Dehradun, November 16
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva has praised the institution of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for fulfilling its role of being an essential component of good governance as well as successfully shouldering the responsibility of fiscal accountability.

Speaking at a function to mark 150 years of the establishment of the institution of CAG held at the Raj Bhawan here this evening, the Governor said: “CAG is a very important pillar of Indian democracy. It has a long and glorious tradition. It is also an essential component of good governance and an instrument of fiscal accountability provided for in the Constitution”.

“The public accounts committee of Parliament takes up for detailed scrutiny its reports and ministries run for cover from its criticism. Thanks to its outstanding contribution to the country’s financial management, it was selected to become the Auditor of the UN and its agencies, a great tribute to its standing, efficiency and capacity for honest work. It is late CG Somaiah, CAG, that made this possible, bringing great honour to our country,” she said.

The Governor said in view of the present scenario, CAG must play its role to ensure the proper monitoring and implementation of developmental programmes.

Earlier, the Governor, along with Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, lit the ceremonial lamp to set off the celebrations marking the completion of 150 years of the CAG institution.

On the occasion, the Governor also released “Himjyoti”, a bilingual publication of the department.

At the beginning of the programme, Chief Auditor General (Uttarakhand) Ashwini Attri threw light on the activities of the institution of CAG. Deputy Chief Auditor General (Administration) VS Jadon apprised the audience of the CAG’s multifaceted contribution at the national and international levels.

Among those present on the occasion were Principal Secretary Alok Jain, Radha Raturi, Secretary to the Governor Ashok Pai, former member of Central Women’s Commission Padma Seth, the Chairperson and the Vice-Chairperson of State Women’s Commission, public representatives, Senior Deputy Auditor General in Indian Audit and Accounts Department Vineeta Mishra, Sandeep Singh, Sushil Thakur and Threesh Kapoor.

Dehradun, November 16
The Cabinet today approved the creation of the administrative structure of the State Medicinal Plant Board (SMPB) which has already been made an apex body falling under the Horticulture Department.

Aiming to introduce a degree of professionalism, the government also decided to go for open recruitment for the post of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SMPB, which was earlier held by the Additional Secretary, Horticulture.

“This has been done to achieve the target of Rs 1,000 crore set by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank,” said Chief Secretary Subash Kumar during a press briefing today.

With this decision, the three horticulture organisations, comprising the Herbal Research and Development Institute (HRDI), Gopeshwar, the Centre for Aromatic Plants (CAP), Selaqui, and the Beshaj Sangh, have been brought under the SMPB, the apex body with a total of 86 posts.

The Cabinet also gave its approval for framing bylaws for the Committee on Policy on Harnessing Renewable Energy that was created in 2007. The experts will be able to guide the departments concerned on the optimum utilisation of energy during peak hours, etc. “The committee comprises 10 members who will be giving their advise on energy conservation,” said Subash Kumar.

The government also brought amendment to the Uttarakhand Ayurvedic and Unani Services bylaws by creating a post of Deputy Director.

Dehradun, November 16
Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli said he would not allot any junction or tri-junction for hoardings, at least till his term got over. He affirmed that his major plan was to provide employment opportunities to the unemployed and beautification of the city. Chamoli felt that hoardings on rooftops spoilt the city charm.

He also met members of the Advertising Association who wanted him to stop the process of auctioning for the site. The Nigam had earlier this year floated tenders for advertisements, which were not accepted by the association and had created hype over it. The members had said they were ready to cooperate with him in removing the illegal hoardings, but he should see that the process of auction was stopped.

“We are ready to cooperate with you, if we go for the tender you would not be able to do anything for yourself or us,” said one of the members.

Sources said the members of the association had decided to talk to the Mayor as they felt that approaching the court was not the perfect idea. They had, recently, submitted their plea in the court regarding the stay for removal of hoardings under the drive carried out by the cooperation. Though the court had stayed the drive for sometime they, later, gave its decision favouring the cooperation and stating that all hoardings, put after March 31, 2010, were illegal as they were never permitted nor they had approached the Nigam for permission.

After the judgement the Mayor had asked his officials to carry out the removal of the hoardings that had started on the weekend.

The association also said they would help the Nigam in removing the illegal hoardings. “We will remove all illegal hoardings within the next three days,” they added.

The Mayor had told them that allotting the space for hoardings was in the hands of the Nigam and that he would later on decide the places to be auctioned. But regarding the allotment through tenders was not in his hands. “Floating tender is government’s decision and I have nothing to do with it as the procurement policy is in hands of administration,” he maintained. He also told the members that they had found 44 illegal hoardings all over the city and asked them to remove the hoardings put up at the CMI, Aara Garh, Lall Pur and Dila Ram Chowk. “After three days, my team would be inspecting the spot only then, we would decide what action will be taken,” Chamoli said.

He said people were opting for various methods for publicising their products, but the MC was not getting any revenue out of it due to which they were facing a heavy loss.

Meanwhile, the team carried out a drive to remove flags at the Chakrota Road and the Clock Tower.

Dehradun, November 16
Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli today asked officials to provide all details that were required to the NGO to complete the survey being carried out to mark slum areas in the city. He told them to speed up the work.

In a meeting that was held here today, NGO High Feed apprised the Mayor that they had completed the survey in 22 wards and would be carrying on the drive till the completion of work in all wards. They also informed him about the details required by them.

At this the Mayor asked the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to arrange a meeting and provide all information required by the NGO.

Chamoli also held a meeting with the PWD, MDDA, Nagar Nigam Executive and Jal Nigam regarding the sewerage problem in Saraswati Vihar in Mata Mandir Ward.

Meanwhile, a team of Nagar Nigam today removed various banners, hoardings, flags and canopies at the Rajpur Road. The team then visited Ballabpur Chowk and removed illegal banners and posters there.

Haridwar, November 16
A 25-member delegation of Pakistani nationals has decided to form a Gayatri association in their country to spread the message of religious-spiritual brotherhood.

The members belong to Rehimariyakhan and Pindi districts and are on a nine-day visit to Haridwar. They are staying at the Gayatri Teerth, Shantikunj.

These devotees from India’s neighbourhood took a holy dip and performed rituals at the Ganga ghats and termed the most sacred river in the world as the “mother of spirituality”.

And as their forefathers belonged to undivided India, these Pakistani nationals have a special feeling for India and view both nations as their homes.

Impressed with the Gayatri Shantikunj Peeth and the works of founder Acharya Pundit Shri Ram Sharma, the delegation has vowed to take forward the teachings of the founder to Pakistan and form an association named Gayatri Welfare Social Association.

Addressing the delegation, Dr Pranav Pandya, Shantikunj head, said in these changing times, every country would have to forget their differences and come forward to spread peace and prosperity.

Chief convener of the delegation Mukesh Kumar said he has been associated with Shantikunj for the past five years. Seeing the immense benefit that the institution provides to mankind, he thought it better to make the people of his country also reap its benefits.

Women members of the delegation are also involved in the routine activities of Shantikunj. Members of the delegation have been doing yagya, jap, tap, yoga and other rituals as well as attending other programmes at Shantikunj.

Pitthoragarh, November 16
Despite nearly 40 per cent more rainfall in the region during monsoon this year and government’s claim that more natural water resources have been recharged, the Kumaon region is still facing a potable water crisis as hundreds of schemes in villages, which had been damaged in the rains, have not been repaired so far.

“In Almora district, more than 240 rural single drinking water schemes have been badly damaged, affecting a population of more than 30,000 who are facing an acute potable water crisis,” said DK Mishra, an official of the Jal Nigam, Almora. He said a report of damage caused to these schemes was being prepared by junior engineers. “After the report goes to the government, the real action to renovate these schemes can be started,” said Mishra.

In Pitthoragarh district, women of the town and from Gangolihat staged a demonstration before the District Magistrate yesterday demanding proper potable water supply in their respective areas.

“We have to stand in queue for hours together at the only natural source of potable water in the nearby forest,” said Meena Joshi, a house maker living in Saraswati Vihar Colony, near Pitthoragarh town.

According to the Jal Sansthan official, nearly 40,000 population of Pitthoragarh town has been affected after the pumps installed at the Ghat pumping schemes have failed to lift water. “After the repair of these pumps only will we be able to provide sufficient potable water to the town,” said an officer of the Jal Sansthan.

According to Uttarakhand Drinking Water Minister Prakash Pant, who is also the local MLA, two mega schemes for providing potable water to the continuously increasing population of Pitthoragarh town have been proposed to be set up with the help of Asian Development Bank (ADB). “The first scheme will fetch water from the Ram Ganga river at Awanlaghat and the second from Rameshwar Ghat, which will come into construction in two years and cost more than Rs 60 crore,” said Pant.

Dehradun, November 16
The Uttarakhand government has disbursed Rs 52 crore towards relief and rehabilitation among two lakh beneficiaries who were affected by the recent rain and cloudburst-induced disaster.

Stating this today, Chief Secretary Subash Kumar said most of the relief had been distributed among the beneficiaries. Of the two lakh beneficiaries, a total of 72,000 beneficiaries comprising dead, handicapped, wounded, lost animals etc in the rain have received Rs 42.56 crore as part of the rehabilitation, reconstruction and relief exercise. A total of 43,000 houses have been damaged and Rs 17 crore distributed for repair and rebuilding work. Farmers whose farms have been inundated or standing crops damaged have been given Rs 1 lakh per hectare. In all, Rs 10 crore has been spent.

He said the state government had a total of Rs 622 crore as relief contingency fund, including Rs 500 crore that the state received as part of the Central Relief Fund (CRF)

“We have demanded Rs 21,000 crore from the Central government as a special state for dealing with the natural calamity, including Rs 10,000 crore for the rehabilitation of 250 villages,” said Subash Kumar.

Nainital, November 16
Almora’s Additional District Magistrate (ADM) and Deputy Electoral Officer Rajiv Shah has asked the leadership of recognised political parties to appoint booth-level agents (BLAs) and provide a list of the same to the District Election Office at the earliest.

Shah has stated that preparation of lists of the BLAs has to be done on a priority basis and has directed the Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and Tehsildars to take the help of the Block Development Officers (BDOs) to ensure the completion of this task well in time. He has pointed out that the Principals of schools, Nagar Palika Parishads and Gram Pradhans must be co-ordinated and involved to undertake the special revision works as well as an awareness drive for the same.

These decisions were taken at a meeting held at Almora last afternoon. The works for revision of electoral rolls and issue of new photo identity cards began in Almora from Monday onwards and the exercise is going to continue till the month-end. People have been asked to complete the formalities of filling out a form and submit the same along with proof of their age and residence besides passport size photographs for the same.

Almora has 754 voting centres for which an equal number of BLOs have been trained. Out of these 518 are teachers while remaining are officials from other departments. The political parties have been asked to submit the list of the BLAs in accordance with the directions of the Election Commission of India. These are to be submitted in a print and compact disc format. It is mandatory that the person being identified as a BLA must be a registered voter at the same booth.

Shah has further informed that January 25, 2011, would be observed as National Voters Day.

Dehradun, November 16
Three Armymen died and six others got injured when the truck they were travelling in lost control and fell into a 100-m-deep gorge. The truck met with the accident while coming from Pauri to Dugadda near Fatehpur village late last night.

The injured of the accident were shifted to a local hospital by 108 Emergency. However, some of them were later brought to Doon Hospital in Dehradun, and one of the seriously injured was referred to a Delhi hospital. The reason of the accident is being found out.

According to information from sources, in the truck nine Armymen of the Garhwal Regiment were travelling. The information of the accident was given to the police at about 12:30 and the rescue operation was begun.

The rescue work was started late night only. Three Armymen had come under the truck in the gorge, while the remaining six injured were taken out somehow. Circle Officer of the Army and the police force were present at the site to monitor the the rescue operations.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, has expressed grief over the death of the Armymen in the accident. He wished for the early recovery of the injured and expressed condolence to the families of the victim Armymen.

Pitthoragarh, November 16
In a bizarre incident of man-animal conflict, a Himalayan black bear and a school-going youth died when they fought each other after the bear attacked the youth at Sainranthi village of Munsiyari sub-division of the district on Monday.

According to forest guard Mahesh Pathak, the youth Devendra Singh (18) of Sainranthi village was looking for his missing goats in a nearby forest. He was attacked by a Himalayan black bear, but instead of fleeing, the youth took on the bear and started fighting. As the tussle continued, both reached a deep gorge and fell to their deaths.

“The 18-year-old was a student of GIC Door in Munsiyari and the only son of his parents,”said Mahesh Pathak.

In another incident, a villager was badly injured in an attack by a bear at Syankuri village in Dharchula sub-division. The injured has been admitted to a local hospital. “Madan Singh, a local villager, was rearing his pet animals when he was suddenly attacked by the bear and was taken deep into the forest.

“After two days, he was found in an injured condition by the villagers. The bear had disfigured his face and injured him badly,” said Kunwar Singh, gram pradhan of Syankuri village.

The forest officer said at this time, Himalayan bears were going towards lower valleys to escape the Himalayan cold and attacking villagers if they came in their food-gathering routine.

“Root-based crops are available in villages for these bears,” said Manoj Chandran, DFO, Pitthoragarh.

Dehradun, November 16
To mark the National Press Day, a seminar on journalism and challenge by the corporate world was organised at the District Information Office here today.

Presiding over the function, veteran journalist Radha Krishan Kukreti said the print media had changed a lot with time, but this transformation could never lessen its importance. He said new techniques were entering the field on a regular basis and the development could be seen in the printing press as well. Kukreti told the journalists to highlight the plight of the common man.

Dinesh Trikha said with the entry of e-mail and internet, journalism had been affected. Gopal Thapa, Girdhar Sharma and Sudhir Goyal also shared their views.

Dehradun, November 16
Class IV members of the Rajya Karamchari Sangh protested outside the Vikas Bhawan and submitted a memorandum to the District Horticulture Officer asking him to take action against Narayan Singh Bisht, state Horticulture Observer, Dhakrani, for using abusive language against them here yesterday.

The members alleged that Bisht abused and fought with them without any reason. They added that they were receiving threat calls from his side and being mentally tortured due to which their work suffered. They claimed that the incident had previously taken place in the development officer and senior assistant’s presence.

The members have affirmed that if a strict action is not taken against Bisht, they will agitate on the roads and in case of a mishap, Bisht will be held responsible.

Nainital, November 16
The town of Haldwani was rocked by a daylight murder yesterday afternoon. The murder was committed just about a 100 metre away from the police station.

Thirtytwo-year-old Yogesh Sunauri, who was a resident of Devrampur village in the Halduchaud area located at a distance of 8 km away from Haldwani, was shot dead on the Nainital Road when he was returning after an appearance in the court in an autorickshaw.

It is said Yogesh had a criminal past and was involved in several instances of heinous crimes. His appearance in the court was regarding an incident that had taken place in 2008.

The victim was travelling by an autorickshaw when two unidentified youths approached the vehicle on a motorcycle and pumped a bullet into his chest. He was sharing the autorickshaw with four other co-passengers.

Yogesh’s mobile phone fell on the road after he was hit.

The driver of the vehicle took the all passengers to the police station from where Yogesh was rushed to the Base Hospital where he was declared brought dead on arrival.

His relatives have demanded the arrest of the murderers at the earliest.

Haridwar, November 16
Strong reactions have been pouring in in the pilgrim city regarding the content and negative impact on the common man of a reality show, anchored by Rakhi Sawant, being aired on a private television channel.

After the alleged suicide by a young participant just after a month of the episode featuring him was aired, people from varied sections of the society have condemned the show’s content demanding an instant ban on it and demanded legal action against the show’s producers and host.

Demanding a code of conduct for electronic channels, Gandhivadi Ekta Manch activists protested in the city terming the flush of reality shows as a blow on ancient Indian culture.

Manch activists said the Central government should immediately draft a Bill which maintained censorship both on electronic news channels and television show channels as these were crossing the line which separated entertainment from vulgarity.

With blackened posters of Rakhi Sawant in their hands and raising slogans against the television actress and Bollywood item girl, activists staged a protest on Ganga ghats. The demonstration attracted the attention of localites and pilgrims.

Founder of the manch Sanjay Chopra termed this as a bad phase in the Indian entertainment sector as most channels these days are showing vulgar and violent content which is degrading the cultural values of Indian society and particularly weakening the morals of the younger generation.

Several student organisations have also condemned Rakhi Sawant’s show along with a host of other reality shows run by private channels.

The ABVP and Hindu Jagran Manch have termed these shows as low-grade bad adaptations of Western shows.

Notably, Rakhi Sawant has publicly termed Lakshman Prasad, a resident of Jhansi, impotent while trying to settle a family dispute which, according to family members and friends of the deceased, landed the person in depression. As a result, he allegedly committed suicide.