Separate Directorate for Medical Education soon
Dehradun, July 6
State Minister for Medical Education Harak Singh Rawat said after establishing a separate department for Medical Education, the government would soon set up a separate Directorate for Medical Education.

Dehradun July 6
A team of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) could not remove hoardings installed illegally on rooftops of buildings allover the city today as it could not get the support of required police force. City Magistrate Harak Singh Rawat, who was to lead the campaign, was also not in the town.

Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Ashok Kumar said the SP, City, expressed helplessness in providing the police support for the campaign as a large part of the district police had been sent to Haridwar and Rishikesh to maintain law and order during the Kanwar mela. The District Magistrate too asked Ashok Kumar to begin the campaign Saturday onwards, as the City Magistrate, who had gone to attend a hearing in the Supreme Court regarding a state government case, would be available 
tomorrow.

Ashok Kumar, however, sent a team led by Executive Engineer Ravi Pandey today to remove hoardings. The team returned empty-handed as it was raining heavily in the city.

The High Court had given the deadline of July 11 to remove all illegal hoardings installed on rooftops of the buildings in the city. A private company, which had furnished a fresh tender to install its hoardings, had asked the DMC to first remove the present hoardings from the buildings.

The DMC dithered in undertaking the task as many of these hoardings belonged to political heavyweights of the city. But the High Court declared all such hoardings illegal and directed the DMC to remove them by July 11.

With a few days left to meet the deadline, the DMC is facing problems due to lack of police support and a shortage of staff. Its employees are engaged in cleaning drains, repair work and maintaining sanitation ahead of the monsoon.

Ashok Kumar, however, said the DMC team would remove the hoardings on Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. 

Dehradun, July 6
The Education Department today released the revised Teachers' (School Education) Transfer and Promotion Policy 2011 that will now be implemented in the state in place of the Transfer Act for this academic session.

The government has also extended the last date for transfer from July 5 to August 12 terming it as extended transfer session.

According to the revised transfer policy, male teachers in the age group of 57 and above and female teachers in the age group of 56 and above will be exempted from transfer in the remote areas of the state.

The revised policy has also brought in riders to check the monopoly of the minister concerned. Five per cent quota had been assigned to his discretion for carrying out transfers. Now the minister will have to seek approval from the Chief Minister in case he wants to bring changes in this particular section of the policy.

Besides all cases of mid-session transfers (ie after August 15, 2012), the decision will be taken by the UttarakhandGovernment.

Dehradun, July 6
State Minister for Medical Education Harak Singh Rawat said after establishing a separate department for Medical Education, the government would soon set up a separate Directorate for Medical Education.

Stating this today, the minister said the Directorate would be served by a Director of Medical Education and other key positions would be created.

During the tenure of the BJP in state, a separate Department of Medical Education was created but it was not followed by setting up a separate Directorate. Now with number of medical, paramedical and nursing colleges expected to increase in the state, a separate Directorate has become a necessity.

Meanwhile, the minister also gave a go ahead for framing up of rules and regulations for the university that would look into the appointment and promotional issues of doctors. “Though the Srinagar Medical College was set up in 2008, the government failed to formulate rules and regulations for the Medical College. The rules and regulation will also address the promotional issues of the faculty. As soon as the rules and regulations are formulated, we will seek approval from the Cabinet,” said Rawat.

Haridwar, July 6
The Moradabad-Dehradun Link Express today did not stop at Haridwar railway station as its brakes reportedly failed.

Hundreds of passengers who were waiting for the train were taken by surprise when it, instead of halting at the railway station at 11:05 am, did not stop. It could be stopped only after it covered more than 1.5 km.

Moradabad railway division officials and rescue teams were also called in at Haridwar railway station.

Train driver Prem Narayan said the train did not stop as its brakes failed. Narayan said though he tried to apply the emergency brakes, the train could be stopped 1,500 m away from the railway station. The passengers also pulled the chains to stop the train.

A special medical team was also called in to examine whether the train driver, assistant driver Brijesh Kumar and railway guard JP Gupta were drunk.

Though Narayan refused to having consumed liquor, some passengers said he was talking over the phone while driving.

Station superintendent Samarendra Goswami said they were investigating the matter. “The exact reason will be clear only after the investigation report. All passengers are safe and the train has headed towards its destination, Dehradun. As the Haridwar railway station comes under the Moradabad division, we had apprised the divisional officials of the incident,” said Goswami.

He said if the employees were found guilty, departmental action would be taken against them.

Dehradun, July 6
Minister for Planning, Sports and Youth Welfare Dinesh Agarwal said the matchless commitment towards democratic and human values by the Dalai Lama was evident when he allowed the Tibetans to elect their leader through a democratic process. HE said this at a ceremony to mark the 77 birth anniversary of the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetans.

Members of the Tibetan Women’s Association present a cultural programme to mark the Dalai Lama’s birthday celebrations in Mussoorie on Friday.

“His Holiness the Dalai Lama has always inspired people all across the world and continues to do so,” said Agarwal at the ceremony.

He gave an assurance to the community settled in the state that people of Dehradun would continue to extend help to them.

Former minister Hira Singh Bisht spoke of his meetings with the Dalai Lama, who had visited Dehradun on two occasions, and said he sensed optimism in his voice every time he spoke about Tibet.

On the occasion, a short biography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama was released by Agarwal.

Earlier, a mix of Tibetan and Indian cultural programmes marked the celebrations of the day.

“We know the lives of our Tibetan brothers and sisters is in great peril in occupied Tibet but today we only want to celebrate and wish our leader a long life,” said Samkyi, Tibetan spokesperson.

Tibetans assemble at Buddha Temple

Mussoorie: Hundreds of Tibetans-in-exiles celebrated the 77th birthday of their spiritual head, the Dalai Lama, with fervour and gaiety here today.

The Tibetan community under the banner of the Tibetan Women’s Association assembled at Buddha Temple in the Happy valley and offered special prayers for the long life of His Holiness.

Students from central school for Tibetans, the Tibetan Homes Foundation, accompanied by members from the Tibetan Women’s Association also presented several cultural items to mark the grand celebrations in honour of the Dalai Lama.

Born on July 6, 1935, at Taktser hamlet in northeastern Tibet, the Dalai Lama was recognised at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.

He fled Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in March 17, 1959, and based his government-in-exile here that never won recognition from any country.

Dehradun, July 6
DIG, Dehradun Range, Sanjay Gunjiyal held a meeting to review the crime situation in the city today. The SSP, the SP, City, the SP (Rural), Circle Officers and Station Officers of all police stations were present at the meeting.

Gunjiyal discussed the criminal cases of the past three years and directed the officers present to adopt various ways to work out the pending cases.

He stressed on professional policing which banked upon intelligence in gathering clues to solve cases quickly, besides involved using Sections 82 and 83 for issuing court warrants and declaring awards for nabbing criminals.

Taking cognisance of rape or murder cases involving women and minors, the DIG discussed the progress report of such cases in detail.

He asked the Station Officer, Cantonment, where two rape cases were yet to be solved, to send him the details of action taken.

With regard to theft and robbery cases, Gunjiyal asked the Circle Officers to draw an action plan at the crime scene itself and monitor the entire sequence of the follow up action themselves. He also directed them to deal with those cases separately which had been enlisted for reinvestigation. 

Mussoorie, July 6
Residents of Landour Bazaar today met the MC president OP Uniyal at his office here and lamented the fact that the area had been neglected from the tourism map of the town for past several years.

The MC president assured them of carrying out the development works in the area on priority basis.

The residents of the area complained about the second grade treatment being meted out to the area as no development project had been formulated by the MC to attract the tourists despite several reminders in the past.

Mussoorie Traders’ Association president Rajat Agarwal pointed out that the road leading to the bazaar was in irreparable condition and no effort was being made to repair it. He also said the MC had failed to develop any new tourist destination resulting in less inflow of tourists in the area, forcing them to rely on other avenues of income.

The traders also demanded to remove the parking from the road above the MDDA parking area as it was created nuisance and frequent traffic jams leading to inconvenience to everyone.

They also demanded to initiate the repair of the road from Picture Palace to Landour Bazaar and reconstruction of the demolished Clock Tower in the larger interest of the area. The traders also suggested opening an ecological park in Landour Bazaar similar to the one in Dhanaulti.

MC president, after hearing the residents, directed PWD JE V Nawani who assured the traders the department would start the repair work from July 9. Uniyal gave an assurance that the MC was planning on developing new tourist destination in the area. He also informed the residents that the MC was planning to beautify the Lal Tibba area. He directed the officials to improve the condition of the public toilets along with other facilities.

He also said the MC would also construct new ‘hawa ghars’ at Landour Bazaar. Uniyal also said the MC had also given contract for the reconstruction of the Clock Tower, which will be completed within few months. The traders also extended their support for the same and said they would provide assistance to the MC.

Dehradun, July 6
Chilla hydro-power house at Rishikesh had to be closed for almost five hours due to deposition of silt because of which it fell short of generating 135 MW electricity today.

According to official release, the rural belt of Haridwar had faced powercut for three hours and Rishikesh, Haridwar and Jawalapur had for one hour. 

Dehradun, July 6
Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat today inaugurated a counter of saplings for sale outside Gandhi Park in Dehradun. The counter that is providing saplings to people at a reasonable price is part of celebration of Vanamahotsava by the Uttarakhand Forest Department.

In his address, Rawat said during the past few years, it was observed that people were not getting saplings despite their willingness to plant trees during the rainy season.

“So we have opened this sale counter at a prominent place like Rajpur Road where people can buy it at a minimum price”, he said.

He said the Forest Department was expecting the sale of at least 1,000 sapling per day from the counter. He, however, said the sale was certainly not their target and the department wanted to encourage Dehradun residents to plant more and more trees. Rawat said more such counters would be opened in other parts of the city.

Bamboo, amla and saplings of other species were being sold through the counters. Dehradun Divisional Forest Officer Meenakshi Joshi was also present on the occasion.

Dehradun, July 6
Kedarnath Congress MLA Shaila Rani Rawat has appealed to Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi for immediate start of construction work on the hydropower projects of Uttarakhand scrapped by the Centre.

In a letter written to Sonia Gandhi, the Congress MLA disclosed that most of the construction works of 330 mega watt Srinagar Hydro Power Project and 444 mega watt Vishnugaad Pipalkoti hydropower project had been completed. So there was no point in scrapping these projects at this stage.

Rawat said even in her constituency, hydropower projects such as 600 mega watt Lohari Nagpala, 480 mega watt Pala Maneri and 380 mega watt Bhairon Ghati had been scrapped. She said these projects in no way affect the environment and asserted that with little employment opportunities in the hills, these projects stood as major source of employment for the local people.

“Even these power projects will help catering to growing power needs of Uttarakhand”, Shaila Rani Rawat argued. She even pointed out that it was wrong to blame Uttarakhand for pollution in the Ganga. The pollution in Ganga begins after it enters the plain areas of Uttar Pradesh”, she observed.