The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Ranbir case: CID probe picks up speed n Team divided into smaller units n Statements of ‘encounter’ cops recorded n Weapons used impounded Umesh Dewan Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 9 Even as the state government has recommended a CBI inquiry into the alleged fake encounter of Ranbir Singh and procedural formalities for CBI to take over the investigations are on, the CB-CID team’s probe has entered its third day. According to information, the CB-CID team led by ASP Vimla Gunjyal has now been subdivided into various units to expedite investigations. Team members have recorded statements of some of the cops who were part of the encounter team. ADGP CID Vijay Raghav Pant disclosed that the investigating team has impounded the weapons used in the alleged encounter. Furthermore, after ordering a CB-CID probe and later recommending CBI inquiry into the matter, now the role of Dehradun police is over. Since July 3, so far, four FIRs have been lodged. The first one pertains to the alleged scuffle that the deceased Ranbir Singh and his two friends had with police sub-inspector GD Bhatt and their fleeing with the latter’s service revolver. The second case was registered against Ranbir Singh and his two friends under the Arms Act, as they were allegedly in possession of two country-made pistols. The third FIR pertains to the encounter and the last one is against the 14 police personnel involved in the encounter. “Now, we have nothing to do with any of the FIRs pertaining to the matter,” said IG (Garhwal) MA Ganapathy. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) chief Mahendra Singh Tikait has, however, warned the state government that agitation in the Ranbir murder would not die till the accused cops were arrested and brought to justice. “The government has done the right thing by recommending a CBI probe. If the accused cops are not put behind bars, there will be many more Ranbirs who will be killed in fake encounters,” said Tikait. Meanwhile, hailing the decision of the state government, senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana said, “It is better late than never but the government should have handed over the case to CBI the moment the postmortem report had pointed fingers at the police.” Human rights activist PC Tewari said the CBI probe in the case is welcome but there is need for ordering enquiry into all the cases of previous encounters conducted by the Uttarakhand police.
	Kaushik looks to set house in order Haridwar MC marred by infighting Sandeep Rawat Tribune News Service Haridwar, July 9 Local legislator Madan Kaushik is reportedly putting in best efforts to work out a solution for the smooth functioning of the municipal committee here. The committee is marred by factionalism and chaos, which has led to delay in developmental works and amount sanctioned for various schemes, provided by the state government under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), is also lying waste. The municipality has been unable to convene a single board meeting yet. However, now Kaushik has taken up the initiative and is meeting members of various groups to chalk out a solution. A few days back, Kaushik invited chairman of the municipal committee Kamal Johra and held lengthy discussions regarding functioning of the body. He has also sent invitations to BJP members for discussions. Notably, Johra does not enjoy the support of his own BJP ward members in the 35-member committee, which makes the work of the opposition easier as any move proposed by him is easily opposed. Such is the scenario that the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and ruling BJP members are seen together on many issues, while Johra is stranded alone with the support of only a couple of members. The next board meeting is scheduled for July 11 and all eyes are on whether Madan Kaushik can work out a consensus. One of the major reasons for him showing interest in this regard is being attributed to the dismal performance of BJP from Haridwar seat in the last general election and the growing stature of local parliamentarian, Union state minister Harish Rawat.
	Union Budget Industry hit hard by increase in MAT rate Raju William Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 9 At a time when the industry in Uttarakhand was looking forward to continuation of tax holiday under the special package of industrial incentives, the Union Budget has hit it adversely due to unexpected increase in Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT), which would increase tax liabilities. As the Finance Minister has increased MAT to 15 per cent, tax liabilities of the industry are set to increase. This applies to Himachal Pradesh as well. Interestingly, Industries Association of Uttarakhand had last month challenged MAT in the Nainital High Court. Notably, MAT is levied on the Income Tax. But since the industry in the state has already been exempted from this under the special package, continuing the tax is unjustified. Till last year, it was charged at 10 per cent. “Companies having zero income tax liability in Uttarakhand and Himachal, will now have to pay higher MAT. Even industry outside both hill states will have to bear the additional tax burden,” said Vibha Malhotra, Director, CII Uttarakhand State Council. Chairman Industries Association of Uttarakhand, Pankaj Gupta also said the increase from 10 to 15 per cent was pinching. “We actually expected its removal,” he said. Experts are of the view that the decision on MAT indicates that the government was preparing ground for switching over to the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) to be implemented from 2010. The overall direction of the budget showed it was aimed at broad-basing the tax net, alignment of rates and doing away with tax exemptions to meet GST regime. “MAT is, in fact, part of doing away with the exemptions,” added Malhotra. Albeit it is early to gauge the real impact of the government decision in terms of quantum of increased liabilities, the resentment is palpable. There is a growing feeling that instead of addressing the problems of the industry, the government has turned a blind eye. “It is an unkind blow to the industry. We were actually expecting removal of surcharge on corporate income tax. It was due to concessions under the package that from almost zero industrial base investment in the state grew to Rs 14,000 crore,” said an industrialist, not wishing to be named.
	Round square members evaluate projects Neena Sharma Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 9 The credit for the smooth functioning of Round Square International Service (RSIS) projects can be attributed to the behind-the-scene preparation that teachers of member schools undertake. At a RSIS leadership workshop underway at Doon School today, teachers, billed as prospective project managers, analysed and deliberated on the status of the projects they have at hand. The yearly meeting acts as a capacity-building vehicle for teachers who plan new projects, plug loopholes in the existing ones and share experiences with other member schools. Aiming to provide students from public schools first-hand experience about the real world, the RSIS movement has transformed students into social workers and made teachers project leaders, a role that they easily don once out of the classrooms. “Before chalking out any project, the safety aspect is deliberated upon. As most projects are taken up in newer environments, careful attention is paid to the accessibility of medicine, accommodation, transportation etc,” said Elizabeth Gram, international project coordinator. As of now, Round Square runs eight projects a year for which project leaders are required. Most social projects are teacher-guided who act as team leaders with students making their contribution through social service. “The emphasis is on safety norms to prevent mishaps and take suitable action in case of an eventuality. Once the projects take off, we have managers implementing and monitoring these,” said John Hamilton, external operations committee, Round Square Board. The international projects are at Thailand, South Africa, the Honduras, Ladakh, Kenya and India depending on the needs of the country. In the Honduras, a project for a local orphanage involves teaching modern agriculture skills to boys as also other skills. “For taking up these projects, local contacts have to be built; these organizations act as coordinators and help in establishing connections,” explained Arvind Chalasani of Doon School. Round Square is a world-wide association of more than 70 schoolsbased on the philosophy of Kurt Hahn who believed that lessons learnt through direct exposure instills in children skills and values that are of immense help to them in the outside world later. The movement encourages internationalism, democracy, adventure, leadership and service. Its Indian forays began in 1981 when Round Square members sent students to take up flood relief operations in HP.
	Adamant junior doctors’ strike enters 4th day Sandeep Rawat Tribune News Service Haridwar, July 9 The indefinite strike of junior doctors of the Rishikul Ayurvedic Medical College entered its fourth day today. The health of Dr Sharma, a junior doctor, was showing signs of deterioration. The junior doctors under the banner of Junior Doctors Association are demanding pay and other benefits in accordance with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. This is the second time within a span of 40 days that the junior medicos have resorted to strike on the same issue. The doctors had rolled back their strike last time but with more than a month gone without any step taken in this regard, they have gone back on the strike mode. This time though, OPD and emergency services have been kept out of purview of the strike. The protesting medicos are threatening to intensify their agitation by locking the OPD of the college if their demands were not met soon. “We will have to resort to closing the OPD and emergency services if nothing concrete evolves within two days,” said Dr Kavita of the ‘shalya’ department. The city magistrate yesterday went to the college and urged the doctors to postpone the strike. But the junior medicos were in no mood to listen as no action had been taken on the assurances given earlier by the administration. “We are given stipends in accordance with the Fifth Pay Commission while state government employees are given pay as per the Sixth Pay Commission norms,” said Jitendra Kandpal, a medico. The medicos have also got support from Youth Congress activists whose members have also joined in the protest. Rakesh Chaudhari, district head of the Youth Congress, has termed the state government’s attitude as pathetic. “This deplorable condition exists when former health minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ is the Chief Minister. He doesn’t miss any opportunity to call the state ‘Ayush Pradesh’,” Chaudhari said. The college management has informed director, Unani and ayurvedic services, Uttarakhand about the strike. Principal Dr Pradeep Bharadwaj has termed the students’ strike as uncalled for. He added that as only the state government can act on this issue, he has conveyed the matter to the concerned authorities. “Such procedures do take time but strike and boycotting of classes is not appropriate,” said Bharadwaj. Among those who sat on strike at the campus were doctors Hemant Kand Pal, Dinesh Verma, Raj Pal Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Ravi Rai, Nisha Verma of ‘ras shastra’, ‘shalya’ and ‘Panchkarma’ departments.
	Recession: Few takers for hospitality courses Tech varsity to give direct admission Raju William Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 9 There has been a sharp fall in the number of aspirants of hotel management courses. This was evident in the dismal turnout in counselling held here for admission to government and private institutes. This appears to be mainly due to the adverse effect of the economic downturn on recruitment in the hospitality industry. But the institutes here are attributing the development to the lack of adequate publicity of the course. This happened after all institutes were affiliated to the Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) that conducted the entrance test replacing the Joint Entrance Examination of Polytechnic. As only 106 students reported for counselling against the total 330 seats at Government Institute of Hotel Management, Patel Nagar, the university has decided to give direct admission on the basis of the last examination passed to fill vacant seats. Interestingly, only 260 aspirants had appeared in the entrance test conducted by the UTU. Apparently, the institutes are downplaying the squeezed employment opportunities due to economic slowdown to safeguard their business interests. According to insiders, the dip in employment opportunities is very crucial to prospective students when they decide to take admission to these courses. A high-ranking official of an institute admitted that though several hotel chains had made campus selections last time here. “But most recruitments were deferred,” he said. That was the time when placements in the institutes in places like Delhi had dropped to just 25-30 per cent. It was due to fiscal pressures that many five star and medium hotels had put a freeze on recruitment at least for the time being. The case in point was Imperial Hotel, Delhi, that had deferred recruitment even after selection, informed a senior faculty member of Institute of Hotel Management, Pusa, Delhi, on condition of anonymity. The leading groups which visited Dehradun included ISTA Group, Oberoi Group, Pizza Hut, Meridian Hotel, Jaipur, Eastwood Group and Inter-Continental, Delhi, Radisson, Delhi, Le Meridian, Delhi, Taj, Delhi and the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation.
	Corrupt polytechnic principal removed Akash Ghai Tribune News Service Roorkee, July 9 Ram Lakhan Nigam, the principal of KL Polytechnic who had been suspended, has been dismissed from service by the managing committee of the institute. The principal had been suspended last year after he was charged with corruption. Several charges of corruption in admissions and appointment of staff were made against Nigam. All charges were reportedly found correct in the administration-level inquiry following which his services were terminated by the committee last evening. In the termination order, it was stated that the charges being made against the accused were found correct by the director of Uttarakhand Technical Education who was appointed investigating officer on December 5, 2007. The development took place on the recommendation of the investigating officer. Nigam, who joined the college as principal in 2004, reportedly filled 31 posts, which included lecturers, instructors, computer programmers, technicians and clerks, flouting rules that year. “Besides, he was also charged with admitting 65 students illegally in 2006-07 after taking lakhs of rupees from each student. “The students did not even take the entrance test,” confirmed Dr DB Goyal, Chairman of the managing committee. Dr Goyal added that two different committees were constituted, one at government level and one at the institute level, to probe the matter. “Both committees found the principal guilty,” said Dr Goyal.
	ABVP celebrates foundation day Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 9 The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) celebrated its 60th Foundation Day by taking out a ‘shobha yatra’ here today. State organisation secretary of ABVP Surendra Singh informed that ABVP was established on July 9, 1950, with the aim to develop a feeling of nationalism within students. He said the ABVP is undertaking a campaign under which over one lakh members would be inducted within a three months. He added that they would also be conducting district-level student conventions during this period. Meanwhile, the procession today passed through Kanak Chowk, Clock Tower, Daranshan Lal Chowk, Prince Chowk and Survey Chowk before concluding at the ABVP office at Karanpur. Among those who participated in the rally were state incharge of ABVP Aditya Chauhan and vice-president Jitandra Rawat.
	Arena launches B.Sc programme Divya Semwal Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 9 Arena Animation, global leader in high-end animation and multimedia training, announced its new B.Sc degree programme in multimedia and animation in collaboration with MS University, Tirunelveli, here today. The course curriculum will include all modules from the animation flagship programme, animation academy specialist programme (AASP) and four mandatory modules from MS University. Addressing mediapersons, Amit Dua, area sales head, Arena Animation, said, “A university degree in multimedia and animation backed by Arena’s 13-year experience in disseminating quality training across five countries makes it a power-packed combination which will enhance the employability of the students manifold.” Students who have completed 10+2 in any stream are eligible to apply for the degree programme which will be made available across the country at select Arena Animation centres. The chief guest at the launch was Threesh Kapoor, Chairman, Uttaranchal Gramin Bank.
	24 panchayats get sanitation awards Tribune News Service Dehradun, July 9 As many as 24 gram panchayats were honoured today with Rs 27 lakh worth of Nirmal Gram Panchayat Awards for 2007-08 as part of Total Sanitation campaign. Awards were presented at a workshop organised for representatives of gram panchayats and members of potable water and sanitation sub-committees at the Municipal Auditorium today. District panchayat president Madhu Chauhan exhorted panchayat representatives to work towards ensuring cleanliness in their areas. She also stressed on ensuring people’s participation in the welfare campaigns. Chief Development Officer SC Badoni said that in Dehradun, 11 potable water schemes have been completed and 46 others were under construction. Further, proposals for 85 potable water schemes are ready to be taken up. While eight panchayats were conferred an award of Rs 2 lakh each, others were provided with Rs 1 lakh each and some others were provided with an amount of Rs 50,000.