Haridwar, May 5
After social activist Anna Hazare donning the mantle as a crusader against corruption, now it is the turn of Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev to urge the masses to unite and fight against the menace of corruption. The ongoing agitation is pan-Indian in scale with Swami Ramdev resorting to the time-tested principle of non-violence of Mahatma Gandhi.

From yesterday onwards, Swami Ramdev blew the horn in the financial capital of India, Mumbai, and now he will be aided by a billion-odd Ramdev followers and social activists who will be sitting on agitation in their respective cities, towns, district headquarters, blocks, and tehsils across the country.

While Hazare agitated for the induction of civil society members in the Jan Lok Pal drafting committee bill, Swami Ramdev is rooting for sterner laws and clauses in the bill so as to curb the menace of corruption at every level with severe legal punishment for those found guilty, be it politicians or bureaucrats.

Also among the priority list is Swami Ramdev’s much- publicised demand of bringing black money stashed in foreign banks particularly Swiss banks apart from framing charges against these culprits as responsible for the deaths of millions annually due to hunger and malnutrition.

Besides, Swami Ramdev’s protégé Acharya BalaKrishan, general secretary of Patanjali Yogpeeth, said the campaign would be taken to the village level, too, so that the movement gained such momentum that corrupt people would have to bow before the people’s movement.

“Since Independence, be it any political party, the Indian democratic system has only weakened due to corrupt politicians who put their personal and party interests above the nation’s. Be it social justice or financial, the common public has been looking forward for decades but meagre assurances are what they have got. Now, they want change and this is the time when people should come forward to take this movement to its zenith,” said Acharya BalaKrishan.

The Bharat Swabhiman Trust that has been founded by Swami Ramdev to take forward the fight against corruption will be playing a pivotal role in this anti- corruption movement. Volunteers spread over different states will take an active part in this movement.

Central in charge of the Bharat Swabhiman Trust, Chandra Dev, stated that about one lakh people would be sitting alongside Swami Ramdev at New Delhi on June 4. Besides, the regional movement will be carried out on the lines of Satyagraha. 

Dehradun, May 5
The consumers who have opted for ‘embedded category’, which means facility to buy power even for 24 hours from energy exchange under open access are not getting this facility from Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL). The consumers also complained of the UPCL’s

inability to publish a public notice about the power shut down in local newspapers on a regular basis.

Vikas Ranjan, senior deputy general manager, Surya Roshni Group at Kashipur, said, “Ever since I have opted for open access under the ‘embedded category’, I have not been able to access 24-hour power purchase. In February, power purchase was allowed only for five hours.

In March, the facility was allowed only for peak hours. Unlike other states, in Uttarakhand, consumers are not

allowed 24-hour power purchase even after enrolling them in the ‘embedded category’.”

Vinod Goyal, adviser to a north zone trading company, also pulled up the UPCL for not informing the consumers well in time about the power cuts. He said, “As per the norm, the UPCL should publish the days and timings of power cuts a month or fortnight ago. But it rarely happens.”

Punit Mahindra, Vice-President, KVS Group, blamed the UPCL for making the industries to give an undertaking for not opting for 24 hours’ power purchase, which, he said, was in violation of open access.

An UPCL official, on condition of anonymity, denied this and said, “The consumers cannot take a government entity for granted, regardless of the fact that they have taken permission for open access. By allowing them power purchase for 24 hours, the corporation will bear colossal losses as it has to make arrangements for bulk purchase of power much in advance through banking with other states and private companies.”

He suggested to those who wanted this facility to rather opt out of UPCL services for three years and be dependent on energy exchange only. He ruled out giving any liberty to consumers to decide on their own, when to buy from UPCL or energy exchange. 

Pithoragarh, May 5
As the fire season begins in the hills, the Forest Department is ill-prepared to fight the wildfire incidents that are now becoming frequent with the rise in the temperature. “We have already lost 10 hectares of the reserve forests in fire since April 25,” said TT Gyansambandham, District Forest Officer (DFO), Pithoragarh.

According to the DFO, lack of sufficiently trained staff and equipment, including vehicles, are the main reasons for the department for not being able to control forest fires in the district. “We have only 165 forest workers whereas we need 185 forest workers to control the forest fire during the fire season as each worker has to control 1,450 hectares of the forest in the 203008.31 hectares of the total forest area of the district,” said the DFO.

“Not only the trained staff, we do not even have the number of vehicles required to tackle forest fires. We needed a total of 12 vehicles for this purpose but at present we have only five vehicles with us,” said Gyansambandham. He further said that every year a complete proposal to control the forest fires is sent to the department but they never got sufficient support of money, equipment and increased man power from the department. “As our forests are situated in remote areas, we need equipment and awareness programmes to involve the surrounding villagers in this work,” said the DFO.

The Pithoragarh forest area is divided into seven forest ranges and having three categories of the forests .”We have 75196.61 hectares of reserved forests, 87053.70 hectares of panchayat and 41748.0 hectares of civil forests, out of which reserve forests are the most sensitive to forest fires,” he added.

Nainital, May 5
Environmentalist Chandi Prasad Bhatt has stated that planners must honour local wisdom when they are devising plans and strategies for development, particularly for mountain regions like the Himalayas. Bhatt was delivering the valedictory lecture at the International Geography Union (IGU) Commission Conference on “Local and Regional Responses to Globalisation in the Mountains and Marginal Areas of the World” which ended on Wednesday evening here.Stating that globalisation had spelt disaster for marginalised people, he emphasised that Indian society since time immemorial had always talked of the world being a global village when it came up with the concept of “Vasudeva Katubhkam”. This was a concept where the world was seen as a global village where the weak were helped by the others. But this was not happening in the present era of globalisation where market-oriented forces and induced consumerism had had a detrimental impact. He said there were three streams visible in society these days. The first was the forces of the market and the multinational corporations that were dictating policy matters. The second was the governments who opposed the first on a broader platform but were yet destroying biodiversity and taking away the rights of people on natural resources. The third stream, according to him, was that of marginalised and tribal people.

He underlined that the voice of the local communities was being suppressed and the Himalayas, too, had fallen prey to globalisation.

Referring to the Chipko movement, Bhatt said the government that had opposed the movement soon realised the importance that was being given by the local community to preserving trees and the environment. The benefits of the movement were visible even today.

“We need to understand why people are protesting,” he said.

Talking about the three major Himalayan rivers,the Brahmaputra, the Ganges and the Indus, he said any environmental impact on them at their source had a bearing on their entire basin.

He even contested claims that the disaster in Leh last year was the result only of a cloudburst, stating that a mere 43 mm of rainfall was not sufficient to trigger a disaster of this scale. Talking about various environmental phenomena being experienced in Uttarakhand, he said,”We need to understand why this is happening.

Any change in the Himalayas has a massive impact in the plains also. This was visible in the monsoon last year when there were boats plying near the Inter-State Bus Terminus in Delhi following floods in the Yamuna.”

He said a holistic and minute study of the Himalayas needed to be conducted before a development plan for the region was drawn up.

Haridwar, May 5
With the Assembly elections scheduled in Uttarakhand later this year, a sudden spark in both the main rival parties BJP and the Congress is easily visible. Agitations, forums, public rallies, party workers’ meetings and condemnation of each other’s working are witnessed 
here daily.

After women workers of the Congress staged a protest in the city against irregularities in various schemes and blamed the BJP Government for these, today it was the turn of activists of the BJP women’s cell who organised a chaupal programme, to criticise the Congress governance both at the Centre as well as in Uttarakhand from 2002 to 2007.

Activists of the BJP Mahila Morcha, Ranipur Mandal, lashed out at the Congress, blaming it for misusing public funds. Its cabinet ministers have been found involved in scams, which has made it the most corrupt government till date, they alleged.

City secretary Sanjana Sharma, while comparing the performance of the Uttarakhand Government with those in other states, said the Uttarakhand 
Government, led by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, had given far better governance than the Central Government of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

Sanjana termed the various developmental schemes launched during the BJP rule, be it Gauri Devi Kanya, EMRI 108, Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Tourism Scheme or recently launched Atal Khadyann Yojana, as landmark schemes that have changed the fortunes of lakhs of people both in the hilly and plain districts of the Uttarakhand.

District unit chief Anju Chaddha lashed out at local parliamentarian Harish Rawat for not catering to the aspirations of the people of Haridwar.

He remains confined to a group of Congressmen who stand nowhere in terms of political capability or vision, she alleged.

She said in comparison local Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik had faired exceptionally well with mass 
development works being done in his Assembly segment. The women activists also held a rally and listened to the problems of the villagers at the chaupal. 

Dehradun, May 5
To help pilgrims, coming from all over India for the Char Dham yatra, have access to facilities of health, travel, legal aid, religious trips and administrative support, the VHP cadre launched its Hindu helpline here today.

In the presence of eminent personalities of Dehradun, the national Hindu helpline number 020-66803300 /07588682181, was inaugurate and launched by the party’s international general secretary, Pravin Togadia, at the Late Ravindra Singh Rawat, Shaheed Samarak Sthal. He was welcomed by party members and was also presented with a sword and a mace as symbols of authority of governance. Togadia also paid tributes to martyr Ravinder Singh Rawat and asked youngsters to serve their country with dedication and devotion.

Speaking on the occasion, the VHP leader said terrorism should not be connected with any religion or faith. “Terrorism is born out of vicariousness in one’s mind and soul, but no religion on the earth promotes the evil to prevail along with humanity. We must also lend a hand of cooperation to those who are fighting against terrorism, and try to make this planet a better place to live in,” he said.

The pilgrims can seek 24-hour assistance on Hindu helpline numbers 020-66803300 and 07588682181, and can also refer to www.hinduhelpline.com.

Nainital, May 5
The skeletal remains of a Nepalese youth, who had been reported missing a few days ago, were found near the Naini Peak area of Nainital on Wednesday.

According to reports, the police was informed of a body being located near Naini Peak. The body was in a decomposed state. It is being assumed that animals must have eaten part of the body. It was only on the basis of the articles found near the body that the deceased could be identified as 26-year-old Aastik Pokharel.

Sources said a wallet and a camera were lying intact near the body.

According to the parents of the deceased, Aastik had given them a call on April 18, asking them the route to Nepal and had not called them thereafter.

His father, Gopal Raj, who is a retired Army officer, and mother Sunita, had come to Nainital on April 27 searching for their son. They were able to locate the other belongings of their son at a hotel in the Mallital area.

It is being assumed that Aastik had died more than 10 days ago.

Dehradun, May 5
District Magistrate Sachin Kurve has directed the senior officials to take action against private clinics and practitioners working without a valid licence in Rishikesh.

Recently a report was prepared by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) based on a random checking undertaken in Rishikesh in which several private practitioners were found flouting norms. Based on this report, the District Magistrate has asked the Rishikesh officials to constitute a committee to maintain checks against illegal clinics. — TNS