Dehradun, July 28
Congress workers today burnt an effigy of the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in protest against the growing incidents of violence in the state capital and its failure to recommend a CBI inquiry into the Anshu Nautiyal murder case.

Congress workers, led by general secretary Anil Negi, gathered at the Clock Tower and raised slogans against the state government. Negi blamed the state government for failing to solve the Anshu Nautiyal murder case in the past two months. He alleged that it was a known fact that influential persons were involved in the case, which was the reason behind police inaction.

“Ranbir encounter case has been handed over to the CBI by the state government under pressure from its national president Rajnath Singh. Why this discrimination between the two cases?” questioned Negi. He also blamed the state government of shielding criminals in the case related to Congress legislator Tilak Raj Behad, who was threatened by a BJP leader. He alleged that the police failed to take any action despite assurances given by the state government on the floor of the assembly.

Negi also said people were facing many hassles in procuring caste and domicile certificates, and many of them were not able to avail benefits of the certificates in getting jobs and admissions in educational institutions. Lal Chand Sharma, former city president of the Congress, said crime graph of Doon has shown a marked increase. 

Dehradun, July 28
In wake of the landslides and natural calamities expected during the monsoon season, Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has issued instructions to the top brass of the state government to ensure that any exigency should be dealt with in a prompt and effective manner.

The CM has also briefed officials that there should be no delay in rescue operations in case of any untoward incident.

Apart from this, Nishank has also issued instructions to officials of the water, power, transport, food and civil supplies and several other departments to remain alert and ensure effective functioning during the monsoon season.

The Chief Minister has also issued instructions to the Disaster Management Centre, established at the state headquarters, to play a pro-active role as far as disaster management was concerned.

Likewise, monitoring centers set up at the districts, tehsils and block levels should also be made more effective.

“In case of any mishap, the information should be immediately conveyed to me,” he directed the state government officials.

Besides, he instructed District Magistrates of all the districts make sure that proper relief is provided to those affected by natural calamities.

He also advised officials to keep a strict vigil on the sites that are prone to natural calamities. Nishank said people residing alongside water channels and “nullahs” should be alerted well in time in case of rise in water levels.

“Likewise, equipment required to clear the debris in case of landslides should be kept ready,” he told the state government officials.

The CM disclosed that for speedy rescue operations, the state government, in the first phase, has provided Rs 25 lakh to each DM.

“It must be ensured that financial assistance is provided to the affected people without any delay,” asserted Nishank.

Another major issue that Nishank took up with the officials was the supply of food items to people in the remote areas, which are affected by rains and landslides.

He also directed officials of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and Public Works Department (PWD) to ensure that routes that are blocked by landslides are opened for traffic up as soon as possible. 

Dehradun, July 28
The Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) would no longer ignore local industrial units manufacturing electrical equipment while placing their purchase orders.

The development followed allegations of preference given to manufacturers from outside in violation of the state policy.

Under the Price Purchase Preference Policy, all government departments have to give preference to local units while placing orders for various equipment.

But the industry alleged that UPCL was violating the policy due to which local units were deprived of assured market within the state. The issue cropped up during the state-level Udyog Mitra meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary IK Pande, here today.

Members of Industries Association of Uttarakhand (IAU) and Kumaon Garhwal Chamber of Commerce and Industry attended the meeting.

Industry representatives raised the issue of discrimination against local units. Pande issued strict instructions to the UPCL, represented by its MD Jagmohan Lal, to adhere to the policy. Lal had earlier said the industry was not being discriminated against and orders were placed on the basis of tender invited on the national level.

“We give preference to local units even if rates quoted by outside manufacturers are the lowest, some percentage of orders are still given to them. We want quality and competitive rates,” said Lal.

Chairman of IAU Pankaj Gupta said there was no dearth of micro and small units in the state manufacturing equipment such as transformers, conductors, cables and cement poles, whose quality was at par with those manufactured outside. Most of the local products were of ISI certification.

According to the policy, outsiders are to be considered only if the required quantity is beyond the manufacturing capacity of local units. 

Dehradun, July 28
Vinod Barthwal is the new president of the Uttarakhand unit of Samajwadi Party. The change of guard was imminent after the party’s poor performance in recent parliamentary election.

Incharge Uttarakhand affairs and national general secretary of the party, Ram Gopal Yadav, announced the appointment of Barthwal today. In the letter intimating the development, he said SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav took the decision.

This is the second important decision by the party leadership after dissolution of the state unit. Both developments are aimed at strengthening the party base in the state.

Prior to this, Barthwal was the national general secretary of SP. He has replaced former legislator Ambrish kumar who unsuccessfully contested from the Hardiwar parliamentary seat. Notably, Congress wrested this seat from the SP by a record margin of 1.23 lakh votes in the multi-cornered contest. The SP candidate could secure only 36,000 votes. Rajinder Badi was elected from here in the 2004 election. This will be the second stint of Barthwal as the state unit president. Earlier, he held the position in 2001.

He has been asked to reorganise the state executive and get the same approved from the party president. Barthwal said that he would soon start the process, although he did not set any timeframe for the purpose. He added that due representation would be given to all sections of people, particularly the youth.

Dehradun, July 28
New session of BEd in self-finance colleges for the year 2008-09 seems to be delayed further. The Garhwal University has still not declared the cut-off list for the management quota, which is delaying the whole admission process.

The new session of 30 self-finance colleges has already been delayed by a year this time around. The counselling of the state list already been completed in the month of June. Association of self-financed BEd College of Uttarakhand has made consistent request to the university to declare the list soon but nothing has been done so far.

It is almost a month now that counselling for the state list has been completed and the colleges await management list to be declared.

Secretary of the association Sushil Agarwal said, “We have consistently asked the university to declare the management cut-off list and every time university gives us false assurances of declaring the list in a day or two.”

Miffed over the whole process Agarwal said that university has no reason to delay the new session any more. He alleged that the non-serious attitude of the university is harming the students’ future. He sternly claimed that if in the next two days university fails to provide the list then in that case the association would be forced to carry out the admission in the management quota on merit bases.

Dehradun, July 28
Sarv Shiksha Abiyan (SSA) is breeding absenteeism among teachers entrusted with the task of increasing enrollment in primary government schools, which are already understaffed.

Far from increasing cent per cent retention and enrollment among school children, the SSA programme underway in the state has become an excuse to keep teachers off schools. The absenteeism among teachers has put a question mark on the success of the programme that would conclude in 2010.

On a given day, the teachers are engaged in non-teaching work that keeps them away from active teaching for a period of 173 days. The work ironically involves improving their teaching skills and even giving electoral duties.

“During the course of a survey it was found that only 67 days were devoted to teaching and a major chunk of their time was spent on other duties,” said Vinod Badoni, of Chetna Andolan (Mahila Samikhya, Uttarakhand State Project).

Programmes that are keeping teachers from regular duties in schools comprise of in-service teacher training programme, teacher meetings, School Chalo Abhiyan, computer training programme, election duties, preparation of voters list, camps and shikhsa melas, preparing mid-day meals and government programmes that include literacy rallies, scout and guide camp, eco club programme among others.

Several education experts believe that it is a deliberate attempt to involve teachers in official work pertaining to Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, “ In the hindsight one would be forced to assume that all these programmes would ultimately be for the 
betterment of children but that is not the case.

“Teachers are being weaned away from the primary task of teaching that is proving to be counter productive for the school children. Once the project gets over it would be difficult for them to resume teaching after remaining out of the system for the last ten years,” said Tripen Singh of Chetna Andolan.

The need for a teacher is vital for schools located in the hilly areas of the state where accessibility for private education is nil. The maximum number of primary schools and higher primary schools are located in remote areas of the state.

There are a total of 12,684 primary schools in the state and in 17 per cent of the schools single-teacher-school-arrangement exists. Under the SSA a primary school with a class of 40 should have one teacher. For upper primary schools for every 100 pupils there should be three teachers.

Dehradun, July 28
While many city lanes, drains and residential colonies have been submerged due to heavy rainfall, a broken Manda House passage, commonly known as motor market area, is surrounded with heaps of mud and garbage.

Situated alongside Rajpur road, the most posh market area of the city, the lane speaks volumes about state government’s incompetence in providing any sort of respite to the public from after effects of heavy and continuous rains.

However, to worsen the situation downpour from past one week has made the situation with pigs loitering on this broken stretch, causing inconvenience to travelers.

The lane was constructed in 1993 and no maintenance work has taken place since then.

“Since its construction this road exists in this filthy condition. Around four years ago, some repair work started but it stopped suddenly, leaving the road in the terrible condition,” said Naseem Ahmad, a local.

Meanwhile, where passengers try to avoid crossing this area. Shopkeepers here also feel that poor hygiene conditions and mismanaged traffic leads to loss in business.

However, counsellor of the area Shail Tondon said, “Earlier this lane never even had the facility of street lights, but with constant efforts we installed lights there.

“As far as the reconstruction of the lane is concerned I am in constant touch with junior engineer and I have got the consent of the mayor also. As soon as the monsoon ends, we will start working on the this lane.” 

Dehradun, July 28
Former Botanical Survey of India director PK Hazra has called for working towards checking bio piracy.

Delivering a lecture on the occasion of World Nature Conservation Day organised by the Indian Science Writers’ Association held in collaboration with the Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology, Hazra said bio piracy continued to be a major challenge. He sought better efforts towards safeguarding the flora and suggested a better inventory and documentation of flora.

He said institutes like the Wildlife Institute of India and the Botanical Survey of India from time to time imparted training to customs officials on detecting bio piracy but much more needed to be done.

UCOST chairman Dr Rajendra Dobhal expressed concern over the lack of will on the party of young botanists towards undertaking surveys. 

Dehradun, July 28
The Flag-in ceremony of the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) team, that had created a new benchmark in the history of its adventure activities on June 16, when its six cadets, along with their team leader Sanjay Kumar successfully scaled the intimidating height of Mount Bander Punch White Peak (20,340 ft), will take place at the Rashrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on July 30.

While giving this information, authorities of RIMC disclosed that scaling of Mt Bander Punch was the ninth consecutive successful summit by the enthusiastic and spirited cadets of RIMC.

According to RIMC authorities, the expedition to Mt Bander Punch was far more difficult and complex than any other attempts so far. This is a record making feat, as it was for the first time that this mountain was scaled by RIMC from the east side of the Bander Punch glacier from Sukhi.

The team included cadet Piyush Raj, cadet Harsh Arora, cadet Bhupinder Singh, cadet Krishnapal, cadet Tabish Hasan, cadet K Arjun and team leader Sanjay Kumar. Other team members include cadet Avinash Kumar, cadet Sonu Kumar, cadet Prakhar Kaushik, cadet Tarun Munna, cadet Kumar Vikram, cadet Saurabh Singh, Satender Kumar and UP Dalvi (deputy leader).

There were a large number of ebullient volunteers, who underwent the Basic Mountaineering Course at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, Pahalgam.

They were given a detailed insight into the intricacies of snow craft and ice craft, closely supervised by the experienced expedition leader Sanjay Kumar, who is an adroit mountaineer having attained the distinction of successfully scaling Mt Jogin III, Mt Bhagirathi-II and Mt Deo Tibba, with the earlier RIMC expeditions.

The tough training at Pahalgam and the intimate familiarisation at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi conditioned the cadets mentally and physically prior to the commencement of the expedition.

The expedition was flagged off from the RIMC on June 5 this year by the first Rimcollian Commandant Maj Gen SD Mohanti (Retd).

Setting off from Sukhi top road head on June 8, the approach to the 24-km along glacier finds its way through lush green forests. According to the RIMC authorities, as soon as the Bhojpatra forests were crossed, the team met with bone-chilling and gusty winds at the Jachi Base Camp well above the tree line.

However, keeping acquainted with mountain manners and medical safety precautions, the team surged forward on the toughest part of the climb towards the Advanced Base Camp. On June 16, six cadets with the team leader together along with the two Army Adventure Wing climbers left the summit camp.

Finally, the six cadets along with the team leader Sanjay Kumar and the Army Adventure Wing climbers scaled the White Peak at 6.30 am on June 16 and unfurled the National Flag, the Army Adventure Wing Flag and the RIMC Flag. It was a crowning achievement indeed as Cadet Tabish Hasan, who was merely 13 years 11 months old on the day of the summit was the youngest of all team members.

Dehradun, July 28
Doon Star team and Garhwal Sporting played a 1-1 draw at the ongoing District Football League, here today.

It was a tough match played between both the teams. Doon Star team took their opponent by surprise as they scored their first goal in the fifth minute of the match.

It was Rahul for the Doon Star who took an excellent header for his team to help his team take a lead in the match.

Doon Star was again on attack in the 17th minute but its forward fumbled to miss out an opportunity.

Garhwal Sporting also created some good moves.

They came close on scoring in the 25th minute of the match but failed to take advantage of the opportunity.

At the end of the first half Doon Star team lead the match by 1-0.

In the second half, Garhwal Sporting was on the attack right from the beginning.

They kept the ball in possession most for most of the time to dominate the whole game creating continuous pressure on the opponent.

In the 59th minute of the match Garhwal Sporting team was successful to find an equaliser.

Garhwal Sporting’s Paras dodged two defenders from the left to penetrate the Garhwal Sporting team defense and score the much-needed goal for his team.

Second match was played between Nagar Nigam and Doon United team, which ended in a goalless draw.

Nagar Nigam team did not look in good nick in today’s match and let their opponent take charge of the proceedings.

In the 15th minute of the match Doon United team came close on scoring, but the shot taken by Doon United team deflected from the right pole and was cleared by Nagar Nigam defender to deny Doon United the opportunity to score.

At the end of the first half both the teams were locked at a goalless draw.

The second half was no different from the first as efforts made by the both the team went in vain. The match ended in a goalless draw.