Dehradun, June 29
Trying to find a balance between the two warring groups of two former Chief Ministers namely BC Khanduri and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari in the formation of his ministry, Uttarkhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has gone to New Delhi to get his list of ministers approved by the party high command.

According to ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources, the next big challenge before Chief Minister ‘Nishank’ would be to form his council of ministers.

Only three ministers namely Matbar Singh Kandari, Bishan Singh Chaufal and Madan Kaushik were sworn in along with the Chief Minister on June 27.

All three were members of the previous Khanduri government. No one from the Koshiyari camp could find a place in the first go. The notable omission on that day was Parkash Pant, one of the senior-most ministers from Kumaon and considered close to Koshiyari.

Apart from the factional politics, Chief Minister Nishank is also under pressure to give a fresh look to his ministry by dropping some non-performers of the previous regime and induct fresh blood.

Some districts that were represented in the Khanduri council of ministers are also vying to get a berth.

The new Chief Minister also has to strike a balance between two regions of Kumaon and Garhwal, giving representation to two dominant communities of Thakurs and Brahmins besides taking care of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Khanduri had given one cabinet berth to the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), an ally of the ruling party having three legislators.

It has to be seen whether "Nishank" would like to give one berth to the alliance partner since the BJP now has majority of its own in the state Assembly. It has 35 members of its own and the support of two Independents who are also associate members of the party.

If Chief Minister ‘Nishank’ wants to keep the UKD in good humour by giving them a berth then only seven berths will remain for ruling BJP legislators. To sort out this riddle, ‘Nishank’ has gone to New Delhi today to meet senior BJP and RSS leaders including senior leader LK Advani.

Dehradun, June 29
Uttarakhand Governor BL Joshi has exhorted the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to work for making the developmental programmes reach to the last man in accordance with the spirit of democracy.

Governor Joshi was addressing IAS officers of 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 batches who had come to attend the ‘Mid-Term Career Training Programme’ at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of administration at Mussoorie today.

“The gains of development should not flow from top to bottom but reach the lower people and move upwards. The trickle down policy has not worked. We should do some soul searching. Are we really relevant to the needs of people. One test we could apply is: Let us continuously ask ourselves whether people in my area of responsibility are really better off because of me? This relevance will then automatically reflect through our work and through our work ethics,” said Governor Joshi.

He further said that true meaning of Civil Service is to have a spirit of service and the IAS officers should act as facilitators and not as the masters of the people. “The authority and power flows from the people and whatever roles we play should all be ultimately judged by whether or not we have served the people to our best capacity,” he added.

Asking the members of this elite service of the country to avail of the opportunities to serve the society, Governor Joshi advised them to live by a value system and make good use of these opportunities, as there are no substitutes to sincerity and hard work.

Talking about the present economic conditions, Joshi said that as the economy evolves and society and polity change, markets would increasingly become the arbitrators of resource allocation. At the same time, it was necessary to realise that markets can at times lead to further marginalisation of the poor and the vulnerable. “When millions of people are living on the edge of subsistence, with little in the form of assets or skills to be active participants in the evolving market economy, such an economy cannot have much significance for them. While markets can facilitate higher growth, a government must ensure that growth is equitable, inclusive and not unduly harsh on those not equipped to manage change. Your new role is that of facilitators rather than holders of state authority,” he added.

A total of 89 IAS officers are taking part in the programme. Academy director Rudra Gangadharan and other senior officers of the academy were present on the occasion.

Haridwar, June 29
A girl died and another was badly injured when an engine hit them as they were crossing the railway bridge, locally called ‘Lal Pull’, at Jwalapur here today. The girls, Aghori Khatoon and Jubaida both aged 10 years, were trapped midway on the bridge when the engine was fast approaching from one side.

Aghori Khatoon, daughter of Mohammed Anwar, died on the spot while Jubaida, daughter of Hanif, was badly injured. Families of both girls reside in Jwalapur area.

According to eye witnesses, the accident happened at about 10 am when the two girls were trying to cross the bridge.

Though the engine could be heard, the girls couldn’t gauge its speed and tragically, got caught on the bridge.

As the railway bridge is narrow, there is barely any space for anything other than the train. As soon as the locals witnessed the accident, they ran to the spot only to see Aghori Khatoon dead and Jubaida seriously injured.

The injured was taken to the district hospital from where she was referred to the Jolly Grant Hospital for further medical treatment. The railway police took Aghori’s body into custody and later sent it for a post-mortem examination.

As the ‘Lal Pull’ is the shortest way to reach the national highway, locals prefer this bridge even while it means risking their lives.

Several accidents have occurred in the past at the same venue. The bridge is now becoming infamous as killer bridge.

Residents have been demanding a bridge for commuters but nothing has been done in this regard.

If locals don’t use this bridge, the extra distance they have to cover is about 1.5 km.

Railway officials maintain that the bridge is solely meant for the passage of trains and commuting by the people is prohibited.

Meanwhile, in another accident, a car had a head-on collision with a truck at Bahadrabad area on the Dehradun-Delhi national highway. Four persons were injured and were taken to the hospital.

Dehradun, June 29
The excitement of Bhagwan Prasad Ghildiyal of Pragati Vihar to get delivery of Nano is quite natural as he will be the first generation owner of the car. He is one of the 747 lucky customers in the city who are eagerly looking forward to get delivery of the world’s smallest car.

Like Ghildiyal, a government employee, customers are interested only in knowing about the day when the car will be delivered to them. “We have got the list of all the customers who were successful in the draw of lot. We will start delivery from July 15. As of now, we are busy answering their queries, which are mainly about the time of delivery,” said Rakesh Oberoi of Oberoi Motors, the authorised dealer of Tata Motors here.

As per the manufacturing company’s commitment, customers in the first lot of allotment will be getting the base model for Rs 1 lakh. Though they have the option of changing the colour as well as the model made at the time of booking, but the delivery of car will be deferred to subsequent lots. The company has decided to start delivery on quarterly basis. Those figuring in the first lot will get the delivery between July and September.

Apart from the first lot of recipients, there are 385 customers from Dehradun who have opted to retain their booking. At the time of booking, the company had given the option to customers whether they would like to get their booking amount refunded or retained if their names did not figure in the first lot. About 2,300 customers in Dehradun had booked the car. The successful ones in the first lot have started receiving letters of allotment.

Dehradun, June 29
In a futile dacoit bid, ten unidentified persons tried to take away cash from the strong room of the General Post Office (GPO) here today. Thieves, however, managed to enter the strong room but failed to break the safe, wherein all the cash was kept. The incident has exposed the poor security arrangements at the head post office.

As per the information, around 2.30 am on Monday, 10 persons reached GPO, Clock Tower.

They snatched the keys from the guards and unlocked the main door of head post office building and tried to steal the cash from the safe but failed to break the lock. They ransacked the office before fleeing empty handed.

According to eyewitnesses, GPO guards were handcuffed and locked inside the toilet during their two-hour long operation.

A GPO officer informed that guards Ram Singh and Kalyan Singh were first approached by a man around 2 am and requested them to allow him to take away his scooter, kept in GPO building complex.

But the guards refused and asked the person to come in the day. As the man engaged the guards in discussion, his other friends also came and surrounded them. Thereafter, the dacoits threatened the guards, took out knives to snatch keys from them.

The accused then handcuffed the guards and locked them inside the toilet. “They had broken the two locks before hammering the third and the last tier for safe’s security. But they failed,” said senior postmaster AK Juyal.

After getting the information, all senior police officers, including IG (Garhwal) MA Ganapathy, SSP Amit Kumar Sinha, along with dog squad and forensic experts reached the spot.

“It’s a matter of concern that incident took place in heart of the city. All efforts are on to nab the culprits,” said Sinha, while adding that police teams will be dispatched to arrest the culprits. 

Dehradun, June 29
Tasmia Educational and Social Welfare Society distributed certificates to the 130 children in the age group of 10-22 years who attended their month-long camp. The chairman of the society Dr S Farooq gave away the certificates.

During the course, children hailing from poor families were given training in carpet weaving, computers, elementary Urdu, communication English and personality development.

“These courses were chosen in order to provide skill-based training to students,” said Shagufta Mansoor, principal of the society.

The personality development course helped students improve their social skills.

“These children do not go to expensive schools where considerable attention is paid towards such soft skills.

“Most of them were shy and withdrawn initially but as we progressed with the course, there was a gradual change,” said Aman, personality development teacher.

The time spent at the centre proved fruitful for Mohammed Yunus who had enrolled himself for the computer course.

“I would not have got an opportunity to practice my drawing as in school, we hardly get a chance in the computer room. I learnt several things here,” he said.

Woollen carpets made by the students were also displayed at the programme.

Everybody, including the chairman of the society Dr S Farooq lauded the efforts of the participants and congratulated them for their hardwork . 

Dehradun, June 29
It was thumping 5-0 victory for Eleven Star over Western Boys at the ongoing District Football League at Pavilion Ground, here today. Good coordination and teamwork demonstrated by Eleven Star team outclassed Western Boys in all departments of the game.

Eleven Star struck its first goal in the 9th minute of the game to take a lead. In the 12th minute Eleven Star came close on scoring a goal but the ball sailed over the bar.

Lokesh struck the second goal for his team in the 22nd minute through a powerful kick that sailed in the nets beating goalkeeper.

Western Boys made repeated attempts to reduce the goal margin. But their attempts could not pay off. At the end of the first half Eleven Star team was leading with 2-0.

The second half was no different from the first and Eleven Star further increased its goal tally by three goals. Eleven Star forward S Payal scored the third goal for his team in the 3rd minute of the second half to make it 3-0. The fourth and the fifth goal came in the 22nd and 24th minute through Nitin Gurung and Saurab. Throughout the match Western Boys team looked out of place.

Second match was played between Garhwal Sporting and Doon Challengers. The match ended into a goalless draw. Both the teams were equal in strength. Garhwal Sporting team did dominate the initial minute of the match and launched some sharp moves from the right. But the strong defense put up by Doon Challengers denied them any opportunity to score.

Doon Challengers also launched some good moves but could not convert its moves into goals. At the end of the first half score was 0-0. The second half was no different from the first, as no team could open their account, thus the match ended in a draw.

Dehradun, June 29
Despite the rain bringing much-needed relief to the people, some places in the city and adjoining areas continue to face water scarcity. The areas that are facing acute water shortage are Jogiwala, Rajehwaripuram, Harawala, Balawala, Nathuwala, Dhamawala and Dhobalwala.

The residents of Luniya locality and Shastri Nagar are facing water shortage since the last several days. Besides, 
the quality of the water has also deteriorated.

“The problem was brought to our notice and we have rectified it. Sometimes during pumping water where pipes have been dug deep the problem does occur but not on regular basis,” said executive engineer SK Sharma.

Further at Shimla bypass, the problem was exacerbated when there was short circuit last night at the tube well that affected the water supply in the adjoining areas.

At Paltan Bazar too the water situation is dismal, shopkeepers had held protests in order to draw attention of the authorities but to no effect.

In villages adjoining the city the problem continues to be grim. Where there is acute shortage of water the villagers are trekking miles to fetch water or make alternative private arrangement, which is proving to be a costly affair.

The areas that are in the red are Aarcadia gram Sabha, Mohanpur, Smith nagar, New Colony, Pritampur. In certain houses, people usually get water for only 30 minutes in a day. Here, villagers are forced to fetch water from far off places.

In the nearby Keri village, hand pumps are proving to be a major source of water. The four hand pumps are quenching thirst of 300 villagers.

But villagers are now demanding water connections. “We have urged the Jal Sansthan authorities to lay water pipes in our area but so far nothing has been done in this direction,”said Geeta Bisht, chairman All-India Panchayat Association.

Dehradun, June 29
Uttarakhand Football Association is ruing over lack of funds for organising football tournaments in the state. Since the formation of the state, Uttarakhand Football Association could just organised two inter-district football tournaments.

The officials of the association blame it on the lack of funds as the main reason behind why inter-district football and other tournaments were not being organised frequently.

Secretary of the Uttarakhand Football Association, Akhatar Ali said that before the state was carved out from Uttar Pradesh, inter-district tournaments were regularly organised.

But after the formation of the state, lack of funds has been a major obstacle in organising such tournaments. For the past many years the state has not conducted u-16, u-19 tournaments at the inter-district level.

Commenting further Ali said that all football activities that are presently being held in the state is just because of efforts put in by the association and its people. Secretary of Dehradun District Football Association, Divendar Bisht claimed that association is working diligently for the promotion of football.

“We have started institutional league last year with an aim to promote football and produce talented players.

“In the near future we aim to organise tournaments at junior and sub-junior levels as well. We also aim to start for the first time football tournament for girls”.

But some of the players are unhappy with the kind of efforts put in by the association. They said that state teams formed by the association mainly comprises players from Uttarakhand Police and one or two more clubs, whereas most of the club players have been left out.

They further revealed that Dehradun city has been sole venue for organising district football league. For the past many years the Uttarakhand State Football team has been losing in Santosh Trophy.

This time too it began its campaign on a poor note losing to Manipur 9-0. Many feel that if a team is selected after conducting inter-district tournament, a better team could bring the final result. 

Dehradun, June 29
ONGC Employees Welfare Committee organised a volleyball coaching camp for the first time at Doiwala, Dehradun from June 5 to June 25. In order to give the benefit of expert coaching to children belonging to rural areas, ONGC took the initiative to impart coaching to children from as young as 8 years to 18 years.

During the trials, 300 boys participated. Out of them, 70 boys were selected for the coaching camp.

The closing ceremony was held on June 28. The chief guest on the occasion was RK Singh, DGM (HR)-Corporate Administration, ONGC. He distributed kits and certificates to the trainees.

Former international players and national volleyball players namely Arun Kumar Sood, Mehar Singh, AA Khan, Jamal Waris, DC Upreti and BV Singh gave the latest volleyball training to the players.

Playing equipment was provided by EWC, ONGC. Local clubs, including Golden Club, Doiwala extended their support for conducting the coaching camp.

During the closing ceremony, PV Negi, secretary, EWC, AK Sood, manager (HR)-Welfare, ONGC, parents of trainees and Gram Pradhans were also present and appreciated the efforts of ONGC to promote the game in rural areas. 

Dehradun, June 29
Dehradun stood fourth at the 8th Inter-School Tae kwon do Association competition held at Saharanpur. Rachit Bisht, Aman Singh and Jagdish Kumar won gold at the competition.

Shagun Jain, Mahendra Pratab Singh, M Rawat and Sanjay Nautiyal were silver medallists at the competition.

On the other hand Mohit Bisht, V Anand, Sumit Kumar, Rajman, Tushar Gupta, Deepak Sharma, Ayush Dhobhal, Ashish Dhobhal, Shilpi Rawat and Saloni Rawat won the bronze medals.