Dehradun, December 21
Seeking a judicial probe into lathi charge on Congress workers protesting outside the Uttarakhand Assembly House, Opposition members, led by Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat, forced repeated adjournments of the House after lunch.Rawat, who alleged the manhandling of Congress workers on part of the police, jumped into the well of the House.

 He was joined by other Congress legislators who created a ruckus and brought the House proceedings to a standstill, leading to repeated adjournments.

Earlier, during pre-recess session, Opposition Congress forced the first adjournment of the winter session, accusing the state BJP government of doing little to create employment opportunities through the means of private enterprises in the hilly regions of the state. Not satisfied with the Parliamentary Affairs Minister’s reply to a query linked to the same, Opposition members, including Pritam Singh, Dinesh Agarwal, Kishore Upadhyaya and Ranjit Singh, created ruckus following which Speaker Harbans Kapoor adjourned the House proceedings at 12 noon, initially for 10 minutes.It was extended for another 10 minutes followed by another 10 minutes, with total time of adjournment adding to 30 minutes.

Earlier, responding to a query put up by Kedar Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant disclosed that Integrated Industrial Promotion Policy 2008 was under implementation in the state to increase employment opportunities linked to the establishment of industries in the hilly areas. He said as per the policy, 1,122 private enterprises had been established in hill districts of the state leading to the creation of employment for as many as 3,828 local youth. Pant also pointed out that the government did not itself establish the enterprises but encouraged private entrepreneurs for the same.

The minister, who read out the list of commodities in which government encouraged setting up of enterprises, also admitted that no new enterprise had been established after 2008.

Interestingly, while Congress MLAs created ruckus, ruling party legislator Anil Nautiyal asked the government about his efforts towards ensuring extension of special industrial package for the state.

Dehradun, December 21
The first day of Uttarakhand assembly session proved tizzy for ruling party legislator Beena Maharana, who fainted during the proceedings.A former state minister, Maharana fainted while the Secretary of the Vidhan Sabha was seeking Speaker’s permission towards tabling of a Bill during pre-recess proceedings of the House. 

As Maharana collapsed at her very seat, fellow legislators Kazan Das and Raj Kumar and others came to her rescue, which drew the attention of the entire House.

Maharana who was provided with immediate medical help was later hospitalised where she was stated to be recuperating.

This is not the first time that a member of the House fainted during the assembly proceedings. First Chief Minister of the state Nityanand Swami, who headed the interim government at that time, fainted during the course of proceedings.

Suffocation due to heating air-conditioners and a lack of enough open space inside the House were then cited as the main reasons behind the happening.

Speaker Harbans Kapoor, at a press conference few days ago, had favoured a new assembly building citing infrastructural problems in the existing House.

Dehradun, December 21
The state Assembly today paid tributes to its former member Narayan Ram Das, who passed away on July 26, 2009.

Assembly Speaker Harbans Kappor recalled his long association with Das during the UP Assembly days. He said his death had caused an irreparable loss to the state.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister highlighted the contribution of Das for the state. He said Das even as minister in undivided Uttar Pradesh, contributed greatly to development of the hill regions.

Describing Das as a great Dalit leader, Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat said the role of late Narayan Ram Das for the betterment of Dalits stood unparallelled. He sought for starting a scheme in late minister’s name.

Offering his tributes, UKD leader and minister Diwakar Bhatt said Das had an important role in the state agitation.

Member Chandan Ram Das dwelt at length on the personality of Das asserting that he always believed in honesty and uprightness. He said apart from the state agitation, Das and his family played a crucial role towards creation of Bageshwar district.

Ajay Tamta too offered tributes to the departed leader.

Dehradun, December 21
Ban on quarrying echoed in the state assembly today with the Opposition Congress seeking an explanation from the ruling BJP over government efforts so far vis-à-vis resumption of quarrying in the state.

The issue came up during question hour, on the very first day of winter session of the state assembly. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant, while replying to a specific query put up by Kotdwar MLA Shailendra Singh Rawat over the ban on quarrying on Sukhro, Kho and Malan rivers in the Kotdwar assembly segment, said the halt in the quarrying was due to lack of no-objection certificate under the Forest Conservation Act-1980 and held that the government had taken up all such cases with the Union Environment and Forest Ministry and was hopeful of a positive outcome.

Earlier, Rawat said the ban on quarrying on Sukhro, Kho and Malan rivers were causing a great inconvenience to local residents as they had been forced to buy gravel, sand and other material at higher rates. He asked the government as to when was the resumption of quarrying expected.

Joining the issue, Bahujan Samaj Party leader Narayan Pal sought an explanation from the government as to what it was doing for getting the quarrying operations resumed. Congress Lakshman Chowk legislator Dinesh Agarwal said the commoners in Dehradun were facing hardships due to the ban on quarrying as the rates of construction material had soared to all time high. He accused the state government of doing a little towards the resumption of quarrying.

Opposition members also accused the state government of failing to properly plead state’s case before the Union Environment Ministry. Legislators Karak Singh Bora and Ganesh Joshi, too, highlighted the adverse impact on the ban on quarrying in the state.

The ban on quarrying in a majority of rivers in the state has caused much of furore. While the ban at the behest of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has led to a sharp rise in the prices of construction material, which mostly comes from neighboring states, it has also resulted in livelihood survival for many. 

Dehradun, December 21
Alleging financial crisis in Uttarakhand, Congress legislators today sought a discussion over the issue under rule 310, which was rejected by the Speaker.

Congress legislators Pritam Singh, Joth Singh Gunsola, Dinesh Agarwal, Gopal Singh and Balbir Singh sought the adjournment of the House for holding a discussion on financial crisis affecting the state. They alleged that the government was finding it difficult to provide salaries to employees of both government and semi-government departments.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant said it was not possible to take up the issue raised by the Opposition under rule 310 as it was already part of the agenda and thus couldn’t be repeated. 

Dehradun, December 21
Close on the heels of an impressive rally by the Congress at the state Assembly House today, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), alliance partner of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has decided to hold a dharna in front of the House on December 23 to press for their demands, which included making Gairsain capital of the state, non-inclusion of 184 villages of Uttar Pradesh in Uttarakhand and steps to check inflation.

Talking about the new move of the party, BD Raturi, former president of the UKD, said: “We have demanded development of the neglected hill region, but if the government includes 184 villages of UP in the state then the same problem will continue to exist”. — TNS

Dehradun, December 21
An Uttarakhand girl has found a niche in the national boxing competition. Fourteen-year-old Neha Singh has won a bronze at the fourth National Boxing Tournament organised in Patna from November 10 to 14.

Neha, who took to boxing two years back, is doing well in the game and does the state proud with her bronze medal performance. “I never thought of taking to boxing initially. I was more inclined towards basketball, but it was only after meeting coach Durga Thapa that I decided to take up the game”.

“Earlier, I had seen the game as the sport that involves too much injuries, but it was only after taking to the game I realised that it was not the rough game it seemed to be and the players only got hurt if we made a wrong move,” said Neha.

Speaking about the Patna experience, Neha said it was a good experience to play in a national championship. She said there was a great difference of standard between the state-level boxing competition and national competition. Players came with different techniques and styles and one tended to learn a lot by improving their boxing style.

At the competition she had some tough fights, but her most memorial fight was against Jharkhand’s boxer, whom she defeated by 17-1 points tally.

Although she could not make it to the finals of the competition losing out to Assam’s boxer, she admits that the competition was a great learning experience.

Her love for the game is such that she daily covers a distance of over 6 km to undergo her practice session at the Parade Ground, despite the fact that there are no proper boxing facilities there.

Neha is also good in studies and has scored over 70 per cent marks in class VIII examinations. She aspires to be a lawyer in the near future, along with continuing with the sport.

Dehradun, December 21
The Bhogpur Cricket Club team registered a 94-run victory over Contender Cricket Club at the 58th District Cricket League here today.It was a poor bowling display by Contender Cricket team bowlers, who gave away 103 runs in the form of extras thus, allowing the Bhogpur team to score 259 runs in 33.3 overs.

For the Bhogpur team, Nitesh was the highest scorer for the team with 42 runs off 45 balls. Opening batsman Vishal scored 27 runs off 46 balls, whereas Vivek scored 24 runs off 19 balls. Ashish was the second highest scorer for the Bhogpur team with 38 runs off 30 balls. For the Contender Cricket Club team, bowlers went for penalty. Deepak gave away 57 runs off six overs, whereas Mahendra gave away 52 runs in his six overs.

Chasing the target of 260 runs, Contender Club was all-out for 165 runs in 28.3 overs, falling shot by 94 runs. For the Contender Club team, Mahendra scored 33 runs, whereas Apoorv scored 21 runs. For Bhogpur Cricket Club, Vivek, Deepak and Vinod took two wickets each.

Meanwhile in the second match, the Vikasnagar team defeated the Maharana Pratap Sports College team by 49 runs. Batting first, the Vikasnagar team scored 162 runs, Saad Usmani scored 45 runs off 44 balls, whereas Shiva Chaudhari 27 runs. For the Maharana Pratap Sports College team, Shubham and Akash took two wickets each.

The Maharana Pratap Sports College team was all-out off 118 runs. For the team, Sagar was the height scored with 33 runs. For the Vikasnagar team Sumit took three wickets, whereas Anand, Vikram, Parmesh and Ravinder took one wicket each. 

Dehradun, December 21
Fourteen players of the Uttaranchal Karate-Do Association have been selected for the upcoming 14th National Sub-Junior, Junior and Senior Karate Championship, which is to be organised in Mumbai from December 25 to 27.In the 14-year category, Gautam, A Kureshi, Paragun, Kunti, Muskan and Aastha made to the selectors’ list. 

In above 14-year category, Arjun Singh, Krishna, Manish Pal and Aastha have been selected.Meanwhile, in the 19-year category,Subodh Kumar, Anil Singh, Dilshan Ahmed, Surendra and Pavan Kumar made it to the state list.

Haridwar, December 21
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) judokas stamped their authority in both men and women sections by winning the overall trophy in both segments in the just concluded Senior National Judo championship.

The championship was held at Vedic Mohan Ashram and drew major audience during the three-day event. While CRPF was champion, the All-India Police Sports Promotion Board came second in the overall category.

The best male player of the tournament was adjudged Ram Ashre Yadav, who is currently at the post of inspector in the Uttar Pradesh Police. He won in the 73Kg event by defeating Rakesh Kumar of Panjab clinching the coveted gold medal. Notably, Ashre has to his credit a unique record of being national champion four times in this senior judo championship. While in the women’s category Nippu Jamwal of Jammu and Kashmir was adjudged the best player of the championship. While Manipur’s Suni Bala stole the limelight with three medals, which included two gold medals in the 70Kg weight category. For the Uttarakhand team, the lone face saver came in the form of Kiran Negi of the 40th PAC Battalion. She won a silver medal in the 57kg weight category. Iran defeated Uttar Pradesh’s Kumari Kiran while gold went to Anita Chand of the CRPF.

Judo Association, Haridwar, president Rajiv Sharma stressed on the need of the importance of judo not only in the Armed forces, but also in one’s life for health and mental concentration.