Dehradun, April 24
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have decided to withdraw their candidate from Tehri Garhwal seat in favour of Congress candidate Vijay Bahuguna, the sitting Member of Parliament.

Since Vijay Bahuguna is the son of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, the SP had earlier decided not to put up its candidate from Tehri Garhwal to avoid division of secular votes.

However, equations changed after his sister Reeta Bahuguna Joshi, president of UP Congress, was put up by the Congress as a candidate against Nafisa Ali of SP from Lucknow seat.

Annoyed with the development, Amar Singh had asked the Uttarakhand state unit to put up a candidate against Vijay Bahuguna.

Later, the SP put up a local leader Hussain Ahmed, who had contested the 2004 Lok Sabha polls from Tehri and secured almost 12,000 votes, against Bahuguna.

However, the Bahugunas have finally prevailed over Mulayam Singh who has decided to withdraw the party candidate against Vijay Bahuguna. The decision was made public today by Vinod Barthwal, general secretary of the party.

Similarly, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), which had put up Nagendra Jagudi from Tehri, has also decided to withdraw from the contest in favour of Vijay Bahuguna. Jagudi was sacked from the Congress and had later joined NCP to contest the polls.

Sushil Mishra, president of Uttarakhand unit of NCP, announced his withdrawal today.

Dehradun, April 24
The Congress leaders today reiterated that Uttarakhand is heading towards mid-term polls.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Congress MLA Dinesh Aggarwal said the Khanduri government is in “trouble” and can collapse any time after May 16, after results of the general election are announced.

Substantiating his claims, Aggarwal said one Independent MLA Yashpal Benam had already withdrawn support from the government and Munna Singh Chauhan had also resigned as BJP legislator. “There are reports that the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal will also withdraw support in the coming days,” he claimed.

The Congress MLA also said there are more than two-dozen disgruntled MLAs in BJP, who had raised a banner of revolt against Khanduri last year.

“Since the election results in Uttarakhand is going to give a shock to the BJP, the dissident BJP MLAs will be back in action. Under these circumstances, it is very unlikely for BJP to save its government,” he said, while adding that after registering a victory in the crucial Lok Sabha election the Congress will start preparing for mid-term polls.

Expressing his views about the prospects of Congress in the elections, Aggarwal claimed that the party is all set to make a clean sweep in the state by winning all the five seats.

“The wave is in favour of Congress in the entire country and we are hopeful of winning all seats in Uttarakhand,” he said.

Meanwhile, Aggarwal also accused the BJP of misusing official machinery for electioneering.

Commenting on the reports being submitted by the RA Sharma (retd) Commission - instituted by the BJP government to probe irregularities into 56 alleged scams of the previous Congress government led by ND Tiwari - Aggarwal said, “The Sharma Commission is untrustworthy and can’t be relied upon. Moreover, the submission of the report at a time when the elections are round the corner clearly implies that Khanduri government wants to get mileage out of it.”

Further taking BJP to task on the issue of “black money” of Indians lying in Swiss Banks, Aggarwal said it was surprising why no action was taken by the NDA in this regard in its five-year rule.

Roorkee, April 24
The education department is all set to take action against private schools that have suddenly jacked up tuition fee as well as transport fee.

Terming the manifold hike as unjust, the block education officer Brahm Pal Saini said soon the department would initiate action in the matter.

“Apart from constituting a committee, the department has issued notices to 36 schools,” he said.

The committee, consisting of the district education officer, additional district education officer and block education officer, would check all irregularities in the schools.

“The department has found several irregularities in the workings of schools. As many as 36 schools have been issued notices to explain the hike and other irregularities,” said Saini, adding that it had been found that several schools had disregarded the rule on 10 per cent admission to poor students.

Beginning this academic session, private schools in the district had hiked their school fees up to 40 per cent on the plea that the staff had to be paid their dues as recommended by the Sixth Pay Commission.

“ The pay commission is a lame excuse as most schools have only 10-15 regular teachers on payroll. And even they are not paid wages as recommended by the commission. One can well imagine the plight of teachers on contract,” said a parent.

“Even as the rates of diesel and petrol have come down the schools are increasing transport charges. Is this justified,” asked another parent.

Dehradun, April 24
Short of beds but with plenty of patients clamoring for admittance, the children’s ward at the Doon Hospital is woefully inadequate to cater to the needs of large number of children.

The 14 occupancy children’s ward is always short of beds and most of the time two to four children are adjusted on a single bed. “Due to a huge shortage of beds, we have adjusted 24 patients on 14 beds. It hampers our movement inside the ward as it becomes crowded with parents too joining their children. Though, we have prominently displayed a notice saying that only one person can accompany the child,” rued sister Rama Herring.

But the problem becomes acute when attendants of the patient too occupy beds for their afternoon naps or to get rid of lethargy any time in the day in full violation of the rules.

Last week, children, hit with diarrhea, could not be admitted at the ward due to lack of space here. “We have less space at the hospital, but things are being worked out. We may have to explore the possibility of expanding the ward by doing away with the paid ward adjacent to the children’s ward,” said Dr RK Pant, CMS Doon Hospital.

Dehradun, April 24
Four children suffering from measles were admitted to the Doon Hospital today, alerting the medical authorities of a possible outbreak in the district that has stepped up monitoring.

The city has already witnessed a death of a child due to the disease.

“The situation is under control and there is no need to panic. Parents may have missed the vaccinations of their children due to ignorance,” said Dr R.K Pant, CMS Doon hospital. Meanwhile, children between the age group of 1-7 years have now been kept at the isolation ward of the hospital.

“The families of Pradeep Rawat and Sanjay were living together at Turner road, Clement town in Dehradun after migrating from Rudraprayag, the four children were brought to the hospital only after the death of one of the children, who first contracted the disease, said Dr Navjeet Bedi, Emergency Medical Officer.

Dehradun, April 24
Ashish Kothari, a noted environmentalist of ‘Kalpavriksha’, a voluntary group, has written to the forest authorities protesting against the alleged illegal and arbitrary decision of the state government to stop Van Gujjars, from going to their traditional highland pastures in Garhwal hills.

In a letter addressed to Shrikant Chandola, Uttarakhand wildlife warden, Kothari said Van Gujjars have been allowed access for generations to their traditional grasslands and their livelihood and survival depended on it.

The decision to debar them was not only a violation of basic tenets of human rights, and the constitutional right to life and livelihoods of every Indian citizen, it was a violation of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (STOTFDA).

Kothari said the the decision violates the basic spirit of the Forest Dwellers Act, which in its preamble states that it is an Act to recognise and vest the forest rights of traditional forest dwellers.

Kothari mentioned the denial of entry into Govind Pashu Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary could be interpreted as a breach of Section 4(5) of this Act which states, “Save as otherwise provided, no member of a forest dwelling scheduled tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is complete.”

“A decision of this nature cannot be made unless the Van Gujjar community has filed claims under this Act, these claims are verified and rights are settled. At present, the Uttarakhand Forest Department’s decision is a pre-emptive violation of Sections 3(1)(a), 3(1)(d), 3(1)(i), 3(1)(l) and 3(2) of this Act, “ he said.

“We also find shocking the advertisement’s implication that Van Gujjars are residents of Uttar Pradesh and the insinuation therefore, they are outsiders to the staete, and constitute a threat to the state citizens.

“This community has been coming into and moving out of Uttarakhand (including when it was a part of UPfor generations, how can they suddenly be constituted as outsiders and a threat,” Kothari asked.

He urged the state forest department to retract its statements and immediately permit Van Gujjars to enter into their traditional grazing grounds.

Roorkee, April 24
Renowned Odissi dancer Ranjana Gauhar mesmerised the spectators at the OP Jain Auditorium, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT, here yesterday.

The classical dance performance, which was attended by around 200 persons, was organised by SPICMACAY.

Ranjana, who has received the Padma Shri, earned the spectator’s applaud with the precise synchronisation of gestures and face expressions.

"The performance really touched our hearts," said a professor after the concert.

Addressing the gathering, Gauhar expressed anguish as the new generation has little interest in classical dance and music, which she termed the real soul of the country.

She also told the gathering about the history, evolution and the rudiments of the Odissi dance form. Accompanying her were Suresh Kumar as vocalist, Prashant Maharana on the ‘pakhavaj’ and Kiran Kumar on the flute.

Dehradun, April 24
Guru Nanak Academy, St Jude’s School and Summer Valley School won their respective matches at the 14th Gardner Inter-School Indoor Cricket Tournament at St Thomas College here yesterday.

The first match was played between Ann Mary School and Guru Nanak Academy. The Academy won the match by one wicket. Ann Mary scored 62 runs in 12 overs. Samhrat was top scorer with 26 runs.

The Academy reached the target with one wicket in hand. Anmol was the top scorer with 17 runs.

St Jude’s won by three runs. St Jude’s scored 56 runs in allotted 12 overs. Abhinav was the top scorer with 18 runs. Chasing 57 runs for victory, Constancia was all out for 53 runs.

In the third match Summer Valley School won the match against Raja Rammohan Roy Academy by eight runs. Batting first, Summer Valley School scored 39 runs.

In reply, Raja Rammohan Roy Academy was all out for 31 runs.

Dehradun, April 24
Welham School clinched the District Junior u-18 Basketball Championship trophy in both the Boys and Girls categories. In the boys division, Welham Boys defeated Doon School 58-39 points. In girls section, Welham Girls outclassed Convent of Jesus and Mary (CJM) 50-13.

It was a tough contest between Welham Boys and Doon School in boys’ basketball final. The first quarter saw a close contest between the two.

Welham Boys scored 15 points against Doon School who managed to score 14 points. In the second quarter, Welham Boys School spikers scored 24 points against Welham Boys, who could only manage 13 points.

Welham Boys team maintained the lead right till the end and finished the match at 58-39. Ravi was the top scorer for Welham Boys with 14 points.

The second final was played between Welham Girls and Convent of Jesus and Mary. Welham Girls dominated the game throughout the match giving CJM School little opportunity to score.

In the first quarter, Welham Girls School spikers scored 24 points, whereas CJM could only manage 4 points. Welham Girls spikers further increased the lead by 16 points taking their scorer to 40.

It was no looking back after that as the team finished the match with the score of 50-13. Garima was the top scorer for Welham Girls with eight points, whereas for CJM team Shailja scored 9 points.

Dehradun, April 24
Doon Public School, Carman School and St Thomas College won their respective matches at the 14th Gardner Inter-School Indoor Cricket (Boys & Girls) Tournament underway at St Thomas College, here today.

In the first match, Doon Public School beat Unison World School by 39 runs. Doon Public School scored 57 runs. Unison World School team was all out at 18 runs.

In the second match, Carman School beat St Joseph’s Academy by one run. Carman School scored 69 runs. Mayank was the top scorer with 17 runs. In reply, St Joseph’s Academy scored 68 runs. Devashish was the top scorer with 12 runs.

The third match was played between St Thomas College and The Heritage School. The Heritage team scored 54 runs. Abhishek scored for the team with 21 runs.

St Thomas reached the target with five wickets in hand. Vipin was the top scorer for the team with 15 runs.