Protest against petrol price hike
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, November 5
In protest against the petrol price hike, members of the local units of the CPM and various Left-supported trade unions took out a symbolic funeral procession and staged a protest here today.

Raising slogans against the Central Government, the protesters marched from Library Bazar to Picture Palace and burnt an effigy of the government.

Party leaders RP Badoni and Devi Godiyal termed the recent petrol price hike a cruel joke on the common man who was already reeling under high inflation. They said the people were irked over “anti-people” policies of the Central Government and would give a befitting reply to it in the coming Assembly elections. The protesters also demanded the rollback in the petrol price hike.

Congress gears up for Advani’s yatra in state
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 5
Ahead of former national president of the BJP Lal Krishan Advani’s scheduled visit to Haridwar on November 18, during his Uttarakhand tour as part of his Jan Chetna anti-corruption rath yatra, the Congress has decided to hold a fast on November 17 and seek an explanation from the veteran leader on his keeping silent on the issue of Maha Kumbh multi-crore scam. The fast will conclude the next day.

The Congress activists will be hoding a silent protest at Har-ki-Pauri, which is the core Maha Kumbh mela zone, to highlight the mass discrepancies in the utilisation of the Kumbh budget by the BJP-led state government.

Talking to media persons, senior Congress leader Purushottam Sharma said it’s an irony that former Deputy Prime Minister of India was carrying out its anti-corruption yatra in Uttarakhand where minister in charge of the Maha Kumbh Madan Kaushik, who had been accused of discrepancies in the Kumbh budget spending, still retained a berth in the Khanduri cabinet.

On one hand the BJP is giving shelter to such corrupt minister while on the other its senior party leader is carrying out a nationwide anti-corruption tour, he added.

“We want to ask Advani whether Kumbh corruption doesn’t hold any significance for him or his yatra is just a showpiece event. Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has in its report indicated irregularities in the spending of Rs 200 crore out of the allocated Kumbh budget worht Rs 755 crore. They have to remove Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from the post of Chief Minister but minister in charge of the Maha Kumbh mela (Kaushik) is freely moving in red beacon vehicle. Even the Kumbh Mela administrative officers should be put behind bars after conducting a CBI probe into the matter,” said Purushottam.

City unit leader Naeem Qureshi said the seriousness of the BJP regarding Advani’s yatra can be gauged by the fact that they had made controversial Madan Kaushik the coordinator of the rath yatra in Uttarakhand and furthermore Sushil Chauhan sub-coordinator.

“The enactment of the Lokayukta Act is one point but one can’t ignore the Kumbh scam which has hurt the sentiments of the millions of Indians and maligned the image of Uttarakhand worldwide. All the front organisations of the party will take part in the fast and other protests,” said Qureshi.

Efforts are on to ensure participation of Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya, Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat and all the five parliamentarians of the Congress from the state in the protest. 

Entering politics a wrong decision, says Govinda
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 5
Cine star turned politician Govinda casted spell on all those who saw and met him during his one day visit here today. Govinda, who turned to politics in year 2004, looked disenchanted with entering into politics. When the Tribune questioned Govinda on his political aspirations, he said he was not made for politics.

“I was never meant for politics. I have no ill will for the Congress high command or politicians. But it’s simple and straight that I am much better in acting than in politics,” said the star, who entered filmdom in late 80s.

During his visit, the actor took blessings from Shantikunj head Shailjiji and Dr Pranav Pandya.

He also said his mother was related with Shantikunj founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya’s philosophy.

“Uttarakhand is a divine state and projecting it as a destination to shoot films may affect its religious aspect. So in my view, it better remains a pilgrimage place,” opined Govinda. Praising the young talent that Indian film industry is witnessing, Govinda said though he had done variety of films, people appreciated him more for comedy roles, which he said was a reward in itself.

“ ‘Loot’ has hit the theatres with a very good response and hopefully my coming flicks like Run Bhola Run and Partner-II will live up to people’s expectations,” said Govinda.

He has given many potboiler hit films pairing up with David Dhawan and Karishma Kapoor in 90s.

Accompanied by his wife Sunita, the film star visited various exhibitions put up at the Kumbh mela area. 

Negi quits as Vice-Chairman of GMVN
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 5
The ruling BJP in Uttarakhand got a big jolt today with Raghunath Singh Negi, Vice-Chairman of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), a state government corporation, resigning from his post on the issue of corruption.

Negi had given an ultimatum to the state government to regularise the services of the GMVN staff who had been working on a temporary basis for long and take action against former Managing Director VRC Purshottam for his alleged corrupt deals. Negi had forced Purshottam to return furniture and other goods back to the GMVN.

Talking to the media here today, Negi said while one of his demands regarding the regularisation of the services of the employees of the GMVN was accepted by Chief Minister BC Khanduri, instead of taking action against Purshottam, the state government rewarded him by giving him plum position of Vice-Chairman of the Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority.

“There is a clear contradiction between the words and deeds of the Chief Minister as seen in the case of a corrupt officer. Our government has brought the Lokayukta Bill but it is of no use when such officers are being shielded and rewarded,” he added.

Negi announced that being a disciplined party worker, he had decided to resign. “ I have faxed my resignation letter to the office of the Chief Minister,” he added. 

Maneri-Bhali project Power generation falls
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, November 5
Owing to a decrease in the level of the Bagirathi river, the Maneri-Bhali Hydro-power Project (Phases I and II) in Uttarkashi district has started witnessing a downfall in power generation.

At present, the phase I of the project, having a capacity of 90 MW, and the phase II, having a capacity of 304 MW, are generating 175 MW, which is 20 per cent less as compared to the last year.

The phase I of the project is receiving 50 cusecs of water while the phase II is receiving 57 cusecs of water on a daily basis owing to which power generation of the phase I has come down to

1.57 million unit and that of the phase II to 1.10 million unit.

Deputy General (UJVNL) Himanshu Awasthi said the Maneri-Bhali project had been affected due to a decrease in the level of the river this year. 

Bird count concludes
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 5
The four-days exercise of bird counting as part of the “Action and Research for Conservation in Himalayas (ARCH)” programme, an initiative of the Department of Forests and Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology (UCOST), culminated here today. The event was organised at the headquarters of the Forest Department, Uttarakhand, where a an experience-sharing workshop was also held.

The chief guest on the occasion was Dr RS Tolia, an IAS officer, while Dr RBS Rawat, PCCF, Uttaranchal Forest Department, and BP Sinha, Director, WII, Dehradun, were the guests of honour.

Goga Kumar from Alwar was awarded the lifetime achievement award for devoting his life to monitoring great indian bustard population in Rajasthan as a forest cattle guard. The conservation leadership award was given to Yashpal Negi, a tourist guide from Garhwal, for promoting bird watching in Uttarakhand.

Dr Tolia said: “The exercise has generated repetitive base-line data and will provide useful information on the status of birds in the region. It will also promote Uttarakhand as a premier eco-tourism hub with the underlying premise of conservation”.

“It will also help in generating awareness about the importance of birds and their monitoring for evaluating the health of a habitat,” he added.

Taiwan envoy seeks economic cooperation from U’khand
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 5
Taiwan is keen to explore opportunities of economic cooperation with Uttarakhand in electronics goods, manufacturing, agriculture and food processing besides inviting students to study in his country, Taiwan's Ambassador to India, Wenchyi Ong, said here today.

Ong said Taiwan was keen to explore opportunities of economic cooperation with Uttarakhand in electronic goods, manufacturing, agriculture and food processing besides inviting students there for study purposes.

On his first visit to Dehradun, Ong invited initiatives from the businessmen of the state and said, “Taiwan holds many opportunities for students and businessmen and my visit here is to generate interest amongst the people about Taiwan,” said Ong, while speaking with media persons here today.

The Ambassador said the country's total investment in India was $1 billion with concentration in four states- Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.

Bilateral trade between the two countries accounts for around $6.4 billion.

As Taiwan attempts to substantially raise the bilateral trade and investment ties with India, the Ambassador has been visiting different states of the country, calling upon Chief Ministers to explore possibilities in his country.

“In Rudrapur, a Taiwanese company, Delta, has already made it’s presence felt and with an investment of $13 million, it has employed 500 employees from India.

“To strengthen the trade ties further, I would hold talks with my counterpart in the Indian Embassy for arranging visits of businessmen to Uttarakhand and vice versa,” he said.

Envisaging a keen interest in strengthening academic ties with the state, the Ambassador pointed out the value of a Taiwanese education system: “As the education is subsidised in Taiwan, it is comparatively cheap. When the students opt to study in Taiwan, they not only save 90 per cent of the total costs incurred on the course when compared with American and other universities of the world but also get to learn an additional language while studying in Taiwan and globally the degrees are also accepted,” said Ong.

Commenting on Taiwan’s relationship with the Peoples Republic of China, the Ambassador said the Taiwanese companies in mainland China were the main force behind the IT manufacturing boon.

Though desisting from making any political comments on China and its intention of reunification, the ambassador said: “It can only be decided through a referendum in Taiwan based on the will of the people who have high regard for the democratic values,” Ong stressed.

The Ambassador also delivered an impromptu talk on Taiwan to the students of the univerity. Doon University is one among the few universities in the country with a full fledged Chinese language department.

India-China Border Trade
Goods worth Rs 2 cr traded
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 5
A trade worth about Rs 2 crore took place between India and China through the border route of the Lipulekh Pass this year as the goods worth Rs 1.58 crore were imported by the Indian traders from the Chinese territory of Tibet while Indian goods worth Rs 43.98 lakh were exported. The trade concluded on October 31 and the final figure of the trade were released by the office concerned in Dharchula today.

“The exports this year were worth about Rs 2 crore, which is less than that of last year as the Tibetan customers demanded more Indian goods compared to woollen items purchased from them,” said Dr Abhishek Tripathi, SDM, Dharchula, and trade officer designate.

This year a total of 231 Indian traders with their 359 helpers went to Tibet with the material on 3,730 ponies and horses and exchanged the goods during the five months of the trade period between June and October. “Last year the Indian traders imported goods worth Rs 3.16 crore from Tibet in exchange of export of goods worth only Rs 23.50 lakh. Garments worth Rs 1.50 crore were imported by the Indian traders last years whereas this year the export of 67,160 kg of sugar candy helped raise the export bill,” said the trade officer.

“The Indian traders have purchased pashmina wool mostly from the Tibetan traders followed by sheep wool, skins, yak tails, Tibetan horses and raw silk,” said the trade officer.

He said as the Government of India has lifted the ban on the imports of livestock from Tibet, a total 806 Tibetan sheep weighting 4690 kg were also imported from that country this year.

“Besides the sugar candy and jaggery, the Indian traders exported cotton cloths, agricultural implements, bicycles, coffee, tea, dry fruits, tobacco and food grains to the Tibetan traders,” the trade officer said.

CM to be chief guest on institute’s annual day
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 5
Chief Minister BC Khanduri will preside over the annual day of the Uttaranchal Dental and Medical Research Institute tomorrow at Mazri Grant.

Around 500 dentists will be awarded degrees on the occasion.

Addressing a press conference here today, Director of the institute Dr Aun Pandey said, “It is a historic day for the college as it is the first batch of BDS students that will be passing out,” said Dr Pandey.

The passing out students will be presented with passing out certificates and medallions by the chief guest.

Those present at the conference included Dr (Prof) Ashwani Dhobal, Principal of the institute and VS Pandey, Managing Director of the institute. 

Students make aipan designs
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 5
More than 20 students from various schools of Nainital displayed their skills in the traditional art of making aipan at the Second CL Sah Memorial Aipan Competition held at Vrindavan Public School today.

The competition was held with the motive of saving the ancient Kumaoni heritage of aipan from vanishing in its actual form and to generate awareness on this dying art. The students that had gathered at the school at noon came out with beautiful traditional designs of aipan made with biswar (ground rice) and geru (red mud).

The organisers related in detail about the need of saving the art of aipan making. The art has survived in the region with generations of women passing it on to the next one. There was a unanimous opinion that this art should be taught to the daughters and daughter-in-laws as they have to keep up the tradition.

Old women could be seen evaluating the work done by the young girls and giving them important tips on the art. It was related that the aipan can be made as colourful as rangoli but the traditional Kumaoni aipan is made in a plain manner only with red background and white work on it.

The students competed making different types of “chaukis”. According to experts, aipan has different “chaukis” for different Gods and religious occasions like Shiva Pith Chauki for Lord Shiva, Lakshmi Chauki for Goddess Laxmi, Dhali that is made on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan and Paw which is made on Dipawali and symbolises the footprints of Luxmi who is considered to be the deity of wealth.

It was aired that these kinds of programmes are necessary to keep the dying culture alive.

The main organiser of the event RL Sah told The Tribune that a similar competition used to be held at the Sharda Sangh Club which ran from 1970 to 1990 in the town but was wound up later. Visualising the importance of the art he decided to revive the competition once again. 

Plan to renovate Saras marketing complex in Nainital
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 5
The administration has finally drawn up a plan to renovate and put to use a shopping complex in Haldwani which has remained a white elephant till now despite being located at a prime spot. Popularly known as the Saras complex, the building located at a stone’s throw from the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) on the Nainital Road has failed to become an economic success on account of poor planning that went into its utilisation.

Official sources say steps are now afoot to renovate and repackage the complex in such a manner that it not only becomes economically viable but also emerges as a prime centre of attraction in the town. The building is at present with the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN).

It has now been decided that the Saras market, which is being operated on the posterior side of the building, would be shifted to the front side right adjacent to the road. There are also plans to build a state-of-the-art guest house on the first floor. The guest house would be offering air-conditioned accommodation to the tourists visiting the place. At the same time a dormitory would also be constructed for providing lodging facilities to the people belonging to the BPL category.

The building was inspected by Chief Development Officer (CDO) Dhiraj Singh along with several other officials on Thursday to see the viability of the proposed plans.

It was pointed out that since the Saras market, that had been set up for promoting goods produced and manufactured in the hilly terrain of the region, was located on the posterior side of the existing complex it was not getting the number of customers that it should have been.

It has been decided to shift the market to the front side and its main attraction would be the sale of products produced organically in the hilly parts of the Kumaon region. This would help enhance the income of the people involved in organic production.

It has also been decided that the District Rural Development Authority (DRDA) would tie up with the KMVN to provide ethnic Kumaoni cuisine to the tourists planning to stay in the guest house that is proposed to be built on the first floor of the building. It is a common complaint of the people visiting the region that there are hardly any outlets serving traditional food of the region in the entire area.

Shops to be shifted to front side of the building right adjacent to road

State-of-the-art guest house to be built on the first floor

A dormitory will be constructed for BPL people

Guests to be provided ethnic Kumaoni cuisine 

Id-ul-Zuha: Goat sellers throng Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun November 5
With Id-ul-Zuha (Bakr-Id) just a day away, goat sellers from across the state and Uttar Pradesh have arrived in the Doon valley with their animals. A large number of Muslims are thronging Innamullah Building and Majra Mandi to purchase goats of different sizes with distinctive names and features. The goat prices range from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000. “I have come here from Saharanpur to sell my goats,” said Mehmood.

The sale of goats usually starts a week before the festival. However, some keep the goats throughout the year, feed them and take care of them. The rise in inflation has had its effect on the sale of goats this year. “I have been selling goats for many years but this year the response is quite unsatisfactory. I have come here with 10 goats and I am sure by tomorrow, all will be sold,” said Rehman from Mirzapur.

“Although the enthusiasm of the festival is not at all subdued, the inflation has marred the expenditure on the purchase,” said Shaeed Ahmad, a goat buyer. 

Man murdered at roadside stall
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 5
The murder of a man while he was eating chat at a roadside stall on Friday night in Kashipur town of Udham Singh Nagar has sent shock waves across the town.

It is learnt that 35-year-old Mohammad Rafiq, alias Gatuwa, was shot dead on the Ratan Cinema road. He was eating chat when two persons on a motorcycle approached him. The pillion rider is learnt to have shot at him with a country-made pistol. The driver of the motorcycle was wearing a helmet.

One of the bullets hit Rafiq on the chest and went across the body.

He died while being treated at a local hospital. The incident that took place at around 9.30 pm.

Sources say Rafiq was involved in betting activities and the killing might have something to do with the betting transactions. The police has arrested one of the suspect identified as Qasim of Banskheda village. The second suspect, identified as Naeem of Ramnagar, is at large. The police has sent a team to Moradabad to nab him.

The sources say Rafiq was earlier involved in betting activities and had recently shifted to transport business.

He is also learnt to have been involved in the murder of Gulsher in 2008.