Cong expels three leaders; issues notices to five
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 9
A day after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Dehradun, the state unit of the party today expelled three of its leaders and issued show-cause notices to five others for their acts of “indiscipline”.

Addressing a press conference here today, Congress general secretary Vijay Saraswat announced the expulsion of Rao Arif, Naim Qureshi and Ram Kumar Walia for six years. While Rao and Naim are former general secretaries, Ram KumarWalia is the state convenor of the Kisan Congress.

Further, Congress leaders --- Vedpal Saini, Pramod Kaparwan, Surendra Singh, Akil Ahmed and Gulzar Ahmed--- have been issued show-cause notices. “If the five leaders failed to reply satisfactorily, they, too, will be expelled from the party,” said Saraswat.

He said all these party leaders had been issuing misleading statements, thereby damaging the reputation of the party.

Saraswat said the decision to expel the leaders was taken at a meeting held today which was attended by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, state Congress chief Yashpal Arya and Narendra Bhandari, head of the party’s disciplinary committee.

Congress spokesperson Dhirendra Pratap said as per dictates of Rahul Gandhi, no act of indiscipline would be tolerated in the party.

He said those party leaders who go to the media to air grievances would also be taken to task.

He said a probe would also be conducted as to how Deep Sharma, who has already been expelled from the party, managed to get a pass for participating at the meeting presided over by Rahul Gandhi here yesterday.

CM tells youth to contribute to nation's development
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 9
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today called upon the youth to contribute to the development of the nation through their education and awareness of political and social issues.

He was addressing a gathering at an NSUI training camp here today. Bahuguna said the youth of today were very alert and also vocal about the country's problems.

The CM said politicians should have a national outlook. "Winning elections should not be the major aim of politics. Bringing about a positive change in society and contributing to the development of the nation should be the priority," he said.

He said young people must keep an eye on the government's development works and give in their feedback.

No ATR to 20 reports tabled in Assembly
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 9
A worrying practice has taken hold of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly where, till date, not a single action taken report (ATR) has been tabled in the House in response to the 20 reports tabled in the House on financial misappropriation and unfruitful expenditure by the government departments and examined by the Committee on Public Accounts.

Right from the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) report on misappropriation of funds prior to the hosting of Winter Games at Auli, to the CAG report on the irregularities committed during the Mahakumbh Mela in 2010 and examined by the PAC, no action taken report that comprises response by the government has been tabled in the House.

The PAC examines the accounts showing the appropriation of the sums granted by the Assembly to meet the expenditure of the state government, the Annual Finance Accounts of state governments and such other accounts laid before House as the committee may think fit. Apart from the reports of CAG on appropriation accounts of the state government, it also examines reports of the CAG expenditure by various state departments.

"There have been half-hearted attempts by the committee members towards ensuring the reports reach their logic conclusion, despite being entrusted with the responsibility of examining the accounts, and ensuring that the replies of the government are tabled in the report," said Prakash Pant, former Speaker, Uttarakhand Assembly.

The conclusion of the committee on the subject is contained in its report, which after its adoption by the committee is presented to the Speaker of the Assembly.

After presentation to the Assembly, copies of the report are forwarded to the concerned departments, which is required to take action on the recommendations and observations contained in the report and furnish action taken replies within six months from the presentation of the report. Further, the replies received from the government in respect of recommendations in the ATR after approval by the Speaker are also laid in the House.

“In Uttarakhand, the commitment is missing. By the time the committee prepares the report, it's tenure comes to an end. Thereafter, a new committee is constituted and the members again have to start from scratch,” said VC Thapliyal, Additional Secretary, Vidhan Sabha. 

Unhealthy practice

Right from the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) report on misappropriation of funds prior to the hosting of Winter Games at Auli, to the CAG report on the irregularities committed during the Mahakumbh Mela in 2010 and examined by the PAC, no action taken report that comprises response by the government has been tabled in the House. 

Ramdev’s company gets court notice for giving wrong info on honey products
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 9
Yog Guru Ramdev’s close associate Acharya Balkrishan said today that they would give a detailed reply to a notice served on Patanjali Ayurvedic Limited by the court of the Assistant Divisional Magistrate.

The Magistrate had yesterday served the notice on the company owned by Ramdev for misleading people on nutritional information and misbranding of its honey products. The company has to file a reply to the notice on April 4.

Balkrishan, who is the managing director of Patanjali Yogpeeth, said false charges of misbranding of products and misleading the people were being levelled against the Divya Yog Mandir unit. These charges were politically motivated, he added.

He said Patanjali Ayurvedic Ltd produced honey products as medicine and not as consumer food items. That is why their honey products were called ‘aushadhi’.

“Ayurvedic and food items have different norms and hence they can’t be viewed from the same prism. It is not necessary for ayurvedic items to comply with the norms prescribed for food items and hence the charge that our products are misleading is false,” said Balkrishan.

He added that factories run by Patanjali Yogpeeth obeyed the law of the land and never violated rules or indulged in misbranding of its products. “It is fair to call products of our factories as ours, the same way every government calls the natural resources found in its state as its own,” said Balkrishan.

The notice was served on Patanjali Ayurvedic Ltd after the samples of its honey products taken by the Food and Supplies Department failed to meet the requisite norms.

The samples were found to be violating the norms of the Food and Supplies Act, particularly with regard to branding, and misleading on nutritional information.

Quality Controller of the Divya Yog Mandir unit Avinash Kumar said high global standards were maintained and practised in manufacturing all products at Patanjali Ayurvedic Ltd. All products were Swadeshi and authentic, he added.

Food Security Officer Yogendra Pandey told The Tribune that on the directions of the Secretary of the Food Security Department a case was filed in the court.

Interaction programme for heads of CBSE schools
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 9
Selaqui International School hosted an interaction programme for principals of CBSE schools in and around Dehradun today.

More than 75 school principals attended the mentoring and experience-sharing workshop. The main idea behind it, as explained by CBSE Chairman Vineet Joshi, was to enable mentor schools to guide other schools to accurately implement, monitor and assess continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) within classroom.

Joshi stressed the need for setting up a principal’s forum as proposed by Om Pathak, Chairman, Gurukul Trust. Pathak talked about the important responsibility of school heads in shaping the lives of the students they were educating. The principal’s forum would provide an opportunity to school principals to share their valuable experiences and act as mentors to the principals who require support.

In addition, he emphasised the need to train a child in the field of his choice.

Aradhana Parashar, Director, Academics and Training, CBSE, conducted the technical workshop based on the CCE regarding the techniques and procedures involved in it. She shared her experiences in the field and stressed the need for mentor schools to provide sufficient guidance to other schools in running the CCE programme successfully.

Headmaster of Selaqui International School Rakesh Tomar gave a vote of thanks.

Students complain to Governor
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 9
A delegation of students of the Phoenix Group of Institutions, Roorkee, met Governor Aziz Qureshi here today.

It complained to the Governor that the institute was asking them to deposit Rs 70,000 in the middle of the academic session and if they failed to do so they would be barred from appearing in examinations. The Governor assured the delegation that he would look into the matter. 

Bahuguna govt has failed on all fronts, says BJP chief
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 9
State BJP Chief Teerath Singh Rawat has launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led state government terming its one-year rule in the state as a total failure.

“The first year of the Congress government rule would be remembered for mis-governance and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna's inept rule,” said Rawat, while addressing a press conference yesterday.

He said all promises made by the government had proved to be hollow and they took the people for a ride, especially on the issues of rail link to Karanprayag, unemployment allowance and the construction of a Vidhan Sabha building at Gairsain. "The government has not paid much attention towards governance. Cabinet ministers and the Chief Minister are much involved in foreign trips and they have failed to spend the budget. At the end of the financial year, the budget spending is expected to be at 25, which is lowest by any government since the creation of the state. This has impeded the development activity in the state," he said.

He said due to its "anti-people" policies, the Congress lost the Tehri byelection and now fearing defeat in the cooperative elections, the party is trying to lure farmers through money and muscle power.

"The year rule of the Congress has pushed the state backward by several years and in case the government fails to wake up, the BJP, as a responsible opposition interested in the welfare of the state, would be forced to launch an agitation," said Rawat.

Setting up of two tea processing plants on cards
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 9
The Uttarakhand Tea Board is mulling to establish two tea processing plants at Nauti in Chamoli district of Garhwal and at Champawat in the Kumaon region this year. The final decision on this is likely to be taken at a meeting of the board scheduled to be held in Dehradun on March 13. This was said by the Director of the Tea Board and Almora District Magistrate Akshat Gupta here today.

“The process to establish tea plants was fast-tracked after a court order cleared a dispute regarding the cost of green leaves taken from these plants,” said Gupta.

The Director said the dispute had arisen after a Delhi company established a tea processing plant in 2007 at Champawat. “The work of plucking tea leaves remained standstill since the day of filing the case in the high court,” said Gupta.

The Uttarakhand Tea Board has 160 hectares of area under tea cultivation in the state in which more than 350 tea farmers are being benefited. “The Uttarakhand tea has a special flavour, as its plants were imported by the British from China in 1855,” said Gupta.

According to tea board sources, more and more women from adjoining villages can be provided employment after the leave-picking work starts.

Single Bench order on teachers upheld
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 9
The Nainital High Court has upheld a single Bench order cancelling a government order on the adjustment of upgraded teachers of junior high school to other government junior high schools.

“The government order of November 18, 2009, was challenged by Raghubir Singh Bisht of Chamoli on the ground that this order be cancelled as the upgraded high schools had no extra teachers. It was cancelled by the single Bench,” according to a decision taken by the Bench of Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice Aalok Singh.

ICFRE team visits mining company in Australia
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 9
As part of his visit to Australia, Dr VK Bahuguna, Director General, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, along with other delegation members, yesterday visited the office of the Rio Tinto mining company and Kings Park and Botanical Garden, Perth, Australia.

At the Rio Tinto mining company office, the Director General ICFRE thanked the officials of the company for giving the opportunity to the delegation of the ICFRE to have a detailed discussion in respect of mining activities of the company in Western Australia. Officials of the Rio Tinto mining company presented the status of the Pilbara open cast iron ore mining operations and rehabilitation measures carried out by them in the iron ore mines of Western Australia.

Thereafter, the ICFRE team visited Kings Park and Botanical Garden, Perth, that are associated with the research and development works of reclamation and rehabilitation of mined-out areas in Australia and other countries.

Welcoming the delegation, Mark Webb, Chief Executive Officer of Kings Park and Botanical Garden, informed them about the major initiatives of Kings Park and Botanical Garden such as implementation of the Biodiversity Conservation Plan, ecological restoration strategies on the designated land to reduce threats to native biodiversity, improve bush land conditions and maintain resilient ecological communities apart from rehabilitation of disturbed and degraded ecosystem like mined-out areas.

Webb pointed out that Kings Park and Botanical Garden also undertook and promotes research and investigation into matters related to the care, control and management of the designated land for biodiversity conservation and other related aspects.

Badminton a neglected sport in the north: Coach
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, march 9
Badminton today is a neglected sport in north India and only southern states like Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are promoting it sincerely. Reputed badminton player and coach Ram Lakhan, who is in Dehradun nowadays on the invitation of the local badminton association, is providing tips to players these days.

Ram, who hails from Jalandhar, told The Tribune yesterday that very little was being done to promote badminton in northern states. “Whether it is Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand, badminton is the most neglected sport,” said Ram, who is the current singles national champion in the 50-plus age group. He has also been four times national champion in the 45-plus age group.

Ram said badminton was getting adequate attention in the South due to assistance from the state governments and the presence of badminton academies.

Ram, who is a qualified A grade badminton coach from the NIS, Patiala, has been imparting training to poor children free of cost in Jalandhar. He has also been coming to Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to train local players.

Age has never been a constraint for this player. After winning the World Badminton Championships in Malaysia, Spain and Canada in the veterans’ category, Ram is now all set to go to Instanbul in Turkey in September to participate in the World Championship again.

He said badminton is an expensive sport and the lack of financial assistance was affecting budding players. He added only a top few players were getting sponsorship and a large number of players at the lower level were being ignored.

Ram, an employee of Punjab State Power Corporation, said he had to meet all his expenses to participate in the badminton championships abroad. “Even getting a leave to participate in a badminton championship is not easy,” he added.

Ram said he was hopeful that Uttarakhand would do justice to the sport. He added professional badminton needs to be taken to every nook and corner of the state by developing adequate sports infrastructure and encouraging budding players.

Ram yesterday visited The Heritage School and exchanged some finer points about badminton with the students.

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