Pitthoragarh, June 6
Rajya Sabha member and former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Bhagat Singh Koshiyari today said he was never ambitious for any political post.

“I am least interested in power politics and was never lobbying for any political post,”’ said Koshiyari.

He said BJP’s victory in Kapkot assembly by-election, a seat he had vacated, indicated that people of the state have now started re-thinking about voting against the BJP in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

Asked about speculations regarding the fate of the Chief Minister, Koshiyari said he has full faith in the leadership of Khanduri.

“Khanduri government is doing its best for development of the state,” said Koshiyari.

However, he said he has a long list of problems that he would raise in the Rajya Sabha, including the Centre’s alleged apathetic attitude towards Uttarakhand.

“The UPA government in its first term reduced our ration quota, which caused a lot of problems for the poor people,” he alleged.

Dehradun, June 6
The decision of the BJP-led state government to extend the state industrial policy by three years entails political ramification, as the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre is now expected to act similarly in terms of extending the special industrial package to the state.

Both parties took up the issue prominently during campaigning for the recent Lok Sabha polls. BJP leaders maintained that the UPA government had discriminated against the state by refusing to extend the term of the special package up to 2013, which put the Congress leaders in a defensive mode. Subsequently, during election meetings they assured to get it extended if the UPA returned to power. Industry experts opine that by announcing extension of the policy, the state government has tried to convey the message that it has done whatever it could for the welfare of the industry and the benefits that may accrue for the people at large.

But now, it is the turn of the UPA government at the Centre to do its bit. While claiming that he had taken up the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as well as Union Finance and Industries ministers in the past, Khanduri repeated that he would write again to the PM about this.

Since the special package was announced in 2003 during the NDA regime, the BJP has all along been taking credit for bringing it to Uttarakhand. Originally, it was meant for a period of 10 years but during the UPA regime it was reduced to 7 years. As such, it will expire in 2010. The BJP exploited this decision to the hilt by terming the Congress as inimical to the interests of the state.

Now, after yesterday's announcement, the BJP can use this as a tool to put pressure on the UPA government and at the same time put the state Congress leadership in a politically awkward position. It was not for nothing that the Congress legislator Dinesh Aggarwal, who was present at yesterday's industrial meet, said from the dais that joint political efforts should be made to impress upon the Union government to relent.

Otherwise, Congress leaders might find it difficult to avoid a politically embarrassing situation in future into which they seem to have been forced by the extension of the policy.

Dehradun, June 6
RG Madhavan Nair, Chairman, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), said the scientific institutions in the country are capable of meeting all challenges.

He pointed out that most of the the recent space missions have been purely on the initiative of Indian scientists.

In his convocation address, ISRO Chairman Dr Nair described the Indian scientific institutions best across the globe.

“No need for looking outside for solving our problems as our scientists are groomed in the best of scientific institutions which are second to none anywhere in the world,” he said.

Stating that fossil fuels were expected to deplete over the next few years, Dr Nair called for looking at alternative renewable sources of energy.

“Fossil fuel may not last long and thus alternative sources of energy may only be the possible solution,” Nair said.

“Wind power, solar power and hydrogen are other renewable sources of energy that could be looked into,” he added.

He asked those linked to petroleum research to work for alternative sources of energy.

He also reminded the gathering of the importance of saving energy. “Every kilowatt of energy saved is energy produced,” he observed.

He called upon the students of the University of Petroleum Studies to actively contribute towards the development of the country and transform the country into hub of world-class technology.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) dwelt at length on the measures taken by his government towards promoting technical education at higher levels. He said while the state has been successful in obtaining central university status for Garhwal University, his government was vigorously pursuing grant of similar status for the Kumaon University.

He said his government was laying special emphasis in the area of information technology which includes e-learning, introduction of e-governance and creation of IT infrastructure in the state.

The Chief Minister also said that his government was laying special emphasis on alternative sources of energy, future fuels and sustainable growth.

Dr G Madhavan Nair, who is also Director, Department of Science, awarded degrees to passing-out students.

Amrapali Dixit and Ishank Gupta were presented with the University Gold Medals as best under-graduate students of the College of Management and College of Engineering respectively.

Vishnu Aggarwal bagged the University Silver Medal for obtaining first rank in B.Tech (automotive design engineering).

Ankur Sharma was awarded the silver medal for obtaining first rank in B.Sc (plant maintenance and operations). Similarly, Kushal Gupta was bestowed the Best Corporate Student Award.

As many as 70 B.Tech Petroleum Engineering students, 58 students from BBA (oil and gas marketing), 30 from B.Tech (automotive designing), 14 from BSc (plant maintenance) and nine students from MBA power management passed out today. Prof SJ Chopra, Vice Chancellor of University of Petroleum Studies, conducted the convocation proceedings.

Haridwar, June 6
With each passing day, the resentment and tension surrounding the accreditation of the BAMS degree is making students of Rishikul and Gurukul Ayurvedic Medical college more determined to continue the protest and use various channels to get the accreditation restored.

Junior medicos have been on strike for a week. Keeping in view the problems faced by patients, the students have left the OPD and emergency services out of the purview of their strike.

The students protest and stage a dharna every alternate day at both medical colleges from early morning till late afternoon.

The college administration has totally failed to pacify the students. Students had even locked the Dean of Gurukul College for more than three hours after the Dean failed to convince the students on the accreditation issue.

City Magistrate Archana Grehawar met the protesting students twice but failed to achieve a breakthrough. She assured the agitating medicos that she would finalise a meeting with the Chief Minister on Monday.

In a meeting with Keshav Desh Raju, chief secretary health (Ayush education), the health secretary had proposed that the students of the 2008-09 session will be accommodated in a special session and the one-year course would be completed in six months. The students representatives rejected the proposal.

Khusbhoo, a first-year student, said that students are adamant in their demand for full accreditation. “As all parents are on our side, we are geared up for a long struggle. We came with dreams in our eyes after clearing the entrance test. We have been made to suffer due to the laxity of the college management and state government. Come what may, we will relax only when we are given accreditation,” said Khushboo.

Dr Pradeep Bharadwaj of Rishikul Ayurvedic college said that students should pursue their studies instead of opting for agitation as sooner or later, the accreditation issue will get resolved.

Dean Dr DN Sharma of Gurukul Ayurvedic College said that the issue was not in the hands of the college administration. “Students should realise this. I am open to talks with students anytime,” he said.

Meanwhile, the post-graduate junior doctors of Rishikul Ayurvedic College have rolled back their strike after getting an assurance from the college management and Pooja Bharadwaj, director health and medicine (ayurvedic-unani).

Dehradun, June 6
The agitating Uttarakhand forest guards today decided to suspend their stir for three months after receiving an assurance from Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) regarding their two-point pay and promotion concerns.

The forest guards that has been staging a dharna at the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests office in Dehradun for the past many days and had even threatened to shut down Jim Corbett National park from June 7.

Since then, the PCCF has been trying to convince the agitating guards that the department was sympathetic to their concerns which would be addressed at the earliest.

A meeting between the forest guards and the PCCF took place today in presence of the office-bearers of Parvatiya Karmachari Sangh. The guards decided to suspend their stir for three months after getting a written assurance from the PCCF.

“We have full faith in the PCCF and so we have decided to suspend our stir for three months,” said Uttarakhand Forest Guards Association’s general secretary RR Painuily.

Dehradun, June 6
About 20,000 Anganwadi workers and helpers across the state are going to be benefited by the government order increasing their honorarium amid their ongoing agitation for the purpose.

The Union government had increased the honorarium last year but the payment was held up due to delay on the part of the state government.

Now the government has issued the order as per which the revised honorarium will be payable from July 1, 2008. The workers and helpers will get Rs 3000 and Rs 1500 per month.

They had been protesting for acceptance of their demands, including this issue for a long.

As part of this, they had proposed to hold a demonstration at the state secretariat on June 11.

Though, general secretary of Uttarakhand Anganwadi Karamchari Panchayat, expressed happiness over the development, he said there would be no change in the plan of protest. The same would be continued to get their other demands accepted, he said.

Haridwar, June 6
The city is witnessing a huge rush of pilgrims who are here for the pious occasion of Poornima, which falls tomorrow. Almost all hotels, dharamshalas and guesthouses here are packed to capacity. Chaotic scenes were witnessed at the railway and bus stations, respectively, where pilgrims as well as tourists were seen in thousands. This was in addition to those who came here in their private vehicles.

During the evening, several traffic jams were witnessed at various junctions, especially at the Station Road, Bhoopatwala, Shiv Moorti, Devpura and Jwalapur.

To manage the huge rush, the administration and traffic police will stick to the same master plan followed last week during the Ganga Dussehra and Nirjala Ekadasi.

However, although lakhs of people are here for the occasion, security is quite lax at certain places. People could be spotted bypassing the metal detectors at the railway station and the bus stand, as no police personnel was present on the spot. Even the luggage of pilgrims was not being checked.

Surprisingly, enquiry counters at the railway station and bus stand were empty and there was no one to guide first-time visitors. “This is quite amazing. On one hand, Haridwar is gearing up for the Maha Kumbh Mela, but on the other there is no one to guide us at the bus stand,” said a baffled Vijay Chauhan, who wanted to know the bus timings for Mussoorie.

Dehradun, June 6
Khukri Club and Cantt Blues won their respective matches at the Ist Narandra Singh Kharola Tournament that got underway at Mahandra Ground, here today.

The first match was played between Vijay Cantt and Khukhri Club.

It was a dull start to the match as both the teams played defensive throughout the first half.

In the second half Khukri Club team looked better organised and well composed than Vijay Cantt Club.

It launched a number of attacks at Vijay Cantt goalpost and succeeded in scoring their first goal in the 67th minute of the match by a 30-yard kick taken by Sagar Lama.

Vijay Cantt made number of attempts to find an equaliser but failed. In the end Khukri Club won the match by 1-0.

In the second match the result was decided in a tiebreaker, in which Cantt Blues team won by 3-2.

It was a fast pace football played between the two teams and both the team played attacking football.

U-14 race

Himalyan Running Club organised a 3 km u-14 race starting from Makret village to Shahanshai Ashram.

Shikhar of Baregil village won the race, L Mohan of Moravian School stood second and Jwala Singh of Harawala was placed third.

The aim of Himalyan Running Club was to search talented athletes at the village level.

Water Sports

Police team won two gold and four bronzes at All-India Police Water Sports organised at Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, from June 2 to 8.

Constable Manish and Saurab won gold in 1000m Cockles pair competition. Constable Bhashkar and Sunsil won gold in 500m competition. Constable Atul of 46 PAC won bronze in 1000m Single Skull competition. Constable Suresh Tomar of 31 PAC won bronze in 500m Double Skull competition. Constable Mukesh Sharma, Narender Rana and Chandra Bhushan won bronzes in 1000m Kayaking competition. Uttarakhand DGP announced Rs 10,000 for gold winners and Rs 5,000 for bronze winners.

Dehradun, June 6
Love for football has prompted many old time footballers and football lovers to open up clubs for the promotion of the game in the city. But frequent switching off by players from one club to another has certainly left most of the clubs in a fix.

One such club is Danda Malsi Kisanpur (DMK) club, which is on the verge of closure after 15 of its players recently shifted to various other clubs.

Sonu Farasee who is the owner of the DMK club, has been running the club for the last four years. The club has carved out a niche for itself all these years and was rated high in the football circle.

It had also been a District League champion in 2007. But this year, the club is finding itself in precarious situation after the mass annual transfers of players from the club in the month of February. With no availability of second line of players, these defections are proving costly to the club.

Secretary of District Football Association, Jagmohan Singh Rawat said, “Yes the club transfer policy could have affected some clubs in the city, but it is not because of entirely the policy that is affecting in these clubs. The reason is that these clubs do not have a second line of good players to take over after the top players leave.”

“The people who are a ardent football followers have been instrumental in opening up these clubs in Dehradun. They do not have a long term plans in their mind. There main focus is to arrange good players in order to strengthen their team, but once these players take transfers the club find itself helpless” said Rawat.

There could be many reasons behind players leaving the club for example if the club fails to fulfill the promises made to the players at the time of joining or the other club offers him a better opportunity or money.

These small clubs also suffer from financial constraint. There are no sponsors to most of the club and the finance they arrange is mainly from their own sources.

DMK proprietor, Sonu Farasee is a shop owner and has been arranging money for his club from his own sources to get going.

“This year we were short of finances as my financers have backed out due to slump in the market, as a result majority of our players opted for other clubs. We wish to revive our club but it will take some time. Our main aim is to promote football,” said Farasee.

He however, was not against the transfer policy, though he accepted that their club had gone weak because of these transfers.

Gopal Bharadwaj owner of Akranta club, which is one of the best clubs in the city said, “Transfer policy has its own plus as well as minus points.

While on one side it makes particular club stronger, on the other hand some clubs feel the pinch as good players shift for better finances. But it is part of the game.”

Gopal is a transporter by profession and has been successfully running the club for the last fifteen years.

Dehradun, June 6
Thousands of parrots were found dead due to some mysterious illness in the farms of the seed production centre of Pantnagar Agriculture University in Udham Singh Nagar district.

To the utter surprise of the residents, thousands of wild parrots were found dead in the farms.

Senior authorities of the university were informed about the incident and personally visited the farms. Dr GK Singh, Dean, Veterinary Department, said that investigation into the death of a large number of parrots would be conducted.

He further said that the exact cause of these deaths could only be ascertained after investigation. However, local residents believe that the parrots had died following consumption of sunflowers grown in the farms of the Seed Production Centre. They allege that heavy use of chemical pesticides could be the reason for the death of such a large number of birds.

They argued that parrots like to eat sunflower seeds and as the sunflowers at the Seed Production Centre were laden with pesticides, it led to their deaths.

University officials maintained that nothing could be said before the investigation. Some residents also believe that rapid industrialisation of the area and the coming up of large number of factories blowing out hazardous chemicals in the air could be another cause for the deaths.