Expectant woman dies due to ‘medical negligence’
Dehradun, September 19
A 30-year-old expectant woman, Prema Devi, died at Rukmani Hospital yesterday allegedly due to medical negligence. She was reportedly admitted to the hospital yesterday morning. The relatives of the deceased entered into a scuffle with the hospital staff and the police had to intervene.

Meeting to discuss condition of tourist spots
Dehradun, September 19
District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam held a meeting to discuss the condition of tourist spots in Dehradun and Mussoorie with major focus on the Guchupani project.

Road mishap victim dies 
Dehradun, September 19
Twenty-year-old Ankit Rana, who sustained serious injuries in a road accident near Circuit House, Cantonment, yesterday died today. Ankit, a student of B.Sc, was taken to Doon Hospital, from where doctores referred him to Mahant Indresh Hospital.

Dehradun, September 19
The act of Congress MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion of opening fire at a dinner party hosted by Harak Singh Rawat, followed by the sluggish attitude of the police towards the incident is reaffirming the old phrase that politicians of the ruling party can get away with anything.

Meanwhile, the police is reportedly going slow in the investigations into the case against Khanpur MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh, who had been in a similar controversy last year as well when he opened fire on one hotel owner in Haridwar.

Surprisingly, the police have not been able to find the bullet shells from the house of Harak Singh Rawat, where the dinner party was organised on Tuesday. There is no serious effort from the police side to find the used bullet shells as these can be used as clinical evidence in nailing the culprit.

Once again the police has shown that the law is different for the high and mighty.

On the other hand, the police has not been able to find the whereabouts of the suspect MLA, who had gone missing after firing six rounds on Tuesday night. The police team, which was sent to Haridwar in search of the MLA, could not find him on Wednesday.

Reflecting the helplessness of the police, one senior police officer told The Tribune: “We cannot take action against anybody until the two injured Congress leaders name the person who opened the fire in the party.” Injured Congress leader Vivekanand Khanduri has refused to name anybody, said the police team.

The officer said he was still hopeful that ''the conscience of the injured leaders will arise and they will name the person who fired in the party.''

Congress Party worker Ravindra Saini, who also got injured in the incident, has backtracked from his earlier statement, which he made in front of the media immediately after the firing incident on Tuesday and named Kunwar Pranav Singh.

Harak Rawat must quit: BJP chief

Uttarakhand BJP president Teerath Singh Rawat yesterday demanded the resignation of Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat saying anti-social activities were taking place in his house. Teerath told mediapersons that the firing incident showed that the minister harboured anti-social elements. “The entire city knows that the firing took place in his house on Tuesday night but he did not register an FIR. A few days ago a woman, whose involvement in the murder of Harak Rawat’s former public relation officer was suspected, had claimed that she was arrested from his house,” 
he said.

Teerath said it was shameful that law-makers were shielding anti-social elements and even covering up for them. The BJP had demanded a judicial inquiry into the firing incident, he added.

MLAs demand judicial inquiry

A delegation of BJP MLAs and office-bearers met Governor Aziz Qureshi at Raj Bhavan yesterday and submitted a memorandum to him demanding action against Congress MLA Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion, who allegedly fired shots at a dinner party hosted by Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat at his residence on Tuesday night, injuring two persons.

Leader of the Opposition in the Vidhan Sabha Ajay Bhatt led the delegation. The BJP MLAs and office-bearers said the incident was alarming and a threat to law and order in the state. They demanded a judicial probe into the incident and immediate dismissal of the government. The Governor assured them of appropriate action as soon as the details of the incident are obtained.

Haridwar, September 19
Renowned environmentalist Guru Das Aggarwal, alias Swami Sanand, has now decided to give up taking even water as part of his two-month-long ''tapasya''mode of agitation at Matra Sadan Ashram in Jagjeetpur village, 5 km from Haridwar city.

The saint just completed 100 days of his ''tapasya'' mode of agitation. He was forcibly taken by the district administration in between for 23 days last month, citing ''deterioration of his health'' as the reason. Swami Sanand said that both the government and district administration had failed to take substantial steps in ensuring sanctity of the holy Ganga and stopping illegal quarrying going on in the district.

Matra Sadan Ashram, the front-runner in leading a social campaign against illegal quarrying being done on Ganga river bed, has demanded stringent legal action against the quarrying mafia, which is earning considerable revenue at the cost of the holy Ganga and ecology.

Swami Sanand also pointed finger on the dangerous liaison existing between quarrying mafia, administrators and politicians. Matra Sadan head Swami Shivanand said that in Haridwar, which is a religious spiritual city, such an illegal act is going on at a mass scale, which cannot be operated without quarrying mafia having nexus with some corrupt public representatives and administrators.

The revered saint also feared illegal quarrying mafia trying to kill Swami Sanand, as he had been coming in their way by observing ''tapasya'' mode of agitation for the past month. Swami Shivanand said that earlier quarrying mafia succeeded in a similar act ''by poisoning the late Swami Nigamanand,'' who was on a108- day fast against the issue of allowing quarrying on Ganga ghats. The saint also called on the Environment Ministry, Indian government, Uttarakhand government, Forest Department and district administration to reign in the quarrying mafia in Haridwar and free river Ganga and its sub-tributaries from the mass quarrying going on.

Matra Sadan Ashram also pointed that they were against numerous hydroelectric projects in sensitive zones of Uttarakhand, which now Supreme Court also feared had impacted the natural ecology by putting brakes on all such projects till a final assessment report is submitted to it by Ministry of Environment and Water Resources.

We had staged an agitation against such rampant hydroelectric projects, which were without environment clearance and only meant to extract money. Now the June natural fury had exposed the flaw of making the hill state ''Urja Pradesh'' and the maximum damage was on the eco sensitive zone from Gangotri-Gaumukh till Uttarkashi-Rudraprayag belt, said sShivanand.

Haridwar, September 19
Fiftyfive cases of dengue fever have been confirmed in Haridwar district. Three patients, one from Haridwar city and two from Roorkee, suffering from dengue died in the past two months.

Dr Sushma Gupta, Chief Medical Officer, said the health department had initiated a drive to destroy dengue larvae in its initial stage.

Health employees are inspecting the worst-hit regions of Shiv Moorti lane, Mayapur, Rawli Mehdood, Bhoopatwala, Kankhal, Rawli Mehdood and Roorkee and destroying dengue larvae found in ACs, refrigerators, coolers and other open water containers.Awareness drives are also being conducted in vulnerable colonies. A special dengue ward has been created in the district hospital.

Meanwhile, local residents have blamed the health department for the outbreak of dengue. They allege that the authorities have failed to take measures to check its spread.

BJP activists also staged a protest at the district hospital in this regard.

The protesters alleged that Health Minister Surendra Singh Negi was busy attending political and social programmes in Haridwar and had no concern for the local people. 

Dehradun, September 19
A 30-year-old expectant woman, Prema Devi, died at Rukmani Hospital yesterday allegedly due to medical negligence. She was reportedly admitted to the hospital yesterday morning. The relatives of the deceased entered into a scuffle with the hospital staff and the police had to intervene.

Nand Kishore, husband of the deceased, said his wife died due to medical negligence of the doctors of the hospital.

“The doctors at the ultrasound centre pointed out some complications before the delivery yesterday afternoon and we told it to the doctors at the hospital. However, they refuted the claims made by the ultrasound centre and ignored their advice,” he said. Reportedly, yesterday the woman died after giving birth to a stillborn.

The relatives of the deceased entered into a scuffle with the staff of the hospital after which the police reached the hospital. The police said it had not received any formal complaint from the aggrieved family till the filing of the report. 

Dehradun, September 19
Twenty-year-old Ankit Rana, who sustained serious injuries in a road accident near Circuit House, Cantonment, yesterday died today. Ankit, a student of B.Sc, was taken to Doon Hospital, from where doctores referred him to Mahant Indresh Hospital.

Ankit Rana and Deepak Bist were on their way to Robbers' Cave on a bike when a truck hit them near Johri Village. While Deepak died on the spot, Ankit was taken to Doon Hospital. 

Haridwar, September 19
Principals of Sanskrit schools and colleges have urged the state government to take steps to promote the language, which is regarded as the mother of all languages. The principals of all Sanskrit schools and colleges in Uttarakhand participated in the annual meeting at Parmarth Niketan at Rishikesh today. Academicians dwelled on various aspects to improve the standard of education in their institutions.

The promotion of Sanskrit to make it more popular among the youth and viable for employment too was discussed. The participants also focused on enhancing the quality of Sanskrit education. Joint secretary of the Uttarakhand Sanskrit Council Vinod Prasad Semalty said the state was the frontrunner when it comes to Sanskrit education. He also mentioned the steps taken by the previous BJP government headed by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to make Sanskrit the second official language of the state. In-charge of the Sanskrit examination Ramendra Kumar Jha said ensuring signboards in all government departments in Sanskrit was a good step towards popularising the language.

He added that this gave a good message to the people, particularly pilgrims and tourists, who would then know that Sanskrit was the second official language of Uttarakhand.

The participants also agreed to hold the exams in the Sanskrit educational institutions under the Uttarakhand Sanskrit Education Council, implement the new syllabus, give accreditation to new Sanskrit educational institutions and joint community development of Sanskrit schools and students.

Parmarth Niketan representative Ram Mahesh Mishra spoke about the education standards in Rishikesh and Haridwar cities, which are well known for Sanskrit education.

Naveen Chandra Upreti, Dr Rajesh Prasad Bahuguna, Ram Anant Tiwari and Sanskrit scholars participated.

Meanwhile, a two-day workshop on “living positive-healthier life” organized by the Life Positive Society began at Parmarth Niketan, Swargasharam, Pauri Garhwal, today. More than 75 delegates from various states are taking part in the workshop.

Dehradun, September 19
The Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) has finally paid attention to the long ignored and forgotten MDDA shopping complex on Rajpur Road, which has been lying in under-construction stage for the past two years. The shopkeepers who set up their business here had been crying for the lack of basic facilities there.

The MDDA officials got the proposal of revamping the complex as a shopping mall cleared from the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) cell of the state government.

Under the new proposal, the interiors as well as the exteriors of the complex will undergo a sea change. The lifts, which had not been built till now, will be provided with newer technology. Besides this, escalators will also be introduced. The dusty and cracked floor will give way to tiled floor. A new façade on the lines of Rajiv Gandhi Multipurpose Complex, built on Dispensary Road by MDDA this year, will also be given to add colour and glamour to the edifice.

Sources said the MDDA would soon start the process of inviting applications from private companies to take over the construction work. In lieu of this, the company will be given lease rights to use the upper floor for 30 years for their own purpose.

Vice-chairman, MDDA, RM Sundaram said the company would have to maintain the building for all these years. It would also give annual revenue to the MDDA, as specified in the covenant to be signed.

The traders of the complex are anguished over the alleged step-motherly treatment given to them and are not ready to believe the make-over theory.

Ramesh Kumar, a shopkpeeper, said the MDDA had never bothered to provide them the bare-minimum facilities of electricity, water connection, toilets, lifts etc and had forgotten them in the hurry to embrace other projects. Another shopkeeper, Vijay Rawat suspected the concept of conversion into shopping mall and said it could be another time-buying tactic to prolong the completion of the premises. However, Sundaram assured that the traders would be provided all the benefits under the revamp project.

Haridwar, September 19
“Unnayan”, a cultural festival, was organised by senior students for the freshers at Dev Sanskriti University here today. Freshers were given a platform to showcase their talents and skills. Senior students motivated juniors to take part in the fest, which also showcased mixed presentations by seniors and juniors.

Dr Pranav Pandya, Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti University, said the aim of the function was to eradicate the menace of ragging culture and promote bonhomie, mutual cooperation, coordination and respect among students.

“Ragging should be totally eradicated from our education system. Our Vedic education calls for bonhomie, respect and a guru-shishya relation,” he said.

Meanwhile, a 10-day Ganeshotsava festival also concluded at Shantikunj Dev Sanskriti University with the immersion of idols of the deity. Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the university Dr Chinmaya Pandya elaborated on various inspirational stories related to Ganesha.Dr Shiv Narayan Prasad performed the rituals of Ganesh Chaturthi.

A special “Nari Jagran” rally was also taken out by the Shantikunj Gayatri family members on the occasion of the 20th death anniversary of Mata Bhagwati Devi Sharma here today. The main aim of the rally was to create awareness about the evils of femal foeticide, drugs, tobacco and other social malpractices.

Mussoorie, September 19
Katikeya Pratap Singh and Chotipat of St George's College here have brought laurels to the school and the town by winning three gold medals in the recently concluded 17th Regional Aquatic Meet held at Montessori Inter- College, Lucknow.

The meet was organised by the Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificate (ASISC) UP & Uttarakhand for ICSE and ISC schools. Kartikeya Pratap Singh won a gold medal in the 100 m breaststroke event in the senior boys' category whereas Chotipat won two gold medals in the 100 m freestyle and the 100 m butterfly events. Both students also qualified for the forthcoming National Aquatic Championship to be held in Vadodara (Gujarat) from October 6.

Principal, St George’s College, Bro Christopher Dawes congratulated the students for excelling in the regional aquatic meet and praised their coach Aley. 

Dehradun, September 19
In a one-sided match, Balaji Boys thrashed Thakurpur Football Club by a huge margin of 5-1 in the ongoing Drona College 70th Nemidas Memorial District Football League here today.

Balaji started dominating the match from the beginning with Mayur scoring the goal at 4th minute of the match. With in 10 minutes, Pawan scored the second goal of the match making it 2-0. Pawan gave the double blow to Thakurpur by scoring another goal at 40th minute. Saurabh and Mayur scored goals at 42nd and 45th minute, respectively, for Balaji. Prakash remained the lone goal scorer for Thakurpur.

Maintaining its form, Garhwal Boys defeated BSC Boys by 5-0 score. Virendra Bist scored the first goal of the match at 25th minute with Jatin finding the net at 33rd minute and providing his team two goals lead over BSC Boys. Showing individual brilliance just before the end of first half, Vivek converted a superb given pass into a goal at 45th minute. Garhwal Boys maintained its dominance in the second half as well and Tribhiwan scored an easy goal at 51st minute, Ajay found the net at 59th minute making all doors shut for BSC Boys to come back in the match. The match between Rising Star and KVS Football Club proved to be a viewers’ delight in the end with Rising Star winning in the end by 4-3 score. Kuldeep opened the score at 19th minute for Rising Star and Himanshu made it 2-0 at 48th minute. Chirag and Deepak breached the defence of KVS and scored one goal each at 62nd and 69th minute, respectively. For KVS, Abhishek, Kuldeep and Anshul scored the goals at 50th, 68th and 70th minute, respectively.

Dehradun, September 19
St Thomas College defeated St Mary School 19-7 in a match during the 9th Gardner Silver Jubilee Basketball Tournament here today. Vaishli remained the top scorer with eight points. In the second match, Carmen School beat St Jude School 25-13.

In another match, Doon International School thrashed Hilton School 23-4. Simran scored 10 individual points and remained the top scorer in the match.