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Re 1 hike in fuel prices evokes Cong protest
Kumbh: Minister pulls up health officials
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Central forces’ personnel deployed in Haridwar
State admn to blame for slow pace of projects, says Mayor
Quarrying on Gaula River
50 Shiv Sena office-bearers put in papers
Inter-dept rivalry delays formation of planning panels
NGO in service of physically challenged youth
220 kg beef seized
Admn to tax rent paid for mobile
tower installation
Leopard killed in hit-and-run case
AIDWA concerned over rising rape cases
Driver killed as bus falls into gorge
Ranbir case: Cops’ judicial remand extended
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Re 1 hike in fuel prices evokes Cong protest
Dehradun, January 7 The state had given the concession of Re 1 on each litre of petrol and diesel following an appeal by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh following the hike in fuel prices four years ago. The state government, facing a financial crunch, will gain Rs 50 crore annually from this withdrawal of concession. Meanwhile, the hike in fuel prices has been resented strongly by the Congress. Mahanagar Congress workers burnt the effigy of the state government at the Ashley Hall. City president of the Congress Harish Virmani alleged that by the removal of subsidy on VAT on diesel and petrol, the state government had revealed its anti-poor policies. He said the hike would also lead to an increase in the prices of vegetables and fruits and other essential items. Congress state secretary Vijay Singh Chauhan said it would result in a hike in transportation charges leading to a spiralling effect. He accused the BJP government of fuelling inflation. Chauhan also reminded that it was earlier the Tiwari government that had introduced concessions in VAT. This removal of concession is being done on rising pressure from the Finance Department and the increase is expected to benefit the state exchequer by Rs 50 crore per year. |
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Kumbh: Minister pulls up health officials
Haridwar, January 7 Health-related projects being carried out in the mela area by the Public Works Department (PWD), Ganga Pollution Control Board, Electricity Department, Irrigation Department, Pay Jal Nigam and other agencies are lagging behind. Apart from a slow pace of these health-related works, a strike by health and sanitary workers has compounded worries of mela health officers. Hundreds of health workers are on an indefinite strike for the past few weeks, citing non-fulfilment of their demands. Prominently they are demanding an increase in wage, mela allowances and cash payment on a daily basis instead of via bank accounts. Already behind the schedule, the strike has affected sanitary and cleanliness works in the mela area. On this issue, Chief Secretary Subash Kumar has strictly directed the health authorities that cleanliness is of prime importance during the mela area as the breakout of viral and contagious diseases is a major threat when crores of people will be thronging Haridwar and Rishikesh. Citing the repercussions of health services suffering due to the strike in a notification, ESMA has been applied regarding the Maha Kumbh sanitation services. A notification has been issued by the Urban Development Ministry in this regard and ESMA will be applicable till April 30. The mela area has been divided into four zones comprising 31 sub-zones to maintain sanitation and cleanliness in the area. Harak Singh Rawat has been appointed additional city officer who will be solely responsible for maintaining the sanitation in the Kumbh mela zone. Mela officer (health) SP Aggarwal said adequate stocks of medicines, medical equipment, pesticides are being put in place. 165 docs join duties
Dehradun: A total of 165 medical officers have taken up duties at various hospitals in the mela area. Of the 165 doctors, 60 are allopathic doctors and the remaining Ayurvedic doctors. Meanwhile, the state’s request for sending medical officers from Uttar Pradesh has not been met. “The UP government had suggested that we approach the districts adjoining the state for sparing doctors. So we have put forward our requirement to Rampur, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and other district administrations,” said Dr CP Arya, DG, Health. |
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Central forces’ personnel deployed in Haridwar
Dehradun, January 7 “Sixty per cent force from Uttarakhand, 50 per cent from UP and 19 companies from the Centre out of their respective allotted force for the Maha Kumbh have reached Haridwar in the first phase. The remaining forces from these states will be sent in the second phase in February,” Inspector General of Police MA Ganpathy (Garhwal Region) told The Tribune here today. If need be, the state police would get security personnel from other states as well, he added. According to the data available with the police, 2,000 jawans of the Home Guards will be called from different states if needed. As many as 500 jawans each from Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan while 250 each from Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh can be engaged for security in Haridwar during the mega fair. The Centre in total will send 60 companies of paramilitary forces, including 20 companies of the CRPF, 10 each of Rapid Action Force, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and
Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). While UP Chief Minister Mayawati has already announced to send 15 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) to the state for deployment during the Kumbh, 1,000 civil police personnel, 40 of mounted police, 20 inspectors and 60 sub-inspectors will also be provided by the state for security duties during the Kumbh. |
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State admn to blame for slow pace of projects, says Mayor
Dehradun, January 7 The Centre had released Rs 23 crore for these projects under the JNNRUM (Jawahar Lal Nehru National Renewable Urban Mission) one-and-a-half years ago. Under this, the Dehradun Municipal Corporation has to give basic facilities including ‘pucca’ houses, toilets, schools, dispensary to slum dwellers and improve the face of
the city. Giving a clear picture on the progress of each of these projects, he said, “Work has been done to a considerable level at the Ram Mandir Kusht Ashram situated at Chander Nagar and Shanti Kushat Ashram at Bhagat Singh Colony. “Since bids for Kath Bangla-Phase II slum colony were high, so quotations were sent to the administration for clearance for which we recently got the sanction. “Similar was the situation with Chaksa Nagar Colony near Vidhan Sabha for which the administration is yet to give its go-ahead on the matter of high bids. Bids for the fifth project Rotary Club Kusht Ashram at Bhagat Singh Colony too have crossed the threshold of clearance. For the sixth project at Shitla Vihar, Khala Basti, that is embroiled in a court case, I went to see the demarcated land today to resolve the issue as soon as possible.” As Wadhavan has asked for the completion of all projects within two years warning that otherwise, the funds would be divested and given to other states, Chamoli said, “We have to be realistic. If the state administration keeps sitting on the sanction for each project for six months, how can they be completed so soon. The DMC has not slackened its pace anywhere.” Speaking about two other projects of two slum colonies on the same lines, he said that the DMC has sent a DPR (detailed project report) on the Ram Nagar slum colony with an estimate of Rs 9 crore and is preparing a DPR of another ambitious project of revamping the Brahmpur Basti costing Rs 30 crore. Once the DPR gets ready, it will be approved and sent to the Centr
for funding. |
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Bandh complete at Haldwani, Lal Kuan
50 agitators hurt in lathi charge Tribune News Service
Nainital, January 7 The bandh was marked by a cane charge on agitators near the Kotwali in Haldwani. Denouncing the cane charge by the police, president of the Gaula Khanan Sangharsh Samiti Arshad Ayub said: “The protesting agitators were carrying burning torches and when a police personnel tried to kick one of these torches, his trouser got burnt and this led to the lathi charge”. He claimed that around 50 persons suffered bruises in the cane charge. Workers of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came to the support of the agitators and BSP legislator from Sitarganj Narayan Pal even sat on a protest outside the Kotwali against the cane charge. People in general were put to a lot of inconvenience as the agitators did not allow the plying of buses and other transport from Haldwani and Lal Kuan for the major part of the day. In places like Nainital, newspapers that come from Delhi could not reach vendors for circulation. Employees commuting to and fro between Nainital and Haldwani besides the adjoining areas faced a lot of problem in getting to their work places and back. However, the people did not complain and were sympathetic towards the demands of the agitators, who, they felt, had been let down by the leaders of the two main parties. Over the past three months, various organisations representing people involved in quarrying and related operations on the banks of the Gaula river have been building pressure on the state government to persuade the Central government to allow the mining operations to start again. The agitators say the lease for quarrying on the river banks was over in July, 2009, but a laxity on the part of the state and Central governments has resulted in the current stalemate that is affecting the livelihood of thousands of families. While the leaderships of both parties, the Congress and the BJP, have been indulging in a blame game, holding the Central and the state governments responsible for the impasse, the fate of these families continues to be uncertain. The agitators are particularly angry with state Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank as he had promised that the matter would be solved within three days during a visit to Haldwani almost two months ago. They recently expressed their resentment with the Congress leadership also when they heckled parliamentarian KC Singh Baba and senior party leader Indira Hridayesh last week. Talking to The Tribune, BSP leader Narayan Pal criticised the police for the lathi charge on the agitators and said: “It shows how the political leadership and the administration have failed to address such a big and important issue”.
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50 Shiv Sena office-bearers put in papers
Dehradun, January 7 Among those resigned include state general secretary Suresh, state convener Anjay Verma and city president Sanjay Bhatt. Addressing a press conference here at Hindi Bhavan in Dehradun today, Shiv Sena’s city president Bhatt said on January 10 almost 500 more members from the state would resign from the membership of the Shiv Sena at Aggarwal Dharamsala. He added they would form a new party on January 10. Verma alleged that state president Gaurav Kumar was hand in glove with mafia and he, along with his friends, had taken bribe for quarrying on the Ganga in Haridwar. |
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Inter-dept rivalry delays formation of planning panels
Dehradun, January 7 The rivalry between the Health Department and the Panchayati Raj Department came to the fore when members had to be nominated for the village-level Health and Sanitation Sub-Committees for implementing the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) programme. The bitter divisions between the two departments were discussed today at a training programme organised by the Uttarakhand Vikas Sansthan, Rudrapur, for zila panchayat representatives and office-bearers. “The Health Department, which is keen on guarding its turf, opposed tooth and nail the inclusion of the secretary, Panchayati Raj, as member of the sub-committee. However, the Panchayati Raj Department prevailed in the end,” said a top official of the Panchayati Raj Department who participated in the meeting. Under the NRHM, village-level health and sanitation will utilise a yearly grant of Rs 10,000 for the upgrade of sub-centres (annual maintenance grant), improving sanitation facilities in revenue villages and take up any contingency pertaining to health and sanitation. The gram pradhan and member secretary, Panchayati Raj, will hold the account jointly. This was vociferously opposed by the Health Department that was keen on keeping out the Panchayat Raj department. “While under the NRHM, the panchyats have started receiving Rs 20,000 for the improvement of sub-centres and the account holders are the respective gram pradhans and ANMs. Already Rs 71 lakh (approx) has been disbursed among six blocks in Dehradun district”, said the Deputy CMO, Dehradun, Dr V. S Tolia. State PR Act soon
Panchayat Raj Minister Rajinder Singh Bhandari has said Uttarakhand will soon get its Panchayati
Raj Act, which is in the final stages and will be before the people after getting approval from the
state cabinet. Speaking at a training programme of zila panachayat representatives and office-bearers organised by the Uttarakhand Vikas Sansthan, Rudrapur, today, the minister said a committee comprising more than 20 persons was fine tuning the Act according to the needs of the state, “The Act has to get the approval of the cabinet and the modalities for the creation of District Planning Committees (DPCS), too, are being worked out. Once the rules are drafted
elections would be held for the committee members,” said Bhandari. Under pressure from the district panchayat members who raised a unanimous demand for the creation of the committee and who said the three- tier system of the Panchayati Raj was proving ineffective in the absence of the creation of the DPCs, the minister failed to give any time frame reiterating that it would be done in due course of time. “In the absence of creation of DPCs, the Backward Region Grant Fund (BGRF) for Tehri, Champawat and Chamoli, given by the Centre, also has stopped,” said Pramal Singh, member, Zila Panchayat, Central Hopetown (Dehradun district). Meanwhile, the members also asked Panchayati Raj officials to raise their honorarium and set up a fund akin to the MLA development fund. “Like the MLAs and MPs, we should get salaries and perks
and also funds for carrying out comprehensive development of our area,” said Surat Singh Chauhan, a member of the Zila Panchayat, Jamni Pur,
Vikas Nagar. As of now, the panchayat members receive honorarium (stipulated) for
the number of meetings they attend. |
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NGO in service of physically challenged youth
Dehradun, January 7 In pursuit of their endeavours, Manav organised the 25th (Silver Jubilee) National Adventure/ Interaction Camp, which was inaugurated on January 3 at NIB Beach, Rishikesh. It concluded today. The participants in the camp hailed from different part of the country. The differently abled children participating in the camp totalled 195 along with 25 trained volunteers, who conducted various adventure activities at the camp like trekking, rafting, obstacles, repelling, river-crossing and monkey crawling. On the first day, the participants were trained to pitch tents in windy and cold conditions. Vikram, one of the staff members of Manav, apprised the participants of the norms of the camp. Despite nail-biting cold, the spirit of the participants was not dampened and they participated in the activities with full enthusiasm. Volunteers Anoop, Ankit and Vikas ensured the safety and security of the participants and did night patrolling and simultaneously checked the camping area. Pragya, coordinator of the camp, scheduled the activities for the entire programme and ensured that activities were conducted in harmony. On the second day, the participants started the day on healthy note and warmed up in dense fog and chilly wind with exercise and yoga under the guidance of instructor Chandan. To enjoy the daytime, the participants did white water rafting and commando bridge adventure games. A bamboo dance was performed by differently abled children from the Delhi Deaf Federation and multiple disability centre led by Madhu and karate techniques were performed by differently abled youths from Bhopal. The Kanpur participants performed traditional yoga postures. Dignitaries from Delhi, Roorkee, Rishikesh and Dehradun Chandra Shekhar, Sube Singh, Trilok Singh, Ravi Ravani and Rajesh Rai cheered the participants. Kirti Pais, secretary, Indian Mountaineering Foundation, South Zone, and leader of the camp, highlighted the camp activities. However, taking keen interest in the activities, the distinguished guests checked the equipment used in previous camps to know how safe they were to use. In the end Pankaj Holkar, general secretary of Manav, addressed the luminaries and thanked them for their encouragement. Manav has been conducting adventure camps at the regional and national levels across the country. Apart from this, the organisation is the only one to organise adventure camps for the disabled youth in the country. It conducts interaction camps for differently abled youth with normal ones to create a better understanding between them. |
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220 kg beef seized
Roorkee, January 7 The police has registered a case against Jahangir and some other residents of the village at Bhagwanpur police station. Rs 18,000 stolen from locker
Dehradun: An amount of Rs 18,000 was
stolen from the locker of a shop in Arhat Bazar here on Tuesday. Sudarshan Singh of Race Course alleged in his complaint that he had gone to a shop in his neighborhood but when he came back he found the locker was burgled. He added that nearby shop owners had seen two youths coming to his shop in his absence. A case under Section 380 of the IPC has been registered. Jewellers fail to register complaint
A group of jewellers gathered at the Kotwali police station alleging that a man tried to sell fake gold to a jeweller shop owner based at Astle Hall here today. They had brought the accused with them. The Station House Officer (SHO) of Kotwali police station said they had not lodged any complaint with the police. Thus, the police could not initiate any action. They came to the police station, but must have compromised among themselves, added the SHO. |
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Admn to tax rent paid for mobile
tower installation
Roorkee, January 7 Very soon, the administration will start charging tax on the rent being paid to the owners of plots and
houses or other complexes where these towers had been installed, he added. Apart from that, detailed directions and guidelines regarding the installation of such towers for both companies and owners of properties will also be prepared by
the administration. The monthly rent for providing space for these towers varies between Rs 10,000 and Rs 25,000. These towers are allegedly health hazard for people living nearby.
The buildings, on which these towers have been installed, develop cracks, thus posing a danger to the lives of not only their occupants, but
also neighbours. So far around 50 mobile towers of various cellphone companies have been put up in Roorkee town only, whereas the figure crosses 100 if the towers installed on the periphery of the town are included. So far, the owners, who have leased their property to mobile companies for the purpose, are not paying any tax under “property tax” to the local governing body. Even they do not procure any NOC from the administration for the installation of a tower. “These towers are really a menace, thus should not be allowed in
residential areas at any cost. Instead of charging tax from them, the administration should order the companies to get these removed from residential areas,” said Varinder Kumar, a local resident. |
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Leopard killed in hit-and-run case
Dehradun, January 7 The forest officials, who took the body in possession, found all its parts intact. The blood was oozing out from the nose of the leopard. Dehradun DFO Meenakshi Joshi ruled out any possibility of poaching and described the incident as purely a hit-and-run case. The leopard’s death on the Dehradun Rishikesh highway has put the Dehradun forest officials on alert. Repetitions of more such incidents cannot be ruled out in the near future as traffic on
this road is bound to increase in the days to come with Maha Kumbh getting underway on January 14. |
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AIDWA concerned over rising rape cases
Dehradun, January 7 In the memorandum, the AIDWA members have expressed concern at the rising number of rape cases and alleged failure of the police in getting justice for the victims. Indu Nautiyal, president of AIDWA, Surabhi Chauhan, vice-president, Shakumbhari Rawat, Sulochna Negi, Shobha Mandoiya, Shakuntala Bhatt, Munni Devi and many more were present at the meeting. |
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Driver killed as bus falls into gorge
Nainital, January 7
The bus is learnt to have fallen more than 100 feet into the gorge. The identity of the deceased is yet unknown. Efforts were on to retrieve his body from the gorge with the help of locals at the time of filing of this report. |
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Petrol and diesel have become costlier by Re 1 in Uttarakhand following withdrawal of subsidy on VAT by the state government since last night.
Haridwar, January 7
Manav, a voluntary youth
organisation, is an NGO of highly motivated youth with roots in adventure, culture, education and social activities.
To provide better living conditions to the physically challenged youth, the NGO has been working at the all-India level. The main aim of the organisation is to encourage the youth to participate in various sports, adventure and other creative activities so as to enhance their personality.
