Protesting BJP workers submit memo to CM 
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 27
BJP workers today staged a protest in front of the motorcade of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. They demanded that the district be declared backward.

The Chief Minister, who was in the town along with party state in charge Ambika Soni, accepted the memorandums from several other organisations in this connections. He said that he would decide on the matter after district magistrate sent him report about the backward castes status in the district.

"We can declare a particular caste as backward rather than declaring the entire district as backward. It is this practice that we followed in Uttarkashi," said the Chief Minister to the delegates who met him demanding the backward district status for Pithoragarh district.

The BJP workers gathered at Ghankaran Chawk and shouted slogans on the route from where the Chief Minister passed. "We have earlier demanded from the government that the district be declared backward as it being a border district, the economic development is probably minimum here," said Kishen Singh Kharayat, a BJP worker.

Rudrapur riots
Over 30 BJP workers led by Gadarpur legislator court arrest
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 26
More than 30 BJP workers, led by Gadarpur legislator Arvind Pandey, yesterday courted arrest at Rudrapur town, Udham Singh Nagar, in protest against the registration of a case against Rudrapur BJP MLA Raj Kumar Thukral in the 2010 communal riots case.

Addressing BJP workers at Bhagat Singh Chowk, he alleged that the state Congress government had tried to implicate Thukral in the cases out of sheer political vendetta. Pandey and his supporters also had sharp exchanges with police officials who tried to prevent him from holding a meeting due to prohibitory orders imposed in the town. Later, after a lathi charge and a minor scuffle, more than 30 BJP workers, including Arvind Pandey, were arrested. Meanwhile, traders of the town appealed to the BJP as well as the district administration to avoid confrontation in view of the festival season.

Pensioners demand 30 pc concession in bus fare
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 27
Members of the Government Pensioners' Welfare Organisation have demanded various concessions and facilities from the state government.

During a one-day annual convention of the pensioners' body held at Town Hall here today, its members demanded medical facility, additional pension on attaining the age of 65 on the lines of Punjab, 30 per cent fare concession in state transport buses like is provided by the Rajasthan government and the allocation of land for the construction of a community hall for pensioners.

General Secretary of the pensioners' body Vijay Kumar Gupta said since 1986, the organisation had been working for the welfare of the pensioners and raising their concerns from time to time.

He said both the Central and Uttarakhand Governments should look into the problems of pensioners and try to resolve them. "We gave a substantial time of our life to the government service. We can at least expect some concessions and facilities from the government at this stage of our life," said Gupta.

Chief of the pensioners' body DC Gupta demanded the allocation of land, where the organisation would build a community hall from the money collected by its members.

Meanwhile, the Haridwar wing of the pensioners' body felicitated senior members and also granted scholarships to poor but meritorious students.

Hazari Lal, Vijay Veer Singh Tyagi, Ved Prakash Muni, NC Sharma, Veer Bala Gupta, Surendra Lal Chabra, Mahipal Singh, Vinod Aggarwal, Madan Lal, Pratap Singh Swaraj Sachdeva, Mahesh Chand Gupta and KM Aggarwal attended the 
convention.

Police seeks cooperation of traders ahead of Diwali
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 27
To ensure smooth traffic flow, less congestion at markets and crime control and a peaceful Diwali, the police department is holding a series of meetings with traders, local residents, hoteliers, saints, dharamshala and ashram owners under directions of the Superintendent of City Police Surjeet Singh Pawar.

Today a meeting was called at City Kotwali, where suggestions from the local traders were sought to ensure smooth traffic flow at markets near Har-Ki-Pauri, Moti bazaar, Upper Road, Kotwali, Station road and in suburban Jwalapur.

The Superintendent of Police urged traders to make sure that encroachment did not congest the already congested inner road, where owing to heavy flow of pilgrims, tourists and local people commuters faced difficulty.

Traders sought a ban on pedal rickshaws in the core mela zone. Police officials said that only permit-run rickshaws would be allowed to ply. Traders also pointed that during and after Diwali festive, a suddenly rise in thefts in the market area was noticed. Countering this, circle officer Jodh Ram Joshi assured proper policing and patrolling in the market area.

SP Surjeet Singh Pawar made it clear that selling of crackers would not take place in the market areas. For this, separate cracker selling vending zones would be identified. The civic body would provide a list of the vending zones for selling crackers. He sought cooperation from the trader fraternity in this regard.

Anti-polythene campaign resumes
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 27
Additional District Magistrate Harak Singh Rawat, re-launched the anti-polythene campaign again. Rawat said he was going to stricter with the violators this time and punish them legally.

“People, especially the traders seem to be taking penalties very lightly. They feel that just by paying Rs 100 or Rs 200 as fine, they could go on using polythene in their business as usual. The customers too wriggle out of the penalty by giving plethora of excuses. Thus, I have decided to take legal action against the violators. In the last couple of days, I have filed cases against five people, all of them shopkeepers, who had hoarded bulk of polythene in their shops,” he added.

Rawat said the campaign started during the pre-disaster phase, was a run away success, as he was supported by the District Magistrate and the state government.

Owing to this, people had stopped shopping with polythene bags and the shopkeepers too had stopped packing things in polythene. But with the intervention of disaster in the meantime, the effects of campaign went haywire. The shopkeepers as well as the customers had begun using polythene without any hesitation.

He said he did not require to start mass awareness campaign as all the steps had already been taken. “The anti-polythene campaign had not been stopped, so there is no question of starting mass awareness campaign or holding meeting with traders, shopkeepers or vendors as well. Now, the need is to take stricter action against the defaulters. I have urged the school authorities to help us in the matter. I will personally go to the schools and colleges and inform children about harmful effects of polythene so that they discourage their parents from using polythene," he said.

Rawat said the entire system with regard to the zonal magistrates and the social workers as well as the volunteers too needed to be put in place to bring momentum in the drive

Dehradun diary
Eyeing LS poll, Cong playing Gairsain card

After holding a meeting of the state Cabinet at Gairsain in Chamoli a year ago and laying the foundation stone of the new Assembly building in January this year, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has again announced to hold “bhoomi pujan" of the new state Assembly buildings at Gairsain on November 9 and at Raipur, Dehradun, on November 19.

The decision to have two Assembly buildings in the state would mean that ultimately, the state would have two capitals.

The state is yet to decide on its permanent capital as Dehradun continues to be the interim capital. The defeat of the Chief Minister's son, Saket Bahuguna, in the Tehri byelection in October last year had forced the ruling Congress to take up the emotional issue of Gairsain as the permanent state capital once again.

Gairsain has always remained an emotional issue with the people of the hilly region of the state since the days of the statehood agitation. The statehood agitators had declared Gairsain, which is geographically in the centre of the state, as the future capital of the proposed state.

However, due to various practical reasons, Dehradun was announced the interim capital of the state on November 9, 2000, the day Uttarakhand was formed.

Bowing to public sentiments, the interim government of the state formed the Virender Dixit commission in 2001 to determine the place for a permanent capital of the state. After several extensions and years, the commission gave its recommendations to the state government without suggesting a definite 
solution.

On Gairsain, the commission stated that while sentiments were in its favour but there would be the problems of connectivity, water availability and infrastructure.

The previous BJP government brushed aside the report and did not take any action on it since the issue could deepen the divide between the hills and plain areas.

But Chief Minister Bahuguna decided to hold a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain in November last year and then laid the foundation stone of the new Assembly building there in Januray this year. He announced that one Assembly session in a year would be held at Gairsain.

The mid-June natural disaster, however, diverted the attention of the state government towards relief and rehabilitation. But with the Lok Sabha elections approaching, the Uttarakhand Congress once again wants to capitalise on the emotional issue.

On the other hand, fearing that the decision could send a wrong signal to the people in the plains, the Chief Minister would also be laying the foundation stone of the new Assembly building at Raipur in Dehradun on November 19.

The party wants to please both the people of the hills as well as the plains.

There are problems within the ruling Congress party due to dissensions.

Govind Singh Kunjwal, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker and a strong supporter of Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat, has stated that spending a sum of Rs 80 crore on the new Assembly building at Gairsain would be wasteful unless the basic issue of the permanent capital of the state was resolved.

The contradictory statement has embarrassed Bahuguna who wanted to lead the party's campaign in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress wants to play the Gairsain card to spread a message that it was committed towards the development of the hilly areas.

The destruction caused by the disaster has left a large population in the hilly areas thoroughly dissatisfied with the state government efforts in relief and rehabilitation.

Besides the Gairsain issue, the Congress has been making an all-out effort to influence the voters on the issues of the Food Security Bill, unemployment allowance and other development issues.

It would be a debatable point whether such rhetoric would result in genuine development of the hilly regions which are suffering from want of basic health, educational and infrastructural facilities and greatly suffered in the natural
disaster.

By SMA Kazmi

Devotional dances captivate audience
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, Oct 27
The first performance at the Virasat cultural festival here on Saturday evening was “Jijiya” dance from Bihar. The dance is performed only by women. The whole Navaratri ‘nine nights’ festival is celebrated to worship the three forms of Lord Lakshmi, Parvati and Saraswati. This is a very revered festival for women and is celebrated with a lot of gaiety and splendour.

The performers thrilled and captivated the audience as they carried ‘matkis’ on their heads. Most of the folk dances have some aspect like this which add beauty and grace to the performance.

The next performance for the evening was Terah Tali from Rajasthan, which is a devotional dance performed by the members of the Kamada tribe.

Terah Taal dance is one of the ancient performing arts of Rajasthan. Performed with Manjiras and other metallic instruments, this is one of the most entertaining dance forms of Rajasthan.

Terah Tali is a dance form in which women tie good number of Manjiras on their body and play them with dexterity with hand movements. Manjira and Tal are the key dance instruments. Dholak provides rhythm. The songs are always devotional in nature.

During the Terah Taal dance, the music of Ektara accompanies the dance performance. Manjiras are tied to 13 different parts of the body. The sounds of these Manjiras produce the Terah Taal or 13 beats.

The next cultural group performed was 'Gangaur'.

'Gangaur' is the colourful and the one of the most important festivals of people of Rajasthan and some parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. It is the celebration of spring, harvest and marital fidelity. 'Gana' is a synonym for Lord Shiva and 'Gaur' which stands for Gauri or Parvati who symbolises Saubhagya (marital bliss). The unmarried women worship her for being blessed with a good husband, while the married women do so for the welfare, health and long life of their husbands and happy married life.

A young and very talented Adit Ravi mesmerised the audience with his flute recital in the next performance.

Even though he is still a student of second year electrical engineering at IIT, Chennai, Adit Ravi has already presented numerous concerts in India and abroad to much critical appreciation. He has also played along side the maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia.

The last and the most awaited performance of the evening was world of Kabir and Sufi saints by Mir Mukhtiyar Ali. He hails from Pugal village in Rajasthan. He is from the semi-nomadic Mirasi Community which hails from Thar Desert.

Mukhtiyar represents the 26th generation of this humble community which has successfully kept alive the tradition of “Sufiana Qalam”. He has preserved the ideology of Sufiana music which impels divine communion with an ecstasy created in total detachment. 

Drug menace among youth reaching alarming stage: SSP
Gaurav Talwar
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 27
The Dehradun police claims to have arrested more than fifteen drug peddlers over the last ten days with majority of their customers being young students studying in private institutions and boarding schools.

The police officials confirmed that the arrested drug suppliers said during interrogation that majority of their customers were youth, mostly studying in private colleges or boarding schools.

“The problem has crossed the warning stage and now the time has come to take strict action against everyone involved in drug peddling as well as the customers," said Kewal Khuranna, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP).

The SSP said the problem was more with the students studying in private institutions and boarding schools in Dehradun as only they could afford expensive drugs like smack and brown sugar.

“A small packet of smack costs between Rs 4,500 and Rs 5,000. It is the responsibility of the parents to keep a close vigil on the expenses of their children," said Khurana.

“From now, we are going to take strict action against the administration of the college and the school along with the students in case they are found indulging in such illegal activities. We will also ask the people running paying guests in their houses to keep a close vigil on the students," he added. According to the police officials, girls have also been found buying drugs from the drug suppliers, which was a serious cause of concern.

The Tribune also found that most of the arrested persons were professional drug peddlers and were peddling drugs in order to live a luxurious life. Their regular customers were contacted via mobile phone and internet.

“Self-esteem issues among children is one of the major reason behind them resorting to drug abuse. One such reason often heard from the young students is that either they wanted to experiment or they wanted to feel good,” said Dr Veena Krishnan, psychologist. 

Cow conservation drive launched
Tribune News Service

Cow activists during an awareness rath yatra at Kankhal in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, October 27
With the growing number of cases of cow slaughtering, Suryapasthan Kendra, a social organisation, has initiated a cow conservation drive.

The conservation drive is named as "Gaurakshan Yojana". The activists of the kendra had initiated a mobile van awareness rath yatra from Dehradun till Haridwar.

Under the drive, the people would be urged to adopt and make cow as a pet.

Cow activist Ram Pal Singh said he had initiated 'gau pension plan' which urged people to adopt a single cow as by doing so not only cow slaughtering would come to an end but also the benefits the cow provides us, would make the society healthier and prosperous.

Ram Pal Singh also carried the cow conservation drive at Maha Kumbh-2013 in Allahabad earlier this year.

He urged the saint community to take the drive ahead as cow slaughtering was being done at an alarming level and people from rural areas were leaving agriculture and animal husbandry to look out for city oriented jobs.

Sant Gopal Das, Brahamchari Suketanand, Ram Awtar Gupta, Shyam and Sonu Kumar who were associated with the drive, pointed that cow could provide employment and revenue generation to 
the people.

"The milk which is available in the market is adulterated. But if people keep a cow at their home, they will get pure and healthy milk and after selling the milk, they can generate monthly income too," said Sant Gopal Das. Cow activists were now envisaging the second round of the cow conservation drive.

"We are getting positive and good response from people. They are also realising the significance of cow," said Rampal.

Principals urged to depute teachers for food security scheme
Tribune News Service

Dehradun October 27
The Principals of state government schools met District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam. The DM urged them to depute school teachers in the projects related to National Food Safety Scheme and panchayat elections. He said the Nation Food Safety Scheme had been enforced in the state for which deserving persons were being selected.

Almost 25 per cent teachers of government schools had also been entrusted with the responsibility to conduct the selection process. He said the teachers must carry out this important task with utmost sincerity and honesty so that no deserving person was left out.

He said panchayat elections were slated to take place soon for which teachers would also be assigned duties as BLO. "Teachers have always contributed immensely to the state during election and other projects. At this juncture too, teachers will have to contribute with regard to the implementation of Food Security Scheme and panchayat election," he said.

The DM also urged them to lay emphasis on improving the quality of education. "There should be no compromise on quality of education because a good teacher and a guru contributes in providing good education to his disciples without any selfish motives. So, all of you must carry out the responsibilities entrusted to you with honesty and dedication. This will give you sense of satisfaction as well," he said.

Metro group to set up satellite clinic chain in hilly areas
Tribune News Service

DK Chopra, CEO, Metro Hospital, talks about setting up of satellite clinics in hill districts of Uttarakhand at SIDCUL in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, October 27
The Metro hospital group will soon be establishing a satellite clinic chain in the hilly areas of the state keeping in mind the lack of basic health infrastructure and access.

This was stated by chief executive officer, Metro Hospital and Heart Institute, Haridwar, DK Chopra while addressing a press conference here today.

Chopra said 13 hospitals of the Sun Hill Hospital chain were already providing the state-of-the-art medical care at normal rates. “We keep on organising free health check-up camps and also provide 50 per cent discount in laboratory tests at such camps," he said.

The 365-bed hospital has a fully equipped cardiovascular operation theatre and provides free ambulance service for cardiac patients in Haridwar city range.

“Uttarakhand surely lacks in the healthcare segment but we are committed to providing local people and pilgrims with the state-of-the-art healthcare. Besides, low-cost medical treatment, we focus on generating health awareness, particularly among women," said Dr Sonu Raut, a senior gynaecologist.

RK Sharma, Dr Sandeep Malim, Dr Deepak, Dr Suresh Chandra, Dr Sanjay Shah, Dr Alok Vashisth, Dr Sonali Vasisth, Dr Anil Kumar, Dr Mohit Dhingra, Dr Manoj Tyagi, Dr AK Bose, Dr Sulabh Goyal, Dr Sandeep Sharma and Dr Naman Aggarwal were present.

Give women respect they deserve: Tharoor
Tribune News Service

Dehradun October 27
Union Minster of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said that women make up half of the country’s population yet are forced to fight for their rights. He was addressing the audience on the occasion of the 56th Foundation Day celebrations of Welham Girls School.

Tharoor said the incidents like Delhi gang rape were extremely shameful for the whole society, adding that the case showed that the women were not accorded respect, which they deserved.

He raised concern over the increasing violence against women in the country and said that girls should not remain illiterate and gave them new mantra of ‘education girl’.

He also advised the young girls to focus on extra-curricular activities along with the education. They must achieve expertise in one area at least.

He also answered the questions raised by the students on varied fields.

Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Jyotsna Brar, Principal of the school, raised concern over the commercialisation of education in the country, which had diluted the purity of the relationship between a teacher and a student.

Teachers and other staff members, who had completed 25 years of service in the school, were awarded on the occasion.

Barred from appearing in exam, students create ruckus
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 27
Hundreds of students created ruckus at the city railway station after being denied entry in the railway examination organised by the railway recruitment cell, here today.

The students were barred from giving examination because they didn't have original admit cards. The students reached railway stations, as most of the students were from outside state and created ruckus and raised slogans against the Railway Department.

The police was called to control the situation after the protesting students started causing inconvenience to the normal passengers in the railway station.

A student from Gorkahpur said he was not sent the original admit card by the railways and he had to get the duplicate print out from the website. But, the concerned authorities did not accept the duplicate admit cards. The students complained that they were forced to bear the consequences of the railways mistake. It is to be noted that the railway recruitment examination was being conducted throughout the country today and the exams were held at 40 centres in Dehradun.