Dehradun, April 22
Amid much fanfare, ace shooter and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Tehri parliamentary constituency Jaspal Rana today filed his nomination.

Though BJP activists in large numbers came for the nomination of Rana but the strength was low in comparison to what it was during the nominations of Congress and BSP candidate Vijay Bahuguna and Munna Singh Chauhan, respectively.

Prior to filing of nomination, BJP activists converged at the Gandhi Park. Addressing party workers, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) made a fervent appeal to the electorate to vote for Jaspal Rana.

He said that the UPA government has meted out step-motherly treatment to Uttarakhand for five years and now the time has come to throw the “non-performing” government out of power.

“Electors must use their vote in order to make LK Advani the Prime Minister. At the moment, the BJP is the only political party that has always taken care of the common people,” claimed Khanduri, while adding that if the NDA comes to power, the hill state of Uttarakhand will get a new ray of hope for development.

The Chief Minister added that if the NDA forms the next government at the Centre, it will see to it that AIIMS, proposed to be constructed at Rishikesh, sees the light of day.

Besides others, BJP state president Bachi Singh Rawat, Health Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat were present on the occasion.

After the CM’s address, Jaspal Rana’s procession headed for the District Magistrate’s office.

Flanked by the senior party leaders in an open Jeep, Rana said that he was confident of winning. After passing through various areas in the city, the procession reached the DM’s office in the afternoon. Rana filed his nomination papers and handed over the same to DM Amit Singh Negi.

Haridwar: Senior Uttarakhand Congress leader Harish Rawat and Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Mohammad Shahzad filed their nomination papers from Haridwar Lok Sabha seat today.

Prior to filing of nomination papers by the Congress candidate, the party road show was organised which started at Chetan Kutir Ashram which went through all main city roads and concluded at Devpura party office. At Bhoopatwala, Harish Rawat addressed party workers.

Earlier in the day, Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Mohammed Shahzad also filed his nomination after an impressive road show.

A large number of party workers gathered at the city party office at Shivalik Nagar and then moved to Roshanabad district election office.

Ram Achal Rajbhar, cabinet minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, and Mohammed Shahzad addressed the gathering.

After a minor shuffle with the police over the presence of a large number of party workers, only five were allowed to go into the election office for the nomination process.

In his address, Shahzad said that his main rival was BJP candidate Swami Yatindranand Giri and lashed out at the Samajwadi Party MP Rajendra Singh Badi for letting down the people’s aspirations and hopes that they rested on him in last election.

On the hill-plain divide, Shahzad dismissed the very term.

He said that he had been trying to bridge this divide and, if voted to Parliament, would remove this division by working simultaneously for the people of both areas.

Dehradun, April 22
The denial of entry to Van Gujjar nomads residing in the Shivalik forest ranges to their traditional highland pastures in Uttarkashi district by the forest authorities of Uttarakhand government has again raised the issue of alleged highhandedness by the authorities against a miniscule nomadic minority.

The director of Rajaji National Park issued a government advertisement in all vernacular dailies on April 21 stating that “in the interest of the people of the state, outsiders will not be allowed to graze their cattle.”

The advertisement stated that the entry of outsiders had been banned as per the government notification dated July 19, 2003, issued by the then principal secretary, Dr RS Toliya.

The Uttrakhand forest authorities are even overruling the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 duly passed by Parliament to deny entry to Van Gujjars who are stranded for the past one month at various places enroute to their traditional summer grasslands with their cattle.

Van Gujjars, who were living in the Shivalik forest ranges that was later turned into Rajaji National Park, had been covering the distance between their traditional highland pastures and their winter homes in the Shivaliks since ages.

But after the formation of the separate state of Uttarakhand on November 9, 2000, these nomads are facing problems, particularly those who stayed in the Shivalik forest that remained with the mother state of Uttar Pradesh.

After the formation of Uttarakhand, forest authorities started stopping Gujjars from Mohand forest in adjoining Uttar Pradesh. However, every year, they managed to get permission after the media raised a hue and cry over the issue.

But with elections round the corner, forest authorities are determined not to allow these 100 odd families from moving into Govind Pashu Vihar sanctuary in Uttarkashi.

For the past one month, the nomads had been moving from pillar to post to get the official nod.

The issuance of such an advertisement has raised questions about the efficacy of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 duly passed by Parliament.

“It is strange that the state forest authorities are denying the legal forest right to a nomad community citing old government orders.

How can an old order by a bureaucrat override a law duly passed by Parliament,” asked Parveen Kaushal of Sophia, an NGO fighting for the rights of Van Gujjars. Senior social scientists and environmentalists are also appalled by the attitude of the state government.

“This is absolutely ridiculous that forest authorities are preventing Gujjars from going to their traditional pastures despite promulgation of the Forest Rights Act.

“They can put restrictions on grazing as applicable to locals but they cannot deny them their traditional rights,” said Dr Anil Joshi of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), a non-government body.

Similarly, Dr Ravi Chopra of People’s Science Institute (PSI) said that the Forest Rights Act overrides all rules, regulations and legislations on the rights of forest dwellers.

Asked about the denial of entry to Gujjars in the light of new Forest Rights Act and its application in Uttarakhand, Shrikant Chandola, Uttarakhand chief wildlife warden, said that the department has formed committees to judge the claims of the forest dwellers.

“We have not received any claim from Gujjars so far,” he added.

Pressed further regarding the denial of entry to Van Gujjars coming from the Shivalik range in Uttar Pradesh and the order issued by forest authorities, Chandola said that it was for the state government to take a decision.

He was evasive on the issue of the traditional rights of Van Gujjars under the Forest Rights Act to their traditional highland pastures.

“This is harassment of Van Gujjars who form a miniscule minority within the Muslim minority of Uttarakhand. As this is being done during elections, the authorities are probably trying to please their political masters,” alleged Dr Joshi.Forest Rights Act overrides all rules, regulations and legislations on the rights of forest dwellersForest Rights Act overrides all rules, regulations and legislations on the rights of forest dwellers.

Dehradun, April 22
Uttarakhand Health Minister and state spokesman of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has dismissed the claims of the Congress that Khanduri government has been reduced to a minority and there is constitutional crisis in the state.

Castigating the Congress for issuing misleading statements, Dr Pokhriyal asserted that Khanduri government is stable and will complete its full five-year tenure.

Speaking to the mediapersons at the BJP headquarters in the afternoon today, Dr Pokhriyal said, “At the moment, out of 68 legislators, the BJP has 35 legislators and the government is comfortable. Apart from the party legislators, the BJP enjoys the support of three Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) MLAs and two Independent legislators. Hence, there is no question of any constitutional crisis.”

Regarding the resignations of UKD’s Diwakar Bhatt from the state cabinet and Kashi Singh Airy from the post of chairman of Hiltron, the BJP spokesman said that party has taken up the matter with the UKD.

“BJP president Bachi Singh Rawat has sent a letter to UKD president Narain Singh Jantwal. We have entered into an alliance with UKD for five years and hopefully, the alliance will continue,” claimed Dr Pokhriyal.

Dr Pokhriyal also said that talks were already on between the UKD and BJP to sort out differences, if any, between the two parties. He further said that a meeting of the BJP and UKD leaders is likely to be held in a couple of days.

Launching a scathing attack on Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Yashpal Arya for his statement that the BJP government has failed to utilise the funds amounting to Rs 22,000 crore given by the Centre, Dr Pokhriyal said, “Claims made by the Congress leader are false. The state has not received the funds. The Congress must come out with the documents to prove that the Centre gave Rs 22,000 crore to Uttarakhand.”

Ridiculing Arya’s statement, Dr Pokhriyal asked, “When the total budget of the state is Rs 11,000 crore, from where did it get Rs 22,000 crore.”

“The annual plan size given to Uttarakhand in 2006-07 was Rs 4,000 crore and the then Tiwari government managed to utilise Rs 3,250 crores. The BJP government, on the other hand, utilised Rs 4,170 crore from the total annual plan of Rs 4,285 crore for 2008-09,” he said.

Dr Pokhriyal added that the UPA government was biased against Uttarakhand. “In wake of the drought, the state government had requested the Centre to give funds amounting to Rs 230 crore but the Centre has not given even a single penny,” he rued.

Dehradun, April 22
If one goes by today’s BJP election rally at Gandhi Park before the filing of nomination of the party candidate from Tehri parliamentary constituency, Jaspal Rana, it seems that the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttarakhand is projecting Chief Minister BC Khanduri as its only firebrand leader for the Lok Sabha poll scheduled for May 13.

The presence of hundreds of party activists at Gandhi Park wearing masks of Khanduri clearly implies that the BJP has decided to bank upon its Chief Minister in the elections.

Chairman of the State Media Advisory Committee Devinder Bhasin said a major chunk of BJP workers had demanded the Khanduri mask.

“Respecting their wishes, the BJP got thousands of masks of Khanduri which had already been supplied to the party cadre in the state,” he said.

The practice of political activists wearing the mask of their leaders is quite popular in foreign countries, especially the USA. In India, it was in Gujarat where this tradition originated with BJP workers wearing the mask of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

“It all boils down to the fact that there is no BJP in Uttarakhand. The sole identity for them is Khanduri,” said senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana.

He added that since LK Advani has been exposed, the BJP was left with no other option than to project Khanduri.

“There is no presence of Advani and Vajpayee in the hoardings and posters put up by the BJP,” he said, while adding that considering the failure of the Khanduri government, it appears unlikely that Khanduri’s mask will make any impact on the electorate.

Haridwar, April 22
Gone are the days when election rallies were conducted at huge grounds and persons in lakhs thronged the venue to listen to national-level leaders along with their representative from the constituency.

But with changing times, dip in the level of politics and conduct of politicians, the public’s interest in rallies has plummeted.

To counter this, parties and candidates are vying for star campaigners so that they give a boost to the campaign.

In Haridwar, an array of political and celluloid stars is set to descend on the political scene soon.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s firebrand leaders — Narendra Modi, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh and Shatrughan Sinha — are in the pipeline to appeal for party candidate Swami Yatindranand.

District election incharge Ajay Bhatt has already sent an application in this regard to the party high command.

Shatrughan Sinha, who is contesting from Patna Saheb seat, will be free after the second phase of elections and is sure to help Yatindranand lure voters in the constituency.

The Congress is trying to rope in Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Jyotiraditya Scindia for the campaign in Haridwar.

State Lok Sabha campaign incharge Indira Hriyadesh said that candidates are being asked to give the names of star campaigners.

The Bahujan Samaj Party is banking on party supremo Mayawati to entice voters. She is to address a rally on May 11.

Vinod Barthwal, Samajwadi Party’s state general secretary, has asked for filmstars for campaigning in the state.

Apart from party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and national general secretary Amar Singh, Bhojpuri star Manoj Tiwari, Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan, film actress and party candidate from Rampur Jaya Prada are being looked up to campaigning.

The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal is also looking forward to former state Cabinet Minister Diwakar Bhatt, veteran leaders Kashi Singh Airy, Trivendra Pawar among others to draw voters to rallies.

Roorkee, April 22
Local police solved the murder of local BJP leader, Nawab Singh, by arresting his driver Munish Kumar from nearby industrial town, Bhagwanpur, here today.

Though the real motive behind the murder, which took place in the wee hours of December 26 last year, is yet to be ascertained.

Police said the prima facie money involved in property dealing business seems to be the reason behind the crime.

Interestingly, the weapon, (mouser) used in the murder, belonged to the victim and Munish confessed that Nawab Singh gave him the weapon just a day before in good faith.

Nawab was shot dead at his courtyard around 4 am on December 26, last year. Earlier, the police had booked four persons namely Giriraj Rana, Hanumant, Munni Lal and Bhim Singh, all resident of Sharanpur district. But call details of Munish and his doubtful activities led the police to bring him to book.

Quoting the alleged accused, the SP said Munish shot his master because Nawab was not honouring a land deal, which was struck through him (Munish) with a party.

"As I had introduced him with the other party, they (the other party) were pressurising me for the remaining money following which I murdered the leader," said the SP, quoting Munish.

The police officer added that in spite of the confession of the miscreant, the police is still working on some other theories to establish the 'real' motive.

"While checking the call details of Munish's cell phone, it was found that he used to make calls to the victim's wife," said Joshi, while adding that the angle of illicit relations between the two could not be ruled out.

"There are still many unsolved questions in the case. Like four shots were fired on the fateful day at the courtyard of the Nawab's residence to kill him but his wife, who was sleeping in the next room, even did not come out," said the SP.

Dehradun, April 22
The condition of majority of cinema halls in the city is deplorable and they are vanishing fast from here. From a long time, the movie buffs feel the need of good movie theatres where they can hangout with friends and family every weekend.

Out of 70 cinema halls is Uttarakhand, 30 are running with poor infrastructure with no profits at all.

Kanak cinema, one of the oldest and known cinema halls is located in the heart of the city. It established in the year 1976 and was supposed to be one of the busiest halls of the city. But now, it is in a deplorable condition and hardly attracts any public and revenue.

“ Today we are at loss due to our biggest enemy that is piracy. Government is not taking the matter seriously.

For them it is the tax that matters, and rest has to be done by the cinema hall owners. Due to the lack of finances, we are unable to provide basic facilities, which are a must for the recreation of the public,” said Surendra Singh Negi, head booking, Kanak cinema.

Out of 15 movie theatres in the city there are only five halls, which are in a sound condition.

There are only two air-conditioned movie halls in the city with not even a single multiplex available for the movie buffs.

. “From past few weeks, we are facing a hard time due to the ongoing tiff between the producers and distributors in Mumbai. Also, the cable television, dish TVs and piracy has declined the craze for cinema halls,” said Meher Singh, manager, Orient cinema hall.

However, in spite of government reducing the entertainment tax to almost 40 percent for the convenience of the hall owners, not many of them spend the assigned cost on the maintenance.

Therefore, the owners have to run low budget movies as they cant afford to pay lakhs of rupees to the distributors for a blockbuster.

On per ticket, Rs 3 are separated by the entertainment tax for the sake of the maintenance, but mostly owners of the halls take the matter lightly and then end up in shutting up the halls and open a banquet hall or a shop there.

“Before the formation of Uttarakhand, the government was getting maximum revenue from excise, sales tax and entertainment tax. But due to no proper check on ongoing piracy and laid back attitude of the present government, halls in the state are diminishing with each passing day,” said Satendra Parmar, owner of a movie hall.

However, SS Pokhiriyal, Deputy Commissioner Entertainment Tax said, “Before the state came into existence, around 125 per cent of tax was charged by the cinema halls.

“But presently for the sake of benefiting the owners and providing public a mode of entertainment, we have reduced the tax to almost 40 percent. We also encourage them to use the assigned amount for maintenance in a proper direction.

“Our duty is to provide them with basic facilities and aware them about the latest technologies, but we can’t force them to renovate their halls.

“The problem is not just from the government’s side but also mainly because of the risk involved in purchasing big banner movies, which are expensive and can cause major loss to them, he said.”

Dehradun, April 22
An inquiry conducted by the district registrar has confirmed that immovable property was purchased by four Pakistani nationals in the capital.

They are among seven foreign nationals who have done so without the mandatory permission of the Reserve Bank of India. The report has been submitted to the state government.

District registrar Dehradun, Amit Singh Negi, said action would be taken by the SDMs concerned.

k“We have also recommended action at the level of the state government in the report,” he said, refusing to divulge more details. The district registrar had been asked to determine the date of registration of these properties.

The secretary, finance, LM Pant, had ordered the inquiry after The Tribune highlighted the matter in its February 13 edition.

The subject first came up at a meeting of the Regional Economic Intelligence Committee (REIC) held in January at Dehradun.

Four Pakistani nationals purchased houses and shops in Dehradun and one of them in Rishikesh. A US and a British national have also purchased properties in Mussoorie and Uttarakashi.

These Pakistani nationals are Hindus who left their native places in the NWFP of Pakistan several years back, claiming to be living under constant threat to their lives.

One of them, Arjun Dass Malhotra, running a hardware shop here, claimed they were not aware they had to seek RBI permission.

Notably, under Rule 241 of the Registration Manual, the registering officers are not concerned with legal validity of a document. Deed documents also do not require information on the buyer’s nationality.

Muzaffarnagar, April 22
The Uttar Pradesh Government has turned down a proposal from Uttarakhand to close the Ganga canal for 15 days for carrying out maintenance work for the Mahakumbh in Haridwar, citing the model code of conduct.

The UP government has turned down a request from the Uttarakhand government to close the Ganga canal for 15 days from April 15 to April 30 to avoid the problem of irrigation water shortage in 19 districts of the state including Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Aligarh and Bulandhshahr, spokesperson of the state irrigation department said yesterday.

The state government has taken the decision keeping in mind the Lok Sabha polls and to avoid any controversy, he said.

The Delhi Government has also requested the UP government not to close the canal as it would disrupt water supply to the Delhi Jal Board.

Meanwhile, chief engineer of the Irrigation Department, Prakash Hara, told mediapersons today that the water supply to Delhi and UP from the canal has not been disrupted. — PTI

Dehradun, April 22
The boys team of DIS and girls team of STC won their respective matches at the District Junior u-18 Basketball Championship underway at Welham Boys School, here today.

Results:

Boys: DIS beat THS by 17-9, GRD beat KS 18-8, DS beat JMS 22-10, SJS got a walkover over SGC, WBS beat AS by 31-12, HS beat TAS by 29-36, GRD beat THS beat by 19-8, JMS got a walkover SGC, AS beat CON by 25-15.

Girls: STC beat DIS by 40-6, CJM beat DAV by 38-34, HGS beat SIA by 26-9, JMS beat SJS by 16-2, CSD beat AS by 24-19, UWS beat MIS by 15-9, WGS beat SMS 71-16.

Dehradun, April 22
Rao Cricket Club has stormed into the final after defeating Doon Defence Academy by a huge margin of 86 runs at the Kalanga Cricket Tournament, here today.

Rao Cricket Club piled a mammoth total of 176 runs in allotted 20 overs. The Club started its inning on a shaky note as the team lost its first wicket at a score of 6 runs on the fifth ball of the first over.

Vishal and Amit preceded the innings and made 47 runs in five overs.

Vishal hit 18 runs off 16 balls and Amit scored 23 runs off 14 balls, smashing two fours in his innings. Mukesh along with Shital further accelerated the team run rate.

Mukesh was the top scorer for the team. He smashed 41 runs off 24 balls, hitting three fours and four sixes.

Shital was the second highest runner for the team with 40 runs off 32 balls.

He smashed three fours and three sixes in his innings. For Doon Defence Academy, Rahul and Sikand took two wickets each.

Doon Defence Academy could only manage to score 90 runs in 15.1 overs.

None of their top batsmen made a big score. Lower order batsman Sunny showed some resistance from his team side to make 29 runs off 22 balls.