Dehradun, January 1
Online shopping has become an easy tool for criminal elements to make a quick buck by duping people. Two youths of the city were arrested today for cheating a Bangalore boy of Rs 40,000 and a Chennai man of Rs 70,000 by luring them into buying online two sets of Samsung mobile phones for Rs 48,000. The case revealed the intricacies involved in the process and served as a lesson for those who fall to the charm of online shopping.

The arrested persons are Chirag, a resident of New Delhi, and Naad Muni, a resident of Bihar. Both are B Tech-III students of a local college.

Chirag’s father is a Field Officer at the Union Cabinet Secretariat in New Delhi while Naad Muni comes from a farmer’s family. Chirag speaks English fluently and is proficient in online cheating.

Gurunathan, a resident of Bangalore, came in contact with Chirag on Twitter.com where the latter posing as Chandan had posted an advertisement for the sale of two Samsung S-3 and Note-2 mobile phones at a cheap price of Rs 48,000. Gurunathan was lured into buying the phones and he opened a bank account at Naya Gaon on Chirag’s instruction. He deposited Rs 40,000 in the account on December 3 but did not get the phones. He called up Chirag (Chandan) on the given contact number many times but the latter did not respond. When Gurunathan tried calling him from some other phone number, his calls were attended to but no satisfactory answer was given. At this, he along with his brother, Nityanand, reached Dehradun. He traced the bank guarantors whom Chirag had facilitated for opening the account at Naya Gaon. This way they managed to trace Chirag.

Nityanand said they had earlier worked in an online shopping firm and were quite adept at buying stuff online. Hence, they were lured into buying mobile phones online from Chirag.

He said now they were working at a call centre and were good at recognising voice.

They immediately recognised Chirag when they met him and talked to him.

Chirag disclosed that he himself had been duped online in a similar fashion in the past and hence he took to it to make a quick buck. He said he had returned Rs 25,000 each to the two victims. Gurunathan, however, denied having received any money from the accused. He added they had spent a lot of money staying in a hotel and on other expenses in the city for the past 22 days to trace Chirag.

The police has recovered one scanner, two laptops, five mobile phones, nine fake passbooks of various banks, many fake documents and Rs 6,500 from both accused.

Dehradun, January 1
A group of BTC trainees today took out a protest march from Parade Ground to the Vidhan Sabha premises in support of their demands.

The police stopped their march before the barricading. When protestors tried to break the barricading, they were roughed up by the police.

The protesters then staged a dharna there.

The agitators were of the view that the state government, after the

Cabinet meeting on October 29, had decided to appoint them on contract for one year in government primary schools.

A government order was passed on November 11 in this regard and an official release was also published in local newspapers on December 10.

They said the high court, which initially imposed restriction, later revoked it but the state government had not started the appointment process till date.

Their interaction with the state Education Minister also failed to yield any positive result in this regard.

He said the state government had filed an affidavit in the high court about securing 868 positions of BTC trainees but did not take any action.

Dehradun, January 1
All government hospitals in Uttarakhand have announced an annual hike of 10 per cent on the fee charged on services and Re 1 hike on the prescription slip. The new rates have become effective from today. The hike will be on the services being offered in the hospital like diagnostic services such as X-ray, ultrasound and blood tests.

The prescription slip will cost Re 1 more. “The hike is the basic of 10 per cent and has been carried on the basis of a government order,” said Dr B.C Pathak, Principal Superintendent, Doon Hospital. Though the hospitals in the the state have hiked the service charges, Health Minister Surinder Singh Negi is expected take a call on the issue. — TNS

Dehradun, January 1
Demonstrations continued in Uttarakhand today seeking the arrest of perpetrators of the Delhi rape incident.

Activists of a number of women empowerment organisations, the Mahila Samakhya, the Disha Samajik Sanghatan, the Pahal, the Samta Andolan, the Sambhav Natya Manch, the Uttarakhand Mahila Manch, the Pragitisheel Manch and the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party gathered at Gandhi Park, Dehradun, and staged a dharna demanding prompt punishment for those behind the Delhi rape incident.

“Prompt justice must be delivered to ensure that the Delhi rape victim's soul rests in peace”, said Kamala Pant, one of the demonstrators. She also asserted that they would not let the sacrifice of the Delhi rape victim go in vain.

Pant said the cases of harassment against women were on the rise and the governments in power were taking little initiative to control the rising crime against women.

Geeta Gairola, Jahanvi Tiwari, Subhashni and Anandi were prominent among the protesters.

Meanwhile, Forest Research Institute employees too held a condolence meeting in which tributes were paid to the Delhi gang rape victim. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education Director General VK Bahuguna expressing condolences stressed on adequate safety for women of the country. 

Dehradun, January 1
The Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, a premier institute of Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), has come up with a first-ever disease-resistant productive clone of shisham.

Nomenclatured Shisham FRI-DS-14, it is the first-ever clone of shisham that has been released in the country after a thorough research and field testing started since from 1992. The efforts of the ICFRE on genetic improvement of shisham have even been endorsed by the Variety Releasing Committee (VRC) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

The released clone of shisham is not only productive but also shows resistance to devastating disease of shisham called die-back by which the plantation and tree crop of shisham all over India and neighbouring Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh was heavily affected and large scale of mortality rate of shisham was reported from these regions.

Besides, the productivity of the clone is expected to be around 18 cubic per hectare per year in comparison to present productivity of 5-7 cubic per hectare per year. The effort is expected to play an important role in combating the devastating disease called shisham mortality which causes serious economic losses to the farmers and other growers.

Expressing happiness over the development, Dr VK Bahuguna, Director General, ICFRE, appreciated the research and directed that the research findings be disseminated to the field to different stakeholders like farmers and industries which would be of immense use in the agroforestry sector as well.

The Director General has further directed that a follow-up research should be carried out keeping in mind the interest of farmers and also long-term research with a focus on wood properties of different clones and hybridization among them.

He has also disclosed that the FRI will provide 10,000 seedlings of improved clone of shisham, botanically known as sissoo, to farmers of Punjab free of cost next year.

The improved clone will be a milestone in the efforts to mitigate acute timber demand supply gap and in addressing the livelihood issues of communities with whom shisham is a favourable tree in the agroforestry system in UP, Haryana, Punjab, West Bengal and other states.

Dehradun, January 1
Theatre artistes from the Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) staged a street play in the memory of famous theatre artiste Safdar Hashmi in front of Gandhi Park here today.

The artistes highlighted the plight of the common man due to the rising inflation and corruption in the state. They also demanded justice for the Delhi rape victim. Members of the local unit of the IPTA, while remembering Hashmi, said his sacrifice should not be forgotten.

S. Mahendra, Dr Atul Sharma, Indu Naudiyal, Kamla Pant, Rajiv Kothari, Kuldeep Madhwal and Jhanvi Tewari were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, January 1
Volunteers of the HelpAge India admitted a destitute elderly woman, who was found abandoned near Jain Dharamshala yesterday, to Doon Hospital. The woman is now convalescing in the hospital. The woman could not recall her name. Doctors at Doon Hospital have examined her and she seems to be in a state of shock, said Dr BC Pathak, Principal Superintendent, Doon Hospital.

Once the woman recovers from the shock, the volunteers of the HelpAge India say, arrangements will have to be made to find a shelter for her.

"She has been mumbling on and off that she was thrown out of the house by her son and daughter-in-law but cannot recall her name. On her left arm, two names, Kailash Singh and Malti, have been tattoed," said Aapga Singh, state head, HelpAge India.

The HelpAge India also runs a helpline no 1800-180-1253 for the elderly. So far, no one has come to claim the woman. 

Dehradun, January 1
Protesting against the non-fulfilment of their demands, the Auxiliary Nurses and Midwives (ANMs) today laid siege to the Director General office and locked the main gate of the office.

Members under the aegis of the Uttarakhand Matar Shishu Evam Parivar Kalyan Mahila Karamchari Association condemned the DG, Health and Family Welfare, for refusing to concede to their demands.

The employees have been on strike since November 1 last year and are demanding payment of pending arrears from 1979-2010 and creation of 257 new posts of workers but the government has failed to implement it.

Now the DG office is saying that the matter is being examined by the Department of Law,” said Guddi Matuda of the association.

The ANMs are also demanding immediate creation of 257 new posts of ANM worker that were sanctioned in June 2012. ANM workers said as long as their demands were not met, they would continue with their agitation.

The relay fast by the workers being observed simultaneously reached the 62nd day. 

Dehradun, January 1
In the 7th Abhishek Dabral Memorial Football Tournament being played at Survey Ground, Dehradun, CT Young beat Gypsy 4-3.

For CT Young, Prakash scored the first, second and third goal in the 12th, the 14th and the 48th minute of the match, respectively. Chaureh scored the fourth goal for CT Young. For the Gypsy team, Sunil scored first and second goal in the 35th and the 51st minute, respectively. Amit scored the third goal for Gypsy in the 42nd minute of the match.

Doon Star will take on Rising Star in tomorrow’s match.