Dehradun, January 17
'Save fuel yanni save money’ was the message conveyed during the inauguration of the Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight-2011 organised by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Limited, in association with the Petroleum Conservation Research Association, under the guidance of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. The inaugural ceremony was held at Nehru Auditorium, ONGC Academy, KDMIPE campus here today.

Secretary, Energy and Renewable Energy, Government of Uttarakhand, Dr Umakant Panwar, inaugurated the fortnight-long programme.

Addressing the gathering, the chief guest emphasised that it was the responsibility of one and all to practise and promote the energy conservation, as this was the only way to secure the future of our next generation as far as energy was concerned.

He stressed that there was a need for a behavioural and attitudinal change at individual and institutional level to take this conservation drive in the true spirit.

Managing Director, the Uttaranchal Jal Vidhyut Sansthan, GP Patel said the energy conservation should be made a habit of life and whatever was learnt during this fortnight should be implemented sincerely in the remaining days of the year.

Executive Director, ONGC, SK Das said the pressure would remain on non-renewable energy sources in the next 20-30 years and the need of the hour was to develop viable and clean technologies.

Chief Technical Services, ONGC, B Ram said although the energy consumption was an indication of the economic growth, but people should optimise the energy consumption by developing effective and efficient technologies like the public transport system.

GGM (Production) RP Soni explained the complexities of the international oil market and how the increase in the energy consumption by the developing countries, especially India and China, was affecting the overall oil scenario. He said developing countries should avoid mistakes by taking a lesson form the developed countries.

Group General Manager, ONGC Academy, Dr Tarun Chakraborty apprised the house about the various efforts made by the ONGC in the area of the energy conservation like installation of the solar water heating systems and wind energy and R&D work in the field of fuel cell and hydrogen.

GM KV Ravinder stressed that the environment protection was equally important. In charge, Corporate Energy, RK Bahuguna briefed the house about the importance of the OGCF and the various activities planned during the fortnight. As a prelude to the inaugural event and to sensitise the children about importance of energy conservation, quiz, drawing and essay competition was organised at the Doon Valley Public School and Central School, ONGC, Dehradun, on January 15.

Dehradun, January 17
Even after the re-nomination of Yashpal Arya as the Uttarakhand Congress President two months ago, the party has failed to finalise the list of the office-bearers of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) due to intense infighting between various factions.

There has been an intense tussle on between various factions of the state Congress leaders to get maximum posts in the new list of the office-bearers. Arya, state Congress chief, was re-nominated by the party high command two months ago. Since then efforts are on to form the new executive body of the PCC, but without any success.

The list of the office-bearers of the PCC assumes significance due to the fact that the Assembly elections are scheduled to be held in early 2012. There has been a general feeling that the Congress party will do well in the forthcoming Assembly polls and none of the senior leaders wants to miss the opportunity to have their own men in the list of office-bearers.

As a compromise, RK Dhawan, general secretary and in charge of the party affairs of the state, had asked all the senior party leaders, including Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Harish Rawat, party MPs Vijay Bahuguna and Satpal Maharaj and former state minister Indira Hariydesh to give their own lists of office-bearers so that their men could be adjusted in the list. Except senior leader Harish Rawat, all other leaders had submitted their own lists last month. According to party leaders, Rawat has also submitted his list to the party high command.

“The new office-bearers of the PCC will be announced soon giving representation to women, youth, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and backward communities,” informed Arya.

The party high command wants to ensure that all the factions and groups are represented in the list of the office-bearers in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

Dehradun, January 17
The Uttarakhand Vikas Manch (UVM), an affiliate of the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the state, yesterday held its second convention at Raipur. Notable figures of the city deliberated on the steps to be taken to develop the Raipur area.

Chairman of the UVM Abha presided over the convention and condemned the MLAs of the area for being inactive in revamping the infrastructure of the city.

State president of the SP Vinod Badhthwal said, “The SP took lead by building a huge sports complex, where the recent SAF Games were held and because of this complex, the additional infrastructure, too, came up”.

“A new complex for the Vidhan Sabha should be built in this town as abundant space is easily available. Since there is no degree college, one such college should also be built here soon,” he said. He also pulled up the Congress Government at the Centre for indulging in various corruption scams.

Former director of the DRDO and defence scientist DS Malhotra said despite the fact that the city had some of the important defence offices, villages situated around it remained devoid of any development, which was unfortunate.

Senior leader of the Gorkhali Sudhar Sabha Pran Singh Gurang remembered the time when Raipur was the centre of connecting network of the roads linking it to the surrounding villages. He wished the city would get equipped with sound infrastructure once again to remove the backwardness of these villages.

President Anil Uniyal and general secretary of the Ordinance Factory Employees Union Puran Singh rued the inability of the state government in solving grievances of the employees, that, too, in a situation where the employees were facing the heat of the increasing inflation.

Dehradun, January 17
It was an interesting sight where a Cabinet minister of the Uttarakhand Government participated in a dharna against the decision of the administration to stop buses from plying from the Chakrata Road towards the Clock Tower to ease traffic congestion. The dharna by the minister further led to a traffic jam on the busy road.

The agitated members of the Mahanagar Bus Seva Association blocked the traffic and held a demonstration at the Connaught Place against the issue of discontinuing bus services from Premnagar to Raipur via the Clock Tower here today.

State Irrigation and Social Welfare Minister Matbar Singh Kandari supported the protestors in staging the dharna due to which the traffic on the Connaught Place, Chakrata Road, Rajpur Road and Darshan Lal Chowk got affected for an hour.

Sticking to their union’s stand of continuing the bus services on the route of Premnagar to Raipur, the protestors raised slogans against the administration alleging other private vehicles the reason behind heavy traffic jams in the core of city.

While talking to The Tribune, Girdhar Gopal Luthra, president of the union, said, “It wouldn’t be correct to say that bus services are entirely responsible for traffic jams on the route of Premnagar to Raipur. The discontinuation of buses is causing inconvenience to people residing in rural areas. We request the city administration to allow us commencing with the service again as before”.

Meanwhile, the traffic was held up for some time creating problems for commuters. The passengers travelling in some long-route buses had to bear with the situation before the protestors called off the blockade. Traffic cops on duty helplessly watched the protestors.

In view of the traffic nuisance on the road, Kandari appealed to the protestors to call off their dharna on the assurance of tabling their plea in front of the administration.

Also present on the occasion were Hukum Chand, Rakesh Sonkar, Rajender Singh, Girish Malhotra and other union members.

Nainital, January 17
Women activists from remote Ramgarh and Okhalkanda blocks in Nainital have brought to the fore the rampant discrepancies in implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

The facts brought to light by the women convince the observers that the implementation of the scheme, which is a flagship initiative of the UPA Government at the Centre reeks of corruption, mismanagement and tardy implementation. The residents of Nathuakhan village said it was after so many difficulties that the women were able to get their job cards made free of cost and were able to get zero balance bank accounts opened.

Munni Devi, a resident of the village, said, “Earlier, the women were told that they would have to shell out Rs 250 for a job card and Rs 250 or Rs 500 for opening a bank account even in the co-operative and gramin banks. It was after a series of protests that we managed to come over this difficulty. Now, even if women approach the authorities with a job proposal, the receiving acknowledgement is given on a plain paper that has no meaning.” She further stated that in Pata Tok of Satbhunga, women got jobs after six months of their seeking employment under the scheme, which was in gross violation of the Act.

She even related that there were instances of women being paid wages lesser than what was mentioned in the Act. It was pointed out that in certain cases payments under the NREGA have been made to the shopkeepers and that, too, for 174 days, while a person could not be given work for more than 100 days.

The women, who had come from across the region, pointed out that on several occasions they have been at the receiving end for seeking information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act and are being threatened by gram pradhans.

Pushpa Devi of Moora village in Okhalkanda block related that nine women, who had worked under a NREGA project, have not received payment at all even after several months.

Basanti Pathak, who is heading the local unit of the Mahila Samakhya said,” There is lot of fudging in the papers related to the scheme in terms of muster rolls, details of the payments made etc. On several instances payments have been made on paper, but have never reached the beneficiary. The mandatory social audit, which is to be done, is also turning out to be a sham. It is either done only in papers or is done halfway”.

The women also pointed that they had been given comparatively tedious tasks that involve carrying huge weights over large distances. They charged that on several occasions, they were not given proper guidance with regards to the work and when they sought payments they were told that the work done was not as per the requirement.

Pathak also said the manner in which things were moving was also leading to fragmentation of village societies, where one group was pitted against the other. The women plan to hand over a memorandum on the issue to District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli tomorrow and also take up the matter at the national level.

“If that is what they want, then why this long delay in granting work to women, who are ready with both proposals and labour,” said the rural women.

Nainital, January 17
The issue of mining on the Gaula riverbed has once again come to the fore with those employed in mining and related activities demanding an extension of permission, which will expire on February 8.

Various persons involved in the mining activity and transportation of mined material staged a massive protest in Haldwani yesterday to raise the issue.

The protestors had gathered under the banner of the Gaula Khanan Sangharsh Samiti and handed over a memorandum to the local administration, which was addressed to Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank. They charged both the governments of ignoring the plight of lakhs of people involved in the trade and causing grave economic insecurity amongst them.

The 10-year permission for mining in the Gaula riverbed had ended in June 2009. The permission was extended in February 2010 for a year with certain conditions after the region witnessed massive protests for almost three months. With the permission ending on February 8, uncertainty is once again staring the people in the face.

Talking to The Tribune, sangharsh samiti leader Arshad Ayub said, “The state government has done nothing on its part to initiate proceedings for the extension of the mining in the days to come and the Centre, too, has not been proactive on the issue that concerns lakhs of poor”.

He said a representative of the state government had promised to take up the matter with the Centre again this week. Ayub threatened that people would launch a massive agitation if their concerns were not addressed.

While political leaderships of both the parties, the Congress and the BJP, have been indulging in the blame game holding the Centre and the state government responsible for the impasse that has been coming to the fore frequently over the past two years, the fate of these people continues to hang fire.

Dehradun, January 17
Members of the Retired Government Pensioners Association staged a demonstration at the Gandhi Park here today and went up to the Secretariat to press for their demands. General Secretary of the association PD Gupta said despite having talks with the Chief Secretary twice on the issues, they had not been given the Dearness Allowance (DA) and their medical reimbursement had also been returned to the Bill departments. Sending it to the Chief Medical Officer for verification, then to Auditor General, Uttar Pardesh, and seal authority of Auditor General, Uttarakhand, would prove to be a long procedure for billing.

He called it a gross injustice to thousands of pensioners who contributed by stirring a strike of 94 days for the formation of the state.

State president RS Parihar said if those who retired before November 9, 2000, were not declared pensioners, they would give a memorandum to the MLAs/ministers in all the districts and hold street plays.

Pitthoragarh, January 17
Five persons, including a Nainital advocate working as district government councillor (Crime) and his wife, died in a motor accident during the past 24 hours in the district. the Pithoragarh police said.

ITBP jawan Durga Singh Bisht died on Saturday when he slipped in the snow at Tidang Post, on the Indo-China border, during patrolling and died on the spot.

“The dead body of the jawan could be fished out only after a helicopter was used, and he was later cremated at Nachani, his home town, with full police honours,” said an ITBP source.

According to information, Nainital advocate Ravi Shah, along with his wife Beena, was on a tour heading towards Munsiyari on an invitation from a friend based in Pithoragarh. When his vehicle was 5 km from Pithoragarh town, it fell into a 50-ft-deep gorge killing the advocate on the spot. “The badly injured wife of the advocate succumbed to her injures later in the night during treatment,” said the police.

In another incident, a 35-year-old man died when the Jeep he was traveling in fell into a pit near the town. “The trapped Mohan Singh, a resident of a nearby village, was brought to the district hospital with the help of 108 Emergency service and he died during treatment,” said the police.

A private dairy owner died and five other passengers were injured when the Jeep they were returning in from Haldwani on Saturday slipped into a deep gorge near the Panar bridge on the border of Almora and Pithoragarh district the same day. “The dead body was taken to Almora for post mortem and later cremated at Rameshwar Ghat,” said the police.

Dehradun, January 17
Members of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) staged a dharna in support of their demands here yesterday. The protestors took out a rally raising slogans against the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand with a motive to gherao him in front of his residence, but were barricaded by the police force at Hathibarkala.

The protestors have given a memorandum to the Chief Minister mainly demanding employment to the dependents of the state agitationists who had died in the struggle. They have also demanded that the recruitment process for the 60,000 vacancies in different departments of the state government be started only for residents of Uttarakhand, while rejecting employees in various departments who got recruited on a temporary basis.

Dehradun, January 17
District Magistrate (DM) Sachin Kurve has asked the hospital authorities to start a maruti van service between the Doon Hospital and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Coronation Hospital.

While chairing a meeting today, Sachin said a Maruti van service should be pressed to transport patients from the Doon Hospital. “This way we will be able to take load off the Doon Hospital and increase the flow of patients at the coronation hospital,” said Kurve.

He also asked the authorities to fix charges for the services. He said the 108 Emergency ambulance services, too, should be pressed for bringing patients to the coronation hospital. He also approved financial proposals for two air-conditioners to be set up at the burn ward of the Coronation Hospital.

Dehradun, January 17
In view of the problems occurring in the slums of the Doon valley, members of the Mahanagar Mahila Congress Committee, Uttarakhand, staged a demonstration in front of the District Magistrate (DM) office here today.

Mamta Gurung, president of the party, in support of their demands, led the protest and gave a memorandum to the DM demanding the protection of poor slum dwellers from the harassment of burning their shelters and seizing their lands by the police or land mafias.

“We appeal to the administration to provide full protection and shelter to these under-privileged as they too are citizens of India,” said Gurung.

Dehradun, January 17
To criticise and mark a protest against the price hike in petrol, members of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Mahila Morcha took out a funeral procession of the Central government and burnt its effigy at the Clock Tower here today.

A large number of protestors had participated in the demonstration and raised slogans against the central government. The procession started from state’s BJP office and finally culminated at the Clock Tower.

While addressing the protest, Brijlesh Gupta, president of the party, asserted, “We consider the government as dead that has no concern for the public. The prices of all the basic amenities are increasing day by day affecting the lives of all the people.