Gairsain Assembly building foundations on Jan 14
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 16
After announcing to construct the Assembly building at Gairsain, the Uttarakhand government has started making preparation for its stone laying ceremony proposed to be held on January 14, 2013. Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal along with Satpal Maharaj, MP from Pauri Garhwal, visited Gairsain and inspected six places suitable for the Assembly building.

Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri, Deputy Speaker, and Principal Secretary DP Gairola were also part of the visiting team.

Talking to mediapersons at his residence at Haldwani, Speaker of the Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal said the final decision on the place would be taken after the visit of the technical team on December 22 .

"The selection of the final spot for the Assembly will be based on the reports of geologists which will be presented to the top level government team on December 22," said Kunjwal.

According to sources, out of Rs 88 crore, sanctioned by the Central Government for the construction of Assembly building in the state, Rs 20 crore have been released for the building at Gairsain.

"We are in a position to start construction of Assembly building at Gairsain after Sonia will lay the foundation stone for it on January 13 or 14," said Kunjwal.

According to the sources, the team visited Bharisain, Marora, Saliyana, Sitoli Rethis, Nagarjun and Heragarh villages for the construction for the Assembly building, MLAs' quarters and officers' residences.

"The area at Bharari Sain is found suitable for the Assembly building as this spot has 50 acres of land at one place. The land is owned by the state government. If geologists clear it, it should be considered for the prime construction," said Kunjwal.

The selection of the final spot for the Assembly will be based on the reports of geologists, which will be presented to the top-level government team on December 22. — Govind Singh Kunjwal, Speaker

Annual exhibition at Indian Academy
Ashish Sharma of class X gets best exhibit award
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
The Indian Academy, Nehrugram, Dehradun, organised its first annual exhibition here today. Director General, Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Dehradun, Dr Rajendra Dobhal was the chief guest on the occasion.

The main theme of the exhibition was science, arts and craft. Students who had been preparing their models for some time presented and explained their exhibits.

The exhibition was a rare and colourful combination of beauty and brains. The guests and parents were led through various stalls covering physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, sociology, geography and arts and crafts.

Stalls displaying portraits, models and charts depicting the celestial stars, the evolution of man and various phases of development from ancient times attracted the crowd.

Little potters, with some help from the local potters, presented colourful clay portraits of animals and piggy banks and innumerable items.

The prize for the best exhibit went to Ashish Sharma of class X for his physics projects. Tagore House was awarded the Best House Trophy for its excellent performance throughout the year. The best teacher award for the academic year 2012-13 went to Yashika Bist.

Neelam Sharma, Principal of the school, read out the annual report of the school, highlighting multifarious activities and achievements of the school.

She was all praise for the staff for making the exhibition a grand success.

Dobhal, in his address, laid emphasis upon maintaining a healthy relationship between teachers and students.

He guided the children not to ignore the traditional practises which were prevalent in the country since long, as many of them were based on scientific principles.

He praised the students for their innovation in their projects and said it was from such ideas that inventions take birth and these could be used for commercial production for the economic upliftment of the nation.

Also present on the occasion were SP Khanduri, Chairman of the school, Munendra Khanduri, Director and the guiding star and inspiring force of the academy Shakuntala Devi, wife of founder the late Mohan Prasad Khanduri.

Dehradun Diary
The era of clean politics in Uttarakhand has come to an end
First CM Nityanand Swami was a symbol of commitment, honesty, sincerity

WITH the passing away of the first Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Nityanand Swami, an era of clean politics has come to an end. Nityanand Swami, a true son of the soil who spent his entire life first as a student leader and then as a politician and social worker, will be remembered for his commitment, honesty and sincerity of purpose in public life. Sadly, Nityanand Swami, a clean politician, suffered from day one after being announced as the first Chief Minister of the newly carved out state on November 9, 2000. Soon after his election as leader of the BJP legislature party in the interim Assembly of the state, there were rumours spread by his own BJP leaders that an outsider from Haryana had been imposed by the party leadership.

Far from truth, Nityanand Swami had his schooling from Dehradun as his father was an employee of the Forest Research Institute (FRI). He studied at the local DAV College and was also the president of the college students' union. But the campaign against him continued. Two of his senior Cabinet colleagues, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, were so annoyed with his elevation as Chief Minister that they first refused to take oath in the first Cabinet swearing-in ceremony. Later, they were persuaded to join his government. For nearly 11 months that Nityanand Swami remained Chief Minister, his tenure was devoid of any major scandal that continue to prop up during the tenures of later Chief Ministers of the state.

Nityanand Swami, who was a chairman of the Uttara Pradesh Vidhan Parishad before becoming the first Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, will also be remembered for his deep knowledge of parliamentary systems and procedures. But sadly, after 11 months of his tenure, he was removed by the BJP high command on the pretext that he would not be able to lead the party to victory in the first state Assembly elections held in February 2002. The BJP lost badly despite a change of guard but sadly, a senior politician of the stature of Nityanand Swami also lost the elections.

He again lost the poll in 2007 state Assembly elections due to a variety of reasons, including internal sabotage. Nityanand Swami, despite age-related health problems, remained socially and politically active till his very end. His contribution for the city and the state and his undying spirit for the poor and downtrodden will always be remembered.

Cong preparations for 2014

While on the one hand, the ruling Congress Party has been holding brain-storming sessions to prepare it's leaders for the forthcoming crucial electoral battle of Lok Sabha 2014, on the other, the chasm between the party organisation and the state government has been widening. In the coming days, with an expected change of guard in the offing at the party organisational level, the differences are expected to further widen. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who has been under tremendous pressure from various groups within the party and legislators, gave five more ministerial level positions to five legislators. Four of these are from the ruling Congress Party and the fifth belong to the Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP), an ally of the state government.

Out of total 38 legislators belonging to the Congress-led alliance, a total of 25 legislators have either been made ministers or given different positions of parliamentary secretaries, chairpersons of various boards and corporations. This has led to consternation within the party organisation. Chief Minister Bahuguna as well as senior Central party leaders, including state party general secretary in-charge Birender Singh had reiterated time and again that the number of such positions to be given would be restricted.

They had also announced that since legislators had got party tickets during state Assembly elections, other senior party leaders of the organisation who worked tirelessly for the party would be given preference in giving such positions. But on the contrary, it was only legislators who have been shown the favour. The senior party leaders belonging to the organisation are unhappy with the development. They have made their displeasure known to the party chief, Yashpal Arya, who has also reportedly espoused the cause of the party organisation before senior party leaders. Yashpal Arya planned to take up the issue with party president Sonia Gandhi in the near future.

It was also believed that since Yashpal Arya has become a minister in the state government, a change of guard is also expected in the party organisation. Various groups in the state Congress are vying with each other to capture the position of state Congress chief. The most powerful group led by Union Minister of Water Resources Harish Rawat in the state Congress will try to get the position with an aim to capture the state party organisation since the present incumbent Yashpal Arya belongs to the Bahuguna camp. Satpal Maharaj, Lok Sabha MP from Pauri Garhwal, is also a strong contender for the post. However, in case the Harish Rawat camp is able to get the position, the differences between the state government and the party organisation will further widen.

Already, the legislators belonging to the Harish Rawat camp are vocal in criticising their own state government. Interestingly, the Harish Rawat camp has got a lion's share in the ministry formation and later during the allocation of ministerial positions. In the latest allocation, out of five legislators who got Cabinet rank positions, three of them belong to the Rawat camp. The problems for Uttarakhand CM Vijay Bahuguna continue to compound with each passing day.

— SMA Kazmi

Interests of vendors will be taken care of: Maken
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 16
Union Minister for Housing and Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken has assured the representatives of the Uttarakhand Small-Scale Traders’ Association of bringing a law that caters to their interests. He informed the delegates led by Uttarakhand Small-Scale Traders’s Association chief Sanjay Chopra that a model draft was being made in this regard. Maken gave this assurance at the recently held three-day convention of the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) held at New Delhi.

Chopra lauded the government’s initiative of bringing in the law that caters to hawkers-vendors who either sell goods on street or roam colony to colony.

Office bearers of the NASVI have also been asked by the Union Minister to submit their suggestions regarding the law to the standing committee headed by Sharad Pawar.

Talking to TNS, Chopra said he had apprised the Union Minister of the delay done by the state government in applying National Streets Vendor Policy in the state as well as displacement of hawkers by the Haridwar Municipal Corporation without providing them with alternative vending zone.

Union Minister of State for Labour Suresh Kodikkonil gave an assurance to the delegation that street vendors were being provided 30 per cent concession in medical aid.

Bhoopendra Rajput, Mahendra Saini, Jay Singh Bisht, Dharmpal Kashyap, Chotelal Sharma, Tasleem Ahmd and Asim Joshi were also present.

Helmets must for two-wheeler riders from January 1
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 16
Two-wheeler riders violating the traffic laws by not wearing helmet and non-adhering to traffic rules will be dealt with strictly from January 1.

This step has been taken keeping in view a number of accidental deaths and injuries involving two-wheelers occurring due to head injuries in the district.

Last year, it was 48 deaths took place due to head injuries involving two-wheeler riders.

The Senior Superintendent of Haridwar Police has directed all police and traffic officers to strictly deal with the offenders from January 1.

Already Circle Officer, Roorkee, JR Joshi has started challaning the violators. While in Haridwar city too, Traffic Inspector Devendra Singh Dabral has also initiated awareness drive.

The traffic violators are being apprised of their faults and given a warning with distribution of pamphlets to make sure the maximum number of people comes to know of the New Year traffic drive.

"We will also be checking licences, vehicle documents apart from helmet during the drive. Traffic has increased in the past few years so has the traffic violations. We need to keep a tab on this aspect as apart from accidents many cases of criminals escaping from police clutches have come to light" said Joshi.

"Citizens too have welcomed this proposed initiative extending their support to the police for this drive. The Human Right Association Haridwar office-bearer Uday Ram Semwal said youngsters were violating the traffic rules which need to controlled. The police also needed public cooperation for this drive as in the past we have seen due to political pressure such drives were curtailed midway," he said.

War widows, freedom fighters exempted from house tax
CM remembers martyrs on Vijay Diwas
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today announced exempting war widows and freedom fighters from house tax and promised 25 per cent concession on house tax to the ex-servicemen of the state. These announcements were made by him at the Vijay Diwas function held at Gandhi Park here today. Bahuguna said the sacrifices made by armed forces personnel in the 1971 war with Pakistan were unparallelled.

He recalled the role of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the late Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw towards the victory of the Army and the subsequent creation of Bangladesh. He said if the Indian democracy was intact today, it was only because of the Army.

The CM said exempting war widows and freedom fighters from house tax was a small token of gratitude towards those who sacrificed for the welfare of the nation. He said Uttarakhand, apart from being Devbhumi, also got recognisition as Karmbhumi due to a large number of people of the state serving in armed forces. Bahuguna also welcomed a proposal on the beautification of Gandhi Park.

Earlier, Bahuguna laid a wreath at the Gandhi Park memorial. He also honoured family members of Army men who had died while safeguarding the frontiers of the nation.

Sainik Welfare Minister Harak Singh Rawat announced the creation of War Memorial in Dehradun. “There has been a long demand for setting up a war memorial in Dehradun. We have seven acres on the old jail campus, where we can come up with a war memorial,” said Harak Singh Rawat.

He said his ministry was committed to the welfare of ex-servicemen, war widows and members of the martyrs' families. He said an amount of Rs 30,000, which was earlier given to a war widow to marry her daughter, had been increased to Rs 50,000. Uttarakhand Poorva Sainik Nigam Limited was also running on a profit.

Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli said the Dehradun Municipal Corporation was committed to the welfare of martyrs' families residing in Dehradun.

Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt reminded the gathering of BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee's praise for Indira Gandhi after the 1971 war victory. He said the parties in the country had always risen above political considerations when it came to the security of the nation.

Directorate, Uttarakhand Soldiers Welfare and Rehabilitation, Brig AN Bahuguna (retd), Uttarakhand Ex-servicemen Cell president Capt Balbir Singh Rawat (retd) and Rajpur MLA Rajkumar were also present on the occasion.

State may have a war memorial soon
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Uttarakhand may finally see a war memorial coming up in the state. The youth of Uttarakhand have played a key role in almost all the major wars fought by the country, recording numerous martyrdoms but was still devoid of a war memorial.

The need for a combined war memorial for all those defence personnel from the state who had attained martyrdom at various war operations, specifically mentioning their names and their role in the operation, was being felt for long. There are war memorials in several states across the country but it's absence in Uttarakhand was being greatly felt by the large population of ex-servicemen and their family members in the state.

Ex-servicemen in Uttarakhand have been demanding the construction of a war memorial shortly after creation of a separate state and repeated appeals have been made to the governments in power. There certainly were some half-hearted efforts but seldom have these efforts yielded any results. Some time back two sites for construction of a memorial were even identified but the proposal never materialised. A majority of the ex-servicemen kept high hopes from the former Chief Minister, BC Khanduri (retd), as he was part of the defence fraternity. Similarly, former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, too, had even announced a grant of Rs 1 crore for the construction of the memorial.But a war memorial still eludes the ex-servicemen.

But today’s announcement by Sainik Welfare Minister Harak Singh Rawat for construction of a war memorial at the Old Jail campus has certainly come as a sense of achievement. Capt Balbir Singh Rawat (retd), who also heads the ex-servicemen's cell of the Congress, welcomed the minister’s announcement. “Absence of a war memorial in Uttarakhand was a matter of concern for the large population of ex-servicemen in the state. But this now stands fulfilled and I am very hopeful for the early construction of the war memorial,” Capt Balbir Singh Rawat (retd) said, referring to Harak Singh Rawat’s war memorial announcement. He said the war memorial will be a big source of inspiration for the younger generation. “It will inform us of our history and inspire the younger lot,” he added.

There are certainly individual war memorials like Kargil memorial for Kargil martyrs and the Lal Gate memorial in memory of Gurkha soldiers who died during 1815-1915 wars, but a combined memorial for all those men in uniform from Uttarakhand who had attained martyrdom for the country was still to br established.

Welcoming construction of the war memorial in Dehradun, Col Vijay Ghildhiyal (retd) said it was certainly a relief that a state which had an endless list of martys will finally get a war memorial. “Uttarakhand has a large number of gallantry award winners and many of them have laid down their lives keeping to the highest tradition of bravery for the country. Now we can have a war memorial where we may put all names of martyrs together and pay our respects to them periodically,” he observed.

Javadekar sure of BJP’s victory in HP, Gujarat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 16
BJP national spokesperson Prakash Javadekar has claimed that the party would win the ongoing Assembly election in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Javadekar made this claim while on a personal visit to Rishikesh and Dehradun.

Attributing development-oriented governance given by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and corruption-oriented governance of the Congress, Javadekar said landslide victory was in the offing, citing the public mood.

He said public was perturbed by corruption and ill governance of the Congress.

“The Tehri byelection result is an indication of public mood which will be further testified by the Gujarat and Himachal Assembly poll verdicts. The Assembly elections are to be held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and New Delhi where again the BJP will be victorious,” asserted Javadekar.

When asked who will be the Prime Ministerial candidate from the BJP or the NDA in the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign, Javadekar said it would be clear only after the Gujarat elections.

The BJP national spokesperson also announced that if the BJP comes to power in the 2014 parliamentary elections, then it would provide 15 subsidised LPG cylinders to the people.

Taking a dig at the UPA-II’s six-capped cylinders per year, Javadekar said those living in luxuries did not know that an average household needed at least a cylinder per month.

Permanent Residents’ Issue
Andolankari, mahila manch march to Raj Bhawan today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Members of the Uttarakhand Andolankari Manch and the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch have decided to hold a joint march from the Parade Ground to Raj Bhawan tomorrow to submit their memorandum to Governor Aziz Qureshi.

They are protesting against the state government's decision to follow the verdict of the High Court, whereby those who had been living in the state before 2000 would be considered permanent residents of the state.

Ravinder Jugran, a protester, said the government had no right to declare a cut of date over the issue of permanent residence. He called upon other statehood agitators to protest against this "unconstitutional decision" by participating in this march to Raj Bhawan.

Another leader, Kamla Pant, said the state government should have challenged the court's ruling in the Supreme Court. By not doing so, the government had divided the state into factions.

Pradeep Kukreti alleged that insensitiveness , ill-intention, vote-bank politics and dishonesty of the state government had created enough confusion to mislead the public on this issue.

Another leader, Mohan Singh Rawat, alleged that it was due to "wrong policies" of the Centre on states that more than half of the states in the country such as Assam and Jammu and Kashmir were suffering pangs of extremism and instability.

Research work of forest officers reviewed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Indian Council of Forestry Research Education Director General Dr V K Bahuguna reviewed the research work of the Indian Forest Services (IFS) officers and scientists at the Institute of Wood and Science and Technology (IWST), Bangalore, which is one of the eight ICFRE institutes in the country.

Encourse the meeting, Bahuguna categorically asked the IFS officers to actively involve themselves in the research projects. He said there was a need for reorganising the divisions of the IWST and made several suggestions in this direction. He suggested creating two new divisions - Silviculture-cum-Agroforestry and Forest Biometry. He also held that there was no need for a separate wood energy division and directed to distribute its current activities among other divisions.

Later, he identified certain areas of research to be given prominence which included development of nano cellulose-filled fibres, wood quality assessment in standing trees using tools like acoustics, exploiting forest biodiversity for developing novel medicinal products and production of sandalwood seedlings.

Bahuguna also emphasised that the extension of research results should be given importance and some of the projects should come under the purview of the direct-to-consumer scheme of the ICFRE.

He desired a proposal on establishing a commercial plant for the biopesticide developed at the IWST.

Cantt Board celebrates Defence Estate Day
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, December 16
The Landour Cantonment Board celebrated its Defence Estate Day for the first time on its premises since Independence today.

Students from Government Inter College, Mullingar, presented several cultural items loaded with patriotic fervour, much to the appreciation of the gathered crowd on the occasion.

The chief guest on the occasion, vice president, Cantonment Board, CP Baloni, speaking on the occasion said that the Defence Estate was established by the British to preserve the records of the estate in 1926, and since then Defence Estate Day was observed around the country on December 16. The main objective of the day was to bring the civilian population closer to the persons from the armed forces and create better interaction among them.

However, due to the lackadaisical approach of the officials from armed forces, the day could not be observed since Independence till today in Mussoorie. The celebration was the effort of the elected members of the board, who thought of celebrating it in a big way here, added CP Baloni.

Shoorvir Singh Kharola, Mohd. Tasleem, Kamal Sharma, Dyal Singh Rawat, Murli Ranawat and others were present on the occasion.

Cultural bonanza at NIHT University
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
The Badri Kedar Vikas Smiti held its annual cultural bonanza, known as Banyath, at the Rangers College compound today. Vice-Chancellor, NIHT University, Dr Vijay Dhasmana, released the annual magazine, Garh Nandini, of the organisation.

Dr Vijay Dhasmana congratulated the organisation for upholding the cultural heritage of the state. He said in today’s times, it had become necessary to safeguard and maintain the culture richness, which was under threat of constant erosion in the face of increasing influence of westernisation on the young generation.

Other guest, Director, Sri Devbhumi Institute, Sri Nivas Nautiyal, said more organisations should come up to encourage folk artistes and local culture and preserve vernacular literature. President of the organisation Brajmohan Bhatt said, “Each year, we try to make our cultural programme better by bringing good artistes. We also make endeavours to showcase the cultural diversity of different hill pockets of the state.” In the programme, actor Balraj Negi and singers Pavitra Tamta and Kishan Mahipal also entertained audience.

Domicile policy opposed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Kurmachal Sanskritik Evam Kalyan Parishad has opposed the newly proposed domicile policy of the Uttarakhand government.

At a meeting of the parishad held in Dehradun today, speakers argued that as per the Constitution, only those who have had property in Uttarakhand before 1950 can be domicile residents of the state, while the rest would fall in permanent residents' category.

Parishad's secretary Chandrashekhar Joshi said the state had no right to bring changes in the domicile policy and asserted that Central Government can only take a decision in this regard. He said the state government was violating the country's Constitution by making year 2000 as the cut-off date for deciding on the domiciled residents of the state. Another speaker Tarachand accused the state government of hurting the interests of hill people by bringing a change in the domicile policy.