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Winter session begins today
Samiti seeks proposal on capital
CFL to light up state
CFL bulbs displayed on Energy Conservation Day in Dehradun on Sunday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir |
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Bailout policy wrong, says economist Ghosh
Pollution effecting breeding pattern in elephants: Study
Cleanliness drive in Haridwar from today
Promote mother tongue, says Pbi varsity VC
Punjabi University VC Dr Jaspal Singh at the Dr Balbir Singh memorial lecture in Dehradun on Sunday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
For The First Time
Judo academy stuck in red tape
Dehradun dominate judo championship
Hockey
Young Star thump Valley Boys
Amritsar, Little
Master in semis
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Winter session begins today
Dehradun, December 14 At a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting held here today, it was decided to raise various issues concerning the state. "We will vehemently oppose the re-imposition of entry tax besides the provisions of the Uttarakhand Universities Bill to be laid in the winter session," said Harak Singh Rawat, Leader of Opposition and leader of the CLP. Congress legislators were unanimous that the decision of the state government to leave out large number of employees for giving benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations including teachers of the aided schools should be raised forcefully. "The discriminatory attitude of the BJP government in also not giving such benefits to corporation, board and civic body employees would be exposed," added Harak Singh Rawat. The Opposition had been opposing the Uttarakhand Universities Bill brought by the BJP government for the past one year alleging that it curtails the powers of the chancellor. The Bill was referred to the select committee and was again expected to be placed in the winter session of the assembly. "We are determined to oppose any such law that infringes on the autonomy of the university. The Bill is undemocratic in character," said Suryakant Dhasmana, Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson. The delay in the announcement of support price for sugarcane will be another issue that will feature prominently during the session. "It is a major issue affecting the farmers of the Terai regions of Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar and Dehradun and we would try to put the state government to task on its failure," said Shahzad, leader of Bahujan Samaj Party legislature party. Asked if the House will witness acrimonious scenes as witnessed in the past between opposition and ruling party members, Harak Singh Rawat said that it would depend on the attitude of the ruling party. "If they would allow us to raise the burning issues facing the state, we would cooperate. It is all in the hands of the ruling party," he added. Meanwhile, an all-party meeting was held in the Uttarakhand assembly to chalk out the modalities for the smooth conduct of the winter session starting on Monday. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen B.C. Khanduri (retd), speaker Harbans Kapoor, leader of opposition Harak Singh Rawat, leader of BSP legislature party Shahzad, parliamentary affairs minister Parkash Pant and secretary, assembly, Mahesh Chand attended the meeting. |
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Samiti seeks proposal on capital
Dehradun, December 14 At a press conference held here today, Pratap said it was treachery on part of the state government to delay the declaration of Garsain as permanent capital of Uttarakhand. He accused both the bureaucracy and legislature of intentionally delaying the same. He also apprised that the party will hold a symbolic “shuddi yagya” tomorrow, on the opening day of the session, to evoke God’s blessings for the cause. Pratap pointed out that making Garsain the permanent capital would in true sense provide impetus to development in the backward hilly areas of Uttarakhand. He also criticised Andolankari Samman Parishad accusing it of failing to address to the concerns of the protesters. |
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CFL to light up state
Dehradun, December 14 The initiative comes at the behest of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited and Bureau of Energy Efficiency, who in assistance with a private company will be seeking ordinary bulbs and providing them CFL bulbs at the former’s cost. Significantly, the company will be incurring all the costs linked to manufacturing of these CFL bulbs and would be benefiting by earning CDM points in process. Uttarakhand chief secretary I.K. Pande, who handed CFL bulbs to few of families in Dehradun at an energy conservation programme today signalled the beginning of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited’s ambitious “Bachat Lamp Yojana”. S. Mohan Ram, managing director of UPCL, said the scheme, which was the brainchild of Bureau of Energy Efficiency, was open to all UPCL consumers and would be a milestone in efforts towards energy conservation. A.K. Tyagi, who heads Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Authority, hoped that the scheme would be a great success. Welcoming energy conservation efforts, the industry in Uttarakhand too favoured measures like energy audits such as focused approach towards achieving conservation goals. The industry in the state is now looking for self-certified means to come up conservation initiatives. “We have already constituted a committee that would look into introduction of energy audits in an identified cluster of industries,” said Pankaj Gupta, president of Uttarakhand unit of Indian Industries Association. Plywood, miniature bulbs and steel and rolling cluster of industries were among first to be taken up for energy audits followed by others. Indu Kumar Pande said with limitation of fossil fuels, there was growing importance of renewable energy sources. He termed energy efficient architecture as one of the measures to attain energy conservation goals. “We need to go for buildings that have energy efficient architecture like natural lighting and also heating in winters,” he said. Interestingly, for the first time a guide book on energy education has been introduced that will be distributed free to all schools in Dehradun. The books come with small day to day measures that could make a big difference towards energy saving. |
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Bailout policy wrong, says economist Ghosh
Dehradun, December 14 Observing this, well-known economist Jayati Ghosh today slammed the UPA government’s corporate bailout policy, as this would not help address the crisis being faced by Indians at the macro level. She was delivering a lecture on ‘Global Economic Recession and Crisis of Capitalism’ organised by the state unit of the CPM at the Town Hall, here today. She suggested that the Central government would do well to resort to fiscal expansion of much greater volume and facilitate relief directly to areas of economy
concerning common people like farming, public housing, schools, power, public distribution system than the corporate world. “As the crisis was unfolding for more than a year the government should have taken steps to neutralise its impact much before. The crisis cannot be tackled effectively without an alternative set of economic policies. So, the space has naturally been created for the leftists parties to step in with their pro-people policies, she said while underlining the crisis was natural fallout of capitalist mode of economy. Banking required to be socialised to ensure directed crediting,” she suggested. Terming it as a classic case of economic recession, she said a bigger fiscal stimulus than what the government has announced recently was the only way left to tide over the crisis, whose severe impact is yet to be felt. She said the Rs 20,000 crore fiscal package announced by the government was just .5 per cent
of the GDP. Such volume would be wholly inadequate for the larger economy. |
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Pollution effecting breeding pattern in elephants: Study
Haridwar, December 14 The breeding season has mostly been observed during mid-April to mid-October but with the changes in environment, forest area and global warming, there is a slight change in the elephant breeding season too. These are important findings of a research on "Behaviour of Asian Elephants in Rajaji National Park". Rajaji National Park, which is spread over an area of 820 sq km across Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri Garhwal districts, is a designated reserved area for "Project Elephant". The idea behind designating it a reserved area was solely to maintain the population of Asian elephants in their natural habitat. This protected habitat is one of the largest elephant reserves in India. According to the wildlife census 2007, there are 418 wild elephants in the park. These days, elephants are performing their seasonal traditional migration and from February, they can be seen in the forests on the banks of the Ganga. "This is the best time for observing migration among elephants and by late February, they can be seen in large herds. Feeding activities may also change as per the change in season and forests" said Dr Ritesh Joshi, a wildlife scientist and an expert on elephant behaviour. He added that since some forest areas of Rajaji Park are rich in fodder species, there are chances that the elephant population in the park area would increase. During the past one-and-a-half years, five bull elephants died due to various reasons and that can influence their sex ratio, he added. In another study conducted on elephants, as many as 24 various natural behaviours were observed among them in the Rajaji Park area. Besides, six unusual behaviours were also documented for the first time. Experts feel that more detailed studies are required regarding the behaviour of Asian elephants. Only then, an adequate action plan can be formulated for their long-term conservation. But with the construction of Ganga canal and Chila Power house and the increase in the vehicular traffic on Haridwar-Bijnor and Haridwar-Dehradun highways passing through this forest area, the natural movement of the elephants has been affected. Human encroachments in the protected park area are hindering the local seasonal movements of elephants and are responsible for habitat fragmentation in several parts of this elephant reserve. |
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Cleanliness drive in Haridwar from today
Haridwar, December 14 City health officer Dr. Anil Tyagi said with the help of ward members, the municipal committee workers would reach out to the residents to educate them about cleanliness. ‘Safai hawaldars’ of the committee would be given loudspeakers and pamphlets, and will also take suggestions from the citizens. They will inform people about garbage dumps at certain points and urge them to cooperate with the municipal staff members. With polythene becoming a major problem and detrimental for humans, workers will also persuade the people to minimise the use of plastic in their day-to-day life. Executive engineer municipal committee Prahlad Singh Rawat hoped that the drive would help in generating mass awareness as well as restoring cleanliness in
the city. |
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Promote mother tongue, says Pbi varsity VC
Dehradun, December 14 While stating that English is universally accepted as a link language and Hindi as national language, Dr Singh said: “We must give due recognition to both English and Hind, but not at the cost and status of our mother tongue.” Dr. Singh said although Punjab government had taken some steps to promote Punjabi by making it mandatory in all schools till class ten and compulsory use of Punjabi language in working of all Government and semi-government offices, but still there is need on the part of people to be more sensitive towards the Punjabi language and culture. “The way western culture is being followed, it won’t be wrong to say that people are still to come out of the colonial mindset,” said Dr. Singh, while adding that he is very optimistic that in times to come the younger generation would realize the importance of Punjabi culture and mother tongue. “The Punjabi University is continuously making efforts for the propagation of the Punjabi language and culture but results would be better if we play a more pro-active role,” he said. Dr. Singh further said the Repertory Theatre, Punjabi University, is a unit that is actively involved for promotion of Punjabi language and culture. “The objective is to take the good theatre to the masses and also help address issues, which the society is grappling with. Two issues that are the scourge of the Punjabi society currently are widely prevalent drug abuse and female foeticide. The Repertory produced the play “Mitti Rudn Kare” to spread the message against drugs and female foeticide,” he said. The VC added that their university would also be organising plays on AIDS awareness and NRI-linked matrimonial deceit cases. “The project of the documentation about the minutest details about four folk dances of Punjab is also underway. The information would be compiled in audio-visual and print form. Next year, we will initiate the project for the documentation of folk singing,” said Dr. Singh, while asserting that these documentation would be great reference material for those who want to know the things in depth. |
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For The First Time
Dehradun, December 14 As per the Ministry of Environment and Forests’ directions, a Brigadier-rank officer finds representation in state wildlife boards and this is primarily due to the large-scale presence of armed forces in close proximity to conservation areas. These Army officers, who are part of state wildlife boards across the country, have a huge influence on the decision making of these boards. The Wildlife Institute, under the direction of the Ministry of Forests and Environment, has successfully conducted two sessions for these Army officers, covering almost all Army officers who are part of different state wildlife boards. The second session ended a few days back at Kanha National Park with the participation of 17 Brigadier-rank state wildlife board members. The earlier session had taken place at Nagarcole some months back and comprised 15 similar participants. Interestingly, one glaring example of Army-wildlife conflict has certainly been Uttarakhand where the Army and wildlife officials are embroiled in the long-standing dispute over an Army dump that stands midway in an elephant corridor in the Raiwala area. Despite the best of efforts on part of wildlife authorities, a solution to the problem still looks elusive. The initiative holds big significance as it is basically the Army that comes into direct confrontation with wildlife. Sensitisation programmes like these can greatly help in easing out any possible apathy of Army personnel towards wildlife. “It is not just the sensitisation but also the role of the Army in wildlife conservation efforts that has been put into focus in the programmes,” opines Dhananjaya Mohan of WII, who has been conducting these training programmes. |
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Judo academy stuck in red tape
Dehradun, December 14 It may be mentioned here that a Japanese company had put forward a proposal before Government of India to establish two Judo Academies in the country for the encouragement of the sport. The states, where the academies were to be established had to make one-time investment on providing the infrastructure to the association. And for the next 25 years all the recurring expenditure would be born by the Japanese company. The Judo association of Manipur and Uttarakhand got this golden opportunity. While Manipur waisted no time in accepting the proposal, Uttarakhand government has still not responded. “State Judo Association had submitted the proposal to the state government some four months back, there response is still awaited. The government has to provide basic infrastructure for this purpose,” said, Yeshbir Singh, secretary general, Judo Association of Uttarakhand. “The credit of bringing such a proposal to the state goes to the State Judo Association. But we are on brink of losing the golden opportunity, just because of the nonchalant attitude of the Uttarakhand government. The Judo Federation of Indian has already sent a reminder to us,” disclosed Yeshbir, while adding that if they failed to get any response from the state government in next two months, the proposal would be dropped. Expressing his dismay over the state sports policy, Yeshbir said, “Even after eight years of formation of Uttarakhand, there is no clear policy on sports.” He further said that lot of importance is given to sports in neighbouring state Uttar Pradesh. “UP established a Judo Academy at Saharanpur and is providing Rs 175 diet to every child per day. It awards a cash price of Rs 50,000 to the players who win gold, Rs 25,000 for winning a silver and Rs 15,000 for bronze medal. But in Uttarakhand, prize money for Gold, Silver and Bronze is mere Rs 3,000, Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,500 respectively,” he rued. No such proposal with us: Secy
Uttarakhand Sports Secretary Rakesh Sharma denied of receiving any proposal in this regard. “What we had got is not a proposal but a simple letter. The State Association and the Japanese company should come forward and talk on this matter,” he said. Sharma further said that any final decision would be taken only after having discussion with the State Judo Association and the Japanese firm. He further added that the interested company should clarify that whether they want to set up Academy on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis. |
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Dehradun dominate judo championship
Dehradun, December 14 Results: u-12 girls: In 20 Kg: 1st. Sikha Rana 2nd. Shivangi Negi 3rd. Tejasvi and Sangeeta. In 25 Kg: 1st. Kajal Singh 2nd. Pushpa 3rd. Aditi Singh In 30 Kg: 1st. Archna Singh 2nd. Manu Lohan 3rd. Prabsimran and Prerna Gupta. In 35 Kg: 1st. Savita Gurung 2. Aarti 3rd. Varnika and Arunima In below 40 Kg: 1st. Shubhangi 2nd. Arushi Nautiyal 3rd. Sanum Gupta In above 40 Kg: 1st. Manisha 2nd. Reena Thapa 3rd. Shivangi 12-14 years girls: In 40 Kg: 1st. Jyoti 2nd. Anushka Pant. In 45 Kg: 1st. Saloni 2nd. Kanu Priya 3rd. Priya and Rashmi Diyar. In Below 50 Kg: 1st. Deepa 2nd. Nikita 3rd. Bhavika and Sanskriti. In above 50 Kg: 1st. Ambika Singh 2nd. Ruchi 3rd. Vidusi. U-12 boys: In below 20 Kg: 1st. Aryan Bangwal 2nd. Sachin 3rd. Avdesh Singh and Pravneet Singh. In below 25 Kg: 1st. Dhruv Dutt 2nd. Ashish 3rd. Vishu Choudhary and Akhil Gupta. In below 30 Kg: 1st. Digvijay 2nd. Jashanveer 3rd. Arjun Singh and Rishab Dabral. In below 35 Kg: 1st. Akhil Khandalwal 2nd. Vasu Sharma 3rd. Himanshu and Gurung. In below 40 Kg: 1st. Gaurav 2nd. Vinod 3rd. Amit and Sachin. In above 40 Kg: 1st. Rijul 2nd. Archit 3rd. Rahul and Archit. 12-14 years boys: In below 35 Kg: 1st. Abhay Rana 2nd. Mrigendra 3rd. Rishav Sharma and Ashish Gupta. In below 40 Kg: 1st. Vishanir 2nd. Anar Gupta 3rd. Avnish Sharam and Shubham. In below 40 Kg: 1st. Sanjeev Pal 2nd. Naveen Nauliyal 3rd. Atul Badoni. In below 50 Kg: 1st. Anurag Rai 2nd. Mukul Choudhary 3rd. Keshav. In above 50 Kg: 1. Rohit Joshi 2. Subhan Tyagi. |
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Hockey
Haridwar, December 14 Yesterday’s match between Gurukul University and PAU, Ludhiana, had turned ugly with players getting embroiled in physical violence. Today, the Amritsar team objected to several decisions of the match referee. Despite repeated attempts by the referee and match officials to convince them that there was no bias, the players didn't listen and finally after 20 minutes, Amritsar coach asked them to stage a walkout. Thus, Gurukul Kangri University picked up vital points from the controversial match. Chief referee K. Subodh said that in a tournament where officials and referees have played hockey at the highest level, such allegations don't augur well for the game. In the first match of the day, Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, clashed with Kurukshetra University. The match was a tight one with both teams backing their defence solidly. All goals came through penalty corner conversion. In the 17th minute, Panjab University got their second penalty corner which was converted by Puresh Singh. PU earned their third penalty corner which was smartly converted into a goal by Yogendra Singh. The Kurukshetra team tried hard by putting three forwards into the attack but couldn't break Panjab’s defence. In the end, a consolation goal was scored by Kurukshetra through a penalty corner. |
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Young Star thump Valley Boys
Dehradun, December 14 Vishal was the star performer in shaping his team’s victory, he made 32 runs and picked 5 wickets. Meanwhile, Ravigiri hit five fours in his inning of 42 runs. He was supported well by Vishal on the other end. Both gave a steady start to their team and see the team pile a mammoth total of 189 runs. For Valley Boys team, Monu took four wickets. In reply, Valley Boys team was all out for 62 runs. For the Little Young, Arvind Tomar took four wickets and Vishal picked 5 wickets. It was an easy win for the Little Young Star team in the end. |
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Amritsar, Little
Master in semis
Dehradun, December 14 In the first semi-final played here today, Amritsar defeated Junior Cricket Club by six wickets. Junior Cricket Club’s decision to bat first, proved disastrous as their team could only manage 96 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Suresh was the highest scorer for Junior Cricket Club. He made 21 runs. In the beginning, Azam gave a fine start to the team and made 20 runs. For Amritsar, Ashwani took two wickets and Amritpal, Jatin Rana and Rani picked up one wicket each. In reply, Amritsar reached the target with 6.2 balls to spare and with six wickets in hand. Swapan was the highest scorer for the team he made 31 runs. In the second semi-final, Little Masters Cricket Clubs defeated Diamond Eleven by 82 runs. Winning the toss Diamond Eleven Club decided to field. There decision proved wrong as the bowlers failed to stop the batsmen from piled massive score. Samadh top scored with 52 runs. He was supported well by Shiva who made 48 runs. Little Master piled a total of 185 runs. Chasing the massive total, Diamond Eleven was all out for 104 runs. For Little Cricket, Amit was the pick of the bowlers who took three wickets and Amit Pharasi took two wickets. |
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Dehradun, December 14
Dehradun, December 14
Haridwar, December 14
Dehradun, December 14
Dehradun, December 14
