Dehradun, January 31
Leaders of the Trivender Singh Panwar faction of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) began their two-day hunger strike outside the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) office to protest against the alleged irregularities shown in making 10 selections for high-level positions in the GMVN.

In their memorandum, they said the way the inquiry report submitted by the Commissioner of Garhwal was being suppressed on the issue, it was a clear indication of the hobnobbing of higher-ups at the state government level.

The Principal Secretary, Tourism, was also accused of giving mere lip service on the cancellation of these selections. The leaders demanded that all the unjustified appointees be fired with the immediate effect, punishment to erring officers, CBI inquiry into the SAF corruption, removal of the Principal Secretary for his dubious role in many instances of corruption and inquiry into all these cases.

The leaders who observed hunger strike include district president NK Gusai, city president Bahadur Singh Rawat, general secretary Jayprakash Upadhyay, Anil Uniyal, Manoj Mamgai, women leaders Pramila Rawat and Sulochana Bahuguna.

Nainital, January 31
Principal Secretary, Industrial and Urban Development, S Raju has asked officials in Udham Singh Nagar district to expedite works on repairing the infrastructure devastated during the rain-related disaster that had struck the region during the monsoon.

Expressing displeasure over the under-utilisation of the disaster relief fund, he has ordered an adverse entry for executive officer of the Kitcha Municipality Jaiveer Singh Rathi.

At a meeting held in Rudrapur today, Raju called for speeding up the work, while ensuring quality and warned that irregularities would draw strict administrative action.

The Principal Secretary ordered the officials of the Jal Nigam to prepare a contingency plan for the coming summer months. He also asked chief agriculture officer (CAO) PK Singh to ensure a proper supply of pesticides and insecticides, while taking steps to check their black marketing.

Additional District Magistrate Vijay Chandra Kaushal said a sum of Rs 31.81 crore has been sanctioned to various departments for carrying out 501 disaster-related repair and relief works. It was related that the departments have utilised Rs 15.91 crore and 147 works have been completed at a cost of Rs 7.19 crore, while 352 works to be completed at a cost of Rs 24.34 crore were underway.

Dehradun, January 31
Sulochana Bahuguna, who was alleged to have been included in the current expansion of the working committee by the Diwakar Bhatt faction of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), has denied giving her approval for the same.

Swinging fast in the damage-control mode, the Bhatt faction has put the blame on vice-president, women cell, Bina Bahuguna for the error, whilst the Trivender Panwar faction condemned the former and talked of bringing many such people in a day or two who had been named in the working committee without their consent.

Sulochana Bahuguna (60), who has been a UKD member since 1994, categorically refused being a part of the Diwakar Bhatt faction. She said, “I did attend the mega convention called by Diwakar Bhatt on January 16 like many others, but I never intended to be a member of that group. I owe my allegiance to Trivender Panwar and, therefore, I denounce Bina Bahuguna for giving my name for their working committee without even feeling the need to consult me”.

District president, UKD, NK Gusai also took the Bhatt faction to task saying their desperation was getting obvious day by day, due to which they had gone to the extent of including those in their so-called working committee, who never desired to be a part of their team.

“We are getting complaints from a number of such people who had been shown in the list of the working committee. We will bring them before people to tell their own stories and expose the inanities of Diwakar’s team,” he said.

Chief spokesperson of the Bhatt faction said they never contemplated playing dirty politics. He said a dozen Panwar loyalists, including general secretary Jagdish Chauhan, sat with them in the press conference a day before. He, however, admitted that it could be a fault of Bina Bahuguna for having taken the name of Sulochana Bahuguna by mistake, for which they would certainly take appropriate action.

Dehradun, January 31
Training his guns on Congress MPs and Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat, Disaster Management Minister Khazan Das today said all the five MPs from the Congress had failed to press for the enhancement of Central aid for undertaking relief operations in the state which was still reeling under the impact of the summer floods and cloud bursts.

“Instead of levelling false allegations against the BJP Government, the Congress leadership should have worked towards the enhancement of the aid. The aid released by the Centre is pithy as compared to the damage incurred. It will take us another two-four years to get the badly affected districts back on the track. We will require Rs 12,000 crore for 233 villages that have already been categorised as disaster-prone,” said Das, summarily rejecting the charges made by Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat that the government had spent only 50 per cent of the Rs 500 crore allocated by the Centre.

“These allegations are unjustified as we have already distributed Rs 650 crore among the districts and Rs 542 crore has already been spent against this sum. Orders have also been issued for releasing another Rs 108 crore,” he added. He said a delegation of state leaders would soon meet the Prime Minister and other Central leaders for demanding Rs 21,000 crore.

On being asked if his government had initiated any action against the officials against whom the charges of corruption were levelled while disbursing the relief money, he said: “One Block Development officer (BDO) from Bageshwar has been suspended, while inquiry has been issued against the other BDO, who is also from Kumaon. We have also received reports of misuse of the funds from Uttarkashi, Barkot and Haridwar districts”.

However, the minister was clueless as to why a sum of Rs 50 lakh was diverted from the National Contingency Calamity Fund (NCCF) for taking up the repair work at the Auli Ski slope. “I cannot ascertain why the funds were diverted, but we reconsidered the decision and Rs 50 lakh was returned to us,” he said.

“Similarly, tardy progress in the relief distribution could also be attributed to the lack of awareness about the distribution of funds released by the Centre. A sum of Rs 108 crore was allocated to the Horticulture, Transport and Animal Husbandry Department for undertaking the repair work, against the norms of the Central Calamity Relief Fund,” he added.

Dehradun, January 31
Naresh Rao, alias Pappu Kaalia, one of the witnesses in the sensational Babbal murder case was allegedly shot dead by Jaideep, a friend of the deceased, last night in a car near the ISBT. The cops have arrested Jaideep and his accomplice Sunny for the killing.

The three were found last night in a car (UK07-T-2900) that had turned turtle after Jaideep shot Naresh from behind, while the latter was driving. Though the cops first thought it to be an accident case, by morning it came to light that Naresh was murdered, following which the car had met with an accident.

According to Circle Officer (CO) Manikant Mishra, the incident happened last night when Naresh was going to drop Jaideep and Sunny to the ISBT as the duo had to go to Delhi.

They had wine on the way and got fully drunk. Meanwhile, they entered into an argument over some issue and in a fit of rage, Jaideep shot Naresh, who was driving the car, from behind and simultaneously applied the hand break.

With the driver dieing and the sudden applying of the break, the car lost its control and turned turtle near the ISBT. Though Naresh died due to the bullet shot, the other two occupants of the car also sustained injuries when the car met with the accident. Passersby informed the police, said the CO.

The police has sent the body for a post-mortem examination. A case of murder has been registered at the Patelnagar police station. The family of the deceased will be handed over the body after the post-mortem.

The police said there were a few reasons behind the killing, but primarily it was alleged eve-teasing or illicit relation of Naresh with Jaideep’s wife.

However, as per the family and relatives, Jiti had plotted his killing from behind bars since Naresh was a witness in the court against him. Though Jaideep was also a government witness against his friend Jiti, he was in disguise trying to cheat all, said Rashid Ahmed, who was also the key witness in the case. Jiti was presently undergoing two-year imprisonment and facing trial in the Babbal murder case in the court.

Haridwar, January 31
The grip of slow, but deadly virus of cancer is also threatening the hilly state with a large number of cases of cancer-affected patients coming to light every month. Of these, a majority of the patients are diagnosed with cancer in the last stage itself. This makes them immune to any medical prescription as by then cancer becomes incurable.

As per a survey conducted by a local private hospital medical practitioners team, districts of Dehradun and Haridwar top the number of affected cancer patients with the number of patients set to cross one lakh mark.

With lack of awareness about the symptoms and precautions about cancer, the disease is engulfing people in large numbers. This needs both instant medication as well as mass awareness to help curtail its spread.

The survey carried out by Ganga Prem Hospital revealed that Haridwar has the largest number of cancer patients, followed by Dehradun with total number of patients nearing one lakh mark in the 13 districts of the state.

Renowned cancer specialists point at the spread of cancer due to unhealthy lifestyle as a result of which oral cancer and breast cancer are preying a large section of the population. Informing The Tribune, Padma Shri awardee Dr Ashok Vaid, chairman of the Cancer Institute Medanta Medicity, terms the rising number of oral cancer patients touching an alarming level in India which is mostly due to consumption of tobacco products.

He says the consumption of tobacco products on a large scale as well as lack of physical exercise, obesity, infections, radiation and unhealthy diet are paving the way for more cases of oral cancer patients. The disease grips almost 10,000 people in the country every year.

“Till date more than 25 lakh patients who get affected with cancer are in urban areas. This is a matter of concern as cancer symptoms are not easily recognisable. So on individual and government levels, everyone has to make sure that steps to check this disease are looked into, like banning tobacco products or at least increasing the tax levy on them so that consumption gets affected,” said Dr Vaid.

While spread of breast cancer among women is on the rise, it is engulfing modern city women more. Figures show that out of 22 cancer patients one is a woman. This is attributed majorly to the change in our societal setup, where women are getting married late, with many in their 30s still remaining unmarried or single.

Noted breast surgeon Dr Kanchan Kaur informs that having a married life at an appropriate natural time and having kids before 30 years age can lessen breast cancer in a major way.

She warns that women should know about the symptoms of this form of cancer like oozing out of blood or water from nipples, having soreness in and around the nipple or underarms without having pain.

Dr Kaur warns women who feel such symptoms that delaying or thinking that they can’t get cancer may prove fatal, as in advanced stages it may be quite late. So prevention is better than cure. 

Pitthoragarh, January 31
Just days after state BJP chief Bishan Singh Chufal assured people of giving district status to Didihat after March 15, residents of the proposed district have started proposing their own localities as the possible district headquarters.

“When the district of Pithoragarh was created in 1960, the place first proposed for the district headquarters was Didihat, which due to some political reason did not happen. Therefore, it is the right of Didihat town to be the headquarters of the proposed district,” said JS Bora, UKD leader and activist of district movement. But people of Askot have started an agitation beginning with a bandh at Askot to put pressure on the government to make this seat of erstwhile royalty as the district headquarters. According to them, Askot happens to be the centre of the proposed district.

“Besides being at the centre and naturally an elevated place, the ground of Panagarh is situated near Askot, where temporary buildings are situated since 1962 that can house various offices of the district till permanent buildings come up,” said Lalit Pal, president of the Traders Association of Askot town. Some people have started agitating to name a small town of Bangapani, near Baram, as the proposed district headquarters of Didihat. According to them, this place was a backward area and if it becomes the district headquarters, the job opportunities for the poor local people would come up and the neglected people could become economically better.

“If Bangapani is made the headquarters of the proposed Didihat district, then all the backward areas of the district will be benefited, as the district-level officers can experience the poverty of the people,” said Surendra Singh Brijwal, a resident of Bangapani.

Dehradun, January 31
With the aim to make the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) more attractive and beneficial for villagers, wages under the scheme have been hiked.

In Uttarakhand, an MGNREGA worker was paid Rs 100, but in several semi-urban areas, especially wherever construction activity and pharmaceutical companies have come up, the scheme was proving to be unattractive.

“The wage hike from Rs 100 to Rs 120 introduced on Friday will go a long way in making the scheme attractive,” said Block Development officer (BDO) and Programme Officer, MGNREGA, Kalsi block, Sushil M Dhobal at a workshop of the rural development organised by the Directorate of Field Publicity.

He said despite facing staff crunch, the implementation of the MGNREGA was going on in satisfactory manner in the Kalsi block. “Adoption of the Management Information System (MIS) for record keeping is proving to be useful and has brought a degree of transparency and 66 per cent of our records are now MIS driven,” he said.

The staff shortage to the tune of 80 per cent, too, has hampered the programme, with only two districts having the services of the gram sewaks. In the Kalsi block, 3,500 out of 6,000 families have been provided jobs, while in Dehradun, 70,000 out of 1.25 lakh families have been provided the job cards. The block has already spent a sum of Rs 3.62 crore and has now further put up a demand of Rs 50 lakh. “The workshop was organised to disseminate information about the Act,” said director, field publicity, Vivek Gaur.

Nainital, January 31
The township of Haldwani was rocked by two murders reported on Sunday. In the first instance, a Nepali resident working as a servant at the residence of a doctor near the rice mill in Dahriya, allegedly killed his four-month pregnant wife by strangulating her.

According to information, 25-year-old Shankar was residing with his wife Parul in the servant quarters of the house. His employer had gone to Chandigarh along with his family and his aged mother was in the bungalow. On Sunday morning, when Parul did not turn up with the daily milk supply, the aged woman went to look for her in the servant quarters. She was stunned to come across the corpse of the woman. She called up her son who informed the police of the incident.

The police has registered a case against Shankar who is absconding. It is learnt that Shankar had returned home in a drunken state on Saturday night with two accomplices. Efforts are on to nab the accused.

In the second instance, four youths allegedly beat up an aged uncle to death following a dispute over payment of money. According to sources, one Junaid who resides in Banjara Basti had a dispute with his cousin Salim over the payment of money. On Sunday evening, Salim reached Junaid’s house along with his brother Taslim, one Shamim and Hassan.

The four had a heated exchange of words with Junaid and went on to thrash the latter. While Junaid’s father Sharafat Ali tried to intervene, the four allegedly attacked him and injured him seriously.

As the 52-year-old Ali fell on the ground unconscious, the four fled from the spot. Ali was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The police has registered a case of murder in the matter and efforts are on to nab the alleged assailants. 

Dehradun, January 31
Over six thefts at mobile phone shops have been reported this month. Today only, a mobile shop near Kumar Sweets Shop was reported to be burgled. Mohammad Noushiq, owner of the shop, told the police that 150 mobile phones and Rs 1.5 lakh cash were stolen from the shop. He said the theft was detected this morning when he opened the shop.

The thieves had broken the shutter of the shop. The police reached the spot to investigate the matter, but couldn’t find any clue of the theft.

SSP Ganesh Singh Martoila said mobile phone shops were becoming a soft target because mobile phones were easy to carry and could be sold easily. However, he said, the police was strict in these cases and had arrested three persons involved in mobile phone theft cases. —TNS

Mussoorie, January 31
Mussoorie unit of the BJP celebrated the 54th birthday of Rajpur MLA Ganesh Joshi here today. BJP workers, under the aegis of the Pandit Deen Daal Upadhya Vichaar Manch, gathered at St Mary’s Hospital, Mussoorie, and distributed fruits among poor patients.

The fruits were also given to students at Saraswati Shishu Mandir School on the occasion. Mussoorie president Roop Singh Kathait said, “We have decided to give fruits to poor patients and students in the town to mark the occasion”.

Senior BJP leaders Kushal Singh Rana, Dharmpal Panwar, Mohan Petwal, Manish Kuksal, Dinesh Panwar and Manoj Kumar were present on the occasion. —OC