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MLAs perform poorly on fund spending
Kumbh preparations hit arrival of avian guests
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Plan to earn revenue from cow urine
Miners’ kin to benefit from Muskan project
Kishan Singh elected Pitthoragarh BJP chief
Salaries of ad hoc coaches hiked
SAF Winter Games put off again
Winter Cricket
Templeton Academy holds athletics meet
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MLAs perform poorly on fund spending
Dehradun, December 16 This year a total of Rs 145.77 lakh was released under the fund. Leading the pack is heavy weight MLA and Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Diwakar Bhatt, who has submitted zero proposals to the Department of Rural Development (DRDA) in the past 10 months and has not initiated any development activity in his assembly segment of Tehri. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant from the Pitthoragarh assembly segment submitted 223 proposals to the DRDA for which an allocation of Rs 124.85 lakh was made, of which only Rs 72 lakh was released for development activities. Similarly, former Congress leader and MLA Kishore Upadhyay, MLAs Vijay Singh Panwar, Om Gopal Rawat and Balbir Singh Negi have not utilised a penny. Only MLA Kazan Das had sent 6 proposals and spent only Rs 112 lakh for development activities in the Tehri assembly segment. Former minister and Congress leader Pritam Singh who is MLA from the Dehradun assembly segment, too, sent zero proposals to the DRDA and has not used his fund allocation for development activity. The MLAs, who have failed to open any account, are Govind Lal Shah from Chamoli, Jot Singh Ghansola from Dehradun, Prem Chandar Agarwal form Dehradun, Surender Rakesh from Haridwar, Brijmohan Kotwal from Pauri, Govind Singh Kunjwal and Pushpesh Tripathi from Almora. Govind Singh Bisht from Nainital and Harbhajan Singh Cheema from Udham Singh Nagar have not utilised the funds earmarked from them. Since his election, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, MLA from Pauri, had submitted 84 proposals and was allocated Rs 96.50 lakh against them. He was able to spend 4 per cent on works. On the other hand, MLA Amrita Rawat of Pauri submitted 99 proposals for which Rs 122 lakh were allocated but of this amount Rs 91.89 lakh was given to agencies for undertaken work. Vijay Barthwal from Pauri submitted 144 proposals to the
DRDA against which 84 proposals were sanctioned and Rs 87 lakh was allocated. She has spent 1 per cent from the allocated amount released
this year. An MLA gets Rs 1.5 crore during their five-year tenure and yearly instalments are released for initiating development activity against the proposals. If unutilised, the amount is carried forward.
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Kumbh preparations hit arrival of avian guests
Haridwar, December 16 Birds in the area have started feeling the effect of Maha Kumbh preparations. The number of migratory birds arriving at eco zones near Haridwar has registered a sharp decline. With construction activity on in fully swing in Haridwar for the mega fair, the mela area has become a busy hub. The various activities that are going on are spoiling the environment that birds, especially migratory ones, thrive on. Though there is no census available of the migratory birds, yet anyone who has been to Haridwar knows the time and places where birds from Scandinavian countries and Russia arrive and stay during this season. For years, these birds have been arriving in mid-October and remain here till March. Till the first fortnight of December, around nine foreign migratory bird species were witnessed by ecologists and bird lovers in Haridwar, specially at Bhimgoda barrage, Jhabargarh area in Chila forest and Dhudia forest in the Haridwar forest range. But this number is quite low with many species being witnessed in single digits only. This is quite surprising when compared to their numbers in dozens and when sighting of migratory birds has been a common phenomenon in the recent past. Apart from these spots, these migratory birds also flock at Ban Ganga wetland in Laksar and at Assan barrage situated in Dehradun. The effect on the arrival of migratory birds will be quite severe when the Maha Kumbh commences with lakhs of persons flocking the pilgrim city. The Bhimgoda barrage, situated in the mela area, will be badly hit. Ornithologists pointed out that either these migratory species will cut short their visit or would not arrive here. These species are quite sensitive and get to know easily several km away whether the place is conducive for their stay or not. These avian guests are being seen moving away from the traditional spots and are in search of safer and solitary spaces. Ecologist Dr Ritesh Joshi, who has been observing the movement of migratory birds for five years, said that earlier, these migratory birds were seen in abundance at Neel Dhara. Different species of foreign birds used to arrive and stay there for months. He said that now with a bridge at Chandighat being constructed, as part of Maha Kumbh preparations near this bird hub, sighting migratory birds has become a rarity in an area which used to be their abode till last season. “This zone needs to be declared a bird conservation zone. Not just due to the Kumbh fairs which take place every six or 12 years, but
normally also, human intervention has increased. If not controlled, it may result in total route diversion of these migratory birds,” said Dr Ritesh. Similarly at Rajaji National Park, road-laying work on the Chila road is in full swing and the sound of the activity and the smell of charcoal is pushing the birds away. This could be the reason for fewer birds being sighted even though a month has passed since the park was opened for tourists. Animesh Dhyani, a bird lover who frequents Neel Dhara for these migratory birds, said that this was the first time when he had noticed a sharp decline in their sightings. Everything is not lost and more than half a dozen migratory birds can still be seen. These are black stork, white stork, black-headed gull, yellow-legged gull, darter, ruddy shelduck and pintail duck. Of these, ruddy shelducks and black stork are the most visible and are enjoying the sun in the blue Ganga water. Apart from these migratory birds, local birds too are visible. From little cormorants, large cormorants, great egret to little egret, these beautiful local birds will mitigate the absence of migratory birds. But if one wants to make these migratory birds’ arrival in Haridwar normal, then certain steps need to be taken to ensure that they remain unaffected and feel safe. Apart from declaring these areas as conservation zones, anthropogenic activities needs to be lessened near the birds’ abode. Otherwise, these migratory guests will be a thing of the past.
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Plan to earn revenue from cow urine
Haldwani, December 16 Talking to The Tribune, the chairman of the federation, Dr Mohan Bisht, said: “We are in the process of redesigning cattle sheds. By giving the floor of the sheds, where cows are kept, a slant at a particular angle besides making a proper drain, we are looking for a mechanism to collect maximum cow urine. The drain will have a series of mesh layers that will help in multiple filtration of the urine.” He said the machines that were being used for urine filtration were being upgraded. Dr Bisht said at present the federation with the help of district cooperatives was collecting cow urine from various farmers in the districts of Almora, Pitthoragarh, Pauri, Nainital, Chamoli and parts of Dehradun districts. The urine is being purchased at a rate of Rs 5 per litre and is being sold to the pharmacy being run by yoga expert Baba Ramdev at a rate of Rs 10 where it is being further processed into Gau Ark. “There were a bit of minor logistical problems which are being sorted out. The pharmacy earlier had an MoU with some other government body, which has now been transferred to the federation. At present, we are able to procure a mere 1,500 litres to 2,000 litres of cow urine a day but we want it to increase manifold. There is no dearth of demand for the bovine urine. The only issue is to collect it fresh because if the urine is fresh, a litre of urine can lead to an extraction of .75 litre of Gau Ark,” he pointed out. The federation also wants to train farmers in the hills to make commercial use of cow dung also. It will train them into making flower pots, tiles and incense sticks from dry cattle dung. It aims at extending this project to all hill regions of the state. Dr Bisht disclosed that he had stumbled upon the idea of earning on a large scale from cow urine during a visit to Gujarat where he had come across a person who had been purchasing non-milch cows at a throwaway price and had even been taking the stray cattle. The said person had disclosed that his daily expenditure on a single animal was Rs 50 and he was earning Rs 80 from it every day by selling its waste. “One of the advantages that this project will have is that people will stop abandoning cows once they stop giving milk. They will instead earn from its waste and this way the problem of cattle menace on the roads will be taken care
of. Also the cattle will not die of thirst and hunger,” he said.
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Miners’ kin to benefit from Muskan project
Nainital, December 16 At a meeting held here yesterday for bringing these children under the aegis of the Muskan project, Bagauli ordered that tin sheds be erected, proper potable water facility be provided and arrangements be made for the children under the scheme, which was aimed at providing education to these children. He earmarked five places for seting up such centres and added that facilities should also be arranged for health check-ups of children and pregnant mothers who come to these centres. It was decided that everyone be provided with medical assistance and medicines at these centres on the day when there is a holiday and there is no mining activity. The District Magistrate laid emphasis on administering polio drops to the children of labourers coming for mining from outstations. As many as 423 children have already been identified from the Nandhaur area for the project.
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Kishan Singh elected Pitthoragarh BJP chief
Pitthoragarh, December 16 A consensus could only be reached after a 24-hour long tussle between both the groups. Shiv Raj Singh Kathayat, election in charge of the district announced the election of new district president. “Since most of the voters were in support of Kishan Singh Bhandari but as per the orders of the party high command, we got a consensus amongst the party workers,” said Kathayat. According to the party sources, Lalit Pant, the nominee supported by Prakash Pant could muster support of six members out of total 26 members. There was high drama that preceded the decision of the party leaders to arrive at a consensus as eight persons insisted on contesting the election. But finally, a consensus arrived at with the advice of Mandal presidents and zila panchayat chief.
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Salaries of ad hoc coaches hiked
Dehradun, December 16 The government order in this regard was presented at a meeting of the office-bearers of various sports associations with the authorities concerned here today. The issue of revision of salaries of ad hoc coaches was pending with the government for the past many months and was a issue of concern for many. Addressing the meeting, Additional Secretary (Sports) NK Jha officially announced the increase made in the salaries of the ad hoc coaches. Now, the state government has increased their salaries to Rs 3,000 per month for inter-university players, national player will get Rs 5,000, NIS diploma holder will get Rs 7,000, international player will get Rs 10,000, the ad hoc coach who has played at Asian and Commonwealth-level games will receive Rs 12,000, and those who have participated at Olympics and World Cup competitions will receive a handsome amount of Rs 14,000 per month. The state government till date was following old and outdated pay schemes for ad hoc coaches for the past many years. According to which player were receiving salaries like Rs 500 for those who have played at inter-university, Rs 1000 for national player, a NIS diploma holder was getting Rs 1,200 and the ad hoc coach who ha participated in various international competitions was receiving just Rs 1,500. Speaking to the office-bearers of the associations, Jha said the government wished to bring about an overall development of sports in the state and wanted to draw an elaborate plan in this regard. As per other recommendations made to the associations, they need to submit their annual sports calendar to the Sports Directorate so that it could coordinate well with the associations and prepare its own calendar. He said it would go a long way in monitoring the working of the associations. The government has also decided to honour players, who have made an achievement at the national and international levels, at the end of January every year. Apart from this, the players will also get a concession in their travelling fare. The associations need to submit their consent regarding recommendations by Dec 30.
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SAF Winter Games put off again
Dehradun, December 16 Speaking to the media the state sports secretary, Utpal Kumar disclosed that Indian Olympic Association secretary Randhir Singh has forwarded a letter informing them their decision. Kumar said the decision was also take seeing the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Speaking about using the infrastructure made at
Auli, Kumar said, “We have not made these investments with regard to SAF Winter Games alone. The infrastructure made here will be used for other games as well. We have already completed our development activity at
Auli, as a result we will organise a competition their. Although, he maintained that decision of whether to organise a national or international skiing competition will be decide later.” Till date around 80-85 crore money has been spent at developing infrastructure at Auli and
Dehradun.
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Doon Campus defeat OFD Stadium
Dehradun, December 16 Batting first, the OFD Stadium scored 112 runs in 15 overs. The team began on a high note with both its opener scoring comfortably. Vaibhav played a fiery innings of 37 runs in 30 balls before being given LBW on Nadeem's bowling. Another opener Bhashkar was made 16 runs in eight balls. First down batsman Alok did a good start to his innings but failed to go on to play a big score. Lower order batsman Himanshu helped his team score to reach a respectable score by scoring 11 runs. For Doon Campus team Imran was and Imran Ali was the lead wicket taker, they both took three wickets each. Chasing the victory target of 112 runs, Doon Campus team reached the target with three wickets in hand. It proved to be an outstanding day for Nadeem, who scored 20 runs in 27 balls to give a kind of start that was required for the team. After Nadeem, it was Rehaan for the team who scored. He made 24 runs in 30 balls and helped his team win the match. For OFD team Ravi took three wickets and Nitin and Prakash took two wickets each.
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Winter Cricket
Dehradun, December 16 Batting first, Rudraprayag scored 146 runs in allotted 30
overs. Opening batsman Arvind was the highest scorer with 30 runs in 30 balls. Shakti scored 28 runs in 37 balls. For Tehri team Ashish took four wickets, whereas Satandra and Vikas took two wickets each. Chasing the target, the Tehri was all out for 94 runs. Anoop was the highest scorer with 17 runs, whereas Naveen made 11 runs and Piyush made 16. For Rudraprayag Manjul took 4 wickets and Subodh took three.
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Nagar Nigam hammer Sports Hostel 5-0
Dehradun, December 16 It was a strong start from Nagar Nigam team as they were bang on target right from the beginning and scored the first goal in the 5th minute of the match to push their opponent on the back foot. The first goal was score by Dheeru for the team. Scoring for Nagar Nigam team did not stop here, Dheeru scored his second goal in the 15th minute. At the end of the first half, Nagar Nigam team led by 2-0. While in the second half, Sibhu opened the account for the team scoring the 40th minute of the match to help Nagar Nigam take 3-0 lead. Dheeru came back to pump in two more goals for his team completing his hat-trick in the 50th minute and scored his fourth goal in the 60th minute. Meanwhile, in the second match, Gypsy Club team defeated Paunta Sahaib team by 3-1. For Gypsy team Kiran scored in the 35th minute, Yashpal in 50th minute and Yogesh in the 60th minute of the match. While for Paunta Sahaib team, Yogesh scored for his team in the 5th minute of the match.
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Himalayan boys lift volleyball championship trophy
Dehardun, December 16 However, the DAV Club team will meet Sports Stadium in the final of the volleyball championship here tomorrow. Meanwhile, in the semifinal match for girls, DAV Club team defeated Ashok Club by 24-26, 25-23 and 25-14. While in the second semifinal match, Sports Stadium defeated Narishilp Mandir School by 25-19 and 25-15.
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Templeton Academy holds athletics meet
Nainital, December 16 A band of Kumaon Regiment from Ranikhet provided a musical performance on the occasion. Air Marshal Ashok Goel was the chief guest at the event.
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