Mussoorie, October 12
Public property is being damaged by contractors involved in construction work in Mussoorie, resulting in loss of revenue. The town is being defaced in the process due to apathy of the departments concerned.

The beautiful railings that were installed by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) to safeguard the roads at Mall Road and Barlowganj area are being cut to pave way for residential and the commercial complexes under construction without any prior permission from the authorities, thus defacing the town and giving it an ugly look.

Despite such rampant damage to the property, the departments concerned are shying away from initiating any action and indulging in blame game.

The owner of a housing complex being constructed on Library-Company Garden road just before Indira Bhavan has cut around four metres of railing to pave way for himself, while another owner of a house on Barlowganj-Jharipani road has not only cut the railing for his own benefit but has placed fibre sheets, obstructing the Doon view in the process.

All the railings were installed by the MDDA after spending several lakhs around 5-6 years ago, but the department is holding Municipal Council and the PWD responsible, saying that the road does not belong to it.

When contacted Executive Engineer, PWD, DC Nautiyal, said they were not aware about the matter and would act only after thorough investigations.

Dehradun, October 12
In a decision aimed at removing disparities between hilly and non hilly areas, the state government has issued an order replacing the Hill Development Allowance with the Uttarakhand Development Allowance, applicable to all state employees deputed in the hilly and non-hilly areas of the state.

This was a longstanding demand of the state employees, which was accepted by the Bahuguna government. According to the February 11, 2003 government order, employees working in hill areas comprising Bageshwar, Almora and Rudraprayag, Nainital, Dehradun, Tehri and Pauri districts, which are located at a height of 1,500 metre and above, were eligible for the Hill Development Allowance. But the allowance was not applicable to employees working in plain areas comprising of Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and certain areas in Nainital, Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal and Pauri Garhwal, which were at a height of less than 1,500 metre.

Amendments were later made during a committee meeting held in February 2009 to analyse state pay revision, thus bringing areas falling between a height 1,000 metre to 1,500 metre too under the purview of the Hill Development Allowance.

After the changes, the Hill Development Allowance was applicable in all areas except Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. However, this was resented by the employees union after which the state government decided to replace the Hill Development Allowance with Utttarakahnd Development Allowance applicable to all state employees.

The allowance would be valid from October 1, 2013, but the rates would be according to the February 13, 2009 order.

The government has also removed another anomaly pertaining to the dependents of employees, who were provided jobs by the government in the event of their death. These dependents were neither eligible for determining seniority nor promotions. The new government order has reversed the trend thus making them eligible for seniority and promotion from the day of appointment.

The government has also decided to extend house rent allowance for employees by placing Kotdwar, Dugadda, Srinagar and Rishikesh towns under the “C” and Mussoorie under B-2 categories. 

Dehradun, October 12
Forensic science has become closely linked with the capacity of the police to nail criminals, and has literally reshaped the way crime investigations used to be carried out through progress in the modern technology. But it gets worse if the agency responsible for this does not have the required skill and equipment.

The State Forensic Science Laboratory situated in the capital of the state lacks modern equipment and material that are used in the investigation of crime. The state police is mostly dependent on forensic laboratories of Agra, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chandigarh for even basic things like viscera examination.

On the condition of anonymity, one police inspector said: “We have to wait for months for one viscera report from laboratories of other states, which actually makes our case weak in front of the court, resulting in delay in the conviction of culprit.”

“Our forensic lab doesn’t even have the basic kit to preserve the crime scene, due to which important forensic evidence at the crime scene is missed by forensic experts,” said one Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP).

At present, the existing state forensic science laboratory (SFSL) lacks infrastructure and equipment for carrying out chemical examinations in different divisions like toxicology (examination of viscera, food, drinks), serology (examination of origin of biological stains) and lie detection. Plans have been on the anvil to raise the bar at the present forensic lab by upgrading skills and equipment under the police modernisation scheme. But nothing much has happened on the ground since the last many years.

Even the DGP of the state BS Sidhu accepted that there is an immediate need of upgrading the forensic lab and said: “We are going to upgrade our present forensic lab in Dehradun through police modernisation funds allotted by the Central Government very soon and we have appointed a DIG-rank officer as the director of the SFSL, seeing its importance to the department.”

''There was a problem of unavailability of required chemicals with the SFSL, which used to hamper the investigating work, but now we have started ordering the chemicals in advance to remove the problem of shortage of chemicals with the lab,'' BS Sidhu said.

He also said the second SFSL is going to be set up at Rudrapur very soon, which will be equipped with all modern equipment and technologies.

Aftermath Kedarnath tragedy, the state police sent all the DNA samples to the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad, for the DNA analysis and DNA profiling and police is still waiting the results even after two months of sending the samples.

It is noteworthy that forensic science plays an important role in criminal justice delivery system and in recreating a crime scene. Real culprits sometime go scot-free because of lack of physical evidence against them and forensic science comes very handy in nailing the crimils.

Haridwar, October 12
Haridwar District Magistrate Nidhi Pandey has stressed the need of a massive plantation drive to minimise the impact of natural calamities.

Pandey was speaking during a plantation drive organised on the occasion of the International Day of Disaster Reduction at Pull Jatwada, Jwalapur, along with Municipal Corporation Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Vipra Trivedi.

She said one person should plant at least 10 saplings, which could go a long way in restoring the shrinking green cover.

"We have initiated a sapling plantation drive in the district. All government department officers have been directed to ensure that such plantation drives are organised in their respective areas to make Haridwar greener and cleaner," said the District Magistrate, who has initiated such drives in Haridwar city, BHEL and the sub-urban Jwalapur.

Municipal Corporation Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Vipra Trivedi said apart from the administration and the civic body, social organisations, institutes and the common man should also come forward to participate in the plantation drive.

The drive was supported by Pauri Garhwal parliamentarian Satpal Maharaj's city-based Prem Nagar Ashram.

Mementos were handed out to the District Magistrate and the Mukhya Nagar Adhikari by Prem Nagar Ashram manager Pawan Kumar.

Meanwhile, a rally was taken out by school girls under the aegis of the Health Department from Devpura Chowk to Pt Gobind Ballabh Pant Park here.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Sushma flagged of the rally and urged people to treat girls and boys equally. She said female foeticide and crimes against women were on a rise. She said such crimes could be curbed only if the "pro-male mentality" was changed and parents realised that discriminating among girls and boys had a deep impact on the psyche of their children.

Dehradun, October 12
With the festive season gripping the state capital, elaborate security arrangements are set in place by the police for Dasehra, which will be celebrated on Sunday across the city with fervour.

Along with Dasehra celebrations, procession for immersion of goddess Durga idols will also take place on Sunday and the police is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to security arrangements in the city.

“We have deployed policemen in civil cloths to keep a vigil on the activities of suspected elements and PAC is also stationed at sensitive places,” SP City, Jagdish Chandra, told The Tribune.

Local Intelligence Unit (LIU) personnel and quick response teams (QRT) have been put on alert to keep a tab on all crowded places. Dog squads, bomb disposal squads and fire tenders will be stationed at all important places where celebrations will take place.

It is to be noted that Ravana's effigy will be consigned to the flames at 12 places in the city on Sunday with the main effigy being burnt at Parade Ground. Anticipating high turnout on Sunday, the police has also made some route diversions in the city, especially near Parade Ground.

Dehradun, October 12
Manav Bharti India International, Dehradun, today organised the Shakti Puja and Ravan Vadh programme to celebrate Dasehra.

Students recited Aditya Hridyam, the prayer or puja performed by Lord Rama to seek blessings from the Sun to kill Ravana. The nine forms of Mother Goddesses were also worshipped by the students during the programme.

Principal Kusumlata Sharma coordinated the event. 

Dehradun, October 12
The three-day Art of Living Navratri programme conducted at Nath Vatika, Ballupur Road, Dehradun, concluded today.

Swami Vishambhar and his team of scholars from the Art of Living International Centre at Bangalore had performed daily vedic homas and yagnas during the programme. Young artists presented cultural items, including bharatnatyam and classical songs.

One of the participants, Vinod Kakkar (70), said “I am feeling a sense of calm and peacefulness after attending the event. I am delighted to see that people from all age groups have participated in the programme.”

The organisers of the event, Alka Gulati and Supriya, said “Navratri is the time to invoke positive energy inside us and surrender all negativity to the divine. This is what we experience during the yagnas and poojas. We have organised cultural shows to to rekindle interest in Indian culture. ”

Haridwar, October 12
The nine-day festival, Sharadiya Navratras, concluded with devotees offering prayers at temples, worshipping Gauri and serving ritual food to girls here today.

Devotees started taking a dip in the Ganga river from the wee hours today at Braham Kund, Har-Ki-Pauri sanctum and other ghats.

Be it Mata Mansa Devi temple, Mata Chandi Devi temple, Mata Mata Maya Devi temple, Vaishno Devi temple, Daksheshwar Maha Deo temple, Sati Kund, Santoshi Mata Mandir or Dakshineshwar Kali temple, long queues of devotees were witnessed.

The ritual of worshipping, serving food and giving gifts to girl children aged below 10, who are considered Goddess Durga's avatars, was performed by women.

Meanwhile, the Durga Puja festivities are also at its zenith with various Durga Puja Pandals drawing devotees in large numbers. Special puja offerings are being made and dandiya dances are being held, giving a festive look to the city. 

Dehradun, October 12
The Dehradun Municipal Corporation yesterday carried out an anti-encroachment drive in the tehsil area and seized rheries of rheri-pullers who were selling eatables there.

However, councillors, including Congress councillors, criticised the Dehradun Municipal Corporation for launching the drive in festival season, calling it a gimmick to divert attention from prevalent garbage problem in the city.

The Leader of Opposition, Neenu Sehgal, said he had talked to the administration and convinced them to postpone the drive till the end of the festival time.

A row of rheries seized by the civic body anti-encroachment squad was lined up on the Dehradun Municipal Corporation premises.

The rheri-pullers admitted that they did not have the licence to sell eatables at Tehsil Chowk. However, they appealed to officials to set their rheries free. 

Mussoorie, October 12
The HNB Gahrwal University table tennis team in men's and women's section was announced in Mussoorie recently.

The five-member team in the men's section and four-member team in the women's section after attending the training camp in Mussoorie will leave for North Zone championships to be held at Rohilkhand University on October 28.

According to the sports secretary, MPG College, Sunil Panwar Akanshu Gupta, Shantanu and Prashant Thapa from DAV College, Dehradun, have been selected in the varsity team along with Dinesh Rana from MPG College and Manish Bisht from BGR College campus, Pauri.

In the women's section Sunita Chimwal, Shivani Panwar and Babita Rana from DAV College, Dehradun, along with Aarti Panwar from DBS College, Dehradun, have been selected to represent HNB Garhwal University in the North Zone championships, added Panwar.

Dehradun, October 12
With the two goals of Sagar at 4th and 50th minute, JA Boys defeated Yunkies Football Club in the ongoing Drona College 70th Nemidas Memorial District Football League here today. Tushar also netted one goal for JA boys whereas Dikshit remained the lone goal scorer for Yunkies.

Loco Football Club trounced Khalanga by 1-0 with Neeraj scoring the only goal at 49th minute of the match. Vijay Cantt Football Club won its match with a 2-0 win over Gypsy Football Club. Nitin and Jatin scored goals at the 10th and 30th minutes of the match.

The match between Exodus Football Club and Tapovan Football Club ended in a 2-2 draw. Navneet and Ajen scored one goal each for Exodus whereas Mayank and Mayank Sahi scored goals for Tapovan at 11th and 35th minute of the match.

Earlier, two-minute silence was observed in memory of SK Jain, who was the former secretary of District Hockey Association and passed away recently. 

Dehradun, October 12
Aryan School won the sixth Shri Rohitash Singh Memorial Inter-School Boys Super-8 Cricket Tournament by defeating St Thomas College in the final match here today.

Winning the toss and electing to bat first, St Thomas College stumbled in the first inning. The team managed to score only 19 runs at the loss of six wickets. In reply, Aryan School took the lead of 13 runs in the first inning after scoring 32-2.

Improving its first inning performance, St Thomas College played some fine cricket in the second inning and scored 41-4. Aryan School did not find any difficulty in chasing the target of 29 runs and won the match by three wickets in the end. Kartik Shah of St Thomas College was judged man of the match.

During the closing ceremony, winning trophy and medals were distributed among players of the winning team. Prizes were also given in the individual performance category.

Agrim Tiwari of Asian School bagged the prize for the best promising bowler in the tournament whereas Rishab Kaushik and Bhanu Pratap jointly shared the best promising batsman award. Chandip Sharma of Aryan School was adjudged best player of the tournament. 

Dehradun, October 12
Thieves once again struck in the capital with MDDA contractor becoming their latest victim. The incident took place on the backdrop of series of thefts in the city during the last fortnight. The police has failed to solve any case reported so far.

Sushil Gupta, a resident of Nehru Colony, had gone to Ghaziabad to meet his son when thieves allegedly broke into his house. In the absence of family members they took away jewellery and cash after breaking open locks of cupboards.

Gupta has given the first floor of his house on rent to an educational institute. When the office staff reached the institute today morning, they found the first floor and the ground floor door locks broken. The police was immediately informed about the incident.

The police said thieves tried to break the almirah of the institute but did not steal anything from there. They stole valuables worth lakhs from the ground floor.

Gupta, who reached Dehradun today, said Rs 90,000 cash along with jewellery worth Rs 2.5 lakh was stolen from his house. The police has registered a case and started investigations.