Dehradun, June 1
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) was all smiles today as the BJP managed to retain the Kapkot Assembly constituency.

After the BJP’s poor show in the recently held Lok Sabha elections, victory in Kapkot has not only lifted the morale of the party but is also crucial for the Chief Minister.

The moment the Kapkot result was announced, Khanduri heaved a sigh of relief as the victory has given a push to the numerical strength of the party legislators in Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.

At around 12 noon, a visibly elated Khanduri, along with party state president Bachi Singh Rawat, addressed a press conference at the party headquarters here.

Speaking to mediapersons, Khanduri termed the victory as the joint effort of the party’s rank and file. The CM also said that the entire party cadre including state president Bachi Singh Rawat and Rajya Sabha MP Bhagat Singh Koshiyari have done a commendable job.

Koshiyari represented the Kapkot Assembly constituency but he vacated the seat after he was made Rajya Sabha MP.

However, Koshiyari was conspicuous by his absence at party office today. When asked, the Chief Minister said Koshiyari is in the BJP office at Haldwani and will reach Dehradun tomorrow. Khanduri claimed, “We lost the general election but within 15 days, the party has bounced backed winning Kapkot by a huge margin. This clearly implies that different factors are involved in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. Victory in Kapkot proves that the people of the state are happy with the working of the BJP government.”

Khanduri also said that after the May 16 election results, Congress leaders had created a bad environment in the state by indulging in false propaganda that the state government was not stable.

“But with the Congress candidate slipping to third place at Kapkot, the claims of the Congress have fallen flat,” he said while thanking the electorate of Kapkot for voting for the BJP candidate.

BJP state president Bachi Singh Rawat said that after the party’s poll debacle in the Lok Sabha poll, party workers were demoralised but the win at Kapkot has lifted the morale of the entire party.

He added that on June 4, a meeting of all party office-bearers, senior leaders and incharge of various frontal units of the BJP has been called.

“During the meeting, deliberations will be held to review the reasons behind the party’s defeat,” he revealed.

Dehradun, June 1
The victory in the Kapkot Assembly by-election has given the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state a much-needed boost but will also mark the intensification of the tussle between the rival camps of Chief Minister Khanduri and his detractor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

By getting a comfortable victory from his native Assembly segment for his party, former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Rajya Sabha member has again proven his political mettle on his own political turf of Kumaon.

Earlier, the Congress had won all five Lok Sabha seats in the recently concluded parliamentary elections in the state.

While there was a lot of pressure from the Koshiyari camp on Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) to quit following owning up of moral responsibility for the poll debacle, the party high command acted cautiously in deciding his fate.

Although Chief Minister Khanduri was quick to acknowledge the Kapkot win and mentioned the contribution of Koshiyari in the poll victory, but with this win in his pocket, the Koshiyari camp will launch a fresh offensive seeking ouster of Chief Minister Khanduri.

According to Koshiyari camp sources, the Kapkot assembly win has again proven that Koshiyari is a mass-based popular leader who is easily accessible to the general public unlike Chief Minister Khanduri who is known to run the administration in his own style.

Koshiyari camp had been pleading with the party high command for a change of guard in the state since August 2008. Koshiyari had taken more than 20 party legislators with him to senior party leaders last year to complain about the style of functioning of the Chief Minister.

However, after the Lok Sabha poll defeat and the outcry by Koshiyari camp to replace him, Chief Minister Khanduri has been able to win over a sizeable number of party legislators to his side.

A total of 24 legislators reportedly pledged to support Khanduri whereas Koshiyari camp also claimed to have the support of majority of the legislators.

Party insiders feel that the party’s central parliamentary board in its meeting this month will discuss the political situation in the state.

Dehradun, June 1
It could be dark days ahead for two prominent colleges of Dehradun - DAV (PG) and DBS College - as their long-pending electricity bills are now forcing the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited to go for speedy punitive action.

The department has decided to even go to the extent of disconnection of power supply to these colleges if they fail to deposit their bills at the earliest.

Both DAV and DBS college have long pending electricity bills. The DAV (PG) College has to pay a bill to the tune of Rs 2 lakh whereas DBS College has to deposit Rs 15 lakh as power charges.

In March, managements of both colleges were warned to deposit their electricity dues at the earliest. Due to mounting pressure from the power corporation, DAV (PG) College management shelled out Rs 3 lakh out of Rs 5 lakh that was due on the college.

On the other hand, DBS College too paid up a small part of its due. It paid Rs 2.5 lakh in March while Rs 15 lakh is left to be paid.

Both colleges will find themselves in trouble if the electricity department goes ahead with the punitive action.

The colleges are presently conducting examinations for its various courses and the students may have to bear the brunt if the power corporation disconnects power.

As many as 30,000 students are appearing for examinations at DAV (PG) College and about 2,000 are taking exams at DBS College.

Executive Engineer at Uttarakhand Power Corporation, YS Tomar, said that there is an ongoing dispute with these two colleges over electricity bills.

“The corporation has had a long-standing dispute with DAV and DBS colleges over payment of pending electricity bills.

“They never made a complete payment of the bills and, as a result, the pending amount kept on increasing,” he observed.

Principal of DBS College VK Maheshwari said that the problem of pending bills arose due to faulty meters that have not been changed by the corporation since 1995.

The wrong reading of these meters produced huge bills for the college, said Maheshwari.

“We brought this matter to the notice of the corporation but to no avail,” the principal said. It was only 15 days back that all 13 faulty meters were changed.

DBS College has replaced all its 13 meters with one meter so as to find the actual electricity used by the college.

DAV (PG) College principal was not available for comment.

Haridwar, June 1
The situation turned tense in the Gurukul Kangri College when the students, in an aggressive protest, today created ruckus in the principal’s office and threw furniture on the college chief.

The students were protesting against the decision by central health ministry and the medical governing body CCIM not to grant accreditation and admission nod for the batch of 2008-09 session to the two Ayurvedic Mahavidyalayas, Rishikul and Gurukul Kangri.

The first year students of Rishikul College and Gurukul Ayurvedic Medical College in a joint agitation today locked the gates of OPD and boycotted emergency service at Gurukul College.

The OPD and other medical services at the Rishikul Ayruvedic College were already suffering as the junior doctors demanding stipend in accordance with the sixth pay commission.

Notably, on the Central Council for Indian Medicine (CCIM) recommendations health ministry hasn’t given accreditation to the batch of 2008-09 on certain parameters such as lack of medical facilities in both the medical colleges and lack of patients too. The Council prescribes minimum standards of education in Indian Systems of Medicine viz. Ayurveda and Unani.

The current session was declared void in August 08 itself but the students allege that college management carried out on the admission procedure and studies.

Thus, the 87 students of both the colleges are apprehensive of their future and lay blame on the college management itself for keeping them in dark.

While the principal of Rishikul Medical College Pradeep Bharadwaj replied that he is in talks with the government and CCIM and hoped that soon the batch will be given the accreditation.

“We had completed two counsellings on August 30, 2008 itself while we got government letter in this regard on August 31, 08 only and we stopped third counselling as all the admissions till that date were prior to 31st so we worked accordingly as per rules and talks with the government are on right track,” said Bharadwaj.

Jitendra Pande the union leader of Gurukul college said the students will resort to fast unto death if the college authorities doesn’t take concrete steps to save the future of its students.

Present among the agitators were MH Rana, Rohit, Narendra, Swati Mayal, Preeti Singh, Tanvi Verma, Tulika, Deepti, Shivani, Amita, Deepa Sharma, Rohit Kumar, Raghavendra among others.

Haridwar, June 1
After mesmerising Russians with vedic values and Gayatri mantra now Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya is luring Germans into the ancient Indian culture and obviously towards the art of Yoga.

DSV was agreed on mutual sharing of knowledge on ancient literature, vedic science, cosmology, chetna science and yoga science. The agreement was signed in Germany itself.

From Indian counterpart Dr Pranav Pandya signed the memorandum with Germany-based Indian Institute of Vedic Sciences (IIVS) headed by Professor Marx Smikhe. Both sides have also agreed upon on-line programme in the above mentioned courses and will also carry out on researches in these fields.

Dr Pandya chalked the finer details with the Noble prize winning scientists on bio-physics and quantum physics.

The understanding between both the sides can be gauged by the fact that both sides also agreed on new avenue of Information Field Medicine.

Chancellor Dr SP Mishra informed that a time waver machine is being given by the IIVS to Dev Sanskriti University as mutual cooperation.

In an achievement for the DSV in the International science congress to be held in Berlin in the year 2010 DSV will be participating in the congress.

Apart from this IIVS and DSV agreed on sharing of knowledge on vastu, field therapy and information medicine too.

Dehradun, June 1
After keeping low for a few months, forest guards in Uttarakhand today resumed their stir seeking benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission and one-time promotion advantage. They also threatened to force the closure of Corbett and Rajaji National Parks from June 7.

Led by MM Kandwal, president, Uttarakhand Forest Guards Association, the protesters demonstrated at the Uttarakhand state forest headquarters at Rajpur Road. The forest guards have decided to take their stir to the logical conclusion this time.

He said that the forest guards were still to get the upgraded salary structure and sought the Sixth Pay Commission benefits at a pay scale of Rs 3200-4900. He added that the guards have also been deprived of one-time promotion benefits.

The agitating forest guards also categorically held that the dharna will continue till June 6 following which they threatened to close down protected areas of Corbett and Rajaji National Parks from June 7.

“After closing the two parks, we will go on an indefinite hunger strike,” Rishiram Painuily, general secretary, Uttarakhand Forest Guards Association, said.

Surendra Singh Khati, May Ram Mamgain and Rajeshwar Bahuguna were prominent participants at today’s dharna.

Meanwhile, the office of the Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests confirmed that they were trying to address the concerns of agitating forest guards and were hopeful of an early solution to the deadlock.

Forest guards, who form the backbone of state forest department, had been agitating for quite some time seeking pay and promotion benefits.

There was a large-scale agitation by the forest guards some months back following which the state forest administration had addressed some of their concerns. But the key issues of the Sixth Pay Commission and one-time promotion benefits still stand unresolved.

Dehradun, June 1
Under the refund-banker scheme, thousands of income tax assessees in Uttarakhand can look forward to having their refunds deposited directly in their bank accounts.

With this, they will not have to wait for long for refunds, which as of now, are being delivered by cheque through post by the concerned Income Tax office.

The scheme has so far been implemented in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna and Bangalore where the State Bank of India pays refunds instead of the department.

Upon approval of the IT office, the bank credits the refund money in the bank account of the assessee.

Reportedly, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is planning to extend the scheme nationwide.

But this is likely to become operational in Dehradun, Kanpur, Chandigarh and Lucknow in the current financial year.

Though the processing of refund takes four months but its delivery to an assessee in the form of a cheque is time consuming.

The officials here claimed that the cheque after being issued is expected to reach the assessee in seven days. But the assessee may have to wait longer on account of delay in postal service.

And normally this may happen especially in a state like Uttarakhand due to difficult terrain, they admitted.

Under the scheme, such delays will be a thing of past as an assessee will no longer be required to wait for the cheque to reach his address and then deposit it in the bank account.

GG Shukla, chief commissioner, income tax, Uttarakhand, said that his office was yet to receive any formal information so far. Sources said the proposal was in the offing and announcement in this regard may take some time.

The scheme will benefit all assessees covered under TDS advance tax schemes. There were total 2,98,060 IT payers in the state up to March 31.

The department made 72,790 refunds across the state in 2008-09. 

Haridwar, June 1
The sudden rain shower in the evening brought smiles to the faces of the residents but once again exposed the frailty of the civic infrastructure in the city.

As the showers were light in nature water logging and mudslides were not reported in large scale. Instead people came out in the evening to nearby parks and areas surrounding the Ganga river.

Residents were seen enjoying pleasant weather at several parks situated at BHEL, Har-ki-Pauri, Premnagar Ashram, Kankhal .

“This is the best time when rain didn’t create havoc but cools the weather and creates a pleasant atmosphere all around,” said Swati Kapoor, a local. 

The season of monsoons invite number of infectious diseases that takes hold of the human body right through the season. As the humidity level increases, bacteria and viruses find the environment conducive to grow and multiply.

Rains after a long dry spell not only provide relief from hot summers but also are a precursor to several diseases, like diarrhoea, liver and skin infections. “Common symptoms of stomach infections include cramps, nausea, vomiting, headache and even fever.

Preventive measures such as eating home-cooked food, which is always kept covered, and washing fruits properly before consuming them can help us keep diseases miles away,” said Dr KC Pant, senior physician.

Besides hygiene has to be maintained at all cost. Preventive measures can prove to be useful in the long run. “One should be very careful with drinking water. Risk reduced to minimum when adequate precautions are taken,” said Pant.

During the monsoon season, dengue cases also rise, as the weather conditions prove conducive for the mosquitoes to breed.

“The disease caused by Ades mosquito, can be controlled with regular fogging and encouraging residents to maintain cleanliness in and around home, by not allowing water to stagnate that eventually becomes a breeding site for mosquitoes, coolers should always be cleaned and dried regularly,” said Dr HS Negi, state nodal officer.

Other medical experts say, everything depends on a person’s immunity, and on body’s resistance and response to changes. “A healthy body will not be affected by climatic changes, however people suffering from asthma usually have trouble when ever there is extreme rise and fall in temperature. So also with chronic diseases, informed Dr RS Chauhan, senior ENT Doon Hospital. 

Dehradun, June 1
Eight people, including a jawan, were killed and ten others injured in separate road accidents since last evening in the state, sources said.

Three persons were killed and six others injured when a truck overturned on the Kiccha-Bareilly road in Udham Singh Nagar district today.

In other incidents, a 30-year-old jawan of RR Rifles Ravindra Thapa was killed when his motorcycle rammed into a tree at Anarwala area of the district while a person died and two others were injured when their vehicle fell into a gorge in Tehri district yesterday.

Three persons died and two were injured in other accidents, the police said. — PTI 

Roorkee, June 1
Dalit woman was allegedly beaten mercilessly by three persons of her village when she was cutting fodder from their fields.

The victim, Raj Kali, 40, is a resident of Belda village, around three km from here. She was assaulted with sticks by Sandeep Rod and his two friends and received injuries on his head and other body parts.

According to a relative, she received seven stitches on her head. “Raj Kali was cutting grass from the field owned by the accused. Following a minor argument, Sandeep and his friends started beating her and later fled away,” said the victim’s relative.

The victim has complained to the Civil Lines police station where she also alleged that the suspects passed ‘derogatory’ remarks on her caste. The police is investigating the matter.