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Govt sold sanitarium land for a song: Cong
Guv boosts morale of R-Day Parade participants
Dists doing well to get technical push |
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GMVN vice-president blocks entry of latecomers in office
Probe ordered into Congress leader Kandari’s detention
Bus services start after 2 days in Kumaon
165 teachers given farewell
Tribune Impact
Villagers briefed on JNNURM schemes
Anupama’s parents in Dehradun on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
Students from Dehradun, who are going to participate in the workshop being organised by
SPIC MACAY at Patna.
Mission Green Doon
33 more statehood agitators identified
Book fair begins
Students at a book fair in Dehradun on Wednesday. A Tribune photograph
Paramedical students call off agitation
Student body declares new office-bearers at convention
Drive to promote banking in rural areas launched
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Govt sold sanitarium land for a song: Cong
Nainital, December 22 Congress leader Bhupal Singh Bhakuni has alleged that about 10 acres of prime land in Bhawali comprising 1.5 acres belonging to the sanitarium and 8.5 acres to the Revenue Department has been sold off to a private group comprising three buyers at a very cheap rate. The Congress has charged that during the Narayan Dutt Tiwari regime, the state government had decided to set up a national-level chest institute on the sanitarium premises. “The proposal had got the Cabinet approval. Tilak Raj Behed was the Health Minister at that time. We wanted to build a national-level institute but the present government, which is already deep inside the muck of corrupt deals, has instead not only shelved the project that was meant for public welfare but has sold off the land belonging to the sanitarium. The land has been sold off to cosmetic manufacturing company, Emami, Pravin Sharma of Chevron Hotels and Swami Chinmayanand Saraswati,” said Bhakuni. He said the land had been sold off for a paltry sum of Rs 2.5 crore while the existing price is above Rs 50 crore as per the present circle rates. Bhakuni said the sanitarium, besides being a public welfare institution in the region, has immense historical importance as Kamla Nehru had been admitted there and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had paid frequent visits to her at the hospital. “It is a pity that the present state government that is embroiled in corruption cases has decided to sell off the land to capitalists in the name of setting up an Ayush and Spa centre there,” he said. The Congress has stated that after highlighting the matter in the media, it would launch an agitation against the said transfer of land, seeking the cancellation of the deal. If the government refuses to cancel the deal, the party would then approach the High Court. The party is now not only seeking the cancellation of the deal but is demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter, charging that a large amount of money has changed hands in the deal.
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Guv boosts morale of R-Day Parade participants
Dehradun, December 22 Speaking on the occasion, the Governor congratulated the NCC cadets for the colourful exposition of the spirit of national integration in their programme, planned for the forthcoming Republic Day camp. “The programme is a beautiful presentation on national integration, which depicts that there is always a ray of hope in adverse conditions and the situation will improve in the days to come,” she said. She exhorted the cadets to bring glory to their country and the state. "The cadets must also strive to excel in academics to be able to give an all-round performance in all fields,” she said. On the occasion, the NCC cadets presented a colourful cultural programme, including classical dance, ballet and group song at the Raj Bhawan auditorium. A film on NCC Song- Ham Sub Bharathiya hain- was also screened during the programmme. A photo session of the Governor with the NCC's cultural troupe was also organised on the occasion. Brigadier PPS Pahwa, DDG NCC Uttarakhand, Col PP Singh, Group Commander NCC Roorkee Group, Col Pradeep Kumar, Col Suresh Rana and Col TB Rana of NCC Directorate, Uttarakhand, and ADC to the Governor VK Krishna Kumar were present on the occasion. Pradeep, Rekha get youth award
Pitthoragarh (OC): Two youths of the district, Pradeep Mehra and Rekha Bhandari, from Berinag have been awarded the Vivekananda Youth Award. This award is being given every year to youths by the State Youth Welfare Department for doing excellent work at the village level. Pitthoragarh youth welfare officer NK Dwivedi told The Tribune at the end of a youth seminar held at the district headquarters here today. The seminar was aimed to awaken the youths on prohibition, animal sacrifice and other bad practices by the villagers. Zila panchayat chairmen Ranjana Devi also addressed it. “The first award of Rs 24,000 will be given to gram panchayat that will work for development of sports in the rural areas. The second and third prize of Rs 12,000 and 4,000, respectively, will be given to leading gram panchayat in the district,” said Dwivedi. |
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Dists doing well to get technical push
Nainital, December 22 Dr T Ramasami, Secretary, DST, told The Tribune that the department has identified some districts in the country that are located away from capital cities and are recording good growth in the economy and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). He was responding to a question whether the DST has anything specific in mind for regions like Uttarakhand which have tough geographical conditions. “The districts, which are doing well anyhow, have been chosen for planned technological interventions to see whether the interventions can further give an impetus to the ongoing growth,” said Dr Ramasami. Similarly, the DST has also identified a set of districts with very poor or no growth. In these districts also, the DST has decided to make planned technological interventions to see whether these can bring about a turnaround there. For the project, just a couple of districts have been selected in every state. Initially, the project will be implemented in four states and Uttarakhand is one of these four. Answering a question about the concern in the scientific community across the nation on a lesser number of youngsters showing interest in pure sciences and wanting to pursue research in the field, he said that the nation is seeing a change in the situation. The DST Secretary claimed that the number of children enrolling for pure science courses in various universities, particularly the prominent ones, has witnessed an increase this year. “The situation that prevailed three years back has vastly improved,” he said while adding that the Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) programme has helped bring about a major change in the scenario. He explained that INSPIRE is an innovative programme sponsored and managed by the DST to attract talent to science. The basic objective of INSPIRE is to communicate to the youth of the country the excitement in the creative pursuit of science, attract talent to the study of science at an early stage and thus build the required critical human resource pool for strengthening and expanding the science and technology system in addition to the research and development base. A striking feature of the programme is that it does not believe in conducting competitive exams for identification of talent at any level. It believes in and relies on the efficacy of the existing educational structure for identification of talent. Dr Ramasami said that the programme envisages rewarding no less than one million schools for promoting science.
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GMVN vice-president blocks entry of latecomers in office
Dehradun, December 22 Negi began checking on latecomers from 10.10 am onwards and held back 45 employees at the entrance only. They were let off after 25 minutes with a warning that the ones who would repeat this would be marked absent in the future. Negi said he was going to raid the premises in similar fashion in the coming days to straighten those who were indisciplined and work shirkers. He also talked of taking managing director, GMVN, D Santhiyal Pandiyan to task as well. “In the last four months ever since he took charge as MD, Pandiyan hardly came for 15 days. He had been taking refuge under the excuse of his additional charge of additional secretary of the Tourism Department. But it was found that he neither goes there nor comes here and is having fun on the expense of the GMVN. This will not be tolerated any more. I am waiting for him to come back from holidays to get back to him on this issue sternly.” The employees, too, did not seem complaining against Negi’s action either. GMVN employee Rachna Singh said the entire working system of the GMVN had gone haywire. The employees seemed least bothered in adhering to the rules and regulations. In such a scenario, Negi’s reprimand may set things right here.” Vice-president of the Employees Association SP Pant, too, appreciated Negi for tightening the callous work force of the GMVN.
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Probe ordered into Congress leader Kandari’s detention
Mussoorie, December 22 A panel, consisting of Mussoorie SDM Manoj Kumar, SSP city Jagat Ram Joshi, Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, MC president OP Uniyal, former MC president Manmohal Singh Mall heard the plea of Congress leader Megh Singh Kandari. The SP City also heard the police official’s version and decided that a magisterial enquiry would be done and it would give its report within 10 days. Jot Singh Gunsola said it was essential to bring the situation that has exploded due to the unfortunate incident that occurred on Sunday and the matter could have been resolved in much responsible way by the both sides. MC president OP Uniyal, Manmohan Singh Mall also kept their view and said to maintain law and order for the approaching tourist season, a magisterial enquiry was essential. Jagat Ram Joshi said the public representatives should behave in the manner befitting their designation and use of filthy language would not be tolerated against any police personnel. He also said the police personnel in question would be attached to the police station till the time magisterial enquiry was going. According to Mussoorie SDM, the enquiry team would give its report within 10 days. Congress leader Megh Singh Kandari said they agreed to the decision of the panel, but the role of police should be reviewed thoroughly and peace of the town should be adhered to. Meanwhile, bail of trader association leader Rajat Agarwal was accepted today. With this move, the police was able to restore normalcy in the town. SP city also said for they were deploying additional force in Mussoorie the forthcoming tourist season and drunken driving and hooliganism would not be tolerated at any cost in the town on the New Years eve.
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Bus services start after 2 days in Kumaon
Nainital, December 22 The KMOU had suspended operations from its base in Haldwani charging the police with having misbehaved with one of its senior functionaries on Monday during an anti-encroachment drive. The matter was resolved after a sustained dialogue between KMOU representatives and the local administration that continued till Tuesday evening. The suspension of operations by the KMOU had caused lot of discomfort to the people of the region who were to travel to remote areas in the hills. In the absence of any other mode of public transport or very few buses run by the government plying on certain routes, travellers were fleeced by taxi owners who went on to charge more than the double fare for shared taxis that ply on different routes. On certain routes, where only KMOU buses ply, commuters were forced to abandon their travel plans while some of them were stranded at Haldwani or other destinations. Transport facilities to the remote areas are far from satisfactory in the region. In many cases, KMOU buses are the sole mode of transport and any decision by the union to stop services puts the people to extreme hardship. During the dialogue between the administration and KMOU operators, it was decided to check the picking up of passengers from the bus station by the taxi owners instead of the designated taxi stands.
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165 teachers given farewell
Dehradun, December 22 “The state government had decided to constitute a separate Basic Education Directorate with a view to strengthening the Basic Education Department in the state. There has been a significant increase in the number of schools after the formation of Uttarakhand as a separate state. The government had also taken many important decisions for ensuring an all-round development of the teachers. On the one hand, the facility of the session benefit to the teachers has been reinstated, while on the other the eligibility norm of BEd for the LT teachers for promotion as lecturers has been abolished,” added Nishank. The farewell programme was organised for as many as 165 teachers. The retired teachers were presented with shawls and felicitation certificates. The Chief Minister announced a grant to Rs 5 lakh to the gurdwara, where the function was organised. Also present on the occasion were Sansadiya Sachiv Prem Agrawal, Vice-Chairman of the Yuva Kalyan Parishad, Subhash Barthwal, president of the Teachers Association, Prem Singh Gusain, Sumer Chand, VS Krishali, RS Gusain and others.
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Guv comes to the aid of widow
Sonika Bhatia Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 22 Taking notice of the story that The Tribune had published on November 28 regarding this hapless widow, who is living in a dilapidated building with her young daughter. There are no doors in the house. The Governor, Margaret Alva, has also asked the administration to provide her the widow pension as soon as possible so that it could be of some help to her, but it seems Sudha needs to wait for it for some more time. On being asked how she would use the money, Sudha said: “I will get the doors fixed in the house so that my daughter feels safe while she is at home alone”. Sudha’s husband died in 2003 after consuming a poisonous substance and the life became a hell for her after his death. Her husband used to own a tea stall and they were living a good life. Their children were studying in an English-medium school then. Sudha has not been keeping well for the past few months. She lives in the dilapidated house with her 18-year-old daughter Jyoti (who used to pull a rickshaw and earn about Rs 70-80, but is sitting idle at home now) and 19-year-old son Mayank (who works as a labourer) at Chandan Nagar here. The house is the ancestral home of her husband. His brothers want Sudha to vacate the house so that they could sell the property for a good amount. She had also approached the authorities to get help from the Chief Minister Relief Fund. Talking to The Tribune, Ashok Verma, councillor of the area and the an Opposition leader, said: “I feel the government should make a list of people like Sudha and provide them with whatever help it could.”
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Villagers briefed on JNNURM schemes
Dehradun, December 22 During the seminar, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli explained the benefits of the schemes provided under the basic services for urban poor (BSUP) to the BPL people. He said the people could be benefited only if they provide help to them. He also explained to them that other than housing, the government would also be providing facilities of sanitation, sewerage and roads to them. The Mayor said their motive was to make the slums in better state, instead of disposing them. “We want to provide better lifestyle to slum dwellers and for this a master plan has been prepared for the development of the city,” he said. He further said the Ramnagar slums have become the central point of the city and thus, it becomes necessary to improve the area. This was the reason they were planning to impose house tax in the area, which would provide the ownership to the people. During the meeting, executive engineer Ravi Pandey said the scheme was worth Rs 1159.88 lakh. “The first instalment of Rs 289.97 lakh has been released by the government and 224 houses will be constructed under the scheme,” he said.
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Blood samples of Anupama’s parents taken for DNA test
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 22 Garhi Cantt Inspector Arvind Singh Rawat said the parts of deceased’s feet recovered from the Mussoorie hills and those found in the deep freezer kept at the home, weapons used for the crime such as stone cutters, blade and knife and the bag used to throw the parts of body in secluded areas had been sealed by the district court to be sent for forensic tests. The process of sealing the things went on till late at nigh at the District Courts. The DNA test of the Anupama’s parents was to be done on Tuesday but the police could not reach the court on time, and by the time it reached the Dehradun lab for tests, the lab had closed. The samples taken on Wednesday would be tested at the CBI lab in Delhi. Meanwhile, advocate AS Maan, who had met accused Rajesh Gulati in the jail and had volunteered to be his advocate, decided not to contest the case. He said the accused had committed one of the most heinous crimes, so he finally decided to take back his decision.
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Doon students to attend workshop in Pune
Dehradun, December 22 Students of Summer Valley, Welham Girls School and St Joseph’s Academy of Dehradun will attend workshops by maestros of Indian classical music and dance. Leading folk artists, talks by eminent people from different fields, screening of classical films, craft workshops, yoga, a heritage walk and other events in an ashram atmosphere will be the main attraction of the workshop. Senior teacher of Summer Valley School Sunita Parashar will escort the students. “Students from different schools are being selected after screening,” said founder of the event Dr Kiran Seth. The workshop would be inaugurated by a flute recital of Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia and Kathak by Pandit Birju Maharaj. Other eminent artists likely to participate in the event include Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan, Seshagopalan, Padmashri Sharada Sinha and many other personalities from film industry.
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Mission Green Doon
Dehradun, December 22 Presiding over a meeting, Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar directed Mussoorie Dehra Development Authority (MDDA), Dehradun Municipal Corporation and State Forest authorities for coming up with an integrated master plan. He also directed the MDDA to identify the vacant land and work towards mobilising resources through approaching the ONGC and other cash-rich institutions. The chief secretary also directed the MDDA authorities to work towards beautification of prominent crossings of the city by adding greenery to these crossings. He also called for extensive plantation drive alongside the railway tracks and roads. The MDDA was also asked to work on a war footing towards betterment of the infrastructure in 28 small parks in the city. Rajpur MLA Ganesh Joshi also shared his views at the meeting. Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma also gave a suggestion for taking financial assistance from the Uttarakhand Tourism Department for carrying forward the greening of the city. Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr RBS Rawat asked the state government offices, schools and other institutions to send plantation plans to the State Forest Department and assured availability of the tree saplings to these departments. Uttarakhand Principal Secretary for Forest and Rural Development Rajeev Gupta, Forest Secretary MA Khan, Commissioner Garhwal Ajay Singh Nabiyal, Secretary Finance Radha Raturi and other senior state officials attended the meeting.
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33 more statehood agitators identified
Pitthoragarh, December 22 “Under the Uttarakhand Government order that all Rajya Aandolankaris residing in the district should be identified before December 31, 2010, we have again called a meeting of the committee on December 29 to finalise the list of all statehood agitators living in the district,”
said Negi. The District Magistrate said despite the members of the committee believe that that the names of the Rajya Aandolankaris who could not submit their applications before
February 28, 2009, should also be considered for inclusion in the list, no government orders
have been received in this connection. |
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Book fair begins
Dehradun, December 22 Dr Savita Mohan, Director, Language Institute, Uttarakhand, inaugurated the book fair. Indu Singh, Principal of the school, said, “The book fair has been organised to provide an opportunity to students of our institute to read books written by renowned writers. The book fair has something or the other for all readers.”
— TNS |
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Paramedical students call off agitation
Dehradun, December 22 At a meeting, Bhauryal and KK Tamta, Additional Director, said they would discuss the demands of the protesters in the next Cabinet meeting. The protesters have also submitted a memorandum to the state Health Minister, listing their demands of the constitution of a council for the welfare of students. They have also demanded an immediate registration of paramedical students and forming the placement cell for the passing-out students. Meanwhile, the protesters got support from Ravinder Jugran, former vice-president of the Rajya Andolankari Manch. |
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Student body declares new office-bearers at convention
Dehradun, December 22 Malti Harder was declared president, Pawan Nautiyal as secretary, Vergeese Bamola and Lalit Matiyali as vice presidents and Ashish Kandpal as joint secretary. The outgoing committee of the association also presented draft document during the meeting and passed policies of the future work. The association also urged the students to become agile and stimulate the drive against corrupt educational institutes and their owners and make strategies to eradicate such malpractices from the country. |
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Drive to promote banking in rural areas launched
Nainital, December 22 Lead Bank officer KR Pankaj stated that people residing in the rural areas were unable to avail various facilities being extended by the banks in absence of knowledge about these services. He also pointed out that going to a bank very often results in wastage of time and money for them. He said the government has decided to start banking facilities in the villages chosen under the Atal Adarsh Gram Yojana, with a population of 2,000 persons. He said a series of awareness camps were being organised across the district to promote banking. |
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Dehradun, December 22
Dehradun, December 22
