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In Corridors of Power
Experts oppose cigarette sale near schools |
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Police authority wants more bite
Affiliation: Cabinet set to rescue paramedical institutions
NCERT to publish books for senior classes
Basketball: Carman, CJM girls set up semifinal clash
Slow work may delay SAF Games
Veggie prices dip with rise in local supply
Arya seeks probe into power tender scam
Nishank banking on ‘carbon credits’
CT Young, Rishikesh play draw
Uttarakhand eves enter last four
EVMs incharge of Vikasnagar suspended
Man found dead
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Upkeep of power projects: CM was kept in dark
Raju William Tribune News Service
Dehradun, September 10 The political compulsions, however, forced the Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to relent after giving instructions to this effect. Whether the BJP wins the byelection or not, the role of bureaucrats who were supposed to brief the CM about the history of the contentious issue, which sparked a fresh wave of anger among the employees of the Irrigation Department, has certainly come under the scanner. The bureaucrats should have been intelligent enough to understand the political implications of the decision taken by the Chief Minister to divest the Irrigation Department of its responsibility in the review meeting held on September 3. Sensing that the government could hardly afford such a development just three days before the Vikasnagar byelection, the Chief Minister’s secretary Shatrughan Singh, in a press conference on September 5, denied any such move on part of the government. Before that Nishank called the union leaders to assure that interests of the irrigation employees would be taken care of. Union leader Vinod Uniyal confirmed this development. During the meeting, the CM was told by his secretary Shatrughan Singh that the Irrigation Department had failed to comply with the order issued by him as Secretary Energy on September 9, 2008, on the issue. Annoyed over this, Nishank instructed the Irrigation Department to fall in line. This angered the employees unions which proposed a meeting on September 7 at Dak Pathar to chalk out a protest programme to oppose the decision. They maintained that the transfer of maintenance work would not be allowed at any cost as it would virtually render thousands of employees workless. Sources said the situation would not have come to this pass had the Chief Minister not been kept in the dark about earlier decisions on the issue. A tripartite meeting chaired by Irrigation Minister Matbar Singh Kandari was held on September 19, 2008, on the issue. Besides leaders of the employees union, Shatrughan Singh was also present. The meeting had decided that the Irrigation Department would continue to look after the maintenance of power projects and the UJVNL would provide funds for the purpose. This was followed by another meeting attended by top officials of both sides including UJVNL chairman Yogendra Prasad which upheld the status quo. During the review meeting, Shatrughan Singh and Prasad did not inform Nishank about the developments that took place after the September 2008 order issued by Shatrughan Singh. When asked, Shatrughan Singh did not respond though he said he would. Prasad too was evasive.
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Experts oppose cigarette sale near schools
Dehradun, September 10 “There is heightened awareness about health, but at the same time, millions of rupees are being spent by tobacco companies on advertisements that glamorise smoking. “A degree of machismo is associated with cigarettes that no doubt attracts the youth. It is here that campaigns have to focus by creating an atmosphere that keeps them off cigarettes,” Pande said. He was speaking today at the launch of the Uttarakhand Tobacco Free Initiative (UTFI) held today at the AMN Ghosh auditorium. The initiative targeting college and school-going students was officially launched today in 19 colleges and 216 schools of Dehradun. Tomorrow, the project will be launched in eight colleges and 144 schools in Tehri district. While Principal Secretary, Health, Keshav Desi Raju said that business interests drive tobacco. “But we have to work under these constraints and ensure that students do not take to smoking,” he said. Giving details about the initiative, Dr GR Khatri, president, World Lung Foundation, South Asia, said that according to the national-level data, 41 per cent of the 12 lakh tobacco users in Uttarakhand were adolescent. “According to the WHO country predictions adjusted to the state population estimate, more than 30 tobacco-related deaths will occur every day by 2020 unless action is taken,” Khatri said. He said that the project aims to make Uttarakhand a tobacco-free state. The experiment here would be replicated elsewhere in the country. “We plan to involve students, who don’t consume tobacco, to function as the tobacco-free brigade (TFB). They will coordinate anti-tobacco activities with the school/college and government authorities,” he said. Secretary Education, Dr Rakesh Kumar, said that students can become agents of change. “For this reason, the campaigns focus is on students. We need to ban the sale of tobacco products at shops that are in the vicinity of schools and colleges. “It has often been noticed that children get the first taste of tobacco while travelling between home and school,” he said. He stressed on involving teachers and members of civil society in taking the campaign forward. A vote of thanks was presented by CMO, Dehradun, Dr GC Baunthiyal.
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Police authority wants more bite
Dehradun, September 10 The proposal in this regard was mooted by the authority earlier this month. This will give the rights of a civil court to the authority, which has a chairman and four members. Shambhu Nath Shrivastav, chairman of the authority, said that the amended regulations would make the department more efficient. This will enable the authority to take the help of outside agencies for investigation. Secondly, it will allow it to take decisions directly in major issues. “This will prove a bliss for us. There are some cases which require a lot of investigation. The involvement of other agencies will make the process speedy and efficient,” said the chairman. In its first year, the authority received 211 complaints out of which 104 have been solved and some of them are in the final stage. According to the information provided by the authority, 137 complaints have been received by them directly while 68 complaints came to them through Kamou complaint authority and six from Garhwal. The officials said that the most number of complaints received were of not registering the FIR. Officials said that there were many cases that were not found genuine. The authority has also framed charges against police officials in four cases and has sent a proposal to the state government to initiate action. In the first case, a woman had alleged that Gurjinder Singh of Shyampur police post, on the pretext of marrying, had sexual relations with her for a year. Later, he allegedly refused to marry her. The chairman of the authority has proposed to the government that he be sacked from his post. In another case, sub-inspector Jeeto Kamboj of Kotwali police station was accused of raping his daughter-in-law. After receiving a complaint from his daughter-in-law, the authority investigated and found the sub-inspector guilty. The authority proposed to the government they should decide on the punishment. Bhavan Singh, a truck driver, had in a complaint to the authority against sub-inspector MS Dasoni of Kalasi police station stated that the SI allegedly beat him badly during his detention. The charges have been established against the police officer and it has been proposed that he be demoted to the lowest rank. One case has been sent to the CBCID for further investigation. In the matter, one Asha Dutta alleged that several police personnel were acting in a biased manner in a property case. She had alleged that the police officials had told her that no criminal case is registered in such matters. However, according to the chairman of the authority, it was found that a criminal case could be registered. The chairman said that they had received no complaint in the Ranbir encounter case.
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Affiliation: Cabinet set to rescue paramedical institutions
Dehradun, September 10 The move comes after the HNB Garhwal Central University has refused to take up the matter, which has been hanging fire for the last three years. Interestingly, these institutions had held term-end examinations of HNB Grahwal University before it was accorded the status of central varsity and students have even been issued course completion certificates. Even now, albeit the issue of affiliation has not been sorted out, these institutions are continuing with the courses. According to sources, the institutions seeking affiliation were bogged down by the lengthy procedure that involves getting a ‘no-objection’ certificate from the Centre and state higher education department. The affiliation of some institutions has not been renewed since the 2007-2008 session, but the university continued conducting examinations. However, the problem arose after HNB university was granted the status of a Central university. Now, varsity authorities have decided to take up the responsibility of only those institutions that were affiliated since 2008, which leaves the others in a lurch. However, to sort out the matter, the higher education department has now decided to procure a cabinet note so that a one-time settlement can be made. On the other hand, officials in the government said they were awaiting instructions from the University in this regard.
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NCERT to publish books for senior classes
Dehradun, September 10 At a meeting chaired by the secretary, education, Dr Rakesh Kumar recently, discussions were held for entrusting NCERT the publication order of textbooks to be used for the next academic session. In the past, the education department had a tie-up with private publishers but questions began to be raised about the quality of the publications. The orders were also not
met on time. Besides, the education department had to undergo needless harassment and sustain political pressure for selection of the private publisher. Meanwhile, the tie-up would prove beneficial for the education department as the curriculum for classes 10 and 12 in the state is on the pattern of CBSE. “In that sense, it will be convenient for us to entrust the order of publication to NCERT,” said Pushpa Manas, director, education, With the move, the department hopes to get quality publications on time and also not worry about the possibility of old books being reintroduced in the market as well as delayed orders. The education secretary has already held talks with the director of NCERT in this regard and the decision would be formally taken by the end of this month. |
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Basketball: Carman, CJM girls set up semifinal clash
Dehradun, September 10 In the quarterfinal here today, Convent of Jesus and Mary (CJM) beat St Jude School 33-12. CJM took a crucial five-point lead in the first quarter. It was Anjali who opened the scoring for CJM with a two pointer. Thereafter, CJM went on to score nine points. St Jude School could only manage to score two points. In the second quarter, both teams scored five points each. In the third quarter, CJM increased their tally by 10 points while St Jude School could only manage to get two points. In the last quarter, St Jude School failed to stop CJM from scoring. The final score was 33-12 in favour of CJM. The second quarterfinal was a close contest between Hilton School and Wynber Allen School. Hilton School won by a single point. The final score read 23-22. Hilton School scored eight points against Wynber Allen School who could manage to score five points in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Hilton School increased their tally by five points. Wynber Allen found their rhythm in the third quarter and scored seven points. In the last quarter, they came very close to upsetting Hilton School, but Hilton won 23-22. |
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Slow work may delay SAF Games
Dehradun, September 10 The games have already been delayed by over a year for various reasons, now there are all possibilities that they could be delayed further. Recently, heavy rain was experienced at Auli which damaged a part of the newly constructed skiing slope. The incident has further delayed the construction work. Speaking to The Tribune, president of the SAF Winter Games, SS Pangtey says, “The newly constructed slope at Auli did experience some damage during rain, but it will be repaired as soon as the weather gets better.” But further delay could not be over ruled because of the unfavourable climate at Auli that is hampering construction work there. However, on the other hand he claimed that work at ice skating rink coming up at Maharana Pratap Sports College, Dehradun, will be completed by October end. He ruled out the claims that games would be delayed any further. The state government had earlier decided to complete all work and organise the games by December 2008. But it could not go ahead with the plans because of the ongoing tension between India and Pakistan, as well as construction work at both the sights at Auli and Dehradun lay incomplete. Thereafter, the federation declared that by March 2009, all preparation for the games would be over, but federation failed to meet the promises and games were postponed once again. |
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Veggie prices dip with rise in local supply
Dehradun, September 10 Experts attribute this slump to the increase in supply of locally grown vegetables. Hopes of further fall could become real if the supply from neighbouring UP picks up in the coming days. Abdul Maqeem, a retail vendor in Dharampur market, said fruits were becoming increasingly unaffordable for the common people. The price of a dozen bananas has jumped to almost double, up from Rs 15-20 during last month. Apple prices range between Rs 80 to Rs 140. But the latest surge in supply of local vegetables has neutralised the impact to some degree. As such, common people were hit hard because the prices of pulses and beans have also surged. “Cauliflower, peas and capsicum had become a rarity in our kitchen. But the situation has improved considerably due to the recent fall in prices,” said OP Nautiyal, an employee at the state secretariat. From Rs 60 per kg a month back, cauliflower is being sold at Rs 40 now. Similarly, the price of peas has come down to Rs 50 per kg from Rs 80. Notably, the relief has come before the onset of the festival season and people are keeping their fingers crossed in a hope that the trend would continue. Fruits and vegetable trader Rajender Sethi expected a further fall in prices as and when supply from Saharanpur and other adjoining areas of UP increases. |
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Arya seeks probe into power tender scam
Dehradun, September 10 The Congress president said it was a matter of grave concern that tendering process was undertaken without approval of the
board. He said it had been unfortunate that the matter was revealed at a time when the state was witnessing power crisis and generation was falling steadily. He said these issued five tenders were for proposed 400 KV substations at Shrinagar and 400 KV double circuit transmission line for Loharinag Pala and involved loan to the tune of 93 million dollars from Asian Development Bank. Arya also reminded that tenders were issued at a time when the posts of power secretary and secretary to the Chief Minister were manned by a same individual. He said the role of state government too had come under cloud due to the development. |
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Nishank banking on ‘carbon credits’
Dehradun, September 10 He hoped that the state would earn by ‘carbon credits’ in the near future. Nishank said more than 60 per cent of the total area of Uttarakhand is under forests, which house precious medicinal plants, flora and fauna. He also urged the Central government to release Rs 771 crore
for compensatory afforestation programme. The CM said after talks with the Union government on the issue, it had agreed in principle to provide the incentive to the state
government. He added that the Centre has also agreed to give ‘green bonus’ to all states that are contributing towards preserving the environment. Nishank said the initiative taken by Uttarakhand would benefit all Himalayan states and these would also be compensated by the Union government for preserving the
environment. |
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CT Young, Rishikesh play draw
Dehradun, September 10 Strong team like CT Young was forced to play a draw with relatively inexperienced side at like Rishikesh due to wet playing condition. Players of both teams found it difficult to pass and move the ball on a wet ground. CT Young team came close on scoring on many occasions, but its forward line failed to give proper finishing to the move. In the first half CT Young team created a sharp move in the 15th minute of the match to penetrate deep in the scoring circle of the their opponent. CT Young strikers failed to direct their shot that went wide off the bar. In the 28th minute the team was on the move again. This time the move was created from the left flank. But the team failed yet again in its attempt. At the end of the first half teams were locked at 0-0. CT Young team forwards kept on missing the scoring opportunities in the second half. Through out the match players faced difficulty on the wet ground, because of which most of the scoring opportunities got wasted. In the end match ended in a goalless draw. |
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Uttarakhand eves enter last four
Dehradun, September 10 Seven teams, including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Uttarakhand, are participating in the tournament. As many as 104 players are participating in the meet. Some known players like AS Gupta of Uttar Pradesh, Arup and Ritu Das of West Bengal, Ravinder Singh and Sara of Uttar Pradesh and other national players are participating. In the men’s category, the trophy is called the Rahamtulla Cup, in women, it is known as the Chadda Cup. The boys trophy is called the Narang Cup and in girls, the trophy is the S Qurashi Cup. Uttarakhand women’s team has made it to the semifinal of the Chadda Cup. In the quarterfinal, they defeated Jharkhand. In the men’s category, Uttarakhand lost to Bihar 1-3. In S Qurashi Cup, Bihar beat Jharkhand 3-0. In Chadda Cup, Uttarakhand lost to Jharkhand.
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EVMs incharge of Vikasnagar suspended
Dehradun, September 10 District Magistrate of Dehradun D Sainthil Pandiyan suspended EVMs incharge D S Rawat, an engineer with the Rural Engineering Department with immediate effect, official sources today said. The action against Rawat was taken following a complaint by a group of Congress workers who intercepted a vehicle carrying these EVMs without a code number inscribed on them yesterday. The District Magistrate ordered a probe into the matter to be conducted by Additional District Magistrate (Administration) asking him to find out as to why these EVMs were not deposited to the godown in time.
— PTI |
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Man found dead
Roorkee, September 10 He was missing since last night. Today the police found his body, having a gunshot in temple, in the nearby forest area.
— TNS
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Army mela put off
Dehradun: An Army Mela, to be organised on September 12-13 here, has been postponed. Fresh dates would be announced soon.
— TNS |
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Calling for a concerted effort against the use of tobacco, Chief Secretary Indu Kumar Pande today said that the vulnerable sections of society, especially the youth, have to be told the ill-effects of tobacco chewing and smoking.
