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Govt can’t create new districts: Prakash Pant
Kumbh Funding
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SSB ‘guerrillas’ hold protest at Jantar Mantar
Statehood agitators threaten to move HC
Khanduri concerned over Librehan report leak
Body of 7-year-old girl found
Three cops suspended after undertrial’s escape
Many still await shelter under govt welfare schemes
One dies in road accident
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Govt can’t create new districts: Prakash Pant
Nainital, November 24 According to Pant, “Creation of new districts involves a huge amount of money and the government does not have that kind of resources with it at present.” When pointed out that the demand for four new districts and two divisions is being raised from within his own party, he said, “If such a proposal comes formally from the party, we will analyse it at the government level.” He further stated that the issue could be brought before the state assembly for discussion and at least surveys can be got done to see the feasibility of these districts and divisions. Meanwhile, referring to the execution of development plans in the state in a transparent manner, the minister said the government had developed a proper mechanism for the purpose. He said if errors were found in schemes worth Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, the matter could be referred to the state government which would get the matter examined by a panel of retired engineers. He said, “For projects that involve a cost of more than Rs 5 crore, we have engaged outsourcing agencies to evaluate their execution”. He added that the reports presented on anomalies in the various projects were looked into by a committee headed by Principal Secretary (Finance) with the help of a technical cell constituted by the government. “The best thing about the entire exercise is that the departments do not have to bear any cost as all expenses are borne by the Planning Department of the state government,” Pant said. The minister also expressed satisfaction at the functioning of the Divisional Task Force established two years back by the government to keep a tab on the execution of various government projects. He said the task force had taken up 1,400 schemes for evaluation with regard to their execution and out of these 1,011 have been evaluated. Amongst these 47 discrepancies have been taken up by the government for action. “Our whole purpose is to see whether the schemes that have been started are actually benefiting the last man in the society or not. The whole purpose is to ensure that development is inclusive and every citizen gets the benefit of the money that is being spent by the government,” the minister said. |
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Kumbh Funding
Haridwar, November 24 Both ministers alleged discrimination by the Central government towards Uttarakhand and particularly on matters related with the Maha Kumbh. Lashing at the Central government over backtracking on Kumbh funds, Bhatt said it tried to show people that they had given a massive allocation for the upcoming Kumbh, but later adjusted the budget in the state government’s budget. “It seems the Congress is playing a political game over the Maha Kumbh and it forgets that it is not one state or party’s Kumbh, but whole of India’s. Maha Kumbh attracts visitors from all over the country and across the world too. Therefore, the prestige of our country is at stake,” said Bhatt. Adding to this, Kaushik pointed that for the Maha Kumbh, food and other essential items were provided by the Central government on concessional rates. But he said this time deliberately Uttarakhand was not being provided this by the Central government. “Whether it is Nashik, Ujjain, Allahabad or previous Maha Kumbh and Ardh Kumbhs in Haridwar, the Central government has provided all these things and facilities, but this is the first time when the Centre has backtracked,” he said. He termed the reason being only politically motivated as Uttarakhand has the BJP government in power. “The Congress is worried about the growing popularity of our government and thus is playing this game, but the public knows everything. We will try everything to make the Kumbh a successful event,” said Kaushik who is also an MLA from Haridwar. Bhatt said: “We are prepared to fight for Uttarakhand as the Maha Kumbh is being held for the first time in our state. We are prepared to take our agitation to Parliament and 10 Janpath too,” said Bhatt who belongs to the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal. The ministers were accompanied by city and district members of the BJP unit. Party orators criticised the Congress government for its policies, which have made life miserable for the common man with rise in inflation, crime, poverty and corruption. |
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Vande Mataram singing a non-issue: Muslim body
Dehradun, November 24 At a press conference held today, Sabri said the Jamait Ulema’s imposition of a fatwa, then granting permission to the Muslims to sing the song and finally the imposition of a ban once again had only confused the community. In a bid to get unnecessary mileage, Muslim political leaders were raking up the issue. “The leaders should work unitedly in raising genuine issues that concern thousands of Muslims. They have never raised their voice while demanding compensation for Muslims, who have lost their lives in riots,” he said. He also called upon the Central government to initiate a CBI inquiry into the campaign launched by Shiv sainiks and leaders of the Jamait-i-Ulema-i-Hind in the backdrop of the Vande Mataram issue to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere in the country. He castigated the leaders of the Jamait for never raising the issue of singing of Vande Mataram when it was sung at key functions of the Congress. “Except for the Muslim league, none of the leaders raised any objection then. Now, the issue has lost relevance,” he said. He demanded that the Jamait leaders instead should concentrate on getting the Sachar Committee recommendations implemented in the larger interest of the Muslims. |
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SSB ‘guerrillas’ hold protest at Jantar Mantar
Demands
Pitthoragarh, November 24 Dharma Nand Dalakoti, state president of the Swayam Sewak Bal Kalyan Samiti, said over telephone from New Delhi, “We are trying to talk to the Home Minister and if our talks fail, we will organise rallies in Almora, Bageswar, Chamoli and New Tehri respectively on December 3, 4, 5 and 8.” He said from 1962 to 2002, until the SSB became a paramilitary force and was deputed on the Indo-Nepal border, they were the part of the SSB cadre and used to be trained in weaponry and social work. “After the SSB was declared a paramilitary force in 2002 and deputed on the Indo-Nepal border, the volunteers who were raised in 1962 and used to collect information about enemy activities on the Indo-China border from Arunanchal to Kashmir, were left with no future. “Whereas the Guwahati High Court in the case of all Manipur VVF Ex-servicemen Welfare Association versus the Union of India and others (writ petition (c) No. 626 of 2005 Imphal Bench of the Gawahati High Court) in its decision 24.01.2001 upheld the decision of single bench of the same court delivered on 08.09.2000 and said the Central government must regularise the services of these volunteers, according to which the volunteers of VVF Manipur who were also under the SSB and raised after the Naga hostiles were taken by the SSB,” said Gopal Singh Mehta, vice-president of the Samiti. The three-point demands of these “Guerilla” volunteers include SSB jobs for those volunteers who are between 18 to 40 years of age, pension to those above 40 years of age and family pension to the families of volunteers who have died. “We have staged protests more than 50 times after 2002 when our 20,000 volunteers were left unemployed by the SSB and the government of India. We also sat on a 13-day dharna during the winter session of Parliament in 2007 and recently met the Union Home Minister, but despite his three-month assurance, no decision has been taken about our future so far,” Dalakoti complained. He said out of 20,000 former SSB volunteers spread in almost all districts of Uttarakhand, 7,000 were from three border districts of Pitthoragarh, Chamoli and Uttarkashi and out of these almost 5,000 were those capable youths who were in the age group for government jobs. “Not only men, but women also formed the cadre of volunteers in border districts from 1962 to 2002 and today out of the total volunteer force, 50 per cent are women volunteers who were trained not only in arms, but also in social and creative works,” said Neelam Vishwakarma, head of the women’s wing of the volunteer organisation in the state. “The selected youths from villages were offered government jobs after their training, but the Union Home Ministry left them rudderless after 2002 when they declared the SSB as a paramilitary force,” said Vishwakarma. “Before staging the protest in New Delhi, our delegation will meet Pauri MP Satpal Maharaj and Union Minister of State for Labour Harish Rawat and Home Minister P Chitamberam and remind them about their assurances given by Shivraj Patil, former Union Home Minister,”
said Dalakoti.
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ICICI enters into strategic alliance with India Post
Dehradun, November 24 The move is a part of the company’s all-growth strategy to strengthen its position in the state. IPLI has launched its new services across all post offices in the region. Over 114 postal staff has been trained in raising referrals by ICICI Prudential Life. There could not be a better option than availing the services of post offices in the state to gain a swifter and broader reach. Rau said, “The only way to reach a maximum number of customers in rural areas is possible only through post offices. The other option, such as opening our own outlets equipped with infrastructure, is not quite viable. Therefore, seeing the consistency of service and delivery system of India Post, we have chosen the best bet of relying on post offices”. He went on to say that the move has come up as a one-stop solution which will also provide convenience to customers. Rehman was also excited about the alliance as this would generate good revenue for postal services, though he refrained from giving any exact figure. He said, “Our extensive network
of post offices in the state will help ICICI Prudential Life to penetrate further, where the need for insurance is growing. It will benefit the Uttarakhand Postal Services monetarily also”. He informed that this kind of partnership between postal services and insurance company had taken place in France and Singapore, but not in India till now. IPLI increases penetration in Uttarakhand, as consumers will be able to buy ICICI Prudential Life products from any one of the 2,716 post offices in
the state. |
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Statehood agitators threaten to move HC
Dehradun, November 24 Bhagwati Rawat and Basanti Aswal are both 70 years of age. In 1994, they had assembled at Jhanda Chowk forcing schools to shut down. While talking to mediapersons here today, Bhagwati said none of the women agitators had been given either jobs or pensions. “All of us are now 50 years and above and do not expect to qualify for jobs. But, what we are demanding is recognition of our sacrifices. The state government should at least provide us with pension that would see us through our old age,” Bhagwati added. All these 16 women had participated in the agitation and were jailed for less than six days and were later given bail during that period. The first category of agitators comprises the persons who were injured during the agitation for statehood and were jailed for a period for more than seven days. Those who qualify under this category have been given government jobs and a monthly pension of Rs 3000. The second category is of those agitators who were jailed for less than seven days. They were given horizontal reservation and 5 per cent relief while applying for government jobs. However, there is compensation for agitators kept in jails for less than six days. |
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Khanduri concerned over Librehan report leak
Dehradun, November 24 In a statement issued here today, Khanduri said the leakage of the report had put a question mark on the confidentiality of the Union Home Ministry in keeping the secrets of the country. He said Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was claiming that there was only one copy of the report and that was with him, while Justice Librehan was claiming that there was no leak from his side. Khanduri said if the report had been leaked from the Union Home Ministry, it was a serious matter as the Home Minister also kept information related with the security of the country. He further alleged that the leakage of the report before the Jharkhand Assembly elections pointed towards the fact that the ruling Congress party had conspired. |
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‘Hum Sab Compromise Kartein Hain’ staged
Dehradun, November 24 The main character of the play, referred to as “that”, one fine morning starts introspecting about the number of times that he had compromised in his life. Guilt-ridden, he begins to loathe himself and starts feeling that his life has been one of compromises only, be it with himself, his wife or his boss. It has been a series of compromises. The play was directed by Kailash Kumar and written by Iqbal Niyazi. The play managed to stir the conscience of the audience as it has been set in the present milieu. Perfect direction and good dialogue delivery made it an interesting viewing. |
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Body of 7-year-old girl found
Nainital, November 24 According to the police, the body was recovered from a ditch in a house that was under construction. The girl had been missing for almost a week. The face of the victim had been crushed and her clothes were blood stained. The police said the postmortem of the deceased had confirmed that she had been raped before being murdered. Her body was discovered by a labourer working at site of construction. The incident led to anger spilling on the roads as college students and local residents of the area blocked the road and even gheraeod state BJP president Bishan Singh Chuphal. The girl was last seen at a marriage ceremony in Paith Padav where she had gone with her parents. It was from there that she had gone missing. |
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Three cops suspended after undertrial’s escape
Dehradun, November 24 According to the police, the undertrial was to be produced in a local court in Bijnor and was from the Dehradun jail. He fled from the railway station after allegedly befooling the cops. The under-trial Asid was a dacoit. He was booked in robbery and attempt to murder cases. The three policemen suspended from their service include Head Constable Pronit Kirpal Singh, Constables Tejpal Singh and Manoj Kumar. The three were posted in Kotwali police station. Sources said they had told senior police officials that the undertrial had befooled them by a trick. However, Senior Superintendent of Police Abhinav Kumar suspended all the three of them. |
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Many still await shelter under govt welfare schemes
Roorkee, November 24 To provide houses to those living below poverty line (BPL) in rural areas under welfare schemes, like Indira Awas Yojna and District Rural Development Agency (DRDA), here had carried out a survey of such families in 2002. It was reportedly that the department identified a total of 7,802 homeless families at that time. So far only 3,977 families have been benefited under the scheme while the other have been charging that the work in this direction is being done at snail’s pace by the authorities. However, refuting the charges, the officials of the concerned department maintained that the figure of homeless units is reviewed every year on certain current parameters like status of permanent residency, income, requirement of space for house etc of the beneficiary. |
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One dies in road accident
Roorkee, November 24 Fortyfive-year-old Mahender Singh succumbed to his injuries last night, while his brother-in-law Jagdish Singh has been admitted to the Civil Hospital. The victim Mahender, a resident of Bahsuma village of Meerut district, Uttar Pardesh, was coming to Roorkee along with his brother-in-law from his village. On reaching Ganeshpur Chowk, a speeding bus of Uttarakhand depot, coming from the opposite side, ran over the bike. The police shifted the victims to the hospital. The driver of the bus fled from the spot of the incident. |
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