Dehradun, January 27
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) general secretary Praveen Bhai Togadia today strongly demanded that India be declared a Hindu nation by making an amendment to the Constitution.

“To protect the Hindu religion and for the benefits of the Hindus, it is very important to make India a Hindu nation by making amendments to the Constitution,” said Togadia on the sidelines of a Dharam Raksha Nidhi programme held here today.

To the question how would India, a secular country, be made a Hindu nation, he replied, “By keeping in mind the minorities, the Hindu nation would be made”.

The VHP general secretary also lashed out at the government for its proposed Bill to give 10 per cent reservation to the poorer amongst the Muslims. “This is not government’s money. This is our money as 99.9 per cent of the tax goes from the pockets of the Hindus. Then why will we give this money for the benefit of the Muslims? We will do our every bit against this move and, if need be, will also take out a massive agitation”.

“No Hindu temples are left in Lahore and Rawalpindi and there is no quota in Pakistan for the Hindus. Even in America, it’s the constitution of the Americans which the Muslims follow. Then why do we try to make things tougher here in India for our (Hindu) people?” he asked.

Togadia also talked about how valuable and respected a cow is among the Hindus. “Go back to history. You may have heard of a Hindu killing his friend, father or brother, but you wouldn’t have heard of a Hindu killing a cow. Cows are considered chaste since then and they are even today”.

“Why are cows killed? Because farmers sell them, and farmers sell them as they are poor and unable to bring up their cows. To this we have found a way and, that is that more and more products are being made with cow dung and cow urine to pull the burden off farmers’ shoulders”.

He showed several items, including soaps, shampoos, phenol, oil, foil, aftershave lotion and foil, which are made with cow dung and urine. “These products are made in gaushalas, which are more than 200 in number in India and very effective with no side effects. Currently 10 crore is being sold without any marketing or anything. These products will be made available in the markets in about next six months to year time”.

Togadia also said they would introduce a Hindu helpline, which would be the first of its kind in the world. According to him, anybody, particularly a Hindu, who is in trouble can call up the helpline and be assisted by that area’s VHP member. He also exhorted Hindus to donate money at the Dharam Raksha Nidhi as it was for the safeguard of the Hindus and their religion.

Nainital, January 27
In an incident that has left residents and authorities in the town stunned, three men were duped of their cars after being drugged. Two of the car owners were from Doiwala in Dehradun, while the third was from Kaladhungi.

According to information, Ajay Gupta of Mumbai had advertised his requirement of three cars for the purpose of a film shooting. It was on the basis of this advertisement that a resident of Rishikesh, Sagar Dutt Chandola, along with Sandeep and Kamal Singh Bisht of Doiwala came to Hotel Welcome Park on January 24, where Ajay was staying.

In a similar manner, Amit of Rajpura also came with Sajid of Kaladhungi in the latter’s vehicle. The six of them shared a room at the hotel and on January 25, Sagar was dropped by them at Haldwani for his departure to Dehradun by bus.

When the five of them returned to the hotel, Ajay allegedly offered them a beverage, along with cashew nuts and almonds.

Following this, they became unconscious and dozed off. They recovered their consciousness partially by the morning of January 26. In their semi-conscious state they saw that their vehicles were not at the spot where these had been parked.

In a state of semi-consciousness they managed to reach BD Pande Hospital, where they got themselves admitted. On recovering fully they approached the police.

The police has registered a case on a complaint lodged by Kamal. It is being assumed that the person named Ajay Gupta was staying at the said hotel under a fictitious name and address. A team has been sent out to try to nab him.Resident held for helping Pak spy

Haridwar: After arresting a Pakistan national Abid Ali, alias Asad Ali, from Roorkee for spying for Pakistan on Monday, today the police arrested a Roorkee resident for helping Ali in collection of vital informations. The arrested person Jagdish is a resident of Gang Nahar, Roorkee, and runs a tailoring shop. He was helping Ali in the collection of information and dispatching the secrets via e-mail and courier to Pakistan.

Inspector Vinod Kumar Jetha said Ali had confessed that Jagdish was helping him in his spying operation and for this he gave him money and other benefits.

Notably, Ali is a resident of Hajarala village in Lahore district and has been spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies since March 2005. — TNS

Haridwar, January 27
With major holy bath of akhadas (Shahi Snans) to begin next month, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has hoped of a successful completion of the coming mega baths as have been the three holy festive baths of Makar Sankranti, Mauni Amawasya and Basant Panchami.

Attending a religious function at Maha Nirmani Akhada in Kankhal, Haridwar, the Chief Minister said the state government was determined to successfully and peacefully host the Maha Kumbh and that no compromise would be made on the security aspect.

Meanwhile, two akhadas, Maha Nirmani Akhada and Atal Akhada, today hoisted the religious flag as part of the tradition observed during the Maha Kumbh. Known as Dharm Dwaza (holy flags), these were hoisted at their respective akhadas. Yesterday Juna Akhada, Agni Akhada and Ahwan Akhadas had hoisted their Dharma Dhwajas. All akhadas hoist their respective flags during the Kumbh and this has a major religious significance.

Meanwhile, there was a controversy among mediapersons, saints and the police over entry to the akhada function being attended by the Chief Minister. As soon as the Chief Minister entered the Niranjani Akhada, police personnel and akhada persons stopped the mediapersons from making an entering to the venue, citing non-invitation for the media to the function as the reason.

This infuriated the mediapersons as they said they were invited by the Mela Press Office and District Information Department for covering the event. There was heated exchange of words and manhandling too though DIG Alok Sharma denied the mishandling of mediapersons, while Akhada Parishad members said the media was not invited to the function.

Such was the anger that a section of the media persons sat on the road as a mark of protest. It was only after the Chief Minister pacified the agitating mediapersons, comprising both print and electronic, the issue boiled down.

Later, Nishank also attended a function at Kankhal Arya Inter College where he urged students to take the path of truth and work with a mission to make proud their family, state and nation.

Haridwar, January 27
As the first Shahi Snan of the Maha Kumbh falling on Maha Shivratri on February 12 nears, the mela police is trying to put in place all security arrangements. There will be a great rush of pilgrims in the Har-ki-Pauri area and other parts of Haridwar, making fire safety precautions a significant aspect. Given the vulnerability of the mela area to fire incidents when a huge crowd of pilgrims will be in city for the Shahi Snan, a complete fire-safety setup has been put up in place in the 130-sq-km mela area.

A total of 500 odd officers and employees have been attached with the Fire Department. To deal any possible fire mishap effectively, the Kumbh mela area has been divided into two zones, the Haridwar and Rishikesh zones. For both zones a separate mela fire officer has been appointed.

In the Haridwar zone, 22 fire brigade centres will be set up, of which 16 are already in place. These are situated in the Lalji Wala Police Lines, Tibdi, Pant Deep, Bhoopatwala, Bairagi Camp, Jwalapur, Daksh Deep, Sati Deep, Neel Dhara, Motichur, Gauri Shankar, Bahadrabad, Sapt Sarovar, Rodi Belwala, Kankhal and Rishikul. At Naya Tapu, an exhibition centre, a VIP camp, Parmarth Ashram and fire centres are being set up.

Similarly in the Rishikesh zone, seven fire brigade centres have been set up at Bharat Vihar, Muni-ki-Reti, Chandra Bhagha-bus station, Raiwala, Swarg Ashram, Neel Kanth Temple and IDPL. One is proposed to be set up at Chilla Barrage.

The Haridwar zone is being headed by Chandan Singh Jeena while the Rishikesh zone is under the charge of Madhusudan Sharma.

Apart from this arrangement, additional measures are being taken to meet any possible fire mishap.

One pumping unit along with fire personnel each will be in place in sensitive mela areas of Har-ki-Pauri in Nai Sota Ghat, Gau Ghat, Vishnu Ghat and Birla Ghat. Fire staff will also be deployed at the Kotwali (City Police).

Dehradun, January 27
With the unique concept of “Jai Jagat”, which also says “Saara jahan hamara, hum hain saare jahan ke” (we belong to the whole world and the whole world belongs to us), the Nanhi Duniya school celebrated Republic Day here yesterday. Nanhi Dunya is a global village where children are taught to treat the whole world as one.

One day before the grand celebrations of Republic Day, students held a cleanliness drive on the school premises and decorated the building. The function started at 9 am with the gathering of students, teachers and volunteers, who were in high spirits. Teachers and volunteers were dressed in beautiful purple sarees. After the flag-hoisting ceremony and the singing of the National Anthem, students raised patriotic slogans like “Ek humara naara hai, saara jahan humara hai”, “Jai Jagat”, “Mahatma Gandhi amar rahe”.

A series of patriotic and other songs were sung by the school choir. “Vande Matram” was sung beautifully by Kiran Didi (chief promoter of Nanhi Duinya). To acknowledge the significance of the day, two students, Soumya and Kailash, delivered a speech with a lot of confidence and poise, after which the students and the staff participated in a march past.

Dehradun, January 27
The ray of hope that the 17-day-long strike by ministerial employees would end soon vanished here today. The meeting called by the Principal Secretary of the Chief Minister with the striking employees was postponed. The next round of meetings is not scheduled yet.

Sloganeering on loudspeakers and no work being done at the Department of Ministerial Services has hampered the lives of several persons in the state.

The agitating employees of the Uttaranchal Federation of Ministerial Services Association are still striving to get their demands fulfilled by the state government.

They were stationed at the Gandhi Park staging a dharna demanding pay hike as per the Sixth Pay Commission, regularisation of services of ministerial employees, promotion orders of some members and setting up the structure of the ministerial workforce.

“We will continue our indefinite strike as the state government has failed to stand by the agreement signed with the association on November 9 on implementing increments in salaries of all categories of employees of the services,” said Sunil Dutt Kothari, Regional General Secretary of the association.

“The earlier two meetings failed to achieve their target of arriving at a consensus while the third has been deferred.

The strike will now only be resolved after receiving the government order in our hands. Till then, no employee will resume duty,” he added.

TS Pundir, State President, Subhash Debliyal, State President, Sushil Joshi, District President, Deep Chand, Bhagwan Singh Rawat, Satish, Mukesh, Lalit and other members of the association were present at the protest. 

Dehradun, January 27
“Jagna hai, jagaana hai, dharti ma aur Ganga ma ko pradushan mukta banana hai”. The Gandhi Park here reverberated with the sound of thousands of people chanting this slogan in support of the Vishwa Jan Jagriti Mission’s initiative to create awareness on climate change, environment degradation and ongoing contamination 
of the Ganga.

A month-long programme of the mission commenced on the Republic Day yesterday at the Gandhi Park here under the guidance of founder of the mission Acharya Ashish.

Minister of State for Social Welfare Khajaan Das, Chairman of the Awaas Vikas Naresh Bansal and Chairman of the Chardham Samiti Surat Singh Nautiyal were the chief guests on the occasion.

The forthcoming programme of the mission includes a brain-storming session by leading eco-scientists of Uttarakhand on the issue of climate change - its impact and solution, scheduled on February 11. Leading international environmentalists like Magsaysay Award-winner Dr Rajendra Singh, Dr Vandana Shiv and Sunderlal Bahuguna will conduct a seminar on the same topic. On February 14, prize distribution ceremony will be organised, besides cultural fiesta. However, to spread a message of compassion for the betterment of ecology, on the Valentine’s Day, youth of the city will also be advised to gift a sapling instead of a greeting card to their loved ones, as the use of paper products lead to deforestation.

Moreover, yesterday special Tricolour flags were distributed to Doonites to pen down their emotions on these. Prices for the best slogans and pledges will be distributed on February 14. The inaugural ceremony was followed by a cultural evening in which leading singers of the city such as Sonia Anand, Aslam Khan and Ravi Anand rendered soul-stirring patriotic songs.

Songs like “Vande mataram...”, “Ab tumhare hawale vatan sathiyon...”, “Aye mere vatan ke logon...” enchanted one and all.