The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Anshu Kumar

Cadet Anshu tops merit list
Dehradun, December 3
Cadet Anshu Kumar of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) has topped the All-India Merit List as well as the Air Force Merit list in the recently declared National Defence Academy (NDA) Merit List. Other RIMC cadets in the top order of the merit list include cadet Akash Shekhawat, cadet Pranit Newar, cadet Siddhant Wankhade and cadet Suhel Prahlad Kadu, who secured fifth, 10th, 12th and 15th position respectively.

Class III and IV jobs with a rider
Dehradun, December 3
Manpower shortage for certain government departments is likely to continue for some time as the Dehradun district magistrate has instructed them to get police verification of the selected candidates done before issuing them appointment letters.

Olivia Taghioff

Switch to millets to save environment: Expert
Mussoorie, December 3
Growing millets could help in climate change mitigation and provide greater nutritional security to the people of Uttarakhand believes Olivia Taghioff, India Representative of Swedish funding agency Swallows. Olivia, who was on an official visit to Mussoorie, said that about one-fourth of India's total emissions of green house gases comprises methane released from standing water.

Four directors join Navratna ONGC
Dehradun, December 3
Four more independent directors have been inducted in the Board of Navratna public enterprise Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). They are Chanda Kochhar, S.S Rajsekar, S Balachandran and Santosh Nautiyal.

Year gone, no law to streamline para medical courses
Dehradun, December 3
The proposed Uttarakhand Medical Council Act, 2007 is expected to streamline para medical education in the state, creating an infrastructure that gives fillip to paramedical education in the state. Awaiting enactment by the Uttarakhand assembly, the act has already been drafted, with this Uttarakhand would join the ranks of Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh that have their own para medical council acts.

Of man, dog bonding
Homage paid to the deceased dog. Mussoorie, December 3
The stories of bonding between a man and a dog are not new to this world but a unique incidence of love and attachment between a dog and his master has come to light in Mussoorie. The last rites of a pet dog were performed as per the conventional Hindu tradition in the city by the dog owner, Sudhir Thapliyal, yesterday.

Homage paid to the deceased dog. A Tribune photograph

Abhay adjudged best
Dehradun, December 3
Abhay Rana of Draona’s International School did the state proud by winning a gold medal at the National CBSE Judo Championship.

Emphatic win for Tanush Academy
Dehradun, December 3
Tanush Cricket Academy registered an 84-run victory over Doon Wonder’s at the Dehradun District Cricket League at Matawalabag here today. Tanush Cricket Academy won the toss and elected to bat first. They piled a huge total of 216 runs in their allotted 30 overs.

2 robbers gunned down
Dehradun, December 3
In a joint operation, Haldwani and Nainital Special Operation Group (SOG) personnel gunned down two robbers hiding in a house in Rudrapur on Tuesday morning and nabbed a woman accomplice. However, one robber managed to flee.

	Disability Day Society needs to be more sensitive, says Justice Verma Tribune News Service Dehradun, December 3 Stressing on the need to bring a qualitative change in the lives of the disabled, former Chief Justice of Supreme Court, Justice J.S. Verma called for building a society that was sensitive to their needs instead of giving it mere lip service. “We need to build a society that is fair to disabled, infact, I would be happy if stop referring them as disabled, I think differently able is a better word,” the former Justice said. Justice Verma was speaking at the function organised to mark the International Disability Day held at National Institute for the Visually Handicapped (NIVH). He said that we can make the occasion memorable by acknowledging the problems of the differently able people. Director, NIVH, Anuradha Mohit, said that we need to develop positive attitude towards the disabled. The Institute also honoured four visually disabled persons that includes Vishaka More from Haryana, Atul Ranjan Sahay, senior manager Tata Steel, Jamshedpur, Priyanka Kakkar from Delhi and Ravi Arora first IAS (visually handicapped) from Jharkhand and Dilip Loyalka from Kolkata.
	To identify fake notes, cops to get training Umesh Dewan Tribune News Service Dehradun, December 3 The Uttarakhand police is all set to appoint experts in all districts who will help in identifying counterfeit notes. While confirming this, DIG (Law and Order) Abhilasha Bisht, said that 14 police inspectors will be imparted training in this regard. “These cops will be trained under qualified bank officers in all districts,” she said. Recently, the Dehradun police had nabbed a man with fake currency. The police had recovered eight notes of Rs 1000 and two of Rs 500 denomination from him. During interrogation, it came to light that forged currency was imported from Nepal to Uttar Pradesh and was later brought to Uttarakhand from UP. Bisht said that on number of occasions, they had found that fake currency notes look exactly the same as issued by RBI while adding, “Hence, the identification of fake currency is not an easy job.” She also disclosed that though RBI officials have said that all SBI branches in the state are authorised to identify fake currency but on several occasions, even the SBI officials could not make out the difference between fake and authentic currency notes. “In wake of this, we have decided to appoint expert officers from within the police force for this purpose,” said Bisht, adding that besides performing their routine duties, the expert officers would undergo constant training. The DIG further informed that since counterfeit notes can be easily identified in UV light, all district police chiefs have been asked to purchase the same.
	Cadet Anshu tops merit list Umesh Dewan Tribune News Service Dehradun, December 3 Cadet Anshu Kumar of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) has topped the All-India Merit List as well as the Air Force Merit list in the recently declared National Defence Academy (NDA) Merit List. Other RIMC cadets in the top order of the merit list include cadet Akash Shekhawat, cadet Pranit Newar, cadet Siddhant Wankhade and cadet Suhel Prahlad Kadu, who secured fifth, 10th, 12th and 15th position respectively. According to the RIMC authorities, cadet Anshu Kumar was awarded College Blue for academics and College Blazer for his exemplary performance in quizzing. Besides, he is also a good orator, talented actor and creative writer. He also excelled in sports including hockey, basketball and athletics. Expressing his happiness over Anshu’s success, Col H. Dharmarajan, SM Commandant RIMC, said that Anshu’s performance will encourage other cadets as well. He said, “During the past 15 years, ex-cadets of RIMC were awarded 18 President gold medals, eight silver medals and six bronze medals at National Defence Academy.
	Class III and IV jobs with a rider Raju William Tribune News Service Dehradun, December 3 Manpower shortage for certain government departments is likely to continue for some time as the Dehradun district magistrate has instructed them to get police verification of the selected candidates done before issuing them appointment letters. To fill the vacant posts in various government departments, the state government had in 2005 asked GB Pant Agricultural University, Pantnagar, to conduct a common test to select candidates for posts in class III and IV categories across the state. Hence the respective DMs were appointed nodal officers and their offices received applications and intimated the lists of qualifying candidates to the concerned departments for appointments. As part of this, Dehradun DM Amit Singh Negi recently sent lists of about 175 such candidates to different government offices in the district for appointment with the rider of police verification. As this process will take time, the departments affected by acute manpower crunch will have to wait some while longer to see an increase their staff strength. Their officials maintained that as per set practice, police verification of candidates is done at the time of confirmation of service. They are normally given appointment letters after submission of medical fitness certificate and documents of educational qualification. The most unhappy are the revenue collection departments as they have to meet targets of the current fiscal in the next four months. Even some candidates, especially from far-flung hilly regions, maintained that they would have to wait for another month or two to get the jobs. It takes more than the normal time for intimation to reach there and vice-versa. Already so much time had passed since the test was conducted, said candidates from Pithoragarh and Champawat districts. Agreeing that there may be some departments which do not require police verification before giving appointments letters, Negi insisted that it should be made compulsory. Interestingly, there was no such condition in giving appointment letters to about 50 selected candidates to be absorbed in the offices of commercial tax department in Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
	Switch to millets to save environment: Expert Anmol Jain Tribune News Service Mussoorie, December 3 Growing millets could help in climate change mitigation and provide greater nutritional security to the people of Uttarakhand believes Olivia Taghioff, India Representative of Swedish funding agency Swallows. Olivia, who was on an official visit to Mussoorie, said that about one-fourth of India's total emissions of green house gases comprises methane released from standing water. Waterlogged rice fields are believed to be a major contributory to these emissions. Millets require much less water than rice and shift from rice to millets cultivation, could be a potential solution to reduce the emissions of methane, particularly for a fragile eco-system as Uttarakhand," Olivia said. She also highlighted the nutrient qualities of millets and said that millets are also important from the perspective of nutritional security. According to Olivia, “Millets are a source of greater protein, calcium and iron than rice and hence provide greater nutritional security.” But, she lamented that while rice remains the staple food of a vast majority of India's population, millets is not a popular food grain and said that nothing could be achieved unless farmers are encouraged to grow and consume millets. Olivia said that the consumption of millets in India declined after the Green Revolution in the seventies. According to her, millets are not popular primarily due to the low social status associated with its consumption. Millets is regarded as 'poor man's food', she added. But she stressed upon the need to take immediate steps to break the association between millets and poverty in order to popularise the production and consumption of millets in Uttarakhand. “Millet has become a fashion food for the wealthy with companies like Fab India selling them for more than Rs 150 per kg, then why should the common people feel ashamed of consuming them?" she said. Millet could be made a part of the PDS scheme by the government in order to popularise their consumption, Olivia suggested. Speaking about the role of her organisation in promoting millet in the country, Olivia informed that Swallows has been working in South Asia and Latin America for the past 50 years now. In India, the organisation has been supporting various NGOs for rural development and sustainable agriculture programmes. She told that Swallows is contemplating formulating and supporting millet networks in India.
	Four directors join Navratna ONGC Tribune News Service Dehradun, December 3 Four more independent directors have been inducted in the Board of Navratna public enterprise Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). They are Chanda Kochhar, S.S Rajsekar, S Balachandran and Santosh Nautiyal. Chanda Kochhar is the joint managing director & chief financial officer (CFO) of ICICI Bank. She is also the official spokesperson of ICICI bank. Kochhar has been recently ranked 25th in the Fortune's List of Most Powerful Women in Business, 2008. S.S. Rajsekar is a first generation entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in real estate promotion and trade. A proactive Rotarian, Rajsekar is recipient of many awards and recognitions particularly in community development. S. Balachandran is former managing director, Indian Railway Finance Corporation. He has 35 years service in the Railways and on deputation outside in corporate and other government sectors. He also held the office of Additional Member (Budget) in the Ministry of Railways. Santosh Nautiyal, an IAS (Orissa 1968) is former managing director of IPICOL; he was on the Boards of several companies. In his capacity as joint secretary in the Ministry of Steel, Nautiyal served as nominee of the Government of India on Board of large public sector companies like the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Kudermukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL). As Chairman NHAI, he was also responsible for implementation of the ambitious National Highways Development Project. With the induction of these four independent directors, Navratna ONGC now has eight independent directors in its Board. The new directors have attended the Board meeting of the Oil major held on 1st December 2008.

Year gone, no law to streamline para medical courses
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 3
The proposed Uttarakhand Medical Council Act, 2007 is expected to streamline para medical education in the state, creating an infrastructure that gives fillip to paramedical education in the state. Awaiting enactment by the Uttarakhand assembly, the act has already been drafted, with this Uttarakhand would join the ranks of Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh that have their own para medical council acts.

“There are very few states in the country that have this provision, actually there was very late realisation about the potential of paramedical education in the country, since Dehradun is a pioneer in this area, setting the first institution in the late 80s, we see a tremendous potential to emerge leaders in the imparting of professional education,” informed Bijendra Paul, Principal Secretary (Medical education).

Suggestions by Anwar-Ul Hoda, a member of Planning Commission submitted a report calling for constitution of a medical council, in his report he had highlighted the shortage of doctors and paramedical staff throughout the country in March 2008.

There is a need for concerted effort in building and promoting paramedical facilities in the state. Actually, the paramedics are not accorded the status they are usually viewed as assistants to the main doctors, but this had much to do with the lacuna existing at the level of planners who did not accord priority to the paramedical education.

In Dehradun there are close to 23 private para medical colleges which attracts students from far and wide, despite the fact that several colleges have opened up in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. “It is the climate and peaceful environment of the state that attracts students to come and take the course here. Paramedical education needs nurturing, we have put in checks and balances for the working of para medical colleges. Some of the colleges may not be up to the mark, but we do not want to create an unnecessary scare,” informed principal secretary, Bijendra Paul.

Further, to rationalise fees structure in the state for paramedical colleges, the medical education department would also organise a common entrance test for para medical aspirants in the state.