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No end to hoarding row
I will not succumb to pressure, says Chamoli
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Harish Rawat for zero tolerance on corruption
Harish Rawat, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, at a meeting in Dehradun on Tuesday.
A Tribune photograph
Form e-Governance Society soon: DM
Tibetan students get lessons in conservation, wildlife
Tibetan students participate at the ongoing Conservation Field Study Tour in Dehradun. A Tribune photograph
Forests need jumbo gardeners, says scientist
Congress remembers Jallianwala martyrs
Families, pundit held for child marriage
4 killed as bus falls into gorge
Poacher nabbed in Terai division
U’khand news capsule stopped
CPM opposes power tariff hike
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No end to hoarding row
Dehradun, April 13 The Chairperson of the State Media Advisory Committee, Dr Devendra Bhasin, said today that while the state government had no authority to decide on the legality of hoardings in Dehradun city, it certainly was concerned over MC’s intentions of bypassing the state administration while implementing its new hoarding policy. “Any policy decision by the DMC should have the approval of the state government,” Bhasin said. “Municipal Act sections from 1999 to 2002 clearly states that any policy matter should have the approval of the state government. But this Act was clearly infringed on,” he pointed out. He also justified the removal of NK Joshi from the post Chief Executive Officer, DMC, terming it as a fallout of bypassing state government in a policy matter. He alleged that the corporation in a one-sided act had started removing the hoardings of the State Information and Public Relations Directorate meant for public welfare. “There is a difference between hoarding meant for publicity and the one aimed at conveying a message of welfare to the general public,” the BJP leader said. Dr Bhasin, however, categorically denied that he meant to protect someone by criticism of the DMC. “It in not in our purview as to which hoarding is legal and which is illegal. It is finally the corporation that has decided on this issue,” he pointed out. He also admitted that he did not favour taking the issue unnecessarily to the media but added that it was found important to clarify government stand on the matter as the issue had been wrongly portrayed so far.
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I will not succumb to pressure, says Chamoli
Dehradun, April 13 “On my part I will continue to spearhead the campaign that has already received wide support from people of the city. It is in the interest of the city. Instead of adopting derailment tactics, the government should give clear signals. I am convinced of the corporation’s right to make a new advertisement policy,” said Chamoli while interacting with mediapersons here today. He also rejected the charges that the Municipal Corporation arbitrarily removed the hoardings conveying government message saying that, “the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Municipal Corporation had sent a letter on April 8 to the Health and Information departments that they should voluntarily remove hoardings, but they failed to remove these”. Chamoli said instead of taking offence on the matter, the government should have set up an inquiry against both departments for giving contracts to unregistered firms. “I am amazed that till date no action has been taken against the Information Department. Similar action was taken during the tenure of former Chief Minister BC Khanduri. Several hoardings with government messages were removed then too. But, there was no acrimony then. For the first time the office of the Municipal Corporation and the government are pitted against each other,” said Chamoli. The Mayor was reacting to a letter dispatched by Principal Secretary (Urban Development) Anup Wadhawan to the CEO of the corporation raising questions about the validity of new advertisement policy and terming it null and void while taking recourse to several bylaws and sections (199-200) of the Corporation Act. He said the corporation was not imposing fresh taxes, thereby sections 199-200 of the Corporation Act, under which government’s permission had to be sought for framing new taxes did not hold good. The new advertisement policy and gazette notification fell under sections 541-544 of the Corporation Act. “I have sought legal advice on the policy. We are ready to sort out the matter with the government if there are shortcomings in the policy. However, any effort to undermine the powers of the Municipal Corporation would not be tolerated. As far as I am concerned all hoardings after March 31 are illegal and will be removed. I will not succumb to pressure and no company will be permitted to put up hoardings in free-zone areas or at intersections that are out of bounds for advertiser,” he said. |
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Harish Rawat for zero tolerance on corruption
Mussoorie, April 13 The programme began with a welcome song of the academy in different state languages of the country, showcasing the secular nature of the academy. Addressing the function, Rawat said he got something to learn every time he visited the academy. He commended the academy for imparting high-class training to officials. He said it was important for the democracy that all four pillars of democracy were strengthened equally. Speaking on demand raised by the union, he said most of them were Centre-specific and he agreed in principal to these demands. Regarding prevalent corruption in the bureaucracy, Rawat said there was a need of working at multi-programme level to redress this problem. If the administration and training academies adopt zero tolerance against corruption, then the menace could to checked to a great extent in the country. He also said that Right to Education was an important Act which would increase the literacy level in the country. Speaking on the health amenities in unorganised sector, he said a new scheme run by the Centre under the Rashtriya Swastha Beema Yojana was being run in one district to address the problem and it would be introduced in more districts soon. Earlier, Nanak Chand outlined the achievements of the union and read out the annual report. He raised the pending demands of the employees like training centre allowance for the employees of the academy on the pattern of that given to the staff of the Parliament House. He also demanded a dependent of a deceased employee should be provided job as they were living under extreme poverty due to only 5 per cent benefit scheme being followed at present, which should be raised to 15 per cent. Director of the academy Padam Vir Singh, agreeing to the demands of the employees, said the institution had become a premiere training institute in the country where bureaucrats were being imparted high-quality training, hence it was important that employees’ demands were met on a priority basis. Rawat holds review meeting
Dehradun: Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Harish Rawat today presided over a review meeting of Monitoring Committee for progress of central sponsored schemes. En-course of the deliberations, Rawat took the stock of the Prime Minister Grameen Sarak Yojana, Swarnjyanti Rojgar Karyakram and other schemes. He said the schemes must benefit the poor sections of society. He also called for speedy implementation of central schemes in the state. Lakshman Chowk MLA Dinesh Agarwal, Chakrata MLA Pritam Singh, Shankar Chand Ramola as representative of the Congress MP Vijay Bahuguna, Zila Panchayat President Madhu Chauhan were prominent present on the occasion. |
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Form e-Governance Society soon: DM
Nainital, April 13 The orders were given at a meeting held at Bhimtal today to discuss the setting up of the e-Governance Society under the aegis of the Department of Information Technology (DIT) and the state
government. The society will be responsible for execution of various e-governance programmes in the district like state wide area network (SWAN), e-district, state data centre (SDC) besides several others. The money to be spent on execution of various Information Technology (IT)-related projects will have the approval of the e-Governance Society. Bagauli said that the projects executed under the aegis of the society would help in providing relevant information to the masses on issues like education, social welfare and Panchayati Raj. People residing in remote interiors would be the prime beneficiaries of the exercise. Bagauli said that the main purpose of ushering in IT-related projects is to communicate to the people about the various public welfare activities being undertaken by the state administration. The members of the society will co-ordinate with each other on issues related to gathering of information on various issues and then sharing it with the masses. Bagauli said that the meetings of the society would be organised every month and a letter would be sent to the state administration for approval of making the IT Officer a nominated member of
the society. Dr Pankaj Pandey, Chief Development Officer, dwelt at length about the projects to be undertaken by the society. |
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Tibetan students get lessons in conservation, wildlife
Mussoorie, April 13 Eminent research scientist and wildlife elephant expert from the WWI, Sunit Bhushan Dutta on the first day imparted basic knowledge of wildlife science and educated the students on the classification of forests. Dutta also explained the identification of species in wild through passive, active and invasive means. Students were also taught about camera traps, pugmark ID, plaster casting, scat analysis via samples. The census methods, biomass availability, habituation etc were also elaborately explained. Later in the evening, the students were also imparted knowledge about bird and elephant behavoiur, importance of birds in nature, species identification and their migratory patterns were also discussed. Practical exercises on map reading and interpretation were also conducted followed by campfire and Tibetan folk music at night. The students will also learn ecological history of Doon, impact of climate change and water availability. They will also visit in Hanifi Environmental Education Centre, Woodstock School, Lakhwar Vyasi Dam, Wildlife Institute Dehradun in the days to come. Jeep safari, visit to Chilla and Jim Corbett Park is also the part of the study tour. TCVS Class XII student Shenshing Dolma said this was new and exciting experience for her. Till now, she had learnt in books, but here she was learning practically about wildlife and nature and had gained immense respect for other creatures in wild. TCVS Selakui Principal Duke Tsering said the main purpose of the tour was to sensitise Tibetan students towards the challenges faced by the nature and create better understanding towards forest and wild animals by interacting with them in natural environment. President, Winterline Nature Trust, Shantanu Sarkar said this was the sixth camp in the series and it provided the opportunity for both teachers and students to interact and search for solutions to save the planet from degrading further. Karma Sherab, Tenzing Dolma, Teg Bhadur Thapa, Shushila and others were present on the occasion. The study tour will conclude on April 20.
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Forests need jumbo gardeners, says scientist
Mussoorie, April 13 He said elephants maintained the forest by destroying weak trees thereby giving way for strong saplings. They also provided manure for the seeds eaten by them and, thus, replenished and helped the growth of forests in return. Speaking on the condition of elephants, at Rajaji National Park, he said their number was increasing, but the forests area was decreasing which led to man-elephant conflict. Elephants were also facing the problem of inter-breeding leading to weakening of genes due to the unavailability of the free migratory corridor from Jim Corbett to Rajaji. He further said tigers’ condition was critical as they were unable to migrate between west and east Rajaji National Park. Only two tigers remained in west Rajaji and eight in Chilla Sanctuary. Dutta opined that as their main food monkeys had moved to urban areas and barking deer had been hunted. So leopards were going for easy targets and entering city limits in search of food. Villagers poisoned leopards after attacks on their cattle and, hence, increase in the death rate. |
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Congress remembers Jallianwala martyrs
Dehradun, April 13 Addressing the gathering at the Congress Bhawan, General Secretary Virender Singh Bisht said thousands of innocent people became martyrs for independence on this day. Spokesperson of the party Surender Arya shed light on the political situation and role of the Congress before the Jallianwala incident. He said this massacre sent strong waves across India and every Indian become determined to send the British out of the country. Senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana said Jallianwala Bagh proved to be a big turning point for the Indian Independence Movement and history of the Congress. In the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh incident, the Congress party adopted a tough line against the British imperialism and that led to non-cooperation movements that ultimately led to the independence of the country. |
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Families, pundit held for child marriage
Nainital, April 13 According to the information, 17-year-old Kripal Ram’s marriage with Poonam (14), daughter of Lala Ram, had already been fixed. Kripal is a resident of Chandausi and had been living as a tenant of Lala Ram and works as a labourer in a private factory. It is learnt that the boy and the girl had eloped some days ago and had gone to Chandigarh. They had, however, returned after a week and following this the marriage had been arranged by their parents. While the marriage was being solemnised, someone complained to the police. Members of the families of both the bride and the groom along with the pundit, who was solemnising the marriage, have been taken into custody. |
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4 killed as bus falls into gorge
Nainital, April 13 According to the information available, three persons, including the conductor of the bus, died on the spot, while the driver succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. Three other passengers were injured in the accident. The ill-fated bus was on way from Delhi to Shyama, and the accident took place just 3 km short of its destination. The driver is learnt to have lost control over the vehicle which led to the vehicle plunging into the gorge. The bad condition of the road could have led to the driver losing control of the bus. The conductor and the driver of the state Transport Corporation-run bus have been identified as Kedar Singh Baghri and Santosh Singh, respectively. Another deceased has been identified as Deewan Ram, who was working as a postman. |
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Poacher nabbed in Terai division
Dehradun, April 13 The arrested person was identified as Narayan Singh, son of Govind Singh. A gun and four cartridges were also seized from his possession. Forest officials do not rule out involvement of Narayan in the incident of poaching of smaller animals. Narayan also works as night watchman locally. Range Officer KR Arya and Anand Singh Rawat were part of the forest team that nabbed the poacher.
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U’khand news capsule stopped
Dehradun, April 13 The state BJP said it was a popular programme and most of the people living outside Uttarakhand were able to watch the developments of the week in that programme. Lakhiram Joshi, state vice-president, BJP, has written a letter to the Union government to restart the programme from Lucknow DD Kendra. |
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CPM opposes power tariff hike
Dehradun, April 13 The State Council of Communist Party of India (Marxist) yesterday held a meeting in which the state government was criticised for the rise in electricity rates. They also sought prompt withdrawal of power hike asserting that by resorting to such rise in electricity charges, the anti-people face of the Uttarakhand government had been revealed. Gangadhar Nautiyal, Indu Nautiyal, Anant Akash and Virendra Bhandari prominently took part in the meeting.
— TNS |
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Mussoorie, April 13
On the first day of the 7th Conservation Field Study Tour organised by the Winterline Nature Trust at Cosy Nook, Landour Cantt in
Mussoorie, 18 students (10 boys and eight girls) from Tibetan Children Village (Selakui), Vocational Training Centre
Selakui, CST Paonta Sahib, TCV School Gopalpur, Himachal Pradesh, were educated by eminent scientists and ecologists on conservation, dangers to wildlife in present scenario.
Mussoorie, April 13
