Nainital, November 3
The issues of basic amenities like water and electricity continue at the civic body meetings being held across the region these days. The complaints being raised by people are a complete contrast to the claims that were made by officials recently before Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank of everything being normal.

At a meeting of the Block Development Committee (BDC) at Ramgarh yesterday, public representatives called for instant help in disaster-hit areas in the region. It was pointed out that in the remote interiors, power and water supplies were still not resumed properly.

The representatives also pointed out that the conditions of the roads continued to be far from normal. They said travelling on these roads was a nightmare and there was considerable danger to the lives of people who were compelled to travel on such roads.

After hearing the complaints made by the representatives, District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli instructed the officials to work on a war footing to ensure the resumption of normal power and water supplies to the villages at the earliest. Bagauli asked the officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) to give priority to making the roads safe for travelling. He asked Chief Development Officer Deepak Rawat to monitor the works being done by the officials and stressed upon the need to take the public representatives into confidence.

Across the region, people continue to be agitated and peeved over the delays and failure of the administration to provide the basic amenities. Residents of eight villages in the Nakuliya Gram Sabha of the Sitarganj area of Udham Singh Nagar district yesterday staged a demonstration to protest against the non-resumption of drinking water supply on the account of the burning down of a transformer. They alleged that the villages had not been getting supply of water for the past 20 days and were being compelled to drink polluted water. They threatened to launch an agitation if the supply was not resumed soon.

Tuesday also happened to be the Tehsil Diwas and people turned up in large numbers at the tehsil headquarters to raise the issue of basic amenities. In Ramnagar, it was again the issue of water and power that dominated. A total of 49 complaints were made by the people at the headquarters. Out of these 21 were made by a single resident of the Chhoi area. The scenario was reportedly the same at Champawat where again the people complained the problems of water and power supply.

Dehradun, November 3
Fake currency worth Rs 13,300 was reportedly deposited in the OBC Bank, Rajpur Road.According to the police, the money was deposited on September 10 and Bank Manager Anil Manjari complained to the police today. When the bank, at end of the month, calculated the money, it found this discrepancy.

As per the complaint to the police, 23 notes in the denomination of Rs 100 and 22 of Rs 500 were found bogus.

A case in this regard has been registered at the Dalanwala police station. 

Mussoorie, November 3
Reacting to the report published in The Tribune on November 3, “Govt school lacks basic amenities”, which highlighted the plight of the Government Higher Secondary School situated at Silla village, Buraskhanda in Raipur block near Dhanolty, MLA Jot Singh Gunsola paid a visit to the school and after inspecting the school, he met schoolchildren and staff members and heard their problems in detail.

Gunsola seeing the condition was disgusted and immediately announced Rs 15 lakh grant from the MLALAD fund to the school. Gunsola announced Rs 10 lakh for construction of senior classes and Rs 2 lakh for the furniture in the school. He also announced Rs 3 lakh for the repair and maintenance of the roads damaged due to the natural calamities.

Headmaster of the school Lalit Mohan Kala thanked Gunsola on the occasion and said this assistance would improve the condition of the school immensely.

Gunsola said he would also request the Education Department to provide the computers to the school soon so that the Dalit students get benefited from the schemes launched by Central government.

The students also appreciated the generosity of the MLA on the occasion. 

Dehradun, November 3
After Herculean efforts on the part of the Terai forest authorities to provide treatment, the tusker injured on the Lalkunwan Railway tracks succumbed to its injuries today.

The tusker had strayed along the railway track on October 22 last and was hit by a speeding training causing him severe injuries.

Anil Baloni, Chairman, Environment Advisory Committee, Uttarakhand, confirmed the passing away of the elephant.

The injured pachyderm had subsequently moved 10 km inside the Terai forest area making the task of administering treatment to it much more difficult for the veterinarians. The Forest authorities had created an operation theatre in the forests and been since then

administering treatment under Operation Gajraj, that involved a team of veterinarians and scores of forest workers.

The elephant had initially responded to the treatment, but its condition deteriorated with each passing day. The vets did try to operate on the pachyderm at the last moment, but the animal died during the treatment.

Operation Gajraj came at a time when the elephant was declared National Heritage Animal. 

Dehradun, November 3
A monitor lizard was rescued today from Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV), Hathibarkala, Dehradun, by members of a voluntary organisation, EFFECT.The KV authorities informed EFFECT volunteers at around 12.30 pm about the presence of a monitor lizard. EFFECT volunteer Abhishek, who reached the school and rescued the monitor lizard, left the reptile at Mohand Range of the Rajaji National Park.

It is noteworthy that EFFECT has played a crucial role in rescuing a number of snakes this monsoon, and the Uttarakhand Forest authorities have now asked EFFECT to train their personnel in capturing snakes.

Monitor lizards are an endangered species today and is listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Act. 

Dehradun, November 3
Toddlers were taught to celebrate eco-friendly Divali this season by saying no to crackers. Poly Kids School that celebrated Divali at all its three branches of Dalanwala, Vasant Vihar and Sahastradhara here today, gave the message to save the environment.

On the occasion, the toddlers were clad in traditional dresses while they offered prayers to Lakshmi, Ganesha and Saraswati under the assistance of their teachers.

The school was decorated with lights, candles and diyas and rangoli was also made. The students were explained the concept of Divali followed by a mythological story behind the festival.

Apart from this, the children were also told about the significance of Bhai Dooj, which will be celebrated two days after Divali. Tika was put on the foreheads of the students and sweets were distributed among them. 

Dehradun, November 3
Selaqui International School celebrated its 10th founder’s day here. The celebrations started with flagging off of the 6th annual sports meet, where students performed different activities like sack race, lemon race, eat-and-run race, three-legged race and skipping race. Students also showcased their talent through karate display and relay race.

Parents also participated on the occasion by taking part in some events like king and queen race, balloon bursting and tug-o-war between parents and teachers. Headmaster Rohit Pathak also participated in the races. Akash House stood first followed by Agni House, Prithvi House and Jal House.

Brig Prithi Singh, chief guest on the occasion, said, “The scenic view of Selaqui International School so captivates you that it almost transforms you from a staunch believer into a pagan, favouring nature”.

Ex-Sequins, Chairman Om Pathak and Vice-Chairman Major-Gen Basant Singh of the school were also present.

An art exhibition was also organised on the occasion, which was inaugurated by Ratinder Singh Sandhu, father of school captain Asispreet Singh Sandhu.

Later in the evening, chief guest Farooq Gillani graced the occasion by awarding the academic achievers of the year.

A play “Chronicles of India- Dastaan-e-Hind” was showcased by the Sequins (students) about the fascinating journey that India has traversed since the British rule. The dance drama depicted the changing scenario of India from an infant democracy to young world superpower. All sacrifices of the martyrs, all tumult India has been through, are repeatedly proved worthwhile when India of today overcomes the obstacles in her path.

Dehradun, November 3
The Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST) has selected Umesh Chander Pandey, a mathematics teacher, for the Best Science Teacher Award.The award has been constituted by UCOST and the National Academy of Science, India (NASI), Uttarakhand Chapter, for teachers engaged in popularising science.

Pandey will be given a commendation certificate and a cash prize of Rs 10,000 at the fifth Science Congress to be held in November. UCOST had received 17 applications, the last date for which was August 15, 2010. He is a lecturer of mathematics at a college in Dinapani.

Pandey has also received the “Innovative Teachers Leaderships Award” in India, “One of the most innovative educator of the world” in Helsinki and the “Country’s Winner Award” in Cambodia.

Dehradun, November 3
The lipstick episode, which has been in the news at the Thomso cultural festival of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, seems to be dying at the local level, whereas through Internet it has caught the attention of the alumni of the prestigious institute.

The alumni of IIT, Roorkee, in India as well as abroad are posting their comments on Facebook, Orkut, Skipes and regularly mailing SC Saxena, Director of the institute, with their views over the lipstick episode which came into controversy when many electronic channels carried the report of the incident as a vulgar act.

Most of the people have condemned the incident and are blaming students for this misconduct.

Vinod Srivastava Naadaan comments online from Bangkok that he passed out from Roorkee University a few year back. Where the university was known for its discipline, this incident had shattered the image of the institute, he said.

Saxena admitted that he had been receiving such mails and said henceforth the institute management would issue guidelines to the students telling them not to organise any such event which could hurt the feelings of society at large.

On being asked about the decision of the five-member committee on the incident, he said it would take another few days for them to come out with their report as they were trying to trace the students who were actually involved. Many of them had come from different institutes from all over the country, he added.

The students at the IIT are still under shock for this mishap and are worried for the next year’s cultural fest. 

Dehradun, November 3
The annual Gang Canal closure for maintenance and cleaning has come to an end, but without any repair being carried out in the famous canal. Each year the canal is closed for nearly 14-15 days for cleaning and maintenance. This year also, on the orders of the UP government, the canal was closed from October 17 to 30, but nothing has been done on the ground. The canal has become a breeding place for bacteria.

Following last year’s trend, the UP government did not release any budget to its Irrigation Department for the repair and cleaning of the canal. Today, despite the annual closure, the canal is filled with filth and makes a perfect place for mosquitoes spreading dengue and malaria.

The canal caters to potable water needs of Delhi areas and irrigates agricultural land in UP and Uttarakhand. “The Gang Canal is a blessing for the farmers of west Uttar Pradesh who are dependent on it,” said Adeem, a local farmer.

Last year also the budget was sanctioned late and the work got hampered, said SDO Dharmendra, UP Irrigation Department. He said it was really sad that this year also the UP government had not released any funds resulting in no work during the canal closure tenure. “This year also the UP Irrigation Department had sent a budget proposal of Rs 200 crore, but it had not been released,” he added.