Dehradun, September 15
In the seventh “State of the States Conclave" hosted by the India Today group at Hotel Taj in the national Capital on Monday, Uttarakhand was conferred the Bharat Nirman Award for its successful attempts in the field of education and health over the past seven years.

The state received this award also for its endeavour to provide residential facility to the underprivileged. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank received this award from union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

In his address, Nishank called for a green revolution and qualitative improvement in education system. Laying stress upon the nationalisation of education, he said the need of hour was to formulate a uniform education policy for the country.

He said the syllabus should imbibe not only the culture and history of the country but also esteem for the nation. Besides, universalisation and modernisation of education, he also advocated enhancing the quality of teachers.

‘Participation of private players in the education sector is welcome provided they take up education as a mission, the Chief Minister observed, adding that Hindi ought to be given due importance and efforts should be made for its promotion. 

Nishank said the central government should also take in consideration the floating population that visited the state in a large number and used its infrastructure. Underlining the need for a specific policy for Uttarakhand, he pointed out that about 5 or 6 crore tourists and pilgrims visited the state every year. 

Discussing about green revolution, he said it should extend to the arid areas and the union government should also include state governments in the programme.

Present on the occasion were union Urban Development Minister Jay Pal Reddy, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, HR Minister Kapil Sibbal, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prem Kumar Dhumal, Chief Minister of Punjab Prakash Singh Badal, Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling and Chief Minister of Goa Digamber Kamath besides ministers of other states. 

Dehradun, September 15
A nephew shot dead his aunt and injured his uncle over a property dispute at Onkar Road, Chukuwala, here this morning. His aunt, Usha Shabarwal, was taken to Doon Hospital where she was declared brought dead while the uncle, Raghubir Chander, is being treated at the hospital.

The staff of the ambulance, which was called soon after the incident, declared Usha dead at the spot and went back.

Later, nearby residents found that she was breathing and they called it back.

But, her condition deteriorated and doctors at the hospital declared her brought dead.

She was reportedly shot at in the back while her husband was shot in the shoulder. SP (City) Jagat Ram Joshi said everybody present there thought she had died of a heart attack after seeing her husband being shot.

There was no blood or injury marks visible and it could be known only after she reached the hospital that she was also shot at.

However, this could be confirmed after a post-mortem examination of the body.

Meanwhile, the police said the accused, Gaurav Suri, had problems with his paternal uncle over property but not with Asha and her husband.

However, the family members said they had recently sold off an ancestral house and Suri wasn’t happy with his part of payment.

He had a heated argument with his relatives and in a fit of rage he opened fire at them.

The family had recently divided the property of Suri’s grandmother.

Certain members of the family, particularly Suri, wasn’t happy with his share.

The police said they were looking for Suri and have rounded up a few persons who could give clues of his whereabouts.

Dehradun, September 15
The police here seems to be the least bothered about the woes of people. A case in point is of over 12 residents, who have been running from pillar to post for the past six months for registering their complaint after they were allegedly duped of lakhs of rupees by a Nathuwala resident.

Every time they go to the police station, they are told that it falls under the jurisdiction of some other police stations, alleged 48-year-old ex-Army man Bhim Singh Frasvaan, who was reportedly cheated of Rs 7,35,000.

Frasvaan, a resident of Mohini Road, said they had gone to the Raipur police station where their complaint wasn’t registered.

However, after they approached the SSP, police station officials called them and promised to help them. But, several days passed and nothing happened.

After a lot of dilly-dallying, they directed them to go to the Sahaspur police station, saying that it didn’t fall under their jurisdiction.

The Sahaspur police station also took the similar stance, telling them that it fell under the jurisdiction of the Raipur station and not theirs.

When The Tribune spoke to the Station House Officers (SHOs) of both police stations, they seemed unaware of the matter and tried to evade it.

“They failed to give a satisfactory reply. “This doesn’t fall under the jurisdiction of our police station,” they said.

Narrating the incident, Frasvaan alleged that Jai Kishan Chamoli approached him through one of his friends and said he could get him double benefit in a business of flower cultivation.

However, it proved wrong and also the land, which he had shown, belonged to someone else.

Devi Dayal, whose wife was also cheated of lakhs, alleged that Chamoli used to offer fake cheques to his clients. These would always bounce.

“The police is hand-in-glove with him. Check Chamoli’s previous record. He is already booked under various sections of law.

“He is so shrewd that he first befriends a stranger and later offers him a deal to cheat. We don’t know how many more people are going to be his victims,” alleged the victims.

Dehradun, September 15
The Nainital High Court has stayed the order passed by the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), Uttarakhand, in which Sub-Registrar-II, Dehradun, was fined Rs 25,000 for failing to furnish information regarding missing documents of a local property.

While staying the order of the respondent CIC on the petition of Sub-Registrar Mahesh Dhar Diwedi, Justice VK Bisht granted four weeks to file counter affidavit as prayed by the counsel of the respondent.

The petitioner had pleaded before the HC through his counsel that the information sought by the CIC could not be furnished, as it was not available in the record. And this did not amount to non-compliance on his part as provided in Section 2 of the RTI Act.

In the much-publicised case, CIC RS Tolia had in his order on August 18, 2009, imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on the petitioner. He also directed that the same should be deducted from the salary of the petitioner.

Copies of the order were also endorsed to the Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) concerned as well as the Chief Treasury Officer, Dehradun for compliance. Directions were also issued to provide the said documents to the applicant after their reconstruction.

The applicant Bhupendra Kumar had applied for copies of certain documents of the sale deed number 9041 under the RTI Act on January 22, 2009. He filed an appeal before the Information Commission, Uttarakhand, after failing to get the same on the grounds that it was missing from the record.

Dehradun, September 15
The Uttarakhand Sahasik Paryatan Samiti, spearheading the movement against forest officials towards the promotion of river rafting in the state, has submitted a memorandum to CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

The memorandum prominently sought the Chief Minister’s intervention asking him to protect the interest of rafting companies operating in Uttarakhand. It held that youth in big numbers were linked to rafting. Any damage to rafting will directly hurt the livelihood of these people.

Samiti members also alleged that while forest officials were indulging in rampant corruption, they were unnecessarily harassing rafting people, who had made rafting an adventure sport of the region through individual efforts.

President, samiti, Deepak Bhatt, Manjul Rawat and Kiran Badoni were prominent signatories to the memorandum.

Dehradun, September 15
The Kendriya Vidayalaya Organisation organised a science exhibition on the premises of ONGC Kendriya Vidayalaya here today. Fiftythree Kendriya Vidayalayas, including 12 from Dehradun district, participated in it. The exhibition was presided over by chief guest Mohan Rawat, assistant commissioner of the organisation.

The exhibition opened with Saraswati Vandana. Around 279 students participated in it. They exhibited various models covering issues pertaining to causes and consequences of climate change, green energy, biology in human welfare, information and communication technology, mathematics and everyday life and science and technology in games and sports.

Addressing the students, the chief guest talked about the importance of science. He said: “Resourceful inventions in the field of science is one of the biggest achievements of mankind and its benefits should be reaped by all sections of society.

Moreover, exhibitions related to science should be organised more frequently as not only do they spread awareness, but also provide a plethora of opportunities to students who get to display their talent,” said Rawat.

Education officer SS Rana appreciated the efforts of the students. The selected students for their creative work will also get a chance to display these models at the Kendriya Vidayalaya national science competition to be held in Chennai on October 13 and 14.

The exhibition will conclude tomorrow. Present at the venue, along with the chief guest, were BN Sinha, Principal, KV ONGC, and other educationists of the participating schools.

Dehradun, September 15
Cricket lovers in Uttarakhand are looking forward to the BCCI annual general body meeting (AGM) on September 24. The matter of the state’s affiliation is a hanging fire for the past many years.

Recently, the BCCI had called the four cricket associations in the state to Maharashtra to decide on the issue.

At the meeting, the documents of the associations were scrutinised by board members and an effort was made to bring the associations on a common platform.

But the meeting ended with an assurance that the matter will be taken up during the annual general meeting.

The assurance has generated hope among cricket lovers that the sport in the state would undergo a sea change after the affiliation.

LA Khan, cricket coach at Almora University, said that receiving BCCI affiliation would go a long way in developing basic facilities at the grassroots level throughout the state.

He said that the state capital Dehradun may have turf wickets and other requisite facilites for children, but this was not the case with other districts despite the fact that the state has an abundance of talented players.

He said that it would be advantageous for the BCCI to grant affiliation to Uttarakhand because of its topography.

The state could become a BCCI centre for organising high-altitude camps for senior and junior national teams.

Presently, senior and junior teams undergo high-altitude training in foreign countries.

He hoped that the state would get affiliation by the month-end so that the state team could feature in the annual cricketing calendar of the BCCI.

Cricket coach Manoj Rawat was hopeful that the annual general meeting of the BCCI would bring good news for cricketers who want to make a career in the sport.

“The affiliation will be a motivating factor for budding cricketers of the state who will then stand a chance to play for the state team.”

Dehradun, September 15
North Point School thrashed Marshal School 5-2 at the ongoing Dehradun Council Football Tournament here today.

North Point School took an upper hand through Anshul in the sixth minute of the match. Marshal School found the equaliser in the 12th minute through Shashank.

Just before half time, North Point School struck again through Anshul making it 2-1.

In the second half, Marshal School managed to fetch the equaliser through Pankaj in the 40th minute.

Anshul completed his hat-trick in the 45th minute. Thereafter, it was Niraj and Gaurav who increased the goal tally for North Point School making the final score 5-2.

In the second match, The Asian School defeated Heritage School 5-0. The Asian School forward Nikhil gave Heritage School their first jolt in the sixth minute.

The Asian School forward Sharad scored the second goal in the 22nd minute of the match.

The scoring for The Asian School did not stop here. Midfielder Pranav came up with the third goal in the 36th minute.

In the second half, The Asian School’s Lockfof struck for his team in the 40th minute and Abhi in the 48th minute made it 5-0.

Throughout the match, Heritage School looked out of sorts and failed to challenge their opponents.

In the third match, St Jude Academy defeated Hilton School 4-0.