Dehradun, January 5
Uttarakhand health minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has said the state government plans to bring the Doon Hospital, District Women’s Hospital and Coronation Hospital under one roof thereby making it a single unit and raising the bed capacity at the hospital to 1,000.

He was speaking today at the Conference of ‘Rajkiya Ayurved evam Unani Chikitsa Sewa Sangh’ here where he was the chief guest. The conference brought together state ayurveda and unani doctors under one roof. The health minister said, “We plan to bring the Coronation Hospital on Kutchery Road where the other two hospitals are located. The expansion plan will gain from the relocation of the Collectorate offices that are to be shifted at the old jail premises on Haridwar Road.”

He added that the state government would also bring a Bill for the creation of Uttarakhand Ayurveda University in the next session of the assembly.

“Due to certain technicalities, we could not bring it in the recently concluded session of assembly,” the minister said.

It may be mentioned that an ayurveda and homoeopathy OPD also functions from the Doon Hospital.

In his address, the Speaker of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha Harbans Kapoor said that providing health care facilities and good education should be the goals of the government.

“We need to provide health facilities for all. The state government should ensure that the ayurveda and unani doctors in the state do not feel neglected,” he added.

Speaking on behalf of the doctors, the general secretary of Rajkiya Ayurved evam Unani Chikitsa Sewa Sangh, Dr Ashutosh Pant, said that despite a series of initiatives taken by the Health Department, there are several service issues that need to be resolved.

“The government should come up with a transparent promotional policy and provide equal opportunities to both allopathic and ayurvedic/unani doctors. Ayurvedic/unani doctors continue to be hired on contractual basis. This practice should be done away with,” Dr Pant asserted.

The union presented a charter of demands to the state health minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ which included assigning district ayurveda and unani officers with the designation of nodal officers in charge of district plans, appointment of unani doctors at the six unani dispensaries in the state.

Dehradun, January 5
Iron turbine-driven watermills are providing more employment opportunities in Dehradun in Uttarakhand. The iron turbine has replaced the wooden turbine in water mills here. Though a small step, it is proving to be a huge leap.

Watermills have long been used to generate power here. In turn, thus generated power ran various kinds of grind mills like flour, oil and even handlooms.

“It is working free of cost with water. People get grains grinded. We also grind our own flour and sell it. It is providing many employment opportunities,” said Manoj Kumar, a watermill operator. A big advantage of watermills is increased reliance on local resources, making use of almost no direct imports.

Many ventured into the new business only after they had this more efficient watermill at their disposal.

“My restaurant is working with the help of electricity produced by a watermill. My fridge and the flour grinding machine run on the same electricity. It has been immensely beneficial,” said Bansuri, a restaurant owner.

Watermills, which used to be the most widespread rural technology, lost importance when diesel mills entered rural areas.

But with the diesel prices touching the sky, they are back in the reckoning.

"The wooden turbine has been converted into an iron turbine. Initially, one watermill could grind only 7 kg of flour per hour. Now after we have introduced new technology, people are getting employed. Initially, where only one person was employed, now 10 are employed," said Manmohan Negi, a technician.

Increased processing capacity of the improved watermills has helped the owner earn more profit.

The widespread use of watermills and its popularity owes much to its simple and cost-effective mechanism. — ANI

Haridwar, January 5
Adhering to the nationwide strike called on by the All-India Truck Operators Union, the truck operators in Haridwar too stayed away from the steering wheels and supported the strike.

The truck operators are demanding to reduce diesel prices with a major fall in petrol prices in the international market. The operators are also demanding the government to apply common Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel throughout the country .

The effects of strike were clearly seen in the district where about 1500 trucks operate. The most affected part was the State Industrial Development Corporation (SIDCUL) where companies had to suffer major losses for ferrying and loading as there was scarcity of trucks. It is estimated that the first day of the strike effected the trade amounting to Rs 20 crore in Haridwar alone.

“We are stuck by the strike and our manufactured items are lying in godowns as we rely on private trucks too. Though we have our own trucks and carriers but that’s not suffient,” said a company official of a FMCG firm in SIDCUL. There are more than 275 companies operating in SIDCUL thus the effect of the strike was severely felt in this zone.

Haridwar Truck Operator Union president, Naeem Kureshi said, “ Till the National Union executive decides, we will not operate trucks in Haridwar, and its up to the central government to decide about the diesel prices as the rates are very high as compared to the international markets. And the government should also decide on applying common VAT all over the county.” He further said they had stopped taking bookings itself from Sunday onwards in the view of the strike.

Dehradun, January 5
A one-day Kisan Training Camp, organised by the State Bank of India (SBI) in association with GB Pant Agriculture University, was held at the Inderlok Hotel, here today. The camp was jointly inaugurated by Dr Devanand Balodi, deputy chief coordinator, Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Sangathan, and Maheep Kumar, deputy general manager of the SBI.

A total of 120 progressive farmers hailing from different districts of the state participated in the camp. Agriculture experts Dr Arvind Shukla, Dr CS Pandey and ajesh Kumar from the University provided information about modern farming methods and threw light on cultivation of biofuel and medicinal plants, which are proving beneficial for farmers who are keen to diversify from traditional crops. Maheep Singh said the Bank had organised similar camps in other parts of the state, including Satpauli and Lal Dang. He said farmers sought information about the latest technologies and showed keen interest in acquiring knowledge about aspects of modern farming.

During the camp, SBI officials also distributed pamphlets about credit facilities being offered to farmers. Dhanraj Vanjani, assistant general manager, (State-level Bankers’ Association), Deepak Lingwal, chief manager (Gramin Vikas), Jyotish Ghildiyal, chief manager (State-level Bankers’ Association) were also present during the training camp. 

Dehradun, January 5
The 343rd Parkash Utsav of Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th Sikh Guru, was celebrated with fervour here.

Since morning, devotees began thronging to the gurdwaras to listen to shabad kirtan and paid obeisance to Guru Granth Sahib.

The gurdwara at Race Course Road had made elaborate arrangements for the occasion. A tent was set up at the ground located nearby where shabad kirtan was held.

Early in the morning, sangats recited the ‘paath’ of Shri Sukhmani Sahib and Panj Vaniya. Bhai Narinder Singh held a special recital of shabad kirtan in praise of Guru Gobind Singh.

Head granthi Bhai Bhupal Singh of Race Course gurdwara held a discourse on the life of Guru Gobind Singh.

Gyani Manmohan Singh from Jammu said that the Guru was a warrior saint whose martyrdom would always be remembered.

Several political leaders including Harbans Kapoor, Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker, Mayor Vinod Chamoli and Ganesh Joshi, MLA (Rajpur), attended the shabad kirtan at the Race Course Gurdwara.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli announced the renaming of Jain Hospital Chowk as Guru Gobind Singh Chowk.

Similar celebrations were reported from other parts of the state as well. 

Dehradun, January 5
The unusual thing that happened on Sunday during the extended meeting of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee held at Kashipur in Udham Singh Nagar district was that it was attended by all factions and the meeting passed off peacefully.

In a message of unity, all feuding state Congress leaders pledged to work for the party’s victory in the coming polls. It was unusual because various factions of the state Congress were at loggerheads with each other since Yashpal Arya, a former Speaker of the state and a protégé of former Chief Minister ND Tiwari, took over the reins of the party from Harish Rawat.

For for the past two decades, Harish Rawat and Tiwari camps have been fighting each other, first in the Congress politics of the undivided state of Uttar Pradesh and then in Uttarakhand after the creation of a separate state in November 2000.

But it was the veteran Tiwari who has been a winner in this political battle. After being four times Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, he was able to kick aside Harish Rawat to become the Chief Minister after the first assembly elections in 2002. Harish Rawat, who led the party to victory as state president, gained nothing. For five years when Tiwari ruled Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat working as president of the ruling party acted as the ‘main opposition’ tormenting Tiwari.

But Tiwari, even after losing the assembly elections in 2007 to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had the last laugh. Before Tiwari relinquished the office of Chief Minister, the Lok Sabha seat of Almora, the home constituency of Harish Rawat, was declared reserved by the delimitation commission making Rawat ineligible.

To add insult to injury, Tiwari also prevailed upon the party high command to change Rawat as state party chief and managed to install Yashpal Arya, his own protégé as state party president.

Ever since, both the Rawat and Tiwari groups are at loggerheads ably supported by other fringe groups within the party.

An earlier meeting held few months ago to popularise the loan waiver for farmers held at Dehradun had ended in scuffles.

But the PCC meeting at Kashipur to prepare for the coming Lok Sabha elections was attended by all regional party leaders including Harish Rawat, Tehri MP Vijay Bahuguna, former Union minister Satpal Maharaj and former minister Indira Hariydesh.

All leaders were unanimous that the state BJP government has utterly failed to deliver and it was time to go to the people with a sound strategy. Harish Rawat spoke before the concluding speech by state president Yashpal Arya.

However, many Congress leaders were of the view that as no party observer came from the party high command, there was no show of strength. Moreover, any message of disunity at this crucial stage would have gone against the dissidents. 

Haridwar, January 5
Buoyed by the successful convention at Kashipur yesterday, Uttarakhand Congress has now set its eye on luring the Dalits for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Congress is planning to organise a series of ‘Dalit Swabhiman Divas’ across the state to highlight Dalit-related issues from January 11. The series will conclude with a rally in March.

Suryakant Dhasmana, spokesperson of the Uttarakhand Congress, reiterated the party’s commitment to the welfare of Dalits, backward classes and minorities.

“The BJP-led state government has deliberately delayed appointment in several reserved posts and has abandoned policies beneficial for the Scheduled Castes and backward classes,” alleged Dhasmana.

On the incident of teachers being lathicharged in Dehradun, Dhasmana termed it as shameful. He said, “The teachers were just protesting. The action of the police on them was barbaric. The government has become inhumane. What message does Chief Minister Khanduri want to give to teachers and the common man”? He said in the previous Congress government, more than 56,000 teachers were appointed in the education department but the present BJP government has been neck deep in corruption.

On the rivalries within the Congress state unit, Dhasmana accepted that there are indifferences but also added that it was an internal matter.

“We are just focusing on registering wins in all five parliamentary seats in Uttarakhand. Harish Rawat and Yashpal Arya are working wholeheartedly, day and night, to achieve this goal,” he added.

Dhasmana said that the state government should have supplied extra kerosene to the hilly districts but it was not even available in the plains.

“One can just imagine the situation of the people dependent on kerosene in villages and hilly areas. We had demanded the expansion of the Haridwar gas plant to curb the severe shortage of LPG cylinders but government has not given extra land for the plant,” said Dhasmana. 

Dehradun, January 5
Within five days, the Dehradun police has solved the murder case of junk dealer Mehboob. Four persons, including the uncle of the deceased, were arrested today.

They have been identified as Rizwan (Mehboob’s uncle), Phool Singh alias Phoola, Arjun Rai and Irfan. Vikasnagar circle officer Harish Verma said that Mehboob’s uncle got his nephew killed through contract killing. Mehboob, a junk dealer of Vikasnagar, had been found murdered on December 31.

“One and half year ago, Mehboob used to work with his uncle Rizwan who was also a junk dealer,” said Verma, while adding that relations between them deteriorated after Mehboob left his uncle’s shop and started his own shop.

“Rizwan suffered losses and decided to take revenge on his nephew. He hired Phool Singh, Arjun Rai and Irfan to murder Mehboob and agreed to pay them Rs 2.5 lakh,” disclosed Verma, while adding that some money was paid in advance. The police nabbed the four accused from Vikasnagar today afternoon. They will be produced in court on Tuesday. 

Dehradun, January 5
Garhwal Sporting bowlers ripped through the batting order of Uttarakhand Cricket Academy to romp home to a 64-run victory at the U-17 Cricket Tournament at Gorkha Military Ground here today.

Garhwal Sporting set a target of 153 runs for their opponents after winning the toss. It was a power-packed unbeaten innings of 39 runs by Jai Prakash off just 27 balls that set the momentum for Garhwal Sporting.

Suraj with 31 runs and Rahul with 30 runs gave good support to Jai Prakash. Vishal was the only bowler for Uttarakhand Cricket Academy who had some impact. He picked up four wickets for 32 runs in his four-over spell.

In reply, Uttarakhand Cricket Academy could only score 87 runs. Their batsman did not show any resistance against the fine bowling display of Garhwal Sporting. Varun top scored with 29 runs.

Uttarakhand Cricket Academy had a bad start. They lost their first wicket on the second ball of the opening over and the second wicket on the fourth delivery of the same over. Rahul and Jai Prakash were the pick of the bowlers. Both took three 
wickets each.