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U’khand front in a disarray
New Act to empower disabled, says Anand
Visually handicapped institute honours five persons
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Contractual lecturers call off stir
Students mesmerise with classical compositions
Ganesh Saili’s book set to hit stores
Face of the week
356 take part in skating championship
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U’khand front in a disarray
Dehradun December 3 Lt General (Retired) TPS Rawat, who is heading the Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha and is the most influential among all who severed ties with the BJP Government led by former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhiryal Nishank a few months ago, has been going absent in the second and third meetings of the party. Munna Singh Chauhan, president of the Janwadi Party, and PC Tiwari, president of the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party, have also remained away from the meetings . The president of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar), Trivender Singh Panwar, has been chairing these meetings. Tiwari of the Uttarakhand Parivartan party said: “It is the UKD which needs this front the most, as it is scurrying for solid ground after having been divided and losing the party symbol.” He said the front did not need General Rawat but soldiers like Anna. Tiwari made it clear that he was following the ‘wait and watch’ policy from a distance and was trying to join hands with other organisations who led various public agitations. An insider source in the UKD said Rawat and Chauhan were “playing spoilsport.” “Rawat is demanding more than us - 55 seats - and those, too, for green horns who are naïve to politics. Chauhan, whose mandate is limited to two seats of Chakrata and Vikasnagar, is also claiming 15 seats. They should be realistic.” The source said Rawat was searching for “greener pastures in the BJP and the Congress and could move there any time if he was assured of the ticket for a few of his
candidates.” Rawat was categorical in his statement when he said: “The UKD, which won only 4 Assembly seats last time, is asking for 44 seats. Chauhan is vying for 15; the CPI-CPM have their own justifications. This way we will only be left with 4 or 5 seats. Our candidates may be novices but theyare highly educated and well placed in society unlike old crooks in the BJP and other parties.” He rebuffed speculations of his joining hands with the BJP or Congress, saying there was no question of his joining the BJP or the Congress at this juncture. “ I could have done this earlier but not now.” On the question of the viability of the regional front, he said: “I am still hopeful of the future of the regional front, provided all the members just do some serious thinking. By leaving sure-shot winnable seats for respective parties, we should openly discuss others.” The next meeting of the front is due on December 7. The other important constituents of the front are the CPI, the CPM, the JD (secular) and the Lok Jan Shakti.
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New Act to empower disabled, says Anand
Dehradun, December 3 “At the suggestions of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) the Disabilty Act is being redrafted and focus is expected to shift from entitlements for the disabled to empowering them through rights of the disabled,” said the justice. He was speaking at International Day of Persons with Disability observed today at the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH). Adding that the so-called “able” may not have achieved what “disabled” have achieved, “Disability is not a deviation but inevitable and integral dimension of society which has both medical and social implications. But in our society, disability is regarded as a welfare issue rather than a rights issue,” he stressed. Justice Anand said the elements of rights should be recognised rather than charity while providing conducive environment for the differently able. “They are not disabled but able, each one of us suffer from a form of inadequacy or the other but we seldom call ourselves disabled, instead use a colourful term ‘inadequacy’. We need to create awareness that they are not secondary but have the same rights and desire like each one of us,” he said. He also made a suggestion to observe this day as international day for creating awareness of discrimination against the disabled rather than International Day of Person with Disabilities. In his address, Padamveer Singh, Director, Lal Bahadur Shastri National Administrative Academy, said, “Disability is not viewed in an inclusive manner though able persons too suffer from disabilities,” he said. Director of the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH) Anuradha Mohit said every body should contribute in ensuring that the disabled persons got their due in
society.
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Visually handicapped institute honours five persons
When Gautam Prakash Agarwal, a resident of Bangalore, decided to become a businessman, little did he know that more than his loss of vision, the people around him would be the greatest hindrance in his road to success. But undeterred, he moved on and today he is a successful businessman and supplies polymerase granules. A member of the National Federation of the Blind (Karanatka), Agarwal has been playing a stellar role in spreading awareness about the rights of the blind persons. Mohammed Asif Iqbal is a consultant with PriceWaterHouseCoopers in Kolkata, but his activism out of the office impressed the former Chairman of the NHRC. He even mentioned it in his speech. After being denied an escort by a Kingfisher Airlines employee, Iqbal pursued the matter with the authorities on the issue of discrimination. “Though the employee lost his job which made me unhappy, I wanted to ensure that a climate of cooperation and awareness about the rights of the disabled,” he said while speaking with The Tribune. An IAS (Group ‘A’ services) probationer at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy (LBSNA), Mussoorie, Rajesh Singh is the third visually impaired person to clear the prestigious examination in the country. Besides excelling in academics, Rajesh is also a keen sportsman but cricket continues to be his passion, “I have represented my country in the World Cup Cricket held for the visually impaired persons in England and Pakistan,” he said. Rajat Agarwal is credited with providing computer training to more than 200 visually impaired persons. A branch manager of Canara Bank (NCR Delhi region), Agarwal started losing his sight when he was 21-year-old and was in the second year of his engineering degree course. A multi-dimensional personality and blessed with a golden voice, Nirmita Narasimhan is a renowned Carnatic vocalist but that’s not all. She is also a Law graduate and fluent in German language. A programme manager with the Centre for Internet and Society, Nirmita says: “I wanted to learn all these things to make my life worthwhile, maybe I wanted to prove a point but it has been a great journey all this while,” she said.
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Contractual lecturers call off stir
Dehradun, December 3 Senior BJP leader Ravindra Jugran, who is a close confident of Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, went to the agitating contractual lecturers sitting on a dharna in front of the state Assembly and conveyed the message of the CM to them. Ravindra Jugran told the striking contractual lecturers that the CM was serious and sympathetic towards their demands. He assured them that if they call off their agitation, their demands would be met soon. The government contractual lecturers, who had been working in almost all inter- colleges of the state, were agitating following advertisement of filling of more than 600 posts of lecturers in government colleges by the State Public Service Commission. They demanded that since they had been already working as contractual lecturers for years, they should be given weightage in the selection by the State Public Service Commission. Dr VC Bebni, president of the Government Contractual Lecturers Association, said they were calling off their agitation on the assurance of the Chief Minister conveyed through Ravindra Jugran and wait for the government response in their cases.
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Students mesmerise with classical compositions
Mussoorie, December 3 The cultural event was organised with an objective to promote classical music and preserve the cultural heritage of the state through music. The authors whose poem were converted into harmonious musical compositions were also present on the occasion and commended the effort of the musical troupe led by Chandralika Tripathi who has been awarded the President Medal for her contribution in the field of music. The artistes began with the presentation from the poem written by Hemchandra Saklani, followed by a Garhwali poem written by Veena Pani Joshi, which highlighted the plight of the region due to the environmental degradation. The artistes evoked an emotive response from the audience in the musical rendition of the poem written by Chandra Kunwar Barthwal. Eminent author and the Director of the Chandrakunwar Research Foundation Dr YS Barthwal along with Joshi and Saklani commended the efforts of the artistes. YS Barthwal said appreciated the efforts of the students and gave the credit to their teacher Chandralekha Tripathi, populary known as Chand Bhenji, who has been training students for several decades. The chief guest on the occasion former Rajya Andolankari Parishad president Ravinder Jugran said that he appreciated music teachers like Chandralekha Tripathi who gave their lives for promoting the classical music and preserving the rich culture of the state. The program was coordinated by Navin Chandra
Tripathi.
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Ganesh Saili’s book set to hit stores
Mussoorie, December 3 According to the Cambridge Bookstore owner, Sunil Arora, the copy of the book arrived today but the book would be available for sale from Monday. The Indian edition of the book is introduced by Ruskin Bond and edited by Ganesh Saili, published by Niyogi Books. The book of around 200 pages contains eight rare pictures, which have not been published as yet. Saili said, “The book is Monk’s story in the form of letters written to his family in England and there is no reason to doubt their veracity. They are a record of this hill-station still in its teens.” He further said Monk was just the sort of person one would be find in a Kipling story. Adding further, Saili said Monk’s tenure was brief. He arrived in Mussoorie in 1840 and left in 1849. He died in Meerut on his journey back to England and the Channel Islands.minent author Ruskin Bond, who has written an introduction to the book, said, “Like thousands, Monk would have disappeared into an oblivion.“
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Face of the week
To counter these challenges, the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre of Uttaarkhand works round the clock to ensure timely relief and rescue operations, apart from augmenting its preparedness to meet such disasters. The centre is manned by some of the finest engineers and geologists of the country. One of them is Dr Girish Chandra Joshi. After completing his schooling and early college studies in the hill district of Almora, Dr Girish Chandra Joshi did his B Tech in civil engineering from the prestigious G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, in 1997-2001. He did his masters of technology in earthquake engineering in 2001-03 with his thesis on seismic hazard evaluation followed by a Ph.D. in earthquake engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee. An authority on earthquake engineering, Joshi has been working hard to ensure sensitisation of administrators, civil engineers, architects and masons in Uttarakhand about earthquake vulnerability and possible preventive actions in substantive and financial terms. Significantly, Joshi in particular initiated mason training programme in Uttarakhand hills to make the traditional masons in the hills get to know of earthquake resistant architecture. Over 5000 masons have already been trained for the purpose. Another major achievement of his is ensuring retrofitting of some of Uttarakhand government schools. The schools in the hills are most vulnerable to destruction during earthquakes. Joshi heads a subcommittee working on a pilot project for retrofitting of schools in Uttarakhand and has even ensured successful retrofitting of many schools of the state. He has also played an important role in the development and dissemination of educational and training materials (IEC) related to earthquakes. Joshi has developed training modules in earthquake engineering for various target groups. He is at present working on probabilistic seismic hazard and risk assessment using various methodologies. Joshi has held certain offices of importance linked to disaster management. He has been convener of the State Earthquake Awareness and Safety Cell, a nodal officer of Uttarakhand for national programme of capacity building for engineers and architect in earthquake risk management and a coordinator for project training and capacity-building programme on seismic strengthening for master and local builders in India. Joshi aims to make Uttarakhand a model state in the sphere of disaster mitigation and management. He admits there is still a lot be done in disaster management but asserts that the state is moving in the right
direction.
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356 take part in skating championship
Dehradun, December 3 P Caroll Joseph, Principal of Kasiga School and the president of the Winter Games Federation, jointly inaugurated the championship. International skaters Aswin Raj and Yati Gupta performed on skates. In the skating races, Vidul Sikka was first while Akshit stood second and Ugen Wanchuk was third in the under 14 category (boys). In the 12-14 category (girls), Yati Gupta was first while Kashish Chawla was second. Meghna Rawat stood third. In the senior skating hockey match, Kasiga School beat Asian School 4-2.
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Dehradun, December 3
Dehradun, December 3