Dehradun, November 1
The Uttarakhand government has accorded top priority to ayurveda by constituting a separate structure for ayurved, Unani, siddha and homoeopathy (Ayush).

This was stated by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank at the fifth convention of the Rajkiya Ayurvedic Evam Unani Pharmacists Association here today.

Dr Nishank said: “We have constituted a separate structure for Ayush and are conducting separate entrance examinations for ayurveda doctors, so that only those aspirants who are serious about this stream take the examination”.

He said eight hospitals in different parts of the state would be upgraded to 25-bedded hospitals and the Central government had already approved the proposal for sanctioning Rs 10 lakh for each of these hospitals. These would be located at Bada (Pitthoragarh), Badkote (Uttarkashi), Muni-ki-Reti (Tehri), Chamba (Tehri), Jhajra and Majra. Besides, approval had also been granted for setting up 20 anaemia-control centres.

The Chief Minister also assured the pharmacists that only those pharmacists who opted for Uttar Pradesh would be transferred. “An order has to be issued by the government regarding the transfer of 25 pharmacists and we will transfer only those who opt for Uttar Pradesh as the place of posting,” he added.

President of the association BM Bhatt said for the benefit of the pharmacists belonging to Ayush, a separate pharmacy council should be created for ayurveda pharmacists, registration of pharmacists in Para-2 should be done and they be given right to administer first aid in the absence of medical officers, Central Medicine Stores should be set up and anomalies in the pay scales of pharmacists should be removed.

The convention was attended by Dr Pooja Bhardawaj, Director, Ayurveda and Unani Services, Dr Pradeep Kumar, Principal and Superintendent, Rishikul-situated State PG Ayurvedic College and Hospital, and 
Dr Shoba Rani Mishra, Registrar, Bharatiya Chikitsa Parishad, Uttarakhand, and others.

Dehradun, November 1
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has asked the Forest Department to utilise the state’s strength of the Van Panchayat for achieving works of environment conservation even while ushering in the socio-economic development.

Addressing a two-day convention of forest officers, Dr Nishank said Uttarakhand had a unique distinction of being the sole state with a functioning Van Panchayat system. He said over a lakh people were linked to Van Panchayats and called for strengthening of these units.

Earlier in the day, Uttarakhand Forest Secretary MH Khan expressed displeasure over the delay in preparations of proposals linked to rain damage estimates to the forest infrastructure by various forest divisions in the state.

Presiding over one of the sessions at the convention, Khan said barring the Uttarkashi Division, most of the forest divisions had failed to come up with any rain-damage estimates. He asked forest officials to promptly work towards preparation of estimates.

He said asked forest officers to ensure that the budget meant for the current financial year was utilised latest by February and any part of the budget did not lapse under any circumstances.

The Forest Secretary also called for preparing a database. He also expressed concern over rising number of court cases linked to forests and called for pursuing these cases vigorously. The Campa fund was also utilised at the meeting.

Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat, Chief Wildlife Warden Srikant Chandola, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests SS Sharma and others were present on the occasion.

Mussoorie, November 1
The department, on the directions of the District Magistrate and the Chief Medical Officer, raided a few sweet shops in here today. A team of health officials, headed by Chief Food Inspector GC Kandwal and comprising Food Inspector Ramesh Singh and Supervisor Sunder Lal, raided sweet shops at Kulri Bazar and the Library area.

They collected a few samples from both areas. Another sweet shop at the main Gandhi Chowk was also inspected and samples of cheese were taken for further lab tests to be conducted in Himachal Pradesh. The officials had also planned to raid a few dairies but some of them put down their shutters before they could arrive there.

Dr Kandwal said they were running a campaign against the adulterated food being sold in the market from October 26 and this raid was part of the drive. Several samples had been collected and the reports of lab tests would be available in a few days. Kandwal asserted any form of adulteration would not be tolerated and they were committed to making this Diwali celebrations free of adulterated food. The campaign would not be limited to only festival and such raids would be carried out in routine.

Meanwhile, the Mussoorie Traders Association tried to persuade the officials to stop the raid. Association president Rajat Aggarwal, citing flaws in the inspection system, said as most of the products came from either Dehradun or elsewhere in the plains they should be confiscated at the source and the shopkeepers in the town should not be harassed unnecessarily. He, however, clearly stated that the association was not against the raids per say provided there was some justification in it.

Residents of the town are extremely delighted at this move and have suggested that such raids should be made a regular feature. Former Palika President Manmohan Singh Mall, commending the efforts of the administration, said spurious food items, including spices and even packaged items like turmeric having chromate powder, coriander powder with cow dung, milk with urea, rice with stones and red chilli with ochre were being supplied in the market and the consumers had no means to detect the adulteration. Hence, such exercise by the department were essential.

Dehradun, November 1
The state has been facing a shortage of gas cylinders for a while. Dealers also confirm that shortage has increased due to lack of proper supply from the Indian Oil Company (IOC). But records with merchants showed that the scenario was totally different. It proved that the supply was reaching them on time, but cylinders were being supplied somewhere else instead of to customers.

The scuffle that took place due to the non-delivery of gas cylinders at Shiva Gas Agency recently made the District Magistrate think about it. He directed City Magistrate MS Bisht to intervene and investigate the supply.

Bisht told The Tribune, “I checked the details at Shiva Gas Agency. While comparing the supply in these two months with earlier ones, we found that the number of customers as well as supply of gas cylinders was almost the same, but still people have to wait for long. The figures show that there is no shortage of the cylinders”.

“The agency got 7,272 cylinders in May and 8,442 in June. It has the total number of 18,388 consumers in May that increased in June to 18,472. The basic need for gas cylinders is 8,500-9,000, which is being fulfilled. In September consumers increased to 18,626 and in October it was 18,628,” he maintained.

“In September itself the dealer got a supply of 8,766 cylinders, in October 6,642 and 1,800 were delivered late as the trucks carrying cylinders were stuck en route due to bad condition of roads,” Bisht said.

The proprietor of the agency failed to a suitable reply.Bisht also found that neither the distribution system nor the home delivery system was perfect in the agency.

“The agency has a Tata 407 and seven three-wheelers, yet it is not able to maintain home delivery for cylinders,” Bisht maintained and added, “Moreover, the waiting list is not maintained properly, as the ones who get cylinders booked early have had to wait for a longer duration than the ones who booked them at a later date”.

Sources said the dealers were doing the diversion of cylinders only as they earned more from black-marketing. A dealer got Rs 22 per cylinder as a commission and they earned around Rs 8,000 in one day, which made it around Rs 1 lakh per month. But he can earn about Rs 4 to 5 lakh per month black-marketing these. One business is interlinked with the other. If someone was running a paying guest accommodation, it won’t mind paying Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 for getting cylinders in large quantities and this led to black-marketing.

Bisht directed the dealers to fulfill the demand within two days or else strict action would be taken against them.

Dehradun, November 1
As part of an expansion spree, the Doon Hospital will soon have a full-fledged Neurosurgery Department backed by a neurophysician and the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the District Women’s Hospital, too, will be expanded in the coming days.

A demand for full-fledged Neurosurgery Department has been hanging fire in the absence of adequate space, now with the shifting of urology, burn and plastic surgery and endocrinology units at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Coronation Hospital, the space so available will be utilised for housing the department.

“The matter was discussed at a meeting of the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals attended by Director, Doon Group of Hospitals, Secretary, Health, and Director-General, Health. A complete surgery ward will be set up and equipment will also be procured for which tenders will be invited, said Dr BC Pathak, CMS, Doon Hospital.

Some of the doctors and beds from the Orthopaedic Department of Coronation Hospital will be shifted to the Doon Hospital that will automatically create space for the new departments.

Similarly, work on expanding the NICU is also expected to take off shortly with the district administration and the hospital authorities taking a final call for acquiring extra land in the next few months.

Besides, the hospital recently organised a skill enhancement workshop for medical and para-medical staff. In a new initiative to keep the hospital spic and span, one doctor and a sister have been entrusted with the task of ensuring cleanliness and order at the different wards.

The hospital’s plan to allocate some seats to the Sai Institute for undertaking training has been given a nod by the Health Department. The plan had hit a roadblock due to the paucity of beds, but the department has waived norms for a year.

Nainital, November 1
The locality of Bhadaipura in Udham Singh Nagar witnessed a violent clash between supporters of the Congress and the BJP today morning. The matter pertained to a controversy over the management rights of a Ramlila Committee that has been staging Ramlila in the locality over the past 20 years.

According to sources, the committee was initially being controlled by Congress supporters although it was not a registered body. A section of the BJP supporters got a society registered and sought control over the committee. Just as the boards of the old committee were being removed, the supporters of the two parties came face to face and what ensued was a violent clash as they hurled stones and choicest abuses at each other.

Senior politicians, including Tilak Raj Behad and Rajesh Shukla of the Congress and the BJP, too reached the spot. Sources say that a dozen persons were injured in the clash and an equal number of vehicles were vandalised in the incident. The matter was brought under control by police intervention. A large number of Pradesh Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel have been deployed in the area and the situation is said to be tense, but under control.

Mussoorie, November 1
Devotees gathered at the Sai Temple in Kulri Bazar, Mussoorie, yesterday to celebrate the third Sai bhajan sandhya and bhandara with fervour and gaiety. The temple wore a festive look as devotees sought blessings from the great seer of his times.

A palanquin of Sai Baba in a procession was carried from the Sai Temple till Jhoola Ghar and later a bhajan sandhya programme was organised in which Saxena Brothers from Delhi sang devotional songs in praise of the Shirdi Sai Baba.

Earlier, the priest conducted traditional prayers and offered fruits and sweets to the figurine of the Shirdi Sai Baba.

Tourists also enjoyed the evening listening to the devotional songs. Palika President OP Uniyal greeted all on the occasion and said all should follow the Baba’s message of peace, harmony, love and honesty.

Sai Committee president Surendar Prakash, Alok Melhotra, Guru Charanpal Chadda, Om Prakash, Dinesh Badoni and others were present on the occasion.

Nainital, November 1
Even as officials concerned conveyed to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank yesterday that all was well on the power front, the picture on ground is something different with complaints of power cuts being reported daily.

Several areas of the region are reeling under power cuts. Such areas include the township of Haldwani and even parts of Almora. A major part of Haldwani continues to face problem of power and water supplies on account of repair works on a sewer line. In the Gaula Par area, people are agitated over the failure of the department to repair the lines that were devastated during the recent rain-related disaster. Today, a large number of residents of the Subhash Nagar locality were left high and dry on account of the damage to a power cable.

Meanwhile, at Tok Bhankar, Pandey Gaon, Bhimtal Block, the power supply has been resumed reportedly after a week but the residents continue to encounter the problem of voltage fluctuation.

Three children were injured when they suffered burns due to current in a newly laid electric cable in Gainyaron village, Okhalkanda Block, Nainital district. Two of these children sustained minor injuries while one had to be admitted to a hospital in Haldwani on Sunday. The residents of the village are agitated over the release of current in the cable without prior information.

The power problems in the villages and towns in the region simply defy the claims of the Power Department officials who had said yesterday before the Chief Minister that 99 per cent of the power supply was in place and there was only a problem related to voltage fluctuation emanating near Ranikhet.

Nainital, November 1
The body of an unidentified youth was found near the gateway to the famous Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) here last night.

The body had been burnt and thrown 200 metre away from the New Delhi-Nainital national highway (NH 87).

The smooth running city of Nainital was rocked by the news of an 80 per cent burnt body of a youth in the age group of 22 to 25 years being recovered.

The body was said to be thrown in the area after it was brought from somewhere outside as some clues found at the site point out. According to Station House Officer of the Tallital police station Jagdish Deopa, from the first sight it seemed that the body had been brought from outside as a sachet of pan masala of Kesar Company and a match box of Insaaf Company were found nearby, which were not sold in and around Nainital.

He also added that it seemed that the body was burnt with the help of some chemical.

The body was badly charred and only a tattoo of a plant blooming with a love sign was visible on the right hand of the deceased.

The body was sent for postmortem. The police said nothing much could be said about the case as the body was yet to be identified. A case of murder and suppression of evidence had been registered against an unknown accused.

Dehradun , November 1
In compliance with the directives of the Ministry of Water Resources (Government of India) and the Central Vigilance Commission, New Delhi, a weeklong vigilance awareness camp concluded at the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) at Roorkee.

The focal theme of the event was “Generation of Awareness and Publicity against Corruption”. Activities such as poster-making, essay-writing and debates were organised for various local schools. The students were from class III to XII.

Slogan and debate competitions were also conducted for NIH employees which had tremendous participation said, Director, NIH, RD Singh.

During the debate competition students spoke on “Modern communication system is helpful in controlling corruption” and “Effects of corruption on present education system”. Students also painted on the subject of corruption under the poster competition.

Twentytwo school students and 12 NIH employees were awarded prizes during the valedictory function held at Roorkee on Monday.

Dehradun, November 1
Trials of the four accomplices of Ranbir, who was killed in an alleged fake police encounter lat year, will start from December 1 in the Sessions Court for allegedly beating and snatching the weapon of a policeman.

The four, namely Ram Kumar, Ashok, Amit and Shekher Tyagi, were produced today in the CBI court that pronounced this order. In connection with this infamous Ranbir encounter case, seven cops are facing prosecution in the court.

They were later granted bail by the Nainital High Court. The episode that occurred last year had tarnished the image of the state capital police of Uttarakhand.