Dehradun, November 13
Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today called on Margaret Alva at the Raj Bhawan, Dehradun, as part of a courtesy visit.

Mukherjee made a brief halt at Dehradun after delivering a lecture at the IAS probationers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, today.

The Finance Minister also met Niranjan Alva, husband of the Governor.

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhiryal Nishank greeted the Finance Minister. Books on Uttarakhand flora and fauna were also presented to Mukherjee as mementoes.

Haridwar, November 13
Although Gurukul Kangri University and State Public Service Commission employees had agreed a few days back on having a committee which would look into the disputed land issue between the two, the matter got aggravated today when the police resorted to lathicharge to disperse university employees and students who were opposing the construction of a brick wall by the commission. The violence left several students injured with students union president getting severely injured. He has been referred to higher medical centre for treatment.

From early morning itself tension began to mount in the Gurukul Kangri University-State Public Commission area. In the presence of heavy police personnel deployment, the construction of a wall began to be erected at the disputed side. Initially, the university employees opposed the construction with Vice-Chancellor Prof Swatantra Kumar himself leading the protest. But the police refrained them from reaching the construction site by stopping them way ahead.

As soon as news of the construction of the wall spread, hundreds of students reached the disputed area and tried to stop the construction. First a heated exchange of words was exchanged between the students and the police, but on seeing students’ number increasing, the police resorted to heavy lathicharge to disperse the angry students and university employees.

A scene of chaos and violence spread in the university periphery with police personnel running behind the students pulling them to the ground and beating them with lathis and nook of arms. In the midst of this, Gurukul students union president Manish Chauhan was specially targeted by the police as he was most vociferous among the protestors. A hapless Chauhan was mercilessly beaten and he suffered multiple injuries on the head, shoulder and legs. Such was his condition that when he was taken for medical treatment immediately, doctors, seeing his grievous injuries, directed his family members to take him to a higher medical centre for treatment.

On the other side, the commission authorities and police personnel justified their acts of building the wall and the usage of lathicharge, respectively. Secretary of Uttarakhand Public Commission SK Das said the wall was being constructed as a safety measure and the land where it was being constructed was property of the commission only. The Gurukul University was interfering for no valid reason, he said. He added that they had the legal land documents.

University Vice-Chancellor Swatantra Kumar, who himself had to face the wrath of the police, termed the act as misuse of power by the administration. Terming the police behaviour as partial and deliberately allowing the commission to construct the brick wall which will block the pathway of residential colonies of university employees, Prof Swatantra Kumar said, “The police act was atrocious, inhuman and a deliberate misuse of power. The police used violence to curb the non-violent protest of employees and students”.

Haridwar, November 13
With the Congress regaining power at the Centre for second consecutive term and showing remarkable results in the assembly elections in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, much of the credit is also being given to its National General Secretary Rahul Gandhi’s pro-youth policy which is motivating as well as giving political opportunities to the youth in the country.

Lauding the positive impact that the youth is playing in today’s politics, particularly those associated with Congress. Member of Parliament from the Firozabad constituency and noted Hindi film actor Raj Babbar said the vision of Rahul would take the nation forward to the path of development.

Babbar was here to give boost to the membership drive of the Indian Youth Congress addressing the newly inducted members as well as the state youth office holders at the Town Hall.

Amidst a standing ovation, Babbar was greeted with enthusiasm by the youth members and the silver screen spell was visible among the younger lot with everyone trying to have a glimpse, handshake or click a picture of the veteran actor.

Pointing out to the most number of young parliamentarians being elected in the last parliamentary elections belonging to the Congress as result of Rahul’s initiative in this regard, Babbar said the time had come when younger generation had to come forward and play a pivotal role in the Indian democratic setup.

“It’s you (youth) who have the capacity to take this country forward with fresh, unbiased ideas. Come join the Congress as no other party has the history and credits of taking this country forward under its rule. The youth surely have a decisive role and it’s only when you take part in politics that you can change the maladies that have crept in the Indian politics,” said Babbar, who defeated Mulayam Singh Yadav’s daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav in Firozabad by-poll elections a year ago.

The by-polls were held as Mulayam’s son Akhilesh Yadav vacated Firozabad seat as he had also won Kannauj parliamentary seat and Babbar, once a Mulayam loyalist, was fielded by the Congress. Babbar was suspended from the Samajwadi Party (SP) few years back owing to his criticism of the then SP general secretary, Amar Singh.

Accompanied by Roorkee legislator Kunwar Pranav Singh, Kulwant Rai Singhla, coordinator, Indian Youth Congress and other district party leaders vowed to make sure that Uttarakhand contributed as one of the states having highest percentage of youth joining the Congress.

Singhla said till date more than 51 lakh youth had taken the membership of the Youth Congress signifying the mass acceptance of youth of the Congress as the only party that catered to pan-India, particularly the youth.

While Ravish Bhatia, chief of the Haridwar Youth Congress, said the city unit activists would go all out to make sure the membership drive reached a record number and the vision of Rahul and Babbar was reached to villages and rural areas too.

A large number of Youth Congress workers as well as city Congress unit officer holders took part in the membership drive programme with hundreds waiting outside the venue to have a glimpse of the actor-turned-politician. 

Dehradun, November 13
As many as 137 satellite phones will be installed in remote and inaccessible areas of the state this year.

This was stated by Union Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology Sachin Pilot, who was at Srinagar in Pauri Garhwal, today. The union minister was here to dedicate four mobile transmitters to the country.

Pilot said as part of the Union Communication Ministry commitment for an effective communication network in the remote and inaccessible terrain of the country, a total of 137 satellite phones would be installed in the distant areas of the state.

He pointed out that a total of 15,761 out of total 16,826 remote villages had already been connected through telephones.

The Universal Service Obligation (USO) category towers that were dedicated by the minister today have been installed at Pang and Pandora (Lansdowne) in Pauri district and Bhenti and Salana in Chamoli district. With a cost of nearly Rs 18 lakh each, these towers have partially been funded by the Union government to connect the remote areas, where telephone is not economically viable.

These towers will also be able to provide the General Packet Radio System (GPRS) for Internet on mobile phone.

Pilot said his government was committed to provide reliable connectivity to all villages in the hills and remote areas and assured them connectivity facilities at part with the metropolitan cities.

He announced to hold a meeting in Dehradun soon to revamp the Polstal, Telecom and IT services in the state. Sachin Pilot was welcomed at Vikas Nagar by Leader of Opposition in Uttarakhand Assembly Harak Singh Rawat and Congress MLAs Pritam Singh and Dinesh Agarwal.

Dehradun, November 13
Ten passengers were killed and 20 others injured, some of them seriously, when a Uttarakhand Roadways bus fell into a deep gorge at Bajol village, near Ranikhet in Almora district of Kumoan.

According to officials, the driver of the bus, on its way from Ranikhet to New Delhi, lost control and the vehicle fell into a deep gorge at Bajol village.

Haridwar, November 13
The six-day festival of Chhat concluded for this year with women breaking their fast early morning today amidst sun rays by offering “arghya” adjacent to the Ganga ghats, canals, ponds and reservoirs.

The fast, which is observed without taking water, was broken after seeing the Sun God amidst rituals prior to taking a holy dip in the Ganga praying for the welfare of their family. From early morning itself, all Ganga ghats viz Brahamkund at Har-ki-Pauri, Malviya Ghat, Alaknanda Ghat, Neel Dhara, Vishwakarma Ghat, Dharmanand Ghat and Birla Ghat, all were thronged by Chhat observers.

From fruits to varied home-cooked dishes to lighting of diyas, the observers performed Chhat rituals with full devotion while chanting mantras, revering the Ganga and the Sun God.

The devotees from other states too reached the pilgrim city to have Chhat rituals being performed in the Ganga. Delhi-based BK Sudarshan and Kiran Sudarshan, son and daughter-in-law of renowned Shri Ram katha vachak Sudharshan ji Maharaj, who have been observing Chhat rituals for the past 10 years in Haridwar, were seen at the Bhoomanand Ghat performing the Chhat rituals.

Quite elated at the religious-spiritual atmosphere the Ganga city provides, the Sudarshan couple said Haridwar had a unique quotient with the Ganga, mountains and spiritual atmosphere adding to Chhat rituals which could be seen people from nearby states and region coming to pilgrim city to observe Chhat festive.

Dehradun, November 13
Managing Director (MD) of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) RP Thapliyal retired yesterday after serving for 40 years. He has now been replaced by GP Patel.

Thapliyal started his career as Assistant Engineer in 1971 and thereafter joined Hydel Generation Dakpathar in 1986. Ever since then, he continued to serve in hydropower field.

Seeing his excellent output as General Manager, Ganga Valley and Yamuna Valley, he was promoted to the post of Managing Director of the UJVNL this year. Here, too, he performed efficiently.

Thapliyal was given farewell by officers and employees of the Nigam. AGM Pankaj Kulshresth, Director (Operation) BCK Mishra, Director (Planning) KK Singh, Director (Finance) Jayant Kumar, Executive (Director) NN Verma, Executive Director (Civil) and Sandeep Singhal were also present.