Haridwar, November 21
As it was expected, the release of Hindi movie ‘Kurbaan’ witnessed several protests today, especially against Kareena Kapoor’s bareback poster.

Terming it indecent, various outfits protested and burned the effigy of the actress and tore apart the film posters, which were put up across the city.

While Hindu Jagran Manch burned the effigy of Censor Board members too blaming them as equally responsible for the vulgar portrayal of the actress.

Hindu Jagran Manch city chief Nathi Ram blamed the western culture and Bollywood for the moral degradation of the younger generation. “Film stars are seen as role models by youths and this is what they present to them. We will oppose everything that is obscene and which hurts the culture and moral values of our society,” said Nathi Ram.

Shiv Sena too opposed the movie scene and the film poster. Contrary to their nature, this time, Shiv Sainiks peacefully met the manager of Payal Cinema Hall where the movie is being screened.

Led by district head Devendra Prajapati Shiv Sainiks urged cinema owners to not to screen the movie ‘Kurbaan’ in public interest but didn’t force them.

With every now and then controversial films being screened Prajapati said that government needs to formulate stringent censor laws and their application too through the Censor Board members.

He said violence is not the only answer to such films and urged common people to not to watch such movies. Meanwhile, due to the threat perception initial shows were affected but evening shows showed good turnout.

Nainital, November 21
Kumaon Commissioner S Raju has sought an explanation from executive engineers of various departments for their failure to utilise the funds allocated to them for the implementation of various public-welfare schemes.

These executive engineers are from the Public Works Department (PWD) and Water Works in Champawat district, the Minor Irrigation in Almora and the Water Corporation in Nainital district.

Raju particularly told the employees of the Water Works Department to put their act together so that the people did not have to face drinking water shortage in summer months.

The Commissioner held a meeting of senior administrative and police officers of Kumaon division here today.

He asked district administrative officers to increase the government revenue and told them to identify spots for mining and send relevant proposals for the same to the administration.

He also asked them to assist the local bodies in tax collection.

The Commissioner stated appropriate steps must be taken at regular intervals to check road accidents and ensure a smooth flow of traffic on various routes.

He asked the police and administrative officials to conduct regular drives for the purpose.

Raju told the police officials to beef up security in sensitive areas in the view of the coming Id-ul-Azha and said illegal smuggling of animals for slaughter must be checked and guilty be booked under relevant laws.

Taking stock of the works being executed by the Electricity Department, he said faulty transformers should be replaced at the earliest.

He went on to say that by 2011, every panchayat would have an Atal Adarsh Gram having ideal roads, water and power supply besides health facilities.

He directed the District Magistrates to convene meetings for this purpose. The Commissioner also wanted a list of those panchayats which were to be linked by proper motorable roads and asked the officials to submit proposals for the same.

He asked the officers of the PWD to conduct a survey of roads being built from the funds given by the Asian Development Bank and submit a report to him.

Raju also asked the officials to speed up execution of works under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana and asked the officials to sort out issues pertaining to delays in transfer of land from the Forest Department, etc.

Dehradun, November 21
The Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee today asked the state government to declare the support price of sugar cane immediately.

Suryakant Dhasmana, a senior Congress leader, met Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank yesterday and put forth the problems of sugar cane farmers while advocating a support price of Rs 280 per quintal.

Dhasmana told the CM that November is about to end but sugar factories were still closed.

The farmers were tense over what would happen to their rabi crop as all 10 sugar factories were closed as the support price of sugar cane hasn’t been declared yet.

He warned the state government that sugar cane cultivation would come to an end in the state if farmers are neglected in this manner. He regretted that sugarcane cultivation has decreased in the plain districts of the state over the past eight years.

The Doiwala Sugar Factory, which happens to be government-owned, was closed due to the neglect of the government.

The Congress leader added that the executive director of the factory have been off duty for the past four months and same is the status of the General Manager. 

Dehradun, November 21
In view of the recent terror threats, a mock drill was organised by emergency service EMRI 108 in association with the Fire Brigade and police officials on the Parade Ground here yesterday.

There were three vans of 108 and around 40 personnel of the EMRI at the spot. During the drill, the tringed method was applied to rescue those injured. According to this method, red, black and yellow ribbons were tied on the hands of the injured depending upon 
their condition.

Dr Vijay Mittal, Head, EM Learning Centre, said black ribbon was tied on the hands of those who died on the spot while red was for those who were critically injured and were to be given priority in treatment. Yellow was for those injured who could wait and green for those who could walk on their own.

The police had cordoned off the area where the rescue operation was going on. The handling of victims’ families and relatives was also the part of the mock drill.

Mittal said nowadays terrorists had adopted a secondary bombing system and the efforts were made to tackle that problem.

He urged the public to support them in the cause and avoid hoax calls as due to increasing number of these calls the vans sometimes fail to reach the spot.

He said there were two silver and gold areas. The gold area was for the decision makers while the silver area for the rescuers. There should also be different entry and exit points. But sadly, neither was there any official sitting in the gold area nor were any different entry and exit points during the drill.

Dehradun, November 21
At an evaluation meeting on programme implementation, the Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said all the urban development programmes should be included under the Vision 2020. He said before giving a go-ahead to the plans it should be ensured that there is no duplication in the schemes.

He expressed these views while evaluating the schemes under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and Asian Development Bank funded schemes. The Chief Minister expressed dismay at the slow progress being made in the works being undertaken in the slum areas.

He also gave orders regarding setting up of Uttarakhand Urban Transport Authority that would be responsible for running 145 buses sanctioned for Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital under JNNURM.

He asked the authorities concerned to meet last year targets under JNNURM in order to speed up work. “The Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) should be involved in the scheme pertaining to broadening of traffic junctions in the city which are being undertaken by PWD for better coordination,” CM said.

On the occasion he said the government is committed for building an international stadium, multipurpose community center and parking places in Mussoorie.

Nishank also said effort is on to convey to the central government for the release of Rs 22 crore earmarked for new water schemes to be undertaken in Mussoorie.

Nainital, November 21
Despite its chill, Friday evening proved to be a treat for the theatre lovers of the city as two plays were staged in the Rink Hall.

Audiences were taken through a soulful journey by Kutumb Group, which performed “Apni maut ka dukh” directed by Devendra Bisht. The script for the powerful story written by Jilani Bano was done by Bhuvan Bisht.

The play revolves around a Muslim youth Sadiq who is forced to quit his clerical job and go to Dubai for a well paying assignment so that his parents and his wife can enjoy material comforts of life.

It so happens that a flight from Dubai to India in which Sadiq was supposed to fly, crashes and his family assumes him to be dead.

Sadiq is pained to know that instead of grieving over the loss of a son and a husband, his parents and wife are interested only in the compensation and other economic benefits they would get out of his death.

The performance was marked by excellent blocking and dialogue delivery by various characters in the story.

Prior to this, Umang Group along with artists from Rama Montessori School came up with an excellent performance of the play “Akal badi ya Sher”.

The tiny tots performed to near perfection to the script written by Lalit Mohan Thapliyal for a popular tale from the Panchtantra. The play was directed by Anil Kumar and had an excellent music score. The story revolves around a lion that is accidentally trapped in a cage.

Despite his pleas no animal is willing to help him get out. It manages to persuade a greedy human being to let him out in exchange for a gold bangle.

Once out of the cage it goes after the human being to kill him and it is only because of the intelligence of a rabbit that it is caged again.

The performance by the children along with the director got a thunderous applause from the audiences.

Dehradun, November 21
Deputy General of Police (DGP) Subhash Joshi yesterday honoured police officials and other personnel who made remarkable contribution to the publication of souvenir Uttarkhand Police-2009 here today during the Police Week-2009 in the police headquarters.

The DGP appreciated the efforts of the officials who made their contribution in the various police programmes, including the motorcycle rally, police parade and during the police week. The DGP urged them to give their contribution in the future as well.

Kumar Vishvjit, DIG, shared his experiences during the publication and writing of the souvenir, Uttarakhand Police-2009. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abhinav Kumar thanked all the officials who gave their contribution during the Police Week-2009.

Rear Admiral SK Jha, Joint Chief Hydrographer of Indian Navy, being presented a souvenir, Uttarkhand Police-2009, by DGP in Dehradun on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, November 21
The police has caught six dacoits in connection with the robbery at the Shivam Jewellers on October 29.

They had looted ornaments worth Rs 6.5 lakh from the shop near Rambagh in Herbertpur after firing at shop owners Naresh and Sunil. Both were later admitted to a hospital. SP Dehat, Karan Singh Nagnyaal, claimed that the accused were caught after an encounter in the forest area of Dharmawala and Poanta Sahib.

The police said that the five accused - Raeesh, Akil, Navijaan, Mushaed, all of Muradabad and Nasim of Sirmour along with Ashok Pandit of Muradabad who had bought the robbed jewellery, have been sent to jail.

The police had a tip on the sale of jewellery taking place in the jungle after which it raided the place. When they reached there, the robbers started firing at them. However after an encounter, the police cornered the dacoits and managed to nab them.

The police has seized 12 live carbines, four mobile phones and five kg ornaments from their possession. The police claimed that these robbers were involved in more than five robberies and murders.

Meanwhile, IG Garhwal, Nagar Panchyat president and MLA Kuldip Kumar announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000. The SP also made an announcement of Rs 2,500.

Dehradun, November 21
Led by Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana, Birla Yamaha Employees Union members staged a gate meeting on its Haridwar road campus protesting the autocratic style of functioning of factory management.

Dhasmana accused the factory management of harassing the employees and for hurling false cases against the staff.

Dhasmana said irregularities prevailed in the workings of the factory. “Even those works that are of permanent nature are being done by contractual workers and even these workers are not being provided minimum wages,” he said adding that, Rs 119 was being provided against minimum wage amount of Rs 143 per day that must be paid to the contractual employees.

Dehradun, November 21
A couple died in an accident after a vehicle hit their scooter on the rear on Jakhan Bridge here late this evening.

In the incident, both were critically injured and taken to the Jolly Grant Hospital by personnel of EMRI 108. Doctors at the hospital declared the couple dead on arrival.

According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Aadesh (60) and Pushpa Pant (55). They were coming from the Bhogpur side on their scooter (UP07-D-4859) when the accident occurred.

Their scooter was lying on the side of the road when some passerby spotted them and called up the EMRI 108. The police said a case had been registered and it was trying to trace the vehicle that hit the scooter.

Dehradun, November 21
In the wake of the rising number of fire incidents and being an industrial area, the Fire Department has opened a fire station in Selaqui.

The department has bought three fire tenders and an emergency van. The work at the fire station in Selaqui is almost complete. “Being an industrial area, there is always a risk of fire in Selaqui. Now, with the fire station being ready, we are fully equipped to tackle any untoward incident in the state capital also,” said Chief Fire Station Officer Chandan Singh Zina while talking to The Tribune.

The state capital, at present, has four fire stations, one each at Dehradun, Mussoorie, Rishikesh and Vikasnagar. Earlier, to tackle fire incidents in Selaqui, the fire tenders would come from Dehradun and other nearby fire stations.

“On most of the occasions, the purpose would stand defeated as the fire tenders would take time to reach Selaqui, which is quite far from Dehradun. That is why there was a need for a fire station there,” he added.