Haridwar, April 5
At a meeting of the executive committee of the Marg Darshak Mandal it has been decided that a mass awareness campaign will be carried out in the coming months for the making of the temple of Lord Rama at Ayodhya, besides the demand for declaring the cow as the national animal of India.

Talking to mediapersons, Jagad Guru Shankaracharya Vasudevanand Saraswati Jyotirpeeth Shri Badrinath Dham stated that from August to November a mass nationwide campaign would be carried out to create an atmosphere of making a full-fledged new Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

Shankaracharya also asked the Central government to make an enactment which passes the building of the Ram temple at Ayodhya as, according to Shankaracharya, the court’s decision is taking a lot of time.

Besides high courts’ decision in favour of either party would invited challenge in the apex court prolonging the issue further.

Shankaracharya also objected to newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari urging the Muslim community to allow the building of the Ram temple at the disputed site and in return a grand mosque will be made for them at another site.

Shankaracharya was also not in favour of making such a mosque in the name of Babar whom he termed as an invader and it was quite wrong to have a mosque in the pious Ayodhya city.

Demanding the national animal status to the cow, Shankaracharya said the cow has a religious significance in India and is also economically helpful to the Indians.

While on hydro-electrical issue on the Ganga river, the revered Shankaracharya stated that it was wrong to disturb the natural flow of the Ganga as dams and such hydel projects disturbed the natural-ecological equilibrium of the holy river and nature too.

Pitthoragarh, April 5
As the drinking water crisis deepens in the Kumoan region, the Water Resource Ministry of the state is planning to sink 200-metre-deep tube wells in the area to increase drinking water availability. “Four such tube wells will be bored in Pitthoragarh district and if the experiment becomes successful, this will go further,” said DK Mishra, Executive Engineer, Jal Sansthan, Pitthoragarh.

Uttarakhand Drinking Water Minister Prakash Pant said if the tube well experiment found the exact location of water bodies underground, each tube well would pump out 2 lakh litre of water per day.

As the temperature has risen, the water and electricity crisis in the Kumoan region has become worse. In Lohaghat town of Champawat district, people are seen in queues before natural water sources, but even these sources are not sufficient to provide 4.5 lakh litre of water per day which is the need of the town, said Bhaskar Murari, said a local social worker in Lohaghat.

In Gangolihat and Didihat areas of the district, the water crisis is indicated by frequently moving water tankers in the town as the natural sources on which people used to depend for generations, are not providing sufficient water. “Half of the natural resources in Didihat town have dried up and the remaining half are generating only 20 per cent water compared to 10 years back,” said Jodh Singh Bohra, a social worker from Didihat town.

“In Lohaghat town, the main source of water being supplied to the town has dried up to half of its capacity creating water crisis in the town,” said Ram Nagina, Executive Engineer, Jal Sansthan, Lohaghat.

The same conditions are being reported from Gangolihat, Champawat, Almora and Bageshwar areas as well as from remote areas of all three districts of Pitthoragarh, Champawat and Bageshwar where the natural sources are gradually dried up. “Even in the remotest area of Tamli at Indo-Nepal border in Champawat district, the village women are lining up at natural springs for their drinking water need as the temperature rises,” said Dinesh Pandey, a resident of Tamli and social worker in Champawat district.

Nainital, April 5
SSB trained guerrillas, who have been agitating over the past three years, held protests in different district headquarters today to air their demands.

The guerrillas of Nainital district converged at the Tallital area and marched to the District Collectorate to hand over to the local administration memorandums addressed to Union Home Minster P Chidamabaram and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

The main demand being aired by the guerrillas is that they should be given a permanent appointment, along with pension benefits. They have also sought that the next to kin of the guerrillas should be given an appointment in the event of their death and their dependents be given pension benefits.

In the memorandum addressed to Chidambaram, they have stated that, “While our counterparts in the North-East have been enrolled for jobs, we in Uttarakhand are on the verge of starvation”.

They have pointed out that, “In our meeting with you in September 14, last year, we were assured of a solution to our problem, but nothing has come of it as yet”.

The guerrillas have also condemned the move of the Centre to get them to postpone their protests at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi in the wake of the Commonwealth Games.

In their memorandum to Nishank they have once again reminded that their case has gone unheard till now despite several pleas and meetings. They have stated that the guerrillas in Uttarakhand are being given step-motherly treatment.

The guerrillas have been holding marches and have been sitting on dharnas in various district headquarters of the region demanding that while the aged be given pension, the younger among them be absorbed in the para military forces of the country. They are also seeking that widows of guerrillas be given a pension for their sustenance.

They have been questioning that if the government is not going to enrol them in any stable job, why did it train them?

After the 1962 war with China, the SSB had been constituted and asked to train bands of young men from villages on the borders.

These men were supposed to be used for gathering intelligence on the developments on the borders.

Dehrdaun, April 5
Agitated members of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee held a protest in support of their demand to shift a country liquor shop from the bypass road at the District Magistrate’s office here today.

The protesters raised their voice against a country wine shop located on the Haridwar bypass, which was supposed to be located on the Mothrowala Road.

In their memorandum, the protesters have mentioned the existing wine shop is creating a ruckus in the locality and leading to road accidents as well.

Another clause mentioned in the memorandum says that the wine shop also violates the rules set up by the administration.

As per the law, there shouldn’t be any wine shop within the limit of 100 metres of any temple. The protesters have requested the District Magistrate to remove the shop to save people from accidents and other incidents, otherwise the wing will stage dharna in support of their demands.

Dehradun, April 5
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) held a meeting of its working committee today to discuss the party’s plan to celebrate the Ambedkar anniversary on April 14.

Chaudhary Sheesh Pal, party general secretary, said, “We will observe the occasion by expressing our reservation about the Women’s Reservation Bill in its present form. We want to safeguard the interests of SC/ST/OBCs and poor women by demanding reservation for them in the Bill”.

He said for this purpose, they would send fax to the Governor and the President.

In the meeting, they also emphasised on strengthening the party at grass-root level and cementing its organisation structure in wake of ensuing Assembly election in 2012.

On this occasion, Ram Achal Rajbar, party in charge of Uttarakhand and Transport Minister of the UP government, was also present.

Besides him, state party president Megh Raj, general secretary Nathu Singh and city president Panbi were present.

Haridwar, April 5
Unaffected by last year’s economic meltdown, the Heavy Electrical Equipment Plant (HEEP) of Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL), the one of the few coveted Nav Ratna awarded public sector undertakings, in the just-concluded fiscal year touched an all-time highest turnover since its inception in the year 1968 i.e. whopping Rs 3,200 crore.

Talking of the financial year end results, Executive Director, BHEL, DK Mody attributed this achievement to hard and synchorised efforts put in by BHEL’s dedicated workforce which made the figures up by 27 pc in comparison to the previous year.

Elaborating further, Mody said BHEL had orders worth billions not only from government utilities, but also from private sectors spanning foreign shores.

“Till date we have orders worth Rs 17,000 crore, besides in all equipments valuing nearly Rs 190 crore were physically exported, while deemed export during the year was nearly Rs 1,715 crore,” said Mody.

In this process, the economic value addition (EVA) stood at Rs 278 crore, while profit before tax (PBT) for the year rose to Rs 535 crore which is again the highest-ever (an increase of 18 per cent over the previous year) with a cash collection of Rs 3,535 crore which is an all-time record.

During the year 2009-10, HEEP has manufactured 77 turbine modules worth 7,752 MW, 19 generators (18 main plus 1 spare) worth 7,065 MW. In addition to above 17 associated condensers and other equipment of various capacities were manufactured. In the export front BHEL also supplied six gas turbines to Libya.

To meet out stringent global parameters and standards BHEL is keeping its design and technology standards to suit the global customers demand and requirements. “We are now capable of offering eco-friendly supercritical technology heaving improved efficiency. During the year Rs 75.5 crore was spent on Research and Development. Our Research and Developmnt efforts are substantiated by the fact that BHEL has filed 20 patents and four copyrights,” Mody added.

Notably, BHEL (HEEP) Haridwar has been awarded with prestigious CMD trophy for IMRESS and is now gearing up for Demming Award which is the world’s highest award for quality excellence.

Also four BHEL employees have been selected for the prestigious Prime Minister Shram Awards, making in all 25 employees having won this coveted award in addition to 158 employees being conferred the Vishwakarma Rashtriya Puraskar which is also the highest by any organisation in India.

While the other plant of BHEL, Central Foundry Forge Plant (CFFP), has also recorded an impressive turnover crossing the Rs 300-crore mark. Divulging on the CFFP’s performance, Arun Singhal General Manager (in charge) said in spite of various difficulties during last financial year the plant still crossed Rs 303 crore mark in turnover which points to high quality and work standards.

He said the CFFP was a supporting unit to other BHEL sister units and the unit had entered into a technological transfer agreement with Sheffield Forge United Kingdom. Under this, the existing processes would be upgraded as well as enhance the manufacturing of large size rotor-forgings of capacity more than 500 MW.

Since rejection and rework is always a concern of any foundry, we have entered into a technological transfer agreement with M/S Sheffield Forge Master, UK. This contract will not only upgrade our existing processes but also make us capable of manufacturing large-size rotor and forgings 500 MW and above.

The CFFP is also doing its bit about environment and as being energy intensive unit, focused efforts have resulted in saving of nearly Rs 4 crore in energy consumption.

Notably, both HEEP and CFFP are an ISO-9001 and ISO-9002 certificate awarded units, respectively.

Dehradun, April 5
The Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, has feared violent man-wildlife encounters inside the academy premises. This comes in the wake of reports of increasing leopard incursions inside the academy. Seeking prompt action from the state forest and wildlife authorities, the academy authority said it was high time the state forest authorities should check the movement of leopard incursion and go for adequate action.

“The Forest Department and Wildlife Authority should take note of such leopard incursions and the institute measures so that the movement of this nature into human habitat is restricted. In case adequate steps are not initiated at this stage, violent encounters are likely to ensue, which can lead to unnecessary loss to human life,” said Major Amit Dagar, Public Relations Officer, IMA.

He said the movement of leopards had increased on the academy campus recently. Lately, a leopard was seen in the garden of Lt Col KN Padha. The officer resides at 29A Tons View, which lies in the north campus of the academy. Earlier also, a wild cat was spotted in the same locality. It was a narrow escape for the officer and his wife, who were luckily inside the house and not in the garden.

Major Dagar said last night a leopard was also seen near the barracks, where the troops stay. Last week, a full-grown leopard was sighted near the weapon training area.

Of late, the incidents of leopard sightings and their attacks on humans within the academy campus have shown a significant increase. Last year, the IMA had witnessed a series of attacks on personnel.

Nainital, April 5
An NRI was found murdered at his ancestral house in Dhanpur Ghasi village, near Ramnagar, yesterday.

It is learnt that the victim, Amrik Singh, had come to his native village on March 12 to take stock of the agricultural produce on his land. He was residing in the US with his family and had taken citizenship of that country. His wife had repeatedly tried to call him up last morning, but on getting no response she called up his nephew Navtej Singh and asked him to tell her husband to call her up.

Dehradun, April 5
Vijay Bahuguna, Member of Parliament, once again assured the Dehradun Bar Association (DBA) a cheque of Rs 10 lakh from the MP quota during his visit to the Bar Association on April 17. In return he asked them to help in apprising him of various problems people of the region were facing from time to time, so that he could raise these issues in Parliament as MP.

Learning from the past experience, where his earlier donated money of Rs 10 lakh had been lapped by the state government and kept under the control of the Chief Development Officer (CDO), he asked the Bar Association to float a three-member committee which would seek out a plan in which way the MP funds could be received and used by the association.

He blamed the government machinery for being slick in thwarting welfare projects, but he urged lawyers to outsmart them by devising a foolproof strategy this time.

The association, which fought this year election on the issue of providing sitting arrangements to junior lawyers by constructing a building comprising chambers in the court complex as the number of lawyers had risen up to 2,000, had been struggling for funds for the past few years for the same purpose.

In 2008, they received Rs 10 lakh from Bahuguna, who facilitated a cheque donated by some other MP outside the state, but the state government did not allow it to be used and kept the amount in its custody.

Anil Gandhi, vice-president, DBA, said, “In 2007, the state government made it a rule that the donation from the MLA/MP fund would be utilised only through the state government working agency. The matter got stuck there and then District Magistrate Amit Negi sent the money in the CDO’s custody. Before that, we also got Rs 4 lakh as donation from BJP leader Sushma Swaraj when she came to the city and we did not face problems in utilising the fund”.

Gandhi accepted the fault on the behalf of lawyers who did not pursue the matter seriously due to which now hopes of getting it back had become dimmer.

But Manmohan Kandwal, present president of the association, said he had not lost hope and would meet the DM once again to get back the fund.

Since Bahuguna has asked them to chalk out the plan through the three-member committee, Gandhi said, “Our thrust will be to bypass the outsider agency and take control of the usage of fund in our own hands to maximise its utilisation in a fair manner. For this, we will rope in the PWD and float tenders to construct a building comprising chambers in the abandoned area of the court complex”.

Dehradun, April 5
On the third day of the Uttaranchal Trade Mahotsav, stalls of Cotton Fab and exclusive modular furniture attracted maximum people. About 150 master weavers from all over India are participating in the mega event. Primarily, the artisans of handicrafts from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Gujarat and other parts of India have gathered to showcase their talent in Uttarakhand for the first time.

The prime attraction of the trade fair is display of the IPL cricket matches at the venue for all cricket lovers. The mahotsav showcases cultural programmes and fashion shows and displays electric as well as IT consumer products.

The mahotsav is organised with the active participation of various departments of the state government. The prestigious participants in earlier events are the Tea Board, Khadi and Village Industries, Handloom and Handicraft Development Council, Department of Industry, Coconut Development Board, NSIC, Health Department of Uttarakhand, AIDS Control Society of Uttarakhand, SBI, PNB, OBC, Canara Bank, etc.

Moreover, more than 400 participants are of product segments like home appliances, furniture, FMCG interiors, kitchen and bath products, banking and insurance, real estate, automobile, books, fitness equipment, etc.

Dehradun, April 5
The Uttarakhand Film Chambers of Commerce, apex body of the film industry in the state, which was formed in 2001, is going to organise a six-day Uttarakhand International Film Festival starting on April 23 in the city.

The festival is being organised in collaboration with the Films Divisions, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, government of India. In the festival, documentary films, short films, animation films and children films of international repute will be screened at Chayadeep Cinema. Explaining more about the festival, Dr RK Verma, president of the chamber, said, “One day of the festival has been dedicated to children’s films. The main objective of the festival is to promote film industry in Uttarakhand making the state a tourist place and give budding talents in these sectors a podium to present their creations”.

He dedicated the festival to the cause of protection of the environment. The chamber will bring out a colourful souvenir on the occasion. He said the chamber was in touch with Ambika Soni, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, to accept their invitation to inaugurate the function.

Verma also said this would be second festival as the first one, a three-day Israeli Film Festival, was held in June 2001 at same cinema hall in the city.