Nepalese PM visits industrial estate
Tribune News Service

Haridwar October 23
Prime Minister of Nepal Baburam Bhattarai today visited industrial units in Haridwar, taking an inside view of the working and industrial set-up which he wants to implement in his country. The entourage of Bhattarai arrived at 9 am at the Integrated Industrial Estate, 15 km from Haridwar, where industrial units of Hero Motocorp and Hindustan Unilever were visited by the Nepalese delegation.

Uttarakhand Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik welcomed the Nepalese Prime Minister, thanking him for selecting Haridwar as one of the destinations during his visit.

An extensive presentation was given by Hero Honda and Hindustan Unilever company officials and extended their cooperation in guiding the delegation in setting up industrial units in Nepal where geographical conditions are quite same as is in Uttarakhand.

Harendra Garg, state vice president, Industrial Association of Uttarakhand, welcomed the Nepalese delegation on behalf of Uttarakhand industrialists.

Accompanying the Nepalese Prime Minister were Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kazi Shresth Prakash, Cabinet ministers Rajendra Mehto, Hridayesh Tripathi, Mahendra Prasad Yadav, Jay Prasad Gupta, Varshaman Punh, Mahedra Prasad Yadav and Anil Kumar Jha.

The delegation also included Planning Commission chairperson Deependra Bahadur Kshetre, parliamentarians Hari Roka, Om Prakash Yadav, Indian Ambassador Jayant Prasad, chief secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimire among others. 

Alva hosts lunch

Dehradun, October 23
Nepal's Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai today reached Raj Bhawan in Dehradun where he attended a lunch hosted in his honour by Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva.

Uttarakhand Speaker Harbans Kapoor, Governor Margaret Alva’s husband Niranjan Alva and former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank greeted the Nepalese Prime Minister, who was accompanied by his wife Hisila Yami and other cabinet colleagues.

Among those who joined the lunch included Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Narayam Kazi alias Shresta Prakash and six other cabinet colleagues namely Jai Prasad Gupta, Hridyesh Tripathy, Rajendra Mahto, Varshaman Pun, Mahendra Prasad Yadav and Anil Kumar Jha.

Nepal’s National Planning Commission vice-chairman Dipendra Bahadur Chettri, Nepal Parliament members Hari Roka and Om Prakash Yadav, India’s Ambassador to Nepal Jayant Prasad and Nepal’s Chief Secretary Madhav Prasad Ghimrey were other prominent personalities from Nepal who attended the lunch. Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva later handed over a souvenir, a mini replica of Kedarnath temple, to Baburam Bhattarai and his wife. Earlier, on his arrival at the Jollygrant airport, the Nepalese Prime Minister was received by Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Madan Kaushik. — TNS

BJP engaged in exercise to select poll candidates
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 23
The BJP is undertaking an exercise across Uttarakhand to feel the pulse of its cadres with regard to choosing its candidates for contesting the Assembly poll scheduled to be held early next year.

Various teams of party leaders are travelling to different Assembly segments and interacting with the party cadres on the issue of choosing prospective candidates. The choice before the party is whether to repeat the candidates that it had fielded from seats last time or to look for replacements. In the case of seats that have been reserved, the party will obviously have to field new faces. Senior party leader Tirath Singh Rawat, who was here to meet party cadres from the Bhimtal, Nainital and Kaladhungi Assembly segments, said although the final list of candidates would be approved by the Parliamentary Board of the party, the exercise was aimed at giving true representation to the views of the party cadres. He said the current exercise began on October 18 and would continue till October 25.

Interacting with mediapersons in Nainital on Saturday,

Rawat said the BJP would be going to the polls on the twin issues of inflation and corruption. “These elections are very important for us as well as the state,” he said.

He said the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre was responsible for rampant corruption and inflation.

However, he was on the defensive when asked whether the BJP had any locus standi to take up the issue of corruption in Uttarkhand in the wake of allegations pertaining to the organising of the Kumbh, the Citurgia land use scam and the allocation of mini hydro-power projects during the tenure of former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. All that he said was that these matters were being decided upon in courts.

He said Chief Minister BC Khanduri had initiated unprecedented steps to tackle the menace of corruption. “The decision to start a separate department to address the issue and calling a special session of the state Assembly on the introduction of a Jan Lokpal Bill, which will also cover the office of CM, speaks for itself,” he said. 

11 BJP men stake claim to 4 seats
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 23
More than 11 BJP leaders have staked their claim to four seats of the district for the coming Assembly elections in the state. Of these four seats, Pithoragarh and Didihat have been represented by cabinet minister Prakash Pant and 
Uttarakhand BJP chief Bishen Singh Chufal, respectively.

“From the Pithoragarh seat, the candidature of Prakash Pant has been challenged by state BJP general secretary Suresh Joshi. But, no candidate other than Chufal has sought the Didihat seat,” said Ganesh Bhandari, general secretary, district unit of the party.

According to Bhandari, three candidates, SC/ST Commission Chairman Chanar Ram, vice-chairman of the State Women’s Commission Gita Thakur and sitting MLA Joga Ram have staked their claim to the Gangolihat seat while Khushal Singh Pipalia, Dhan Singh, Kundan Singh Tolia, Ashok Nabiyal and Bhagat Singh Bachmi have asked for party nomination from the Dharchula Assembly seat.

“The party has given a chance to party workers to present their claim for party ticket but the final decision will be taken by the party high command in November,” said Matbar Singh Kandari, Education Minister, who visited the district as a party observer.

According to the BJP leaders, the process of assessing candidates’ chances, which has been started by the party in the state on October 18, ended today.

“The names of party-ticket seekers will now be looked at by the state leadership and then advice will be sought from a secret panel consisting of senior RSS workers of the area along with the senior BJP workers and different cells of the party active in the ares concerned. Only then the final decision on the tickets will be announced in the last week of November by the party high command,” said Joshi. 

Speed up work on Haldwani road: DM
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 23
District Magistrate of Nainital Nidhi Mani Tripathi has ordered expediting of work on the Nainital-Haldwani road which has been damaged in the rains at several places.

The District Magistrate carried out an on-the-spot inspection of the road on Saturday afternoon. She has called upon the officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to carry out the repairs wherever required at the earliest.

Tripathi saw for herself the works being done near Jyolikote and Bhujiaghat. In Bhujiaghat the road had been devastated in the rains last September. Ironically, the work at this point has remained incomplete for more than a year despite the fact that Nainital happens to be a high-profile tourist destination.

The DM has asserted that it is the job of the administration to provide proper road connectivity to the masses on a priority basis. She has made it clear to the masses that the people cannot be misled in the name of disaster and underlined that time limit be fixed for the works that are being done.

She has asked the officials to seek the assistance of geological experts in the construction of the road at the spot where it is damaged during the rains. The officials said the damaged road ahead of Jyolikote would be repaired by November 30.

Tripathi has further ordered that the hotmix operations on the road be carried out during the day only without making any sort of compromise on its quality. She has also ordered that the quality checks of the works being done must be carried out regularly.

Tripathi also inspected the work being done on the construction of the bridge on the Gaula river that had been devastated last year. She has asked the officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) to ensure that the bridge be reconstructed by April. She has suggested that apart from the qualitative aspect, assistance of experts must also be taken on technical aspects with regards to works that are sensitive in nature. She has asked the officials to ensure that there are no technical lacunas in the bridge that is under construction.

UPP members end fast, burn govt’s effigy

Dehradun October 23
Members of the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party concluded their seven-day fast by burning the effigy of the state government and criticising it for being callous towards the plight of the laborers working in the state.

Party spokesman Rajiv Kothari said the state government must provide decent salaries to labourers. Instead of hiring them on contracts, they must be regularised. He also talked of unemployment and said this was the biggest reason which triggered migration from the hills. He mocked at MLAs/MPs for being more involved in getting their own perks increased but found non-serious in addressing the problems of labourers and the unemployed. Members Anand Chandola, Yograj Tyagi and student leader Luxman Singh ended their fast by drinking juice. — TNS

DIG’s plea for posting turned down
Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 23
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Udham Singh Nagar Abhinav Kumar’s plea for a posting at some other place has been turned down. As normalcy returns to violence-torn Rudrapur town, Abhinav has asked for a posting according to his seniority. His present assignment of district police chief is supposed to be a posting at a lower rank.

DIG Kumar, who replaced SSP of Udham Singh Nagar GS Martolia early this month following the outbreak of communal violence in Rudrapur, said in his plea he wanted a posting at some other place and not as a district police chief according to his seniority, sources told The Tribune.

He contended though at the time when the communal violence broke out, his posting was the need of the hour but as the situation has become normal now, he wants posting according to his seniority, the sources added.

State Director General of Police (DGP) Jyoti Swaroop Pandey said: “Abhinav Kumar had asked for a posting at some other place but he has been told to stick to his present posting.”

Normally, an SSP-level officer holds the charge of a district police chief. The DGP said: “It all depends on the number of vacant posts and officers available”.

For instance, DIG Sanjay Gunjiyal is the head of Garhwal Range while IG RS Meena is the head of Kumaon Range. There have been occasions when the state was a part of Uttar Pradesh, when an ADG-level officer headed the Kumaon Range.”

The state police chief admitted if need be more DIGs could be made the police heads of the district in future.

It may be mentioned here that there has been discontent among the IPS officers in the state due to such postings in the past.

Music fest ends

Nainital, October 23
The four-day bonanza of classical music, Sangeet Pratibha - Festival of young musicians from North India, concluded yesterday with some awe-inspiring performances by young musicians.

The last evening of the festival saw excellent performances on sarangi and tabla, besides a soulful rendition of Hindustani vocal.

The festival, which had been organised in Nainital by the Sangeet Natak Academi with the help of a local cultural group, Yugmanch, with the aim promote classical music among the masses, proved a success.

The performances on the final day began with a Sarangi recital by Sukhwinder Singh and Satwinder Pal Singh. They came up with an hour-long mesmerising presentation of Raag Vachaspati. They were accompanied by Neeraj Shandilya on Tabla.

Jasmeet Kaur took over the stage next and delighted the audience with her vocal recital in Hindustani. A disciple of the eminent musicians, Rajan and Sajan Mishra, Jasmeet began with Raag Maru Bihag. She was accompanied by Suhail Khan on sarangi and Sukhamoy Banerjee on tabla.

The last presentation of the festival was an enchanting performance on tabla by the trio of Pranat Kumar Joshi, Madhuresh Bhatt and Avirbhav Verma. Coming from the different Gharanas of Ajrada, Benaras and Punjab, the trio enthralled the audience for an hour. — TNS