Dehradun, January 23
The Rashtriya Ekta Parishad Uttaranchal celebrated the 113th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chander Bose at the Gandhi Park here today.

Children from different schools of the city participated in the programme and also performed cultural dances and songs.

Two freedom fighters and two poets were also honoured on the occasion.

Freedom fighters late Capt VS Negi and Veideya Devender, along with poets Ram Partap Mishar and Rattan Jonsari, were felicitated on the occasion.

Dehradun, January 23
In the mist of time memories of the Jai Hind Club may have all but blurred. Sixtyfour years after it was created the patriotic fervour that inspired the move still remains fresh in the mind of one of its members, senior journalist Raj Kanwar.

Now a senior citizen, Kanwar vividly recollects the vicarious pleasure it gave to him and his group that participated in slogan shouting on the streets of Lahore. “Today, on the anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, I feel sad that the nationalistic fervour is missing among the young generation and they lack focus and direction. When we formed the Jai Hind Club in Lahore, eight of my friends were inspired by the exploits of the Indian National Army (INA) and though in teens, our role was peripheral. It still gives me goose pimples when I recall the several run-ins my school seniors of DAV College, Lahore, had with the police,” said Kanwar.

Of the eight members, Kanwar has been unable to locate the five members in whose company he had heard the tales of the INA and Netaji. “I would love to meet the rest of the members of our team, if they are alive. But so far I have been singularly unlucky. I even planned a visit to Lahore to go back to the college, but my wish to this day remains unfulfilled. I am still hopeful that it will materialise some day,” said Kanwar.

Recollecting the years after Partition, Kanwar said the zeal to participate in development activities continued. “We were fortunate enough to be under the leadership of former Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. After his death Jai Prakash Narayan became my idol. I was a member of the Praja Socialist Party and on friendly terms with several leaders, including former Prime minister Chandra Shekhar,” opined Kanwar.

Far from leading a retired life, Kanwar keeps himself busy reading and writing, still hopeful that he may get news about other members of the Jai Hind club. 

Nainital, January 23
The Congress appears to be in no mood to relent even a bit on its stand against the move of the state government to privatise the power setup in Rudrapur. The party is coming up with novel methods of protest to embarrass BJP activists in the district and government functionaries on a daily basis.

Talking to The Tribune, senior Congress leader and local legislator Tilak Raj Behad, who is spearheading the agitation, said there was no way that the Congress would accept privatisation in any form.

He said the agitation was all set to gather more steam in the days to come particularly after the Republic Day celebrations got over.

“On January 28, thousands of women will take to the streets to protest against the government move. Why can’t the government put its house in order and is instead opting for the privatisation of the setup?” said Behad.

When told that the government was softening its stance a bit on the issue and holding discussions with the agitators to persuade them in favour of its move, Behad said he would meet senior officials, but only to put forward the contention of the agitators.

Keeping up the tempo of the agitation, the protesters organised a yagna Friday afternoon and prayed to God to give wisdom to the state government so that it could work in the interest of the masses.

They also took a pledge not to accept any law that moved towards privatisation of power in the area.

The agitators said the government was paying no attention to the protest that was being carried out by the masses in a democratic fashion and threatened that the protest would be converted into a mass agitation.

They also warned that any minister coming to Rudrapur would be welcomed through a protest in ‘Gandhigiri’ style.

After a bandh last week, the agitators have been taking out a funeral procession of the state government. They have been pointing out that Uttarakhand is a very small state. If even it cannot be managed by the state government, then nothing was left to be said about its performance.

They were apprehensive that private parties would harass people by using its muscle and other powers.

A very defensive BJP in the area has been trying to counter the Congress agitation through protests against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre for failing to rein in the spiralling inflation. They too have been burning the effigies of the Union government.

Nainital, January 23
Aiming to win back public support, the BJP has launched a series of protests and demonstrations in the Kumaon region to highlight the failure of the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre in taming the spiralling inflation.

While Rudrapur is witnessing such demonstrations on a daily basis, there was a demonstration in Kitcha on Friday and Nainital on Saturday.

In Nainital, around 50 party workers gathered at the Gobind Vallabh Pant Park this afternoon to protest against the failure of the government in curbing inflation.

They carried placards lampooning the Dr Manmohan Singh-led Congress government.

Speakers at the event sought the resignation of Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for his reported comments that he was not an astrologer who could tell when the prices would come down.

The speakers pointed out that the survival of the common man had become very difficult with even the basic items like milk and sugar becoming out of his reach.

They charged that the spiralling inflation had become a hallmark of the Congress regime and the Central government was virtually doing nothing to provide any kind of relief the common man.

The protesters pointed out that the country was already grappling with the issues of Pakistan-backed militancy, along with infiltration by China, and now spiralling food prices were leading to further unrest.

The protest ended with slogan shouting against the Congress and a demand for action against those involved in hoarding of essential commodities.

Dehradun, January 23
A thin crack found in the railway track at Harrawala station delayed four trains from their scheduled time from the platform of Dehradun railway stations here today.

The breakages are presumed to be caused by the cold climate as iron tracks gets compressed due to cold temperature followed by heating by the sun during day time.

This translation of the temperature caused breakage fissure in the track.

The broken railway tracks were repaired in the later half of the day delaying the Bandra Express by 1.5 hours, the Janta Express, Mussoorie Express and Ujjain Express by 1.5 hours, respectively, from their scheduled time. 

Dehradun, January 23
Exim Bank is keen to lend support to Micro Small Medium Enterprises in Uttarakhand so that it can find a better market, build brands and forge business alliances globally.

Speaking today at a seminar on “Institutional Initiatives for Micro Small Medium Enterprises” organised jointly by the Export-Import Bank of India and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, Dehradun Chapter Director, Eximius Centre, S Srinivas stressed that Exim Bank could help large companies to set joint ventures, even worked with embassies for partnerships and at the same time extended support at the micro level to clusters that were engaged in horticulture and local craftmaking activities.

“We can lend support in organising exposure activities and giving training in value addition through processing and fruit preservation. Litchi fruit can capture the European market as the fruit over there makes an appearance only in the winters,” said Srinivas.

On the other hand, Additional Director Industries Sudhir Nautiyal said Uttarakhand had tremendous potential for exporting herbal products, mineral water, flowers and eco-tourism services. “There are a total of 25-30 exporters in the state and the total export turnover is Rs 500 crore per year. What we want to promote is niche enterprises like services in the form of heritage hotels and villages, where eco-tourism can be promoted,” said Nautiyal.

Sales and Marketing Director, TOBOC, Theodora Murray outlined the benefits of online trading. “It is important for an organisation to set a website, because chances of accessing markets increase manifolds,” said Murray.

Requests from participants came for organising exposure visits and interaction with the Pharma Export Promotion Council in Hyderabad and a visit at Ramesh Flowers at Tuticorin came from MNVVS Prabhakar of German Technical Corporations, who wanted a better market for flowers growing in Uttarakhand.

Dehradun, January 23
The Uttaranchal Sikh Federation Awum Nagarik Abhinandan Samiti organised a gathering to honour the newly elected president of the Bar Council of Uttarakhand. Razia Beig, first woman president of the Bar Council of Uttarakhand, was felicitated by different organisations at City Banquet Hall here today.

Chief guest of the event was Tehri Garhwal MP Vijay Bahuguna, who advised people gathered at the meeting to organise regular seminars and conferences on the issues related to environment, law and political leaders.

Congress leader Surya Kant Dhasmana presided over the ceremony.

Dhasmana, also spoke about the importance of such a body like bar council in a newly formed state of Uttarakhand. He asserted on forming a strong base of the bar council for the development of the state.

Newly selected members of the Christian Solidarity Society, Punjabi Sangathan, Uttarakhand, Gurdwara Singh Sabha, Roadways Karmchari Sanyukt Parishad, Doon Taxi Owners Union, Bar Association, Uttranchal Muslim Forum, Builders Contractors Union, NSUI and many other organisations were also felicitated for their achievements. 

Dehradun, January 23
A meeting was organised by the State Bank of India (SBI) for home loan customers at a hotel here today.

The idea of this interactive meeting was to make home loan customers aware of an insurance cover available with the home loan called Dhanraksha.

Besides, other schemes of the bank, including mutual funds, home loans, car loans, personal loans and mobile banking, were also discussed in details to the invitees.

Concerns of Uttarakhand Administrative office DGM Maheep Kumar were also shared in the meeting. Other senior officials of the bank were also present on the occasion.

Dehradun, January 23
The District Court today issued a non-bailable warrant to the Registrar of Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) who was allegedly involved in an examination material scam.

It may be recalled that Adesh Gupta, proprietor of Saraswati Press, had alleged that he was given verbal orders by UTU Registrar Mritunjay Mishra for supplying examination material. This was further strengthened by two other employees of the university.

Gupta had further alleged that he had given Rs 55 lakh for the work, while the Registrar had shown in the official documents that the payment was made to some other press in Lucknow. The Registrar had maintained that he hadn’t given any such orders to Saraswati Press.

However, the police had found Mishra guilty in the case and since then the Registrar and other two employees of the university had been absconding. The police has raided several places in their search, but the trio couldn’t be found. 

Dehradun, January 23
An ex-Army man’s bag containing Rs 3 lakh was stolen from outside the State Bank of India (SBI) at the main road in Doiwala this morning.

According to the police, victim Devender Singh said in his complaint that he had tucked his bag in his motorcycle, which he had parked outside the bank.

He had gone to collect his passbook from the bank after withdrawing the money, but when he came back he found the bag missing.

He added in his complaint that his niece who was waiting for him outside the bank said she had seen two men on a scooter and they might have been the thieves.