Dehradun, March 4
Preparations are afoot for the Uttarakhand State Board Examinations that begins from tomorrow. As many as 1,75,876 students will be appearing in class 10th board examination and a total of 89,297 students will appear in 12th standard board examination.

In all 1125 examination centers have been constituted throughout the state for smooth and fair conduct of the exams.

Directorate of School Education has issued strict instructions for adopting stern measures to keep a check on any unfair means being used at the centers. Flying squads have been constituted in each district for ensuring fair conduct of the examination.

Director School Education, Pushpa Manas said around 37 centers has been identified sensitive with the possibility of cheating cases. To curb the usage of unfair means in the board examinations, Uttarakhand State Education Board this year has taken a number of steps, including installing cameras to deal with the menace of copying in the examination halls.

Cheating continues to be a great problem in the state. After being carved out from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand State Board has been constantly working out strategies to put a check on it.

Director of School Education Pushma Manas said the Directorate would be installing cameras at all the sensitive and very sensitive areas to keep a check on students trying to copy.

The board has identified sensitive and very sensitive areas in the state. These areas have also been brought in the notice of the flying squad to keep a special check on these centers preventing students from involving in any king of unfair means, said deputy director School Education, RP Dandriyal. Teachers who facilitate usage of unfair means too will be under the scanner this time.

In case any teacher is found guilty of helping the student in unfair practices, an FIR would be filed against the concerned teacher debarring them from supervising rest of the examinations. The board has discontinued the practice of filing FIR against student found cheating as it proved detrimental to the future of a student. Instead the students have been made more accountable this time.

However, the school education authorities said the cases of unfair means in the board examinations have reduced in the recent times. Seema Jaunsari, deputy director of school education, Control room at the state level has also been formed that will be connected with other controls rooms of various districts. It would look into the various logistics requirements of the examinations centers in the state.

For the examination centers in the remote villages ration shops have been provided with kerosene oil and sugar as substitute for electricity requirement incase power goes off.

• 1,75,876 students will appear in Class 10th board exams
• 89,297 students will appear in Class 12th board exams
• 1125 examination centres have been set up in the state
• Cameras are installed inside the examination halls to deal with the menace of copying
• Control rooms formed to look into logistics requirements of the exams centres

Dehradun, March 4
With a view to garner the votes of the ex-servicemen, the BJP Ex-Servicemen Cell has decided to organise gatherings of ex-soldiers across the state. The BJP leaders said their party already enjoys the support of the veterans and the proposed gatherings are expected to further strengthen the party’s base among them.

The convener of the state unit of the BJP Ex-Servicemen Cell Col. CM Nautiyal (Retd) said, “BJP has the support of around 55 per cent of the ex-servicemen in the state. We want to further consolidate our position among them and for the purpose, sammelan’s of the ex-Armymen would be convened in all the constituencies of the state in coming days.”

“The sammelans would be organised at central places in the state, so that maximum number of the ex-soldiers can attend these,” he said, while claiming that majority of the ex-servicemen are with the BJP.

The ex-servicemen section of the population constitutes a major part of the electorate in the state. According to the rough estimates, there are at least one lakh ex-servicemen voters in Almora and Pithoragarh region, another 1.25 lakh in the Pauri Lok Sabha constituency, about 50,000 in Tehri constituency and another 50,000 in Udham Singh Nagar and adjoining areas.

Meanwhile, wary of the BJP getting the political support of former soldiers and defence officers, the Congress has also initiated exercise to woo the ex-servicemen electors, ahead of the forthcoming LS polls. “We have decided to launch an awakening programme targeting the ex-soldiers that despite former Army officers representing the state, the BJP has virtually done nothing for them,” remarked Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) media in charge Suryakant Dhasmana.

He said the party was revitalising its ex-servicemen cell.

Dehradun, March 4
With Lok Sabha elections to be held in the last phase of polling on May 13 in Uttarakhand, the selection of candidates for the five Lok Sabha seats by the Congress could be delayed leading to intensification of the internecine war between ticket aspirants.

While the Congress leadership has been engrossed in selecting candidates for the states that will go for elections in the first phase, the screening committee of the state Congress that met in New Delhi failed to reach a consensus on the candidates for the five Lok Sabha seats.

According to party sources, the general secretary incharge RK Dhawan along with senior party leader Moti Lal Vora, who are members of the state screening committee, met in New Delhi but could not reach a consensus.

While, the Congress has two seats, namely Tehri Garhwal and Nainital, in its kitty in the outgoing Lok Sabha, there is near consensus on the name of Vijay Bahuguna, the sitting Congress MP from Tehri.

However, KC Singh Baba, the other sitting MP, is not that lucky. There are many ticket aspirants who have made it difficult for Baba to get the ticket.

Tilak Raj Behad, Congress legislator from Rudrapur, and former state minister Indira Hariydesh are the strong contenders from Nainital seat.

For Almora reserved constituency, there is a tug-of-war between Tiwari and former state chief Harish Rawat camps. Yashpal Arya, Uttarakhand Congress chief and protégé of veteran Congressman and Andhra Pradesh Governor ND Tiwari wants his son Sanjeev Arya to be given the Almora seat but the Harish Rawat camp want former legislator Pardeep Tamta to be party candidate.

It was believed that Tiwari will play a crucial role in deciding the party candidate from his home constituency of Nainital.

From Pauri Garhwal seat, former Union Minister Satpal Maharaj is facing stiff challenge from Harak Singh Rawat, Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand assembly.

Meanwhile, the situation is turning interesting in Haridwar, the seat held by the Samajwadi Party. Harish Rawat, who publicly declared that he would not contest elections till 2010, has been keen to contest the seat since his home constituency of Almora has been declared reserved in the fresh delimitation.

But if the Congress strikes a deal with the Samajwadi Party outside Uttar Pradesh, then the seat may go to them. However, the Uttarakhand Congress has opposed any tie-up with Mulayam Singh Yadav’s party that is considered the villain of Uttarakhand due to alleged atrocities during his regime on statehood agitators in 1994.

Haridwar, March 4
With the announcement of the schedule for the parliamentary elections, the IGP (Garhwal Range) MA Ganapathy has said that the police is well-equipped to handle the electoral process.

He took a series of meetings with police officials of the district today.

“We have the personnel and the ability. With additional PAC and paramilitary forces, the smooth conduct of elections will not be a major problem,” said Ganapathy.

He said that there will be strict implementation of the Election Commission’s moral code of conduct till the election process was not fully over.

With Haridwar district topping the crime list last year among all 13 districts of Uttarakhand, Ganapathy reviewed the situation and advised the officials to take certain measures while expressing satisfaction at the working of the police since the beginning of the year.

The newly appointed IG directed the police officials to focus on wanted criminals on whom a cash prize was announced and cited cases of Laksar, Bhagwanpur and Haridwar areas where some hardcore criminals were still absconding.

After the meeting, Ganapathy expressed satisfaction on the working of the Haridwar police and lauded senior superintendent of police Sanjay Gunjiyal for effective implementation of beat policing and handling of criminal cases, specially the abduction of the two minors and their rescue within 12 hours of the kidnappping.

Apprising the IG about the coordination between the police forces of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Sanjay Gunjiyal said that both state police are coordinating well and are in touch with each other. This has resulted in the nabbing of criminals who used to cross over to the other state after committing a crime.

Haridwar, March 4
Traders at Bengali Mod in Kankhal area foiled the kidnapping of a trader and his son here today. According to eye-witnesses, around 1 pm, 12 persons came in cars and reached Shubham traders. After talking to the owner of the shop, Ram Kumar Chaudhari, and his son Sanad Kumar, the group had a heated verbal exchange with them.

They started dragging Ram Kumar and Sanad Kumar from the shop to their cars. Hearing the outcry of Ram Kumar, an employee in the shop, Naveen Pant, shouted and tried to stop the abductors.

The neighbouring traders and some vigilant locals came to rescue of the father-son duo. The abductors entered into a brawl with the crowd gathering there. The crowd started pelting stones on the culprits.

The abductors tried to flee but five of them were caught by the crowd. They also left behind one Balero car (HR-04N-802) at the spot.

Soon, the Kankhal police arrived at the spot and arrested the five persons who were caught by the traders.

Later, Ram Kumar Chaudhari filed a complaint at the Kankhal police station against Mehboob, a resident of Chandar Nagar, Dehradun, Satish Chaudhari, a resident of Saharanpur, and thirteen others.

According to the police, it looked like a matter of financial payment. Ram Kumar said that he had paid all dues. He said he has been getting threat calls from the accused. It was an attempt to harass and get ransom, he said.

Last month, an abduction attempt was made at Ranipur Market in which four youths from Roorkee tried to kidnap a cellular phone shop employee from the shop. The bid was foiled by the nearby traders who also managed to catch the abductors. 

Dehradun, March 4
The High Court has directed the State of Uttarakhand and others to file a counter-affidavit on a writ petition praying for a direction on recording the name of the petitioner in revenue records on the basis of an unregistered will.

The instant writ petition, which was taken up for hearing by the court on February 19, the petitioner, Kamini Chauhan, had sought that provisions of Section 169 (3) UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act 1950 be declared applicable in Uttarakhand because it was ultra-vires of the Constitution of India as well as the Indian Registration Act.

The HC has granted three weeks to the respondents for a counter-affidavit.

The petitioner had earlier sought mutation of property bequeathed by her mother Satyabala of Haldwani after her death on August 23, 2008, on the basis of a written will which was attested by two witnesses and verified by a public notary.

But the tehsildar-cum-assistant collector of Haldwani refused to do so on the grounds that mutation could not be done on the basis of an unregistered will as per Section 169 (3) of the relevant Act.

The petitioner contended that the refusal amounted to violation of Section 18 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, which stated that registration of will was optional. Notably, the Uttarakhand government had in October 2005 amended the UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act 1950 making registering of a will mandatory. 

Dehradun, March 4
Construction activity to improve the drainage system across major crossings in Dehradun has put traffic arrangements in the city in jeopardy.

As a result of the PWD’s activities, the busy Araghar Chowk that falls midway the Secretariat and the Vidhan Sabha has been the worst affected. The Survey Chowk, Mohini road are other areas affected by the constructions.

The administration is having tough time dealing with the volume of traffic. The PWD had some time back dug up a portion of EC Road to ensure drainage connectivity between the Karanpur drain and EC road drain.

After initiating the project, the PWD shelved it as a series of pipes criss-crossing the road made things difficult for them. But the department took little interest in repairing the damage done to the road.

“They have dug up the road and left it like that. This is causing problems to pedestrians and motorists,” said Satish, a shop owner at the chowk. At Araghar Chowk, it has been over a month now since construction activity started. “We are undertaking speedy construction at Araghar Chowk but a complex network of telecom cables beneath the chowk has slowed down the pace,” GC Nautiyal, junior engineer, PWD, said.

Dehradun, March 4
Garhwal Sports Academy registered its second consecutive win at the ongoing 57th District Cricket League at Survey Stadium, here today. Garhwal Sports Academy defeated Little Young Star by a handsome margin of 241 runs.

Electing to bat first, Garhwal Sports Academy openers gave their team a solid start scoring 43 runs in first 4.4 overs. Opener Aadil scored quick 27 runs from 17 balls and Surender contributed 28 from 17 balls setting the momentum rolling for their team to pile a massive total.

The team’s middle order batsman Pradeep smashed an outstanding century to accelerate the team’s run rate further enabling it to pile a mammoth total of 292 runs in allotted 35 overs.

Pradeep made 101 runs from 78 balls. Sachin scored 69 runs in 49 balls. Little Young Star bowlers failed to make a mark. Anil and Deepak took two wickets each for their team.

Chasing a target, Little Young Star was all out for 69 runs. None of their batsmen showed any resistance against tight line and length bowled by Garhwal Sports Academy bowlers. For Little Young Star Rohit was the top scorer with 24 runs.

Rahul and Bharat destroyed the batting line up of the Little Young Star completely. Rahul was the highest wicket taker claiming six wickets in his six over spell, whereas Bharat took four wickets in 4.4 overs spell.