Dehradun, March 16
After facing widespread criticism on the issue of bringing amendments to the Uttarakhand Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act, allowing conversion of land, the government is contemplating excluding agriculture land from the ambit of change of land use.

On the March 12 Cabinet meeting, the government had taken a decision on bringing amendment to the Uttarakhand Zamindari Abolition and Land Reform Act, allowing conversion of land bought for the purpose of agriculture, economic, educational, tourism and housing activities to be used for other activities by paying a one-time fee.

But now sources claim that the government may issue a revised government order excluding the agriculture land from the ambit of conversion.

The government’s attempt to discuss an important amendment when the Assembly session was already announced had raised the heckles of the BJP that had termed the entire exercise as suspicious.

Though from time to time, several amendments were announced during the Khanduri government’s rule, among these several measures were announced to ensure that the 13 per cent land under agriculture was protected.

“The Congress government by trying to bring amendment to the Act was trying to overturn the measures brought forth by the Khanduri government to protect the agriculture land,” said Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

While both BJP and Congress were sparred on the issue, the several flip-flops made by the Chief Minister, who went to the extent of denying that such a decision was taken, exacerbated the matter. More so when his ministers claimed that such a decision was taken.

Thereafter, the government made clumsy efforts to fix the responsibility by passing the buck on the juniormost officer in the hierarchy and holding him responsible for leaking the information, thereby supporting the seniormost officials.

Dehradun, March 16
The contract of developing the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) project for the police has been given to NIIT.

The company has now begin the process of evaluation the infrastructure and network of each police station in this regard. SP, State Crime Record Bureau, Neelesh Anand Bharne said all 125 police stations, 36 circle offices, offices of six ASPs, 13 SPs, four police range offices, one police headquarters along with 20 police control rooms, one forensic as well as fingerprint lab would be connected to each other through computerisation by the next year.

He said four computers one laser printer, one multipurpose printer would be given to each police station. Under the first pilot project, Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar would be taken which would be connected to the National Crime Record Bureau when these came under the cover of the CCTNS.

He said the time taken in finalising the company through tenders had been wrapped up. Now things would move at much faster pace. A budget of Rs 16 crore has been sanctioned by the Centre in this regard.

All police stations had been covered under basic computer training. Punit Aggarwal, NIIT official, said the training would be imparted to policemen and officials as per the demand of their role in the entire structure. However, they would prepare a technical team, which would deal with highly technical problems as and when they appeared. Bharne said at present, the problem of coordination between police stations where they did not know whether the report of stolen vehicles registered in one police station had been recovered by other.

He said under the CCTNS, all police stations would be able to see the data of each other on a portal. The collection, storage, retrieval, analysis, transfer of data and information of one state, its headquarters and the central police could be shared with each other through the CCTNS.

Dehradun, March 16
To welcome the spring, the annual flower show Pushpavali was organised at the Bengal Engineer Group & Centre, Roorkee. The show was inaugurated by the E-in-C Lt-Gen Vijai Sharma.

“Pushpavali” is an annual event which is organised by BEG & Centre to encourage gardeners, florists and nature lovers to celebrate the colours of spring. The flamboyant display of flowers in various colours to include candy tuft, dahlia, freesia, gazania, lillium, etc. These were displayed in the cut flowers, potted plants and house plants categories.

A total of 1,595 entries were on the display today. A garden competition was also organised wherein these were judged by a panel of experts on the subject under various categories to include kitchen garden, office garden and institution garden.

Six renowed judges from the field of horticulture were also seen busy in judging the various entries.

In addition to this, a rangoli competition was also organised. In this event various ingredients like flowers, colours and grains were used to bring to life creative depiction of various facets of the society. A total of six rangolis were made to depict the Mahakumbh, Save Earth and Girlchild among others.

Besides the flower show, arrangements were also made for the amusement which attracted a huge crowd.

A lucky draw would also be organised wherein a Maruti Alto car, washing machine, refrigerator, TV and other electronic goods will be given away to winners in various categories on March 17.

Brig Dig Vijay Setia, Commandant BEG & Centre, all ranks of Bengal Sappers, including veterans and important dignitaries of civil institutions like the IIT, the BHEL, the NIH, the CBRI, the IRI and the Uttarakhand Police were present during the occasion. The general public also turned out in a large number. 

Haridwar, March 16
A two-day designer exhibition was inaugurated at the International Academy of Fashion Institute here today.

‘American doll’ was the theme of the exhibition.

Punita Rao designed traditional Indian 'lehanga' and gave it a trendy look. Self-innovative inputs of the young designers were easily visible in their designs. Designer clothes by Kamini, Shaily Arora and Pooja Rana were also put on the exhibition. President of the BHEL Ladies’ Club Jyothi Pandhi presided over as the chief guest at the exhibition and assured help to budding designers, who hail from poor background in generating employment avenues.

“There is a lot of talent in this state but they need exposure, right opportunities and a change in mindset of people,” said fashion expert Suman Lata Pal.

“Fashion industry is becoming popular in the industrial sector with wide employment opportunities in it,” opined Mushfaiqa Sheikh, a fashion expert.

The exhibition will conclude tomorrow.

Mussoorie, March 16
The three-day seminar to train the president and secretary-elects of various district clubs of Rotary International from across the country began here yesterday.

The seminar titled ‘Gyanoday’ began with the lighting of ceremonial lamp by various district governors at Brent Wood Hotel here. The president and secretary elects were asked to work in accordance with the new theme purported by Rotary International- ‘Engage Rotary, Change lives’.

The meeting was called to order by the Chairperson, Past District Governor (PDG), Gulshan Thukral, whereas the welcome address was read out by PDG Hemant Arora.

District governor Manmohan Singh laid stress on the leadership qualities and to engage every member of the club in fulfilling the social responsibility as prescribed by the clubs charter.

The district trainer, PDG Arun Sharma, while speaking on subject ‘Engaging yourself’, said instead of becoming over indulgent, the Rotarians should engage the members first and then the community and then try to change lives by building skills and confidence in every individual Rotary members. He said this way they would be able to achieve social goals as envisaged by the parent organisation. He further hoped that every Rotarian would actively do things for the betterment of others.

The district governor-elect Rakesh Agarwal elaborated upon the new Rotary International theme ‘Engaging Rotary, Change lives’ and said every Rotarian should play a meaningful role and make a valued contribution to society at large.

He said with the formation of the Rotary foundation’s new grant model called ‘Future Vision’, the district clubs should use the grant to fund humanitarian projects.

PDG Surendar Seth spoke on ‘Leadership makes a difference’. He motivated the presidents and secretaries elects to take lead while engaging themselves in various social activities in their units.

The other speakers, namely Sunita Sharma and YP Das, highlighted the role of women in the club.

The keynote address was delivered by Raja Saboo and PDG Ranbir Singh. Col Dalip Patnaik extended the note of gratitude.A talent search programme was also organised.

Later speaking to the media, PDG Manmohan Karnwal said the president and secretary-elect training seminar was designed to provide essential and current information to the incoming club presidents in order to prepare them for an effective and successful year. 

Haridwar, March 16
Schoolchildren took out an awareness march about female foeticide and rising crime against women. They held placards and wrote slogans to give out a message on the issue .

Initiated by Euro Kids School, the awareness march saw participation of more than 80 students accompanied by their parents. They passed through main streets of the city, finally culminating their march at the Rishikul ground.

Regional head (New Delhi) of Euro Kids Pallavi Joshi said female foeticide was on the rise in the country. Even though multiple awareness programmes were being carried out by the government, there was no substantial change in the scenario.

“Save Girl Child is a national campaign launched by our school in all its branches across the country. A girl is as important as a boy and it is a sin to kill a life,” said Joshi.

Medical expert Vishal Verma said societal setup, change in thinking and such campaigns needed to be carried out apart from stringent laws to the female foeticide in the country.

Nidhi Goswami, Principal of Euro Kids, Indira Industrial Estate, said the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 2000, Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, and Dowry Prohibition Act, 1962, had come as a boon for women.

Manager of the Sati Kund wing of the school Vikas Mehta lauded the efforts of parents in making children participate in the march.

Creative slogans and poems by Manya, Mayra, Amaira, Arayena, Akshan, Abiro, Kaustubh and Krishna were appreciated by the people.

Haridwar, March 16
For the all-round development of students, emphasis on extra-curricular activities as well as awareness of the social aspects is necessary at an early age.

This was stated by noted academicians, teachers and sociologists at a meeting held at Buddhi Mata, Sati Kund, Kankhal yesterday.

Experts dwelled on various aspects for lessening the burden of study on younger children and incorporating new creative ideas to make routine study more interesting.

Pallavi Singh, regional head, Euro Kids, emphasised on the need for making children aware of social issues so that later on they became more sensitive and responsible citizens.

"On a routine basis as part of curriculum, we launch programmes related with social issues like save environment and save girlchild so that children develop sensitivity to these aspects," said Pallavi.

Citing last year's Delhi rape incident wherein the student fraternity took to streets, Pallavi said India had the highest number of youth power in the whole world which needs to be properly channelised.

Nidhi Goswami said specific leverage need to be given on girlchild education as still in semi urban-rural areas, fair sex is not given preference when it comes to admission to schools.

Similarly social activists Vikas Mehta, Mohan Goswami, manager of GPL Memorial Public School, also put forth their views on the current education system.

Dehradun, March 16
Civil Defence Chief Warden Dehradun Chandragupt Vikram has stressed on the need for collective efforts towards ensuring fool-proof internal security in the country.

Addressing a gathering at a valedictory session of the six-day civil defence training camp on policing and intelligence that concluded yesterday, Chandragupt Vikram said the nation today faced challenges in the form of terrorism and communalism.

He said under such circumstances, it is important that the civilians keep themselves alert and are prepared to meet all such exigencies.

Dehradun, March 16
Secretariat XI and Doon Combined Cricket Club won their respective matches in the Doon International Cricket Championship being played at the Matawala bagh ground here today.

In the first match, Secretariat XI defeated Doon United Cricket Club by four wickets. Batting first after winning the toss, Doon United Cricket Club scored 120 for nine wickets. Opener Vikram scored 34 runs while Vikas and Bhupender took two wickets each. In reply, Secretariat XI scored 125 runs for six wickets to win the match by four wickets. Charu scored 39 run while Amit Ghai scored 34 runs. Sandeep and Mohan took three wickets each.

In the second match, Doon Combined Cricket Club beat Helex XI by 57 runs. Batting first, Doon Combined Club scored 129 runs all out. Tanush scored 40 runs while Sultan and Mohit took two wickets each. In reply, Helex XI was all out for mere 72 runs, losing the match by 57 runs. Opener Ranjan scored 43 runs. Akshay took four wickets for 23 runs.

Dehradun, March 16
Five persons were killed in a road mishap near Daat Kali temple on the Dehradun-Saharanpur road in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the Uttarakhand Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, the pilgrims were returning to Saharanpur after paying a visit to Daat Kali Mandir when the tractor trailer in which they were travelling fell into a gorge.

Five pilgrims died while 13 others were injured in the mishap.

Uttarakhand Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna have expressed sorrow over the accident

Both have prayed for early recovery of the injured and peace to departed souls.

They have also prayed to God to give strength to the bereaved families in this moment of grief.

The Daat Kali temple is on the Uttarakhand-Uttar Pradesh border. 

Pithoragarh, March 16
A Vigilance Department team today arrested Chief Food Inspector, Pithoragarh, Archana Sagar under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act for taking a bribe of Rs 20,000 from a confectioner for renewing the food licence of his shop.

A team of six vigilance officials from Haldwani arrested Archana red-handed while taking the bribe money at her office in Pithoragarh, said Ashok Bhatt, SP (vigilance), Kumaon region.

Bhatt said Jagdish Prajapati had complained that Archana was demanding Rs 20,000 for renewing the food licence of his confectionery shop. “After a preliminary inquiry, we found that the complaint was correct. Today, we went to her room at the CMO office and caught her red-handed while taking bribe,” said Bhatt. 

Dehradun, March 16
Hoshiar Singh, resident of Vaishno Puram, Raipur, injured his wife, two children and himself with a dagger on Thursday. He said he was suffering from mental disorder and in a fit he committed the crime without realising it. The injured family members have been taken to the military hospital and are out of danger.

Hoshiar Singh, who was serving as a security personal with the SBI, Kapkot, Bagheshwar, was home on a leave. He was under going treatment for extended fever. On Thursday night, he attacked his wife, Manju, with a dagger and then injured his daughter, Kiran (17), on head. He also hit his son, Amar (12), on arms and legs. After that injured himself on head. On hearing the noise, his second son, Neeraj, stopped Hoshiar Singh.

Hoshiar Singh told the police that after taking medicine for his mental disorder he felt uneasy and attacked his family members.

The police has registered a case of attempt to murder against him.