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Cong’s ‘Champion’ against tie-up with SP
Fulfil earlier poll promises, say Shilpkars to BJP
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DC wants penal provision against encroachers
Brig SS Patwal (retd), president of Ice Skating Association of Uttarakhand, addresses mediapersons in Dehradun on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
16-team hockey tourney begins today
Extend Mussoorie train route, demand hoteliers
BJP Sammelan
Banker rounded-up for abetting robbery
Demands met, Jal Nigam employees withdraw stir
One killed, 14 injured in mishap
Amritsar, Abhimanyu academies win
Umbrellas were out as Dehradun received light rains on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
Rain plays spoilsport, teams share points
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Cong’s ‘Champion’ against tie-up with SP
Dehradun, January 18 “Any alliance with the SP in Uttarakhand, and Haridwar in particular, will only harm the Congress’ poll prospects in the state,” Pranav said. He held that it was wrong to assume that residents of Haridwar were against being part of Uttarakhand. He added that the flurry of industrialisation in the region and the positive response from the people has only exposed the SP’s misinformation campaign. While staking claim on the party ticket from Haridwar, Kunwar Pranav said the winning equation for the Haridwar constituency favoured him heavily. He claimed the support of five Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs from the region. Seeking support of Congress office-bearers for his candidature, Kunwar Pranav said he had submitted his particulars to Congress leaders of the state and the national level citing reasons as to why he could be most suitable candidate for Congress from Haridwar parliamentary constituency. Referring to the Mangalore firing episode for which he was booked, Kunwar Pranav said it was wrong to equate him with a goon as he had fired into the air only to encourage young participants at the local body building competition. “Custom is above law and there has been a tradition among Kings to fire into the air on days of jubilation,” Pranav Singh said adding that the incident was wrongly being portrayed as an act to show his muscle power. He said that by slapping such cases, the ruling BJP has only revealed its worries vis-à-vis his candidature from Haridwar. On if he were denied the ticket for Haridwar parliamentary seat, he said he would stick to the party’s high command decision. Known for his “unusual” behaviour, Kunwar Pranav Singh praised Uttarakhand Chief Minister terming him as a right man in a wrong party. “BC Khanduri is upright individual but his own partymen are creating problems for him,” he
said. |
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Fulfil earlier poll promises, say Shilpkars to BJP
Haridwar, January 18 Representatives of the Shilpkar Samaj in a meeting held here today reminded the state government of its poll
promises including the building of a shilpkar community hall in Dehradun. State minister for education and sugarcane Madan Kaushik had in 2007 vowed to construct a shilpkar community hall as soon as the BJP came to power. City chief Vikas Dhiman said that his community would vote only for those who work for them. “We have been betrayed each time during polls. Show us concrete work or we will back other parties,” said
Vikas Dhiman warning the BJP government. The warning assumes importance considering that Madan Kaushik is in the fray for the ticket to the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat from the BJP. Speaking at the meeting, Jwalapur town shilpkar president Rajesh Dhiman condemned the BJP for its apathy towards shilpkars. “Though two years have passed, there is no sign of development projects for the community. Even the cases filed by the state government against shilpkar leaders for jamming the highway have not been taken back,” Rajesh Dhiman said. The leaders reiterated that the whole Vishwakarma shilpkar community voted for the BJP and played a crucial role in its victory but the government has forgotten them. Haridwar district chief Sunil Dhiman said that if the cases are not taken back, they would hold a massive agitation in
the capital. “It is now up to the BJP to regain the confidence of the Vishwakarma Shilpkaars,” he said. Present at the
meeting were Pramod Dhiman, Vinod Kumar, Geetar Ram, Bhoopendra Vishwakarma, Shyam Sunder, Sachin, Kapil, Sharavan among others. |
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DC wants penal provision against encroachers
Dehradun, January 18 Claiming the main objective behind such an open session was to keep the masses informed about various works being undertaken by government departments, Negi said: “Such interactions will help us get feedback about the problems being faced by the general masses.” He said such interactive sessions would now be a monthly exercise.
Negi stressed on the need for penal provisions for success against encroachers and traffic violators. He acknowledged that in several cases illegal shops had been rebuilt after being brought down. In order to ease out traffic congestion, several roads in the city would be widened in the coming months, the DM said. “One of the busiest roads, Chakrata Road, will be widened from Kumar Sweets to the Prabhaat Cinema stretch,” he said, adding that new parking lots would be set up in different localities. Asked why the administration had not yet named Parade Ground as permanent place for demonstrations, Negi replied: “We called a meeting of representatives of various political parties to discuss the issue but nobody turned up.” He said before taking a decision in this regard, they wanted a legal framework to be drawn. After daylong jams in the capital due to dharnas and demonstrations against the state government by employees, social and political organisations a couple of weeks back, the district administration had announced to allocate Parade Ground for
demonstrations. DMC Chief Executive Officer Sushil Kumar said in certain localities that had come up in the recent past, house tax was not being levied. “Now we have decided that inhabitants of these colonies should do self-assessment so that house tax can be levied on them from coming April 1, 2009.”
Sushil said the DMC had started work on building partitions on major roads for installation of streetlights. “The lights being installed on Saharanpur Road will be powered by underground cables and include a system to prevent electricity from being wasted,” he explained. The SP (Traffic),
N.A.Bharne, said the police was concentrating on streamlining traffic in a phased manner. “To begin with, we have tried to regulate the movement of
Vikrams,” he said. Bharne also said traffic cops would initiate action against drivers of four-wheeler using high beam, which led to accidents. |
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National ice skating competition in April
Vishal Thakur
Dehradun, January 18 The state’s first national ice skating competition will be organised from April 16 to 30. A national camp will be organised from the March 31 to April 14 for the selection of ice skating team. From May 1 to 6, the first Doon Valley Ice Carnival will be organised that will have the participation of many national and international level skaters. Uttarakhand Chief Minister is expected to inaugurate the newly build ice skating rink at Dehradun. President of the Ice-Skating Association of Uttarakhand, Brig. (Retd) SS Patwal said, “We had recently signed an agreement with Royal Skating Association of Uttarakhand for staging the competition. For this upcoming international event, we will be providing all necessary facilities to the players and for this we are also in touch with the Roller Skating Association. The Association will also select the skaters who will represent Uttarakhand. He said the main aim of the Winter Games Association of Uttarakhand is to make the ice-skating popular in the state, and encourage boys and girls to participate in the sport. “Our biggest problem is to use the infrastructure that we have developed, for this more and more children interested in ice-skating should come forward and use the infrastructure.
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16-team hockey tourney begins today
Haridwar, January 18 The tournament will be played from January 19 to 24. The tournament which began in the 1932 is entering its 77th edition and is one of the oldest and prestigious domestic hockey tournaments in India. The tournament is certified by the Indian Hockey Federation and has to its credit of hosting the greatest hockey player in the world, Major Dhyanchand, Olympians KD Babu, Ashok Kumar and Jay Narayan Tyagi, the current treasurer of Indian Olympic Association to its credit. Major Dhyanchand played in the 1937 edition and mesmerised the spectators with sheer display of classical and magical hockey. The tournament is hosted in the memory of Gurukul University founder late Swami Shradhanand. Keeping in with the tradition, the 77th edition will be played between top 16 teams of the nation, including Air India, PNB Delhi, Northern Railway Delhi, Uttarakhand Police and Gurukul Kangri University. Organising committee members, Dr RS Dagar and Shiv Malik said the lodging and catering facilities will be provided in the campus itself with the transport facilities to all the teams. Gurukul University has been in the thick of the things related to hockey with prior to this tournament hosting National Inter-University Hockey Championship and North Zone Inter-Hockey Championship. The Gurukul University team won both home championships.
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Extend Mussoorie train route, demand hoteliers
Mussoorie, January 18 The secretary of MHA, Ajay Bhargava, requested the chief secretary, Indu Kumar Pandey to consider the development of additional tourist circuits around Mussoorie. “There are several less explored tourist destinations around Mussoorie and circuits that connect Mussoorie to these less explored places could be developed,” Bhargava said. He added, “If tourist circuits are developed
then the stay of tourists in the state could increased significantly.” Hoteliers also demanded that the Mussoorie Express, which currently runs between Dehradun to Delhi, should be extended up to Jaipur. “A large number of tourists, particularly foreigners, visit Rajasthan and extension of the
train would encourage them to visit the state,” secretary said. Meanwhile, the MHA opposed the proposed eco-tax on tourists by the Nagar Palika of Mussoorie. It was informed to the chief secretary that this tax would impose additional burden on tourists. Bhargava said, “This would set a precedence for other municipalities and the tourists would then have to face a multiplicity of taxes.” Hoteliers also requested that the large tourist buses (205 inch) which are currently prohibited in Mussoorie should now be allowed considering the fact that the bends on Mussoorie-Dehradun road have been widened. Increase in parking facilities, MDDA and forest clearance for constructing underground tanks for rain-water harvesting were some of the other demands made by the association members. Those that attended the meeting included, SP Kocchar, president of Uttarakhand Hotels Association, RN Mathur, president of MHA, Ram Kumar, Amit Vaish, Sandeep Sawhney, Gaurav Aggarwal and
Gaurav Garg. |
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Traders seek reduction in VAT
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, January 18 A massive Vyapaari Mahasammelan was organised by the Trade Cell of the Uttarakhand BJP at Lord Venketeshwar Hall here today. The chief guest at the sammelan was national convener of BJP Trade Cell Shyam Bihari Mishra. Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Uttarakhand Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat were also present on the occasion. Addressing the gathering, Mishra said that the trade cell is working as a bridge between the government and traders in Uttarakhand. “The main objective of the cell is to ensure that the problems being faced by the business community are sorted out,” he said, while adding that they were committed to protecting the rights of the traders and the business community. Airing their problems at the sammelan, the traders demanded that the limit for exemption from VAT should be increased from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. “The VAT on food in hotels and restaurants should be reduced from 12.5 per cent to 4 per cent. Also, the practice of getting the audit reports prepared by a CA in case the annual sale is of Rs 1 crore or more should be abolished,” they demanded. The list of demands of the traders has also been sent to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd), BJP state president Bachi Singh Rawat and Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshiari, BJP Trade Cell leaders including Jaydutt Sharma, Girdhar Gopal Luthra, Vijay Prakash, Kishanlal, Harish Mittal, Deepak Malik, Ved Prakash Aggarwal, CM Vohra, Kuldeep Singh Lalkar and Mahavir Prasad Gupta.
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Banker rounded-up for abetting robbery
Roorkee, January 18 “During the interrogation, Sunny revealed that an employee of HDFC Bank here had provided them vital information about Mange Ram, who has an account in the bank,” said SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi. Mange Ram and his son-in-law Tapan were chased and looted by robbers while they were on their way to their village after withdrawing Rs 15 lakh from the bank. Interestingly, the arrested robber, Sunny (25), from Roorkee, was also a security guard at an ATM of Axis Bank here. While Sunny was arrested, the other three miscreants, including Dharamvir, Ali and Chottu managed to flee. The vehicles used in the crime were also recovered from the spot. “Both the vehicles were stolen,” said Joshi. Dharamvir and Ali are residents of Toda Kalyanpur while Chottu belongs to Khatka village in Roorkee. Meanwhile, the police personnel who took part in the operation were awarded cash prizes and commendation certificates.
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Demands met, Jal Nigam employees withdraw stir
Dehradun, January 18 With this development the Jal Nigam Jal Sansthan Mazdoor Union has
withdrawn the proposed lock out programme and Gate Jam at Peyjal Nigam Head office. Stating this today, president of the Union Pitambar Datt Lohani said, “The decision was taken at a meeting with the managing director and chief engineer of
Peyjal Nigam.” He said that a meeting of union members would be held tomorrow to chalk out the future programmes of
the Union. The field employees of Uttarakhand Peyjal Nigam have been agitating since December 10, 2007. The 400 days long agitation was launched under the aegis of Jal Nigam Jal Sansthan
Mazdoor Union. “As of now, we can say that our agitation has been successful as the government has in
principle agreed to our demand of creating a cadre for Field Employees. We are awaiting approval from the cabinet now, said president of
the Union. |
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One killed, 14 injured in mishap
Roorkee, January 18 According to an eye-witness the accident occurred around 8.30 am when the speedy UP Roadways bus hit the DCM truck, coming from the opposite side. The truck was carrying at least 15 labourers, who were going to a factory at Bahadrabad while the bus was on its way to Delhi from Haridwar. As the truck was badly damaged in the accident, all the labourers suffer injuries in the accident. The driver of the bus also received multiple injuries. “The deceased was sitting on the front seat of the truck", said the eye-witness. The bus was also full to capacity but fortunately most of the passengers escaped unhurt. The injured were rushed to the Government Hospital, Roorkee. “Two of them are critical,” said a doctor. Meanwhile, a case has been registered in local police station.
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Amritsar, Abhimanyu academies win
Dehradun, January 18 In the first match, played between Amritsar Cricket Academy and Haridwar District Cricket Association, Amritsar Academy won the match by 8 wickets. Batting first, the Haridwar team could only score 78 runs in 20 overs. Amritsar Academy achieved the target in 14.3 overs. In the match between SIS XI and Young Friend, Delhi, SIS won the toss and elected to field. Young Friend made 43 runs. SIS XI achieved the target in 11.1 overs. Abhimanyu Cricket Academy scored 131 runs in their 20 overs. Randhir Verma XI failed to reach the target and fell short by three runs. |
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Mercury plummets as snow, rain hit region
Dehradun, January 18 Meanwhile, rainfall in the lower areas brought cheer to farmers reeling under a dry spell. Met director, Anand Sharma, said today’s rainfall was very light (1-3 mm) but still it would be a helpful for the wheat and rabi crops in the hills. He further said Tehri and Dehradun recorded 3 mm and 2.2 mm rainfall respectively. “The state had received 55 per cent less rainfall during the past three months, with only 37 mm of rainfall against the normal of 88 mm,” Sharma said, while adding that in the next 24 hours, there is a possibility of very light rainfall at few places in the state. |
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Rain plays spoilsport, teams share points
Dehradun, January 18 However, earlier in the day after winning the toss and electing to bat Garhwal Rifle batsmen went on to score a massive total of 204 runs in their allotted 40 overs. For Garhwal Rifle team, Rohit and Satish were the top scorers as both made 60 runs each. In the second innings, as MCC Meuwala team could just play four overs before rain interrupted the day’s play and the match had to be abandoned. As per league norms, both the teams would now be provided with one point each for the match. |
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Opposing the alliance of the Congress with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttarakhand in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Luxor Congress legislator Kanwar Pranav Singh ‘Champion’ today said that the Congress had better chances of winning the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat and any alliance with the SP in the state would be a big mistake.
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