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Amidst pomp, Munna files papers
BJP plays regional card
Irregularities |
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Is BJP skirting state issues?
11 districts face drought threat
Man shoots brother over property
Politics does not lure IITians
Heat wave fails to cool campaigning
Fee Hike Parents and Nayi Disha Apna Manch members protest against the proposed fee hike in Haridwar on Monday. A Tribune photograph
Charu makes inroads into Bollywood
Lack of space makes skating move indoors
Welham cagers net title
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Amidst pomp, Munna files papers
Dehradun, April 20 After addressing BSP activists, who had converged in large numbers especially from Jaunsar belt, the cavalcade of Munna headed towards the District Magistrate's office. Party activists danced to the beats of the traditional 'dhol' , which added colour to the whole procession. Flanked by state BSP president Surajmal and senior BSP leaders Subhash Sharma and Ajay Sood in an open jeep, Munna's procession passed through different areas of the city, including the busy Rajpur Road and Clock Tower, before finally converging at the DM's office. Later, in the presence of his advocate and a few senior party leaders, Munna filed his nomination and handed it over to the District Magistrate Amit Singh Negi. Meanwhile, Munna's show of strength has sent clear signals to both the BJP and Congress that this time, it will be a tough battle for Tehri seat. While Congress candidate Vijay Bahuguna has already filed his nomination, now all
eyes will be on BJP candidate Jaspal Rana's show of strength when he files his nomination on April 21. |
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BJP plays regional card
Dehradun, April 20 Kandari, addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, said: “These regiments played a significant role in various wars, including World War II and their contribution in the armed forces is more than the rest of the regiments.” As surprised mediapersons fired a volley of questions, the minister began to change tone. The statement comes from a senior minister in the BJP government headed by a retired Maj-Gen. To media queries if by such a statement the BJP was trying to propagate regionalism to draw mileage in the coming elections, Kandari said: “I hail from Uttarakhand and that’s why I strongly feel that jawans of these four regiments made supreme sacrifices during various wars, which must be acknowledged by giving them special awards in recognition of their services. The minister said the maximum number of causalities during the Kargil war was from Uttarakhand. “These four regiments have done commendable work, which must be appreciated,” he insisted. Reacting to the statement, senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana said such remarks by the BJP minister were unfortunate. “Issuing such a statement at election time only shows that the BJP can stoop to any level for votes. I appeal to the BJP to at least spare the armed forces from its dirty divisive politics,” he added.
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Irregularities
Dehradun, April 20 While ten days ago, the Commission had submitted its first report regarding the alleged irregularities in the horticulture department to Chief Minister BC Khanduri, today the Commission has submitted its second report to the CM. However, officials have not disclosed anything about the content of report as yet. Notably, after forming the government, the CM had instituted the Sharma Commission and had announced that they would expose the misdeeds of the Congress regime. However, the Commission did not submit any report for two years. But with elections round the corner, the Commission ha already come out with its second report. |
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Is BJP skirting state issues?
Dehradun, April 20 During the past ten days, it has only been national issues that have been discussed in addition to BJP’s election manifesto. At most of the press conferences, the focus of senior leaders such as Chief Minister BC Khanduri, BJP's co-incharge of Uttarakhand Dr Anil Jain, BJP national general secretary (Organisation) Ram Lal, BJP’s campaign committee chairman Manoharkant Dhyani and tourism minister Parkash Pant has remained on national issues. Even today, while addressing a press conference, Minister for Irrigation, Water Resources and Flood Control Matbar Singh Kandari spoke only on national issues. The BJP leaders, however, are justifying this by stating that in the parliamentary elections, national issues hold greater importance. On the other hand, Congress leaders claim that the BJP government has been a complete failure in Uttarakhand, which has compelled the party to speak on national issues. “As far as the issues of the state are concerned, BJP is totally bankrupt,” said Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Yash Pal Arya. |
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11 districts face drought threat Dehradun, April 20 The average rainfall in the state recorded in the month of October was 20.97 cm, in November 2.70 cm, December 0.23 cm and in January (2009) 1.36 cm. Said Jal Sansthan secretary PC Kimothi: “Allocations have also been made for installing 97 hand pumps for which a sum of Rs 2.28 crore has been set aside. A sum has been fixed for repair of hand pumps. “The Central Water Commission has not come up with a report on the condition of the water table so far. Essentially, it is the competent authority that carries exploratory boring exercises in the country. However, due to the rise in population and constant harnessing of underground water, the water table goes down but gets recharged after the rains, depending on the quality of soil,” explained VK Sinha, general manager. He said tubewells had been upgraded from time to time and new ones were being built in order to boost drinking water supply in Dehradun district. Eightyone tubewells installed here had been upgraded. The Jal Sansthan had made a provision of Rs 4.5 crore for tapping new water sources and strengthening water distribution. Upper zone areas like Rajpur and Sahastdhara are in the grip of water shortage as tubewell water cannot reach here. Water is supplied to these areas through the Galogi power house (the downstream outfall has been harnessed).
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Man shoots brother over property
Roorkee, April 20 Bittu (25) is a resident of Deoband while the victim was staying with his father in Bhagtawali village where the family owns around 12-bigha agricultural land. Giving details, SP(Rural) Ajay Joshi said, “The reason behind the crime was the family dispute regarding the division of property between the brothers.” “Bittu came to his brother’s place yesterday night and stayed with him. In the morning, the brothers had a tiff following which Bittu shot his brother dead with his country-made pistol and fled away from the scene,” said the officer. The police has registered a case of murder against Bittu at Jhabrera police station. Meanwhile, authorities in Nainital have decided to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at several crowded places as precautionary measure and to prevent untoward incidents. About five CCTV cameras have been installed across the hill resort for keeping a watch on the everyday incidents and also to solve problems like traffic jams and pick pocketing. “These cameras have been really beneficial for us. We have placed the cameras in the crowded place to avoid any incident like pick pocketing or scuffle. These cameras have been very beneficial in finding out if people are facing any problem especially in crowded places,” said KS Hayanki, inspector in charge, Nainital. 25 injured
Dehradun:Twenty-five persons were injured when a bus fell into a gorge near Tehri, on Monday morning. As per the officials, a Tehri Garhwal Motor Operators Union bus was going from Ghutti to Rishikesh. |
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Politics does not lure IITians
Roorkee, April 20 “The forthcoming elections as well as national politics is the last thing that we discuss,” opined most of the IIT students. “Whenever we get time from the hectic schedule, most of us prefer to watch sports channels instead of ‘boring’ political news,” said Sehaj Kumar, a second year student of integrated MSc (chemistry). “Even during breaks, hardly anyone discusses politics,” added Sehaj. Tarun Bharatwal, a second-year student of Earth Science department, said, “I don’t even know the date of the elections.” When asked which political party would he support, Bharatwal said: “I have no time to waste on politics. I also have no interest in parties’ manifestoes, as there is a lot of difference in their sayings and deeds. I will cast my vote for any party that my parents support.” Echoing similar sentiments, Sehaj and Pardeep Sharma opined that no party has a solid development programme for the country. “So there is no point in wasting time to assess political parties. “Our country lacks good politicians. But things can be changed by laying down norms regarding educational qualification of candidates,” said Sehaj. |
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Heat wave fails to cool campaigning
Haridwar, April 20 Kiran Singh, president of Akhil Bharatiya Panchayat Parishad, while welcoming Rawat said it was honour for people of the area that a national level candidate was addressing their needs. BJP candidate Swami Yatindranand is also relying on door-to-door campaigns. In the northern areas of Haridwar, Swami Yatindranand and his entourage comprising state Cabinet minister Madan Kaushik, district chief Manoj Garg, Rohit Sahu, Radha Saxena, Renu Suri, among others, are campaigning intensively. Laksar assembly coordinator Ravindra Nagar informed a BJP election office would be inaugurated at Gordhanpur on April 26. The Shiv Sena is also supporting the BJP whole-heartedly. Chief of Uttarakhand Shiv Sena Gaurav Kumar has urged party workers to campaign intensively so that LK Advani becomes the Prime Minister of India. The Samajwadi Party has pressed its sitting MP from Haridwar into action. Rajendra Badi will address the party workers on April 23 after inaugurating an election office at Roorkee. Ambrish Kumar is already intensively campaigning in several villages of the district. Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party has got another jolt as former state treasurer Chaudhari Mahipal Singh Advocate has quit the party. Notably, most of the defections in this election have been in the BSP.
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Fee Hike
Haridwar, April 20 The ‘mute’ demonstration was in response to no-talk response on this issue by the public school authorities. “At the start of every academic session, public schools authorities force parents to pay up more in the name of infrastructure and other facilities to students,” said a parent on the condition of anonymity fearing the school management may pose problems for her girl child studying in Class IX. The protesters staged a dharna at Lal Tara bridge and many passers-by joined the protest. Nayi Disha Apna Manch (NDAM) chief Sanjay Chopra said that he has written a letters to the Education Secretary, District Magistrate and Governor in this regard. NDAM members said that they had to come out into the open as there is no association of parents in Haridwar district which makes school authorities free to do anything without considering the parents’ views. “We urge parents to form an association soon as it is in their and their children’s interest. “Otherwise, school authorities will continue to pose such problems time and again,” said Chopra. Meanwhile, most school managers and principals refuted the charges levelled against them. They said that the hike was normal considering the infrastructure and other state-of- the-art facilities they provide to students.
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Charu makes inroads into Bollywood
Dehradun, April 20 Charu, who started her career two years ago with a Garhwali movie, has been fascinated by acting since childhood. She did her schooling from GGIC (Government Girls Inter College) and graduation from DAV PG College where she actively participated in stage shows. “Since childhood, I had an inclination towards acting and after graduation from Doon, I went to Chandigarh to do a course in aviation. A little later I got offers for ‘Byo’ which fortunately did well at the box office. ‘Byo’ made me start taking keen interest in acting and in 2008, I finally shifted to Mumbai,” she said. Unlike other aspiring actors who have struggled to make it big in the film industry, Charu, in the initial phase of her acting career, has been lucky to get movies with known directors like Manoj Aggarwal of ‘Had kar di’ fame’ and Priyadarshan, a veteran director, known for directing hilarious movies in South Indian and Hindi movies. "I consider myself lucky to get the lead role in ‘Shabhash’ directed by Manoj Aggarwal and ‘Bam Bam Bole’ by Priyadarshan. “In ‘Shabhash’, I am acting with newcomers and my role is somewhat like Sushmita Sen of ‘Main Hoon Na’. “In ‘Bal Bam Bole’, I am acting with famous child artiste Darsheel of ‘Taare Zameen Par’ fame. I play the role of a teacher. “It was Manoj Aggarwal who motivated me to do mainstream roles and even introduced me to Priyadarshan,” she said. Charu gives the credit of her success to her mother who is a schoolteacher. "I come from a very ordinary family. As soon as my mother realised that I wanted to pursue modelling and acting, she encouraged me. She supported my decision to shift to Mumbai and pursue acting as a career,” she said. “I am proud of my daughter and I am sure she is going to a big star,” said Hemvanti Sharma, Charu’s mother. “I want women of Uttarakhand to dream big and be confident about their decisions. And if given an opportunity, I will love to act with my favourite star Aamir Khan,” said Charu. |
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Lack of space makes skating move indoors
Dehradun, April 20 Therefore, kids are now taking skating as a thrill game that could be played within their house. Pankaj accepted the fact that roller-skating is a fun game that is less expensive and could be played with in the house as well. “It is a fun game. One can enjoy this game individually. You do not require a second person equally competent to play the game with you,” said Pankaj. A few years back the popularity for the game was just limited to Mussoorie with few schools encouraging the sport there. But there has been a drastic change in the last six years with 30-40 schools of Dehradun has included the sport as a main game in their schools. The encouragement given to the game by the schools authorities has produced winners at the national and international level in the game in just a short span to time. Pankaj Bharatwaj, owner of the Crony Skating World said the sport has a huge potential and is expected to grow further in the coming times. “There are at least 10,000 skaters in the state. Dehradun has 3,000 skaters, Haridwar has got above 4,000 and Mussoorie contributes 2,000 skaters. The number of skaters is good in these places as they have good skating rink available there. Whereas, places like Vikasnagar, Rishikesh and Kashipur also has a huge potential of producing good players, but they lack in skating rink facilities,” said Pankaj. The game has many forms like roller ball skating, figure skating, road skating and marathon skating. But the most entertaining form is the figure skating in which the player performs different sequels. Though, figure skating has not picked up here, but it could become popular in the days to come. Ajeet Nautiyal, propitiator of Doon Sports Academy also
accepted the fact that parents have shown interest in the game and are encouraging children to take up the sport. Ajeet, who had opened an
academy out of love for his son four months back, accepted that he too did not know much about the sport before his son, Kanish Nautiyal, won a gold medal at the
international skating competition held at Nepal last year. “In these four months, the number of enrollments in skating has gone above seventy. I never expected such a craze for a game. It is all because of lack of good play fields for children, which has made opt for the game which could be played indoors,” said Ajeet. |
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Welham cagers net title
Dehradun, April 20 It proved to be a one-sided affair. Welham Boys were in command of the game from the very first quarter. Welham Boys scored baskets at regular intervals taking their tally to 19 points in the first quarter whereas Doon International School could only manage two points. Welham Boys showed some greater ball control and coordination throughout the game. They took their tally to 26 points in the second quarter. In the third quarter, Doon International School tried to cover the 21-point lead scoring some good baskets. While they took their tally to 13 points, Welham Boys further increased their score 30 points. In the fourth quarter, Welham Boys scored 12 points taking their final score to 42 points. Ravi was the top scorer for Welham Boys with 15 points followed by Murif who scored seven points. For Doon International School, Harpreet was the top scorer with eight points followed by Nishit contributed six points. |
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Bahujan Samaj Party candidate from Tehri constituency Munna Singh Chauhan today gave jitters to both the BJP and Congress, as thousands of BSP workers today converged at the Parade Ground, before Munna filed his nomination.
Local organisations and parents of students in public schools have come out in the open against the proposed hike in fees.
School managements are justifying the hike and are not even ready to have a meeting with the parents.
Many parents in collaboration with Nayi Disha Apna Manch activists held a protest by putting a black ribbon on their mouths.
Dehradun, April 20
In the recent years, open spaces like parks and playgrounds have vanished from the city and children are left with place for their outdoors activities said Pankaj Bharadwaj, owner of the Crony Skating World. 