uttarakhand civic polls
Chamoli: Development works in my tenure will ensure victory
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
BJP mayoral candidate from Dehradun Vinod Chamoli today said he was confident that the works undertaken by him during his five-year stint as Mayor to provide better facilities to the people of Dehradun, besides resentment against the UPA-led government at the Centre and poor governance by the Bahuguna government in Uttarakhand would enable him to post a comfortable victory in the civic body election.

On the last of the campaign Chamoli interacted with mediapersons and said, “There is unprecedented support for the BJP this time. I have not witnessed this kind of support since the days of the Ram Janam Bhoomi movement. The BJP is in an advantageous position as during our rule Dehradun witnessed unprecedented development. No wonder the Congress government is on the defensive after trying very hard to postpone the civic bodies’ election. The Chief Minister, who is planning to field his son in the Lok Sabha election in 2014, a defeat in Dehradun will reflect on his leadership quality,” said Chamoli.

He added after taking over as the Mayor of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, he worked towards improving its administration. “To give relief to the people, the procedure of mutation was simplified and no-objection cases were disposed of under the Right to Service Act. To improve the functioning of the corporation, I also submitted a proposal to the government for introducing the zonal system. If I am re-elected my priority will be to divide the corporation into four zones. The existing office will continue to function as the central zone while new offices will be set up for the three zones at Chaksha Nagar, Rajpur and GMS Road. These will be built under the public-private partnership mode,” he said.

Chamoli termed the initiation of door-to-door garbage collection under the Solid Waste Management Project and the hoarding policy to free Dehradun of giant-sized hoardings that marred the beauty of the city among his major achievements. “The giant-sized hoardings that were hung from the roofs of the buildings were not only proving to be a nuisance but were also dangerous. The policy helped us streamline the practice and limit the installation of hoardings to 245 locations,” he explained.

He said Dehradun had become the 13th city in the country to introduce door-to-door garbage collection. Chamoli also underlined the need to give more powers to the civic bodies under the 74 Amendment of the Constitution. “For democracy to flourish and its benefits to reach each nook and corner of the country the local bodies should be given economic powers in a manner that the planning for the budget takes place at the level of wards. The problem is that most governments are scared of divesting complete power to the local bodies,” he said.

Chamoli emphasised on the need to create a new structure for all civic bodies that had not been revised since 1950. “When Dehradun had a board, it had 600 employees but after it got a Municipal Corporation the number of employees reduced to 315. We need around 2,500 safai karamcharis but we have about 315 only,” he said. 

Candidates make last attempt to win voters as campaigning ends
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
The canvassing for the civic bodies’ polls ended at 5 pm today. The candidates of various political parties exhibited shows of strength in Dehradun making the last ditch efforts to attract voters.

Uttarakhand Congress Spokesman Dhirendra Pratap interacted with mediapersons a few hours before the campaigning ended today.

He said in the past 15 days the Congress had organised 3,000 small and big public meetings in the state while canvassing for the civic bodies’ polls.

He said Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, state Congress president Yashpal Arya, Union Minister for Water Resources Harish Rawat and Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj campaigned in a big way for the party candidates.

He added the Congress would win in at least 80 per cent of the civic bodies in the state.

Dhirendra termed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Haridwar on the last day of canvassing today as politically motivated. He said the people of Uttarakhand would never accept Modi.

On the other hand, Congress mayoral candidate from Dehradun Suryakant Dhasmana along with his supporters held a padyatra and appealed to the people for vote and support. Dhasmana covered all major roads of the city and promised to bring the best of development to Dehradun city, if elected as Mayor. He said fast disappearing greenery in Dehradun was a matter of concern and urgent remedial measures were needed.

It is his dream to make Dehradun a green city, he added.

Senior Congress leader Vivekanand Khanduri said there was a wave in the favour of the Congress in the state and the party was all set to win convincingly in the civic bodies’ polls. Earlier in the day, Dhasmana visited Rest Camp, Karanpur, Teg Bahadur Road and the minority-dominated Kanwali Road and Chander Road areas of Dehradun and sought their support.

BSP mayoral candidate Rajni Rawat along with party workers on two-wheelers and four-wheelers staged a roadshow. A large number of eunuchs, including Big Boss TV show participant eunuch Lakshmi Tripathy, participated in the roadshow.

Meanwhile, the candidates of various parties and Independents held marches and rallies in their respective wards to attract voters. The last day show of strength also brought traffic flow in Dehradun to a standstill. Traffic jams were witnessed in all parts of the city. People faced a lot of inconvenience and even the traffic police looked helpless.

The polling would take place on April 28 while the counting would be held on April 30. 

Rawat: No Chinese dam to check river flow into India
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, April 26
Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat said here today that China had assured Government of India that no dam was being constructed on the Brahmaputra river to store water. It is only launching river projects on Tibetan part of the river, which will not affect the flow of the river into Indian territory.

Talking to this reporter during his brief stay here for holding election campaign for Congress candidates in Didihat, Pithoragarh, Dharchula and Gangolihat towns, Rawat said that his ministry had since developed an information exchange system with China on water resources. ''After we fully acquaint each other on the issue of international waters, there will be no confusion,'' said the Union Water Resources Minister.

The minister said that keeping in view shortage of water in the country, his ministry was laying stress on rain water harvesting. ''We want to deposit 100 billion cusecs of underground water by these schemes by 2020,'' said the union minister.

According to him, the Government of India is initiating a regulatory authority to regulate ground water recharge in the country, which will work for water use efficiency in the country.

Answering a question on combination of Baba Ramdev and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader said that their joining hands will not affect the national politics as the people of the country are secular in outlook. ''We are thankful to Gujarat Chief Minister who has helped in exposing Baba Ramdev,'' said the congress leader.

Answering a question on effects on the development of the state after declaration of Ganga basin as eco-sensitive zone, Rawat said that the development works will not be affected as an authority will be formed by the concerned ministry and all essential construction work could be carried out after taking permission from this authority. ''Moreover, if the state government sends any proposal concerning it, the Government of India will consider it,'' said the Union minister.

Rawat said that the campaign of Ramdev need not be countered by Congress. ''While we have done agreements with 48 countries on the issue of black money deposition, the NDA government did not sign a single agreement,'' said the union minister.Later, Harish Rawat held a road show in the town and appealed to the people to vote for Congress candidates in the local body elections. ''We are seeking votes on one year's performance of Bahuguna government in the state,'' said Rawat

Chamoli, Dhasmana address lawyers, seek votes
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
The advocate fraternity of Dehradun Bar Association got the opportunity to hear incumbent Mayor and BJP candidate Vinod Chamoli and Congress candidate Suryakant Dhasmana yesterday.

Dhasmana reached first and pulled up Chamoli before advocates, saying: ''Just a few days ago, an interaction was facilitated between me and Vinod Chamoli by the Rotary Club. Chamoli there lamented about the

position of Mayor, saying that it had been divested of all the

financial and administrative powers. I want to ask him that if this post has no power, then why is he contesting again?'' He stressed that Chamoli should have fought to strengthen this position if he felt so and not kept mum all this while.

He said if he became Mayor, he would provide parking space for all the advocates. He also assured that whatever their other demands were, he would take up their proposals for approval to the Chief Minister, Vijay Bahuguna.

Vinod Chamoli, however, disappointed the advocate fraternity by not offering any such promise or assurance. He counted on his achievements to reinforce that he has been an able administrator who would bring in more development works if he captures the seat . He said that he renovated and beautified Gandhi Park, which used to be the centre for antisocial elements and full of overgrown grass and broken benches.

He said that he provided effective drains, good roads, flyover, widened crossings and widened Chakrata Road. He said the houses for the slum people are also being constructed, which were started in his tenure.

Punjabi sabhas extend support to Cong candidate
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 26
The electoral prospects of Congress mayoral candidate Swami Rishishwaranand have got a boost with a section of the Punjabi community extending support to him.

Representatives of the Punjabi Sarvjan Sabha, the Uttaranchal Punjabi Mahasabha and other organisations of the community announced this at a press conference at the Press Club of Haridwar yesterday.

President of the Punjabi Sarvjan Sabha Sanjay Chopra said they decided to support the Congress candidate keeping in view the interests of the Punjabi community. They found the Congress candidate to be better than other candidates. Mahant Kailash Nath ‘Hattyogi’ lamented that though the Punjabi community had played a pivotal role in India’s freedom movement and the development of Haridwar, the major political parties had ignored it in the allocation of ticket in the elections.

People in hurry to get resident certificates before civic elections
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
People fear that after the civic poll, the state government may withdraw the government order (GO) with regard to caste and permanent resident certificates. Hence, they are queuing up outside the Jan Adhar Kendra, close to District Magistrate’s office to submit forms in order to obtain these certificates.

Narender Gupta, one applicant, said, “The people are in a hurry to get caste and permanent resident certificates before the elections. It is quite possible that the state government could revoke the GO issued on these certificates after the polls.”

Veena Chamoli, another applicant, said: “The state government issued the GO to appease the public. So there are chances that it may cancel the decision in the wake of pressure mounted by other groups. If not this, the pleas made by the rival groups in High Court can also lead to the cancellation of the GO. This is the reason we are rushing to get the forms.”

The staff disbursing these forms is finding it difficult to meet the demands. A woman staff member said:'' It is seen that one person is furnishing several forms. Somebody is doing so on behalf of their family members or relatives. There is a lot of chaos on the window. It is becoming difficult to manage the crowd and meet their demands.” 
On this matter, District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam said: “Since the number of applicants to deposit their forms for caste/permanent resident certificates has increased, a system has been evolved. I will ensure it is followed from tomorrow onwards.”

He explained, saying: “The applicants would not be given these certificates on the same day. Their forms would now be received by 12 in the day for a review. The revenue clerk will check the veracity of the forms, whether they have been submitted by the applicants themselves and with their photos pasted. Genuine applicants will be called the next day, where they would be given receipts.With this the process to give them the certificates would start.'' He reasoned that with this method, the staff would be able to manage work properly and the crowd would also be reduced.

Govt has set up separate dept for SMEs: Pl Secy
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
Principal Secretary, Small Scale Industries, Dr Ranbir Singh yesterday said the state government had established a separate department for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to ensure their proper promotion.

Ranbir was addressing the ASSOCHAM 7th SME conference on “Banking and Finance Solutions for Sustainable Growth” held in Dehradun yesterday. He said the state government was also in the process of finalising the public procurement policy with an aim to promote the small scale industries in Uttarakhand.

Ranbir told the gathering that banks were willing to make easy credit available to the SMEs.

ASSOCHAM Chairman of the SMEs council PK Jain expressed concern over the sorry state of affairs of SMEs. He, however, held that with financial institutions focusing more on the sector, he expected better days for the SMEs in future.

Earlier, ASSOCHAM Secretary General DS Rawat said more than 25 per cent of the 60,000 registered and unregistered SMEs in the country had closed their businesses and nearly 20 per cent of them were struggling for survival. He added a special cell should be formed to facilitate the sector, which is providing jobs to 2.5 lakh skilled and unskilled people in Uttarakhand. Representatives of various SMEs in the state attended the conference.

‘Eco-sensitive zone along border will benefit China’
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, April 26
The eco-sensitive zone notified by the Centre in Uttarakhand along the China border could prove disastrous for national security. While China is building its defence infrastructure close to the border, we will be restrained from constructing infrastructure in the border area in the name of eco-sensitive zones and at basins of Himalayan rivers that incidentally form the border with China, said Lt Gen MC Bhandari (retd).

Lt Gen Bhandari was delivering a lecture during a programme at a college of Kumaon University in Nainital last evening. He said if any law banned the construction of military infrastructure along the China border in Chamoli, it would enhance the possibility of Chinese intrusion from the Barahoti sector, as they were firmly entrenched there. “Even today the Chinese troops could patrol up to the line of actual control (LAC) at Barahoti in vehicles while the road on our side is 40 km away from the border and it is not possible for us to reach the area immediately,” he said.

Lt Gen Bhandari said due to strange policies concerning defence of the country since Independence, India had suffered heavily and lost its vital strategic parts to China.

“If the notified eco-sensitive zone on the border with China prohibits construction work for defence purposes, we will witness conditions akin to those prevalent during the sixties when we suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of China due to lack of infrastructure on eastern and western borders,” said Lt Gen Bhandari.

He said a strong economy and a high economic growth were vital for India as these could bring us on a par with China and make the nation confident enough to face challenges posed by the neighbouring giant. “Due to a strong economy, China is able to spend 11.5 per cent of its GDP on its defence needs. This is three times that of the Indian defence budget,” said Lt Gen Bhandari. 

Seminar on advances in field of drug development 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
Specialists from around the country today came together to discuss the advances being made in the field of drug development in India and abroad at a national seminar held at the Shri Guru Ram Rai PG College.

The seminar titled 'Recent Advances in Chemical Approach to Drug Development' especially focused on the drugs being used fore the treatment of cancer, contraceptive drugs and anti-malaria drugs.

Specialists exchanged views and experiences on the various research activities being carried out in the field of drug development in India and abroad as well as various new medicines that are being developed and invented after significant efforts by the researchers.

MSM Rawat, Dean, School of Science, HNB Garhwal University, shared his experiences on the topic 'Lipid Based Value Added Herbal Drug Delivery System for Improving Bio-availability.' Anamik Shah of Saurashtra University shed light on the topic 'Industry & Instrumentation collaboration for Academic Research on Drug Development: Lessons to Learn from Few Case Studies.’ He explained that to introduce a single new medicine in the market, there is an estimated expenditure of Rs 4,000 crore. That is why it is quite a challenging task to introduce new and effective medicines in the market. He told that only those medicines can be included in the category of effective medicines which are cent per cent successful in treating the disease without any side-effects on the diseased part or any other part of the body.

College Principal VA Bourai expressed hope that the youth researchers will be benefited from this seminar. He urged the youth researchers to ascertain their role in the research work of the medicines.

He also appealed the govt to provide grants to such research works which are being done by certain people with utmost devotion in which they dedicate their whole life to carry out certain research and experiment works.

On the occasion, programme coordinator AK Gupta, programme secretary Sandeep Negi, Rakesh Dhaundiyal, Deepali Singhal, Harsh Vardhan Pant, Harish Chandra, Shyamveer Singh, VS Rawat, MS Gusain, Sumangal Singh, S. Rana were also present. 

Book on Nigmanand’s life, contribution 
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 26
The life and struggle for the cause of the Ganga of martyr Swami Nigmanand has been complied in a book, which was released at Matra Sadan Ashram today, 5 km from the city.

Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Sanskrit University Prof Mahavir Aggarwal was the chief guest on the occasion. He lauded the efforts of Matra Sadan saints for social causes.

Written in Sanskrit, the book has been titled ‘Ganga Putra Danam’.

At each page, Hindi translation has been provided for readers in a simple manner.

The book has been compiled by Shailesh Kumar Tiwari, who said Swami Nigmanand’s 100-day fast for the cause of the Ganga is unmatched in today’s time. Sub-editor of the book Niranjan Mishra said they had tried to bring in some hidden and unknown facts about Swami Nigmanand.

Swami Sanand, also popular as Guru Das Aggarwal, along with Swami Shivanand, founder of Matra Sadan Ashram, also paid tributes to Swami Nigmanand.

Swami Nigmanand was on a 108-day hunger strike against quarrying on the Ganga riverbed in Haridwar. Later, he was forcibly taken to the Haridwar District Hospital for feeding and then referred to the Jolly Grant hospital where his health deteriorated.

His death sparked public outrage as it became a national issue, forcing the government to ban quarrying in the Kumbh Mela area and at the two Ganga lots of Bishanpur Kundi and Bhogpur.

125 students awarded scholarships 
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, April 26
As many as 125 students from 11 schools of Mussoorie were awarded scholarships at a function organised under the aegis of the Annual Rotary Mussoorie Scholarship programme here today.

Manmohan Singh, District Governor, Rotary International, was the chief guest on the occasion. Later, Rotary Club members distributed tables, chairs and almirahs among poor students in Bhatta village, which were donated by Mussoorie Public school.

Club president Pranav Gilhotra said the students who were awarded scholarships today belonged to the lower income group but were promising, meritorious and hard-working students. The club had decided to encourage them to continue their education through the scholarship project. Manmohan Singh commended the efforts of the club in this regard.

He said under a Rotary Club programme, a group from Pakistan would visit India in May to promote peace in the region. He said Rotary International was also planning to install triangular reflectors in vehicles to prevent road accidents.

Gilhotra said Rotary International had formed Rotary action groups in every club of the country, where every member would be involved in social activities.

Director, community service, Sanjay Agarwal, Shailendar Karnwal, Vipul Mittal, Dr GK Thakral, DP Singh, Pramode Sawhney, Alok Mehrotra, Mohd Saleem, Suvigya Sabharwal, Kuldeep Mathur, Shalabh Garg, Sandeep Sahni, Rakesh Chamoli, Arjun Kaintura and others were present on the occasion.

Report submitted on expired medicines
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
Additional Secretary, Health, Piyush Singh, has submitted a report on the Rs 1.21 crore worth of medicines that expired and were still housed at a Roorkee warehouse in the absence of timely distribution in 2008-2009.

The report which has been submitted to the Uttarakhand Lok Ayukta found the then Joint Director (NRHM), Asha Mathur’s behaviour irresponsible and exceeding the mandate. It has also found the chief pharmacist employed at the Roorkee government facility was equally guilty in the matter.

The incident took place in 2008-2009 when medicines purchased for Rs 1.21 crore under the National Rural Health Mission were not distributed on time among pregnant women due to carelessness and when these were discovered at the warehouse, the expiry date was over.

CM meets Azad, seeks two more trauma centres
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna met Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi today and requested him to approve two additional trauma centres for Uttarakhand. He said two additional trauma centres were needed at Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar at Tehri.

Bahuguna said Uttarakhand was a major tourist destination and traffic had increased rapidly in the past few years.

He said due to road accidentsand natural disasters, there was a need for adequate number of trauma centres in the state.

Earlier, Bahuguna called upon former Chief Minister ND Tiwari, who is admitted to AIIMS, New Delhi, for health check-up and wished him good health.

Avi declared head boy of SJA’s junior school
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
The junior school of St Joseph’s Academy (SJA) conducted the investiture ceremony at the school auditorium here today.

The programme began with the lighting of the traditional lamp by the Principal, Rev Bro George, and the Vice-Principal, Rev Bro Dennis. This was followed by a dance.

The oath was administered by junior school coordinator S Hasan.

In his closing address, Bro George congratulated the parents of the newly elected leaders and stressed on the qualities that defines a true leader and asked the young office-bearers to inculcate the same.

He congratulated and appreciated the parents for being ideal role models. During the course of the event, a cultural programme was also presented by junior students, which was appreciated by all present.

The following were declared office-bearers.

Head boy: Avi Vadhera, head girl: Divayansh Uniyal, house prefects- Duffy house-Aryan Barthwal, Bergin house-Ytharthar Sharma, Dooley house-Tejaswi Rai and Donovan house-Attulya Pratap Gupta.

Welham Boys’ School (Blue) victorious in basketball
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 26
In the 27th All India Golden Jubilee Basketball Tournament 2013 matches being played at Welham Boys’ School (WBS), Dehradun, Welham Boys School (Blue) beat The Hilton School, Dehradun, 49-40.

Further, Punjab Public School, Nabha, beat The Asian School 63-50, The Hilton School beat St. George's College, Mussoorie, 39 -25, The Doon School beat Welham Boys' School (White) 36-18, Welham Boys' School (Blue) beat Lawerence School, Sanawar, 66- 54.

Principal of Welham Boys’ School Gunmeet Bindra, Vice Principal, WBS, Mahesh Kandpal and Uttarakhand Basketball Association's secretary Vinod Vacchani were among prominent persons present on the occasion.