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Water-table decline not alarming: Pant
Drastic shift in rainfall pattern: IIT experts
Harishtal to come up on state tourism map
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NSUI protests arrival of Arindam Chaudhary
Union minister for re-induction of surplus forest staff
Illegal structures along road removed
No shortage of funds: Govt
Kashipur may bag IIM
Medical experts hone skills at workshop
150 Bhopal students attend science programme
First Sahkari Bank goes in for core banking
Chandarmani resident robbed of Rs 40,000
Ranbir Case
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Water-table decline not alarming: Pant
Dehradun, December 22
He said the mission entailed taking short and long-term measures for the conservation of water.
While admitting that the water table had gone down in the state, the minister categorically held that the rate of its decline was certainly not alarming.
Revealing the figures, he said the water table in Dehradun was at 57m in 1997. Today, it had gone slightly down to 60m. In Nainital, the table stood at 135m in 1997, which has now gone down to 140m.
He said the water table remained unchanged from 1997 in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.
Pant, however, held that the drying of natural water sources in hill districts was certainly a matter of concern. He added that steps like construction of check dams, plantation of broad-leafed trees and rainwater-harvesting steps were being taken to revive water sources.
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal leader Om Gopal asked the government if it had any mechanism to monitor the schemes being implemented as part of the water conservation efforts.
In another query linked to potable water supply and demand scenario in Uttarakhand, Prakash Pant said the ADB and JNNURM schemes were being implemented in the state to meet potable water requirements.
Legislator Kazi Nijamuddin, in particular, raised the issue of potable water availability for the Maha Kumbh. MLA Ganesh Joshi sought details of the quantity of potable water being supplied through the Galogi water project. Mahendra Singh Mahraa put forward the potable water concerns of
Champawat. |
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Drastic shift in rainfall pattern: IIT experts
Roorkee, December 22 “Rainy weeks here have been decreasing rapidly. These weeks, which are 26-27 in number at present, would decrease by a minimum nine weeks in the coming 100 years,” said Dr SK Tripathy, a professor at the Water Resources Development and Management Department of the institute.
While the number of weeks having rainfall of low intensity (5 mm to 10 mm) are reducing, the number of days witnessing high-intensity rainfall is on the rise. Dr Tripathi said that presently, the number of weeks with 5 mm rainfall is 21, but it would come down to 17 weeks in the next 100 years. The 17 weeks of 10 mm rainfall will reduce to 14 weeks during the period, he said.
In contrast, the experts are noticing a rise in the days with high-intensity rainfall. “During our analysis, we found that the number of the days having rainfall above 20 mm is increasing,” said Dr
Tripathi. He added that in 100 years, the weeks witnessing around 50 mm rainfall would double (from seven weeks to 14 weeks) while the days having 100 mm rainfall would increase by one week (from 2.5 weeks to 3.5 weeks).
The changes in the rainfall are the result of global climatic changes, added Dr Tripathy.
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Harishtal to come up on state tourism map
Nainital, December 22 Local residents, in an interaction with the administrators, raised up the issue of renovation of the Lohakham, Syotra and Lokchula temples, besides a project aimed at beautification of
Harishtal. The District Magistrate said he had noted the problems raised by the residents of Harishtal, Kakod, Gauniyaro and Gaza villages and would try to address them to the satisfaction and benefit of all. He called for a cleanliness drive at Harishtal and Lohakham and said these two places had immense tourist potential. Bagauli said the administration would try its best to develop this area and would request various banks to open their branches here.
Deputy Director with the Tourism Department JC Berry told the villagers that a blueprint had already been prepared for the beautification of the lakes and other water bodies in the area.
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NSUI protests arrival of Arindam Chaudhary
Dehradun, December 22 Two leaders of the NSUI, former president Pankaj Singh Chhetri and vice-president Varun Rawat, who were arrested by the police,
were later released in the evening. Chhetri told The Tribune that they had been registering their protest against IIPM establishing their branch in the city, as the institute had neither been affiliated with AICTE nor had got NOC certificate. “We got to know from an article published in the Outlook magazine denouncing IIPM running its institute illegally. It has been blacklisted in Mumbai, Delhi and
Kolkata. Now they are looking for raw pastures like Dehradun, education hub of the state, and exploit its youth who are already suffering from unemployment. These poor students, who will pay a hefty sum of Rs 5.5 lakh as admission fee of MBA course on loans, will get jobs no where after passing out from here”. He said he had already complained to the District Magistrate and Registrar of Technical University, but to no avail. He pointed a finger at the VC, Technical University, for hobnobbing with this institute as despite request from registrar to seal the institute nothing had been done till now. He also signalled toward some black sheep in administration who have exchanged good money to save this institute. He said they would first gherao the DM and then meet the Chief Secretary to ask why no action had been taken in this matter. He also said they would guide those 40 students who had already enrolled for the first session of the institute. Nitin Kahlan, Dean, IIPM, said the institute was non-technical so it did not require any affiliation. He also emphasised that they did not need to take affiliation from the AICTE or any other university for that. He condemned the NSUI for creating vandalism. |
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Union minister for re-induction of surplus forest staff
Dehradun, December 22 The assurance came after Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Harish Rawat urged the Forest Minister over the issue.
This was stated in a press statement issued by Congress leader Surendra Kumar on behalf of
Rawat. Rawat has taken up the issue of surplus employees. |
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Illegal structures along road removed
Roorkee, December 22 Though owners of the illegal shops and houses tried to resist the move, the police controlled the situation to finish the drive peacefully. The illegally extended portions of over 15 shops and houses along the road were removed.
According to the officials, the owners had been issued notices as per the rules and the PWD officials had marked these illegal structures a week before. The administration is active of late against encroachments to widen roads for the coming Maha Kumbh.
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No shortage of funds: Govt
Dehradun, December 22
Pant rejected claims of the BSP and Congress MLAs that the state was facing severe financial crisis.
Earlier, BSP MLA Kazi Nijammudin said the state was in the midst of a financial crisis and sought an explanation from the government on the matter.
He alleged that salaries and pensions were not being disbursed on time.
Joining the issue, Congress legislator Tilak Raj Behad alleged delays in the disbursement of MLA discretionary fund describing it as a reflection of the financial crisis prevailing in the state. |
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Kashipur may bag IIM
Nainital, December 22 Talking to The Tribune, Kashipur legislator Harbhajan Singh Cheema said: “The team will give its final report to the Centre but state Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has expressed his approval for setting up the institute at
Kashipur.” Cheema said the piece of land that was previously known as Escorts Farms was under the possession of the state government. The land measuring 500 acres and the pre-requisite of the Centre of 22 acres for setting up an IIM can be easily fulfilled at the place. The government aims at starting the first session of the IIM in 2011, he added.
The Central team also inspected the area of the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd. (SIDCUL) in Pantnagar. A chunk of land measuring more than 500 acres is also available at the spot.
The team was led by Principal Secretary of the HRD Ministry Ashok Thakur. Senior officials of the state administration also accompanied the team during its survey. Cheema said: “They are satisfied with the existing infrastructure in the region.”
Even local parliamentarian KC Singh Baba has been persistently following up the matter of setting up the IIM at Kashipur with the Centre. He had met Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal last month and batted for setting up the proposed Institute at
Kashipur. Sibal had asked him whether Kashipur had the requisite infrastructure and Baba had told him that the region had a proper connectivity by rail and road, the requisite land and whatever else was required for setting up the institute. Sibal had asked him to give it in writing, which he had promptly done.
In a talk with The Tribune, Baba had said: “Since we already have Asia’s biggest agricultural university at Pantnagar and the State Infrastructure & Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd (SIDCUL) in the adjoining area of Rudrapur, the establishment of an IIM at Kashipur will help in not only bringing an overall development of the region but will also help the region come up as an educational hub. We already have 200 acre land required for setting up of the IIM. In addition, with Dehradun already being an educational hub, a similar hub coming up in Kumaon will also promote a balanced regional development in the state.” Other areas in Kumaon have also been vying for the setting up of the proposed institute. In the frontline have been Ramnagar and Haldwani where the student community has been holding public demonstrations in support of their demand.
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Medical experts hone skills at workshop
Patwadangar, December 22 Participants from Punjab and Uttarakhand from the fields of veterinary and medical sciences, along with biotechnology and bio-chemistry, are being provided hands-on experience in laboratories of the institute that is more than 100 years old and is being revived with the latest technology made available.
Director of the institute Dr RS Chauhan told The Tribune, “This training is the first of its kind in Uttarakhand. We are aiming to provide such training to participants who have precision, reliability and reproducibility. These students will be able to conduct tests that are known as ELISA tests at a cost as low as Rs 20. We just procure the ingredients and develop indigenous models that can be helpful for mankind. The ELISA tests are very helpful in dealing with bacterial as well as viral diseases. These tests are required for people suffering from HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis and rabies”. “Our main focus is on reliability. Since the chemicals involved in conducting these tests are carcinogenic in nature, their handling also requires perfection which we are trying to inculcate in the participants,” said Dr
Chauhan. The institute is being run under the aegis of the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology and is being revived on a large scale.
“We are developing facilities so that our intake for training programmes is at least 50 students per programme,” said Dr Chauhan who took over as Director three months back. Talking about ELISA, he said immunoassays were widely used in clinical, reference and research laboratories for detection of specific pathogens or pathogen products. They provided an effective and relatively simple means of identifying a specific pathogen or a bio molecule. It was desirable to use immunoassays that had high sensitivity and the ability to detect very low quantities of antigen or antibody complexes, he pointed while saying that ELISA had very high sensitivity.
The institute was previously known as State Vaccine Institute (SVI) and had been set up in 1903. Its contribution in manufacturing the small pox vaccine played a big role in the eradication programme. In 1957 it had started producing anti-rabies nerve tissue vaccine and later also produced tetanus toxoid vaccine. However, the production of vaccines had ceased in 2004 due to obsolesce of technology and non-compliance of norms. It was transferred to Pantnagar University in 2005 and was on the path of revival since then. It is aiming to become a commercial vaccine production centre through the Public Private Partnership mode. |
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150 Bhopal students attend science programme
Dehradun, December 22 Around 150 students up to class XII from Bhopal who are on an educational trip to Dehradun attended the
programme. Prof Dhirender Sharma from the Centre of Science and Policy Research, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), was the chief guest. He advocated that approaches and methodology of imparting science and technology should have a direct relation with society for the development and overall benefit of mankind. Dr Rajendra Dobhal, Director, UCOST, said such workshops would develop awareness about the importance of water quality and energy security.
The training mainly focused on environment conservation and adulteration in eatables. Through a simple demonstration, he showed the children how to distinguish between pure and adulterated eatables.
He said, “Adulterated replicas of all spices, dairy products and lentils are available in the market and these are quite difficult to identify. Turmeric powder, red chilli powder, asafetida, honey, milk and tea have the highest rate of adulteration in the market”. “To test the purity of eatables, place a teaspoon of any of these spices on the absorbing sheet and drop water on it. Leave it for a while and check whether the colour of the spice has spread on the linings of the absorbing paper. If yes, then you are not using pure things,” he added.
Dr Brijmohan Sharma shed light on how to pot plants without soil support. The programme
also focused on water conservation and eco-friendly lights made from bamboo. He said that the training would help children generate awareness about sanitation.
Other dignitaries present at the event were Prashant Singh, coordinator of the association, and Professor of DAV College, Dr Sunil Garg, Dr RK Garg, Dr DP Uniyal and Dr BP Purohit and Dr SK Pandey.
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First Sahkari Bank goes in for core banking
Nainital, December 22 Core banking is a general term used to describe the services provided by a group of networked bank branches. Bank customers may access their funds and other simple transactions from any of the member branch offices.
The bank is presently well entrenched in Kumaon and the state capital of Dehradun with its 17 branches that are well spread out in the region. Sah also disclosed that the bank is also starting ATM facilities and has tied up with a group of other public sector banks for a two way arrangement wherein customers can withdraw money from branches of each other of these banks. The banks with which the arrangement has been made are Axis Bank, the Bank of India and IDBI bank. “To begin with, we will be opening our ATMs at the 17 branches that we have and also off-side locations. This will be gradually increased,” said
Sah. He also disclosed that his bank had also applied for permission to open branches in other states of the country under the Multi-State Co-operative Act.
The bank had come into existence in 1983 and has a depositor base of two lakh customers. It has achieved the feat of having the highest Credit Deposit (CD) ratio of 68 per cent that is quite high above the state average which is still in the 40s. Sah further stated, “We have zero Non-Performing Assets (NPAs). In addition to this, whatever the bank is investing, it is being invested in Uttarakhand only”. The NPA is defined as an advance for which interest or repayment of principal or both remain outstanding for a period of more than two-quarters. The level of the NPA acts as an indicator showing the bankers credit risks and efficiency of allocation of resource.
Kurmanchal Nagar Sahkari Bank had earned immense goodwill of people of Uttarakhand when it had taken over Doon Valley Urban Co-operative Bank in Dehradun in 2007. |
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Chandarmani resident robbed of Rs 40,000
Dehradun, December 22 She also alleged that the vehicle her husband was driving was smashed and he was beaten. A case under Sections 392, 323 and 427, Indian Penal Code (IPC), in the Kotwali police station. |
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CBI files chargesheet against 18 cops
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 22 The names of 14 policemen had come to light earlier as well, while four more names were added to the list today. Earlier, the bail plea of the seven policemen, Rajesh Bisht, Nitin Chauhan, Neeraj Yadav, Chandermohan Singh Rawat, Ajit Singh, Santosh Kumar Juyal and GD Bhatt, had been rejected by the Special CBI Court.
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Dehradun, December 22
