Mussoorie, June 24
Char Dham Vikas Parishad vice-president Surat Ram Nautiyal directed officials to be prepared for the forthcoming Kanwar mela season. He stated this in a review meeting held on the Palika premises here today.

He also said all departments should complete their pending works within one month and if they failed to do so, strict action would be taken against them.

He was angry at given the installation job of ornamental lights amounting to Rs 90 lakh to Uttar Pradesh Nirman Nigam, ignoring the organisation in Uttarakhand itself.

Nautiyal further said the Char Dham Yatra had witnessed a record number of tourists this year and it was due to the special interest taken by the Chief Minister himself.

Speaking on the issue of the allegation of corruption, he said Harak Singh Rawat himself was involved in the scam and to hide the facts he was raking the issue of the corruption. Nautiyal said Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was the most honest Chief Minister in the country.

Nautiyal was angry at the meek presence of the officials and said he would talk to the Chief Secretary in this regard.

Many public representatives and officials of various departments were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, June 24
The Shri Shri Jagannath Ji (Shri Dundicha) Rath Yatra Samiti in association with the Shri Ram Mandir Samiti will celebrate Dev Sanan Poornima on June 26.

While interacting with mediapersons here today, general secretary of the Shri Shri Jagannath Rath Yatra Samiti PK Khatri said Gangajal that had been bought from Bhram Kund in Haridwar and Gangotri would be taken to Kishan Nagar Chowk via the Ballupur Road, Anand Vihar, Shiv Mandir, Kolagarh Road. It would then be taken to Shri Ram Mandir through Deeplok. He said after performing aarti, idols of Shri Sudarshan ji, Shri Balbhadra ji, Shri Subhadra ji and Shri Jagaannath ji would be given a bath with 108 urns, which are mixed with “kapoor” and sandal wood.

Thereafter, parsad would be served. The idols would then be taken back to the Ratan Singhasan and the aarti would be performed.

Subsequently, the doors of the temple would be closed for next 14 days. The devotees would then face the new avtaar of Shri Jagannath on July 13. He, along with his brother and sister, would be taken for the Gundicha Yatra. The parsad of sweet rice would be served to all.

Dehradun, June 24
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) has welcomed Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh’s recent statement in which the latter held that development could not be sacrificed in the name of conservation.

In a statement issued today, UKD secretary Rajpal Singh Rawat said conservation was proving to be a big hindrance in development and asserted that Uttarakhand and its people were suffering the most due to conservation activities. He also called for re-start of Palamaneri and Bhairoghati hydro projects. Rawat also appealed to all five MPs from the state to take up the issue of restart of two projects in the Garhwal hills.

The UKD leader demanded an additional bonus for the state under the Green India Mission programme. He even accused the state BJP government of working on the guidance of the saffron brigade.

The leader of the UKD alleged that minor hydro projects were being given to people and companies from outside the state at throwaway prices.

Mussoorie, June 24
The deep voice of ‘azaan’ crackles from loudspeakers from a quiet, but rusty-looking building with a grand minar that still stands tall in the back alley of the Library Bazar bearing testimony to the deep-rooted connection with the Afghan history.

The three-storeyed building called Amaania Jama Masjid, presently is being used by the Muslim population for daily prayers. The worshippers gather for their five-time prayers daily at this mosque without any inkling of its historical antecedents.

The Amaanai Masjid at the Library Bazar was constructed in 1920, with financial assistance of the Afghan ruler in the time Amir Amanullah. This is authenticated by a rare document that is in the possession of Javed Khan, secretary, Amaania Jama Masjid. Javed displays the rare document, torn from a few places, that clearly states that Mahmud Begh Tarzi, Foreign Minister, on behalf of Amir of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan, had donated Rs 7,000 for the construction of the mosque. Thus, it clearly authenticates that the Afghans had a soft corner for Indians, despite all hostilities with the British.

Shaukat Hussain, resident of Mussoorie, aged 80, also corroborates the fact that Mahmud Beg Tarzi, minister and close aide of Amanullah Khan, was here in 1920. According to him, imam Bakhrudin had divulged in private to him that in 1920 his grandfather, who was also imam of the mosque, was troubled at the open space for prayers as it was difficult to pray during rains. So he contacted a few members from the community to construct an indoor hall for prayers. They had heard that a peace conference, led by Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Mahmud Begh Tarzi, and the British envoy, led by Henry Dobbs, was on at Savoy Hotel in Mussoorie. The Afghans were residing at Bellevue Cottage (now Radha Bhawan).

Six or seven members of the community went to meet the minister and sought his help for the mosque construction. Tarzi replied that they could put a stone in the name of Amir Amanullah and he would bear the expenses. The community members deliberated that they were interested in constructing a house of God in the name of the Amir that would remain till eternity. Tarzi, after consultation with his delegation, answered in the affirmative and donated Rs 10,000 says Shaukat Hussain. However, the mosque records suggest that he donated Rs 7,000.

The Afghans also donated a glass floor built by Young and Marten from Stratford, England, for the mosque front porshe which still exists. Since then the mosque was named after Amir Amanullah and is still called the Amaania Jama Masjid. Local historian Gopal Bhardwaj showing the group picture of the Afghan delegation says it is it is true that Afghans had arrived in Savoy Hotel and resided at Bellevue Cottage, the same place where Yakub Khan was kept under house arrest for a certain period. Bhardwaj further says Tarzi was the closest aide of Amanullah and due to that trust he was made the head of Mussoorie peace conference. The conference continued for several months and it is presumed that the Afghan delegation must have felt the need of a mosque at a walking distance. Hence, they consented to donate for the mosque.

Bhardwaj further said the Afghans had been visiting Mussoorie since the time of Dost Mohmmad as the climate was similar to their home country. The Afghans also resided at the present Wyneberg Allen School which they named Bala Hissar after a fort in Afghanistan.

The peace conference carried on from April to July in 1920 in which the British government acceded to several demands, like the British government would be prepared to reiterate the undertaking to respect absolutely the integrity and independence or Afghanistan and restrain to the best of their ability all persons within the British boundaries from taking action obnoxious to the Afghan government. In return the British government expected that the Afghan government would similarly undertake to prevent to the best of their ability all action within the boundaries of Afghanistan.

Dehradun, June 24
Advocates in the state today called off their strike and returned to work after the arrest of one more policeman allegedly involved in the manhandling of advocates in Nainital district on Monday night.

“The Bar Council of Uttarakhand as well as the Uttarakhand High Court Bar Association have called off their strike following the arrest of all accused in the case,” said Razia Beg, Chairperson of the Bar Council, Uttarakhand.

The police arrested one more constable, allegedly involved in the case, last evening, said Mohan Singh Bangyal, Senior Superintendent of Police, Nainital. With this arrest, the number of police personnel taken into the custody in connection with the incident in the Jyotikote area had gone up to six, he added.

According to sources, four lawyers Ravi Babulkar, Yogesh Pachaulia, Sushil Vashist and Anil Bisht were stopped by the police at the post and asked to furnish the papers of the vehicle in which they were travelling. The lawyers allegedly protested against the singling out of their vehicle while the other vehicles were being allowed to go. This resulted in a heated exchange of words with police personnel allegedly thrashing them.

A case under various sections, including attempt to murder, was registered against Sub Inspector DS Fartyal, Constables Ramesh Singh, Mahendra Palni, Harsh Vardhan and Daya Kishen Sati and Home Guard Harish Rawat and they were arrested.

Incident unfortunate, says probe officer

Earlier, Investigating Officer (IO) Aruna Bharati in the case of alleged manhandling of lawyers by police personnel at Jyolikote on Monday night has termed the incident unfortunate.

Bharati, who is also the Circle Officer, said here today, “The incident is unfortunate. Proper investigations will be carried out in the matter in accordance with the law”.

Nainital had come to a standstill by agitating lawyers who had resorted to a road blockade yesterday near the high court causing a lot on inconvenience to tourists and local people.

Dehradun, June 24
Dependents of deceased employees of the Transport Corporation, who floated their organisation, the Mritak Ashrit Sangarsh Samiti, continued their dharna at the head office of the corporation. They were demanding jobs for the next of kin of the deceased employees for the third successive day.

Secretary of Transport Employees Joint Union Vijay Kumar Mamgai met the Transport Minister and apprised him that Director of the corporation had taken a decision in May 2005 to give jobs in the Production Department of the corporation to dependents of those employees who died between year 2000 and 2005. Secretary (Transport) also took approval from the administration, he said, and gave photocopies of these letters to the minister. Mamgai criticised the transport officials for making lame excuse of need to make service regulation to give employment to the dependents and said such a regulation existed in the corporation under which the Grade III drivers, technical staff and accountants were being inducted.

Convener Rachna Bisht said it was fixed now that employment would be given in the production sector. “About 1,400 posts of driver are lying vacant. It is because of ego tussles between officers that these vacancies are not filled up. If the corporation starts the procedure of employment giving within 15 days, we will call off our strike”.

The dependents also said they were being forced to meet the Chief Minister and staged dharna outside his residence.

Rachna Bisht, Hansa Joshi, Neema Dalakoti, Usha Nainwal, Sarita Devi, Suman Devi, Geeta Jugran, Vimal Pathak, Rajendra Bisht and Vinod Kumar participated in the dharna.

Pitthoragarh, June 24
The period for India-China border trade for this year has been extended by 15 days up to October 31 on the demand of traders from Dharchula. “But this extension in subject to the weather conditions,” said Narayan Singh Negi, District Magistrate. “After the extension of the trade period, Bhotiya traders from all three high Himalyan valleys of Johar, Darma and Byans are now happy and preparing for trade this year for which they will get trade passes soon,” said Padam Singh Rayapa, a leading trader.

Besides this extension of the trade period, local tribal traders have also been demanding inclusion of 13 extra items, including silk and live stocks, in the list of importable goods from China.

“But, this is the subject under the purview of the government of India. The local administration has forwarded the application of local traders to the government and a decision will come from there,” said Negi.

The trade runs between India and Chinese territory of western Tibet between June and October every year. This trade is strictly for local tribal traders as traditional economy there has been depending on this trade from centuries.

“Neither the outside traders nor the goods other than useful for local tribal economy are allowed in this trade,” said Navneet Pandey, trade officer and SDM of Dharchula.

Mussoorie, June 24
The Queen of Hills is under an immense pressure due to the garbage being littered on the road. The Nagar Palika despite imposing the eco-tax has not been able to find a solution to segregate the waste of the town which can be seen littered on the Mall Road in a disgusting manner.

Nearly Rs 47 lakh has been collected through the eco-tax, but the Palika has managed only two dustbins at the Jhoola Ghar displaying the dry and wet waste for namesake. It also collects the conservancy tax. The 4-5 km long Mall Road is bereft of such dustbins, hence tourists are forced to throw garbage anywhere. The environmentalists believe that this neglect does not augur well for the town which will be converted into a dump yard of enormous proportion leading to a major epidemic.

Palika officials on the other hand say that this is just the beginning and more such dustbins will be placed in the town for keeping it clean. Residents of the town are, however, sceptic of the whole exercise, as the summer season is on its fag end and its doubtful that the Palika will place more dustbins in the town.

Dehradun, June 24
A resident of Garhi Cantt was allegedly cheated of Rs 5 lakh on the promise of being sent abroad by two natives of Delhi.

Dev Bahadur Thapa alleged in his complaint to the police that the two were known to him and used to come to his house often. They promised to send him aboard on the payment of the fees which was Rs 5 lakh in 2007.

It was also termed that if he could not be sent abroad, then his amount, along with interest worth about Rs 8 lakh, would be returned to him.

The victim paid the amount in instalments of Rs 49,000 each. However, even after a few years the victim found no hope of being sent aboard. He asked for his money back, but the two refused to do so. Then Thapa informed the police. A case under Sections 420, 406, 120-B, IPC, has been registered at the Cantt police station.