Dehradun, December 14 
The Indian Science Writers’ Association (ISWA), Uttarakhand chapter, has questioned the nuclear policy of the Centre by starting a signature campaign against the use of nuclear power. A memorandum signed by 10,000 young scientists, engineering students and citizens has been sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The memorandum addressed to Dr Manmohan Singh, who is also Atomic Energy Minister, says the government needs to reassess the futuristic social cost of its ambitious Nuclear Power Programme. On the anniversary of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, the signatories questioned the country’s preparedness to face any nuclear mishaps.

Addressing a press conference, Dr Dhirendra Sharma, president of the ISWA, Uttarakhand chapter, said: “The Indian government has announced its long-term nuclear commitment to generate 40, 000 MW nuclear power by 2030. It had entered into nuclear deals with seven countries, including the US, costing the nation more than $ 150 billion. But, our government should understand that nuclear technology is not the option for the future generations.”

“The incident of Chernobyl describes that how people in Europe suffered from radiation leaked after the mishap at the nuclear plant there. Mammals, insects and nature went through deformity and distortion. The contaminated water, milk, fruits, vegetables, cattle, soil, forests and buildings had to be abandoned. The incident of Chernobyl must edify the participating countries that have entered into nuclear deals that what chasm this kind of catastrophe can create,” he added. 

The memorandum calls for a national debate on nuclear energy as no parliamentary committee had discussed the reliability and peaceful performance of the Atomic Energy Programme. The government had also avoided the intervention of inter-departmental discussions with science and public policy ministries such as Finance, Energy, Planning Commission, Science and Technology and Environment.

Sharma opines that the production of 16.9 TW of energy generation can be achieved by 2030 through WWS, i.e. Wind-Water-Solar, as an alternative energy resource. These resources are available to us in abundance and there is absolutely no necessity to commit the future generation to opt for the hazardous nuclear deal.

Roorkee, December 14
Local businessman Navin Jindal was murdered to create terror among the trader community here for the purpose to extract extortion by an organised gang. The fact was revealed by the SSP Sanjay Gunjyal after arresting one of the assailants by the police.

The miscreant has been identified as Manga Tyagi, a resident of village Adhiyana in Saharanpur (UP).

SSP said Manga has confessed that he along with two other criminals namely, Parveen Balmiki and Nafeez, has murdered Jindal on the direction of Sunil Rathi, a notorious criminal of the area.

Parveen and Nafeez, both belong to Roorkee while Rathi, who was said to demand extortion from Jindal family about three years before, has been lodged in jail of late.

Quoting Tyagi, SSP Gunjyal said Rathi directed them to murder Jindal to create terror among the business community in the area so that the gang can extract extortion from them. According to the police, the arrested criminal confessed that the trio had consumed liquor at Eidgah Chowk before attacking Jindal near his house.

Notably, Jindal, who had run a shop in Civil Lines market, was shot dead on December 8 when he was returning from his shop around 9.30 pm.

The Jindal family was asked for extortion by Rathi around three years before and Rathi was reportedly arrested following the report by them.

On the arrest of the remaining two criminals, SSP Gunjyal said raids were on and they would be in police net very soon.

Meanwhile, Gunjyal patted the police team consisting SI Mani Bhushan, SO Dinesh Bhandari, SSI KP Tamta and SI Rajiv Rothan for cracking the murder case so soon.

Dehradun, December 14
The Uttarakhand State Employees Joint Council today announced support to the ongoing agitation of the Mussoorie Dehra Development Authority linked to the Sixth Pay Commission.

At a meeting of the council presided over by its president Thakur Prahalad Singh, it was unanimously decided to extend full-fledged support to the ongoing agitation of the employees. 

“The demand of the Sixth Pay Commission by employees of the MDDA is judicious and we extend full support to the agitation,” Prahalad Singh said while adding that the council will not hesitate to take to streets for the cause of the MDDA employees.

Prahalad Singh said the council office-bearers would be reaching the MDDA office tomorrow and formally announce their support to their ongoing agitation. Pradeep Kohli, Arun Pandey, JP Bhatt and Nandkishore Triphathy were prominent participants of the meeting.

The MDDA employees, who have been agitating since December 10, had sought support from the Uttarakhand State Employees Joint Council, the biggest union of employees in the state.

Pitthoragarh, December 14
The two university movement martyrs, who died on December 15, 1972, in police firing demanding a separate Kumaon University, were remembered by the students of PG College and many student leaders at a function here today.

The chairman of Pitthoragarh Nagar Palika Parishad and former student leader Rajendra Singh Rawat organised the function.

“Sobhan Singh and Sajjan Lal, the students of Post Graduate College here were the first martyrs of the university movement and only who sacrificed their lives to create Kumoan University which was followed by creation of Garhwal University,” said Rawat./

These two students died when the police was directed by then district-level officers, who had gathered at the local Kotwali to draw a strategy to quell the student’s agitation, to open fire on agitating students.

The agitation in Pitthoragarh claimed the lives of two students and also witnessed a brutal lathi charge. An inquiry commission was set up. DK Pandey, a leading lawyer in Nainital, pleaded for the students and he was successful to pin point the blame on the administration for faltering in tackling the agitation. 

Later, Pandey, won the Pitthoragarh assembly constituency on the strength of support from students and remained a legislator in the Uttar Pradesh assembly for 15 years. 

Interestingly, while the students of Pitthoragarh led the agitation and made maximum sacrifices, the local PG College could not get anything worthwhile in the academic sphere during last 37 years that kept the students of Pitthoragarh academically backward.

On the other hand, the Kumoan University went to Nainital and another university campus was opened at Almora./

“We want professional courses besides the university campus in Pitthoragarh PG College that made maximum sacrifices to form this university. The professional courses are opened only at Nainital or Almora campus and students of Pitthoragarh are left high and dry,” said Sumit Chandra, president of PG College students union. 

Dehradun, December 14
With the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 making provisions for establishing old-age homes in every district of the country, they are now being gradually accepted by the tradition-bound Indian families resulting in a sudden spurt of homes that lack quality. 

To standardise quality of old-age homes, across the board and include them as part of customised and comprehensive programme, a refresher course for managers and care givers of old age homes was held today in the city, based on the recommendations of a committee set up two years back and organised by Help Age India a non-government organization. 

“For the elderly, the old-age homes are now an important aspect, typically the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act 2007 calls for establishing such homes for those who are poor in a phased manner with provisions for funding. As a result there is multiplication of such homes that may be of poor quality and even those running them are unaware that specialised care has to be given to the inmates complete with regular visits by a doctor,” said Dr Sandhya Gupta, lecturer, All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and chairperson of the committee. 

In Uttarakhand there are only two government-run old-age homes located at Bageshwar and Chamoli that have been in the news more for poor quality of care and lack of accessibility, while the number in the private sector has considerably gone up. 

“There is multiplicity of these homes but what we are looking at is productive ageing in which the elders continue to make valuable contributions while living here. So far, the standard for old age homes has not been designed. It is easy to set up homes but maintaining them is a tall order, one has to ensure that the satisfactory level among the residents is high,” stressed Seema Vasudeva Deputy Director HR (Help Age India). 

Besides discussions were also held on fulfilling the provisions laid down in the Act, as there is lack of awareness about the provisions in the act among the senior citizens, they do not know how to approach the courts. “In fact, the Act is need based and an improvement in the 2001, Himachal Pradesh Act for the protection of elderly.

Those seeking legal recourse can hope to get speedy judgment,” said Shambu Nath, project officer Old Age Home.

He said that parents are still fearful of taking legal recourse, you will find very few cases registered even in Himachal Pradesh. 

While Aapga, Deputy Director Programmes Dehradun Chapter of Help Age said that Dehradun was selected for the venue of the refresher course as there is a need to organise the elderly so that there demands can be heard in a forceful manner. 

Haridwar, December 14
Though these days consumers are making transactions through the Internet banking and other related facilities, there are people from backward regions who don’t know even about the ways to save and deposit money and have no access to banking facilities. 

In one such effort to make people of these backward rural areas aware of the banking process, a workshop was organised by the Oriental Bank of Commerce in the Tibdi area. Apart from informing these people about the banking process, saving accounts were also opened on the spot. 

Also free accident insurance cover was given to some persons and information about other saving and loan schemes was provided to them, said Sanjay Sharma, branch manager. More such camps will be organised in other rural areas so that people can avail themselves of banking and related facilities.

Municipal ward member Rameshwar Dayal urged the people to save money and avail themselves of benefits of banking process. 

Nainital, December 14
Tension and infighting within the BJP have come to the fore over a trivial matter here. The issue pertains to the shifting of the office of the Song and Drama Division, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

A large number of BJP workers have openly expressed their opposition to the plans to shift the office from its present location. 

They held a dharna in support of the employees of the division and to express their opposition to the move of their being shifted out from the present location on Saturday.

The office needs to be shifted out as the building where it has been located has now been sold out. Incidentally, the purchaser happens to be a senior leader of the BJP, Hem Arya. The move by the BJP workers to oppose the shifting of the office is being seen as an attempt to settle their political scores with Arya. 

Ironically, it is still not confirmed where the office is heading to. While the agitating BJP workers claim that there is an attempt by Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank-led state government to take it to Dehradun, Arya claims that it will remain at a different location in Nainital only.

A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Shakir Ali, said: “This office should not be shifted out of this place. It has been here since 1967 when it was set up after the debacle in the India-China war of 1962. 

It has been a very effective tool in reaching out to the people in the remote areas of the state and would lose its very purpose of catering to villages in the border districts if it is moved out.”

When pointed out that the office building had been purchased by one of their party leaders only, he said: “We are not concerned with who has purchased it but we just want it to remain where it is”. The agitating BJP workers had levelled serious charges like the land mafia becoming active in the issue.

However, Arya, when contacted by The Tribune in Delhi, said: “I fail to understand why they are after me. I have purchased the building legally after taking a proper bank loan. I have all relevant documents with me.”

When pointed out that it is his own party men who are gunning for him, he said: “They want to create hurdles in my getting a party ticket for the 2012 Vidhan Sabha elections. The office will remain in Nainital only. There is an attempt to misguide people.”

Dehradun, December 14
For the fruit lovers, Dilli Fruit Chaat Waala is one of the most popular and frequented destinations. Situated in the tranquil surroundings of the Rajpur road, enroute to Mussorrie and other tourist destinations ahead, people from near and far-off locations visit to binge healthy fruits as compared to unhealthy junk food.

The stall is run by two brothers, Yogesh and Rakesh, who opened their stall with an idea to promote usage of fruits in daily life and avoid fast food, which has less of nutritional value and more of calories. 

“Two years ago we opened our shop with an idea to encourage people to eat fruits and discard the habit of munching junk food such as burgers, pizza and other oily stuff,” said Yogesh. However, where sweet potato and vegetable chaat stalls are already doing a steady business, the chaat stall is also gaining popularity for lending a perfect concoction of good taste and high fibrous value.

As per the season, different fruits are used and then garnished with jeera chaat masala, lemon and rock salt making its taste delicious and alluring. “I love the fruit chaat of this stall as its tasty and contains quality fruits,” said Anju, a resident.

“Depending on the season, we use different fruits and for mere Rs 20 serve a wholesome plate of fresh fruits, which sliced in front of the customers so that not only they eat healthy fruits, but hygiene level also gets maintained,” said Yogesh./

Furthermore, with sweet and tangy fruit chaat, there’s also aloo chaat. In cold evenings, aloo chaat is favourite of many and is relished on the spot while taking a walk or on a drive. 

For Rs 20, a hot plate of crispy aloo is mixed with homemade garam masala, rock salt and lemon and not any adulterated heavy masalas and tamarind chutneys so that its light to digest. 

Dehradun, December 14 
Officials of various organisations of Uttarakhand were awarded today for their exemplary work in the field of energy conservation at the State Energy Conservation Award-2009 function held at Hotel Pacific on Subhash Nagar Road today.Bijender Pal, Principal Secretary, alternative Energy, presided over the function as chief guest and gave away the prizes to the winners. 

In his address, the chief guest said in future, the energy conservation would be a necessary need. He also released the annual report of 2008-09 and a “Energy Conservation Guide Book.” A short film based on energy conservation was also showed at the function. 

Later Kamla Bansal, energy auditor, gave a presentation on how to conserve energy. At the function, a brief overview of the achievement in the field was also given and the plans for the next session in energy conservation were also revealed. As many as 150 participants from different administrative offices, hotels, institutes and corporations attended the award function. The Centre had declared Haryana first in energy conservation for 2009 while Chhattisgarh and Uttarkhand attained second and third places respectively. 

Meanwhile, in the big and medium industries category, RV Prasad, Chief Engineer, Century People and Paper, Lalkuan, Nainital, was awarded first prize of Rs 50,000. JS Gujral, senior general manager, Mahindra and Mahindra Limited, Haridwar, and Lieut-Col Sanjay Kapoor, general manger, Epka Laboratories Limited, Dehradun, got the second and third award with Rs 25,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively.

While in the professional bhavan, hotel and hospital category, Manu Kochar, joint managing director, Hotel Madhuban, Dehradun, was given special award and was honoured with Rs 25,000.

PK Bhomik, executive director, Keshav Dev Malvia Petroleum Exploration Institute, ONGC, Dehradun, and Vice-Chancellor GC Tewari of University of Petroleum and Energy Studies got first and second award of Rs 25,000 and 15,000 respectively. In the energy auditor and energy manager categories, Kamal Bansal of Energy Auditor was honoured with an award of Rs 10,000. Brijmohan Sharma of the Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists, Dehradun, got a special award with cash prize of Rs 10,000. 

Dehradun, December 14
Indira Hariydesh, a former Congress minister and senior party leader has demanded a white paper on the economic situation of Uttarakhand alleging that the state government has no money to pay the salaries of its employees.

“The state government is facing a serious economic crisis. The development works have completely stopped and the government does not even have money for the salaries of its employees. The government which is making tall claims of overall development should immediately issue a white paper on the current financial position of the state,” she told mediapersons here today.

Hariydesh, who was number two in the previous Congress government of Chief Minister Narain Datt Tiwari, charged that the government had to borrow Rs 78 crore from Pyjal Nigam to pay the salaries to its employees last month. “Everyone in the state, including the employees, are worried about the future and wants to know that how the Nishank government would cope with the problem and from where will they get the required money in the next two years of its tenure,” she said.

She further alleged that all developmental works in the state had come to a halt during the past nearly three years of the BJP rule. “The departments are not having any budget and even the contractors, who did work for the government, had not been paid their dues for the past six months,” she said.

“Most of the employees, including those from the state government corporations have not been given the sixth commission pay scales and even those who got the new pay packet, there is confusion about their arrears,” Hariydesh charged.

Taking exception to the announcements of developmental works being made by Nishank, Hariydesh said when the state coffers were empty and there were no state resources, how these developmental schemes would be implemented on the ground.

She said the state government had been falsely trying to blame the central government for all its ills, but the fact remain that the Uttarakhand government had completely failed to utilise the funds of the centrally sponsored schemes.

“Even in the old-age pension scheme, not even a single new beneficiary has been added as the department does not have any budget,” she added. Recalling the achievements of the previous Congress government, she said besides overall development of the state, the state government employees got the fifth pay commission recommendations and more than 40,000 youth got jobs.

Roorkee, December 14
To increase the quality as well as the life of highways, city roads and pavements, experts at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, have endorsed the use of glass grid in construction material.

“Many parts of our country have weak soils like black cotton soils, marine clays, etc. These soils are not structurally sound to bear traffic load. It is therefore often required to stabilise and reinforce such soil. The introduction of glass grid in making the road pavements (top layer of the road) would be an effective solution in this problem,” said Dr Praveen Kumar, Professor in the Transportation Department (Civil Engineering) at the IIT./

Glass grid is a self-adhesive glass fibre reinforcement material, which has been extensively used in airfield pavements and highways to minimise reflective cracking, said Dr Praveen. It is an exceptionally strong reinforcement material consisting of a grid of glass fibre covered with a polymer coating and a pressure-sensitive adhesive. Apart from this, it is anti-corrosive, non- biodegradable, resistant to ultraviolet and oxidative effects. 

Its introduction in the road construction reduces the deformation and increased the bearing capacity of the road. Plate-load tests have proved it. Dr Parveen, who recently was conferred national-level Brij Mohan Memorial Award by the Indian Engineering Congress at Mangalore (Karnataka) for his paper entitled “Use of Glass Grid in Pavement Layers”, said it was observed that CBR (California bearing ratio) of the soil improved when glass grid was placed in it. Maximum increment in the CBR was achieved when glass grid was placed near the surface.

The CBR test is a penetration test meant for the evaluation of subgrade strength of roads and pavements.

Various other tests, including tri-axial test, plate-load test and repetitive fatigue test, corroborated the benefits of glass grid in road construction. He added traditional pavement design and construction practices required high-quality material conforming to construction standards.

“In many areas of our country, quality material is unavailable or in short supply. Due to these constraints, engineers are often forced to seek alternative designs using substandard material, commercial construction aid, and innovative design practices. One category of commercial construction aids is glass grid. When placed in a pavement structure, a glass grid acts as reinforcement and also aids confinement,” said Dr Praveen, adding that it can be more useful in our country, which is vastly covered with various kinds of soils.

“The overall development of a developing country like India depends to a great extent on the efficiency of the transport network system. Fairly good motorable roads are therefore of prime importance,” said Dr Praveen. Dr Praveen is also member of six-member National Executive Committee relating to the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna.