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Pollpot: Parties skirt real issues
Another tourney, another win
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e-connectivity for remote colleges
Soon, more guards at Rajaji
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Pollpot: Parties skirt real issues
Dehradun, May 8 With just days left for the election campaign for the five parliamentary seatsto end, both parties have failed to make “development” as a major election issue. Not only that, the two major parties seem disinterested in taking up crucial issues like hydel projects, forest fires, physical infrastructure and industry. The Congress and BJP leaders are busy playing the blame game. The emphasis is mainly on the poor fiscal health of the state. While the Congress leadership accuses the BJP-led state government of not utilising funds sanctioned by the Centre for various schemes, BJP leaders allege that the UPA government has meted out a step-motherly treatment to Uttarakhand, just because the BJP is in power. Expressing concern, president of the Industries Association of Uttarakhand (IAU) Pankaj Gupta said it was unfortunate that parties were not talking of core issues and wasting time on “non-issues”. He said politicians were mainly targeting rivals over the industrial package given to Uttarakhand. “Industrial package is just one issue but there are several other important issues directly related with development. So far, no one has talked of labour reforms, financial reforms and the power problem,” he said, emphasising that power was one of the major problems being faced by industrial units in Uttarakhand. He also said the parties must air their views on the economic recession. Almost all BJP leaders, including Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri are attacking the Congress for not extending the 2003 industrial package to 2013. The Congress is concentrating on the BJP government’s failure to utilise funds to the tune of Rs 18,000 crore. Both are skipping the raise issue, that of development. The parties have little to say on the raging forest fires. The death of seven persons while attempting to extinguish a fire near Gagwara village in Pauri has fueled resentment among the masses. Although a defensive state government has stated that efforts are on afoot to check the fires, the government so far has failed to find a permanent solution to the problem. Except for AICC member Dhirendra Pratap, the state Congress has not given much importance to this issue. The Khanduri government’s decision to suspend two key hydel projects, 480-mw Pala Maneri and 381-mw Bhaironghati projects, following an agitation by environmentalist GD Agrawal and the decision of the Union Government to suspend work on the 600-mw Lohari Nagpala hydro-electric project being built by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), has also failed to create an uproar in the elections. Despite the immense potential for generating power through small hydel projects, the state government has not been able to formulate a policy in this regard. Jamna Lal Bajaj awardee and social activist Radha Behen has been demanding a uniform and people-friendly rehabilitation policy and participation of local communities in hydel projects. Also, environmentalists have been demanding a uniform and comprehensive policy for the development of the Himalayan state, but the issue figures nowhere in the elections. “The uncaring attitude of the government with respect to the issue of the environment in this hill state is a matter of great concern. Rain-fed rivers are drying up and there is less water from glaciers. “Besides, farmers are crying for water, but there is none to pay heed to them,” said Dr Ravi Chopra of the People’s Science Institute, adding that a long-term policy for environment was the need of the hour. Likewise, the infrastructure sector in Uttarakhand has taken a backseat. Neither the BJP nor the Congress has come out with a comprehensive plan to boost infrastructure, including roads, flyovers and rail bridges. Interestingly, while national parties have failed to take up important development issues in the campaign, smaller regional parties like the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) have given priority to local issues in their election manifestos. Accusing both Congress and BJP of scant concern for local issues, Shivanand Chamoli, vice-president of the UKD, said their party’s manifesto laid stress on the crucial issues of rights of locals on natural resources and checking largescale migration from the hill state. “We strongly advocate that families, whose land was acquired for setting up various hydel projects should be given free power and employment at the project sites,” he said.
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Another tourney, another win
Dehradun, May 8 “We played exceptional well at the festival. The team was high in spirits when it reached Sri Lanka and in the very first match, we defeated the team from Bhutan by nine goals. “This dominating win boosted the morale of the team and there was no looking back after that,” said Raksha. Playing her first major football tournament as captain at the international level, Raksha said Iran and Jordan teams were the toughest. The Indian team played nine matches at the tournament and registered seven wins in all. It played a draw against Iran. “We played two matches each with Jordan and Iran. It was only against Jordan that we lost our first match but came back strongly in the second match to thrash them 8-3. “Despite losing a match against Jordan, we never considered it as a team that we could not beat. We were more concerned about Iran. The team was well-prepared and was good in all departments of the game. “But we managed to take them by surprise in our first clash by playing some attacking football and beating them 3-1. But in our second match with Iran, we played a draw” said Raksha. The match against Iran was the toughest and being the captain, Raksha felt pressured. Iran scored the first goal against India with the latter in the defence mode. “But after conceding the first goal, we decided on an all-out attack. Our defence moved up to the centre line, this put their defence under pressure and our forwards scored three goals. But in the second match, they were better prepared and forced a draw,” recalled Raksha. Before leaving for the festival, the team underwent a rigorous two-months training at Bhopal, where they would practise for five hours everyday. The focus was dribbling, shooting and ball control. In the evening the teams would hold friendly matches. “The camp was of great help to us as it improved our coordination and ball control,” said Raksha, who is studying in Class IX. She hopes to play for India at the national level and also captain the senior Indian team.
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e-connectivity for remote colleges
Roorkee, May 8 The institute aims to bring college students of these areas under its project, named Mobile e-Learning Terminal Project (MeLT). Under the project, institute experts will develop a prototype of mobile e-learning terminals, comprising a van, VSAT equipment and computer/network/multimedia equipment suitable for use in remote areas, where no other reliable mode of data connectivity is available. These vans will be deployed in areas selected under “The main purpose of the project is to cater to the needs of college students of remote areas through a network of institutions/universities of respective states,” said Dr HK Verma, deputy director, IIT-R, and project leader of MeLT. On the importance of the project, Dr Verma said in remote areas of the country, data connectivity is not satisfactory in terms of bandwidth (speed) and reliability (frequent breakdowns). As a result, conventional arrangements of setting up stationary e-learning terminals such colleges may not work satisfactorily. “Moreover as the population in such areas is often sparse, setting up a large number of stationary terminals will not be economically justifiable because of their under-utilisation,” said Dr Verma, adding that the mobile terminals are the best and most effective alternative. “Our proposal, which was sent to the ministry of human resource development months back, has been approved by the government as a nationally coordinated project under the National Mission on Education Through Information and Commission Technology. “As the first step, we will get Rs 30 crore under the project for first two years.” Dr Verma said the project was being executed as a pilot project with a one-year duration (culminating on April 2010) under which eight states--Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Sikkim and the Union Territories of Chandigarh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands-- will be covered. For the purpose, 10 vans, comprising advance Internet access paraphernalia, including 15-20 laptops in each vehicle and two buses, with infrastructure for full-fledged classrooms with WiFi connectivity, will be prepared at a cost of Rs 3 crore . The vans, being deployed in the different parts of the country, will be controlled, operated and maintained by a network of local institutions/universities to be identified to join the network for the operation of these e-learning terminals. Next, areas to be covered under the project will be marked, according to the project leader. “The facility of mobile e-Learning terminals will go a long way in reducing the digital and education divide within the country,” said Dr Verma.
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Soon, more guards at Rajaji
Dehradun, May 8 Beat is an important part of security apparatus inside forest areas, as it fixes accountability of forest guards in terms of ensuring
foolproof security in a particular area inside a reserve forest or a protected area. Thus an increase in the number of beats will lead to deployment of more forest guards inside Rajaji Park, which will strengthen the overall security. According to Director of the Park SS Raisaily, the square kilometre area under every beat will now be reduced considerably, which will add to the effectiveness of security arrangements. However, while it has been decided to increase the beats, it may still take some time to deploy an officer at each and every spot. After undertaking an exercise where some of contracts guards were made regular, the park still needs more staff to man these new beats. But as the election code of conduct is in force, it will take some before the new forest guards are recruited. Meanwhile, the number of beats in Govind National Park in Uttarkashi, which falls under Rajaji Park, has been increased from 15 to 36.
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Leaders of the two main political parties in Uttarakhand, Congress and BJP, are busy accusing each other of all kinds of misdeeds, skirting the “real” issues concerning the hill state, popularly known as Dev
Bhoomi.
Dehradun, May 8
