Dehradun, July 31
The Uttarakhand Biotechnology Department has decided to set up a biotech park in the hill state to promote industries based on the technology.“The state being particularly rich in biodiversity aims to convert its bio-wealth into economic wealth through the application of biotechnology by promoting industries based on the above and set up a biotech park,” the department said in its recently released annual progress report for 2010-11.

The proposal for the park came under the state biotechnology programme which seeks to attract entrepreneurs for setting up biotechnology-based industries in the hill state either in an industrial estate mode or dispersed in smaller pockets throughout the state.

The programme also promotes agro-farming and encourage the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants in the state. The park is expected to house modern biotechnological facilities, including bio-incubator, and basic infrastructure and common facilities like modern equipment, a greenhouse, an animal house, a business centre and laboratories.

The report said the department had also decided to establish a centre of excellence on mountain biology which intends to promote R&D work relevant to the needs of the hilly region along with state-of-the-art facilities for ex-situ and in-situ conservation and promotion.

The centre would also provide support services in selected allied sectors and also serve the needs of the BT industries. With the sanction of adequate funds, the centre would become functional shortly, it said. The state government had shelved its plan to set up an IT-BT park in the industrial hub of Pantnagar three years ago in the wake of financial meltdown and various other reasons like the unavailability of adequate land.

The shelving of the was being seen as a setback to the state government’s efforts to accord priority to the biotechnology sector.

Uttarakhand is being seen as a favoured destination for biotech investments as it is endowed with a distinctly rich biodiversity (175 of the 500 species of medicinal plants found in the Indian System of Medicine), availability of quality manpower (72 per cent literacy rate), a large number of technical institutes like IIT Roorkee, the FRI, regional centres of the National Bureau of Plant and Genetic Resources and the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, and an expanding base of small-medium sized life sciences companies. — PTI

Dehradun, July 31
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has announced Rs 10 crore for the beautification of Piran Kaliyar shrine, Roorkee, in Haridwar district.Addressing a convention at Haj House building in Piran Kaliyar, the Chief Minister reiterated his government’s commitment to work for all sections of society, irrespective of religion and caste.

He said Piran Kaliyar would be made one of the finest religious places in the country.

The Chief Minister said industrial training institutes, polytechnics and madarsa were being established in Muslim-dominated areas. He said the Rahbar Scheme had been launched in the state to create job opportunities for Muslim girls in the age group of 18 to 35 years. He said coaching centres were being opened for Muslim students to prepare them for competitive examinations. The Chief Minister also assured the constitution of the minorities directorate and a madarsa board at the earliest.

Nishank said Muslims were also being covered under the Atal Awaas Yojana. He also assured the modernisation of madarsas. He said the Haj House would also be made operational very soon.

BJP’s national Spokesperson Muktar Abbas Naqvi, state BJP president Bisan Singh Chufal, Uttarakhand SC/ST Commission chairman Suresh Rathore and Uttarakhand Waqf Board chairman Haji Rao Sarafat Ali also spoke on the occasion.

Nainital, July 31
Yet another instance of “mass hysteria” gripping school students is making news in Natinital district. This time the incident is being reported from Raumavi Dola village in Kotabagh block where girl students have shown hysterical behaviour over the past 10 days.

It was on July 20 that six girls had lost consciousness after behaving in an abnormal manner. This incident was repeated once again on Saturday when five girls lost consciousness and could only become normal after being given what the locals say “traditional treatment”.

According to the reports, none of the students from Baghni village have been attending school since six girls from the village behaved in an abnormal manner on July 20. The attendance in the school has come down by 50 per cent.

After five more girls showed the same behaviour on Saturday morning, the school administration closed down the school for the rest of the day.

The rationalists of the area have been trying to convey to the agitated parents of the students that it is a case of mass hysteria gripping the students but there are very few takers for this explanation.

Meanwhile, the members of the local Shikshak Sangh have appealed to the administration to send a team of specialists comprising woman doctors to the village to study the development.

Earlier, during September last year a similar phenomenon had been reported at an Inter College in Bhimtal Block. There had been instances of girls at the Nain Singh Mehra Government Inter College in Amian village becoming unconscious.

Prior to that in February last year girls at an Inter College in Patkot, a village located 22 km away from Ramnagar, had been losing consciousness en masse for more than a week. A group of girls studying between class IX and XII were falling victim to a strange phenomenon wherein a girl would start having convulsions for a few minutes and the same would spread to other girls as well.

In all these cases, the villagers have treated the happenings as a result of some occult phenomenon.

Nainital, July 31
The administration in Champawat district has asked the heads of various government departments to get religious structures on the public land, owned by their respective departments, earmarked so that it can be decided whether these sites are to be removed or regularised.

The initiative taken by the administration follows the orders of the Supreme Court with regards to the presence of religious structures on public land and subsequent laws passed in this direction by states like Gujarat as well as the Union of India.

District Magistrate Dr Pankaj Pandey has ordered the heads of the various departments to furnish the details of such structures to his office at the earliest.

The Nagar Palika at Tanakpur, through a letter dated March 6, 2010, had informed his office that as many as 10 temples had come up illegally on its land. The Nagar Palika had suggested the regularisation of nine such structures and recommended removal of a temple that had come up on a foot path and was a blatant case of encroachment on public land.

Pandey called upon the residents of the town to help in implementation of the Supreme Court orders in this regard.

Pithoragarh, July 31
Ganesh Sorari alias Honey Dada, yesterday surrendered in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Champawat, in connection with a pending case of firing, on a police party. The complaint against him was lodged at the Tanakpur police station.

The CJM court of Champawat refused bail to him and he was sent to judicial lockup in Lohaghat. The Champawat police was looking for Hony Dada in connection with a case filed under section 307 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Tanakpur police station.

Honey Dada had allegedly fired upon on a police party when it had gone to investigate a case against him in 2007.

Honey Dada again came to limelight recently due to his childhood friendship with mafia don Chhota Rajan and for allegedly providing weapons used in the killing of Mumbai journalist Jotirmay Dey.

However, the allegations proved wrong as some other persons had provided weapons at Haldwani to the killers.

“We have been looking for him since 2007 as he was hiding in the interior parts of Pithoragarh district. We could not trace him but after he came into newspaper headlines, we were planning to arrest him soon but before we could do so, he surrendered in the court,” said Anant S Takwale, Superintendent of Police (SP), Champawat. 

Dehradun, July 31
The Uttarakhand Punjabi Kranti Morcha has sought more political representation for Punjabis in the state Assembly.At a workshop organised here today on “Social, financial and constitutional rights of Punjabis in Uttarakhand”, speakers said despite having a huge population of Punjabis in the state, their political representation was minuscule. “There are just three Punjabi MLAs in the state,” said Japinder Singh, convener of the morcha.

Gurdeep Kaur read out a poem in Punjabi. The poem sought encouragement for the language in the state. Rajendra Singh Rajan, Harish Narang, Sewa Singh Matharu and other Punjabi community members from various parts of the state were also present.

Pithoragarh, July 31
Academic books and stationery to be distributed free of cost among poor students for the current academic session in schools of the Hokra area of this district are lying in a roadside shelter at Nachni for the last one month as the road that links the area is still blocked even after 35 days.

“We will be facing a grave crisis of essential goods in our area if rain continues for some more time,” said Motima Devi, pradhan of Hokra village. “Besides these books, villagers have now started feeling the shortage of essential goods in their villages,” she added.

The road from Masurikantha to Hokra in Munsiyari subdivision has blocked at several places due to heavy landslides which was triggered by rain. Uttarakhand Minister Balwant Singh Bhauriyal, who was to participate in a multi-purpose camp at Hokra a few days ago, had to come back from Masurukantha as the road 
was blocked.

“One month has passed since the road was blocked but the Public Works Department (PWD) cannot open the road till date,” said Sunder Singh Mehta, village pradhan of Khoyam village.

According to villagers, they are compelled to walk more than 10 km from their villages in the Hokra area to purchase the essential commodities in the Nachni market.

“Even the material meant to construct a bridge at Takar, five km from Nachni on this road, has been dumped at Nachni from the last one month due to damage to the road at several places,” said Motima Devi.

More than 3,000 villagers have directly been affected by this road block. Despites the grim situation, PWD engineers in the district do not seem to be serious to open the road soon.

“The road has been constructed in a marsh land, therefore, it is taking time. We will start work on it only after it dries fully,” said RK Sharma, Executive Engineer of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana, a division of the PWD.

The villagers charge that they are suffering due to being in a remote area of the district.

“As we do not have an effective say in the state government and the administration, our children have to suffer until the rains end,” Sunder Singh Mehta.

Nainital, July 31
The state administration has stalled the allocation of funds to the Drinking Water Supply Department being granted under the District Plan in Champawat district.At a meeting held in Champawat on the issue on Saturday afternoon, the District Magistrate, Dr Pankaj Pandey, said the stalling of fund allocation followed the improper presentation of proposals for repairs of the Chatar and Pachnai Drinking Water Schemes.

Dr Pandey has asked the officials of the Jal Nigam and the Jal Sansthan to ensure that the people get potable water under the National Rural Water Plan (NRWP) of the Central Government. He asked the officials of the Jal Nigam to get 35 schemes in Champawat block and 44 schemes in Lohaghat block completed with the Rs 87.35 lakh allocated for the purpose and transfer the same after getting required certification for them.

A sum of Rs 20.50 lakh has been approved for maintenance of drinking water schemes by the Jal Sansthan.

The officials of the Jal Sansthan said the administration had allocated a sum of Rs 50 lakh under the NRWP. The District Magistrate has ordered the officials to persuade the farmers to go in for conservation of rainwater through the rainwater harvesting techniques. At the same time the officials have been directed to make use of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) for digging up wells in the villages. The officials have also been asked to approach the Agricultural Sciences Centre at Sui Pau and seek the assistance of the scientists in dealing with the problem of water scarcity for irrigation purposes.

The officials of both the Jal Nigam and the Jal Santshan have been asked to carry out a survey regarding the problems being faced in the construction of roads under the aegis of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). They have been asked to mark the shortcomings emerging during the construction of crash barriers, sharp turns, small bridges and roads. 

Dehradun, July 31
A free health camp was organised by Shri Mahant Indresh Hospital in collaboration with the Rural and Urban Prosperity Inspired Bio Nature Association at a school on the Tapkeshvar Road in Kaulagarh on Sunday.

At the health camp, a total of 255 patients were examined. The patients were also given medicines by the hospital authorities free of cost. The camp was inaugurated by Jain Samaj president Sukhmal Chander Jain by lighting a lamp.

A 32-member team from the hospital examined the patients. They also conducted eye, tooth and ENT surgeries at the camp.

People from Kaulagarh, Bajawala, Masandawala, Nimbuwala, Tapkeshvar, Garhi, Rajender Nagar and the other adjoining places turned up at at the camp, which was presided over by social worker Vijay Gupta.

Mussoorie, July 31
Mehul Sharma, Sachit Nanwani, Aakansha and Aarti emerged the winners in the final of the 2nd MSA Inter-school Table Tennis Tournament organised by the Mussoorie Hotel Association and Rotary Club at MPG College here today.

In the girls (under 12) final, Aakansha (Mussoorie Girls) defeated Pooja Rawat (Mussoorie Girls) 11-3, 11-7 and 11-8 to lift the winning trophy. In the under 14 final, Sanjana Upreti (Mussoorie Girls) defeated Aanchal Bajaj (Mussoorie Girls) 11-6, 11-5 and 11-6. In the (under 17) final Aarti(Mussoorie Girls) defeated Priyanka (Mussoorie girls) 11-8, 8-11 and 11-8. In the doubles final, the pair of Aarti and Shivani defeated Aakshara and Sukriti 11-8, 13-15, 11-2 and 11-4.

In the boys’ (under 12) final, Mehul Sharma (GNFC) defeated Ankit Sinha 11-8, 11-6 and 11-6 to lift the winning trophy. In the under 14 final, Paritosh Sati (St George’s) defeated Arvind Raj Gopal (Mussoorie Girls and Boys) 12-10, 11-5 and 11-9. In the under 17 final Sachit Nanwani defeated Jitesh Aanand (Oak Grove) 10-7, 10-5 and 10-8. In the under 20 final, Vinayak Agarwal (St George) defeated Watchraphong (GNFC) 10-7, 10-7 and 10-8 to lift the trophy.

The chief guest on the occasion was Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola who distributed the awards among the winners. Mussoorie Municipal Council President OP Uniyal, former Mandi Samiti Parishad President Upendar Thapli, Rotarian Alok Malhotra, Prakash Agarwal and others were also present. — TNS