Unprepared, Revenue Minister faces heat in Assembly
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 6
The inane and listless replies by Revenue Minister Yashpal Arya given during Question Hour in the Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday vetted the appetite of the opposition benches which forced the Speaker to suspend two questions for another day.

The absence of any home work done by the senior minister in the Bahuguna Cabinet attracted all sorts of attacks from the Opposition with the Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt commenting that the minister had been busy in “Sitarganj in the Kiran Mandal”, operation and possibly had no time to do his home work.

When BJP MLA Dan Singh Arya asked Revenue Minister Yashpal Arya if the government had planned to allocate land to the landless as well in the state. The minister failed to satisfy the MLA.

Similarly to another question posed to Yashpal Arya about the number of Hydrums functioning in Pithoragarh, he failed to satisfy BJP MLA BS Chufal who had put the question.

Central assistance

Once again, BJP and Congress MLAs crossed swords in the Assembly on the issue of Central assistance being given to the state government under the centrally funded programmes.

Ajay Bhatt charged the Central Government with pursuing discriminatory policies against the state government by not providing Central grants-in-aid on the lines of the north-eastern states and also ending the industrial package well before its term.

During Question Hour today, BJP MLA Madan Kaushik wanted to know if the recent meeting with Union Rural Development Minister Jai Ram Ramesh had yielded results and if the Central Government had agreed to provide assistance in the ratio of 90:10 (Centre and state share) in all Central programmes.

To this, Planning Minister Dinesh Aggarwal replied that the state government had been promised a favourable response on the issue. He also informed the House that Uttarakhand would be able to get Rs 3,000 crore as Central assistance if the Centre agreed to fund 38 more schemes in the ratio of 90:10 (Centre and state share). As of now the ratio of assistance was 50:50 in 38 schemes. While in 19 schemes, the ratio of assistance is 90:10.

To a supplementary posed by former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, if the Bahuguna government was pursuing the matter for receiving grants akin to north-eastern states as along with north-eastern states, Uttarakhand too was accorded the status of a special category.

To this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hriyadesh replied that the case scenario for providing grants to north-eastern states was different and this could not be compared with Uttarakhand. The reply did not satisfy the opposition benches who staged a token walk-out.

Rehabilitation in Karligaad

The Uttarakhand Government has so far not initiated any preventive measures in (Sahastradhara) that was hit by natural disaster last year. In a reply to a supplementary question posed by BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi, the Disaster Management Minister Yashpal Arya said so far no preventive measures had been taken in Karligaad. Besides, the house was informed that a total of 233 villages had been earmarked as sensitive (after being hit by disaster), out which the survey of 101 villages had been undertaken and the survey of the remaining villages is also on.

In Chamoli 49 villages, Bageshwar 92 villages, Nainital 6 villages, Pauri 19 villages, Dehradun 2 and Rudraprayag 1 village, Uttarakashi 5 villages have been affected by natural disaster (in the last five years).

Three poachers arrested in Corbett
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 6
Three poachers have been arrested by the state wildlife authorities from the Corbett National Park area.

At a joint press conference held here today, state Chief Wildlife Warden SS Sharma and Director, Corbett National Park, RK Mishra said the trio --- Ramesh Bagri, Tarachand Bagri and Girnia Bagri --- belonged to Haryana and were arrested from Savledeya near the Bijrani zone of Corbett yesterday. A trap and an iron road had also been recovered from their possession.

To a query, Mishra denied that any incident of tiger poaching had taken place in the Corbett National Park recently. Meanwhile, a 15-day-old cub that was trapped in a forest fire at Hempur died today.

Admin no to liquor shops in villages
Fasting women celebrate victory
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June 6
Members of various women organisations who had been on relay fast for the past over two months against the proposed opening of liquor shops in Pulla and Kimtoli villages of Lohagaht subdivision, Champawat, today heaved a sigh of relief when the district administration announced that the shops would not be opened.

BL Firmal, SDM, Lohaghat, said now mobile vehicles would sell liquor in these places once a week. However, Basanti Samant, leader of the agitating women's group, said they would not allow even mobile vehicles to sell liquor in the area. And if the administration did not do anything in this regard, they would re-launch their agitation, she added.

As soon as the agitating women received the news, they started raising slogans. Later, former Zila Panchayat chairman Shankar Dutt Pandey offered juice to the agitating women.

Women also took out a victory procession to express their gratitude to those who stood by them during their agitation. “We have warned the administration that we will re-launch the agitation if the administration did not drop its proposal to sell liquor through mobile vans,” said Sheela Adhikari, one of the agitating women.

Water crisis continues in Kumaon region
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June 6
The Kumaon region is reeling under a severe drinking water crisis.

Almora town is in the grip of worst water crisis as the Koshi river, which supplies water to the 80,000 population of the temple town, has gone dry to the level of one-third. “The pump house at Koshi, which lifts water to the town, has remained at 5 MLD apacity down from 14 MLD, which is the installed capacity of the project.” said VK Mishra, Jal Sansthan Executive engineer.

According to experts, the Himalayan rivers are having fewer waters as the glaciers which feed these rivers are melting. “The snowline in the Himalayas has gone down to 6000 feet from 9000 feet in the last three decades due to warming, resulting in melting of glaciers.’ said Dr J.N Pant, a botanist teaching in the local PG College.

Another Himalayan wanderer and a member of Pahar team, an NGO working on the matters of environment and social life of the hill region, Dr Lalit Pant, said that the main glaciers of the state, Gangotri, Ralam, Raktavarna, Meru, Sunderdhunga and Pindari have developed a tendency of melting rapidly in the past 20 years. “These glaciers are melting with a rate of 3 to 5 km per decade,” said Pant.

People in Kumaon region have now resorted to superstitions after being disappointed from the government side. The village women in Thal area offered 1,000 pitcher full of water, brought from local rivers to please the deity for rains, but the people of Dwarahat have gone a step further to please the local rain deitiy and have starting observing fast in the temple of local Nagarjun Dev.

In Pithoragarh as the rush of people from cities to escape summer increases on local households, the water crisis is forcing them to make arrangments for the guests in local hotels and guest houses as they have no water available for these guests in their houses.

Daulaghat villagers celebrate Joshi's elevation as Naval Chief
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, June 6
With the elevation of Vice-Admiral DK Joshi, a native of Almora, as the next Naval Chief of the country, Almora, the erstwhile capital city of Kumaon, once again remembers its valiant and diplomatic traditions related to Dewan Harakhdev Joshi, the 18th century diplomat and warrior at Almora court, who dethroned 10 puppet kings, including the Gorkhas, with his bravery and the entire Joshi clan draws inspiration from him till today.

“We celebrated the elevation of General BC Joshi as the Chief of the Army in 1993 and now we are celebrating the nomination of Vice-Admiral DK Joshi as the next Naval Chief of the country,” said Jeewan Joshi, a resident of the Daulaghat village and himself a retired Naval officer.

DK Joshi, who was born in his native Daulaghat village in Hawalbagh block of the district, had his primary education in his village as his father was a Conservator of Forests of Kumaon at the time he was born. “It is a rare honour for our village which will be known as the native village of a Naval Chief, though his family has shifted to Dehradun much earlier,” said Jeewan Joshi.

The villagers in Daulaghat gathered at the ancestral residence of Joshi after the news reached the village and distributed sweets to celebrated the occasion.

“I had the privilege to meet him several times and found him sensitive to his roots and culture in Almora,” said Narendra Kumar Joshi, a pharmacist and nephew of the next Naval Chief.

DK Joshi, an alumnus of Hansraj College of Delhi University, had his secondary education from Government School, Nainital, and is eldest as his brother is serving as an mechanical engineer in Atlanta and his younger sister is a doctor.

Retired Army and Naval officers foresee major challenges and opportunities before Joshi. “Having been a commander of our aircraft carrier ship Virat, he will also see induction of second aircraft carrier, Vikramaditya, (changed name of Russian aircraft carrier Gorshokov), which will be inducted into the Navy soon. He will also have to face the challenge from Chinese at South China sea, where India is involved in oil exploration,” said Lt Gen Mohan Bhandari (retd).

Gentlemen Cadets honoured
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 6
The award ceremony of the passing-out course of 130 regular and parallel courses was held at Khetarpal Auditorium of the Indian Military Academy.

Commandant, Indian Military Academy, Lt Gen Manvender Singh, gave away the awards to outstanding Gentlemen Cadets who excelled in various fields during their pre-commission training at the academy.

In his address to the Gentlemen Cadets, Lt Gen Manvender Singh congratulated them on successfully completing their training at the Indian Military Academy which was difficult, arduous, challenging, taxing and precarious, fraught with risks. At the end, the Commandant wished Gentleman Cadets good luck and success in life.

Gentlemen Cadets during their course of training at this premier institution were judged in varied fields and were awarded according to their performances. These awards were given in recognition of their work and dedication not only in exhibiting the qualities but also an endeavour to achieve excellence to perfection.

The Gentlemen Cadets were judged in individual as well as group activities, which was an essential component of military training and leadership qualities during both war and peace as the Army life was a tough life and full of challenges to be overcome with great vigilance ability, dedication and sheer willpower. The Army life should never cease to the limits of earning a livelihood.

On this occasion, Ranjana Singh, the first lady of the Indian Military Academy, released the IMA Journal Spring Term 2012.

Earlier, medals were handed over to the Gentleman Cadets. The Parachute Regiment Medal award was bagged by Ravi Kumar, Rajputana Rifle, Medal award was bagged by Vimlesh Kumar, Colack Medal was won by Abhilek Mishra and IMA running course trophy was bagged by Abhay Sharma.

Further, Army Commandant's Banner was bagged by Basanter Company, Commandant's medal was bagged by the Dogra Company and the Government of Uttarakhand Trophy was won by Chandan Kumar.

IMA team back after scaling Mt Rudugaira
Tribune News service

The IMA expedition that scaled Mount Rudugaira in Garhwal Himalayas along with Lt-Gen Manvendra Singh, IMA Commandant, on their return in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, June 6
A mountaineering expedition of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) to Mount Rudugaira at an altitude of 19,500 ft in the region of the Gangotri National Park in Garhwal Himalayas returned after scaling the peak. They were received by the IMA Commandant Lt Gen Manvendra Singh here today.

The expedition, comprising officers, junior commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers and 14 gentlemen cadets, was flagged off from the Indian Military Academy by Lt Gen Manvender Singh, on May 19.

The expedition started with the first night halt at the National Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, from where they moved to Harsil and stayed there till May 25 for first stage of acclimatisation. At the Base Camp, the team underwent basic ice craft training and second stage acclimatisation and, thereafter, moved to Advance Base Camp (Camp III) on May 30. After the completion of the third stage of acclimatisation, they moved to summit camp (16000ft) on June 2. The team started their summit attempt on June 3 at 3 am and at 9.40 am they scaled the peak. The team returned to the Indian Military Academy on June 5.

Corpus for man-animal conflict on cards
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 6
While replying to a question under Rule 58, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hriyadesh today said all efforts to provide protection to crops against animal attack had proved futile and the government was contemplating setting up a fund for taking steps against man-animal conflict.

While replying to a question raised by BJP MLA Yatishveranand who wanted to know the steps taken by the government to prevent man-animal conflict, Indira Hriyadesh informed the House that despite previous efforts yielding little results, a proposal in 2012-2013 to erect a 14 km solar energy barbed wire in 16 villages adjacent to the Ganga that was in the centre of the man-animal conflict under CAMPA has come up.

Observatory for seeing transit of Venus
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 6
Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists and Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology today established an observatory for observing the transit of Venus.

This significant event was witnessed by the people of Uttarakhand at UCOST Vasant Vihar office with the support of SPECS in the wee hours of the day. Even the disabled persons came all the way long to witness the event. More than 300 people were witness of this great historic event.

The transit started around 5.20 am in India till 10.22 am. Although it was cloudy in the morning, it still did not hamper the spirit of the organisers and the viewers. The first glimpse of the transit was witnessed around 7.41 am and second one was visible at 8.47 am to 9.12 am. The last glimpse was seen at around 10.12 a.m.

"On June 6, from 3.00 am to 10:22 in the morning, the planet Venus passed across the disc of the sun. The event is known as the transit of venus. It has great scientific significance, since the earth is the third planet from the sun, the transit can be observed only for the inner planets of the solar system, Mercury and Venus. The transit of Mercury occurs 13-14 times in a century, but in the case of Venus it is extremely rare," disclosed Dr. Brij Mohan Sharma of SPECS.

'Shanghai' screened for IAS officers in Mussoorie
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, June 6
Filmmaker Dibakar Bannerjee and actor Abhay Deol were in Mussoorie yesterday where they screened 'Shanghai' feature film to a batch of IAS officers at Lal Bahadur Shastri auditorium.

Abhay Deol plays a Tamilian IAS officer in the film that has already run into controversy due to it's one song item, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai.'

The world premiere of the film will take place at the upcoming IIFA awards in Singapore.

According to sources, the lead actor of the film Abhay Deol and the director Dibakar Bannerjee arrived at Lal Bhadur Shastri National Academy of Administration yesterday and showcased their film to the trainee IAS officers as Abhay Deol's character has been taken from the IAS world.

The duo left from the academy at around 5 pm in the evening. The views of the IAS lobby who saw the film could not be ascertained as the media of the town was kept at a distance from the crew here. Abhay Deol also had an interactive session after the screening of the movie here.

Meanwhile, a PIL petition has already been filed in the Delhi High Court for an interim stay on the release of forthcoming Bollywood film 'Shanghai' until its controversial song, 'Bharat Mata ki Jai,' is removed.

The director, however, has termed it as a token of gratitude towards the officers from the service, said sources.

2 killed as truck falls into gorge

Dehradun, June 6
Two persons were killed while three others were injured when the truck (UK-3 CA-0223) they were travelling in fell into a deep gorge near Amru Band today.

They were on their way to Tanakpur from Lohaghat when the accident took place. The injured have been admitted to Primary Health Centre, Tanakpur. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has expressed grief over the mishap. He prayed for the peace of the departed souls and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured. — TNS

3 criminals arrested
Stolen items worth Rs 2 lakh recovered
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 6
The cantt police arrested three hardened thieves, Farukh Ali, resident of Muslim Colony, Javed, resident of Vasant Vihar, and Gurcharan, resident of Rishikesh, for committing a number of thefts in the city and Rishikesh. The police has recovered stolen items, including jewellery, laptops, watches, mobile phones worth Rs 2 lakh from them.

Fourth accused Rahul Bhatt, who used to look out for vacant houses and inform about them to the rest of the gang, is absconding.

It was on Tuesday night that the Cheetah police during night patrolling in Rajender Nagar spotted three men moving around aimlessly. The suspects tried to flee when the police went near them. However, the police managed to catch hold of Farukh and Javed, though Rahul ran away.

On further interrogation, they got to know that Farukh, who was released from jail on April 25 on charges of theft, met Gurcharan in jail and together they hatched a plan to commit thefts. When

both came out of jail, they broke into a number of houses in Rishikesh.

The stolen articles had remained unsold and had been lying with Gurcharan. The accused also admitted to breaking window glasses of a car on Chakrata Road in Dehradun and stealing a laptop and two mobile phones, and besides that, five laptops from a house in Bidoli, Prem Nagar, in the city. Gurcharan was arrested on the information given by the other two accused. Farukh and Javed had been arrested many times.

Gurcharan and his wife are registered as history sheeters in Rishikesh police station.

SSP Neeru Garg appreciated Cheetah police for it's prompt action in catching hold of hardened criminals and announced a reward for the policemen.

Crime briefs

Suicide attempt

Dehradun: Balbir Kumar, 45, resident of Hathibadkala, who would do lowly jobs such as brooming and cleaning dishes in houses, attempted to commit suicide by swallowing pesticide in on Wednesday. He was taken to Doon hospital immediately, where he is stated to be out of danger. The police is yet to ascertain the exact cause which led him to take his own life. Kumar has wife and two children.

Held for rape

Dehradun:The cantt police arrested Rahul, 16, carpenter for raping five-year-old girl, daughter of another carpenter Rajender Singh, resident of Panditwari. It was on Wednesday morning that the mother of the child came to know of the girl's condition, as she remained mum throughout the night after she was raped in the evening yesterday. Rahul lured her when she was playing outside her house and took her to an abandoned place in the vicinity and raped her. He confessed to the crime and has bee sent to jail.

Mock drill

Dehradun: The city police conducted a mock drill in Indian Military Academy in the evening today in the wake of the Passing Out Parade (POP) to take place on June 9. The ritual of mock drill is conducted by city police with the collaboration of IMA before every POP to ensure safety and security during this highly sensitive event.

Memo to DG

Dehradun: A delegation of 45 men and women submitted a memorandum to Director General of Police, Vijay Raghav Pant, on Wednesday, demanding a CID enquiry into Rs 6 crore chit fund scam of Nehru Colony in which main accused Nahid Anjum, her daughter and husband had already been arrested. The DGP assured them to look into the matter.

Faridabad team win two matches
Tribune News Service

A player in action in a match during the Arun Singh Kathait Memorial Women Cricket Tournament in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, June 6
Barsa XI, Faridabad, won two matches in the Arun Singh Kathait Memorial Women Cricket Tournament organised by the Little Master Cricket Club at Rangers' College ground in Dehradun here today.

In their first, Gorakhpur XI defeated Veer XI, Haryana, by 10 wickets. Batting first Veer XI, scored 75 runs all out in 11 overs. Jyoti Dhawan was the top scorer with 13 runs to her credit. In reply, Gorakhpur XI scored 76 runs without any loss to win the match by 10 wickets. Openers Supriya and Antima scored 22 and 24 runs to win the game for their team.

In their second match, Gorakhpur XI was beaten by Barsa XI by nine wickets. Gorakhpur XI scored 89 runs for nine wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Supriya scored 36 runs while Sarika took three wickets for 20 runs. Barsa XI won the match by nine wickets with the help of a brilliant unbeaten 52 runs by Sarika.

In the third match, Barsa XI defeated Veer XI Haryana by nine wickets. Batting first Veer XI, Haryana scored 97 runs all out in 20 overs. Barsa XI scored 99 runs for the loss of one wicket to win the match by nine wickets. Sarika again was the top scorer with 41 runs.

In the last match, Benaras XI beat Barsa XI by seven wickets. Batting first Barsa XI scored 89 runs for eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Iram was the top scorer with 27 runs. In reply, Benaras XI scored 91 runs for three wickets to win the match by seven wickets. Naina scored 35 un beaten runs for Benaras team.

Patwal gets bronze blind judo c’ship
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 6
Manvendra Singh Patwal has brought fame to Uttarakhand. Patwal has won bronze in the 81 kg category in the International Blind Judo Championship held at Lithuania recently.

Interacting with mediapersons in Dehradun today, Patwal said he had tough fights with contestants from Crotia and Czech Republic in the championship but was able to clinch to the bronze medal. He expressed gratitude to the Blind Judo Association of India for sponsoring his trip to the championship.

A resident of Kotdwar in Garhwal region of the state, Patwal who is present working in the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi also shared his experiences as student of the National Institute of Visually Handicapped (NIVH).

President of the Blind Judo Association of India VK Gupta said it was for the first time that an Indian had bagged a medal in the International Blind Judo Championship.

He disclosed that he was now preparing for the forthcoming Parolympics.