|
|
|
|
|
Kumaon throws weight behind Harish Rawat
Ambrish decides to remain away from political parties
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Number of deaths in tusker attacks rises
More trains announced for Kumaon in Budget
Samiti threatens stir for railway line to Bageshwar
Cong butt of jokes on social networking sites
Gang of motor cycle thieves busted in Haldwani
411 cases disposed of at Lok Adalats
Separate dept for minorities soon
|
|||||||||
|
Kumaon throws weight behind Harish Rawat
Pithoragarh, March 15 But he keeps in touch with his erstwhile parliamentary constituency which is also his political alma mater. “We are ready to fight for Rawatji, who is our leader and only hope for us to lead in fight against the emerging political designs of the BJP and other anti-Congress forces as there is no other leader seems to be taken as an alternative to Harish Rawat,” said Jagat Singh Khati, former Nagar Palika chairman and Rawat loyalist in Pithoragarh. Compelled to shun his ambition of being the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand once again after 2002, the defiant Congress leader represents the political culture of the eighties and was a close associate of the late Sanjay Gandhi. Harish Rawat was given the party ticket from the Almora parliamentary
constituency replacing veteran Congress man and former MP Narendra Singh Bisht in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections. “Being a young face in the Congress and having given the ticket under the youth quota of the party, Rawat obviously became the victim of enmity of the old Congress camp being represented by Narendra Singh Bisht and the generation of politicians of freedom movement,” said the leader. Rawat drew his lessons from the rough Kumaon politics during his initial years and worked hard to make his own political cadre in two districts of Almora and Pithoragarh, which have now been divided into four districts. During his endeavour to establish himself as a leader of the Congress from Almora seat and later in the entire Kumoan region, Rawat started promoting backbenchers of the Congress in the organisation and started elevating them with party tickets from the municipal to gram pradhan level to then Assembly. “On his move to have the political cadre of his own in the region, Rawat even resorted to caste politics and allegedly supported his Thakur caste, neglecting Brahmin leaders,” said a senior leader and former MLA in Pithoragarh district. A senior politician in Kumaon said by replacing the old guards of the Congress inherited from the freedom movement who were based on encasing the legacy of Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, Hargobind Pant and B.D Pandey besides other freedom fighters from the region, Rawat created a new political cadre for the party, which was militant in posture and ready to fight the emerging political force of the BJP supported by the RSS. During his 30-year efforts to become the supreme leader of the Congress in Kumaon, Harish Rawat did not deter from his mission to have his own men at all levels of the party first at regional and later in the state Congress, and lobbied successfully at the national level to remain at higher levels of Congress organisations by taking over as vice-president of INTUC and chairman of the Congress Sewa Dal. “Today in the Kumoan region, the class of Congress workers belonging to the freedom movement are dead and the political workers belonging to ND Tiwari, have also switched over to the Rawat camp as Tiwari has become inactive,” said a veteran the Congress leader in Almora. |
|
|
Ambrish decides to remain away from political parties
Haridwar, March 15 Ambrish Kumar, legislator in Uttar Pradesh in 1997, had recently lost the Assembly elections from Ranipur-BHEL segment as an Independent candidate. Just a few months back he had re-joined Congress on assurance of a party ticket from Haridwar parliamentarian Harish Rawat. But later as his name was missing from the official Congress list, feeling betrayed, Ambrish decided to contest as Independent candidate. Prior to rejoining Congress he had formed Rashtriya Krantikari Manch, a social forum, which he now again wants to revive and use this forum to even contest elections in the near future. Ambrish Kumar, known for his bold, honest, hard working grassroot politician image, held a meeting with his associates and well-wishers, where he expressed his disenchantment with political parties, owing to internal feud and dual nature of the party leaders. “It is almost 40 years since I ventured into politics from Haridwar. I have seen politicians like legendary Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and the current crop of politicians like Harish Rawat. There is a huge difference among these leaders as today’s breed is focusing on self-interests only while development and national vision is lacking among them,” said Ambrish,who urged his supporters to come under one roof of RKM so that they can raise the issues of the region more effectively. Murli Manohar, a former veteran Samajwadi ideologue, said that a majority of the people of Jwalapur-BHEL and Haridwar city have been dedicated to ‘Ambrish bhai’ by voting for him in every election he contested. Now is the time to further boost his capability as political parties have failed to cater to the aspirations of the people of Haridwar. A large number of local people have expressed their willingness to join the Rashtriya Krantikari Morcha, with Ambrish even mulling to contest the Municipal Corporation election by fielding a large number of candidates from this outfit, too. |
|
|
Checking migration from hill states
Dehradun, March 15 Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha in Delhi, Satpal Maharaj said migration had always been a challenge in the hill states. He said the hill states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand had extreme geographical conditions and keep little employment opportunities. He said with the shrinkage of agriculture land, the inhabitants from hill regions had been forced to migrate to the plain areas. Maharaj asked the Centre to come up with a special policy to check the migration from hill regions. He said the policy was needed to increase livelihood opportunities in hill areas. |
|
|
Number of deaths in tusker attacks rises
Dehradun, March 15 The latest being the death of a woman in the Bibiwala area, who had gone to collect fodder in the Rishikesh forest range on Sunday. This Rishikesh range on March 9 was witness to death of a local seer, who was trampled by an elephant. Those engaged in the study of elephants attribute these killings as the fallout of blockage of elephant corridors in Uttarakhand. AK Singh of the Wildlife Trust of India said securing wildlife corridor was very important to minimise man-elephant conflict or else curbing both human and elephant deaths in such conflicts could turn alarming in the days to come. He referred to the contribution of WTI in taking up the Khandgoan shifting that falls in the key Chila Motichor elephant corridor. Echoing similar sentiments, Corbett Park honorary wildlife warden Brijendra Singh suggests a better coordination between forest and state government towards freeing elephant corridors off encroachments. He said blockages of corridors were increasing by the end of the day and there was no solution in sight. The problems aggravate in cases of elephants, who suffer the most due to corridor blockages. He said the problem of food inside forests was also adversely affecting the elephants. As per wildlife conservationists organization sources, as many as 16 persons have lost their lives in Rishikesh and Haridwar regions in the elephant attack cases since the start 2010 till today. Uttarakhand Head of the Wildlife Protection Society of India Rajendra Agarwal too held that the blockage of corridors were proving to be a main reason behind rising man-elephant conflict. He alleged that there had been no sincere efforts so far to secure elephant corridors in the state. Dr Hem Singh Gehlot, who has been undertaking studies on corridors in Uttarakhand, said the wildlife authorities in Uttarakhand should take up on priority the issue of clearing the corridors from encroachments. “Blockages of corridors could be catastrophic for the region’s wildlife and securing this corridor is needed at the earliest”, he observed. |
|
|
More trains announced for Kumaon in Budget
Nainital, March 15 To begin with, the services on certain routes have been extended keeping in view the large number of people preferring to travel by train. In this regard, the re-introduction of a Shatabadi Express between Kathgodam and Anand Vihar terminus four days in a week has been approved. Its timings will coincide with the airconditioned express that plies on this route three days in a week. This means that there will now be a train throughout the week that will be running between the two destinations. In addition to this, preparations are on to start a new train between Ramnagar and Hardwar before this financial year ends. The announcement regarding this train had been made in the Rail Budget last year. The Railways will also carry out a survey for connecting Haldwani with Chorgaliya and Reetha Sahib which is a prominent religious destination of the Sikh. These two lines are a part of 111 new lines, the survey for which is to be carried out in the next financial year. The line between Haldwani and Chorgaliya is expected to be 34-kilometre long while the one between Haldwani and Reetha Sahib is expected to be 125 kilometres. Since both these destinations are in the plain areas, the Railways is not expected to face any problems with regards to the geographical terrain while taking the rail connectivity there. The Railways has also decided to send the matter pertaining to the linking of Bageshwar and Tanakpur with the rail connectivity to the Planning Commission. The issue has been hanging fire for decades and the area has witnessed several public agitations on this issue. The minister has also announced a new weekly train between Lal Kuan and Howrah. It needs to be pointed out that the region draws a lot of tourists from the eastern parts of the country and the introduction of this train will go a long way in addressing their concerns. At the same time, the ministry has the target of converting the gauge between Lal Kuan and Bareilley by the end of the next financial year. It is also learnt that the Railways has decided to extend the Ranikhet Express plying between Kathgodam and Delhi to Jodhpur in
Rajasthan. Proposals
|
|
|
Samiti threatens stir for railway line to Bageshwar
Pithoragarh, March 15 “By announcing more than 100 new trains and submitting a proposal for the Tanakpur and Bageshwar railway line to the Union Finance Ministry, the Railway Ministry has showed that it does not understand the topography of the state and difficulties faced by the people of hill areas. At the same time, the MPs from Uttarakhand were busy in power struggle,” said Gusain Singh Dafauti, president of the sangharsh samiti. Dafauti said he had called an emergency meeting of the samiti at Bageshwar on March 18 to formulate a strategy to renew the struggle for the railway line. He said new trains introduced by the the Railway Minister would benefit more than four crore passengers every year, but the people of the area had been disappointed. “We will now renew our struggle to get our share of railway network as we have been neglected for years,” said Dafauti. He said the chief engineer of the railway construction wing had written a letter to him 10 days ago stating that the survey on the 155-km railway line had been completed and tenders for the Tanakpur to Jauljibi railway line had been invited. However, there had been no progress since then. Dafauti said a survey for the Tanakpur to Bageshwar railway line was first done by the Britishers in 1890. Three more surveys were done since then. “After a survey in 1890, the Britishers again conducted surveys on the railway line in 1912 and 1929. The Indian government conducted another survey in 2006, but nothing happened,” he said. The samiti activists said this strategically important railway line needed more than Rs 4,000 crore but the Railway Ministry had ignored it terming it economically not viable. “Despite a policy of the Railway Ministry of sanctioning railway lines on the basis of social and economic backwardness, the proposal for the Tanakpur to Bageshwar line was not accepted in the absence of any pressure on the Centre,” said Dafauti. He added if the railway line was constructed the journey to Pithoragarh and Bageshwar districts and Terai towns of Haldwani and Tanakpur would be reduced to three hours from the present eight hours. |
|
Leaking sewerage water in Jwalapur a health hazard
Haridwar, March 15 Residents complain that despite municipal authorities, local legislator and politicians being informed about this sewer problem, till date no concrete step has been taken. A group of colony residents had also met District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan and Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat in this regard but their assurances don’t seem to be materialising on the ground. Noorjahan, a social activist, pointed that she had also brought this problem to the notice of newly elected local legislator Chandra Sekhar Bhattewala, who also has promised to look into this aspect on priority after the current turmoil in the state politics got over. Noorjahan also feared that with the summer season arriving, this sewer water is also posing as a health hazard, particularly young children who are getting infected as choked sewer water is perforating in the nearby drinking water lines, which have not been repaired for many years. Another resident Mohammed Raffiq added that a few months back a pilot project was being initiated by the district administration under a Central scheme in the colony to provide better infrastructure, but that too seems to be a thing of the past as no one seems to be a bit concerned about our woes. When contacted, accounts officer of the Municipal Corporation BL Arya said that as the matter had come to his notice, he will look into this and assured that in a few days the colony residents will get rid of sewer water. |
|
Cong butt of jokes on social networking sites
Nainital, March 15 Party critics who are at times also members of other political parties have hit out hard at the Congress for allowing such a situation to emerge in a state which is amongst the youngest in the Indian federal structure. The most effective platform chosen by the educated observers has been the social networking sites and the responses drawn show that the people are looking skeptically at every development and are pretty disillusioned by what has been unfolding over the last few days. For example, when the tussle was on between the various front-runners to be projected as the new Chief Minister of the state, a message in the form of an employment advertisement was promptly put by on a social networking site. The advertisement read: “Uttarakhand Congress needs a Chief Minister. Essential qualifications: 1. Can run the state for the next five years. 2. Can rope in the Independents and the BSP legislators. 3. Is close to Sonia (Gandhi) Madam. 4. Has nothing to do with public interests. 5. Should be well versed in caste and regional affairs.” The message had then asked the applicants to apply at the state office of the Congress Party in Dehradun. Once the party went on to announce the name of Vijay Bahuguna as the new Chief Minister, the decision again drew a lot of sarcastic responses from the netizens on the social networking sites. This time around they attacked Bahuguna while comparing him to his father, the legendary Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna. A message said that while Bahuguna senior had even taken on Indira Gandhi, his son is being seen close to Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Another parallel drawn in a negative taste is that while Bahuguna senior was “Uttarakhand ka Gaurav”, the younger one has emerged as “Uttarkhand ki majboori”. Then there is a cartoon sketch doing the rounds in which a lady is shown complaining to her husband: “Our Pappu has failed in exams once again.” The husband shown in the garb of a leader is shown stating: “Don’t worry, we have a family profession of politics.” The message once again hits at promotion of dynastic politics of which the Congress is often accused. However, there is also a contradictory message about the SP and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) doing the same but it is the Congress that is being targeted. |
|
Kisan Mela
Nainital, March 15 Selected progressive farmers from 13 districts of Uttarakhand were also honoured during the inaugural session of the event. Inaugurating the event, the university Vice-Chancellor, Dr BS Bisht said, “We have been lagging behind because the farmers usually assign a low priority to modern and scientific ways of farming.” Dr Bisht said the university had been constantly working to evolve new and advanced knowledge in agriculture and farmers should come forward to demand more knowledge in terms of the latest and location-specific agriculture technology. He said the university had so far developed more than 240 new varieties of different crops and was widely famous for good quality seeds. A retired Professor of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences of the university and now a member of the university’s Board of Management, Dr SK Bhadula said in this event farmers from even the neighbouring countries like Nepal and Afghanistan participate which was an indicator of its popularity and utility. KS Panwar, a progressive farmer and board member, reiterated the need for following the scientific ways of farming in improving farm prosperity. He said hill agriculture was quite unique in its make up as it consisted of small landholdings which required an altogether different farming approach to stop the migration of youths from hills. Director, extension education, and chief coordinator of the event Dr YPS Dabas elaborated on the objectives of the mela which included the showcasing of the latest and best in agriculture technology besides providing a platform for interaction between farmers and scientists. |
|
Gang of motor cycle thieves busted in Haldwani
Nainital, March 15 It is learnt that the accused used to sell the stolen motorcycles at cheaper rates after lifting them from various parts of the town, its adjoining areas and other cities. The persons allegedly involved in auto theft have been identified as Arjun Ram of Rajpura, Rituraj Valmiki of Nawabi Road and Ankit Kumar of Kaladhungi. They were nabbed from Chambal Pul area of the town. The three allegedly used to remove the number plates of the stolen vehicles and then went on to sell them at cheaper rates. The five vehicles recovered from them had allegedly been stolen from Haldwani, Delhi and Kaladhungi. One of the accused Arjun Ram is learnt to have lifted the motorcycle belonging to a hotel owner on Rampur Road where he was employed. He had allegedly stolen the vehicle following his employer not giving him wages for three months. All three accused are in their early twenties. It is learnt that they used to steal the vehicles to get some easy money to show off before their peer group. |
|
411 cases disposed of at Lok Adalats
Nainital, March 15 Disposing of 13 cases of motor accidents, a sum of Rs 17.02 lakh was realised as compensation to be paid to the victims and their kin. Similarly, more than Rs 5 lakh was realised as fine in cases pertaining to minor civil disputes and other matters. Similar matters were also disposed of at Lok Adalats held in Kashipur and Khatima.
— TNS |
|
Separate dept for minorities soon
Dehradun, March 15 Interacting with the delegation members, Bahuguna said a separate department would be set up in the
state to speed up welfare programmes for the minority communities. Kazi Deen Mohammed of Dehradun, Congress leader Najma Khan, MN Farooqui, Kari Murtaza, Razzak Hassan, Mohammed Muzmil, Iliyas Ahmed, Maskoor Pradhan, Mufti Uttarakhand Salim Sahib, leader of the opposition in the Dehradun Municipal Corporation Ashok Verma, newly elected Congress MLA Shail Rani Rawat and District Zila Panchayat president Madhu Chauhan were present. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Taking into consideration the three-and-a-half- decade-long political experience that Ambrish Kumar had with major political parties, finally, the veteran politician has decided to keep distance from any political party and instead work for the people under a separate social forum.
