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BJP top brass stages unity show
Despite propaganda, rehashed girls’ scheme yet to take off
Cadet Abindu tops NDA merit list
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Strong winds, rain lash Haridwar
Haridwar defeat: Maya suspends two legislators
Model code withdrawn
Stage shy? Join this group
Shop burgled
30 cases of liquor seized
Defence aspirants flock to Doon
Motorcyclist killed in mishap
Cricket
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BJP top brass stages unity show
Dehradun, May 20 Addressing mediapersons after the core committee meeting of the state BJP at the CM’s residence here this morning, Uttarakhand BJP president Bachi Singh Rawat said that the entire rank and file of the BJP in the state is united. “We have accepted the party’s defeat and will be analysing the reasons behind BJP’s poor show but our morale is still high and we are sure of pocketing the Kapkot seat,” said Rawat. Flanked by Khanduri, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, the party’s co-incharge for Uttarakhand Dr Anil Jain and several other party office-bearers of the state BJP, Rawat said, “In the core committee meeting, we discussed what went wrong in the elections. A detailed report will be prepared for the reasons behind the party’s defeat.” Rawat, who evaded most queries by mediapersons, kept maintaining that they would be able to comment on their poor performance only after analysing the factors that led to defeat. BJP’s co-incharge for Uttarakhand, Dr Anil Jain, however claimed that all party legislators, officer-bearers and the BJP cadre in Uttarakhand are united. “Our morale is not down. Now, our aim is to register victory in the Kapkot by-election,” said Dr Jain. He also rubbished speculations pertaining to any change in the organisational set-up. “The BJP government is comfortable and there is no move for any sort of change in the state unit,” he asserted. When Khanduri was asked whether he would continue as Chief Minister the same way as LK Advani has agreed to continue as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Khanduri said, “There is no comparison between Advani and me. Kahan Raja Bhoj kahan Gangu teli.” Interestingly, while the BJP president was addressing the media, Khanduri and Koshiyari, his bete noire, were sitting besides Rawat, trying to give a message of unity in the party but their gestures belied their claims. |
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Despite propaganda, rehashed girls’ scheme yet to take off
Dehradun, May 20 So far, the government has not been able to earmark a single beneficiary. Much to the discomfiture of the government, the rehashed scheme in reality is yet to take off and should not have been part of the BJP’s publicity drive. In a shoddy manner, the Department of Women Empowerment and Child Development rolled out the Nanda Devi Kanya Yojana, a few months prior to the elections. The scheme was laudable in its vision but not in the content as the old scheme run by the department had been repackaged. Under the scheme, families with two daughters are to get Rs 5,000 as fixed deposit within six months of the birth of the girl child being reported. The money could be used for the girls’ higher studies or some other purpose. Not to be undone, the government went all hog publicising it as a key poll plank, oblivious to the fact that not a single beneficiary had been selected under the scheme. In its old avatar, the scheme was launched in 1997 as Balika Smiridhi Yojana. Throughout the BJP’s tenure, the department continued to grab headlines for non-functioning as it is rudderless with the government sitting on the appointment of director and additional secretary for the past one year. This is hampering the day-to-day functioning of the department and several schemes continue to be in the limbo. Large-scale transfers in the department were made, so much so that the frequent transfers have left behind complete disarray and confusion. As per the information received from the Department of Women Empowerment and Development, the proposal for the budget totalling around Rs 160 crore has only now been sent for approval. “Since the launch of the scheme in 2008, the department has not been able to earmark a single beneficiary,” said SK Tripathi, programme officer of the department. Despite the claims of the department, the minister for state for women empowerment and child development Beena Maharana remained clueless on the actual beneficiaries and the status of the scheme that was part of the BJP’s election publicity drive. Still in election mode, the minister continued to hedge the issue. “As of now, we have deputed Aganwadis to select the beneficiaries. It is a long and tedious exercise as the data has to be collected from each district,” said Maharana. Even the government’s scheme to set up additional anganwadi 7,929 new centres, 2,444 mini-aganwadi centres to benefit 18,300 women was not without its fair share of criticism. During last year, the payments were delayed forcing the anganwadi workers to launch a stir.
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Cadet Abindu tops NDA merit list
Dehradun, May 20 Cadet Abindu, who hails from Jammu and Kashmir, bagged the first place in a very stiff competition as almost three lakh students appeared for the examination. Other cadets in the top order of the merit list include cadet Piyush Kumar, cadet Tushar S Chauhan, cadet Eeshan Katoch, cadet Kaustubh Nalwade, cadet Bhupendra Chand, cadet captain Avaneendra Thakur and cadet T Rohit Reddy. In the past few years, many cadets including cadet Anshul Kumar, cadet Rohit Sekhar and cadet Siddharth Mohan Sharma had topped the NDA merit list. Expressing happiness over Abindu’s success, Commandant, RIMC, Col H Dharmarajan, said that junior cadets will be encouraged with Abindu’s achievement. Cadet Abindu said that he aspires to join the Navy. “I like sailing on the sea and want to travel around the world so that I can meet people. This can be possible only in the Navy,” he said. “I want to serve the country and the defence forces are the best way for it. The naval officers posted at the college have been a great motivation for me to aspire for the Navy,” he said. |
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Strong winds, rain lash Haridwar
Haridwar, May 20 At several places, trees and electric wires fell on the roads. At Avdhoot Mandal Ashram, a huge tree fell on a car which was parked at the side of the road. At Chauli village, a tree fell on an empty Mahindra jeep. Several instances of trees falling due to strong winds were reported at Jwalapur near St Mary School, Dehradun-Roorkee highway, Dehradun-Delhi highway, Jagjeetpur, Lakshar, Bahadrabad, Missirpur, Katarpur, LalDangh and BHEL area. This caused major traffic jams. The situation worsened with the electricity supply too getting affected with several wires snapping. It was only in the morning that the supply was restored in Jwalapur, Shivalik Nagar, and Shrinath Nagar. Narendra Rawat, who works in SIDCUL, Rudrapur, said, “I had to halt in Haridwar as it was not feasible to move due to intense winds.” Meanwhile, city residents were perturbed by the daily power cut. Residents of Shiv Lok colony, Brama Puri, Ravli Mehdood, Shivalik Nagar gheraoed the electricity office and warned the authorities of grave consequences if the situation continued in the future.
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Haridwar defeat: Maya suspends two legislators Dehradun, May 20 Perturbed at the anti-party activities of the two legislators and their campaign against party nominee from the Haridwar constituency Mohammad Shahzad, the BSP supremo ordered their suspension. Show-cause notices have been issued by BSP national general secretary Babu Singh Kushwaha and the MLAs given 10 days’ time to submit their reply. Since the BSP has six MLAs from the Haridwar constituency with a large number of Muslim votes, it was hoping to win this seat. But despite a strong base, BSP candidate Shahzad was placed third. There were reports that the suspended MLAs, who represent the Iqbalpur and Mangalore assembly seats, worked against the party nominee. BSP state president Surajmal said : “The leadership is upset with the party's performance, especially in Haridwar, where it failed to win despite having been victorious in six of its nine assembly segments in 2007. “Qazi Nizamuddin and Chaudhary Yashbir have been suspended on the charge of anti-party activities during the polls,” he added. While Chaudhary Yashbir was not available for comment, Qazi Nizamudin refused to discuss the matter on the plea that he had yet to receive the show-cause notice. Today’s issue is of 24 pages, including four-page pull-out of Dehradun Plus in Uttarakhand.
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Model code withdrawn
Dehradun, May 20 She, however, added that in wake of the Kapkot by-poll scheduled for May 28, the Model Code of Conduct will remain enforced in Bageshwar district till the end of the election process. Meanwhile, the CM has expressed grief over the death of two persons in a road accident in Uttarkashi yesterday. He instructed the district administration to ensure proper medical treatment to one of the injured. On Tuesday, two persons were killed when an Innova (UP 11 T 2214) met with an accident near Maharishi Ashram. |
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Stage shy? Join this group
Roorkee, May 20 Terming the workshop as different from other summer vacation camps, the founder members, Vijay Raja and Narendra Ahuja, say apart from polishing the acting prowess in children, the workshop also aims at driving away stage phobia. The group has been active in the city for the past 23 years and has staged 26 plays, including over a dozen street plays. Ahuja has acted in the TV serial 'Saturday Suspense' and in several Hindi documentaries. “Our purpose is to hone the acting skills of children by teaching them the basics of the art. We always face shortage of actors whenever we plan to stage any play here. “This provoked us to hold this workshop for children”, explained Raja, secretary and convener of the group. “As many as 35 children have been enrolled by the group. The workshop is being held at Prem Mandir. “Apart from developing acting skills, the emphasis is on personality development, building concentration and sharpening imaginative powers through fun games and theatre-related exercises,” said Ahuja. “I want to be a superstar like Hrithik Roshan. So I joined the acting workshop,” said eight-year-old Manav. All children will be given a chance to act in a play to be held on the final day of the workshop.
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Shop burgled
Haridwar, May 20 Shop owner Harinder Singh said when he opened his shop this morning, he was shocked to see his goods lying scattered and several items missing. He informed the police and neighboring shopkeepers. The thieves broke part of the rear wall of the shop and took away CD-DVD players and other electronic items. The police took fingerprints from the spot. Police station in charge AS Rawat said the thieves took advantage of the storm last night that had disrupted the power supply. In another incident, there was a brawl between pilgrims from Kangra and dhaba owners at Pant Deep with the latter objecting to their bus having been parked near their eatery. The pilgrims were allegedly assaulted and the bus damaged. “They didn’t even spare the women, who were injured,” said an elderly man. Both parties approached the police and later withdrew their complaints. A pilgrim, who received blows on his head and shoulders, said they had brought food along but were forced to eat from the dhaba so that their bus could be parked there.
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30 cases of liquor seized
Roorkee, May 20 “The police had to chase the car for some distance as the driver did not stop the vehicle when he was signalled to do so,” said
Chamoli. The driver managed to give the slip to the police after leaving the car behind with 360 bottles (30 cases) of top brand English liquor. A case under Section 60/12 of the Excise Act has been registered at Gangnahar police station. |
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Defence aspirants flock to Doon
Dehradun, May 20 The Indian armed forces have a reputation of being one of the finest in the world and offer a challenging career for Indian youth. Many candidates from the city applied for the National Defence Academy (NDA) examinations that were held on April 19. Avshish Sehgal, a former Air Force personnel and the director of Ground Zero, a coaching institute for defence aspirants, is hoping that many of his pupils will become officers in a matter of 100 days following the examinations when the UPSC will declare the results. Sanjay Gupta, a former Indian Navy man and the director of Doon Defence Academy, said, ”As many as 120 students of our academy appeared for the NDA examination. We expect the success rate to be more than 60 per cent.” Not only aspirants from the state get coaching in the city but candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Manipur come to Dehradun to enrol in these institutes. Brijpal, a candidate from Bijnor who comes from a humble background and is aspiring to get into the Indian Military Academy (IMA), said, “The coaching at Dehradun has cleared my basic doubts. “The faculty here is well aware of the examination pattern and this will give me an edge over the others.” However, some young candidates are dejected over the exclusion of women from mainstream Indian armed forces. Prerna, a candidate preparing for OTA examination, showed her disapproval. She said, ”Armed forces in India should also have female fighter pilots.” RIMC examinations will be held in June for candidates in the age group of 11 to 13 years. Rishab, a student of class VIII and an aspirant for RIMC said: “This is my first attempt and I am very confident. I am, however, disappointed that only one candidate per state will be selected.”
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Motorcyclist killed in mishap
Roorkee, May 20 According to the police, Abdul was on his way to Roorkee from Saharanpur on his motorcycle (UP-11X-1392) when an unidentified vehicle hit him. “He was not wearing a helmet and received injuries on the head,” said the police. Abdul died on the spot. The body has been sent to the civil hospital. The police has registered a case against the driver of the vehicle at Gangnahar police station. |
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Cricket
Dehradun, May 20 Chandan smashed eight fours and one six. At the other end, Ajeet Chandela supported him well. Ajeet made a useful contribution of 64 runs off 30 balls. For Dena Bank, Kartar was the leading wicket taker with three wickets. Suresh and Saurabh took two wickets each. Chasing 296 runs for victory, Dena Bank was all out for 135 runs. Only one batsman showed some resistance against the tight bowling attack of Air India. Arjit Gupta scored 50 runs off 49 balls. Mrinal Saini took five wickets and Abid Khan picked up two wickets. In the second match, LDA Lucknow defeated Indian Air Force by nine wickets. Batting first, Indian Air Force was all out for 157 runs in 30 overs. Reddy and Showmik made 54 and 56 runs respectively. For LDA Lucknow, Amit Mishra was the leading wicket taker with four wickets. Rakhesh took three wickets. In reply, LDA Lucknow reached the target with nine wickets in hand. Abhinav Verma smashed 104 runs in just 71 balls hitting 15 fours and one six. Mirtun Jay made 36 runs. For Indian Air Force, DS Atri took one wicket. Yesterday, Air India and Indian Air Force won their matches. In the first match, Air India registered a 51-run victory over Sahara India. Batting first, Air India team piled up 167 runs. S Khan was the top scorer with 41 runs and Ajeet made 34 runs. For Sahara India, Manish took four wickets. In reply, Sahara India was all out for 116 runs. Jitender was the top scorer with 40 runs. For Air India, Ishan picked up four wickets. In the other match, Indian Air Force defeated BSNL by two runs. Indian Air Force made 161 runs in the allotted 40 overs. Imran was the top scorer with 40 runs. In reply, BSNL team was all out for 159 runs. Sanjeev top scored with 29 runs.
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A day after Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) accepted moral responsibility for the BJP’s debacle in the recent Lok Sabha elections in the
state
Dehradun, May 20
Haridwar, May 20
In an effort to enhance theatrical skills as well as attract the younger generation to art and theatre, a month-long workshop by Natraj Arts Group is underway here.
Terming the workshop as different from other summer vacation camps, the founder members, Vijay Raja and Narendra
Ahuja, say apart from polishing the acting prowess in children, the workshop also aims at driving away stage phobia.
