Tributes paid to Ranbir

Haridwar, July 8
Employees of Cello Houseware, a company in Integrated Industrial Area, SIDCUL, are threatening to set themselves ablaze in front of the Chief Minister’s residence if the “oppression” by the company continues.

The employees had earlier filed a case against the management but after several rounds of talks took back the complaint. With the management allegedly going back on the agreement, the employees are once again on the warpath.

Sonu Thakur, who was allegedly assaulted by company officials and is recuperating at the Dehradun Coronation Hospital, alleged that despite a case registered with the Ranipur police, nothing had been done.

He said trouble began when four outstation employees, Munna Kumar, Vijender Kumar and ShriKant, all from Bihar, and Yashwant from Bijnore in Uttar Pradesh were expelled without notice and assaulted by company officers as they dared to ask the reason for their expulsion.

The following day, Sonu Thakur spearheaded an agitation and work in the factory was stopped. The company then assured the protesters that the expelled employees would be re-instatedon July 1, but the company did not keep its word.

The emploes have now resumed their stir and threatened to immolate themselves in front of the Chief Minister’s residence.

When contacted, SIDCUL SHO Keshav Bhatt said the police would look into the matter after the Kanwar Mela.

Company supervisor Kamleshwar refuse to answer queries. He said expelling outstation staff was the company’s prerogative and contractual employees had no right to complain.

CCO Harinder Garg refused to take this reporter’s call. Company manager Keshav Shukla too was not available for comment.

JP Pandey, social activist and Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Manch vice-president, said: “Last year we spoke up for the employees when a factory expelled three women without any reason and they were later reinstated. Several cases of arbitrariness go unreported as employees fear loss of jobs.”

The contractual employees condemned the electronic media for ignoring their cause.

Dehradun, July 8
With the Dehradun police under fire for allegedly killing Ranbir Singh, an MBA from Ghaziabad, in a fake encounter, another encounter in Harbanshwala Tea Estate some three weeks back in which a thief was reportedly shot dead has also come under the scanner.

Going by the manner in which the thief, identified as Dharamveer, was killed, there are enough reasons to question the police theory.

On June 14, the Dehradun police claimed to have shot dead one thief Dharamveer in a police encounter in Harbanshwala Tea Estate near Vasant Vihar area.

Dharamveer, a resident of Gandhi Colony, Muzaffarnagar, was killed and his 
accomplice managed to flee from the spot.

The police had also claimed that jewellery worth Rs 50,000 and a revolver was seized from Dharamveer.

The police had claimed that at around 2 am on June 14, a police party of the Vasant Vihar police station was patrolling the area.

According to the police, Dharamveer and his accomplice along with a rehri were spotted in the area. When they were asked to stop, they entered the nearby Harbanshwala Tea Estate.

The cops chased them but one of the persons fired at the police party and subsequently, Dharamveer was killed in retaliatory fire. The police told the media that Dharamveer had sustained two bullet injuries in the left side of his chest, one hitting his heart.

But contrary to the police claims, the first thing that raises doubt over the police version is timing of the encounter. Police officials failed to answer why the duo was doing with a ‘rehri’ in Vasant Vihar at 2 am.

Furthermore, when the police chased them to tea estate, why did the cops fail to arrest them alive.

Why was Dharamveer shot in the heart? Why did the police party fail to nab the other person?

In the encounter, no policeman sustained any sort of injury. Most of the police encounters had been reported in forest areas and Dharamveer was also gunned down in a deserted tea estate.

After the encounter, nothing came out that could support the police claim that the victim had a notorious past. Harbanshwala residents had also raised suspicion over the police claim. A resident preferring anonymity told mediapersons that he had noticed a police jeep going to the spot but it did not appear as if the policemen were chasing someone. When contacted, Dehradun SP City NA Bharne refused to comment. 

Dehradun, July 8
Uttarakhand BJP leaders today accused the Congress of betraying the masses.

Flaying the UPA government, state BJP chief Bachi Singh Rawat came down heavily on Congress MPs from the state for failing to ensure that promises made by them during the election campaign were fulfilled in the Union Budget.

Terming the Budget as a big disappointment for the state, he said, “The Congress has not extended the industrial package till 2015 as promised by its leaders during its poll campaign.”

“As a result of the step-motherly treatment being meted out by the UPA government, the industrial development of the state will be adversely affected.”

Rawat further said that the non-allocation of funds in the Budget for the Mahakumbh, scheduled to get under way in Haridwar early next year, is also unfortunate.

“We have demanded funds amounting to Rs 500 crore but the Union government has overlooked the requirement,” he said.

Rawat also rued that no provision of funds has been made to set up the AIIMS in Rishikesh.

The BJP chief also said that the railway budget was equally disappointing for Uttarakhand.

“The fact that the state has been ignored in the railway and union budgets has vindicated the stand of the BJP that has been maintaining for a long time that the Congress forgets its promises once elections are over,” he said.

Rawat also demanded that there must be special provisions for additional grant for a hill state like Uttarakhand.

“The state has so much forest cover and plays an important role in maintaining the ecological balance of the entire country. Hence, the Centre must make provisions for some additional grant for the development of the state,” he asserted.

Rawat also flayed the UPA government’s decision to increase the price of petrol and diesel.

Meanwhile, Rawat said that the party’s membership drive initiated on July 6 is in full swing.

“After the completion of the drive, party elections will be held as per the constitution of the BJP,” he said.

Dehradun, July 8
The counselling for MBBS/BDS medical courses to be held on July 13 has been postponed by a week.

The decision was taken in the wake of several institutions not receiving Letters of Permission (LOP).

The delay is bound to affect the prospects of students eager to get admission in the medical colleges of the state.

The medical institutions waiting in line for the LOP issued by the Medical Council and Dental Council of India are expected to get it by the end of this week.

Chander Singh Garhwali Medical College Srinagar is also waiting for letter in order to start the new academic session.

“We hope to receive the LOP by the end of this week and will be in time to start the new session,” said Dr Dr KK Tamta, medical superintendent of the Srinagar Medical College.

On the other hand, Uttaranchal Dental College, Sri Narayan Swami Hospital and Dental College have failed to get permission to start BDS courses for the new session.

In fact, after the advertisement appeared in local newspapers for the Common Pre-Medical Entrance Examination, the Medical Council of India had written to the state health department against allowing Sri Narayan Swami Hospital and Dental College to admit students for the 2009-10 session.

Only two colleges in Uttarakhand, Guru Ram Rai Medical Institute and Forest Medical College (Govt) Haldwani have received the permission to start the 2009-2010 session for the MBBS courses.

Dehradun, July 8
As part of its efforts to bring the quality of technical education being imparted in the state at par with global level, Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) is going to implement credit system from first semester in B.Tech and various management courses from the coming academic session.

The step is in sync with its earlier decisions of replacing the traditional degree by the smart one, regular teachers’ performance appraisals by students and scaling of internal assessment marks.

As per its Vice Chancellor Prof DS Chauhan, the credit system may be new here but it has been in use globally.

The traditional system of assessing the students’ performance in terms of first or second division was meaningless in technical education, he maintained.

As per new system, the students will be awarded marks in the answer copies and the final evaluation in the form of credits will be based on them.

For this, the university is in process of preparing a software with a command that will work out the grade as per the marks obtained. This will effectively remove any scope of subjectivity in manual evaluation.

With this, the UTU will become the first affiliating university in the country to adopt this system. It is already prevailing in select institutions like the IITs.

There are about 55 management and engineering institutes affiliated to the university.

In the prevailing system, the students’ performance is categorised into honours, first and second division upon getting more than 75, 60 and 50 per cent marks.

Those performing below this are put in ‘year back’ category.

The final percentage of marks also includesinternal assessment called sessional marks.

Dehradun, July 8
After failing to fish out the bodies of 36 victims from the Bhagirathi river in Uttarkashi district, the administration has now pressed a crane into service to remove the bodies which might have been struck beneath boulders. The operation will continue till July 9.

On Friday, a bus carrying 55 passengers had fallen into the Bhagirathi. While 13 passengers were saved and six bodies subsequently recovered, 36 bodies still remain untraced.

For the past two days, district authorities with the help of local divers had been trying hard to bodies but to no avail.

The district administration has deployed Army jawans, 50 ITBP jawans and state police officials in the operation.

Dehradun, July 8
The Bhartiya Jankranti Party today announced Sardar Sarvinder Singh as its candidate for the upcoming Vikasnagar Assembly bypoll.

Addressing mediapersons, Ajay Kaushik, national president, Bhartiya Jankranti Party, said, “Whether it is the issue of water, electricity or fighting for the rights of farmers, former representatives have never been able to do much for the development of Vikasnagar.”

Party members demanded an inquiry by the CBI into the Ranbir encounter case and criticised police officials for killing innocents persons.

They also criticised the Centre for not issuing ration cards on time and asked the Chief Minister to announce a constructive film policy for the upcoming artistes to showcase their talent.

Present at the meeting were candidate Sardar Sarvinder Singh, national president Ajay Kaushik, vice-president Jasbir Singh, secretary Arbind Maan among others.

The Dehradun District Courts wear a deserted look on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, July 8
As part of the statewide strike call given by the Bar Council of Uttarakhand, the District Bar Association (DBA) today struck work in protest against the Budget announcement about bringing them in the ambit of service tax.

The district courts complex wore a deserted look as no lawyer attended work.

The number of litigants was also less probably due to advance information about the strike call.

The DBA, however, did not organise any formal demonstration. There are about 2,000 members of the DBA.

Its former secretary Prithviraj Chauhan said it was token strike for a day to register the lawyers’ protest against the government move.

He termed the decision as totally unjustified in view of the ongoing economic crisis which has affected lawyers just like other segments of professionals.

The lawyers have demanded that the central government should withdraw its decision.

Dehradun, July 8
Seeking Sixth Pay Commission benefits, Dehradun Cantt Board employees today staged a demonstration at the board office and submitted a memorandum to the chief executive officer of the board.

Protesting employees, who raised slogans against the management, also sought prompt payment of June’s salary.

Prompt repairs of residential quarters, disbursement of winter and summer uniforms and payment of overtime amounts were other issued raised by the protesters.

While submitting a memorandum, the employees threatened to take their agitation to a bigger scale if the management failed to meet their demands. Satendra Kumar, Dilip Singh, Rajendra Kumar and Anil Kumar were present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, Defence Instruments Employee Union affiliated to All-India Defence Employee Federation (AIDEF), government of India went on the first day of relay hunger strike outside the main gate of IRDE office, here today.

In support of their demands they presented a memorandum to the management demanding for rights under the Sixth Pay Commission, cadre review, increments for non-technical staff and professional update allowance.

Present at the hunger strike general secretary of the union, N Mohan said, “The protest which took place on July 7 outside IRDE, for the first time in history, witnessed participation of more then 115 employees, who are fighting in wake of their unfulfilled demands and would continue till the time demands are not met.”

Present at the site were union president Bimal Singh Negi, Jagmohan Singh Rawat, Harshpal Singh Rawat, KP Singh and many others. 

Dehradun, July 8
Expenses have started to mount on District Football Association as they get ahead with their District Football League. With no sponsors it could well be an uphill task for them to arrange the much needed finance.

The association is facing a financial crunch from the past few years but the determination of the association members to promote the game is the driving force behind all football competitions being organised here.

At the ongoing District Football League, the referee fee has come up as a subject of debate among the association members and the referees. The association is trying to bargain in the issue. Till date the referees were offered Rs 80 per match for their services. But a section of referees had asked the association to increase the fee to above Rs 100.

In every tournament at least 20 to 25 referees offer their services for more then a month during a football tournament.

The referee fee previously born by the association for the institutional league held here last year came to around Rs 25,000. The league has lasted for more than a month.

Secretary of the District Football Association, Divendra Bisht said,“ This year the league would last for three months with teams playing 150 matches in the league stage, whereas another 120 matches in the super league stage.

If we pay Rs 100 per match to the referee this would bring the fee to about Rs 80,000 to Rs 90,000 per month. This amount is too much for the association to bear.”

Despite the tight financial situation association is trying to deal with it. “We will call on the meeting of all the referees to decide over the issue. Thereafter, we will come to any conclusion,” said Bisht.

Senior referee Govind Thapa said, “Yes some referees have asked to increase the fee but there is divide over the issue in the referees themselves.

“One section of referees state that they devote their time and energy to the league, which should be considered and hence the fee should be increased. But others believe that they are ready to serve without charging any fee seeing that association is already facing a financial crunch.”

Thapa said that the association is already bearing Rs 350 per day as labour charges in addition to petty expenses. And the over all expenditure of holding the league would exceed Rs 1 lakh.

Considering the fact that association has collected just Rs 17,000 from the entry fee, which is Rs 500 per team, the expenses of holding the league is huge. Therefore, some referees have decided to charge referee fee.

“But the decision in the matter will be taken after a meeting,” said Thapa.

Dehradun, July 8
Uttarakhand Police team registered a 2-1 victory over Gypsy Club at the District Football League underway at Pavilion Ground, here today.

Uttarakhand Police played an aggressive football throughout the match. In the 15th minute Uttarakhand Police team missed out a golden opportunity to open their account when its forward hit the ball over the bar.

But great skill and teamwork demonstrated by Uttarakhand Police team kept on mounting pressure on Gypsy team.

In the 25th minute of the match the efforts of the Uttarakhand Police paid off when Manoj scored a goal for his team to give it an upper hand in the match.

The police team came close on increasing the lead in the 30th minute of the match but its forward faltered to miss the chance. At the end of first half Uttarakhand Police team lead by 1-0.

In the second half, Veer Singh of Uttarakhand Police struck for the team in the 2nd minutes of the half making it 2-0.

Gypsy Club team tried hard for the team to reduce the lead but their moves died halfway to the Uttarakhand Police goal.

On the other hand, Uttarakhand team forward kept the defense on its toes and mounted pressure on it.

In the 22nd minute of the Gypsy Club's Yoel struck for his team to make it 2-1.

In the second match, 6/8 Gorkha Rifle team registered a thumping 7-1 victory over Uttarakhand Tigers team. Pradeep scored hat trick for his team.

Uttarakhand Tiger team began the match on a fast note as they scored their first goal in the 5th minute of the match to make it make it 1-0.

But 6/8 Gorkha Rifle team found an equaliser in the 14th minute of the match making it 1-1.

At the end of the first half team were locked at 1-1.

In the second half, Pradeep made a strong start to score a goal in the 46th minute of the match through Pradeep.

Three minutes later Nar Prasad scored a goal for his team to make it 3-1. Satinegar further increased its lead to 4-1 in the 51st minute of the match.

6/8 Gorkha Rifles', Nar Prasad scored his second goal of the match in the 55th minute of the match making 5-1 for the team.

Five minutes later 
Satinegar scored again for his team. Pradeep's hat trick came in the dying minutes to make its make its 7-1. 

Dehradun, July 8
Neha Kukreti was adjudged Miss Talented at a contest held today at a local hotel.

A model and choreographer, Kukreti, managed to score maximum points among 15 contestants who came from all over the state.

She impressed the judges with her multi-faceted personality.

The Miss Talented contest is part of the Miss Uttarakhand Contest that is held every year in the capital.

In the following days, beautiful girls from Uttarakhand will compete for Miss Congeniality, Miss Beautiful Eyes, Miss Teen and other titles.

The judges for today’s contest were Dr Manoj Gupta, Chetna, a dancer and choreographer, and Pankhuri Mulasi, former Miss Uttarakhand.