Dehradun, March 30
The Samajwadi Party has decided not to put up a candidate against Vijay Bahuguna, Congress candidate from the Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat. Bahuguna’s sister Reeta Bahuguna, president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, was able to persuade the Samajwadi Party on the issue.

She requested Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh not to put up a candidate against her brother.

The latter accepted her request. Bahuguna, after losing the 1999 and 2004 Lok Sabha elections from Tehri, won the byelection following the death of sitting MP Manvendra Shah in 2006.

In triangular contests earlier, Samajwadi Party candidates had denied a victory to Bahuguna from Tehri. Samajwadi candidate Munna Singh Chauhan had polled more than 50,000 votes and Vijay Bahghuna lost by a much less margin in the 1999 elections.

He again lost to Manvendra Shah in 2004 with SP candidate Hussian Ahmed polling more than

11,000 votes. Bahuguna believes that in the absence of an SP candidate, these votes will automatically come to the Congress.

Vinod Bhartwal, national general secretary of SP, has announced his party respected the late Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna and his contribution to the development of the hills of Garhwal.

“The decision not to contest from Tehri against Bahuguna will be a tribute to HN Bahuguna.”

However, he said the Congress should reciprocate the gesture and not contest the Haridwar Lok Sabha seat held by his party.

Rajinder Badi of the SP had won the Haridwar (reserve) seat in the 2004 Lok sabha polls.

This time, party’s Uttarakhand president Ambrish Kumar is the candidate while former Uttarakhand Congress chief Harish Rawat is Congress candidate. 

Dehradun, March 30
Champi Arya, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) candidate from Almora reserve parliamentary constituency, has left her party and joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

This development has brought to light the factionalism in the UKD. The party is a divided house with a considerable chunk of its leaders exerting pressure on the high command to withdraw support from the BJP-led state government. Another section of party activists is in favour of continuing to be part of the government.

While making the announcement in this regard here today, Champi Arya said that she had lost faith in the UKD ideology because of the double standards being adopted by the party.

“On one hand, the UKD had fielded candidates for all five parliamentary constituencies of Uttarakhand and, on the other hand, the UKD is part of the BJP government. This is nothing but politics of opportunism,” she asserted.

Notably, UKD MLA Diwakar Bhatt is a minister in the BC Khanduri government and is strongly opposing the talks going on in the UKD leadership regarding withdrawal of support to the BJP government.

Ever since the UKD announced its candidates, the party has been in a dilemma about withdrawal of support. According to party sources, the UKD leaders, who enjoy ministerial portfolios in the Khanduri government, want the party to be part of the government.

“During my visit to several areas in Almora region, people are questioning the logic behind supporting the government when the UKD had fielded its candidates for the Lok Sabha poll.

“In wake of the general sentiment of the electorate, I decided to say goodbye to the UKD,” said Arya while adding that one of the main reasons behind joining the NCP was that the Uttarakhand Congress and BJP have no space for women.

She also rubbished reports that the UKD was contemplating replacing her with another UKD leader as party’s candidate from Almora (SC) constituency.

Meanwhile, state president of the NCP Dr Sushil Mishra has announced that Arya would be their party’s nominee from the Almora (SC) parliamentary constituency. Arya has also been appointed as president of the NCP women wing of Kumaon.

“Our party believes in women empowerment and hence we have decided to field Arya in the general elections,” said Dr Mishra.

He also said that the party would soon announce the candidates for the Haridwar, Nainital and Pauri Lok Sabha constituencies. For Tehri, the NCP had already named ND Jaguri as the party’s official nominee.

Roorkie/Haridwar/Dehradun, March 30
Harish Rawat, the Congress candidate for the Haridwar Lok Sabha, today started his election campaign by embarking on his first road show in the constituency. He got a good response from party workers and leaders.

After paying tributes at the Martyrs Memorial at Rampur Tiraha, Harish Rawat moved in a procession of vehicles to Mangalore, Roorkee, Bahadrabad, Jwalapur, Rishikesh enroute to Dehradun. Hundreds of party workers greeted him at these places.

Thousands of persons, including party activists, gathered at many places on the way to greet him. The first halt was at Narsan, a small town around 25 km away from Roorkee, where Rawat reached at around 9.30 am today.

In the big roadshow, enthusiastic supporters garlanded Rawat and pledged full support to him in the ensuing elections.

Rawat was seen repeatedly requesting his supporters not to accompany him on their vehicles so that the election model code of conduct is not violated. But it seemed that the overzealous party activists were in no mood to listen and continued to follow him.

On their part, the police video-graphed the whole procession. ASP Arun Mohan Joshi said, “We have video-graphed the procession. If any violation of the code of conduct is found, action will be taken accordingly.”

Amid slogans, Rawat thanked his supporters for their warm welcome. “The large turnout shows that we will win the election,” declared the overwhelmed leader.

“Haridwar is a symbol of communal harmony. I will try to maintain this status if I win. I know the problems of the area very well. These will be addressed if I come to power,” said Rawat in his brief address.

A large gathering was also seen at Manglore where the cavalcade of Rawat, consisting of over 300 cars, jeeps and other four-wheelers, halted for nearly half-an-hour after Narsan.

Addressing the gathering at Jwalapur, Rawat focused on development and promised to help Haridwar regain its place in the state and Indian politics. He also pledged to maintain communal harmony in the area.

Later at Ranipur Mod, some saints gave Rawat their blessings.

The procession then went towards Rishikesh and culminated at Dehradun where Rawat addressed party workers.

The entourage was accompanied by workers of the district Congress, Youth Congress, NSUI, INTAC and other Congress-affiliated units.

Dehradun, March 30
Election time is generally a boom time for banner wallahs, flex makers and others who prepare publicity materials during polls, but these General Elections are not the same as restrictions on usage of these materials have hit the artists hard.

Elections, which proves to be a festive season for most banners, posters and hoarding makers has turned into a matter of remorse this time around, as the flex banners, plastic flags and other publicity materials are can not be used for publicity by the candidates as per the code of conduct.

All kinds of election propaganda materials were used to be a big source of earning for small-scale painters.

Local painters and banners makers, who were already facing a tough competition from their professional rivals in Delhi, Meerut and Saharanpur stand no chance this time due to these bans.

Irked by these bans, Mani Ram, a painter said, “We used to make some money during elections are facing a hard time these elections. Most of the local painters are not making any earning during this election.

The municipal corporation has already put up a ban on wall painting in the city that used to be a good source of income during election.”

Narrating a recent incident he said, “I got a graffiti work by a candidate of some political party.

“The party asked me to paint the graffiti in the areas of Purola, Darkpathar, Vikasnagar and Kalsi.

“But I got to know that the municipal authorities have put a ban on wall paintings and the candidate, who had placed the order, had received a notice from the MC in this regard. These bans are affect us badly.”

On the other hand, posters made of flex have already been banned, as it is believed that they emit rays that are harmful for human health and can cause respiratory problems.

Whereas, sticking posters on the private property falls under poll violation. “Things were not same last time. This will reduce employment,” said Mani Ram.

Meanwhile, MK Kumar, who prepares banners and hoardings said the political parties were not good paymasters.

“Once the elections are over, hardly any candidate, whether winner or a loser, turns up to make their payments for the work done.

“Therefore, it is best to avoid such work,” he said.

For these banner and poster manufacturers, the present elections definitely have not come as matter of rejoice and certainly there have been losers with stricter implementation of rules linked to poll violations. 

Haridwar, March 30
Haridwar municipal chairman Kamal Johra was booked by the city magistrate for violating the model code of conduct.

Johra was found using his official Ambassador car for electoral purposes in violation of the election code.

Following similar reports earlier, city magistrate Archana Gehrawar impounded the chairman’s car at the Nagar Palika premises when the car’s hooter was blaring with the name plate affixed.

The car had the party flag and was using the hooter at a time when it was being used for non-palika purpose.

According to the district election office, a notice has been issued to Johra and he has been asked to reply within 24 hours.

Despite repeated attempts, Kamal Johra was not available for comment.

In the evening, a local ward member’s car was also impounded when it was being used for campaigning.

The supporters of the ward member and the police got into a tangle over the issue. Seeing the police, the supporters removed the party flag and campaigning material from the car.

Swami Hans Das too has been booked under the model code for using a red beacon car for a political function in Bijnore district in Uttar Pradesh. Hans Das has maintained that he was not at fault of him and that the complaint is politically motivated.

Dehradun, March 30
In a bizarre turn of events, lights went off on the final day of the Natya Samaroh at the municipal corporation hall while the play Ghost, directed by Shirish, was being staged.

The play was then stopped mid way leaving the artistes and the audience high dry. For few minutes the artists were stunned to inaction and the audience too remained rooted to their seats.

Demanding an inquiry into the incident, angry theater artistes today lodged a protest with Mayor Vinod Chamoli.

“We have asked the Mayor to constitute a panel comprising of ward members to look into the incident and take action against those responsible for the incident, said Roshan Dhasmana, general secretary Uttarakhand Natya Parishad.

The Mayor has constituted a committee comprising of artistes and councillors to prepare a detailed report about the incident.

However, the debacle at the municipal corporation has highlighted the state of affairs that are not conducive for the performing arts. The artistes have been crying foul at the absence of facilities in the city that is yet to come up with an auditorium where artistes can practice and stage plays at will.

“Though we are not alluding to any conspiracy at this point of time but certainly the kind of arrangements that were offered to us by the corporation were not reliable.

It has further strengthened our resolve to continue demanding for an auditorium,” said Ateek Ahmed, a theater artiste. 

Dehradun, March 30
Ignoring the directives of the Uttarakhand Health Department, 17 doctors in the state have not reported for work for the past two years.

The appointments were made two years back to fill posts at various health centres and hospitals in the hill districts.

According to sources, the doctors have not reported for work mainly due to the tough working conditions in the hills and are also unhappy with the terms and conditions offered to them.

The state Health Department has been finding it an uphill task to get doctors for hill areas as most doctors are not keen on these postings.

The doctors were appointed by the State Public Service Commission in 2007 under the general category and offered pay scales of Rs 8000-275-13500 per month. They were asked to report by January 17, 2009, but no one has reported for work.

The Health Department has now given an ultimatum to the 17 doctors who have not reported for duty. “We have asked the doctors to report for duty by March 31 or face action,” said Dr PL Joshi, DG Health.

The state government had launched several recruitments drives to spruce up medical infrastructure. Even walk-in interviews for doctors were held but so far, the response has not been encouraging.

So far, the government has resisted from making appointments from outside the state fearing a backlash from locals who might resent outside appointments.

“There is a dearth of man power to get our hospitals going,” Dr Joshi said. 

Dehradun, March 30
The Punjab National Bank Staff Association has threatened to launch an agitation in case the management goes ahead with the move of outsourcing the security duties by hiring armed guards through service providers.

In a letter written in this regard to the General manager, HRD, PNB, New Delhi, the Association general secretary Anil Kumar Jain said in total disregard to the terms of BPS, the management is contemplating outsourcing of the above-mentioned duties.

“In case the management goes ahead with its proposed move, we will resort to agitation”, the letter read.

Meanwhile, the Association members in large number staged a protest demonstration in the city today. — TNS

Dehradun, March 30
Following a crack in the rock on which Purnagiri temple in Champawat district is built, scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, have suggested to the Champawat administration to make provisions for a temporary change in the route to the temple.

The Purnagiri temple is famous for the deity 'Maa Purnagiri' and attracts lakhs of pilgrims from various parts of the country.

As per the information available, a team of the scientists from IIT Roorkee and engineers of the Public Works Department (PWD) are stationed at Tanakpur. Besides studying the geological formations of the area, the experts are also conducting a study regarding the crack in the rock on which the temple structure has been built.

“The scientists have suggested creating alternate routes to the temple premises during the coming festival season,” said official sources.

Sources added that Chief Secretary Indu Kumar Pandey has also asked the Champawat district administration to take appropriate steps in this regard.

Meanwhile, the state government has also ordered a survey of the temple after which the team will prepare a report and submit it to the government for further course of action.

Dehradun, March 30
The Uttarakhand trade tax department is tightening noose on industrial firms whose manufacturing products outside the state and fraudulently availing tax concessions worth crores under the special industrial package.

Investigations are underway in two cases detected at Rudrapur and Roorkee. Four cases were detected about a year back at different industrial estates set up by the government as part of its policy to give boost to industrial activity in the hill state.

“We will penalise firms evading tax by falsely showing they manufacture in Uttarakhand,” said Trade Tax Commissioner LM Pant.

The status of investigation was discussed at a meeting of the Regional Economic Offences Committee (REIC) here on Friday.

The IT Department is being kept in the loop to detect evasion. Notably, the trade tax authorities have sent samples of goods that Kush Lava International Limited claimed to have manufactured at its unit in Rudrapur to a laboratory in New Delhi.

This was done after the department termed the report prepared by the IIT, Roorkee, as dissatisfactory.

The firm manufactures cylinder liners which are used in vehicles.

It was allegedly involved in bringing in finished products from its manufacturing facility outside the state. The trade tax officials had found this during checking of a consignment at the Narsan checkpost in January.

Another firm, East India Udyog based at Roorkee, was accused of manufacturing electrical transformers at Shibabad in UP.

The firm has set up a temporary structure in Roorkee and no manufacturing activity is being done there.

Officials do not rule out more such firms which are registered in Uttarakhand only to enjoy the benefits of tax holiday.

As far as trade tax liability is concerned, both firms are allegedly guilty of evading 1 per cent tax payable under the Central Sales Tax. This is 2 per cent in the case of other states.

“As such, the rebate claimed by them is unlawful. We have issued notices to these firms. The actual amount of tax evasion will be known after assessment of claims,” added Pant.

Dehradun, March 30
A four-day workshop on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) began at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), here today.

Rashmi Sujlana, president Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), IMA said, “The workshop aims at ‘Training of teachers to prepare the child for primary education, schooling and holistic development of the Child.”

She said the workshop would enable the teachers to effectively apply the principles of ECCE and implement the curriculum’ and subsequently conduct such workshops in their respective institutions and schools.

The workshop is being conducted under the aegis of HQ Army Training Command, Shimla, represented by Gita Katoch, coordinator, Army Wives Welfare Association, Army Training Command, Shimla.

The resource persons from NCERT will be covering various aspects of ECCE, including preparing low cost, no cost teaching aids, developing innovative methods of learning. Besides the teachers would also be familiarised with the paediatric issues pertaining in the children at the age group of 3-6 years. The topic would be covered by Col SK Rana, Neuro-paediatrician, Research & Referral Hospital, New Delhi. 

Dehradun, March 30
Amidst fears of the Indian house sparrow fast slipping into oblivion, there have been some steps by Gurkul Kangri University scientists in Haridwar towards restoration of their habitat.

The bird is believed to be a victim of high-rise constructions, excessive usage of pesticides and climate change.

Popularly known as gouriya in Hindi, guora in Nepali, chakli in Gujarati, chot charai in Bengali, angnadi kuruva in Malayalam and ge kurulla in Sinhala, this sparrow has been disappearing since the a decade.

A team of Gurukul Kangri University zoologists under the guidance of Prof Dinesh Bhatt took up the House Sparrow Rehabilitation Project with Haridwar as a model case of study.

The team found very little presence of this bird in the holy city. Visiting places like Har-Ki-Pauri, railway stations, bus stations and Chandcharya Chowk, the scientists recorded its presence with a density of one or two house sparrows per sq km.

After almost four years of study, Dr Vinay Sethi, Vikas Saini and Amit Kumar decided to take it upon themselves to contribute towards rehabilitation of the sparrow.

They put up 383 nests at residential areas of BHEL, Shivpuri and adjoining areas, 60 per cent of which have been occupied by sparrows and the rest by other birds.

This has led to increase in their which now is 23 to 30 per kilometre. The scientists now plan to take the campaign to adjoining Rishikesh and Roorkie townships.

Dr Dinesh Kumar, Reader, HNB Garhwal University, said excessive use of pesticides and a decrease in nesting habitats are two main factors detrimental to the existence of these sparrows.

Haridwar, March 30
Haridwar police donated blood at the blood donation camp held, here today. The camp was held at Roshanabad police headquarters on the insistence of SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal and large participation of the cops made the camp successful.

CO Traffic and DSP Kumbh Mela Shweta Chaubey also donated blood at the camp and said blood donation is a noble-social cause and everyone should contribute to make a sufficient bank which comes handy in times of emergency.

More than 100 cops donated blood, including male and female cops.

Present at the camp were SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal, SP Asim Srivastava, ASP Sweety Aggarwal, CO Navneet Singh and other police officials of the district.