spread not only in Uttarakhand but to the parts of north-east states, Sikkim and Bhutan as well as in the Lahul Spiti valleys of Himachal Pradesh.

Dehradun, April 23
Senior Congress leader and a former spokesperson of the Uttarakhand Congress, Surender Kumar, alleging large-scale financial embezzlement during the Mahakumbh last year by the state BJP government, has demanded a probe by the CBI into the entire episode.

Briefing the media here today, he said he had obtained documents under the RTI Act, which stated that lots of corruption took place during the mela. “As many as 311 schemes were to be started during the mela out of which only 269 saw the light of the day. The administration has sanctioned Rs 59000.08 for the works, but it released just Rs 51016.32 (Rs 40754.95 for permanent works and Rs 18245.13 for temporary works). Various departments were provided Rs 48916.16 and Rs 44388.21 was spent on the works but only Rs 2100.16 has been left with the mela officer,” Kumar stated.

He further alleged that lots of corruption could be seen in many other works, too, and the official papers spoke all about it, even the Comptroller Auditor-General (CAG) report has rapped the Uttarakhand Government for loss of revenue, incorrect reporting regarding the utilisation of funds in the conduct of the Maha Kumbh Mela, disaster management and the remittance of funds to a non-existent school in Haridwar.

“How can any department issue the cheque of same number twice, with different amount but on same date,” Kumar asks.

He demanded the resignation of the Uttarakhand Chief Minister on the issue and avowed, “Despite getting so much funding from the Central Government, the BJP government failed to provide relief to the people of Uttarakhand. None of the roads could be maintained properly and are still lying in bad shape, despite the fact that the monsoon season is about to come again.”

Dehradun, April 23
Urban health centres focussng on maternal and child healthcare located in four cities of Uttarakhand are helping slum dwellers access better facilities.

These health centres have been set up in Haridwar, Haldwani, Dehradun and Roorkee with the help of non-government organisations (NGOs) and are providing primary health services to slum dwellers who do not get the benefit of routine immunisation nor programmes to control diseases like malaria, dengue and tuberculosis. “In Dehradun nine centres are functioning, in Haridwar six and in Roorkee three,” said Piyush Singh, Director, National Rural Health Mission.

The provision of assured and credible primary health services of acceptable quality in urban areas has emerged as a priority for both the Central and state governments in view of increasing urbanisation along with the growth of slums and low-income populations in cities.

Historically, the government focus has been on the development of a rural health system, having a three-tier health delivery structure (determined on the basis of the population), to cater to the largely rural population. On the other hand, efforts to create a well-organised health service delivery structure in urban areas, especially for people living in slums, have remained limited to a few cities based on pilot schemes and programmes.

In Uttarakhand the centres have been running under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) for the past two years in collaboration with NGOs for which a financial allocation of Rs 9 lakh has been made for each centre.

“While we are satisfied with the functioning of the Dehradun and Roorkee centres, we have to streamline the set-up in Dehradun where some problems have arisen due to conflict of interest as the Health Department is already running urban health posts manned by an auxiliary nurse/midwife and a health visitor,” said Piyush Singh. As of now, the Health Department is running six urban health posts in Dehradun.

The Central Government is in the process of finalising the National Urban Health Mission to provide better healthcare facilities to urban slum dwellers. These centres are expected to become a part of the new mission.

Dehradun, April 23
The Health Department will now use modern technology to keep track of the immunisation record and will send reminders to the parents about the next date of the vaccination.

Called the ‘e- Mamta system of Mother and Child Tracking’, the move aims to monitor the health of pregnant women and vaccination of the children. “We will send SMSes to remind the user about the dates of vaccination,” said Asha Mathur, director general, Health and Family Welfare.

The project will be run with the help of the National Informatics Centre, which has provided training to various state and block units. — TNS

Nainital, April 23
Over the Easter break, Nainital has witnessed a huge influx of tourists which has tested the preparations of the administration for the coming tourist season that is expected to last from May 1 to July 15. Since Friday, the hotel accommodation in the town has been full to the optimum capacity with tourists pouring in to escape the summer heat of the plains. Even till midnight, this correspondent witnessed people looking frantically for hotel accommodation.

Over the years, Nainital has earned a bad reputation when it comes to the fleecing of tourists during the peak tourist season.

People said they had to shell out huge amounts to get hotel accommodation. Hotel accommodation that was available for Rs 3,000 a day till a week ago was made available for double the amount in certain cases.

Over the years a large number of private premises are being used as hotels in the town. These are neither registered as commercial hotels with the administration nor registered under the Sarai Act.

Despite the point being discussed at various forums and more recently at a meeting convened by IG (Kumaon Range) RS Meena that was attended by top officials in the administration as well as those representing various bodies involved in tourism activities, the administration has failed over the past several years to get hotels in Nainital to display their tariff cards. There are just a few hotels which display their tariff.

The failure of the administration to fix taxi fares has also led to taxi drivers charging whatever they feel like. This correspondent was witness to a taxi driver demanding Rs 200 from a group of tourists for taking them from the Mallital rickshaw stand to Toota Pahad, a distance of hardly 2 km.

While the police has managed traffic efficiently over the past two days, the parking of vehicles has remained a problem. The authorities will have to draw up a proper plan to provide parking space to the arriving vehicles in the days to come. Friday saw a large number of vehicles being parked in the football field on the Flats Grounds. The local players had problems during the morning practice session on Saturday. The police needs to ensure that those running the parking lots do not encroach on the sports facilities.

Dehradun, April 23
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today paid homage to Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali at a function held at Peethsain in Pauri Garhwal district on the occasion of 81st anniversary of the Peshwar episode.

The Chief Minister announced to rename the horticulture university after Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali and also inception of its branch at Peethsain. Besides opening of a memorial and a guest house at Mason and renaming the Degree College after Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali, Nishank also laid the foundation stone of six development schemes at a cost of Rs 324.23 crore.

The CM said the state government was focusing its attention on the development of even the remotest and far flung areas of the state. He added that the government was committed to work for the welfare of former soldiers, their widows, and families of the martyrs.

He added that the contributions made by Garhwali to the freedom struggle could never be forgotten and a hospital, an ITI at Boongidhari and one at Garatkhal had already been opened by the state government.

Nishank also made many announcements of public interest in a multipurpose camp organised at Chaukhal. He announced a grant Rs 10 lakh each for junior high schools at Gudalmod and Choptakhal along with introduction of science subject at Janta Inter College, Chaukhal.

Meanwhile, The CPM also paid tributes to Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali on occasion.

At a workshop held here, CPM district secretary Surendra Singh Sajwan said the role of Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali was unparalleled. He said Garhwali also played a key role towards the establishment of the communist movement in the state.

Speaking on the occasion, another party leader Rajendra Purohit said Garhwali had also fought for the plight of the farmers and the poor even in his old age and his role in the development of the Garhwal region would be remembered forever.

It is noteworthy that Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali, a Garhwal Rifles officer, had 81 years ago in Peshwar refused to comply to a British officer’s order of firing at the Pathans, who were demanding independence from the British.

Nainital, April 23
The new technology adopted by scientists at the Regional Oak Tasar Research Centre here has resulted in increased production of silk. The improved methodology has increased the number of eggs laid by silkworms.

RN Yadav, a scientist at the centre, said they had giving good quality feed to silkworms, which in turn gave healthier eggs.

“The fertility rate has risen to 240-260 from 80-120. We provide good quality feed to the silkworms due to which it gain more weight, which in turn, when pupa is converted, it is of a large size that ultimately results in moth of a big size. Since the moth is of a bigger size, so eggs laid by it will also be in increased quantity,” he said. Somesh Paliwal, in charge of the centre, said besides better feed, they had also started providing better living conditions to the silkworms.

“The biggest achievement is that one moth per gram everywhere in the world gives 120 eggs, but here this number has come down per gram. The bigger size means that when the first insect will come out of it, it will be healthy and subsequently its growth in the later stage will be in proportion,” he added.

The quantity of the silk thread from each silkworm cocoon has also increased in keeping with the increased weight of the cocoon from six gram to 13 gram. Hundreds of farmers have been drawn to adopt the sericulture business as an alternate occupation in the state. — ANI

Haridwar, April 23
In a shocking incident, a man’s body was today recovered from a city hotel. He had checked in along with a woman companion, who is absconding. As per the entry in the hotel register, the duo had signed in as a married couple. The room was booked by Inku Singh of Kathla area in rural Gazibabad showing deceased Arjun Singh as her husband.

The neck and face of the deceased were cut with a sharp-edged weapon while a cross sign was made on the chest and back.

According to Circle Officer (City) Nivedita Kukreti, the accused had gone out of the hotel at about 11:45 pm on the pretext of buying medicines. Though she was told by the hotel staff that no shop would be open at that time, the accused still left the hotel. “She didn’t return for hours and it was only in the wee hours of the morning that the hotel staff forcefully opened the room with a duplicate key and saw blood all over,” the Circle officer stated.

According to the hotel staff, the woman appeared to belong to a rich family, while the deceased didn’t. On condition of anonymity, an attendant said that they were seen drinking alcohol on both nights as was proved by the two English liquor bottles found adjacent to the spot of crime.

Superintendent of Police (City) Kiran Lal Shaw inspected the hotel with CO City and took out the CCTV camera footage.

Via CCTV footage, as recorded during the room booking and moving in and out, the woman’s face is recognisable and investigation is going on to arrest the missing woman. Nothing concrete can be said about the motive and the murderer, but it’s for sure that the accused carried out the crime in a manner, which can’t be associated with a normal woman, said Shaw.

The police team took fingerprints and collected other data from the hotel while the body was later sent for postmortem.

On observance of the body, on the right hand was inked Sudhir Pandit which puts a question mark on the very identity shown by the accused.

Pithoragarh, April 23
The residents of Tanakpur town, where the famous temple of Purnagiri is located, have demanded an electric crematorium near the Sharda river as the large-scale cremation of bodies on the bank of the river is spreading litter, resulting into stench for the pilgrims taking bath in the river before going to the Purnagiri temple.

“We have been demanding construction of an electric crematorium near the Sharda Ghat as the people not from Tanakpur, Banbasa and Khatima take bodies to cremate at Sharda Ghat but the bodies from the Nepal side are also cremated in the river openly, which results into stench during the summer months,” said Harshvardhan Singh Rawat, chairman of Nagarpalika, Tanakpur.

According to the Tanakpur Nagarpalika Chairman, the volunteers of the city led by Nagarpalika run sanitation campaigns from time to time at Sharda Ghat, but these are inadequate due to large-scale creamation of bodies at the ghat. If the Purnagiri temple becomes a trust as proposed by the government, then the trust will have to take care of the facilities of the pilgrims coming to take a bath in the river, therefore the electric crematorium should be erected as soon as possible,” said Rawat.

Haridwar, April 23
The Mangalore police has arrested two members of an inter-state gang, who had carried out burgalries via automated teller machine cards from card owners at gun point. The arrested duo, Sonu, a resident of district Saharanpur, and Pradeep, a resident of Muzaffarnagar district, both in Uttar Pradesh, are a part of an inter- state gang involved in multiple theft cases in several cities of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

On a tip-off, the Mangalore police team nabbed the duo near Asaf Nagar lake when they were going to meet their lawyer at Roorkee court. The accused confessed of their involvement in thefts dated March 10 at Kurdi village where they attacked Pankaj Kumar, a factory employee taking away his motorcycle, purse and ATM card while the other was held the very next day at Laundara. He had on gun point taken away another factory employee, Dinesh Kumar’s motorcycle, purse and ATM card.