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Assembly in session
Hridayesh gives assurance to House on appointment of VC
CBI probe into status of City Park sought
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Rajaji’s Chila range closed to visitors yet again
Vyasi Hydroelectric Project
Students play role of UN delegates
Locals demand basic facilities
for educational institutes
Essential services remain disrupted due to heavy snowfall
Cong task force hails Dwivedi's comment on reservation
BSNL service hit at Jaunpur
Dug-up road gives bumpy ride to motorists
Power supply cut to labourers’ houses without prior notice
ITBP begins removing snow from its outposts
Three IPS officers transferred
NSUI holds meeting
MES builders stage protest
Annual function of Dolphin institute begins
Zorawar House bags overall trophy
in athletics
LDA (Lucknow) register win
CID probe into murder case ordered
32-year-old man electrocuted
No headway in realtor’s murder case
Man kills self
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Assembly in session
Dehradun, February 17 As soon as the House was convened for today, Ajay Bhatt drew the attention of Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal towards the anarchy prevailing in the state where the ministers were fighting with each other. " The issues that should have remained within the party are now out in the open as the angry ministers are discussing these openly in the media. There is a complete absence of faith in the newly-elected Chief Minister," said Ajay Bhatt while proposing the no-confidence motion. However, Harish Rawat said,"
"Bhatt seems to be a man in a hurry and has forgotten that distribution of portfolios is not the case fit for bringing the no-confidence motion. The Opposition could have tested us when the budgetary demands were laid on the table. They could have tested us then by bringing the no-confidence motion. But it seems the leader of the Opposition wants to show his aggressive side. It makes a happy situation for us and indicates that the BJP feels insecure. We are on the right track." He also rejected Bhatt's contention that the work was suffering as portfolios were not assigned to the Council of Ministers. "We are working hard to improve the infrastructure in the aftermath of the natural disaster. It is challenge for us to put the things in order before the Char Dham starts on May 5. So, we seek the cooperation of the Opposition. Otherwise, we will be forced to tell the people about the disruptive behaviour of the Opposition," said
Rawat. Meanwhile, Bhatt said," It is the Opposition's right to bring the no-confidence motion against the government. We had done this during the tenure of former Chief Minister ND
Tiwari. If it helps the government in taking adequate steps in the interest of the state, we will continue to do so." Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal had rejected the no-confidence motion on technical grounds by pointing out that it was not brought one hour before the sitting of the house and quoted the commentary book on
the Parliament proceedings. But, Bhatt remained adamant and said the rule book for the conduct of house in Uttarakhand did not mention this point. Later, BJP MLA Madan Kaushik alluded to the commentary book and pointed out that the Speaker could allow the no-confidence tomorrow." The no-confidence motion brought up in such a manner could be admitted the next day. I urge the Speaker to review the decision, otherwise it may set a wrong precedence," he said. Later, the Speaker reviewed his decision and said the motion could be admitted tomorrow. |
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Hridayesh gives assurance to House on appointment of VC
Dehradun, February 17 The minister said as the matter was pending with the Governor, she would enquire about the progress on
the issue. The minister was answering queries raised by BJP MLA Rajesh Shukla who raised the matter in the House today under Rule 58. Doubting the government’s intentions on the issue, the MLA saidthe government was not interested in the appointment of a VC and wanted to continue with a makeshift arrangement and run the university through a bureaucrat. “In the past, the present Governor had found the members of the search committee not adequately qualified. The government had not followed the UGC norms nor the ICAR norms. Most of the members of the search committee did not have any teaching experience yet the government continued with the charade,'' said
Shukla. |
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CBI probe into status of City Park sought
Dehradun, February 17 Raising the issue under Rule 58, Bhatt said the government should come clean on the issue as several government orders allegedly had been issued to change the land use of the City Park from commercial to residential to benefit a builder. However, putting across the government’s point of view, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh said no efforts were being made to change the land use now or in the future. |
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Rajaji’s Chila range closed to visitors yet again
Pauri, February 17 Earlier, on New Year, the range was closed for five days for carrying out a survey of wildlife animals in the park. On January 7, it was re-opened, but after three weeks, it was closed again due to heavy rain. Now, due to heavy snowfall and rain, it has been closed yet again. Ranger DP Uniyal said the decision was taken as the 35-km-long safari track had damaged at several places while the road leading to the range on Pauri-Haridwar border was in a dilapidated condition. He said the accumulation of water, potholes, muddy road tracks and risk of gypsies getting stuck on the safari track forced the park administration to take this decision. Park officials said at the Mudhal
riven, two dozen species of mammals besides 315 species of birds and 40 species of reptiles, making it a paradise for wildlife lovers and Meethavali
roh, Khara, Deval Valley, Hilltop and Ghasi Ram rivulets, accumulation of water had been posing a danger to commuters off late so keeping in view the security of tourists, the range was closed for an indefinite
period. Anastisya Miskina, a tourist from Russia, said the park authorities should have advertised the timings of visiting the park and needed to make the safari track a concrete one so that rain did not hamper
the gypsy ride. |
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Vyasi Hydroelectric Project
Dehradun, February 17 The decision was taken by the DM following a meeting organised at the camp office with the officials and local residents of the area. The representatives while informing the District Magistrate said those affected by the setting up of the project were qualified and held B.Tech degrees and ITI diploma certificates. They are professionally qualified and are capable of working in the hydro electric project. By providing jobs to these unemployed youth, the financial crisis being faced by their families due to dislocation would be resolved to a great extent, said the representatives. Responding to the requests, the DM asked the general manager of the hydro-electric project to prepare a list of the jobless youths in the area based on their qualifications to provide employment. |
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Students play role of UN delegates
Dehradun, February 17 It was an inter-class activity where every class represented a country and two girls from each class role played delegates at EGMUN The topic of the discussion was ‘Violation of Child Rights’. The participants conducted themselves according to the rules of the procedures observed in the MUN. Other topics of the conference were, child marriage; juvenile law; right to protection; right to education; right to health; street children etc. The conference continued for four hours and concluded with the passing of a resolution by the committee. Brinda Ghosh, principal of the school, applauded the participants. |
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Locals demand basic facilities
for educational institutes
Pithoragarh, February 17 “The state government has announced opening of many new schools and colleges. They should first finish building and providing adequate facilities to colleges and universities that were opened by them or the previous UP government,” rued Dinesh Upreti, a resident of a village in Muwani area of the district where a new degree college has been announced by the new Chief Minister Harish Rawat. According to sources, degree colleges opened 13 years ago at Gangolihat, Munsiyari and Baluakot, in the district are either running in rented buildings or in the premises of intermediate college. “While the degree college at Gangolihat is running from a Zila Panchayat rest house, the college opened at Munsiyari is running from a GIC building,” said Kalyan Singh Rawal, a UKD worker in Gangolihat. Gangolihat MLA Narayan Ram Arya, a close confidant of CM Harish Rawat, has denied the news of neglecting the infrastructural demand of old colleges and said the state government sanctioned a sum of Rs 4.95 crore for constructing a degree college in Gangolihat. “A similar amount of money has been sanctioned by the state government for building the colleges at Munsiyari and Baluakot, for which the process of land transfer has been completed,” said Arya. Not only in Pithoragarh district, but in other districts of the region too there has been a competition among political parties to please the voters by announcing the opening of Rajiv Gandhi Navodaya Vidyalaya at every block of Nainital district despite government schools in the region running without adequate staff from the last decade. “The rural students in primary schools of Nainital district are leaving the schools because there are no arrangements from the government’s side to provide adequate staff, especially science, mathematics and English teachers,” said Navendu Mathpal, convener of Rachnatmak Sikshak Mandal in Nainital district. According to sources in the education department, more than 20 per cent posts of teachers are vacant in the schools of Pithoragarh, Champawat, US Nagar and Almora district, at present. Meanwhile, teachers and parents of children from the region believe that the government must upgrade and provide basic infrastructure in the already existing schools before opening new ones. Right from the building to the laboratories, playground and adequate teachers are required to improve conditions of schools and colleges in existence. |
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Essential services remain disrupted due to heavy snowfall
Mussoorie, February 17 According to local resident Arvind Kumain, the residents have been facing acute water shortage for the past few months and the recent snow has added to the woes as the power, communication and transport services have also been disrupted and have not been restored as yet. He further said that the tourists interested in enjoying snow were unable to reach Dhanaulti due to the blocked roads triggered by heavy snow resulting in heavy loss to the business community here. The residents rued the fact that due to the apathy shown by the administration, most of the hotels and the eco park-run by the Forest Department have been rendered empty, and without tourists their livelihood had been adversely affected. When contacted the senor Congress leader and former block pramukh, Jot Singh Bisht, said that Dhanaulti, despite being famous tourist destination, has always neglected by the government. He further said that JCB machines should have been deployed to clear the snow and solar light arrangements should have been in place, but nothing has been done so far, which is really unfortunate. He said he would meet the chief minister soon in this regard and inform him about the problem being faced by the people of Dhanaulti. When contacted the SDM,Dhanaulti,was not available for comments despite repeated attempts. |
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Cong task force hails Dwivedi's comment on reservation
Dehradun, February 17 In a letter written to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today, Yogendra Khanduri asserted that every rational citizen of the entire nation was in agreement with this opinion of Janardan
Dwivedi. “It is my opinion too that there should be an intense debate on this issue not only within the party but also in the public at the national level,” he said. Elaborating, he said due to the caste-based reservation, society was getting divided into various
classes. He said caste-based reservation was dividing society and threatening the unity of the country. He pointed out that the reservation on the basis of economic status will provide the opportunity to enhance the status of the poor of all the castes and classes. It will not inculcate the negative feeling of caste and community and thus will lead towards the feeling of equality in society. The provision of the reservation on the economic basis will definitely benefit the people belonging to the categories of Scheduled Castes, Schedule Tribes and Other Backward Classes because they themselves fall in the category of the most economically weaker lot. He asserted that amendment should be made in the Constitution to create a provision to make reservation on the economic basis so that society did not suffer the division between rich and poor, and the nation proceeded towards equality.
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BSNL service hit at Jaunpur
Mussoorie, February 17 Villagers of Naibagh Tehsil were the most affected as OFC cables damaged due to the widening work on the Delhi-Dehradun-Yamunotri highway. Locals said they were facing difficulty in communicating with their kin for the past several days. When contacted, territory deputy manager, BSNL (Tehri) OP Kanojia said the digging exercise had damaged lines at several places, leading to disruption in services. He said notices had been served on the executing agencies of both departments. He said they had also asked the departments not to begin any work in the future without the BSNL's approval. He said work to restore the connections was going on in full swing. However, it would take some time. |
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Dug-up road gives bumpy ride to motorists
Mussoorie, February 17 The exercise, which is being done under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is not only giving bumpy rides to motorists but also causing fatal accidents. The residents said despite their repeated reminders to the officials concerned, no step had been taken to speed up the work. Schoolchildren are the worst hit as they are facing problems in reaching school on time. The digging work has also restricted the plying of school buses on the route. Locals alleged that the road had been dug up erratically and without prior technical assessment by the executing agency. Bro Christopher, principal, St George's School, said the Peyjal Nigam should have started the work two months earlier. There was no logic in digging up the road when the school was set to reopen on March 1.He said being a boarding school, they had to make arrangements for foodstuff and other items well in advance. However, truck drivers were finding it difficult to deliver the things to the school due to the ongoing work He said they had written several letters to the department concerned highlighting inconvenience being suffered by them. However, there had been no change despite the intervention of the Mussoorie SDM, which clearly pointed towards the "nonchalant" attitude of the Peyjal Nigam. Residents of Jharipani rued that going Mussoorie had become troublesome for them. "We have to walk 7 km to reach Mussoorie to buy goods for daily use. If we go by some vehicle, we are forced to take longer route from Chuna Khala," said a resident of Jharipani. The residents said if the department did not speed up the ongoing work, they would be forced to take to the streets. When contacted, Peyjal Nigam Executive Engineer Kapil Malik told TNS that the work had been delayed due to bad weather. He said officials had been directed to complete the work within three to four days. |
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Power supply cut to labourers’ houses without prior notice
Mussoorie, February 17 The labourers have been living in makeshift houses near Dimri Niwas for the past several years and all have been provided electricity connection for which they have been paying their bills regularly. But the concerned department cut the power lines allegedly at the behest of land mafia, who have set their eyes on the adjacent barren land and were trying to usurp it by all means. The labourers, Man Bahadur, Pooran Singh, Shivram, Dhan Bahadur, Nandu, Devi Lal and others affected by the exercise conducted by the department said that their children had to stay in the dark and in shivering
cold following the cut two days back. The incessant snowfall and rain added to their woes and has led to many children getting ill. They had to be rushed to hospital, said one of
the labourers. The trade union leaders have condemned the whole act of the Electricity Department and said that if the power connections were not restored soon they would be forced to take to streets as a mark of protest. The affected labourers also met the local MLA Ganesh Joshi yesterday who lambasted the officials for depriving the labourers of their basic right to electricity in the town and directed to rectify the problem within 24 hours. When contacted the Electricity Department SDO Sunil Gairola showing his ignorance in the matter shifted the blame on subordinate officials. He further said that the directions for restoring the power connection in the said houses had been given and the task will be completed within a day or two. |
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ITBP begins removing snow from its outposts
Pithoragarh, February 17 “Due to the heavy snowfall in the higher reaches of Himalayas, our border outposts at Gunji, Grabyang, Bundi, Kalapani, Nabhidhang, Kuti and Jolingkong at Darma and Byans valleys were cut off from each other. We have taken up the work to open these routes,” said Kedar Singh Kadar Singh Rawat, an ITBP officer at Didihat camp. According to him, after removing snow from these routes, the ITBP will remove snow from the Kailash Mansarowar route, which is buried under 10-feet snow,” said the ITBP officer. Over 12 routes have been blocked for the past 72 hours. “Due to the heavy snowfall in Munsiyari, tourists are thronging the town,” said Devendra Singh Deva, a hotelier from Munsiyari. While the Terai region witnessed the heavy rainfall, upper reaches of the region received the heavy snow. “Munsiyari to Pithoragarh, Pangut to Nainital and Bhawali to Mukteswar routes are also closed due to snowfall. However, the heavy snowfall have attracted tourists to Nainital and Munsiyari,” said Kamal Jagati, a hotelier from
Nainital. |
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Three IPS officers transferred
Dehradun, February 17 Renuka Devi, who was commandant IRB (first) Ramnagar, Nanital, has been transferred as commandant, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) at police headquarters. Former SSP Dehradun, Kewal Khurana will be the new commandant, IRB (first) Ramnagar. Khurana was recently attached to the police headquarters and was without any duty for the past fortnight. Present Commandant of SDRF, Neeru Garg, has been made new principal of Arms Training Center,
Haridwar. |
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NSUI holds meeting
Dehradun, February 17 Addressing the meeting, state president, NSUI, Sumitter Singh Bhullar, said the student organisation had made 74,000
new members through its Lead Your Campus Programme. The members were told that students associated with NSUI had filed RTI’s to fetch information related to the functioning of the universities and colleges in the state. During the meeting, state vice-president Nitin Joshi along with other office-bearers of the NSUI were also present. |
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MES builders stage protest
Dehradun, February 17 Addressing the gathering chairman of the association Sanjeev Gupta said that they have
been pressing upon the government for the fulfilment of their demands but to no avail. “The builders resent official apathy by the department and said they raise the levels of protests in case redressal of their problems remains ignored further,” the chairman said in a release. As part of their demands the builders are demanding the release of there pending payments, insertion of reimbursement
of price escalation clauses in all the tenders, the builders should also be covered under the
dearness allowance reimbursement. |
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Annual function of Dolphin institute begins
Dehradun, February 17 The event begun with the march past. Arvind Gupta, principal, congratulated the students and the staff for organizing the function. During the celebrations, inter-departmental athletic meet will be organised. Besides rangoli and debate competitions, sports events will also be held. — TNS
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Zorawar House bags overall trophy in athletics
Dehradun, February 17 Naval Kishore was declared the best male athlete while the best female athlete title wen to Deepika Khanna. The college faculty also participated in a 100 m run (male), a 100 m brisk walk (female) and a show-stealer event. — TNS
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LDA (Lucknow) register win
Dehradun, February 17 In reply, the RIS, Rajasthan team was bowled out after scoring 197 runs.Kushal remained the highest scorer with 48 runs. Mohamad Saif was adjudged the man of the match.In the second match of the day, Bhiwani Bulls defeated Indian Air Force by 4 wickets. Electing to bat first, the Indian Air Force team scored 168 runs with Vinit scoring 32 runs. In reply, Bhiwani Bulls easily achieved the target at the loss of 6 wickets. Opener Rahul Singh remained the highest scorer with 73 runs.
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CID probe into murder case ordered
Dehradun, February 17 Raising the matter under Rule 58 on Monday, BJP MLA Surinder Singh Jeena said family members of the deceased had been crying for justice but the police had failed to bring the culprits to the book. "It has been five months since the gruesome murder of Neeru Saini, the police is yet to unearth the motive behind the murder," said
Jeena. To this the Parliamentary Affairs Minister ordered a CBCID inquiry. |
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32-year-old man electrocuted
Dehradun, February 17 The victim, Chandramohan, was taken to a Rishikesh hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead. Chandramohan was trying to cut a wire entangled in the tree when the accident took place. |
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No headway in realtor’s murder case
Dehradun, February 17 Even a homicide cell and the special operations group (SOG) are working round the clock to solve the case. Police officials are still tight-lipped on the ongoing investigations into the case but according to police sources, Dharampal might have been killed for his involvement in some property-related issue. ''We have set up two teams out which one is at Baraut in Baghpat district, while another team is verifying the mobile locations on the basis of mobile surveillance,'' said SSP Ajay Rautela. — TNS |
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Man kills self
Dehradun, February 17 The incident came into light when other workers reached the shop in the morning and found Khusnasib hanging from the ceiling fan.
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For the third time this season, wildlife safari in the Chila range of the Rajaji National Park has been closed to visitors owing to heavy snowfall and rain in Pauri
Garhwal. The Chila range that falls in Pauri Garhwal is visited by thousands of tourists every year.
Earlier, on New Year, the range was closed for five days for carrying out a survey of wildlife animals in the park. On January 7, it was re-opened, but after three weeks, it was closed again due to heavy rain.
The power, transport, water and communication services that were hit badly following heavy snowfall during the last few days have put life out of gear at the famous tourist destination of
Dhanaulti. According to local resident Arvind Kumain, the residents have been facing acute water shortage for the past few months and the recent snow has added to the woes as the power, communication and transport services have also been disrupted and have not been restored as yet.
