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Badrinath portals closed
Senior citizens seek role in decision making
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Painting workshop ends
Kumbh blues for Roorkee police
Agitating kanungos get minister’s assurance
Sanitation plans to be implemented soon
Alert sounded to nab wildlife smugglers
20 hutments burnt to ashes
Rs 35.1-cr annual plan for Nainital
FCI store sealed after ration theft
State better prepared to meet natural disasters: Secy
Nanhi Duniya kids remember founder
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Badrinath portals closed
Dehradun, November 17 The Utsav Murti (idol used for public functions and to move around the temple) of Lord Badrinath will now be worshipped in the Narasimha temple at Joshimath, where it will be worshipped for a period of six months. A day earlier, the Khadag Pustak prayer was performed at the temple. Personnel of Garhwal Rifles and ITBP and members of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Mandir Samiti were present besides others. The portals of Gangotri had closed on October 29 while both shrines of Kedarnath and Yamunotri were closed on October 30. With the closure of the portals of the Badrinath temple, Chardham Yatra to the Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines has come to an end for six months. These shrines are visited by lakhs of devotees every year. While 470,000 pilgrims visited the Kedarnath shrine this year, 322,000 visited Yamunotri. As many as 379,000 devotees visited Gangotri. While the Yamunotri, Gangotri and Kedarnath shrines had opened on April 30, the Badrinath shrine opened on May 1. Meanwhile, the administration had made heavy security arrangements at the shrine during the period when the Badrinath temple remains closed due to its proximity to international border |
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Senior citizens seek role in decision making
Nainital, November 17 While presenting an annual report of the organisation, the elderly citizens sought that they should be included in the decision-making process by the local administration. They also asked the administration to grant them some place for setting up their office. It was pointed out that as most of the pensioners were aged and resided at higher locations where no mode of transport was available to commute frequently to banks and administrative offices, the certificates issued by the president of the organisation should be recognised. Spelling out the other demands of the pensioners, the president of the organisation Chet Singh said, “Just like in the Indian Railways, pensioners should be given a rebate of 30 per cent in bus travel as well. Like in some other states, the pensioners should be given an additional medical allowance”. He pointed that the administration should work towards the removal of disparities pertaining to pensioners who retired before the formation of the state of Uttarakhand and those who retired afterwards. The senior citizens pointed to the growing traffic menace in Nainital and that it was impinging on the rights of the people to live a safe life. They demanded that a footpath should be constructed on the Mall Road which should be at least 7-ft wide and at least 1-ft high. They also said the police should follow the norms laid out with regards to keeping a list of the pensioners, interaction with them and issuing them Smart Cards. The pensioners also drew the attention of the government towards the problem being faced by aged widows of pensioners who died getting documents attested from various offices. They suggested that attestation from any gazetted officer be recognised for the purpose as the documents of the pensioner already contained all relevant details like photographs of his dependents etc. |
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Painting workshop ends
Dehradun, November 17 Of special mention are two paintings by Anil Goswami titled “Self-Interrogator” and “Deepest Desire” depicting the human mind painted in golden blue and copper colours. While Monica Talukdar’s and Sudhangsu’s landscapes in rich colours conveyed the beauty of nature. V Nagdas, a graphic artist from Kerala and now teaching at the Indira Gandhi Kala Sangeet Vishav Vidyalya in Chhattisgarh, brought alive the tribal art of the state in his work. Similar reference points were visible in the paintings of Jyoti Ranjan Panigrahi who has a penchant for creating pre-historic figures.. The workshop was organised by Colors Corridor, Art Gallery, Delhi, and School of Communication, Doon University, and was inaugurated by Prof Girijesh Pant, VC of Doon University. |
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Kumbh blues for Roorkee police
Roorkee, November 17 According to the official figures, there are a total of 824 sanctioned posts of cops in this subdivisional headquarters. However, 286 vacant posts are yet
to be filled. To put security arrangements in place during the Kumbh, extra police personnel are being sought from local and rural police stations and posts. Many policemen have already registered themselves for Kumbh duties
in Haridwar. According to the information, around 60 per cent of the total staff here will be deputed on Kumbh duties. “A total of 322 cops would be sent to Haridwar from here for special duties during the Kumbh,” said SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi. The responsibility of controlling crime in the area will lie only on remaining 216 cops posted in 10 police stations and a few posts. Moreover, there is a spurt in criminal activities during winter and foggy days. On the issue, Joshi said around two companies would be deputed in the rural area during the Kumbh to maintain law and order. “Yes, robbery and theft cases, especially at sugarcane crushers in rural areas, increase in these days. Deputation of around 60 per cent force on the Kumbh duties will certainly have effects here, but we will get two companies of police force during that period. It consists of around 300 cops,” said Joshi. Expressing concern over the issue, Mange Ram, a resident of Jhabrera village, said the police should put police personnel coming from outside areas on Kumbh duties instead of deputing the local cops there. “Otherwise the security scenario here will be affected,” he added. |
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Agitating kanungos get minister’s assurance
Haridwar, November 17 The assurance came after a series of protests and memorandums sent by the kanungos to the minister and the state government. Recently, at a convention of the Uttarakhand Registrar Kanungo Sangh held in Haridwar, Bhatt had said the government was serious about the resolution of the problems of kanungos and assured members of the union of fulfilment of their demands. Bhatt had even said had he earlier known of the demands those would have been sorted by that time. Similarly, another state cabinet minister Madan Kaushik also agreed that all demands of the kanungos at the district level were valid. Meanwhile, kanungos expressed happiness on the assurance and concern shown by the Revenue Minister towards their demands. The demands of kanungos include second promotional pay revision, removal of anomalies in present pay scales, appointments of data entry operators. Hemraj Singh Chauhan, president of the union, said their job was quite tough while remunerations and other facilities were below par and that’s why they had to take the agitational route. However, he expressed satisfaction over the revenue minister’s assurance. Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand Registrar Kanungo Sangh has elected a new executive committee. The members are Raj Kumar, general secretary; Suresh Dabral, vice-president; Madan Singh Bisht, Jaspal Singh Rana, Devendra Singh Bisht, Preetam Singh and Banwari Lal. |
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Sanitation plans to be implemented soon
Dehradun, November 17 The city sanitation plans comes as fallout of the National Sanitation Policy, 2008, directives. This indication came at a sanitation orientation workshop held here today. Uttarakhand Urban Development Secretary Anup Wadawan disclosed that all sanitation plans linked to various towns of the state would be in place within the next two months and would also be in implementation stage early next year. Wadawan said while certain municipalities were doing commendable works in sanitation sector, he was for at least effective control over the departments that were linked to local bodies. The Urban Development Secretary also assured of all possible cooperation to the local bodies towards the implementation of the sanitation plan. The Urban Development Minister said his ministry was also entrusting District Secretaries’ coordinators to assist in the workings of the local bodies. He said his ministry was open to dialogue. Earlier, inaugurating the workshop, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli described the implementation of effective sanitation in Uttarakhand towns as biggest challenge. He put forward the
concerns of local bodies prominently linked to financial and infrastructure. Sumit Barua from Public Private Partnership Cell, Department of Planning dwelt at length on public private partnerships. As part of the policy, The orientation workshop was participated by heads of local bodies and sanitation experts. |
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Alert sounded to nab wildlife smugglers
Pitthoragarh, November 17 The two students, namely Mahendra Singh and Kamal Singh, were arrested by the Moradabad police on Sunday and charged under the Wild Life Protection Act after the leopard skins were recovered from them. “After getting a tip-off from the Moradabad police, we raided the suspect’s residence in Pitthoragarh and in the Bungachina area from where the arrested youths have said to have purchased the skins, but recovered nothing. Until we recover any objectionable matter, we can not arrest any one,” said Rawat. The Pitthoragarh police has sounded the alert to nab wildlife smugglers at the check posts at Ghat, Sera Ghat, Jauljibi, Jhulaghat and the Dharchula bridge linking the district with Nepal. “We also asked forest officials to cooperate with us to nab the wildlife smugglers operating in the district,” he added. The two Pitthoragarh youths arrested in Moradabad were trapped in the trade by a smuggler operating in Haldwani when they had gone there to attend a marriage party. “The smuggler dealing in wildlife organs operating in Kumaon had on other occasions also tried to use innocent people but due to a lack of accurate information we are not able to arrest them,” said the SP. Pitthoragarh District Forest Officer (DFO) Nishant Verma has sent a three-member team, led by SDO Berinag, to Moradabad. “This team will investigate the matter and will come back after finding that from where in the district the leopard skins were collected and we will also share the information with the police in our future operations to prevent the smuggling of wild life organs,” said Verma. |
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20 hutments burnt to ashes
Nainital, November 17 According to the information, a sudden outbreak of fire in Bailparav hutments was noticed by people of Phad Bazaar. There were only children present in the hutments at the time of the incident as their parents had gone out to work. People tried to douse the fire, but were unsuccessful. Fire Brigade personnel fought the flames for more than an hour. The local administration has made lodging arrangements for the affected families in nearby schools. The cause of the fire and the damage incurred is being calculated. No casualty was reported in the incident. |
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Rs 35.1-cr annual plan for Nainital
Nainital, November 17 At a meeting held at Bhimtal to discuss the plan,
the minister in charge of the district Balwant Singh Bhauryal asked officials to have consultations with
public representatives before executing any project or scheme. Bhauryal underlined that proposals for new projects and schemes were to be made only when there was availability of land for the same. He called upon the officials to lay emphasis on developing dairy farming in the district for which there was ample scope. Another area of importance outlined by Bhauryal was development of
fisheries. He said tanks be constructed in all blocks under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) to promote
fisheries in the district. Similarly, he called for development of silk industry
while promoting horticulture and cultivation of medicinal plants. The minister directed officials of the Tourism Department to ensure that there should be a balanced growth of tourism in all assembly segments of the state. In addition to this, there should be a special attempt to beautify places of religious interest, he added. The minister also called for execution of new projects in the tribal areas under Special Component Plan. District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli instructed the officials concerned
to start drawing up blueprints of various schemes to be executed over the next one year. He said emphasis needed to be laid on the demolition of old buildings where new ones were
to come up. He called for fresh proposals regarding projects which were wiped out in natural calamities. At the meeting, the
amount earmarked for Public Works Department is Rs 7.23 crore and that for provision of drinking water is Rs 5.57 crore. Similarly Rs 1.58 crore has been earmarked for providing health services and Rs 1.72 crore for minor irrigation projects. Bagauli had earlier asked various departments in the district to come up with only those financial proposals for the next financial year which they were sure to utilise by the end of the year. He had also laid stress on focusing on those projects that were important in the public interest. The District Magistrate had directed the officials to avoid making plans for those pieces of land which were disputed and asked them to ensure that proper land was available for a proposed project and the land had been duly transferred from the Forest Department for initiating a public project. |
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FCI store sealed after ration theft
Roorkee, November 17 The action was taken by Tehsildar Shahid Hussain after the local police impounded the trucks on the Kalempur village road. The trucks, laden with ration material, were being taken to an unknown place from the FCI store at Civil Lines here. The police said on a tip-off, it spotted the trucks on the road signalled them to stop. However, the drivers tried to sped away. “One of the trucks rammed into an electricity pole, snapping power supply to nearby Sarkadi village. While certain persons travelling in the trucks managed to flee, we nabbed the drivers,” said Rajiv Rothan, SI of the Gang Nehar police station. The miscreants have been identified as Tinku and Mukesh, both residents of Nanhera Sohalpur village. The police said there were around 200 bags of rice and wheat loaded on the trucks. Meanwhile, officials of the Department of Food and Supply and others reached the store for further investigations. The officials maintained that they were hoping to unearth a big scam. |
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State better prepared to meet natural disasters: Secy
Dehradun, November 17 Delivering a key-note address today at the inaugural session of State Disaster Response Team (SDRT) training programme organised by the Uttarakhand branch of the Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Subash Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, said though natural disasters continued to take place in the state, there were fewer casualties now. “More so after Uttarakhand was carved and fire-fighting systems were put in place. During the Varunavarat tragedy in 2002-2003, when the entire mountain had fallen damaging several houses and hotels, there was no casualty as relief operation could be started immediately,” said Subash. The programme is supported by National Headquarters of the IRCS and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent. Speaking further he said the Disaster Mitigation Management Centre had been established as a first responder system, that is, providing training to volunteers down to the village level. “Though we brought in new equipment, it has to be strengthened further,” he said adding, “doctors need to be trained to immediately react and start treatment of those having maximum injuries. In situation like these, usually the grievously ill get left out”. In his address, Secretary, Education, Dr Rakesh Kumar said a plan was being worked out to involve school students with the Red Cross and train them in tackling emergencies. While Dr IS Pal, Honorary Secretary, IRCS, Uttarakhand branch, said during the five training programme, volunteers from the SDRT would be trained and then selected for the National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) programme. |
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Nanhi Duniya kids remember founder Dehradun, November 17 In later years of social service, the professor was joined by his wife H Sadhna Ulfat. They, together as a team, worked for expansion of the school with emphasis on recognising the needs of children in a chaotic social system. The celebrations began in the morning with a prabhat pheri. It was followed by the recitation of gayatri mantras around the sacred fire and payers of all religions. With a strong faith in the ethos of the school, every individual presented a used empty matchbox with a coin inside as blessing to Kiran Ulfat Goyal, chief promoter, signifying that members of Nanhi Duniya believe in the divine power of giving. The highlight of the day was a Bal Sabha where a series of activities were showcased by children. From colourful dances, melodious songs to captivating plays, students got an opportunity to bring out their hidden talent and entertain the gathering. “Bal Sabha is a very special activity of our school and it’s primarily organised so that children not only get a chance to bring out their talent in public, but also learn to take responsibility in organising such events,” said Kiran. The celebrations concluded with chief promoter thanking all trustees, volunteers, and co-workers for a constant support and dedication in successfully carrying out the event. |
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Situated at a height of 10,284 metres above sea level, the Badrinath shrine was closed today for winters. The hallowed portals of the shrine were closed at 3.40 pm amid recitation of Vedic hymns
Nanhi Duniya, a school for children with hearing and speech disabilities, celebrated its founder’s day here today. Nanhi
Duniya, founded in 1946 by Prof Lekh Raj Ulfat, completed 63 years of dedicated service for the welfare of children.
In later years of social service, the professor was joined by his wife H Sadhna
Ulfat.
