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Former CM Nishank's wife dies of cancer
Migration of villagers continues
CM distributes sweets to visually challenged students
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Forest officials told to keep a tab on owl poaching in state
Samiti for development of Naini Danda region
Dharna by Kunau villagers enters day11
President to visit Haridwar
Army choppers to shower petals on Badrinath temple
Workshop on pharma management
Eco Club for green Divali
Narender member of IEI council
SSA for comprehensive evaluation system
BJP celebrates state foundation day
Tehri defeat forced Bahuguna to shift focus on Gairsain
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Former CM Nishank's wife dies of cancer
Dehradun, November 11 Kusum Kanta complained of uneasiness around 5.30 am at her Circuit House Annexure residence following which she was rushed to Combined Medical Institute, where she subsequently breathed her last. A pall of gloom descended on Uttarakhand as soon as the news of demise of Nishank's wife spread across the state. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna rushed to former Chief Minister Nishank's residence and expressed shock. He offered his floral tributes to Kusum Kanta Pokhriyal. Bahuguna later participated in her last rites that took place at Kankhal, Haridwar. People from all walks of life, including politicians, social workers and students, converged at the residence of Dr Nishank to offer their condolences. Uttarakhand Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi too expressed grief at the demise of Kusum Pokhriyal. The Governor has also prayed for the peace of the departed soul and for strength to the bereaved family to
bear the loss. Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri also expressed shock over her demise He also conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family. Uttarakhand Cabinet ministers Indira Hridyesh and Yashpal Arya too conveyed condolences to Dr Nishank. Body cremated at Kankhal HARIDWAR: The last rites of Kusum Pokhriyal, wife of BJP vice-national chief Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, were performed today at the Ganga ghat here. People from all walks of life, irrespective of party affiliations, thronged the cremation site at Kankhal where tributes were paid to
the deceased. The final rites were performed by Aarushi, eldest daughter of Pokhriyal. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna also arrived at the cremation ghat, where he offered tributes to the deceased. Speaker of state Assembly Gobind Singh Kunjwal, former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Cabinet minister Preetam Singh, former cabinet minister Madan Kaushik and a large number of politicians paid obeisance to the deceased. A special condolence meeting was also called on by saints where Kusum Pokhriyal’s life, nature and contribution to the achievements of her husband
were discussed. Braham Swaroop Brahmchari, chief of Jay Ram Ashram, cited the instance during the Maha Kumbh fair in 2010 when Kusum arrived with her family to Haridwar, taking dip at Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri, without any VIP arrangement. “She took dip, performed rituals and didn’t even inform the police about her presence despite her husband, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, being the then Chief Minister of the state. Her simplicity, nature and down-to-earth personality will always be cherished in our memories,” said Braham Swaroop Brahamchari. |
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Migration of villagers continues
Pithoragarh, November 11 Munsiyari tehsildar BS Gunjyal said: “When I, along with my team, had recently visited Nainthal village in Munsiyari subdivision, to listen to the grievances of people under Sarkar Janata Ke Dwar programme, I found that out of the 17 families, only two families are left
in the village." Gunjyal said most of the families in the village had migrated to other places due to the scare of wild animals and transportation difficulties as the village was situated 10 km from the main road. He said not only Nainthal village, but other nearby villages also wore deserted look due to mass
migration. “The villages of Napar, Murti and Surkhet, which had 202 families 10 years ago, have only 65 families remaining. Most of the families have migrated
to the Terai region," said Gunjyal. The menace of migration has also affected Champawat district. According to information, residents of villages situated near the Nepal border, which is 65 km from the district headquarters, are gradually migrating to other places due to the lack of basic infrastructure and terror of wild animals. The Champawat MLA said most of the villages in the Tamli area had been vacated. “Bhunar, Bhul, Ruiya, Nag Polap, Tarkuli ,Hawali and Akeri villages in the Tamli area of Champawat district have been left with only 50 per cent of population,” said Maha Singh, former gram pradhan of Tarkali village
of the area. Villagers say that the main reasons of migration from the Tamli area are the lack of water, road connectivity, health facilities and employment. “Tamli village that had 300 families has only 100 families remaining now. Only old members of migrant families who have no money to have other residence are left in the village,” said Rajesh Pandey, a resident of the village. |
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CM distributes sweets to visually challenged students
Dehradun, November 11 The CM also asked them to work hard as society and the country was with them. He assured the officials of the institute of any
help for the welfare of the students. |
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Forest officials told to keep a tab on owl poaching in state
Dehradun, November 11 Like other states, owls in Uttarakhand too face similar threat particular in the Terai region due to spurt in the demand of owls during the festival of lights. These body parts are even kept by shopkeepers for an increase in their trade while these are also used by parents to protect children from evil forces. Significantly, although hunting and trade of owl species is banned under the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, hundreds of owls are trapped and traded every year across the country. Owl species, most sought after by traders, are large species, particularly those with false "ear-tufts" (feather extensions on the head), since these are considered to have the greatest magical properties. Senior Forest Officer of the Uttarakhand Cadre Surendra Mehra acknowledges that forest officials have to remain extra cautious during Divali. “Superstitions linked to owls, particularly on Divali, certainly make them quite vulnerable to poaching”, Mehra points out. He said in Uttarakhand, the Terai region of the state is infamous for owl poaching. He said with an increase in the demand for owls during Divali days, illegal owl trade picked up and the forest officials had to be extra cautious. He said some species of owls had been kept under schedule 1, amply revealing its importance. Owls role in ecology is well recognised. "Owls play an extremely useful ecological role by controlling the population of rats and large insects. In an agrarian country, where 60 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture, the role of owls should be recognised and strict protection should be given to these magnificent nocturnal birds," said Abrar Ahmed, author of the “Imperilled Custodians of the Night”, TRAFFIC's report on owl trade. Interestingly, Uttarakhand has no proper rescue and rehabilitation centre for the seized owls. Gauri Maulekhi from the People for Animals, Uttarakhand Chapter, said the Uttarakhand Forest Department should simultaneously work to put a curb on poaching and even work for proper rehabilitation of recovered animals from poachers, including owls. |
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Samiti for development of Naini Danda region
Dehradun, November 11 Presiding over the meeting, Col Vijay Ghildiyal (retd), a senior member of the samiti, said people belonging to Naini Danda and now residing in Dehradun should made collective efforts towards the development of the region. He said Naini Danda was devoid of employment opportunities and efforts should be undertaken towards ensuring the generation of employment in the region. Another speaker, Nirmal Chandra Sundriyal, said funds should be generated to carry out welfare activities in Naini Danda. He said the scarcity of funds was proving to be a deterrent to carry out welfare activities in Naini Danda. Pan Singh Rawat said inhabitants from the Naini Danda region, who were now residing in Dehradun, should be made members of the samiti. He appealed to these people to come forward towards ensuring development in the Naini Danda region of Pauri Garhwal.
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Dharna by Kunau villagers enters day11
Dehradun, November 11 Convener of the dharna Chandramohan Singh Negi said Kunao villagers would continue with their agitation against the administration of the Rajaji park and Dehradun till they got the benefits due to them under the Forest Rights Act. |
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Haridwar, November 11 For the first time, degrees would be given away to students of distance education programme too. Others who will be facilitated will included Marco Ferrini, who has worked on alternative therapy in the US, and Hindi writer Narendra Kohli, the statement said. Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will also attend the function. The university is part of "Gayatri Pariwar", a spiritual group based in Haridwar. It is also engaged in widespread tree plantation, cleaning the Ganga and other rivers, and contributing to the upkeep of key pilgrimage centres.— IANS |
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Army choppers to shower petals on Badrinath temple
Dehradun, November 11 The programme has been finalised in consultation with the Army and the committee authorities, they said. A large number of devotees are likely to throng the famous Himalayan shrine to witness the unique programme, the committee sources said. —
PTI
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Workshop on pharma management
Dehradun, November 11 Dr Anil Kumar Katharya, head manufacturing department, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Baddi (HP), Dr Yogendra Singh, head, quality control, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Baddi (HP) and CS Pathak, chief manager QA, Abbott Health Care, were the key speakers. Prof Verma Ram, HOD, pharmaceutical sciences, and member, training and placement cell welcomed guests. Students of all postgraduate courses (pharmacy, biotechnology, biochemistry, microbiology and pharmaceutical chemistry) and B.Pharma courses attended the workshop. Dr Anil Kumar Katharya spoke on the recent development in solid dosage manufacturing, CS Pathak spoke on quality assurance of pharmaceuticals with reference to the WHO, Geneva, TRS 908 and Dr Yogendra Singh explained the importance of strengthening academic knowledge and guided students to acquire various national and international placements.
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Eco Club for green Divali
Dehradun, November 11 The members prepared banners, posters and read out poems on the topic. They along with principle of college Kusum Rani Naithani, informed the gathering about the harmful effects of sounds and smoke of crackers. The members also shared useful information about the precautionary measures to be taken during bursting of crackers on the festival day.
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Narender member of IEI council
Dehradun, November 11 Singh got the maximum 4,000 votes through the Internet and postal ballot voting which took place for the election of council members. The members were elected from different parts of the country. Singh will hold this position for four years. He had been the Chairman of the Uttarakhand State Centre of Engineers in past as well. The IEI was established in 1920. It provides training by holding lectures and workshops on various issues related to technical and commercial subjects. Singh, who has bagged the special achievement of facilitating rehabilitation of people of 125 villages for the construction of the Tehri dam and received many awards, said, “Scores of poor youngsters do not gain higher education in engineering as they cannot afford the expenses for it. It is through the IEI which runs equivalent diploma and degree courses, I will pave the way for higher studies and better employments for such poor aspirants in the state.” He said he would also hold lectures on the latest development in the technical sector, especially pertaining to public welfare such as disaster by rain, earthquake etc for engineers of various departments. As a council member, he said, he would guide the state government about the technical aspects of development works. |
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SSA for comprehensive evaluation system
Dehradun, November 11 After several states complained about the no-detention no annual exam policy proving to be counter productive, as the students were straightaway being promoted even though there were gaps in their learning levels. “Although the earlier system was inherently weak because passing the exam was the main concern, but still the result managed to give a fair idea to teachers about the progress made by the student,” said RK Kunwar, Additional Director, SSA. On the other hand, studies carried out by NGOs had also pointed at the gaps in learning during the course of study undertaken in the state, as most
students could not attempt questions of previous classes. Experts point out that now, with the implementation of the RTE and the no-detention and no annual exam provision, the pressure on students may have come down but it was also encouraging disinterest among students. As such the ministry
of Human Resource Development is now reviewing these provisions and the CCE may become
a reality in the elementary schools. Instead of the annual board exams, the RTE Act also mandates a CCE. The project would be first implemented on
a pilot basis in few schools in the state and depending upon the success or failure of the project, it would be
adopted in all schools of the state. Before adopting it on pilot basis, a national format for the evaluation will be prepared, based on the suggestions of the representatives of the states. “Under the CCE, the focus will be on training the teachers so that they are able to evaluate the performance of the student holistically. Most likely it will involve constant evaluation by the teacher and maybe a grading system,” said Kunwar. As the CCE has already been adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Education for its school, there will also be room for experience sharing not only between states but also the CBSE before it
is adopted at the elementary level. |
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Kunjwal welcomes govt's decision
Pithoragarh, November 11 “By announcing the stone-laying ceremony of the Assembly house on January 14, the government has clearly indicated that it intends to make Gairsain the permanent capital of the state,” said Kunjwal, while speaking to mediapersons at Khatima today. “Even if Gairsain does not become the permanent capital, it will surely have a four-month summer session of state Assembly which will be helpful in making policies for the hill districts,” said the speaker. The Speaker said the government should develop SIDCUL-like premises on the land which had no agricultural use in the hill region of the state. He said it would stop migration from the region by providing jobs to the local youths. “The government of India has sanctioned Rs 100 crore for the development of industries in the hill region of the state. This amount can be used to establish small industrial units to provide unemployment to youths in hill districts,” said the Speaker.
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BJP celebrates state foundation day
Dehradun, November 11 Speaking on the occasion, BJP president BS Chuphal said the people of the state should not forget the sacrifices of the martyrs. “All political parties should work unitedly for the betterment of the state,” said Chuphal. However, he was unhappy with the UPA-led Congress government at the Centre for revoking the concessional industrial package extended by the Vajpayee-led NDA government soon after the state was created.
—TNS |
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Tehri defeat forced Bahuguna to shift focus on Gairsain
THE shocking defeat of the ruling Congress in the Tehri Lok Sabha byelection in which Saket Bahuguna, son of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, suffered humiliation has forced the Congress to play an emotional chord of Gairsain.
Gairsain had remained an emotional issue with the people of the hilly region of the state since the days of statehood agitation. The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, a regional outfit, had declared Gairsain, a place in Chamoli district of Garhwal, which is geographically in the centre of the state as the capital of the state. However, due to various practical reasons, Dehradun was announced as the interim capital of the state on November 9, 2000, the day Uttarakhand state was formed. Interestingly, while the interim BJP government, headed by first Chief Minister Nityanand Swami, was taking oath, slogans were in the air demanding Gairsain as the capital of the new state. Bowing to the public sentiments, the interim government of the state set up the Virender Dixit commission to determine the place for a permanent capital of the state. After several extensions, the commission gave its recommendations to the state government without giving a definite solution. On Gairsain, the commission stated that while sentiments are in its favour, there would be problems of connectivity, water availability and infrastructure. The past BJP government brushed the report under the carpet and did not take any action on the report. Interestingly, the grant of Rs 80 crore for constructing the new Vidhan Sabha building again raked up the issue of permanent capital. The statehood agitators, who had been persistent in demanding Gairsain as the permanent capital, stated that the money should not be spent on the state assembly building in the interim capital and the new Vidhan Sabha building should be built only at Gairsain after declaring it a permanent capital. Since, the Congress government headed by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna took over the reins of the state after the state assembly elections, there had been a demand by Congress Lok Sabha MP Satpal Maharaj to focus on Gairsain, since it was part of his parliamentary constituency and he wanted to reap political benefits for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Before the Tehri Lok Sabha byelections, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had announced to hold a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain on November 9 which was later advanced to November 3. At that point of time, the Congress government only wanted to give a political message that it cared for the hilly areas and was committed to the development of the hill districts. But the situation changed after the defeat of the ruling party in the Tehri Lok Sabha byelection in October. The Congress seized the initiative and played it big. Not only a meeting of the state Cabinet was held at Gairsain, but the state Congress government announced to construct a new Vidhan Sabha building at a cost of Rs 20 crore. The state government also decided to hold at least one assembly session at Gairsain every year. Although, the state government did not announce Gairsain as a permanent or summer capital but the decision clearly implied that Gairsain would be the summer capital of the state in future. It will be difficult to reverse the decision by any state government due to the emotions involved. The Congress has played the Gairsain card well keeping in view the sentiments of the hill people. It will be a debatable point whether by such rhetoric will result in genuine development of the hilly regions which are suffering from want of basic health, educational and infrastructural facilities. But, with the construction of a Vidhan Sabha building and other support staff, there will be infrastructural development at Gairsain which in turn will also fuel economic activities that will benefit the people of the area. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finds itself in an awkward situation on the issue. Some of the BJP leaders have mildly criticised the state Congress government and termed it as a mere rhetoric. It will be seen whether the Gairsain issue will help the ruling Congress beat the issues of inflation, withdrawal of subsidy on gas cylinders and corruption in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The start of the unemployment allowance as promised by the Congress in its state Assembly poll manifesto has also annoyed the BJP. The state government has started distributing unemployment allowance from November 9 to the bonafide unemployed youth of the state registered with the state government for two years. —SMA Kazmi |
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A dharna started by Kunau villagers in Rishikesh seeking restoration of the Forest Rights Act entered the 11th day today.
A large number of students today participated in the dharna. They alleged that the Kunao village was even devoid of basic facility like electricity which was affecting their studies.
THE shocking defeat of the ruling Congress in the Tehri Lok Sabha byelection in which Saket
Bahuguna, son of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, suffered humiliation has forced the Congress to play an emotional chord of
Gairsain.
As per the Hindu religion, owl is considered sacred being a vehicle of Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess that symbolises richness and prosperity. During Divali, owls are in big demand as they are sacrificed on this occasion. Their body parts are used in ceremonial rituals by black magic practitioners who prescribe various uses for owls and their body parts, including the skull, feathers, ear-tuffs, claws, heart, liver, kidney, blood, eyes and bones. 