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Pokhriyal’s balancing act
8 U’khand ministers sworn in |
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A day of leopard attacks, 12 injured
Finally, leopard shot
U’khand technical varsity counselling postponed
Tech varsity mulls degrees in booklet form
DAV College Stir
Health Smart Card
Swine Flu
1 killed, 3 injured in building collapse
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Pokhriyal’s balancing act
24 ‘dayatvdharis’
quit As many as 24 ‘dayatvdharis’ (those holding ministerial-rank posts) in the Uttarakhand government have resigned. The development assumes significance in wake of the fact that today morning Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ had completed the exercise to expand his ministry. Highly placed sources said that ‘dayatvdharis’ were directed by the party to submit their resignation. There are total of 48 ‘dayatvdharis’ in the BJP government. According to Uttarakhand BJP general secretary Tirath Singh
Rawat, around 24 ‘dayatvharis’ have submitted their resignations by evening. It is also learnt that after the submission of resignation by all ‘dayatvdharis’, the state government will induct new faces.
Dehradun, July 1 While, Pokhriyal retained all ministers of the Khanduri government from the Garhwal region, he dropped three of his earlier colleagues, all from Kumaon. He gave a chance to four new faces including two from Kumaon. It was a tough task for the incumbent Chief Minister to form his ministry in the backdrop of the intense power struggle witnessed in the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that led to the ouster of Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd). The state unit as well as the party legislators are mainly divided into two camps headed by Khanduri and former Chief Minister Koshiyari. Pokhriyal has tried to strike a balance between both groups and has also catered to the aspirations of the party legislators by giving representation to newer faces in his ministry. He has also tried to cut to size his rival Parkash Pant who was also an aspirant for the post of Chief Minister. Although Parkash Pant was one among eight others to take oath as a minister today but by not inviting him in the first go, when Chief Minister Nishank himself took oath on June 27 with three other senior ministers, clearly indicated that Pant has lost the number two position that he enjoyed in the Khanduri government. Pokhriyal retained Matbar Singh Kandari, Trivendra Singh Rawat, Rajinder Singh Bhandari, an Independent, Diwakar Bhatt from alliance partner Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), Madan Kaushik from Haridwar, Parkash Pant and Bishan Singh Chaufal from Kumaon region in his cabinet. All of them were cabinet ministers in the Khanduri government. Banshi Dhar Bhagat, cabinet minister of Forest and Environment in the previous government hailing from Haldwani, Ajay Tamta, a cabinet minister holding the charge of Social Welfare who also fought the Almora Lok Sabha seat unsuccessfully and Beena Mehrana, a minister of state for Women and Child Development, all three hailing from Kumaon were dropped. The four new faces that have been inducted as ministers of state are Vijaya Bharatwal, Deputy Speaker of the state assembly, Khazan Dass, a legislator from Dhanolti near Mussoorie, both from Garhwal and Govind Singh Bisht and Balwant Singh Bhouriyal, both from Kumaon region. Vijaya Bharatwal and Govind Singh Bist would hold independent charge. Chief Minister Nishank has tried to placate Bhagat Singh Koshiyari by having four of his supporters namely Parkash Pant, Govind Singh Bisht, Balwant Singh Bhouriyal and Trivendra Singh Rawat in the ministry. The ruling BJP has 20 party legislators from Garhwal and 15 from Kumaon region. The party also has support from two Independents and the three-member Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) in the 70-member Assembly. |
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8 U’khand ministers sworn in Dehradun, July 1 Uttarakhand Governor BL Joshi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers at a ceremony held on the lawns of the Raj Bhawan here today. On June 27, Pokhriyal was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state in place of Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd). Three cabinet ministers, who were also in the Khanduri ministry, were sworn in along with Pokhriyal on June 27. They were Matbar Singh Kandari, Bishan Singh Chaufal and Madan Kaushik. Four cabinet ministers namely Parkash Pant, Trivendra Singh Rawat from BJP, Diwakar Bhatt from Uttarkhand Kranti Dal (UKD) and Rajinder Singh Bhadari, an Independent, were sworn in today.
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President arrives tomorrow
Dehradun, July 1 According to the senior police officials, besides deployment of the cops at the various important places in the city, special quick response teams have been constituted to deal with any exigency. The President will reach Dehradun on July 3 and during her three-day visit to the state, she will visit Mussoorie and Nainital. However, according to the information available, the district administration is struggling to arrange 32 cars that will be there in the fleet of the President. Though the administration has the requisite number of cars but the officials are not sure about the condition of the vehicles. In wake of the fact that during the visit of the then President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam few years back, four vehicles in the fleet of the President had developed snags thereby putting the administration in an embarrassing situation. According to the sources, now the officials have requested Haridwar and few other district administrations to provide cars in order to ensure that all 32 cars in fleet of the President are in good condition. Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Governor BL Joshi would be hosting a dinner in the honour of the President on July 4 in Dehradun. |
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A day of leopard attacks, 12 injured
Dehradun, July 1 An adult prowling leopard took the Premnagar area under siege from 6 to 8 am as it repeatedly attacked the passers-by, one after another making people on the street run for cover. Leopard severely injured 55-year-old Bhagwati Joshi resident of Kotra Santoor Premnagar. Victim’s eye was damaged in the scuffle. The beast also attacked Priyanshu and Priyanka, siblings, who came across the leopard as they were about to enter Kendriya Vidhyalaya IMA school. As many as six persons were admitted to Combined Hospital, Premnagar while five others were admitted to Doon Hospital. Victims admitted in Combined Hospital Premnagar included Satbir Singh Pundir (30) resident of Kotra Santoor Premnagar, JP Raturi (68) resident of Pondha and RP Thapa (45), a resident of Laxmipur, Priyanshu Joshi (10) and Priyanka Joshi (11), both the residents of Pondha. Among the other two, while Bhagwati Devi who lost her eye in the attack was referred to Himalayan Hospital as her condition was reported to be serious. Mishri Lal, another victim was discharged after treatment. Similarly, five of the injured were rushed to Doon Hospital. Among them Mohan Ram (50) and Prakash Chand (42) were admitted at the hospital with multiple injuries. Maya Devi (45) and two children were discharged after administering the first aid. Uttarkhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank visited the injured in Combined Hospital Premnagar and announced an assistance of Rs 25,000 for seriously injured while Rs 15,000 has been announced for those with minor injuries. The CM appreciated 10-year-old Priyanshu for his brave efforts in not only saving himself but also his sister from the leopard. Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana was also among the first to visit the hospital and enquire of the well being of those injured in the wildcat attacks. Meanwhile, Dehradun Forest officials faced angry crowd, who sought prompt gunning down of the leopard. “We have sent the recommendation for declaring the leopard as man-eater to the chief wildlife warden and are also working on the compensation for the victims,” BK Gangte, DFO Dehradun said. He also confirmed that one single leopard was responsible for the attacks. Later while interacting with the people, Gangte also disclosed that the forest department was ready to provide permit for killing the leopard if there was any gun license holder in the Premnagar region. Angry Premnagar residents staged a jam on the main Chakrata road from 9.30 am to 11 am seeking prompt action on part of the state administration. They alleged that the region has been infested with leopards for quite some time but any action on part of forest authorities were still to come. Narendra, a resident of Premnagar, said that leopards have frequently attacked humans in the villages adjoining Premnagar. While livestock have been regular casualties, attacks on humans have also been quite common in recent times. |
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Finally, leopard shot
Dehradun, July 1 The shooters entered the room by breaking the roof. When they searched the room, they found a lady hiding in a cupboard in the same room as the leopard. Her hand was badly bruised and was later rushed to the hospital. Earlier in the evening, the prowling leopard was trapped in a room but with the an inmate at the house at Birpur in Garhi Cantt area of Dehradun. While the forest officials were trying to trap the leopard, the life of woman inside the same house was also at risk making task difficult for forest officials. Forest authorities had gheraoed the room and were trying to zero in to the leopard. The leopard after attacking 12 persons in Premnagar this morning had crossed over to the Indian Military Academy. By evening, the leopard had moved further to Garhi Cantt area after covering the entire north campus of the Indian Military Academy where it got confined in a house. |
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U’khand technical varsity counselling postponed
Dehradun, July 1 The changes in the schedule were decided during the meeting between secretary, Technical Education, and the Vice Chancellor Prof Durg Singh Chauhan. The changes are believed to have been made due to lack of preparation. This round of counselling is meant for admissions against state quota seats in 50 engineering colleges affiliated to the university. The university has finalised nine places for the purpose including Dehradun, Roorkee, Srinagar Garhwal, Kashipur, Pant Nagar, Haldwani, Nainital, Almora and Tehri. This time again, the counselling will be conducted in the decentralised manner. The aspirants will be called in accordance with the merit list of AIEEE. The students called for counselling will have to report at the concerned notified centre at 8 am. They will have to bring original certificates, marks sheets and a photograph. UTU Registrar Dr Mrituanjay Kumar Mishra said the details of the programme will be released soon. The counselling for Bachelor course in Hotel Management had been decided as July 1 but now it will be held from July 8. There are five colleges in the state affiliated to the UTU. Counselling for pharmacy and MCA courses will also start from July 8. GRD Institute located on Rajpur Road has been selected for counselling for pharmacy course while Dehradun Institute of Technology (DIT) will be the venue of MCA course. |
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Tech varsity mulls degrees in booklet form
Dehradun, July 1 The smart degree being mulled by the UTU is presently in vogue abroad and has several advantages over the traditional degree for the students. It will contain all details of academic certificates and other record of students in the form of a booklet like a passport. “Moreover, it does not leave scope for tampering,” said vice-chancellor Prof Durg Singh Chauhan. If the government gives nod, it is likely to award the degree in new format to the students passing out this academic session. A government owned Singapore-based company prepares this degree. The university may bear its estimated cost between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 per student on its own. But the cost may be on a higher side for uploading academic data of old students. The high point is that the students will no longer need to maintain their academic records in any other form. The acceptability of this format all over the world gives students an opportunity to hunt jobs globally. The officials concerned said that the proposed degree would contain scanned documents of a student’s academic record along with details regarding his or her classroom attendance, behaviour, character certificate and parents. This record would then be uploaded on the university’s server. Students can send the soft copy of this academic passport as their bio-data through email while applying for jobs. The prospective employers too will be in a position to verify contents of the application. |
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DAV College Stir
Dehradun, July 1 ABVP activists gathered at the college raising anti-management slogans and forcibly locked the door of the accounts department. “We carried out the lockout to make the college management understand that ABVP will not tolerate the sorry state of affairs within the college,” said an activist. State vice-president of the ABVP, Jitendra Rawat said, “Every year college management collects Rs 300 per student in the name of development charges. But over the years, the management has hardly utilised the amount.” “The management has not carried out whitewash of the college building for last many years and the much needed renovation work of old building is still awaited,” said Sumit Pundir, ABVP activist. He alleged that management has not done little to improve the drinking water facility of the college despite charging fee for water. With the strength of 30,000 studentsm management should take adequate care of basic facilities like drinking water. Other issues that were raised by ABVP included providing fans to the students, constructing a common room for girls, toilets and other basic amenities in the college. |
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Health Smart Card
Dehradun, July 1 After deciding to run the scheme on public-private partnership mode, the health authorities had invited tenders last year but none of the companies that were finally selected could match up to their expectations. Set into motion in July 2008, the ATM-like scheme is expected to greatly aid in the medical billing of serving and retired government employees. In order to reap electoral benefits, the government had even instructed the health department to launch the scheme before the Lok Sabha election dates could be announced but that did not happen. “Though we had zeroed in on three companies, none of them could come up to our expectations. The figures quoted were quite high. Now the entire process will have to be restarted,” said Dr Sudhanshu Bahuguna, Additional Director, Directorate of Medical, Health and Family Welfare. The ATM-type cashless scheme for serving and retired government servants is expected to put an end to the bill-reimbursement procedure. The single card can provide access to all kinds of treatment at the empanelled hospitals in the state as well outside. All employees are expected to get a guide book that includes a list of empanelled hospitals inside and outside Uttarakhand along with list of treatments being offered once the scheme becomes operational. |
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Swine Flu
Dehradun, July 1 The nasal swab and blood samples of the patients have been sent to the Delhi-based National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) for tests. “A team of doctors from Dehradun had gone to collect the samples yesterday. The results will be available by tomorrow,” said Dr Pankaj Jain, nodal officer. Earlier, the authorities had quarantined five students of Mussoorie International School displaying symptoms akin to swine flu. But all five had tested negative. A family of an ONGC engineer was also quarantined at ONGC Hospital in Dehradun when one of its family members displayed swine flu-like symptoms. However, they too tested negative. |
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1 killed, 3 injured in building collapse
Mussoorie, July 1 As the building collapsed, four labourers were trapped in the debris and were later rescued by the police and ITBP personnel. The building is known as Cronstadt House and Prarthna Sadan and is located on the Mall Road here. The incident happened at around 11.30 am. According to eyewitnesses, they heard a loud noise and when they looked around, they saw that the entire building had collapsed and the workers who were on the first floor fell on the ground and were partially buried under the debris. According to sources, the building was being illegally demolished as there were four pending cases regarding the ownership of the building. Members of a minority committee had filed these cases against the present owners of the building claiming ownership of the land and protesting against the demolition of the building as they claimed it to be a religious place. Unconfirmed sources stated that the DM had issued orders preventing the demolition of the building and that the demolition was entirely illegal. |
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Roshani, Yanky Club play a draw
Dehradun, July 1 It was a closely contested match between both the teams. Both the teams missed out several opportunities to score a goal. In the first half Yanky Club opened its accounts in the 5th minute of the match. It was Rakesh for Yanky Club who made a solo run from the centre to dodge Roshani club players before skillfully placing the ball in the net. After Yanky Club took the lead, Roshani Club took control of the match to dominate the remaining part of the half. Roshani Club came close on scoring on a number of occasions but lack failed to score. At the end of the first half the scores were 1-0. In the second half Roshani Club came in the form and pressurised Yanky Club defence. In the 15th minute of the half long pass from the left almost earned Roshani Club its equalisers. But its forward failed to put their foot in line to the ball, letting go the opportunity to score. In the 30th minute Roshani Club got another opportunity to score but it failed yet again. Finally, the equaliser for the Roshnai team came in the 53rd minute through Vikrant’s boots to make it 1-1 before the final whistle. The second match between Vijay Cantt and Doon United ended in a goalless draw. Bad finishing yet again affected the play in the second half. Despite receiving opportunities to score both the team failed to capitalise on the chances. |
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