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THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Cong assembly gherao foiled; workers cane charged
Dehradun, December 21
Police personnel deployed to prevent Congress workers from reaching the Assembly House; The police had to resort to a mild lathi charge to prevent Congress workers on their way to gherao the Assembly House, on the first day of winter session here today.

Police personnel deployed to prevent Congress workers from reaching the Assembly House;Tribune photographs

Opposition forces repeated House adjournments
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. 


EARLIER EDITIONS


MLA faints during House proceedings
MLA Beena Maharana, who fainted during assembly session, being taken out of the House in Dehradun on Monday. 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.

MLA Beena Maharana, who fainted during assembly session, being taken out of the House in Dehradun on Monday. A Tribune photograph

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

Beauty tips

A student gets ready for a stage performance at the school annual function in Dehradun.
A student gets ready for a stage performance at the school annual function in Dehradun.Tribune photograph

Oppn slams govt over ban on quarrying
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-ŕ-vis resumption of quarrying in the state.

Cong submits memorandum
Dehradun, December 21
Ban on quarrying, complacency in the Maha Kumbh preparations, delay in the implementation of Forests Rights Act, etc, were raised by the Congress in a 15-point memorandum submitted to the Governor today.

Cong plea on ‘financial crisis’ rejected
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.

UKD dharna tomorrow
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.

Dehradun to clash with Uttarkashi in final
Dehradun, December 21
The Dehradun team will clash with Uttarkashi in the final of the Winter Cricket Tournament that will be played at Rangers’ College Ground here tomorrow.

State girl wins bronze in national boxing meet
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.

Bhogpur Cricket Club register victory
A batsman tries to hook a delivery in the 58th Dehradun Cricket League on Monday. 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.


A batsman tries to hook a delivery in the 58th Dehradun Cricket League on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Team selected for national karate c’ship
Players of the Uttaranchal Karate-Do Association who have been selected for the state team fo the upcoming national tournament. 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.

Players of the Uttaranchal Karate-Do Association who have been selected for the state team fo the upcoming national tournament. A Tribune photograph

CRPF win national judo c’ship
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.


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Cong assembly gherao foiled; workers cane charged
Sandeep Rana
Tribune News Service

Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya (with garlands) and party workers try to break police cordon;
Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya (with garlands) and party workers try to break police cordon;Tribune photographs

Dehradun, December 21
The police had to resort to a mild lathi charge to prevent Congress workers on their way to gherao the Assembly House, on the first day of winter session here today. Some of the Congress workers who tried to break the police barricades in a bid to move towards the House suffered lathi blows on their heads and were seen bleeding profusely.

Congress leaders later staged a dharna at the barricades where senior party leaders addressed nearly 10,000 party workers. Uttarakhand Congress president Yashpal Arya had given a call for the gehrao of the House on the opening day of winter session for the alleged failure of the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on all fronts.

It all started at about 2 pm when thousands of party supporters, led by Arya, holding placards and raising anti-BJP government slogans started marching towards the House from the parade ground.

The police had made elaborate security arrangements with three barricades on the Haridwar road leading to the House. As the Congress workers reached the first barricade, there was tension in the air as they tried to break the police cordon and barricades.
A Gujjar Congress worker with injuries he suffered in a lathi charge by the police in Dehradun on Monday.
A Gujjar Congress worker with injuries he suffered in a lathi charge by the police in Dehradun on Monday. Tribune photographs

As senior party leaders, Arya and Leader of Opposition Harak Singh Rawat, reached the barricades and climbed on to them, some over enthusiastic party workers did try to jump the barricades.

The police had to resort to a mild lathi charge. Some of the workers, after getting lathi blows on their heads, were seen bleeding and were taken away by other workers for medical treatment.

Senior Congress leaders sat on a dharna along with thousands of workers at the site in protest against the denial of permission to gherao the House. The leaders decided to address the workers from a makeshift dais on a truck as slowly and steadily Congress workers started to go away. Finally in the evening, the Congress leaders also decided to call off their agitation.
The police prevents a Congress worker from crossing over a barricade in Dehradun on Monday.
The police prevents a Congress worker from crossing over a barricade in Dehradun on Monday. A Tribune photograph

Arya said the BJP government had ordered the police to lathi charge them for no reason. He added that from Kaladunghi incident to this day the government had brought shame to the state by its anti-people policies.

Meanwhile, the police had made foolproof arrangements to deal with the gherao of the House by the Congress. Besides the local police, seven companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and one platoon of Black Commando of the police were deployed at the site.

There were in total five barricades put up at different points near the assembly. One each was put up at Bypass Road, Haridwar Road and other nearby junctions.

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Opposition forces repeated House adjournments
Tribune News Service

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.

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MLA faints during House proceedings
Tribune News Service

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.

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Tributes paid to Narayan Ram Das
Tribune News Service

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.

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Oppn slams govt over ban on quarrying
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

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-ŕ-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. 

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Cong submits memorandum
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 21
Ban on quarrying, complacency in the Maha Kumbh preparations, delay in the implementation of Forests Rights Act, etc, were raised by the Congress in a 15-point memorandum submitted to the Governor today.

The memorandum also accused the government of complacency regarding Maha Kumbh preparations. It blamed the state government of complete failure in the preparations pointing out that no permanent construction has taken place in the mela area.

On Centre-initiated Forest Rights Act, the memorandum held the state government responsible for not extending the benefits of the Act to the tribal areas and forest dwellers.

With Uttarakhand Congress President Yashpal Arya as prominent signatory, the memorandum also accused the state government of failing to curtail rising unemployment and curbing the deteriorating law and order.

Ownership rights for slum dwellers, welfare of minorities and prompt pension benefits for aged, widow and other deprived sections were also raised in the memorandum. 

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Cong plea on ‘financial crisis’ rejected
Tribune News Service

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. 

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UKD dharna tomorrow

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

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Dehradun to clash with Uttarkashi in final
Tribune News Service

A match being played in the Winter Cricket Tournament at Rangers’ College Ground in Dehradun on Monday.
A match being played in the Winter Cricket Tournament at Rangers’ College Ground in Dehradun on Monday. A Tribune photo 

Dehradun, December 21
The Dehradun team will clash with Uttarkashi in the final of the Winter Cricket Tournament that will be played at Rangers’ College Ground here tomorrow.

In the first semi-final played between Uttarkashi and Rudhraprayag team, the Uttarkashi team won by 20 runs. Batting first, the Uttarkashi team piled up 143 runs in 30 overs. The Sports College team bowlers bowled a tight line and length, not allowing the Uttarkashi team bowlers to free their hands.

Opening pair of Noormohammad and Imtiyazali contributed 21 runs in first four overs. Imtiyazali scored 20 runs, whereas Noormohammed scored nine runs. Another opener Amrit Pokriyal scored 14 runs, whereas first down batsman Jaspal Chauhan made 17 runs.

It was middle order batsman Sunil Rawat who scored highest 30 runs off 28 balls. Rest no other batsman occupied the crease for a long and the team was all-out for 143 runs. For the Rudhraprayag team, Jagat Singh and Manjul took two wickets each, whereas Dharmendra, Anoop, Subodh and Saurabh took one wicket each. Chasing the target of 144 runs,

Rudhraprayag was all-out off 123 runs. It was not the kind of start the team wanted, as their opener Subodh was clean bold in the third over of bowling Uttarkashi team bowler Sunil. Shampy, along with another opener Arvind, added some runs to the score. Arvind was out on 19 runs, whereas Shampy was out on 23 runs.

After them none of the batsman managed to score runs and the whole team was out for 123 runs. For the Uttarkashi team, Imtiyazali took two wickets, whereas Sunil, Amit, Sunil and Amrit took one wicket each.

Meanwhile, in the second semi-final, the Dehradun team registered a big 78-run win over the Pauri team at the tournament. Batting first, the Dehradun team had a strong start with opening pair of Vishal and Vaibhav adding 44 runs for the opening-wicket partnership. Vishal scored 26 runs, whereas Vaibhav scored 20 runs. First down batsman Vaibhav Pawar accelerated the run rate and scored 43 runs off 33 balls. Thereafter, it was lower order batsman Nipun Jain who scored 38 runs helping his team reach 228 runs target. For the Pauri team Ravi and Naresh took three wickets each.

Chasing the target of 229 runs, the Pauri team was all-out for 140 runs. Sandeep was the highest scorer for his team with 42 runs, followed by Pankaj who made 24 runs. For the Dehradun team, Deepankar took four wickets, whereas Vidhur Sikhand took two wickets. 

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State girl wins bronze in national boxing meet
Vishal Thakur
Tribune News Service

Neha SinghDehradun, 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.

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Bhogpur Cricket Club register victory
Tribune News Service

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. 

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Team selected for national karate c’ship
Tribune News Service

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.

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CRPF win national judo c’ship
Tribune News Service

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. 

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