|
|
|
|
Rly budget leaves state high and dry
Celebrate love with gifts, flowers
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Missive reaches wrong address
Govt notifies decision to implement sixth pay panel
Two killed in head-on collision
One held for murder
Satish XI, Amit XI win
Haridwar depot gets new buses
Vote-counting venues finalised
Office-bearers announced
|
|||||||||
|
Rly budget leaves state high and dry
Dehradun, February 13 The state has very little rail network largely due to its topography and train movement is restricted to a few pockets in the plain areas. There have been persistant demands for extension of the railway network to the hills, but little has been achieved so far. "The railway budget has certainly ignored Uttarakhand. Neither has a new train nor any railway project been given to the state," said PK Khatri, the sole representative from Uttarakhand in the Zonal Railway Users' Consultative Committee (ZRUCC) of the Northern Railways. He said while the railways ministry seems extra benevolent towards West Bengal and Bihar, Uttarakhand has not been considered at all. Giving the Dehradun railway station a makeover also remains a far cry. This capital city is connected with its nearest station of Haridwar by a single track, which is a big hindrance in the speedy movement of trains. Despite being one of most important railway stations of the state, there is hardly any improvement in the overall infrastructure here. The state is also poorly connected to both west and south India. While there is no direst train to Mumbai and other western parts of the country, the train to south India also remains elusive. This is despite the fact that a big chunk of population from other parts of the country work in the large number of Central institutions located in Dehradun and greatly depend on railways for movement. As far as the hills are concerned, there are only railway reservation counters that are visible. The long-standing demand for laying of a railway track from Bageshwar to Tanakpur in the Kumaon hill has found no-takers in the Union railways ministry. Even efforts to explore the possibility of laying a railway track from Rishkesh to Karanprayag in the Garhwal hills have not yielded any result. "The repeated governments at the Centre have neglected the state and today's railway budget has again sidelined our concerns," NS Rawat, a former state agitationist said. |
|
|
Disappointing, says CM
Dehradun, February 13 The CM said that though the announcement of a new train, Haridwar-Howrah superfast, is a welcome decision but the government has not announced anything for the expansion of railway lines in Uttarakhand. “Despite repeated requests to the Centre, except for Haridwar-Howrah superfast, no new trains have been announced for the state,” he said adding that the Union government has once again meted out step-motherly treatment to the state. The CM added that a formal request to start “Char Dhaam Express” from New Delhi to Rishikesh, Muzzafarnagar-Roorkee train, Dehradun-Rishikesh-Haridwar tourist rail rath and expansion of Tanakpur-Bageshwar railway line and Rudrapur-Kicha-Sitarganj railway line was sent to the Centre but to no avail. He said that the budget has made it amply clear that the Union government has no concern for
Uttarakhand. |
|
|
Celebrate love with gifts, flowers
Dehradun, February 13 Whether one has a Valentine or not is no more an issue, as the market offers a variety of gifts for everyone. Archie’s has introduced special gifts for the occasion. “We have varieties of cards with quotations, musical tunes, chocolates and cards with a pendant. The range starts from Rs 50 and goes up to Rs 995,” said Pramod Chawla, owner, Archie’s. Where girls choose wallets, belts, ties and perfumes as gifts, boys stick to traditional gifts such as chocolates and soft toys. “With our own brand of soft toys, this time we have imported soft toys from UK and US. Along with designs of old famous teddy bear, international brands like ‘Me To You’, ‘Fizzy Moon’, and ‘Russ’ have experimented with the range and have even introduced monkeys and dogs,” said Chawla. The prizes differ according to the size of the toy as it starts from Rs 100 and goes up to Rs 10,000. Shopkeers mentioned that the demand for jumbo soft toys was huge and people booked it in advance. For Valentine’s, Archie’s has especially introduced an entire range of crystal. Bright red coloured pillows with captions like ‘I love you’ and ‘ for someone special’ are also economical and trendy. Taking pillows are in huge demand among teenagers and are pretty reasonable at Rs 199. As flowers are time tested means to convey one’s feeling for someone special. The florist shops in the city are also decked up ahead of the Valentine’s Day. “We have got roses in all colours. Though people love to buy red roses on this special day, flowers like carnations, gerberas, gladiolus, lilum, birds of paradise and anthorium are also in demand,” said Neidhi, a florist. Every year during the valentine season, the prices of the flowers tend to increase before the final day. “Cities like Delhi and other metros are selling a single bud of rose at almost Rs 50, but as there is recession in the market we have increased the prize by Rs 10 only. I am glad to see that people in the city are buying big heart shaped bouquets,” said Neidhi. “My wife love roses, and so I booked a red rose heart shaped bouquet for her this valentine,” said Vishwanath, a bank manager. In spite of a large variety of gifts available in the market, people love to take flowers to express their emotions. “Not only roses, people are also taking scented lilums, which are expensive flowers imported from Holland,” said Neidhi. “Red denotes love and till date the demand for red rose is very high. Advance booking are made by those who want to to surprise their loved ones,” said Santosh Jagdish Bisht, a florist. These days every generation wants to express their emotions to their loved ones and wants to celebrate the day of love. People from all ages can be seen buying gifts and flowers for the special day,” said a florist. |
|
|
Shiv Sena on look-out
Dehradun, February 13 Raising the banner of morality, some Hindu organisations including Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal had even shot off letters to the hotel and restaurant owners. “On Saturday, our activists will keep a close watch that couples do not indulge in any kind of Western practices. We are not against celebrations but just want to ensure that Indian values remain intact,” said Shiv Sena district president Gaurav Kumar. Expressing similar views, Bajrang Dal leader Rohit Kumar also cautioned the youth to refrain from any ‘obscene’ activity on Valentine’s Day. On Valentine’s Day last year, Shiv Sena activists had pelted stones on a restaurant on Rajpur Road. The city police is geared up to ensure that no untoward incident occurs. “The cops are on their toes and we will not allow anyone to take the law into his hands,” said SP City Pushpak Jyoti, while adding that special teams of cops will be patrolling the city on February 14. “In case, anyone indulges in any violent activity, we will take the guilty to task,”
he said. |
|
|
Dalit youth’s murder: Mixed response to bandh call
Dehradun, February 13 The bandh was partial as shops and commercial establishments in many areas remained open. The police had arrested Salim and Javed for allegedly murdering a Dalit youth Sanjay. Subsequently, the president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) Sangram Pundir, president of the DAV College Students Union Rahul Rawat and some other students organisations had accused the police of framing Salim and Javed in the murder case and had given a bandh call for Friday. Meanwhile in wake of the bandh, the police had made elaborate arrangements here. A visit to different areas including Rajpur Road, Chakrata Road, EC Road and Dalanwala revealed that the majority of shops, commercial establishments, educational institutions, medical centres remained closed. However, shops in some areas opened in the evening. Though students in groups went to some areas to get the shops closed but no incidence of violence was reported. “By and large, the bandh was peaceful,” said SP City Pushpak
Jyoti. |
|
|
Missive reaches wrong address
Dehradun, February 13 Sources said the Doordarshan Kendra, Tapovan Marg, Raipur Block, Dehradun, posted an official letter to the station director, All Indian Radio, 18, Vidhan Sabha Marg, Lucknow, on February 9, 2009. But to the utter surprise of the staff of All India Radio, Defence Colony, Dehradun, it was delivered today at their office. They informed the sender office here over phone to collect it so that it could be posted again. Meanwhile, chief postmaster general, Uttarakhand Circle, Vivek Kaul, has taken a serious view of the lapse and termed it a case of negligence on part of the postman concerned who apparently did not bother to read the address before delivering it. “Ideally, this should not have happened but the receiver would do well to drop in the letter box. It will be sent again without extra stamps,” he said. |
|
Govt notifies decision to implement sixth pay panel
Dehradun, February 13 Earlier, Joint Coordination Committee of the state employees today threatened to launch stir if the government failed to issue order on the implementation of recommendations of the pay commission as approved by the cabinet recently. A delegation of the committee representing employees of the government departments met the chief secretary Indu Kumar Pandey on Thursday. It impressed upon him to issue the government order without any delay. To this, Pandey assured the delegation that it would be done in a day or two, claimed committee’s spokesperson Arun Pandey. “We have decided to wait for another couple of days. If the state administration fails to honour the assurance, we will resort to agitation,” he said. The delegation apprised the CS that the employees felt let down by the government, which failed to follow up the decision taken by the council of ministers. The inexplicable delay is creating doubts in the minds of the employees about the intention of the government. Earlier, the committee met Principal Secretary to the CM Subhash Kumar in this regard. |
|
Two killed in head-on collision
Roorkee, February 13 The deceased have been identified as Anil Kumar Garg, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, and Rajiv. Parveen Goel, Amrish and Vipin Kumar, all residents of Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, have been admitted to the Government Civil Hospital in a critical condition. The victims were in their early 30’s and were on their way to Muzaffarnagar from Bahadrabad (Haridwar) in an Indica car when the accident occurred at around 2.30 am. Rajiv, who was driving the car, and Anil died on the spot. The driver of the tractor-trailer fled leaving his vehicle behind. The police has registered a case against the tractor-trailer's driver. Body found
Dehradun: The body of a 30-year-old man has been found near Selaqui industrial estate. The victim has been identified as Brij Lal, a resident of Pauri, and was a labourer in a factory in Selaqui. According to the police, prima facie indications are that Brij Lal died in a road accident. SP (rural) Karan Singh Nanganyal said that cops at the Sahaspur police station received a call at around 2.30 am on Friday that some person was lying on the road. He added that when the policemen reached the spot, Brij was dead. “Besides some injuries on the abdomen, there were injuries on the private parts. Preliminary investigations revealed that he died in
an accident.” |
|
One held for murder
Roorkee, February 13 After his arrest Manjit Singh, an employee at Reliance company here, confessed that he along with his accomplices, had strangulated the victim to death on February 6, two days after his kidnapping and threw the body in Ganga Canal, near Sonali Park, here. They demanded Rs 30 lakh as ransom after kidnapping the victim on February 4. But after two days, Garg was murdered by the kidnappers, said the police sources. While giving details, SS Bhandari, SHO of Civil Lines police station said the names of other criminals are Akhil Datta, a resident of Dehradun, Sunny from Roorkee and Vijay. “Garg had an affair with Kajal, wife of Akhil Datta. Garg was called by Kajal at Roorkee on the day of kidnapping, from where he was taken to unknown place by the miscreants,” said
Bhandari. Yesterday, Kajal was also arrested from Saharanpur. Kajal had been staying in Civil Lines, Roorkee these days. “Mobile call details of the victim helped the police to nab the culprits.
Raids are on to nab the other culprits,” said Bhandari. Meanwhile, the police deployed divers at the spot to fish out the body from the canal today. |
|
Doon Combined enter final
Dehradun, February 13 Batting first, Rudrapur started on a disastrous note as they lost three wickets with 19 runs on the board. The team could not recover from the early setbacks as none of their top six batsmen clicked for their team. The batsmen failed to adjust to the pitch and the tight line and length bowled by the Doon Combined bowlers. For Doon Combined, Ravinder claimed three important wickets. Sachin and Shajaad scalped two wickets each. Rudrapur was all out for 116 runs. In reply, Doon Combined reached the target with eight wickets in hand. After a shaky start, Doon Combined batsmen played well. Opener Tarun smashed an unbeaten 56 runs off 42 balls laying the foundation for victory. Islam contributed 56 runs. |
|
|
Satish XI, Amit XI win
Haridwar, February 13 In the first match between Satish XI and Antariksh XI, Satish XI won by a margin of 37 runs. Batting first, Satish XI made 109 runs in the stipulated 20 overs while Antariksh XI could only garner 74 runs. For the winning team, Ankit scored 11 while Amit Kumar slammed a bracy 40 runs. In the second match, Amit XI defeated Sanjay XI by 38 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Amit XI scored 117 runs with valuable contributions from Satpal (31) and Rohit (11). Sanjay XI could only muster 79 runs as only Mangi Ram got into double figures (13). During the inauguration of the tournament, Dr SK Batra and Dr MM Gupta met the teams and stressed on the value of sportsmanship. |
|
|
Haridwar depot gets new buses
Haridwar, February 13 ARM Harish Mohan Dobhal said more buses are needed to boost the 70 bus fleet which is less when compared that Haridwar is an international renowned city and the depot operates maximum buses after Dehradun depot. Two new buses will be plied between Haridwar via Kotdwar to Gurgaon while two will ply between Rishikesh to Faridabad via Haridwar and Kotdwar and one will ply on Haridwar Jammu route via Ludhiana. |
|
|
Vote-counting venues finalised
Haridwar, February 13 District Magistrate Haridwar Shailesh Bagholi and Senior Superintendent of Police Sanjay Gunjiyal jointly surveyed the venues and earmarked eleven halls. Six halls have been selected in the district collectorate where electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be placed after voting. While for the rest legislative assemblies, five separate halls have been selected at Vikas Bhawan. At present, Haridwar constituency has eight legislative assemblies but with new delimitation this number will now be eleven. Bagholi said the Election Commission has been informed about the venues and a security report has already
been forwarded. |
|
|
Office-bearers announced
Dehradun, February 13 As per the press note, Tilak Raj, Manoj Mathpal, Dr RP Raturi, Devinder Dutt Simlati, Ganesh Adhikari and Kultar Singh have been appointed vice-presidents of the state unit of the cell. The 10 general secretaries of the cell includes Vijay Pratap, Santosh Tamta, Harsh Vardhan Rawat, Anand Singh Dhoni, Surender Rana, Laxmi Bhatt, Rajinder Bhatt, Surendra Singh Bora, Subodh Somwal and Omesh Sharma. The secretaries include Laxman Singh Patni, Kavi Raaj Mauni, Vipin Chauhan, Harish Bora, Kishen Saini, Ganesh Mudela, Umesh Singh and Manoj
Badhwa. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
