Dehradun, March 26
Uttarakhand Speaker Harbans Kapoor today rejected a no-confidence motion moved by main Opposition Congress against the Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank government in the Uttarakhand Assembly today.

When the House met this morning, Nishank stood up and held that as the Opposition had moved a no-confidence motion against his government, it was now his duty to seek the confidence of House immediately. He was joined by other treasury benches who sought suspension of question hour and taking up the motion promptly.

However, the Congress first sought conduct of question hour, which was objected to by the ruling party MLAs leading to a pandemonium in the House. Creating a din, the Opposition members trooped into the well on the issue.

Amid noisy scenes, the Speaker asked members supporting the motion to raise their hands. Since all Congress members were in the well, there was nobody to raise their hands from their seats and the Speaker, finding no support for the motion, rejected it.

Pitthoragarh, March 26
Indian security and intelligence personnel deployed on the Indo-Nepal border have been ordered to remain alert after the intelligence tip-off that Maoists in Nepal are now concentrating their political cadre on the border, Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) and police sources said.

“There are reports that the Maoists are organising their political workers, specially the youth wings, on the Indo-Nepal border keeping emphasis on the Terai region of UP and Uttarakhand,” said Puran Singh Rawat, Superintendent of Police (SP), Pitthoragarh. He had attended a meeting held in Lucknow on frontier crimes on March 18 where the situation was discussed by police and SSB officials of UP and Uttarakhand. The meeting was attended by police and intelligence cadres of both states besides SSB and ITBP personnel.

In far western Mahakali region of Nepal, two districts of Baitari and Darchula have witnessed some activities in Maoist cadres. “Recently, cadres of the Mahila Krantikari Sangthan in Darchula and Baitri districts adjoining Pitthoragarh district have witnessed some activities, including some protests in district headquarters of their district in Nepal,” said BS Tolia, Commandant, SSB. He said after these activities, the SSB border observation post at the border had been ordered to keep extra watch on the activities from across the Nepal.

According to the intelligence sources, the Maoists of Nepal are concentrating on Indo-Nepal relation, the ‘plight’ of Nepali citizens working in India, the so-called violation of Nepali territory by Indian citizens and the proposed Pancheshwar Dam. “These are the issues which provoke emotions in Nepal and the Maoists want to take political mileage after provoking the people emotionally,” said an intelligence officer. 

Dehradun, March 26
The only hurdle in starting off two most ambitious projects of Tuni Plasu and Arakot Tuni of the Irrigation Department to be executed at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore will be overcome any time as and when the Cabinet approves the creation of a nigam or corporation for it. The department, which is grappling with a lack of funds and projects, for most of its projects have been given to the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL), is waiting with bated breath for these two projects to be commissioned. But, now the shortage of senior officers to handle these projects is giving it sleepless nights.

AB Pathak, Head of the Irrigation Department, said: “At the moment, we have 11 Acting Superintendent Engineers (SEs) and 15 posts of SE are vacant. Similarly, we have 373 posts of Assistant Engineer out of which we have 70 direct and 114 ad hoc AEs. The staff basic crunch lies at the level of Junior Engineer (JE) as we have only 258 JEs out of total sanctioned posts of 921 posts. Out of these 258, 20 are enlisted for further promotion to the post of AE”.

Lamenting the lackadaisical approach of the governmental setup, he said he had sent requisition for 250 JEs in 2006. It is now, after a gap of four years, in April they are likely to get these 250 seats filled. “We can not send requisition for bulk of vacancies as the manpower thus appointed will get retire at the same time and create a sudden shortage of personnel,” he said.

At the moment, he is more concerned about a smooth operation of the new projects.

He said: “In the initial stage, we will need higher strata of officials, especially AEs, and once the initials settings are done then JEs will take over. But, we are stuck with the dearth of manpower on both sides.”

The promotion of 41 AEs to the post of Executive Engineer just two months ago has further deepened the crisis. In such a situation, the department is waiting for its 114 ad hoc AEs to be put on regular rolls. “These 114 ad hoc AEs, who have been promoted from the JE rank, not as direct AEs who come through the Public Service Commission (PSC), will soon be interviewed by the PSC and then appointed as permanent AEs.”

But, this will not solve the problem of the department as they accept that AEs who complete Masters qualification and come through the PSC are capable of making complicated maps and drawings of the mega projects whereas the JEs who come by way of promotion from the AE rank lack that proficiency. Therefore promoted AEs are never on a par with direct AEs in terms of added skills. This ascendance from JE to AE too involves a lot of politics. Sandeep Sharma, Superintend Engineer, says: “The present ratio of direct and promoted personnel is 40:60. Initially it was 60:30 but political pressure and lobby tactics have taken the graph of promoted officers higher than the direct ones.”

In the highest rung, four posts of Chief Engineer are vacant. 

Dehradun, March 26
The District Mahila Congress Committee, Dehradun, along with people of Kehri village, held a demonstration at Nehru Colony situated at the Jal Sansthan demanding laying of a water pipeline in the village.

District Secretary Geeta Bisht said the water pipeline at the Kehri village, which was under Arkedia gram sabha, hadn’t been laid due to that about 150 families were dependant on handpumps for their water needs.

Bisht added the elders were dependent on others to drink water and with mercury soaring people of the village were left with no option. While the JE of Pithuwala-based Jal Santhan had conducted a survey several times in the area and had sent the report to the administration, getting trapped between the Jal Sansthan and the Savjal Yojna the water pipe line couldn’t be laid in the village.

Bisht said when the village, which was 10 km away from the state capital and was adjacent to National Highway 72, is in this kind of pitiable condition then what would be the plight of the other far-off villages.

She warned that if the work for the laying of the water pipeline was not started within a month then they, along with the villagers, would stage an indefinite dharna outside the Jal Sansthan. 

Haridwar, March 26
With the Akhada Parishad, the premier body of the 13 akhadas, adamant on protesting against the hydel projects on the Ganga, efforts are being made by the state government to pacify the parishad. In this context a high-level delegation from the state government led by Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Subash Kumar and Chief Secretary NS Napalchiyal met parishad national head Mahant Gyan Das and general secretary Hari Giri Ji Maharaj at Bairagi camp late in this evening in Haridwar.

While the delegation from the Secretariat tried to put the government’s stance and cited the complexities, the central-state government angle and development issues, the parishad seemed quite stagnant on its stance of stopping the hydel projects on the Ganga.

Along with state Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik, the delegation comprised Secretary (Energy) Utpal Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary (Energy) Nitish Kumar and various other departmental officers.

Notably, the parishad has given the deadline of March 28 to the state government to clarify and take a decision regarding instant closing of two hydel projects of Lohari Nagpala and Bhairon Ghati while not granting any such projects on the Ganga in future.

In a fix, the state government had sent Kaushik to pacify the members of the parishad, but the parishad only gave a five-day ultimatum and has warned that all saints under parishad banner would leave Haridwar if the government failed to take such decision in this regard.

From the central government side, Congress spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi and Haridwar MP Harish Rawat had met the parishad executive members and had assured them of taking the matter to the Congress high command. Though they both clarified that the central government could only do anything if the state government sent a proposal regarding this matter.

Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has openly come in the support of the stance taken on the Ganga hydel projects. International president of the VHP Ashok Singhal has even gone to the extent saying that if the government will fire bullets on them to curb their movement, he is ready to face these but can’t withstand any more projects on the Ganga.

Citing example of Gujarat state, Singhal said the VHP was not against development, but there were other ways too to generate electricity.

It’s not a right method to attain development by disrupting the Ganga flow. 

Dehradun, March 26
The Central Ground Water Board (Uttarakhand Region) observed World Water Day 2010 in Dehradun today.

Chief Guest at the function was Director, State Planning Commission, HP Uniyal. Expressing concern over increasing pollution in state water resources, he said sensitisation was very much needed to make common man aware of water pollution.

Uniyal said the theme of “Clean Water for a Healthy World” held much relevance as water pollution continued to be a major challenge in the present day world. He hoped that deliberations would cover various aspects of water management such as water treatment, industrial water, waster water and other linked issues.

Dr MM Kimothi from Uttarakhand Science Application Centre said his department had come up with a Water Atlas, which was a milestone towards identification of water sources in the state. Through his slide presentations, he stressed for finding realistic and cost-effective solutions to emerging problems in the water sector in Uttarakhand. “Water is scarce and precious national resource which needs to be carefully planned, developed, conserved and managed,” he observed.

Ajay Gairola, Member Secretary, Pollution Control Board, gave a slide presentation on pollution vis-à-vis Uttarakhand. He referred to pollution in the Ganga and called upon people to realise how to contribute to making the country pollution free.

Earlier, SK Bhatia, Regional Director, Central Ground Water Board, dwelt upon the significance of World Water Day. He said the day held much of significance as it was aimed at making people aware about the increasing pollution in water.

He said this increasing water pollution had become a concern worldwide and was the main cause of death among children and the toxic elements made thousands handicapped every year. He said the rising pollution levels had not increased in surface water but also groundwater rapidly.

Nainital, March 26
Can you envision schoolgirls picking up a movie camera and proceeding to make short films on complex issues like child labour or crime? The students of All Saints’ College are engrossed in doing such creative exercises which is part of a 15-day workshop on “Films as a Form of Art”.

The event is being conducted by Shalini Shah and her husband Rajesh Shah, along with a host of other professionals. The couple have been working in the world of films and have been making documentaries.

The exercise involving 102 girl students had started with the students being exposed to some of the best films produced in the international sphere. Besides getting to learn the technical know-how, the students were also introduced to the subject of film appreciation.

The films shown to them include “Life is Beautiful”, “City Lights”, “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, “Bicycle Thief” and “Lust for Life”, besides several others. “The motive is to introduce children to the different art forms related to films, which people generally do not know or understand,” says Shalini.

After exposing the students to these kind of films that sensitise the viewer to various facets of human life, they were then trained in the art of script and dialogue writing. This was followed by an exposure to cinematography, which was done by introducing the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Rembrandt to them.

The students are also being made to listen to the works of western classical maestros like Beethoven and Mozart.

Besides infusing an interest in cinema, the workshop has helped the participants learn the different aspects of film making. The participants have been making short films of three to five minutes duration. Divided into small groups they are doing everything from conceiving a story idea to shooting, script writing, giving background music to even choreographing the dances. They are being helped in the final production by a group of experts.

To add to their academic knowledge, various books on art and films have been put up for reference.

“This is a different type of learning. With changing times, education will also have to change. Such exposures will be helpful to those students who want to take up film making or media as their professions,” says Shalini.

Haridwar, March 26
Keeping the high standard of performances in the ongoing cultural fest being organised on the sidelines of Maha Kumbh in Haridwar, state’s popular folksinger Manglesh Dangwal and artistes from Assam’s Bodoland Culture Centre gave a gala performance making the evening a memorable one.

The programme started with religious Vandana “Jo dei jas dei, mera Mahadev” followed by traditional “jagar” of “Maa Chandra Badni” and “Jai Gangey namoh namah”. With these songs making the atmosphere revere with religious fervour, the folk dances and songs filled the atmosphere with hilly culture.

Local folk dance, Todi, on the song “Bati jail dholi sharba” was appreciated by all followed by popular hit album scores of “Saira gaon ki band maya re”, “beda geet meri chaundari”, “ramcho maya”, “silki band” among others.

Dangwal made the youth engaged with his histrionics and foot-tapping songs. Accompanying Dangwal, other artistes were Vinod Chauhan, Gaurav Maithani, Jyanendra, Vijay Bisht, Rukmesh Nautiyal, Arjun, Ravi, Amit, Ankita, Seema,Rita and Gita.

While the second performance was from Northeastern state of Assam. Artistes of Bodoland Culture Centre presented varied dance and song items. Specially Assam’s famous dance “bardohi sikhla” was excellently performed and got the most applause from the audience. In this performance dance artistes were Pinki Basu Mothari, Jenglari Basumothari, Anila Narajari, Jogani Dazovari, Ranjeetha Brahma, Neela Narjari, Litung Narjari, Mainoka Narjari and Gautan Basu.

Bihu, Assamese popular folk dance, was also staged by Dakshayini Cultural Forum from Guwahati, on the bahag bihu song, which was choreographed by Jali Barah. Another attraction was the Ramayana epic episode of “Bali-Sugriv” war portrayed by the artistes of the Sanskritik Kendra, Patiala. 

Nainital, March 26
The elections to the Nainital High Court Bar Association will be held on April 22. The results for the same would be declared the following day. Talking to the mediapersons here today, Election Officer Divakar Chamoli announced that the nomination forms would be available from April 7 to 9 and the nominations would be held on April 12 and 13. The last date for withdrawal of candidature has been fixed on April 15 till 2 pm.

For the first time, the current president and the general secretary would be addressing a general house on April 20. A total of 682 members will be exercising their right to franchise to elect one president, three vice-presidents, one general secretary, two joint secretaries and one treasurer.

The contestants for the post of the president must have a professional experience of 15 years while those contesting for the posts of vice-presidents and general secretary should have an experience of seven years.