Haridwar, March 5
Acknowledging the fact that in just over a decade the state has taken a giant leap in terms of industrial investment, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said in the coming time the state would become a major industrial hub, as the state government was committed to provide the best of the facilities to the industrial sector.

The CM was here today to inaugurate the Industrial Expo-2011 being hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the state government. Inaugurating the expo, the CM said there were ample opportunities for the industrial sector, and with the cooperation from the Centre, the state, apart from its religious-tourism dependence, would be able to generate revenue from industrial production.

Meanwhile, corporate bigwigs and small traders were finding the expo as a platform to generate business opportunities and getting vendor development, component, parts supply from the vendors directly.

Leading auto manufacturer in the country Tata Motors, who have a 1,000-acre unit plant in Pantnagar from where the world-famous Nano car rolls out, apart from Sanad in Gujarat, are a big hit in the expo displaying their commercial vehicles Venture and Ace. Besides, 150 industrial factories situated in SIDCUL, Haridwar, are also exhibiting their products.

The company is also providing space for vendor parks to the vendors, so that they can set up their own units to cater to the company’s immense demands.

Sudesh Sood, plant head, Delhi TVS, a company dealing in diesel fuel pumps, said their company was based at one such vendor park, making and supplying 5 lakh pumps annually to the loading vehicle of Tata Company.

Pithoragarh, March 5
Retracting from his earlier statement about the possibility of early Assembly elections in the state, probably in November 2011, Uttarakhand BJP Chief Bishan Singh Chufal said here today that the state Election Commission would decide when it wanted to declare poll in the state.

“The presumption that if the elections are held in February, the voting percentage remains less is wrong because during some previous elections held in February, this notion was proved wrong,” said Chufal addressing a press conference here today.

The BJP chief has declared that his party is ready for the elections in the state at any time.

“Our workers and leaders are now concentrating on the rural areas of the state and making sure that all the welfare programmers being run by the state government reach the common man,” claimed Chufal.

The state BJP chief said the Union Government had neglected the state in the railway as well as the General Budget. It has neither approved the proposed rail lines for the hill state nor has it given any incentives in the General Budget. We were expecting a special package,” said Chufal.

He added that the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand should have been given a green bonus as the state had lost some vital hydroelectric schemes due to the policies of the Centre.

“We also provide fresh water and air to the nation as well,” said the BJP chief.

He said the recent government order to provide cheap ration to the poor of the state under the Atal Khadyann Yojana and medical care under 108 Health Scheme were the main achievements of the state BJP Government.

“We will go to the voters on the good work done by the BJP in the past four years and obstacles posed by the Union Government despite the Congress having all the five members of the Lok Sabha from Uttarakhand,” said Chufal.

Mussoorie, March 5
If all goes well the much-awaited rural/mobile tele-medicine project to provide the best possible health facilities in far-flung areas of the state will begin soon to address the shortage of health staff in the state.

Health advisor to the Government of Uttarakhand RK Jain said this to The Tribune. Jain asserted that the model was now in place and the project in the initial phase would begin from 20 centres. Jain said he was taking personal interest in this project as he also belonged to a remote village in Uttarkashi and understood the problems faced by patients living in far-flung villages.

Jain said the primary health centre in difficult areas would be equipped with electronic connectivity, computers and other instruments. The well-trained paramedic staff at the primary health centres (PHCs) would provide the data, which would be received immediately by the designated nodal centres and small and serious ailments could be instantly diagnosed through tele-conferencing.

Dr Jain said this service would be outsourced to a company called E-health InfoTech of international repute as the government health staff was already over-burdened and would not be able to handle the additional pressure.

He elaborated that medical experts from all around the globe already empanelled in the company would be available 24 hours and provide services instantly on the click of a computer or phone. The medical experts empanelled by the company were already providing services to countries like Brazil, Canada, Chile etc with success in various fields like cardiology, radiology etc.

Speaking on the delay of the project, Jain said he did not want to enter any project with a half-hearted approach. Hence, after studying the shortfalls in other states like Punjab, where doctors were not able diagnose diseases instantly, this new model was envisaged after a lot of deliberations.

Jain said the project had been finalised and would be presented to the Chief Minister within day or two after which work would begin earnestly. Public representatives from Mussoorie and Garhwal had welcomed the move and were of the view that if this project of telemedicine was set up in the state, it could be helpful in changing the whole meaning of health care for tribesmen of hilly or remote regions.

Mussoorie Municipal Council President OP Uniyal said he was glad that telemedicine would become an integral part of health services in the state. He also said Mussoorie would also benefit from this service as the primary health centres run by the palika or otherwise were facing an acute shortage of staff.

State Congress Vice-President Jot Singh Bisht, however, was skeptical about the government intentions and said if implemented, this project could change the health situation in the state, but much could not be expected from the present government as it had failed to manage the present health services. He further said this project was much needed for the state, but would succeed only if government interference was kept to the minimum.

Dehradun, March 5
The agitated Shiksha Mitras, who are demanding the regularisation of their services, continued to stage dharna in front of the Vidhan Sabha, on the sixth day of the indefinite strike, here today.

Hundreds of Shiksha Mitras took out a rally passing the Rispana Bridge, Haridwar Road, Dharampur Chowk and finally returning to the Vidhan Sabha. They displayed banners and shouted slogans protesting against the lethargic attitude of the state government towards the ad-hoc teachers. The Shiksha Mitras stated that the negligence of the state government towards regularising the ad-hoc teachers will surely lead to a revolutionary activity. The protestors have also threatened to oppose the instruction of the administration to join back, until their demands were met.

“We have given several memorandums to the State Education Minister as well as to the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand in support of our demands for the past 10 years, but it has not been fulfilled yet,” said Lalit Dwivedi, state president of the Mahasangh.

However, state general secretary of the association Ravinder Khati also called upon the ad-hoc teachers from all over the state to take the disciplinary action of the administration as a challenge and encouraged them to fight for their demands.

Dehradun, March 5
Agitated with the state government for not providing jobs to Class III staff, members of the Nav Bharat Sangh staged a protest at the Gandhi Park here today. They also submitted a memorandum to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister, along with to other ministers of the state.

Talking to the media, Hari Bhandari, president, of the sangh, said they wanted the government to fill the 20,000 Class III posts immediately. “It has been long that the government is giving assurance to us, but failed to act on it,” he stated.

Bhandari claimed that either the government was trying to fool the youth with its talk or it had no control over its employees who failed to act accordingly.

He further affirmed that they came to know that the government would start the procedure for Class III in June, but it was not clear whether they would first advertise about the same or straightaway take the examination. He stated that it took two to three years to complete these examinations. Thus, the government should start the procedure within a week’s time so that it could be done in June and July.

Dehradun, March 5
Adding another feather to its cap, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) has become the first designated operational entity in the country to be accredited by the executive board of the clean development mechanism (CDM) to validate and certify functions in the sectoral scope of ‘afforestation and reforestation’.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to validate and verify carbon credit generated by the CDM projects so far had entrusted only to multinational agencies with the authority.

The UNFCC’s clean development mechanism programme allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to 1 tonne of carbon dioxide. These CER credits can be traded, sold and used by industrialised countries to meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the kyoto protocol.

The CDM projects can be developed in different sectors like energy, transport, forestry etc. In the forestry sector, afforestation and reforestation are the only activities permitted.

An apex body in the national forestry research system, the ICFRE deals with the solution-based forestry research in tune with the emerging issues of the sector, including climate change, conservation of the biological diversity, combating desertification and sustainable management and development of resources.

The ICFRE applied for designated operational entity status of the UNFCCC on July 17, 2009, and received accreditation in February this year at the 59th meeting of the Executive Board of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDMEB).

All those seeking validation and verification of the carbon credits generated by the CMD projects will now have an option to go for validation process paying lesser charges that what is charged by the multinational companies that are based outside the country and have their headquarters in Delhi.

Significantly, the accreditation to the ICFRE is valid for a period of three years from the date of issuance and will allow the ICFRE to verify and certify any and all projects pertaining to afforestation or reforestation across the country.

“The accreditation of the ICFRE will certainly provided a fillip to the forestry projects in the country,” observed senior ICFRE scientist VRS Rawat.

Haridwar, March 5
With the turmoil in western Asian countries, particularly Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Morocco, heralding a change in the tyrant regime and ushering a democratic system of governance, a seminar was organised at Shravananth Math Jawaharlal Nehru (SMJN) College here today. Experts from varied fields discussed on the topic, “Political upheaval in the Arab world and Indian response”, which was well attended by students and people from varied fields of the society.

Highlighting on the impact, repercussions and Indian stance, noted West Asian affairs expert Harsh Dobhal indicated that the non-violent mutiny in these Arabian countries was writing a new history, the positive effect of which will not remain confined to this part of the world, but extend to the Indian subcontinent. He stated that the prevalent world order was coming increasingly under challenge and such revolts and protests were sweeping the West Asian region which were not neccesarily for the western model of pro-market democracy which the Western media was trying to project.

"This type of popular rainbow rebellion is not driven by any particular ideology, but is a collective voice against unemployment, poverty and injustice meted out to Palestininans by dictators ruling for decades," said Dobhal.

Guest speaker and a former student of SMJN College Sushil Bahuguna, news editor of English news channel, New Delhi Television (NDTV), said a new yearning for democracy was finding new expressions and new voices in the region which had been suppressed for far too long as these were the voices for freedom, democracy and human rights.

Higlighting the positive role that the media played in making the popular discontent reach far-flung areas and uniting people, Bahuguna said the protests that started from Tunisian had spilled over to almost the whole region in the Arab world and when traditional media tools were blocked, Internet played a pivotal role in delivering the message fast and without being censored by respective governments or rulers.

"Now West Asia cannot remain the same as it was a few months back. Now it has changed though the change will take some time to show, and lessons are there for dictators and monopoly-ruled governments in other parts of the world from this mutiny," added Bahuguna.

SMJN College Head of the science department AK Ghildiyal said for India the turmoil in the Arab world was very important as it posed a big dilemma for policy makers whether to go with the popular sentiment of people or with the ongoing regime that was being opposed. He expressed the solidarity of Indians with the people of the Arab world who were fighting the oppression of the ruling elite, many of whom had been representing the interests of the the United States and a small elite of their countries.

The seminar was presided over by Mahant Bilkeshwar Giri and Mahant Ramanand Puri was the chief guest at the function. Other guests of honour were Rram Murti Veer and Dr Ashok Mishra, Principal of the college.

Nainital, March 5
The Lake City is set to witness a bonanza of theatrical presentations on March 8 and 9. The event is being held in the town to mark the first death anniversary of eminent theatre personality and film actor Nirmal Pande, who had passed away a year back. Although Nirmal died on February 18 last year, his death anniversary as per the Hindu astrological calculations is falling on March 9.

Talking to mediapersons, Mithilesh Pande, Nirmal’s elder brother, said, “There can be no better tribute to Nirmal than to start a theatre fest in the town where he grew up. We intend to make this an annual event”.

There will be a series of presentations, including two from the passouts of the National School of Drama (NSD), “Koi Baat Chale” and a solitary performance by Alok Chatterjee “Aisa Hi Hota Hai”. In addition, there will be plays performed by groups from Almora and Nainital. There also will be poetry recital in Garhwali and Kumaoni.

Nainital has had a rich tradition in theatre, which has waned considerably over the past few years. The theatre activists have been trying to revive the tradition, but have been facing roadblocks in the form of lack of finances and the failure of the government to do anything proactive on this front.

The town that has the distinction of having sent at least a dozen students to the NSD does not have a single auditorium. Theatre artistes and activists have approached the state government time and again over the issue, but all that they have been getting are empty assurances.

“Since we have not been able to do enough to promote theatre back home, the NSD has been reluctant in taking in students from the state, which is a pity,” said theatre activist and Nirmal’s senior at the NSD Idris Malik.

Dehradun, March 5
As part of the World Glaucoma Week, Amritsar Eye Clinic will organise a special awareness week for glaucoma patients from March 7 to 12 at their clinic on the EC road here.

During the awareness week, free eye checkup and distribution of medicines and diagnostic tests at reduced rates for glaucoma patients will be undertaken.

Speaking at a press conference today, Dr Dinesh Sharma, Chief Phaco and Refractive Surgeon, said, “Around 12 million Indians suffer from glaucoma. It is the second-most common cause of preventable blindness. Regular checkup can considerably reduce the risk. Usually the peripheral region gets affected first and patients do not feel that much discomfort and ignore the symptoms until the condition becomes serious and starts affecting the central region as well.

People with a family history of glaucoma and those suffering from diabetes, hypertension and migraine are at a greater risk. These groups should get their checkup done at least once in six months”.

Eye surgeons usually employ medication, laser therapy and surgery for controlling the disease.