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Squall leaves trail of destruction
Temperature dips in Munsiyari, Dharchula
High-altitude park looks for replacement for ageing Siberian tiger
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Depts fail to utilise funds allocated to them
Ranbir fake encounter
‘Romeo and Juliet’ brought alive in Hindustani
Development at standstill
in state: Cong leader
Govt machinery being ‘misused’ in poll
Religious figures support Uma Bharti’s movement
Agitation to be resumed
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Squall leaves trail of destruction
Nainital, May 14 In the Peeli Kothi area of Haldwani, a two-and-a-half-year-old child, Pawan, was killed when a wall of his house, where he was living along with his parents, Shiv Sah and Poornima Devi, collapsed. In another incident, 25-year-old Ram Prasad of Nepal was killed after being struck by lightening while working in a mango grove in the Bigrabagh area of Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district. Several localities in Haldwani, including Sushila Tewari Hospital, witnessed power disruption for several hours. The Power Corporation is learnt to have incurred a loss of Rs 40 lakh. Similar conditions also prevailed in Chorgaliya and Sitarganj. In Nainital, power supply remained disrupted in rural areas like Pangot, Devidhura etc, as eight electricity poles were uprooted. Bageshwar is among the worst hit places. Villages of Gadhkhet near Bageshwar and Sunfuhi in Kapkot saw rooftops being blown off at several places. In Sunfuhi, five persons sustained injuries in a house collapse. Damage to houses and buildings had also been reported from Rudrapur, Ramnagar, Khatima, Halduchaur and Gadarpur. The squall has also caused damage to mango and litchi plantations in the region.
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Temperature dips in Munsiyari, Dharchula
Pithoragarh, May 14 “This is for the first time that we are witnessing daily snowfall on peaks in this month,” said Vishwamitra Anand, commandant of the ITBP guarding the border. Munsiyari witnessed 8 mm of rainfall yesterday. “Following this, subsequent snowfall was witnessed in nearby peaks of the Panchachuli range of Himalayas and Kalapani peaks in Darma valley of the Dharchula subdivision,” said a spokesperson for the Meteorological Department. Sources in the ITBP meteorological unit said 7-km-long route between Lipulekh and Nabhidhang was still under a thick cover of snow. “It can be presumed that pilgrims of the first three batches of the Kailash Mansarowar Yatra, which starts from June 1, will have to face snow on this route,” said the ITBP commandant.
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High-altitude park looks for replacement for ageing Siberian tiger
Nainital, May 14 The zoo authorities are going to take up the matter with the Russian Embassy in Delhi through the Central Zoo Authority and the Government of India to see if the friendly nation could provide another Siberian tiger for the zoo. The Nainital zoo has the only Siberian tiger in India, which completed 18 years of age on April 24 this year.Sources at the zoo disclosed that normally a Siberian tiger is known to live for 13 years in the wilderness and in captivity it is known to survive for a bit longer. The officials say every care is being taken of the animal to ensure that it completes at least two decades of existence. For this purpose it is being given a special diet that is nutritious and has an additional component of calcium. The zoo authorities are also engaged in correspondence with other zoos in India, which can provide them with a couple of snow leopards. Both the snow leopards at the zoo have died. It needs to be pointed out that minus a Siberian tiger and snow leopards, the zoo cannot define its name of being a high-altitude zoo. This zoo in the Lake City is unique as it is the only high-altitude zoo in the country, which is compact in size and yet offers a variety of high-altitude birds and animals to the visitors. Conservator of Forests Kapil Joshi said several steps are being taken to promote the zoo as an important tourist destination and as an institution that is providing an insight into the man-animal relations along with the need to conserve the environment. “At present at least 1,000 people visit the zoo daily during the tourist season,” he said. The zoo authorities have taken a unique step by organising a series of competitions for children on wildlife protection and then rewarding the winners with a free pass to visit the zoo along with two adults till the time he or she turns 18 years of age. A welfare fund has also been started for the workers of the zoo who are not employed as government employees but as daily wage earners engaged by the trust running the zoo.
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Depts fail to utilise funds allocated to them
Dehradun, May 14 Under the convergence programme, 12 departments were roped in comprising Agriculture, Horticulture, Forest, Fishery, Panchayati Raj, Irrigation, Minor Irrigation, Animal Husbandry, Education, Peyjal Nigam, Jal Nigam and Horticulture. These departments were to undertake convergence but the Agriculture, Peyjal Nigam, Jal Sansthan, Forest, Irrigation and Horticulture departments have not utilised funds. A total of Rs 5173.64 lakh (since inception in 2009) was allocated to the departments to be spent in all districts but the departments were able to spend only Rs 195.35 lakh, forcing the Rural Development Department to demand return of funds. “Some of the Line departments (Horticulture, Agriculture, etc) were not able to utilise the funds. In order to ensure compliance, we will be issuing orders shortly to the departments to ensure that 50 per cent of works undertaken by them are through convergence,” said Om Prakash, Secretary, Rural Development and Agriculture. In 2008, the Ministry of Rural Development issued guidelines on convergence of MGNREGS with other development programmes and schemes to enable creation of durable assets and strengthen the livelihood resource base of the rural poor. In the framework for convergence, the role of MGNREGS is either to provide funds or job component (i.e. only job card holders registered with MGNREGS). Officials point out that the Rural Department should have taken the lead under the convergence programme by linking schemes such as the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY); this will have lent weight to the programme. “Along with road-building activity, plantation could have been carried in the areas which are prone to landslide, a unique partition could have been created,” said the official.
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Ranbir fake encounter
New Delhi, May 14 Special Judge VK Maheshwari ordered the jail authorities to ensure the safety of policemen on a plea by them fearing that they might be attacked by other prison inmates either inside the jail or while being ferried to the court. "Concerned superintendents of jail are directed to look into the matter and take all measures for their safety in the jail and provide them a separate van for ferrying them between court and jail as per rule," the court said. The court has fixed the matter for framing of charges against the 18 accused on June 2. The court had earlier sent seven police officials, Inspector Santosh Kumar Jaiswal and sub-inspectors Gopal Dutt Bhatt, Niraj Yadav, Chandra Mohan Singh Rawat, Rajesh Bisht, Nitin Chauhan and Ajit Singh, to Tihar Jail after they appeared before it, following the issuance of non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against them. Besides the seven police officials, there are 11 accused in the case. MBA student Ranbir was gunned down allegedly by the Uttarakhand Police on July 3, 2009. Ranbir, a native of Merrut, had gone to Dehradun in search of a job when the police personnel of Dalanwala police station had allegedly pumped 29 bullets into him from close range on July 2, 2009, after branding him as a robber. — PTI
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‘Romeo and Juliet’ brought alive in Hindustani
Nainital, May 14 The play is a tale of two young star-crossed lovers, whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenaged lovers. The performance on Friday, however, saw the artistes playing the two main characters of Romeo and Juliet being dominated by the actors, playing other characters. A major flaw in the performance came in the form of the dialogue delivery in Hindustani as some of the artistes were seen wanting in their pronunciation of Urdu words. The artists who excelled in their presentation were Anil Ghildiyal as Capulet, Dharamvir Singh Parmar as Montague and Mohammad Javed Hussain as Friar Laurence. Rehan Akhtar in his role as Peter and Anwar Raza as Tybolt also gave impressive performances. Ghildiyal in particular left a major mark on the audience with his flawless movement and the ease with which he delivered his dialogues. Sanjay Kumar as Benvolio came up with a notable performance. He made excellent use of space and light available to him and his stills came out to be impressive. The performances of Ajay Pawar as Romeo and Gangotri Bisht as Juliet were weak in the absence of an ideal pitch required for dialogue delivery and the variation required. Their body movements were taut and not free. However, Pawar as the director came up with a good effort. |
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Development at standstill
in state: Cong leader
Dehradun, May 14 Referring to central assistance for the state, former Congress spokesman Surendra Kumar said the Union Planning Commission had provided a staggering Rs 7,600 crore to Uttarakhand under the Annual Plan for 2011-12. He said the Plan outlay of the state had been increasing over the past many years, thereby belying the state government’s claims that the Centre was not doing enough for Uttarakhand. He said the Chief Minister had got into the habit of blaming the Centre for providing inadequate funds whereas the state government was itself poor in the utilisation of financial assistance given by the Centre. He alleged that development had come to a standstill ever since the BJP government came to power in the state. |
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Govt machinery being ‘misused’ in poll
Haridwar, May 14 Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat led a protest here today and also met District Police Chief Kewal Khurana to ensure that the “violation of the election code of conduct by BJP activists is strictly dealt with”. Addressing party workers at Roshanabad, Rawat said: “Without asking, the BJP government has provided security personnel to our contesting candidate so as to keep a tab and eye on her activities, which is quite a matter of shame,” said Rawat, a legislator from the Lansdowne Assembly in Pauri Garhwal. —
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Religious figures support Uma Bharti’s movement
Haridwar, May 14 The fast venue, Divya Sewa Mission, seems to have become a place to be seen at as from VIPs, saints, politicians, bureaucrats, social activists to common people --- everyone is making sure of his or her presence to lend support Uma Bharati. Today former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Swami Chinmayanand visited Divya Sewa Mission to meet Uma Bharati and express his support on the issues taken up by her. Swami Chinmayanand aided by Maha Mandaleshwar Rameshwar Brahmachari talked about maintaining the sanctity of the holy Ganga as well as maintaining the naturalness of the hilly region where due to hundreds of hydro projects displacement of local people is taking place on a large scale. Jagadguru Shankaracharya, Sharda Peethadheeshwar, Swami Raj Rajeshwaram, said India’s identity worldwide was based on the holy Ganga and pointed out that foreigners knew of the country as the one where the holy Ganga flew. Though Jagadguru Shankaracharya termed development and employment as essential, he said there was no need to remove this holy place in Srinagar Garhwal as without removing this shrine, too, electricity can be generated from the project. Bharat Mata Mandir founder Swami Satyamitranand Giri aided by Sanjiv Hari ji also met Uma Bharati apart from other saints. Social activists particularly related with the causes of the Ganga, too, have pitched in supporting the movement urging the Central and state governments to review the focus on hydro projects in the hilly districts of Uttarakhand as a major source of revenue. Varanasai-based social organisation, supporting a clean Ganga, Ganga Maha Sabha, too, came forward terming Uma Bharati’s agitation as right and the one which would cater to the lives, hopes, aspirations and maintaining of the people of hilly region. General secretary of the Ganga Maha Sabha Acharya Jitendra said review of dams should be done and taking cognisance of the Fukushima city incidents in Japan, the Indian Government should take up this issue with seriousness. Acharya Jitendra also highlighted that the 130-km long Gangotri-Uttarkkashi belt, which was declared by the Government of India as an “eco-sensitive zone” should come into effect.
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Agitation to be resumed
Pithoragarh, May14 “The localities near the stadium did not receive even a drop of drinking water today and we are calling another ‘Pani Panchayat’ next week to resume our agitation,” said Bhagwan Singh Rawat, convener of the ‘Pani Panchayat’ spearheading the agitation for adequate drinking water in the area. According to the Jal Sansthan, the town, which needs 12 MLD of water for its 1 lakh residents, is at present receiving only 5.92 MLD. “With the Not only Pithoragarh town and satellite towns of the district but also Lohaghat, Barakot and Champawat towns of Champawat district are facing a water crisis as the summer advances. “The collectorate and other offices of the district headquarters at Champawat have been facing a drinking water crisis over the past three days,”said an employee in the “The Bainjgaon area of Lohaghat and the Atkhandi area of Barakot block have been reeling under a severe drinking water shortage for the past one month as pipelines of these schemes have been damaged.Orders have been given to restore the supply,” said PC Kargeti,Executive Engineer, Jal Sansthan, Lohaghat. “ Women in Atkhandi village of Barakot block today staged a dharna before the office of the Jal Sansthan complaining that 45 families were compelled to bring drinking water from a distance of 6 km from their village,” said Manju Sharma, village pradhan of Bainjgaon in Lohaghat subdivision. Tanakpur in Champawat is also facing a shortage of water after the pipeline of the scheme was damaged in a storm last week. “Work is on to restore the water supply,” said UC Pal, Junior Engineer, Jal Sansthan.
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Himalayan towns of Munsiyari and Dharchula in this district have witnessed a dip in temperature and subsequent snowfall on peaks following incessant
rains.
With firebrand politician-cum-saint Uma Bharati now dependent only on water intake, support from various quarters has been coming in for Bharati apart from masses.While the chief of the BJP’s Uttarakhand unit, Bishan Singh
Chufal, had a chat with the agitating saint, several religious figures have come out openly in support of the movement.
