CM pacifies Haridwar residents
Announces hike in wage for sanitary, health staff
Haridwar, January 8
With Kumbh mela works lagging far behind their scheduled completion, local people, facing a lot of problems, have been holding protests against the state government and mela administration time and again. However, now their problems have been acknowledged by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Touts flourish at passport office
Dehradun, January 8
“One of my friends, who had earlier visited this passport office, advised me to contact the tout as this makes the process easier. Within two hour’s time all formalities were completed and in this way a tout helped me to get my passport easily at a reasonable cost of approximately Rs 2,000 only,” said one of the passport seekers from Dhamawala.

Dehradun, January 8
With less than a week for the first major bath of the Maha Kumbh (January 14 - Makar Sankranti), the Tourism Department is struggling to complete its projects.

It is still seeking approval in most of its projects, barring the work on the ghats, to get these started.

The way it is dragging its feet, it does not seem that the department will be able to utilise the opportunity to make a mark, earn a good reputation and boost tourism in the state.

The Tourism Department formally launched the mega fair by getting ghats (Pant Dweep at Haridwar, Ved Niketan Ghat in Pauri Garhwal, Swargashram at Rishikesh, Muni-ki-Reti in Tehri Garhwal) and a parking lot for 800 vehicles made by it inaugurated by Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank a couple of days ago, but barring these, all its projects are far behind schedule.

It is yet to create eight tourist information centres where tourists are supposed to get answers to their queries about the occasion.

These information centres are supposed to remain open on all important ‘snans’ (baths) and the first ‘snan’ falls on January 14.

With just six days to go, not a single tourism information centre has been established so far.

The design of 2,000 coffee table books which are to be kept at these information centres have been turned back by the Chief Minister with suggestions. The department has not been able to make those final changes till now, leave alone the matter of preparing them.

The content for ‘Smarika’, the book that will carry the addresses of top national and state dignitaries, is not complete. Mela officials are still collecting messages for it. As many as 2,000 copies of ‘Smarika’ will also be kept at these information centres along with the souvenirs.

As far as the souvenirs are concerned, the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board has got proposals from the handloom, Sugandha (food essence) and herb sectors, but is yet to finalise the contract for herbal tea.

The tourism board has decided to prepare 2,000 baskets, each comprising a silk stole, packets of organic stuff such as honey, turmeric, big cinnamon and kidney beans (rajma), three packets of food essence namely Jakhiya, Bhangjeera and Jambu and a packet of Uttaranchal tea. Each basket will cost it Rs 1,500. The board is still solving the tea puzzle to finalise the deal.

The department was quite late in placing orders for advertisements in international magazines in December. These magazines are published after three months of placing the orders. This way, the advertisements will appear in late February or early March.

The main attraction - the exhibition hall where artistes from different states will showcase their handlooms and handicraft, music and dance - is still grappling with stumbling blocks.

The department has been offered 52,000 sq m land between Gauri Shankar Ghat and Chandi Ghat. Out of this, the Culture Department has demanded almost half of it - 25,000 sq m for the dance floor, changing rooms and accommodation for these artistes.

Now, the state Tourism Department has placed a demand for 1 lakh sq m to accommodate big stalls for the exhibition of state handicraft and handloom.

Sorting the tricky land issue appears to be a tall order before the commencement of the 46-day programme on March 1.

The file related to commercial companies to post an advertisement in the exhibition ground is not ready as yet. It is supposed to get ready by January 20. Then, it will go to a committee which will see the technicalities and send it to chief officer (CO), state finance, Additional CO and finally to Tourism Minister Madan Kaushik.

The department is also lagging in renovating 33 toilets with the collaboration of Sulabh Shauchalya at the cost of Rs 65 lakh as not a single toilet has been refurbished so far.

The GMVN (Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) too is pathetically delayed in making arrangements for tent colonies and economy accommodation for tourists who cannot afford hotels. It has sent a proposal to the secretary, state tourism, to make tents at Mukhyadweep, a six hectare land between Gauri Shankar and Sati Dweep.

Jugal Kishore Pant, General Manager, GMVN, said that as they wanted participation of private players, so the nigam had suggested names of Cox & Kings and UP Tourism to build the tent colony for which Secretary, Tourism, has sent his approval, but he is yet to approve the estimate cost of Rs 1 crore sent by the GMVN.

Pant said that it was only after the approval that they will be able to start the work of building tents that will be of one to two rooms attached with toilets.

No marks for guessing whether the nigam will be able to meet its target of building the tent colony before January 14.

n Is yet to create eight tourist information centres

n Has not made final changes to 2,000 coffee table books till now

n Mela officials are still collecting messages for ‘Smarika’ address book

n Is yet to finalise contract of herbal tea for souvenir

n Was late in placing orders for advertisements in international magazines.

n In a wrangle on exhibition hall land with Culture Dept

n The file related to commercial companies to advertise in the exhibition ground not ready

Dehradun, January 8
“One of my friends, who had earlier visited this passport office, advised me to contact the tout as this makes the process easier. Within two hour’s time all formalities were completed and in this way a tout helped me to get my passport easily at a reasonable cost of approximately Rs 2,000 only,” said one of the passport seekers from Dhamawala.

There are many ignorant and affluent outside the passport office here, who often get entrapped by the tout who promise to get their passports made easily without inconvenience. From filling up of the forms till the issuing of the passports, it is dealt with by these handful of peddlers.

One can easily approach these agents on the New Road that is located on the verge of the Uttarakhand's Passport Office in the city. These sellers are actually unauthorised ones’ from the state’s passport office. They promise filling up the application forms, depositing these, along with documents of their identity proof, in the passport office counter without wasting time in the huge line of other applicants.

On approaching these touts, Sharad Kumar (name changed) one of the touts, said the government of India and the Ministry of the Foreign Affairs have authorised them. They only help the applicants to follow elongated procedures from far-flung rural areas at a reasonable price. Their services save the time of the applicants without standing in long queues outside the office for hours.

These ballyhoos look for passport seekers, who are from rural areas find these touts much safer in filling up the application forms. They also promise to deliver these passports at the applicant’s residence within 45 days without inconvenience on the payment of Rs 1,800, whereas the passport office charges Rs 1,100 for the same.

Passport Officer Jai Kumar denied that agents were involved in any sort of activities in the passport office. He said, “The application forms are easily available at our office for just Rs 10. We have also appointed two ex-servicemen to help passport seekers in filling up the forms at the payment of Rs 20 only”.

“We issue approximately 3,000 to 3,300 passports in a month and hereby follow a fair process in the office. The touts outside the office are not authorised by our office, but are decentralised sellers of application forms. The passport office charges only Rs 1,000 for the normal passport.

“An additional Rs 1,000 is needed under the tatkal passport scheme. We have issued all passports that were applied till December 4, 2009,” he further added.

Kumar also said the department had closed down the service of receiving the filled application forms by applicants through mails due to the many tribulations on the candidates’ end. A passport seeker would have to be either present personally at the passport office or could surf the details through online through their website passport.gov.in.

In his information, he also incorporated that now applicants need not to come to the Dehradun office to seek the forms. Application forms could be easily availed at the District Magistrate’s office at the counter of passport help centre within Uttarakhand.

Secondly, according to the UN’s resolution, minor applicants born on or after January 26, 1989, have to submit their birth certificates, along with other documents. Third, on the forms of the minor, it is mandatory for either parent to sign as the proof of responsibility. Fourth, if one parent is residing abroad, an affidavit by the parent’s abroad residence attested by the Indian mission, along with the affidavit from the parent residing in India, has to be submitted as well.

Fifth, an applicant must mention the current residential address either rented or owned and lastly, attested photographs, along with the application forms, must be of 3.5 x 3.5 cm mugshot (with face and shoulders visible).

Dehradun, January 8
Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today said that efforts were on to strengthen homoeopathy infrastructure in the state to bring it at par with allopathy and ayurveda.

Speaking today at the state-level Workshop on Homoeopathy in Mother and Child Health Care, the Chief Minister said that the state was planning to open a medical college dedicated to homoeopathy.

“As already announced, the ayurvedic university at Haridwar will also accommodate different systems of medicine, but we are also exploring the possibility of opening a medical college for homoeopathy in the state.

“Several important demands of the Homoeopathy Department have been met. In order that they have a better work environment in the state, we have cleared backlog promotions of District Homoeopathy Officers,” said Dr Nishank.

The state-level Workshop on Homoeopathy in Mother and Child Health Care was organised jointly by the Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), Government of India.

In his address, Dr Sunil Kumar, MD (Homoeopathy), Assistant Director (CCRH), and in charge, Uttarakhand and Haryana, said that the benefits of homoeopathy have to reach the grassroots level so that the poor too avail of its benefits.

“The lack of information has strengthened the belief that benefits of homoeopathy cannot be applied towards the wellbeing of mother and child. On the contrary, its benefits in obstetrics and gynaecology cannot be discounted,” said Dr Sunil Kumar.

He said that under Ayush, the mainstreaming of homoeopathy with several national programmes was under way.

“Making a beginning in 2009, we have set a target to strengthen the homoeopathy mechanism in the country by 2012. A special kit with 22 medicines is being provided to ANMS and ASHA workers that can be given to pregnant and lactating women,” he said.

Expressing satisfaction at the steps taken by the government in Uttarakhand for homoeopathy, Dr Sunil also expressed dismay at the absence of infrastructure in 
the state.

“The state government needs to present a plan so that new dispensaries can be built for which financial allocations can be made by the Centre,” he said.

Dr Pooja Bhardwaj, Director Ayurveda, Homoeopathy and Unani Medicine, said the practitioners of ayurveda and homoeopathy should document their findings so that their claims can be strengthened.

District Homoeopathy Officer Rajinder Singh said that since the creation of the state, the total number of hospital institutions has increased from 57 to 107 and 13 District Homoeopathy Officers have been promoted.

“But we will like the government to implement the Tickoo Committee recommendations and NPA (Non-Practicing allowance) also,” said Rajinder Singh.

At the workshop, the Dehradun-based Wheezal and Lord Homoeopathic Laboratory functionaries were also present. 

Dehradun, January 8
The 2nd Indo-Norwegian conference held at the Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, on advances in separation processes concluded here today with lectures delivered by eminent speakers from India and abroad.

Key speakers were IIP Director MO Garg, Elisabeth Tungstad and Dr Richard Blom from SINTEF, Norway, Dr Rakesh Agarwal from Purdue University, USA, Dr Jhuma Sadhukhan from UMIST, UK, Prof VG Gaikar from ICT, Mumbai, Dr Malti Goel, Emeritus Scientist from JNU, Delhi, and Prof IM Mishra, IIT, Roorkee.

Dr Garg stressed on the importance of knowledge of partnership for the development of innovative technologies and briefed the seminar on collaborative work carried out at IIP with SINTEF, Norway, on de-sulphurisation of gasoline and diesel and also informed the audience about the joint work on carbon dioxide with the NTPC, Delhi, and the IIT, Mumbai.

The speakers also discussed application of metal organic framework for the absorption of carbon dioxide and advances distillation, membranes and extraction for achieving saving in energy and thus reducing carbon dioxide emission to the atmosphere. In the two-day seminar, five technical sessions were organised on various topics related with advance materials for carbon dioxide capture, technologies/ processes development, innovation in separation and membrane and absorption.

The seminar ended with the question answer session and vote of thanks. 

Dehradun, January 8
Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has excelled on all fronts during the first decade of the 21st century, claimed Pramod Kumar, director of IFFCO, Dehradun, while addressing a press conference here today.

Whether its production, sales, movement, development of IT tools, diversification in fertilisers or non-fertiliser sectors, IFFCO has done well, he said.

According to IFFCO officials, its plants rolled out around 62 lakh tones of fertiliser in 2009 as against 40 lakh tones in 1999 representing an increase of 51 per cent over the decade. Volume of sales showed 120 per cent increase and production registered an increase of 79 per cent in 2009.

The director said: “We are facing two dangers, terrorism and global warming, and the Indian agriculture has to be more scientific and new techniques of agriculture have to be adopted to save it.”

Educating farmers on the use of nutrients, micronutrients and adopting varieties that require less water, he said it would certainly contribute to rejuvenation of soil. Our field staff has to guide farmers in this direction, he added.

Dehradun, January 8
A seminar on Hindi language was held at KDMIP’s AMN Ghosh Auditorium, ONGC, here today. The seminar was followed by a prize-distribution ceremony for the staff of the Department of Official Languages, Ministry of Home Affairs.

The seminar was an official language conference where dignitaries from the Income Tax Department, Ministry of Home Affairs, Punjab National Bank, ONGC were present besides many others.

The seminar was segregated into two sessions. The first session belonged to the participants and the speakers from various institutions who spoke on the importance of Hindi as language, its role in common man’s life and how it had affected the life of every individual while the later part was allotted for the prize-distribution ceremony.

The first half was presided over by BS Parshira, Secretary, Govt of India, Rajbhasha Department, Ministry of Home Affairs, whereas the chief guest was Sunder Lal, Group General Manager, ONGC, Dehradun. The chief guest for the second half was Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Maakan.

Various state and Central government organisations participated in the seminar. Other dignitaries present at the ceremony were MC Joshi, Chief Income Tax Commissioner, Dehradun, Dr Dinesh Chamoli, Bharat Petroleum Institute, Dr Hemant Darbari, programme coordinator, Pune, Dr Saroj Kumar, Rajinder Singh Bewli, SD Pandey and many others.

Dehradun January 8
An empty coach of the Howrah Express was derailed at the Dehradun railway station here today while shunting delayed trains.

“The Howrah Express arrived at 9 am at the platform number 4. It was then sent to the washing line for maintenance. While the train was shunting to the next line, the buffers of the two cabins got entangled in each other due to which a coach of the train went off the track,” said OP Singh, Station Master, Dehradun.

He added, “There is no case of panic as the entire train was empty. Due to the uncertain occurrence, Bombay Express got late by half-an-hour and Link Express was late by two hours and fifteen minutes from their scheduled time.”

Apart from these, the arrival of Link Express, Allahabad to Dehradun is likely to be late by six to seven hours by its scheduled time, informed the Singh.

Dehradun, January 8
Rao Cricket Academy registered a nine-run victory over Uttarakhand Cricket Academy at the u-17 District Cricket League under way at Col Brown School here today.

In the first match, it was a shabby start by Uttarakhand Cricket Academy. Its batsmen failed completely in the match.

First opener Bhopal was out for one while the other opener Girish, too, did not occupy the crease for long and was out for six runs.

After the opener, first down batsman Vikram went for two runs. It was middle-order batsman Albert who scored 21 runs for his team. Apart from him none of the batsmen clicked and the team was out for 57 runs in 22.2 overs.

For Rao Cricket Academy, Sanjay was the lead wicket taker. He claimed three wickets in his six-over spell while Sachin took two wickets in his three-over spell.

In reply, Rao Cricket Academy team reached the target in just 5.5 overs. Opening pares of Deepankar and Ashwani contributed 55 runs off 5.3 overs.

Deepankar was the lead scorer for the team with 25 runs off 15 balls whereas Ashwani scored 21 runs off 17 balls.

For Uttarkahand Cricket Academy, Albert took one wicket.

Meanwhile, in the second match, the DCA team won by seven wickets against the LMCC team. Batting first, LMCC scored 110 runs in 19 overs.

Jaiveer was the top scorer for the team with 33 runs off 21 balls whereas Rahul scored 13 runs.

For DCA, Mandeep and Naveen took three wickets each and Rahul took two wickets.

In reply, the DCA team did it with ease. Their opening pare give a flying start to their team. Dheeraj scored 29 runs and Vasu made 25 runs. Mandeep scored 29 runs. For LMCC, Manoj took two wickets each. 

Dehradun, January 8
Barely one year after its opening, the athletes from Agastyamuni Girls Hostel are making rapid strides at the national athletics meets. In just one-year duration five of the girls have carved out a name for themselves at the national level and more good performance is expected to come in the times to come.

Speaking to The Tribune Janki Kanwal coach at the Agustmuni Hostel said, “Apart from producing good athletes in boys, state also has a good potential of producing girls who could really do well for the state at the national level. Their one-year performance speaks of their achievements”.

In a short time, the hostel has given state 11 medals at the national level. Young upcoming athletes Mamta Kanwal who is 14-years-old has won bronze in 1500m and 3000m at the school national level held at Amritsar.

Another athlete Anita Kumari won silver at the 400m and 800m hurdles whereas another athletes of the hostel Mamta Mehta won bronze in 800m and 1500m (in u-16) at junior national held at Maysor. Pooja Kumari won bronze in 800 m and high jump at the national event.

The hostel, still has to bring about a great improvement in basic facilities, the most important of all is to have a proper practicing ground for the girls. Presently, the hostel girls are practicing on a community ground. Janki said it is not very encouraging for the girls. She is hopeful that if the girls are offered good facilities they could give even better results.

Dehradun, January 8
The UIT team defeated NIIT team by one wicket at the 58th District Cricket League here today.

Batting first, NIIT scored 116 runs in 26.3 overs. Opener Sanjay scored 31 runs off 12 balls. All other batsmen got off to starts but they failed to capitalise on these. Prakhar scored 13 runs off 19 balls.

Sunny made 13 runs off 29 balls. Naveen took three wickets while Manoj and Rakesh took two wickets each.

Chasing 117 runs for victory, the UIT team registered a narrow one-wicket win over their opponents. Mukesh was the highest scorer with 17 runs and Piyush scored 16 runs.

Manoj made 10 runs and Devender scored 12 runs. For NIIT, Bhagat took three wickets and Prakhar took two wickets.

Dehradun, January 8
The recently concluded state-level badminton competition of Panchayat Raj Yuva Kaliyan Games overlooked badminton norms. The competition was organised for the selection of the state team, which will play at the national competition.

The two-day competition saw the participation of over 200 children from 12 districts. At the competition children were given plastic shuttles to play their respective matches. Despite the fact that plastic shuttles were not allowed in any national competition. The coaches consider it as uncalled for.

Three years back, the National Badminton Federation had approved plastic shuttles for being used at the u-16 competitions. But the shuttles were not successful at all during the competition therefore they were not used in any other national 
competition.

The sources revealed that only good things attach to the shuttle is that it lasts long. But apart from this they are of no use. The shutters complain of poor fight and slow speed. If one practices for long with these plastic shuttles he is bound to affect his games.

Sources said the game at the national competition is completely of a different standard. None of the higher authorities of the Yuva Kalayan were ready to answer on the issue. When asked about it, the assistant director Dimiry left it to sports authorities to answer the question. And when the sports authorities were questioned they left on the higher officers to answer.