Dehradun, January 12
Thousands of candidates who cleared the entrance test for admission to B.Ed course in colleges affiliated to HNB Garhwal University have a reason to cheer as the university has finally decided to conduct counselling from January 20.

After speaking to the registrar of the university today, secretary, Higher Education, Anjali Prasad, said that the counselling would start from January 20.

She expressed surprise over the delay in its announcement. “You better get in touch with him about this,” she said while admitting that she herself was not convinced by the reason given by the registrar. The registrar was not available for comment despite repeated attempts to reach him over the phone.

Around 40,000 students had appeared for the entrance test in July 2008 offering around 6,000 seats for admission to more than 50 self-financed government and private colleges affiliated to the university.

The university had declared the result in October 2008. Already suffering due to the loss of precious time on this count, the aspiring candidates were subjected to endless wait about commencement of the counselling process.

Due to the unduly long-stretched admission process, they were not in a position to apply elsewhere outside the state.

Things are not better at Kumaon University either. It conducted the entrance test in June 2008 for admission to more than 20 such colleges affiliated to it. But the counselling is slated to start from January 17, 2009.

Prasad admitted that the whole process had got derailed but efforts were on to put it on track. The Higher Education Department has, for the first time, prepared a schedule for the purpose. “Hopefully, it will not be so in next session as the new schedule will be effective by then,” she added.

This is not the first time that the process of admission to the B.Ed course is in a mess due to alleged inefficiency of the university authorities.

“This has been happening for the past three years since the state government gave a nod to start private colleges under self-finance scheme. Due to mismanagement, the university has to conduct examinations twice every year,” said Sunil Aggarwal, secretary, Association of Self-Financed B.Ed Colleges.

Dehradun, January 12
The Association of Self-Financed B.Ed Colleges of Uttarakhand today threatened to expose the names of legislators, leaders of students unions, university and other government officials who put pressure on the managements of these colleges to admit candidates with lower merit, recommended by them, against management quota seats.

“We will publicly expose the names of persons who have misused their positions to exert pressure on the managements to admit candidates recommended by them for the session 2008-09,” said Sunil Aggarwal, secretary of the association.

“The process of admission to these colleges for this session is yet to begin. They should do it now. Why are they waiting for the new session?” questioned secretary higher education Anjali Prasad.

Sources said the association was doing this to scuttle disaffiliation of some colleges reportedly recommended by the executive council of HNB Garhwal University. An enquiry committee of the university had found irregularities made by as many as 18 such colleges in admitting students of general category against SC/ST seats, as well as students who had marks below cut off for the 2007-08 session.

Aggarwal alleged that the managements of the colleges were subjected to such pressure ever since the opening of these colleges under the self-finance scheme three years back. He, however, was evasive when asked why the association was unwilling to name the persons.

Haridwar, January 12
With the parliamentary elections approaching fast, the Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to appoint two party observers in every assembly constituency to oversee preparations.

The observers will spearhead the election campaign in their respective areas. “As our party has won a majority in the panchayat and civic elections, we thought it better to appoint two members who will look after the Lok Sabha poll preparations in each assembly segment,” said state party chief Bachi Singh Rawat today.

The BJP is focusing on winning all five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand and has already announced Lieutenant General Tej Pal Singh Rawat (retd) as its candidate from the Pauri Garhwal.

Bachi Singh Rawat said that the Pauri Garhwal constituency has always been a prime constituency that shapes the politics of the state.

“The Pauri Garhwal constituency has been the BJP’s bastion for the past decade and we want to hoist the saffron flag in the hills this time too,” he said.

To plan strategies and channelise party workers, a two-day BJP state party meeting will be held in Srinagar Garhwal on January 23 and 24.

On the continuation of the alliance with Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, Bachi Singh Rawat said that talks were on with the UKD. “It is up to the Central Parliamentary Committee to take a decision. Though UKD has asked for two seats but the alliance looks feasible if they agree on one seat,” said Bachi Singh.

On the Tehri Lok Sabha seat they have got a claimant from UKD but it all boils down to the high command and acceptance from the local party representatives, he said.

Meanwhile, Bachi Singh Rawat parried questions regarding the rift and verbal volleys between former Vice-President Bhairon Singh Sekhawat and party president Rajnath Singh. But when persisted on, Rawat just said “The party is known for its discipline. Elders are expected to have more patience as they are experienced while the same can’t be asked from younger ones,” said Rawat.

Haridwar, January 12 
Two children, Anshika, 3, and Raj Bugalia, 4, of Shivalik Nagar and students of Cascade Public School were reportedly kidnapped here today.

Two kidnappers reportedly came to the houses of the children on a tempo on the pretext that the school bus was not operating today and had hence come to fetch the children.

When the children did not return after school, their worried parents contacted the school authorities. 

They were told that their children had not come to school at all. The fathers of the children rushed to inform the police. An FIR has been lodged at the Ranipur police station.

Anshika’s father is an engineer in the Hero Honda factory in SIDCUL while Raj Bugalia’s father is a transporter in Haridwar. ASP Sweety Aggarwal said that all auto owners were being checked and the sketches of suspects had been released.

Last week, a three-year-old daughter of photo-journalist Rameshwar Gaur was saved from the clutches of kidnappers.

Despite this incident, the police did not launch a drive to check the antecedents of local tempo and auto drivers.

Dehradun, January 12
Class III employees of the Survey of India started a five-day relay fast outside Surveyor General Office here today seeking settlement of anomalies of the fifth Central Pay Commission and fulfilment of other departmental demands.

Led by Rakesh Gupta, general secretary, Class III Service Association Survey of India, the employees resorted to large-scale sloganeering against the management.

They demanded that the implementation of restructuring should be done in consultation with the association and sought a check on outsourcing. They also sought a transparent transfer and posting policy.

“Despite all available infrastructure, the Survey of India management is outsourcing all its printing works,” said PK Chattopadhyay, president of the association. He said outsourcing was never in the interest of any organisation and would only hurt the Survey of India in the long term.

He also pointed that the employees would stage another agitation outside the Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi, if the situation demands.

Ashok Goyal, Yogesh Agarwal and Manjeet Singh were participants on the first day of the strike.

Dehradun, January 12
Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor said despite of side effects associated with allopathic medicines they continue to be encouraged while doubts are expressed over the efficacy of alternative medicines, including electro-homoeopathy.

He was speaking at a function held here on Saturday to mark the 200th birth anniversary of Dr Count Caesar Mattei who laid the foundation of electro- homoeopathy in Italy. The function was organised by the electro homeopathy Association of Uttarkhand. 

Speaking further the Speaker said, “No doubt allopathic medicines offer instant relief but we should also accord importance to other systems of medicines.” 

In her address, chairman of Uttarakhand Andolankari Samaan Parishad, Sushila Baloni 

said the Uttarakhand government will not take any steps that would harm the interest of electro-homoeopathy doctors. She also presented registration certificates to the doctors issued by the Uttarakhand Electro Homoeopathy Board and certified by the Electro Homoeopathic Development Organisation (Central body). Sushila Baloni is also the patron of Electro Homoeopathy Association (EHA), Uttarakhand. 

The EHA also presented awards to doctors who had excelled in their area of specialisation. Dr Meenakshi (Haridwar) was awarded for her contributions in the field of Gynaecology, Dr Adarsh Sharma (Dehradun) for treating Rheumatism, Dr Sudhir Saini (Haridwar) for kidney state, Dr AK Singh ( Kotdwar) for treatment the of Gout, Dr Zafar Safi ( Ramnagar) was awarded for treating skin ailments, Dr SS Prajapati ( Udham Singh Nagar) received the award for curing tumour problems and Dr Jagdish Bhatt (Almora) was honoured for his work in medicine. 

Number of doctors here have passed out from unaffiliated institutions and have been agitating for recognition of their degrees in order to practice. Doctors took their case to the Uttarkahand high court urging the state to take a unilateral decision as it has been done in Chattisgarh and accord them recognition. With this aim, Uttarakhand Electro Homoeopathy Board has been created which is authorised to issue registration certificates to doctors. 

Dehradun, January 12
Castigating the anti-artiste policies of the state government, artistes of Uttarakhand have demanded a better deal. Addressing a press conference yesterday, Rajender Chauhan, president of Uttarakhand Film and Artistes Welfare Association, said that the government has failed to recognise the contribution of artistes.

“It has been eight years since the creation of a separate state but the government is yet to draft a Film and Culture Policy for the state. Despite the contribution made by us during the Uttarakhand agitation, we are being ignored,” said Rajender Chauhan.

The state government has set up a Culture Department that has been assigned several functions that include conservation of folk culture, encouraging folk artistes and conservation of folk history.

“But due to the wrong policies pursued by the government, nothing much is being done for the promotion of culture. Instead, the department is exploiting artistes,” said Rajender Chauhan.

Demanding better scales for artistes, Manju Bahuguna, Garhwali film artist, said that the government has not raised the honorarium for artistes. She said that artistes receive a paltry sum of Rs 250 per performance.

“We have been urging the government to increase the amount. We have staged dharnas from time to time but the government has not responded,” she added. 
Roshan Dhasman, renowned film actor and theatre artiste of the state said that the government should pay heed to the demands of the artistes. 

He said that the government should immediately set up a Regional Film Advisory Board and accord the status of industry to regional films. He also demanded the creation of a welfare fund for artistes.

Dehradun, January 12 
Fine batting display by the lower order batsman help Contender Club romp home a thrilling one-wicket victory over Khurbura XI at the 57th District Cricket League match played at Survey Stadium, Dehradun here today. 

It was a good start by Khurbura XI openers, who contributed 50 runs and stayed at the crease for 12 overs. Rohit was the top scorer for the team getting 30 runs of just 56 balls. Despite having a good start, none of its other batsmen could make big scores. Amit was the second highest scorer with 29 runs. It was a fine bowling display by Nitesh of Contender Club, who demolished the top batting line to bring back his team in the match. 

He took three wickets in seven overs giving away just 27 runs. Nitesh took Rohit’s wicket in the 18th over, followed by Vikas for 17 runs and Shivesh for 12. Gaurav too took three wickets. Khurbura XI went on to score 186 runs. 

Chasing the target, Contender Club had a bad start as it lost three batsmen at the score of 15 runs. For Contender Club, Bhagat led the fight to bring back his team in the match. He hit 34 runs in just 18 balls hitting five fours and two sixes. Deepak played sensibly at the other end to hit 22 runs. At the lower order, it was a good partnership between Nitesh and Gaurav, who pulled back the match for their team to register one-wicket victory in just 28.5 

Haridwar, January 12 
On the second day of the inter-district cricket tournament being played at the BHEL stadium here, Doon Cambridge registered an emphatic six-wicket win over Bal Bharati Senior Secondary School. The tournament is being organised by the Cricket Association of Haridwar.

Doon Cambridge captain Giri won the toss and keeping in mind the foggy conditions and wet pitch he chose to bowl first. The overcast conditions made it really tough for Bal Bharati batsmen and runs were hard to come by.

The opening bowling duo of Hardhik and Himanshu wreaked havoc and most of their victims were either caught in the slips or were trapped leg-before. Only Narpal (17 runs of 20 balls) and Saurabh (17 of 15 balls) showed some resistance. A quickfire 17 of 15 balls by Saurabh helped his team to a score of 84 runs in the allotted twenty overs. 

Doon Cambridge openers made an explosive start with Abhishek scoring 39 runs of 56 balls. But three quick wickets by Gaurav and Kiran Pal put brakes on the scoring rate. However, they finally cruised past the score in just 15 overs losing only four wickets.