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Obama’s foreign policy has no role for India, says Pant
Power supply to 13 villages snapped
Students join hands to clean Ganga
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Union protests against merger of banks
Samajwadi Party protests against price hike
2 cops forge SHO’s signature, suspended
Trade unions stage dharna
Martyrs remembered
Nautiyal appointed Info Commissioner
Haridwar MC working under cloud
Encroachments removed at Haldwani
Jobless BEd degree holders threaten immolation
Traders gherao police station against drive
DM seeks report on illegal mining in Kosi basin
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Obama’s foreign policy has no role for India, says Pant
Dehradun, December 16 “The American foreign policy is one of maintaining checks and balances and rooted in their domestic interest. “All Presidents function on predictable lines, unless, of course, the country is in a war-like situation. However, the Afghanistan-Pakistan thrust of Obama’s policy really has no role for us. It has more to do with Pakistan and Afghanistan. “Pakistan is a close ally of the USA and it has invested too much in that relationship,” stressed Pant. On a visit to the Doon University today, Prof Pant in an interview with The Tribune said that it was still to be seen if American soldiers would be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan or Iraq. “On the one hand, Americans are asking allies to contribute more soldiers towards the war effort and on the other, there is talk of withdrawal of forces. “One has to see how popular this move is and how much actually gets translated into reality. In case such a scenario emerges, especially the withdrawal of forces from Pakistan, the Jehadi forces will be at their old game of targeting India. “As for Pakistan, it will most certainly sink into an abyss from where any recovery will be difficult,” stressed Pant. Dismayed at the unwillingness of the Indian leadership to take the foreign policy to an elevated level, Pant said that a forceful and purposeful Indian foreign policy, the hallmark of the Indira Gandhi era, is missing. “Though it was an altogether different era, India now is content to tow the American line. Even on the international arena, India is no longer a major player. “Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has politely succumbed to American pressure, be it economic liberalisation, the WTO or climate change. India appears happy losing out on a sovereign foreign policy,” rued Pant. Adding that it has much to do with the changed scenario, Indians are hardly bothered about a foreign policy and America holds promise of upward mobility and realisation of a popular wish for most Indian youth. “The present generation neither has any memory of a common struggle nor does it share a vision to really value a sovereign nation. For the time being, we are more bothered about earning our bread and butter and the price hike,” said Pant. On a lighter note, he said that the foreign policy does not interest anybody. No wonder then, he too can be seen digressing into the world of food and writing columns in newspapers. His book dedicated to the ‘paan’-eating history of Indians will hit the stands early next year. |
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Power supply to 13 villages snapped
Roorkee, December 16 The villages, where the connections have been cut included Peetpur, Jheevarheri, Chidiyapur, Mubarikpur, Jainpur, Ladpur Kalan. The officials also snapped electricity connections of 36 tube wells along with connections of 12 defaulters in both rural and
urban area. Besides, around 3,000 notices have been served to the defaulters. The campaign against the defaulters is on of late following the directions of high officials in the administration here. The UPCL team, led by the SDO Rakesh Kumar, also raided at several places in the area to check the electricity pilferage. “The connections of those defaulters, who have to pay over Rs 30,000, are being cut while the others are being served with notices,” said a senior official of UPCL. According to the sources of the department, the UPCL has to collect over Rs 25 lakh from the defaulters in the area. Meanwhile, the officials of UPCL also devised a unique way to extract money from these non-payers. “Now onwards we will paste the name of the defaulters, who have to pay over Rs 1 lakh to us, on the department’s website,” said Madhu Sudan Chandola, DGM, UPCL (Roorkee Division). |
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Students join hands to clean Ganga
Dehradun, December 16 The rally commenced from the office of the Municipal Corporation after Mayor Vinod Chamoli flagged it off. The students and teachers have assembled at the Town Hall before they started off for the rally. It went from Clock Tower to parade ground where they reassembled for the rally. Uttrakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank will inaugurate the the Ganga cleaning process at Rishikesh tomorrow. Besides the Garhwal Student Union, Hemvanti Nandan Garhwal University, Rajkiya Inter College, High Schools and other organisations associated with the mission participated in the programme. The Municipal Corporation, Trade Association, social organisations and the district administration also participated. |
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Union protests against merger of banks
Dehradun, December 16
They later marched to Clock Tower through Gandhi Park and held a
demonstration. Following which they came back to the bank where they gathered and protested. The employees of all nationalised banks of the state with the All-India Bank Employees Association and the All-India Bank Officers Association were part of the strike. They alleged that the government is trying to make four to five big banks by merging all banks. This would lead to closure of branches and this will affect the employees adversely. Due to this the transfers of the employees would be done at a large scale and chances are that some would lose their jobs as well. Beside this there would be cut on the facilities being provided to the bank employees. They further said other than the employees of the banks the customers would also suffer. With the closure of the branches at a large scale the customers would have to go to far off places for bank works. A press statement issued by the bank union said that the 4,500 bank employees in the state are on strike today. |
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Samajwadi Party protests against price hike
Dehradun, December 16 Vinod Barthwal, president of the party, said that the government had foodgrain in abundance but still the cost of the commodities was so high making it difficult for the poor to make both ends meet. Asking the Congress government to resign taking responsibility for the unprecedented price hike, the party president added that the government had turned away from its promise and the prices of essential commodities have increased manifold. Subhash Panwar, coordinator of the programme, alleged that the current hike in prices revealed that the Centre has been working hand in glove with capitalists. |
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2 cops forge SHO’s signature, suspended
Dehradun, December 16 The matter came to light when the SHO of the police station noticed the discrepancy. He brought the matter to the notice of the senior police officers who suspended the cops with immediate effect for negligence and ordered an inquiry into the matter. They had issued character verification certificate to Manit Singh, a resident of Vikasnagar, who is already booked in two liquor smuggling cases on December 14. Constable Sachin Kumar and constable Ankul Kumar had joined the service in 2006 and 2001 respectively. Both were posted at the Vikasnagar police station and were the residents of Haridwar. Meanwhile, a case under Sections 420, 468 of the IPC has been registered against the constables. Husband, in-laws booked in dowry case
The husband and in-laws of a woman in Naroli village of Rudraprayag were booked for allegedly beating and demanding dowry from the woman. The victim complained to the Raiwala police in this regard yesterday. In her compliant, she alleged that her husband and his family members had been demanding dowry since her marriage and also beat her when she tried to protest. She alleged that her in-laws had made a demand for a motorcycle from her family and she was being harassed for not being bringing money from her house. The police has registered a case under Sections 323, 498 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). |
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Trade unions stage dharna
Dehradun, December 16 The main demands of the unions include a check on rising prices of essential commodities. The protesters alleged that the prices of essential commodities had gone beyond the reach of common man and efforts should be made to provide all items through the public-distribution system. They also demanded a pension scheme and provision of provident fund (PF) for labourers. They asked the state government that the employees working with the government for a long time be put on rolls. |
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Martyrs remembered
Dehradun, December 16 The martyrdom of those who laid down their lives in the battle of 1971 was remembered by the gathering of the committee members, parents and relatives of the martyrs. The students of various schools organised cultural programmes. Parents of Rajesh Gurung and Gautam Gurung, both martyrs, were present at the function. Uttrakhand Vidhan Sabha Speaker Harbans Kapoor was the chief guest. Prominent persons present there were Ganesh Joshi, legislator, Kamal Thapa, president of the Jhanda Committee, Rajen Basnet, secretary, and Rajender Singh Gurung. |
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Nautiyal appointed Info Commissioner
Dehradun, December 16
The Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor, former chief Minister Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd) and other dignitaries were present at the oath taking ceremony.
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Haridwar MC working under cloud
Haridwar, December 16 It has been two years since the formation of this BJP-led committee, yet nine sub-panel elections are still to be conducted and more than six times they have been cancelled. Leader of opposition Sanjay Sharma has lashed out at the chairman for cancelling the elections for no genuine reason. Meanwhile, the Congress has come out strongly against committee working and has sought resignation from the municipal committee for failing on all accounts. Executive officer BL Arya said the elections were cancelled on the directions of the chairman. Meanwhile, the Congress celebrated the day as black day in view of the cancellation of the elections. City party chief OP Chauhan has termed the working of the committee as ineffective and termed the cancellation of the sub-panel elections time and again as a blow to the democratic setup of the committee. Congress workers raised slogans and burnt effigies of the ruling committee body at Chandracahrya Chowk. Third front in the municipal committee has also termed the whole happening a result of factionalism in the ruling BJP with chairman Kamal Johra being unable to win confidence of its party councillors. “We already knew that the chairman would cancel the elections if he fears his supporters would lose sub-panel elections,” said councillor Satya Narayan Sharma of the third front. The opposition has threatened to move the High Court if the election process was not resumed at the earliest. |
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Encroachments removed at Haldwani
Nainital, December 16 The officials had to face resistance from shopkeepers accused of encroaching upon the government land in Roadways Compound. They claimed that they cannot be categorised as encroachers as they are paying a monthly rent for the space occupied by them and if at all their shops are to be removed, they should be done by the Roadways Authorities by following a proper procedure. They said they should have been given the opportunity to vacate the space voluntarily. Meanwhile, the Lake Development Authority (LDA) also went ahead with sealing five properties in Nainital for violating the civic by-laws. The owners of these properties have been accused to not constructing their buildings in accordance with the maps passed by
the administration. |
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Jobless BEd degree holders threaten immolation
Dehradun, December 16 A meeting of the mahsangh was held in Dehradun today where it was decided to intensity their agitation. Ranjan Anthwal, sate secretary of the mahasangh, said they had decided to resume their agitation taking into account a complacent attitude of the state government towards their demand of appointment. Anthwal said while the mahasangh would be a staging a dharna on December 18, followed by a relay fast on December 21. “We can even go for immolation, if our genuine demand is not met by the government,” Anthwal observed. He also accused the government of misleading the unemployed BEd degree holders that the posts of BEd teacher were already surplus. “The BJP government has only closed schools and done least on development front,” Anthwal added. |
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Traders gherao police station against drive
Dehradun, December 16 Many shopkeepers demanded that they be allowed to use the fronts of their shops. They could be pacified only after SP (City) Jagat Ram Joshi, along with officers of the Kotwali and Dalanwala police stations, reached there. The SP (City) had a talk with their leaders and it was decided to have a meeting with the traders’ union on December 19 in the Kotwali police station to listen to their demands. Earlier, the police had started its week-long anti-encroachment drive on December 4 and had removed encroachments from busy markets of the city, including Paltan Bazar and those at Dispensary Road and Hanuman Chowk. The police had issued challans to many shopkeepers. Prior
to the drive, it had warned the shopkeepers to remove the encroachments. |
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DM seeks report on illegal mining in Kosi basin
Nainital, December 16 He has said: “The mining will be totally banned and no one will be allowed to extract things in an illegal manner”. The District Magistrate toured Ramgarh development block today and held a multipurpose camp to address the issues of the local population at Junior High School, Suyalbari. The people of the region apprised him of the need to open a mandi in Khairna and also told him about the erratic supply of LPG in the region. Bagauli immediately issued instructions to start the procedure for setting up a mandi in Khairna and also asked the District Supplies Officer to make appropriate arrangements for providing cooking gas to the residents. He also asked the District Education Officer to take immediate steps to address the problem of there being no principal at Government Inter College at Khairna. The people claimed that in the absence of a principal, the children were not getting a proper education. Bagauli instructed his subordinate staff in the district to tour the district extensively to address the problems of the people residing in the far-flung areas. He also expressed his annoyance at the delay in the construction of Patwari Posts in the region. He sought an early construction of the posts by the institution RES which has been commissioned to do the job. Various beneficiaries of different government schemes were given cheques on the occasion. |
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Dehradun, December 16
Dehradun, December 16
4,500 employees take part in strike
Dehradun, December 16
Dehradun, December 16
Dehradun, December 16
Dehradun, December 16
