Pitthoragarh, December 3
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) workers started a protest march in Didihat town of Pitthoragarh district today after the Central Empowerment Committee of the Supreme Court last week increased the area of proposed musk deer sanctuary at Askot from 700 sq km to 2,227.80 sq km.

“When we were expecting further concession in the limit for the benefit of the villages that will get affected by the demarcation of the sanctuary, we got a shock as the CEC has instead increased the limit three times. This will affect more villages by the Sanctuary Laws,” said senior UKD leader and ex-president of Pitthoragarh unit in Didihat JS Bora.

According to information given by Pitthoragarh District Forest Officer (DFO), who had been in New Delhi in connection with hearing of the recommendation of CEC in the Supreme Court, the hearing has been postponed till the first week of January 2011.

“The CEC has finally given the recommendations to increase the area of this proposed sanctuary from 700 sq km to 2,227.80 sq km, which incorporates the entire flowing area of the Gori river and even some villages across it,” said DFO Pitthoragarh Sambandhan.

The Government of India, keeping in mind the dwindling number of Himalayan musk deer, which is also Uttarakhand’s state animal, proposed the sanctuary at Askot in Pitthoragarh district in 1986.

“After the notification of the sanctuary, the developmental work in 111 villages of Didihat, Munsiyari and Dharchula blocks came to a standstill,” said Bora. “If the Supreme Court will not give decision in favour of theses villages, then our basic aim will be to shift these villages to a location where they can get basic facilities”.

“We are unable to give further education to our children, as we do not have school after Class V and according to the Sanctuary Laws, no new school buildings can be constructed in the area. As a result there is no new junior and high school in the area for the past 25 years,” said villagers in Dharchula, Munsiyari and Didihat blocks after the notification.

“We cannot fetch fodder from the jungles or even get wood or stones to construct our houses,” said Guman Singh of Baram village of Munsiyari block.

According to information, more than 22 motor roads in all 111 villages that fall in three developmental blocks are pending, despite the fact that the state government has sanctioned money for it. “Out of these 22 local motor roads, 14 are in Didihat block alone, which is the area of state BJP chief Bishan Singh Chufal,” said JS Bora. “Even the drinking water schemes damaged years back cannot be repaired due to the Sanctuary Laws,” Bora said.

Dehradun, December 3
In a move that could have far-reaching consequences towards restoring a key wildlife corridor stretching from India to Nepal, forest officials of the two countries are meeting on December 8 in the border township of Tanakpur in Uttarakhand.

Maoists insurgency coupled with unhindered encroachments, particularly on the Nepal side, have proved detrimental to the wildlife corridor.

The issue has raised much concern among wildlife conservationists as this corridor holds key to the movement of elephants across borders and connects Kilpura and Sharda forest ranges in Champawat district of Uttarakhand to Nepal.

Pachyderms have been using this corridor for the past many generations to cross forests of India and venture into Nepal and vice-versa through Uttarakhand.

But encroachments on the corridor from the Nepal side, particularly in the thick of Maoist development in that country during 2006, have come as obstructions.

After much effort, Uttarakhand forest officials have finally succeeded in fixing a meeting with their Nepali counterparts on December 8.

Anil Baluni, Vice-Chairman, Uttarakhand Forest and Environment Board Advisory Committee, said the Uttarakhand Government has been making efforts for the past several months to convene a meeting between the Uttarakhand Forest Department and forest officials in Nepal for holding discussions on the elephant corridor and other important issues.

Baloni said Nepali officials at the meeting will be urged to ensure shifting of human settlements on their side and thus ensuring unhindered movement of elephants between India and Nepal.

He asserted that elephants have not abandoned this route and thus the chances of reviving this corridor stand high.

Interestingly, Indo-Nepal authorities had met in October last year to put an effective check on wildlife trade across the porous Indo-Nepal border.

The meeting that had representation of the Wildlife Trust of India stressed on cross-border cooperation and understanding among relevant authorities to effectively control wildlife trade along the western Indo-Nepal border.

The issue of Dharchula due to its proximity to Nepal becoming an important illegal wildlife trade hub in northern India also came up for discussion.

Pitthoragarh, December 3
In the first pneumonia death of leopards in Kumaon this year, a female leopard was found death by villagers near the Kuzgarh river in Tarikhet area of Ranikhet in Almora district on Thursday.

“The female leopard was taken for a post-mortem examination by veterinary surgeons at the Ranikhet animal hospital and declared that the carnivore died of pneumonia,” said Jashod Singh Bisht, range officer of Ranikhet range.

According to the forest officer, the three-year-old leopardess had no trace of wounds in her body and all her organs were intact. “After the post mortem, the body was cremated after the authorities ordered it,” said range officer.

Mussoorie, December 3
It seems that the sword are being drawn between the senior leaders of BJP as the rumours of infighting make way in public parlance with the frequent visit of Chief Minister Nishank and the warring faction at Delhi. The state Disaster and Sports Minister Khajan Das has defended Nishank on the issue.

Das, at the cultural and sports festival being held at Nainbagh, was questioned by the media on Nishank’s frequent tour to Delhi High command and the front being opened by the senior BJP leaders against Nishank.In his response, he said much should not be read from these personal visits to Delhi.He asserted that Nishank was not going anywhere and the 2012 Assembly Election would be held under Nishank’s able guidance.

Das was also asked regarding the infighting issue to be raised in the Parliamentary board meeting of BJP, scheduled on December 6.Das said he was not aware of any such meeting, as only senior leaders from the country would be attending it.

Mussoorie, December 3
One week after the fall out between certain lawyer and SDM Manoj Kumar, the Bar Association of Mussoorie have decided to boycott the work at SDM court alleging Kumar’s arrogant behaviour.

According to President of the association Vinay Kumar Gupta the members are acting on a complaint received from the member advocate Alok Merhotra citing that Kumar had misbehaved and insulted Merhotra publicly.

Gupta alleged that the incident occurred when Kumar, on the orders of MDDA Vice-Chairman, went to demolish illegal building being constructed by the owners of Madhubhan Highland hotel situated on the Kempty Road. Mehrotra sought the demolition order from Kumar who refused to comply. Mehrotra, in his complaint, has also said he was not shown the order and instead Kumar misbehaved with him and used defamatory language against him.

The association, in response to this complaint, have decided unanimously to protest against Kumars behaviour by boycotting the work at the SDM and MDDA court, as he is also the joint secretary of MDDA, till the time Kumar does not apologise for his misbehaviour.

The association has also demanded, from the District Magistrate, that till the time Kumar does not apologise in the matter, he should be stopped from passing any demolition order or handling any rent control cases in the town.

They have also sent a written complaint regarding this to the District Magistrate.Advocates Arun Goyal, CP Baloni, Manoj Shaili, SS Belwal and Atul Pundir were also present.

It is important to mention that Kumar has been strict over the issue of demolition of illegal construction, which is being seen as pressure being exerted by the owners of highrise building, who are indulging in illegal construction in town.

Pitthoragarh, December 3
Keeping in view the continuous landslides on the route between Tawaghat to Mangti, the Government of India has changed the route of the Kailash Mansarowar Yatra for 2011. This will mean extension of the yatra by one day.

The meeting in this regard was taken by the Joint Secretary South Asia (China), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, yesterday in New Delhi and was attended by representatives of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam, ITBP and Pitthoragarh district administration.

According to Depti Singh, General Manager (Tourism), KMVN, the yatra next year will begin on June 1 from New Delhi.The batches will be diverted towards Pangu instead of Mangti as was the practice till last year. Sirkha will be first camp enabling the pilgrims to view Narayan Ashram at Sirkha.

“After Sirkha, Gala will be the second camp, Bundi third and after that, a two-days stay at Gunji. From there, the pilgrim batches will directly go to Nabhidang dropping the Kalapani camp which till now, happened to be the fourth camp,” said Depti Singh after returning from the meeting. According to Deepti Singh, the yatra batches will stop at Kalapani camp during their return journey from Tibet. After crossing the Lipulekh pass, they will reach Kalapani and after crossing Bundi and Gala camp during their two-day stay, they will reach Sirkha instead of Mangti. From Sirkha, they will reach Pangu from where they will travel to Dharchula base camp by buses.

Nainital, December 3
The price of potato from the plains in the forthcoming potato season, from December to March, will be the highest in December.

This forecast has been made by the scientists of the Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar who have advised farmers to sell their potato produce in this month.

This finding is the outcome of the effort of a team of scientists of the Department of Agricultural Economics under the leadership of Dr Anil Kumar.

The team had conducted a market survey of the Haldwani regulated market, a major market for potatoes from the plains in Uttarakhand, and had analysed the wholesale price data that had prevailed over the past 20 years.

The econometric analysis indicated that the wholesale prices of plains’ potato in Haldwani market would be in the range of Rs 450 per quintal to Rs 600 per quintal in December and thereafter, it will start declining.

In January to March 2011, it will range between Rs 350 per quintal and Rs 600 per quintal.

Hence the team has advised that the farmers, who have planted potatoes in the current season, should sell potatoes immediately after harvest.

The team has made this effort under a research sub-project ‘Establishing and Networking of Market Intelligence Centres in India’ of the National Agriculture Innovation Project of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) funded by the World Bank.

The main objective of the project is to release price forecasts of selected agricultural commodities before sowing and during harvesting.

The traders of Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti, Haldwani, had reported that Uttarakhand is not self-sufficient in meeting the demand for potato for the state.

As a result, they have to procure potatoes from the plains from other markets like Farukhabad, Sambhal, Ujhani, Badaun and Agra markets of the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh along with that from Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar markets of Punjab.

The sowing of plains’ potato starts from September and ends in November. The harvesting of the crop starts from December and lasts till March. The arrival of newly harvested crop starts from December and ends in April.

Thereafter, the arrival of this variety is from cold stores. According to the traders’ survey, January, February and March are the peak arrival months while June, July and August are the lean arrival months of this potato in the Haldwani market.

Potato is one of the most widely grown vegetable crop in the country. The area under potato cultivation was 1.8 million hectare with a total production of 34.39 metric tonnes in 2008-09.

Major potato growing states are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Punjab and Karnataka which together account for about 86 per cent of India’s production.

Dehradun, December 3
A cleanliness camp was organised by the cadets of NCC at Guchu Paani here today. Lead by Col Rakesh Pandey, camp commandant, more than 500 cadets presented flowers to the visitors and requested them to ensure that they would not spoil the beauty of the place. They also asked the shopkeepers to see to it that no one spread filth.

The cadets have gathered here from all over the Uttarakhand for the pre-Republic Day Camp (RDC) that began on November 30 and would finish on December 9. As many as 90 cadets would be selected from these camps to perform at Delhi on January 26. Various competitions are also slated to take place in the coming days. 

Dehradun December 3
A two-day national seminar on Global Warming and Its Effect on Water Resources commenced at the Graphic Era University, here today.The seminar was conducted at Department of Civil Engineering. The main aim of the seminar is to create awareness among students regarding the harmful effects of global warming on the water resources.

Many distinguished professors, scientists and engineers delivered series of lectures and shared their views shared their views on the subject and enlightened students on its impact on society.

The programme began with the welcoming of the chief guest Dr Rajendra Dobhal, Director, Uttrakhand Council of Science and Technology (UCOST) followed by lighting of the ceremonial lamp.

During the first session of the seminar, speakers like Dr P S Roy, scientist Dean, Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and Associate Director (CB), National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO, India,Dr R K Chaujar, scientist of the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dr Praveen Thakur, scientist from the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dr H J S Prasad, associate professor from the Govind Bhallav Pant University, Pantnagar, gave lectures on the occasion.

Dehradun, December 3
A first year student of BCA was allegedly lifted and taken to a deserted place by a group of youth with an intention to rape late last evening at Shimla Bypass Road. However, she was said to have been saved by a constable who was passing by.

The shocked family members complained to Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Ganesh Singh Matolia, today, and asked him to take action against the culprits. No criminal case has been lodged till now, though the police has started its investigation.

As per the complaint to the SSP, the victim was on her way home from the residence of her friend at Shimla Bypass Road. She hired a three-wheeler and was dropped near her house.

As she was walking towards her house, all of a sudden, about half-a-dozen youth riding on bikes, stopped next to her. They forcibly lifted her and dragged her to the nearby fields.

Before they could do anything, a constable passing by from the road heard the screams of the girl and he rushed to the spot. The youth, seeing the cop, escaped the scene leaving the girl behind.

Dehradun, December 3
Passport office was allegedly vandalised by a group of agitated youths here today. They also reportedly misbehaved with the staff members.As per the information, a youth had come to get his passport made but a department official allegedly asked for some money for doing his work.

Due to this, they had heated arguments and he went to call on his friends who later vandalised the property there.

They also manhandled the official who had asked for money. The official, however, maintained that he had asked for charges to which the youth misunderstood as bribe.

The police also reached the complex to take stock of the matter. 

Dehradun, December 3
Complementing the cultural heritage of India, the ICFAI University’s, Faculty of Education organised a Rangoli making competition here yesterday.The competition comprised of 8 teams of the prospective teachers. The teams were required to present their idea through natural elements and the theme remained open to all.

The judges of the occasion were Ngawang Tsering from the Tibetan Children’s Village School, Selaqui, Nibha Mc. Rae from Shishya School, Selaqui and Ritu Dabral from the SN Memorial Public School, Bhauwala, Dehradun.

The judges appreciated the students efforts in making rangolis on issues related to the society, environment, female foeticide, saving the tiger, Radha-Krishna, dancing peacock, aesthetic designs, etc. All designs were portrayed using biodegradable materials like pulses, green peas, flower petals, leaves, grass, turmeric, chilly power, semolina, hena powder.

The first prize of the competition was shared by the Bhabha House, which was represented by Sarika Sharma, Ruchi Nayal, Nidhi Pal, Monika Tomar and Pooja Chauhan the Raman House, represented by Nisha Jakhmola, Diksha Srivastava, Shivani Shukla, Ankita Pancholi and Vandana Rawat. The Jeddukrishnamurthy House secured the first runners up position, which was represented by Rekha Mehta, Pratibha Agarwal, Nidhi Rana, Madhumita Sirola and Tenzin Choezin the second runners up were Komal Thakur, Tanveer Ahmed, Hemu Bisht, Bindu Padiyar and Sapna Rawat from the Gandhi House.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr DK Giri congratulated all the participant teams and their Mentors. He highlighted the importance of participating and showered his praise for the teachers. Nibha Mc Rae also congratulated the winners and appreciated the creative aspect of the event.

Ritu Dabral was inspired by the wide array of creative ideas reflected through the designs. Prof Dr Seema Agnihotri, while proposing the vote of thanks, praised the efforts of all students, who gave their put in their best in the competition thereby pepping up the spirit of the occasion. Dr Priyanka activity coordinator, Faculty of Education managed the whole programme.