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Govt staff defer shutdown; talks today
UPP: Change the system rather than govts
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1,000 anganwari workers stage protest
Unemployed pharmacists’ strike continues for 43rd day
Jal nigam former employees seek payment of arrears
BJP councillors meet minister, resent poor sanitation
‘36 mn people suffer from dementia worldwide’
Haridwar SSP reviews law & order situation
Backward status to Uttarkashi may backfire on Bahuguna
PTCUL earns profit for first time since 2004
Kunwar Pranav Singh Champion
New lawyers to get Rs
2,000 stipend up to two years
Non-invasive lab inaugurated at Indiresh hospital
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Govt staff defer shutdown; talks today
Dehradun, October 28 “We have accepted Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar’s request to postpone the proposed shutdown for the time being as talks will be held with Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma in the evening tomorrow to sort out the issues,” said Thakur Prahlad Singh, president of the council. The council had planned a shutdown of the emergency services in the state today and was to burn the effigies of two Additional Secretaries in the Department of Finance. “We will be speaking with the government for the last time tomorrow. We will intensify our stir if it fails to issue a government order regarding three promotions and equivalent pay scale in the career of the employees,” said Arun Pandey, spokesperson for the council. The council members also said they would also burn the effigies of the officials of the Department of Finance for impeding the fulfillment of their demands. Meanwhile, employee leaders have approached Congress leader Saket Bahuguna for his intervention in the matter. “We had met Saket Bahuguna yesterday and he assured us of fulfilling our main demands,” said
Prahlad.
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UPP: Change the system rather than govts
Pithoragarh, October 28 Addressing workers in Champawat, Lohaghat, Pithoragarh and Bageswar, party chief PC Tiwari said the people of the state had been witnessing results of changes in power repeatedly after the creation of the separate state of Uttarakhand and had found nothing for them. "We should change the entire system which is based on exploitation of innocent voters," said Tiwari. UPP chief appealed to the masses to come forward to take part in the party agitation which is being launched at Dehradun from November 7. "We are launching the struggle to draw the attention of the power establishments towards the deteriorating condition of common man in the state after its formation," said Tiwari. The party chief said industrialists and mafias had captured the forest, water and land resources of the state during the last 13 years of its inception. The common man of the state is suffering from the menace of unemployment, disease and insufficient education and health facilities in the state. UPP general secretary Ganga Giri Goswami said that due to the lacklustre policies of the respective governments in the state of Uttarakhand, farmers were suffering as their agriculture had been repeatedly damaged by wild animals. The law and order situation in the state has deteriorated during the last 13 years. "To get rid of this disappointing situation, we have launched a movement to change the system of the state and make it in tune with the need of common man," said Goswami. |
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1,000 anganwari workers stage protest
Dehradun, October 28 Earlier, their bid to gherao Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna's residence was foiled by the police, which stopped their protest march near the Hathibarkala police post. Heated arguments were also witnessed between police officials and anganwari workers, who were adamant to march towards the Chief Minister's residence. Anganwari workers have been staging a protest since October 15 demanding a hike in wages. A delegation of anganwari workers had also recently met Additional Secretary, Child Development, Nidhi Mani Tripathi, but they are demanding a written assurance from the government. Meanwhile, the cantonment road witnessed a massive traffic jam due to the protest and barricading on the road. |
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Unemployed pharmacists’ strike continues for 43rd day
Dehradun, October 28 Four striking youth had fallen ill yesterday with three more falling sick today. “We will continue with our hunger strike in support of our six-point charter of demands. When the Union Health Minister visits the state on October 30, we will lodge our protest by waving black flags at him,” said Azad
Dimri, patron of the pharmacist association. Youths who were hospitalised include
Kulbir, Neeraj Chauhan, Arun Ramola, Naresh Ramola, Himanshu and others. |
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Jal nigam former employees seek payment of arrears
Dehradun, October 28 Agitating members submitted a memorandum to the state Congress president Yashpal Arya drawing his attention towards the delay in disbursal of pension benefits. “Though Rs 25 crore was released to the
nigam, strict guidelines regarding its utilisation were posing hurdles, which in turn has resulted in non-payment of dues to retired employees of the
nigam,” said Dinesh Bhandari of the Uttarakahnd Peyjal Nigam Retired Officers / Employees Welfare Association. He said if their dues were not cleared, employees would be forced to observe a Black
Diwali. |
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BJP councillors meet minister, resent poor sanitation
Dehradun October 28 He said the minister talked to the MNA over phone and assured them that he would personally supervise the situation. Councillor Neeraj Sethi said both the DVWM project company and the MNA were locked in a nasty wrangle with each other, not doing anything for the degrading sanitation of the city. Councillor Bhupender Singh Kathait said if no concrete steps were taken for the regular clearance of garbage in the city, then the BJP councillors would resort to indefinite dharna on the DMC premises. — TNS |
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560-km Ganga canal to be closed till Diwali
Hardiwar, October 28 For past one-week, garbage gathered at the ghats of Braham Kund, Har-Ki-Pauri, Malviya Deep ghat, Birla ghat, Alaknanda ghat, Kusawrat ghat, Gau ghat, Irish ghat, Rishikul ghat, Lav-Kush ghat, Ram-Sita
ghat, Gobind ghat, Prem Nagar Ashram ghat and several other ghats were being cleaned on regular basis. Saints, pundits, spiritual gurus, students, traders, volunteers, NGOs, and local people had been involved judiciously in cleaning the ghats. From early morning, one could see volunteers cleaning the Ganga ghats by themselves. Braham Swarup Brahamchari of the Jai Ram Ashram, said the closure of ghats for cleaning was a noble act. He lauded the efforts of saints and local people carrying on the cleanliness drive. Social activist JP Baduni, said it was after a long time that one could see mass participation from local residents, irrespective of their background. Last week, Muslims took out a cleanliness drive at Jwalapur, which made Aadesh Chauhan, legislator, Ranipur-BHEL, to contribute in the drive. Satpal Brahamchari, former municipal chairman, said the initiative by the people was needed as relying on the government projects and funding alone, would not help. "Now, the annual closure of the Ganga canal can be utilised for cleaning. Mass participation of people has shown that we can do it on our own too," he added. "Sanctity and purity of Ganga is in our hands. We should not litter it by throwing garbage and industrial pollutants," said Preeti Bhatt, a local resident. |
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‘36 mn people suffer from dementia worldwide’
Dehradun, October 28 Tarun Vijay, MP, Rajya Sabha, was the chief guest on the occasion and Tara Singh Vachani, CEO, Antara Senior Living, was the guest of honour. The experts from the Max Institute of Neurosciences, provided insights on causes of dementia, its symptoms and available diagnostics and therapies. They informed that there were 36 million elders worldwide suffering from dementia, a progressive and degenerative brain disorder. Nearly, 7.7 million new cases are added to the disease every year at the rate of one in every four seconds. As many as 3.7 million people living in India too suffer from the disease. Dr Manish Tomar, consultant-psychiatry, Max Institute of Neurosciences, emphasised on the need for memory clinics in India.
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Haridwar SSP reviews law & order situation
Dehradun, October 28 The issues like pending investigations, crime situation and update on wanted criminals were discussed at the meeting. The progress of the crime and criminal tracking network system project in the district was also reviewed.
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Backward status to Uttarkashi may backfire on Bahuguna
Dehradun, October 28 Uttarkashi forms part of the Tehri parliamentary constituency. Bahuguna had represented the Tehri Lok Sabha seat before he took over as Chief Minister. He quit the seat and managed to get the Congress ticket for his son Saket Bahuguna from there for the Lok Sabha byelection. But despite best efforts on the part of the Congress and the Chief Minister himself, Saket lost to BJP candidate Maharani Mala Rajlakshmi Shah. Following this humiliating defeat, the Congress is again trying to regain its lost ground. Both Chief Minister and his son have been actively working in the Tehri parliamentary constituency in order to consolidate their position. The grant of the backward region status to Uttarkashi district is a step in this direction. This will enable Uttarkashi residents get reservation meant for Other Backward Castes in the state government jobs. This will help Saket consolidate his position in the region for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But the announcement has encouraged similar demands from other districts like Pithoragarh and Chamoli. The Chief Minister recently had to face protests from the Opposition that sought the similar status for Pithoragarh. The protesters were unhappy that despite Pithoragarh being one of most backward districts of the state it had not been accorded the backward region status. The Chief Minister had told mediapersons in Pithoragarh that he had asked the District Magistrate to conduct a survey of the district and send the report to the Backward Classes Commission, which in turn would submit its recommendations to the government for necessary action. Similar demands are also being made in Chamoli district. There is no denying the fact that the Congress could consolidate its position in Uttarkashi but the issue could backfire in other border districts. Further, it could annoy backward communities in the state, which might see the decision as encroachment upon their rights as reservation meant for backward castes would now be shared by all communities of Uttarkashi district. In other words, the Chief Minister, Vijay Bahuguna, may have helped his son’s cause and electoral prospectus, but has certainly put the Congress in an awkward situation. |
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PTCUL earns profit for first time since 2004
Dehradun, October 28 The PTCUL is the first power utility of the state to be incorporated in May 2004 as a state transmission utility. It is a 100 per cent state-owned utility incorporated to acquire, establish, construct, operate, and maintain the high voltage and extra high voltage electricity transmission lines and associated substations along with load despatch functions. Managing Director, PTCUL, SS Yadav, who has been credited with ushering in profitable changes in the organisation, said, “Decision making has been made faster with the participation and cooperation of all groups as a cohesive unit. The decisions are implemented on the real time basis to achieve the target. Then the tendering process becomes more transparent and secure with the implementation of e-tendering. As a result, the participation of the bidders has increased manifold, ensuring competitiveness in the bidding process. The rates have decreased substantively due to competitiveness and global participation.” Yadav said the recovery of interest on mobilisation advance and the settlement of claims with L&T resulted in a net inflow of Rs 3.51 crore. The settlement was affected due to the closure of the 400 KV Loharinagpala-Koteshwar transmission line. “The recovery of design and supervision charges to the tune of Rs 45.13 lakh was made from M/s Sravanthi Energy (Pvt) Limited. A recurring monthly cash flow of Rs 27 lakh from M/s BHPL has also added to the kitty. There has been a noticeable reduction in scrap piling in the inventory with their timely disposal. The disposal too has brought revenue of Rs 2 crore more in comparison to last year. The stocks and inventories were consumed within the PTCUL. The blocked material in the inventory was utilised in an efficient manner,” he said. Yadav added, “The system as a whole was reviewed and analysed. The changes introduced included more robust controls and checks and balances, whenever and wherever required. Wasteful expenditure was curtailed, system pilferage was checked and efficiency-driven policies were implemented.” “To keep pace with the increasing globalisation and technological advancements, training was provided to all employees of the organisation, resulting in skill development and efficiency output. The sharing of knowledge by monthly brainstorming sessions has become an integral part of the training manual, thereby, creating and adding value to the corporation,” he said. |
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Champion rakes up another controversy
Haridwar, October 28 Champion at a function at Gurukul Kangri University here today stunned the audience when he said he had no qualms about the recent firing episode at Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat’s house as it was part of his family custom to do so during celebrations. The three-time MLA from Khanpur in Haridwar district said for him the family custom was above law and he won’t hesitate from resorting to a similar action in future as well. Champion had reportedly fired shots during a dinner hosted by Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat at his residence last month. He had later earned the ire of the party high command for publicly saying that the Congress would lose all five seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections in the state. He had been involved in several firing cases earlier also, including at a crocodile in 2003. He was early this month seen riding pillion with Haridwar SSP Rajeev Swarup. The incident had grabbed media attention and raised questions about the proximity of senior police officials with the Khanpur legislator. Asked about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said if present Haridwar parliamentarian Harish Rawat did not want to contest the elections, he was willing to offer his candidature. The Khanpur MLA said he had been elected to the state Assembly thrice (twice from Lakshar and now from Khanpur), indicating his popularity among the people of the region. Asked about the loss of the red beacon he was entitled to as the chairperson of the Uttarakhand Forest Corporation, he said he did not care for such things. Meanwhile, the BJP, the BSP and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal have accused Champion of violating the norms set for the public representatives and giving a wrong impression to youths. City BJP chief Kuldeep Gupta said the legislator should behave in a manner that was in accordance with the trust the people had reposed in him. Central secretary of the UKD (Panwar) Uday Ram Semwal questioned Champion’s royal dynasty claim saying that in the Uttarakhand region (known as Kedar Khand in the Vedas) only the Tehri dynasty rule was there and the MLA’s forefathers were only rich people who had build castles but had never been kings. |
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With onset of winter, leopard menace rises
Dehradun, October 28 A few days back, a 14-year-old girl, Lakshmi, was mauled by a leopard in Chandmari village that fell in the close proximity to the VVIP area in the city. This was followed by an attack on a motorcyclist by the same prowling leopard in the Chandmari area, forcing the city's forest division officials to take immediate remedial measures, like installing a cage, deploying a forest team to meet any eventuality. Last year, a leopard entered the Nain Singh Guest house at Hathibarkala campus of the Survey of India. The Wildlife Institute of India, Forest Research Institute, the Forest Survey of India and even the Indian Military Academy, had also faced leopard attacks in the recent years. The situation was worse in the Uttarakhand hills. The incidents of man-leopard conflict were quite common in the hill districts. Leopard hunter hired by the Forest Department Lakhpat Singh Rawat, who is credited of killing nearly 44 man-eaters in Uttarakhand and is the most sought after personality by the Uttarakhand Forest Department, expressed concern over the rising incidents of leopard entering into human habitations all across the state. Lakhpat pointed out that there had been spread of lantana grass in the state. He said leopards population too had increased substantially and they were coming into contact with the lantana grass, that kept high acidic properties. “This is adversely affecting their claws or teeth, making them unfit for prey hunting and forcing them to take to children as their easy target,” he said. Meanwhile, Dehradun Divisional Forest Office directed for the removal of lantana grass from Chandmari today. Significantly, public anger had been on the rise against the forest authorities. They solely held the Forest Department responsible for the frequent attacks by leopards. Wildlife conservationist Dr Hem Singh Gehlot, admitted that it was not easy for the forest authorities to go for extreme action, like gunning down in case of prowling leopard. |
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New lawyers to get Rs
2,000 stipend up to two years
Dehradun, October 28 “Both proposals were passed unanimously at the meeting of the council. Now, the proposals will be sent for approval to the state government so that they could come into force,” Yogender Singh Tomar, president of the council, told The Tribune. He said the members of the council decided to give a ‘no work’ call in all courts on November 1 against the recent murder of advocate AK Jain’s wife in Uttarkashi and the slow progress in advocate OP Saklani wife’s murder case. Razia Beg, Surendra Pandey, Surnedra Mittal, MM Lamba and Anil Pandey attended the meeting.
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Non-invasive lab inaugurated at Indiresh hospital
Dehradun, October 28 The facility would be equipped with Vivid E-9 (GE health care) and 4-D Echo, which was the first of its kind in the state. Prof SP Thapliyal, vice-chairman, SGRR Education Mission, inaugurated the lab. He said the machines were a significant achievement for the people of Uttarakhand. Dr Tanuj Bhatia, Cardiologist, Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospital, explained the technical aspect of the machines. “Till now, 2-D Echo machine was used in the medical field. While, with the 4-D Echo machine, doctors can examine heart in as much as four dimensions,” he added. Dr NK Singh, principal, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, Dr Vinay Rai, medical superintendent, Shri Mahant Indiresh Hospita, Dr VK Bihari, additional medical superintendent, were also present.
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The indefinite strike of the State Employees’ Joint Council continued for the 12th day today. 
With no forthcoming response from the state government, trained pharmacists under the aegis of Berozgar Diploma Ayurvedic Pharmacist Association continued their hunger strike on the 43rd day today.
Retired employees of Uttarakhand Peyjal Nigam continued their stir outside the office of the nigam in support of their demands. They are demanding timely disbursement of arrears and pension benefits, which have not been paid for the last one month.
Though the Chief Minister has fulfilled the long-standing demand for backward status of the residents of Uttarkashi district in the Garhwal division, it could have repercussions in other hill districts as well where similar demands have been made time and again.