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On day 6, civic bodies employees end stir
For now, no move to revise stamp duty |
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Family tests negative for swine flu
Tiger carcass found near Corbett Park
Ruskin Bond to launch Mona Verma’s 1st
book Abhimanyu Academy outclass State XI Documents misplaced; girl denied joining letter Work in Doon slow: Official Congress men seek compensation Another feather in spine surgeon’s
cap
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On day 6, civic bodies employees end stir Dehradun, June 20 While principal secretary Subhash Kumar and potable water secretary MH Khan represented the administration during the parleys, Bhupendra Singh Rawat and other office-bearers of Civic Bodies Association represented the employees. Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli, who personally held several rounds of talks with the agitating employees, mediated the meeting. Earlier in the day, as many as 21 civic bodies employees courted arrest, even as the stir entered its sixth day, here today. The protesting employees are seeking Sixth Pay Commission benefits. Among the 13 persons arrested, five were from the Jal Sansthan, five from Municipal Corporation, two from Zila Panchayat and one from Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority. President of Uttarakhand Civic Bodies Employees Association Bhupendra Singh Rawat pledged to continue their "jail bharo abhiyan" while pointing out that the employees would not be cowed down by repressive attitude of the authorities. Reports of employees courting arrest have also come from other parts of the state. Meanwhile, albeit the administration did manage to ensure smooth supply of potable water, sanitary conditions turned worse as drivers of the garbage pick-up vehicles boycotted duty.
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For now, no move to revise stamp duty Dehradun, June 20 Notably, Stamps and Registration Department is the third biggest revenue grosser in the state after commercial tax and excise departments. The trend of revenue collection increasing steadily since 2001 when Uttarakhand came into being, slumped in 2007-08 when the department collected Rs 424 crore as compared to Rs 546 crore in 2006-07. Since then, it is continuing to fall. Officials are worried over the downward trend, which has shown no sign of improvement even in the first two months of this fiscal. The department collected Rs 56 crore in April and May, which is Rs eight crore less than the corresponding months of the last financial year. The total collection last year was Rs 357 crore, which amounted to 15 per cent shortfall as compared to the corresponding year. “There is no proposal to revise stamp duty as part of the government efforts to tide over the revenue crunch,” said a senior official. The government’s predicament in sparing the stamp duty from any revision stems from the fact that such a step may deprive it Central funds for development works under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Under this, the states are required to progressively reduce stamp duty to five percent by 2012.As of now, nine per cent stamp duty, including two per cent development duty, is charged on every property registration deed. The department collects this two per cent duty on behalf of local bodies and it is used by them to carry out development works. Interestingly, hectic parleys are on for past some time to find ways and means to generate additional resources to peg the fiscal deficit staring in the face of the government on account of massive increase in its non-plan expenditure. Recently, the Chief Secretary called a meeting of different departments on the issue. A cabinet sub-committee has also been formed for the purpose.
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Family tests negative for swine flu Dehradun, June 20 Dr Pankaj Jain, nodal officer of Integrated Surveillance Establishment, confirmed that the report received from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi, for the four members of JS Rathore’s family, chief engineer with ONGC and a resident of Indira Colony, was negative. He, however, said the report had tested positive for common influenza and all of them are being treated for it. But taking no chances, health authorities have kept them in the isolation ward till the report of the second sample arrives within a day or two. Earlier on Thursday, four members of Rathore’s family were admitted to ONGC hospital with A (H1N1) flu symptoms. Subsequently, all the four were quarantined. The family had recently returned from a trip to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. |
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Muslims lagging behind, says Harish Rawat Haridwar, June 20 “Haridwar is a centre of excellence in the field of education; yet it seems scattered.“We have to collect knowledge and disseminate it in its full form so that each and every person becomes literate, irrespective of community, caste or creed” said Rawat. Rawat said there were several madrasas in the area, which was a good sign, but still the Muslim community is lagging behind as far as education is concerned.“When all sections of society are educated, only then can we call ourselves successful,” viewed Rawat. Pointing out at the need for a bridge between Sanskrit language and ‘sanskirti’ (culture), he said the Sanskrit Academy can do a lot in this aspect and has to don the role of the guiding institution. Talking about penetration of foreign educational institutions, Rawat said it was a system of only doing business.It had nothing to do with the ideals of education, which in turn is hampering the traditional Indian education system, he said. “We are losing out because the business aspect has penetrated education, especially higher and professional,” said Rawat.Meanwhile, while felicitating Rawat vice chancellor of Gurukul Kangri University Swatantra Kumar said both Haridwar and Gurukul have large expectations from Uttarakhand’s only minister in Central government. “We have faith in him and are sure that he will live up to our expectations,” he said.Others present at the ceremony were professors Mahavir Aggarwal, RD Sharma, RKS Dagar, Dwijendra Pant, DevRaj Arya and Dr Pradeep Joshi. Congress leaders present included OP Chauhan, Sanjay Paliwal, Purushotam Sharma and Satpal Brahmachari.
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Tiger carcass found near Corbett Park Dehradun, June 20 The park authorities, in the presence of nominated members of National Tiger Conservation Authority, finally disposed the remains. Notably, Corbett Park and the surrounding forest divisions have been witnessing territorial struggle among tigers for quite some time now. Sagaon trees found axed
Dehradun: As many as three Sagaon trees were found axed in Bijrani Zone of Corbett National Park today. A patrolling party came across the parts of the felled trees in Phultal compartment number 6, which falls in Bijrani Range of buffer zone of the Corbett National Park. Corbett warden D S Rawat said a case has been registered against unidentified miscreants under the Forest Protection Act. Sambhar skin, horns seized
Haridwar: A team of forest officials, led by wildlife warden IA Siddiqui, today recovered a skin and five horns of a sambhar from the house of Ilias Salmani in Dadupur-Govindpur village, Ranipur Kotwali, in the Rajaji National Park. An unlicensed gun was also recovered from his possession. The accused has been arrested while his son Nafees Salmani managed to escape. After information of the raid, sub-divisional officer KS Rawat, and ranger KP Verma
also reached the spot. Officials said the cost of the skin and horns could be around Rs 1 lakh. The accused, who has been handed over to officials of Haridwar forest division, has been booked under sections of 9/39, 51 and 52 of the Wildlife Protection Act of India. |
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Junior Cantt pip Little Star Dehradun, June 20 But poor coordination between their forwards resulted in their moves fizzling out half way into the Yankies Club
defence.Yankies Club made some counter moves but to no avail. It was a goalless first half. The second half was no different. Pachwadoon came close to scoring a goal but the shot sailed over the bar. The game ended in a goalless draw. In the second match, Junior Cantt beat Little Star 2-1. It was close match between the two teams. Junior Cantt managed to score their first goal in the 19th minute. Little Star made repeated attempts to find the equaliser in the first half but failed. In the second half, Little Star forward Siddharth Rana got the much-needed equaliser in the 40th minute. Junior Cantt stuck again in the 55th minute through Tika to make it 2-1. |
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Ruskin Bond to launch Mona Verma’s 1st book
Meet Mona Verma, Haridwar’s first English fiction writer. She is ready with her first book titled ‘A Bridge to Nowhere’ that she completed in flat four months. “I did not want anything out of sync in my book. So, we took time to see so everything, right from the cover to the pages, is in line with the stories” said Mona. But it was not a bed of roses for her as no guidance on how to get a book published was available in the holy city. At last, she went to the google search engine and got some help. “My husband and brother Navneet went across the length and breadth of the nation so that I get a good publisher.“Now, I can guide budding writers from Uttarakhand on how to go about it,” said Mona. Born in Haridwar, Mona did her schooling from the Delhi Public School, Ranipur. She then went to Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, to pursue honours in philosophy and psychology.She topped in the college and was quite active in extra-curricular activities. “At 38, my husband kindled the writer in me,” Mona said.“At Lady Shri Ram College, Gyanpeeth winner Meenakshi Gopinathan was our principal. She played a pivotal role in creating a literary environment in the college,” reminisces Mona. Last year, the shock of her grandmother’s death sent Mona into a depression.It was then that her husband Sanjay inspired her to write a book to get her out of depression. Noted writer Ruskin Bond on his meeting with Mona not only praised her book but also took a dig on why she didn’t write in her 20s.“You will do well. I am surprised how come a girl from Haridwar writes such good fiction,” were the remarks of Bond after going through her book ‘A Bridge to Nowhere’. Bond will launch the book in Haridwar on June 25 and it will be his first visit to the city to attend a function.After getting appreciated by Ruskin Bond, Mona is all geared up for her second book ‘God is a River’.
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Abhimanyu Academy outclass State XI Dehradun, June 20 It was a strong batting display by Abhimanyu Cricket Academy batsmen who piled up 245 runs in their allotted 30 overs. The openers contributed 52 runs in the first seven overs.Priyanshu hit 29 runs off 24 balls while Dhanor smashed 58 runs off 58 balls hitting five fours. In the middle order, Nishant made a useful contribution of 54 runs off 39 balls to accelerate the team’s runrate well above six runs per over.Chand Babu supported him well on the other end to smash 30 runs off 19 balls. For State Eleven, it was a poor bowling display as they gave away 34 extras.Ankush was the only successful bowler for State Eleven who claimed four wickets in his six-over spell. Chasing the target, State Eleven team was all out for 105 runs in 17.5 overs. No batsmen could occupy the crease for long.Sonu top scored with 23 runs. For Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Nishant and Raj Kumar took four wickets each.
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Documents misplaced; girl denied joining letter Dehradun, June 20 As a result, the appointing authority, Commissioner, Tax, refused to issue her the joining letter that she and her family had been waiting for desperately. Kavita qualified for the post after clearing the examination conducted by Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UPSC) in 2004, the result of which was declared only last year. "I do not know who is responsible for this but it is sheer negligence on part of the officials concerned. I learnt about it from the office of the Commissioner, Tax, that the verification documents sent here through the DM office, Nainital, actually related to my sister-in-law who has got a job in the post office at my village. Despite frantic efforts, I have no clue where my documents have landed," she said. However, Kavita has informed the office of DM, Nainital, which has asked her to get a letter issued from the office of the appointing authority about the lapse. As official machinery works at its own speed, she does not know whether she would be eligible for joining on Monday, when the training of new CTOs starts. As many as 25 CTOs have been issued joining letters.
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Work in Doon slow: Official
Dehradun, June 20 Pangtey said that a survey had been conducted over the progress of the construction work at Auli and Dehradun, the two centres where Winter Games are to be held. He expressed satisfaction with the pace at which the work was underway at Auli. “The work at Auli for skiing slope is almost done. It will be made available for a trial run two months ahead of the scheduled time.”He was dissatisfied at the pace of work in the capital. — TNS |
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Congress men seek compensation Dehradun, June 20 Accompanied by leaders of the Valmiki community, senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana met ADM (Finance) Sushil Kumar and submitted a memorandum addressed to Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, in this regard. Dhasmana demanded that compensation should also be given to Pramod, who was admitted to the hospital after he fell unconscious while cleaning the sewer. “It is our request that compensation of Rs 2 lakh should be given to Ashish’s family and Pramod from the Chief Minister’s relief fund,” said Dhasmana. He said Ashish was the only bread-earner for his family. “Keeping in mind the poor financial condition of their families, the government must help them.” Dhasmana even called up Khanduri and requested him to look into the matter personally. He also demanded a magisterial probe into the incident. |
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Another feather in spine surgeon’s
cap Dehradun, June 20 The entry comes under the category of the ‘oldest patient operated upon for spine surgery in India’.Dr Sanjay, who has over 765 spine surgeries to his credit in the past 10 years, claimed that most of his patients have recovered and were able to lead normal lives. Dr Sanjay has had training in spine surgeries from Australia.He also featured in the Guinness Book of Records 2005 for removing the largest bone tumour weighing 16.5 kg from a 35-year-old male. In 2002, he achieved a rare distinction by performing hip transplant surgery on a 98-year-old high-risk patient. Dr BKS Sanjay was awarded fellowship by the Swedish Government in 1986, AO International Trauma Fellowship (1998) by Switzerland, Chiba Cancer Centre Fellowship (1990) Japan, Mayo Clinic Visiting Clinician Fellowship (1991) by USA and Royal Adelaide Hospital Spinal fellowship (1999) by Australia. Dr Sanjay said that in slip-disc surgery, the timing of the operation holds the key.“Patients with fractured spine also can make dramatic improvement if they get a good and experienced surgeon at the early stage,” claimed Dr Sanjay. “The lack of awareness about spine surgery deprives many patients of proper treatment,” he added. |
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Dehradun, June 20
Haridwar, June 20