Dehradun, June 8
Amid heavy rain, Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, reviewed the passing-out parade of 132nd regular and allied courses at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) here today. A total of 705 Gentlemen Cadets (GC), including 74 foreign GCs, took part in the parade which was delayed by one and half hour due to the rain.

In his address to the GCs, Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne said the Indian Army today was going through a revolutionary phase of comprehensive capability enhancement and exhorted the GCs to keep themselves thoroughly updated with the new technology-driven environment.

“To meet the stringent demands of this new environment, there will be a need to constantly prepare and adapt. Hence my advice to you would be to ‘Never stop learning’. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and strive towards understanding each and every aspect of your job because the future operational capabilities of the Indian Army will greatly depend on your professional capabilities,” said Air Chief Marshall NAK Browne.

He congratulated the passing-out GCs, particularly those from other countries, and said all officers from friendly foreign countries, who had undergone quality training at the IMA, would go on to serve as ambassadors in their own countries, armed with the values and ethos of the Indian armed forces. “I am sure that the bonds of camaraderie that you have established with your course mates here will continue to grow stronger with the passage of time,” he added.

Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne also presented awards to Siddhant Suhag, Vikas Kumar Suhag and Sahil Kerni. Siddhant bagged the sword of honour, Vikas won the gold medal and Sahil the silver medal.

The rain could not dampen the spirit of the passing-out GCs who showed tremendous enthusiasm, vigour and zeal to put up an excellent parade at the drill square in the backdrop of Chetwode Building before an august gathering. They marched on the tunes of 'Col Bogey' and 'Sare Jahan Se Achacha” and finally crossed the ceremonial “Antim Pag”. The parade was followed by the piping-in ceremony and the oath-taking ceremony that took place at the Somnath Stadium.

Mussoorie, June 8
An alert bus driver of the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation prevented a tragedy and saved the lives of about 45 passengers when the brakes of the bus failed on the Mussoorie-Dehradun Road, near Galogi Dhar, today.

The driver of the Uttarakhand Roadways bus No. UK07M7761 was on his way to Mussoorie from Dehradun when he realised that the brakes of the vehicle were not working. He immediately rammed the bus back on the hillside, bringing it to a halt.

The police after reaching the scene of the incident said the driver did a good job by taking the bus backwards. Otherwise, it would have fallen in the 200-feet gorge on the other side of the road and led to loss of many lives.

However, a long queue of vehicles was witnessed on the either side of the road as the bus remained stuck in the middle of the road for several hours. SDM, Mussoorie, NS Dangi, BJP leader Munna Singh Chauhan and a vehicle from Raj Bhavan were also stranded due to the jam.

The SDM summoned the tow-away vehicle which did not arrive on time. Following that the bus was pushed aside with the help of the passengers and tourists who were stuck in the jam.

The daily commuters of the roadways bus alleged that due to the negligence of the officials of the Uttarakhand Road Transport Corporation most of the buses often break down, leaving passengers stranded for several hours. Sometimes the buses come to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road due to faulty spare parts but the officials concerned turn a blind eye to the situation.

This is not the first instance that a bus has halted due to some fault. A bus bound for Delhi had to be cancelled on Wednesday when it failed to start near the Picture Palace bus stand causing inconvenience to the tourists.

The president of the Roadways Karamchari Parishad, Hukum Singh Rawat, said the problem had arisen due to irregularities being committed in the workshop of the Transport Department where most of the parts used were allegedly duplicate.

He said though senior Transport department officials had been apprised of the matter they had shown no interest in solving the problem.

Rawat alleged that the department was using faulty tube flaps, which melt due to immense heat produced by the engine, and caused damage to the buses.

Area Regional Manager, Transport Department, Pooja Kaira refuted the allegation and said most of the buses make four rounds in the peak season instead of two done normally. This is why some technical faults emerged in the buses.

She said no duplicate spare parts were being used in the workshop and buses were checked thoroughly before they leave the gate of the workshop in Dehradun.

Dehradun, June 8
Giving a unity call among various factions of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), patron of Uttarakhand Jan Kranti Dal (UJKD) Diwakar Bhatt today announced his resignation from the post.

“To promote unity among different factions of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, I have tendered my resignation from the post of patron of the Uttarakhand Jan Kranti Dal to send a message to people that we are keen to forgo our egos in the larger interest of the state.

As a regional front, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal was at the forefront of an agitation but today it has broken into different groups. We should unite before the panchayat and the Lok Sabha elections otherwise we would be marginalised,” said Bhatt at a press conference today.

Bhatt said there had been calls for unity from time to time but nothing concrete had happened,

“Instead of emotional appeals, concrete efforts should be made towards uniting all different groups. This will help in giving due attention to issues of the state, including migration, declaring of eco-sensitive zones and illegal land sale,” he said.

Bhatt, however, did not forget to point out the injustice meted out to him when he was sacked from the main Uttarakhand Kranti Dal and was not even given time to explain.

“If there is a need to make changes in the statute of the UKD, we should do it so that the incident is not repeated,” said Bhatt in the context of his expulsion.

But when he was asked if he was holding talks with UKD leaders on this issue and whether he thinks there was a real responsibility of the formal UKD again taking shape, Bhatt evasively replied, “I will devote a month towards the efforts to unify it and hold talks with all senior leaders.”

Dehradun, June 8
Tourists going to Mussoorie had a harrowing time in reaching their destination today as more than 950 taxi operators of Dehradun went on a strike in protest against notices issued by the railway authorities to them to vacate the taxi stand at the local railway station.

The taxi stand at the railway station, which caters to the tourists going to Mussoorie, has been operational for the past 40 years.

The railway authorities gave notices to the taxi operators following an order of the Nainital High court. The taxi operators went on a strike and were joined by their compatriots from the old bus stand and the Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) taxi stands. A large number of tourists were seen trying to get into buses to reach Mussoorie.

The taxi operators sat on a dharna in support of their demand that they should not be evicted till the time some alternative arrangement was made for them.

Vice-president of the Uttarakhand Congress Suryakant Dhasmana joined the agitating taxi operators. He later took a delegation of the taxi operators to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. The Chief Minister talked to Union Railway Minister CP Joshi on telephone regarding the issue.

The Chief Minister requested the Railway Minister to stall the eviction proceedings till some alternative arrangement was made to shift the taxi stand. According to the Chief Minister Office, the Railway Minister assured Bahuguna that he would to look into the matter. 

Mussoorie, June 8
The tourists bound for Dehradun on taxis were in for rude shock as the taxi unions went on a strike after the court’s decision of shifting the three taxi stands in Dehradun reached the taxi owners today. The tourist could not find any taxi for Dehradun as most of the taxi owners refused to run their vehicles due to the strike call given by their brethren here today.

Many tourists had to wait in long queues at the bus stand to hop in the government buses. The visitors were unable to find seats in the maddening crowd of the commuters. The additional rush of the tourists made situation worse. They had to board the loaded trucks and utility jeeps coming from the adjacent villages to reach Dehradun.

Dehradun, June 8
Two lads from a non-descript Bisahan village in Jhajjar district have made Haryana proud. While Siddhant Suhag bagged the coveted sword of honour, Vikas Kumar Suhag won the gold medal. Both belong to Suhag community. Little known Bisahan village, today boasts of nearly 100 officers in the armed forces. A total of 60 gentlemen cadets (GC) from Haryana passed out from the Indian Military Academy today.

Siddhant stood the best all-round gentlemen cadet in the regular course whereas Vikas stood first in the order of merit in the regular course. Siddhant’s father, Junior Warrant Officer Hoshiyar Singh Suhag, said with a large number of people from the Bisahan village in defence forces along with a large number of ex-servicemen, the youngsters too are naturally inclined towards joining forces due to high motivation level.

Col RS Suhag (retd), a close relative of Siddhant, who was witness to today’s passing-out parade said nearly 100 serving defence force officers belonged to Bisahan village, including Lt-Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag. “I was commissioned into Sikh Light Infantry in 1963. Then I was the first Army officer from Bisahan but today I am proud there are many belonging to the region,” said Col RS Suhag. He said both Siddhant and Vikas had added another feather to long list of achievements of Bisahan village.

Vikas’s father, Sub Suresh Kumar, too believes that young in Bisahan were highly motivated to join defence forces. He said while there were many in armed forces from Haryana, Bisahan village in particularly was taking lead toward producing young Army officers for the country.

Siddhant has been inducted into 18 Sikh, Vikas has been given 16 Grenadiers.

Dehradun, June 8
For 74 foreign Gentlemen Cadets (GCs) today’s passing-out parade at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) was a moment that they would cherish for long. Papua New Guinea’s Joseph Wandau was the sole cadet from his country to be part of the passing-out parade. For Joseph, happiness was doubled as Papua New Guinea’s Defence Forces Commander Brig General Francis Agwi was himself present to witness the parade.

Joseph belongs to the Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. He said he relished every moment of his training at the IMA and he would now be going for the young officers’ course in Australia.

Joseph’s father Michael Wandau, who is a businessman, said it was for the first time he was coming to India and that was all due to his son’s preference of joining Papua New Guinea defence forces.

Azeez from Maldives said it was a matter of honour for him to get trained at the IMA, which is one of the best army training institutes in South Asia. He added India has always been a friendly country and it was wonderful getting trained with Indian GCs.

The parade was more special for A. Samim Sorosh from Afghanistan, who got the Best Foreign GC Award. He said life in the academy had been good and they had also learnt Hindi.

Sorosh said the Afghanistan GCs look forward for more close ties between India and Afghanistan in future. Afghanistan with 55 GCs was the biggest contingent among the passing-out foreign GCs.

The parade had an all-time high 74 foreign GCs. Besides Afghanistan, 10 GCs were from Tajikistan, two each from Nepal, Kazakhstan and Maldives and one each from Lesotho, Papua New Guinea and Ethiopia. — TNS

Dehradun, June 8
Governor Aziz Qureshi yesterday released a book "Bharatiya Sanskriti Ki Aviral Dhara Shri Ganga" edited by Dr Mamata Singh, chairperson of Snehil organisation.

The Governor said, "The Ganga is the repository of India's diverse culture and tradition and should not be confined to any language, caste or language. It is the symbol of the Indian civilisation and all efforts should be made to maintain it's sanctity and continuous flow."

The book is a collection of research papers presented at the 2011 national seminar in Rishikesh on various dimensions of the Ganga. It presents the historic, cultural, spiritual, aesthetic and ecological aspects of the river and would prove useful for researchers.

Chaudhary Avadhesh Kumar, patron of Snehil, DAV College principal Dr Devendra Bhasin, former Vice-Chancellor of Sanskrit university Sudharani Pandey and others were present on the occasion.