Dehradun, March 7
The District Soldier Board (DSB) has deputed five block representatives out of six blocks in Raipur, Sahaspur, Vikas Nagar, Doiwala and Kalsi, which come under its purview, to spread awareness among the ex-servicemen living in the far-flung villages about various schemes run by the DSB and to solve their queries regarding pension and arrears.

But the picture is not as rosy as it appears, as these representatives, ex-servicemen themselves, are devoid of necessary wherewithal such as vehicles and patrol allowance, which limits their mobility in the area. Mere mobile sets is not proving to be a big incentives or facilitators for them. Given to this, the DSB, which requires more volunteers, who are hard to find, for its awareness drive. There is no one to volunteer for the sixth block, Chakrata.

President of the DSB, Col Anil Wadhwa (retd), said: “We need more persons to educate the ex-servicemen, who live in the interiors of hill areas, about our various schemes and their benefits, and also to solve their queries and problems related to pension and arrears. But, we don’t get the candidates for the poor pay of Rs 4,000 per month entitled for their positions and a lack of proper incentives.” Brig Rajender Rawat (retd), vice-president of the Uttarakhand Ex-Servicemen League (UESL), does not see much hope in the half-hearted efforts made in the appointment of these representatives. “The mobile phone sets do not equip them with the information they need. They need to have the complex detailing of pension and arrears such as rank wise, year wise, gallantry award wise, war wise as fixed after the 6th Pay Commission. These representatives are unable to solve the queries of the ex-servicemen who are not much educated and familiar with these complex financial tables. Therefore, these representatives must be brought to any nodal agency situated in the capital city where they should be trained in these matters, only then they would be able to serve the purpose for which they had been deputed,” he said.

Col Madhav Mohan Kukreti (retd), coordinating secretary-general, UESL, sid the representatives needed to keep abreast with the corrigendum published from time to time about the change in pension and arrears of the ex-servicemen. “That is the reason we get umpteen number of people from those very blocks where these representatives are stationed who come to us to solve their queries on these matters. This clearly shows that these representatives themselves are not well-informed,” he added.

Wadhwa though argued these men had been briefed from time to time about their schemes. And that he personally held camps in these villages twice a month to listen to ex-servicemen’s problems, notwithstanding the fact the representatives still were not familiar with the intricacies of the current pension system. Wadhwa admitted he could not pressurise the representatives beyond a point for better performance for the fear of losing whatever results they were producing.

Dehradun, March 7
A team of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation took seven samples of milk products from various parts of the city today. The team under the supervision of senior health officer Dr Kailash Joshi visited various dairies at Asha Rori as well as the inner part of the city. “We took four samples from the dairies in Asha Rori, one from Paras Milk Store in Dharampur and two from mobile vans,” Dr Joshi said.

The samples would be sent for testing to a Himachal-based laboratory, which would be sending its report in a month’s time.

People become easy prey to the food stuff during the festive season. Now, the festival of Holi is round the corner and all sweet shops are geared up and the chances of shopkeepers using unhygienic milk products like mava, khoya etc. to prepare the sweets also increase.

The Health Department is also geared up to nab the culprits (who are using adulterated products in order to meet the demand). But, the corporation is facing the trouble due to lack of proper kit for measuring the quality of the product and need to rely upon the laboratories that are situated at far away places. Also, the laboratories take lot of time to send the report.

Though many feel that there is no use of taking samples as the laboratory provides the information only after things are over. Once the report comes, the department would challan the shopkeepers whose report is negative.

“These raids are must to check the usage of contaminated products and play a very important role but the municipal corporation should have its own laboratory so that the tests could be done on an immediate basis,” DMC councillor and Leader of Opposition Ashok Verma said.

“Though we have a lactometer but it only tells about the composition of milk and water but the issue is not just dilution of milk, but the addition of chemical synthetics which are very harmful,” Dr Joshi told The Tribune.

Nainital, March 7
In a unique initiative of its kind undertaken at the sprawling premises of the Raj Bhawan here, the Forest Department transplanted nine chestnut trees to pave way for the rainwater harvesting efforts.

The Herculean task of transplantation of trees was undertaken on Sunday morning and the effort continued throughout the day. The space that became vacant after transplantation of trees will be used for the collection of rainwater.

A crane and an earthmover were utilised to carry out the job of digging out the well-grown chestnut trees and transplant these elsewhere in the Raj Bhawan compound.

The Divisional Forest Officer (Terai Central), Dr Parag Madhukar Dhakate, has been given the charge of replacing the trees from the catchment area so that rainwater can be collected.

“This is the first time that we have carried out transplantation at such an altitude. Earlier, we had transplanted trees on the Nainital highway in Haldwani when the road was to be broadened. The trees that we have transplanted were of the age ranging from 10 years to 40 years,” Dr Dhakate told The Tribune.

The transplantation of trees is being viewed as a solution to the various problems, which crop up during the execution of different developmental projects, as there is reluctance to cut trees. However, skeptics point to the possibility of the process being misused if it is allowed to be carried out frequently.

Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) said 500 cubic litres of water would be collected at the site and a poly sheet will be placed on the floor to restore the water. According to them the water will be used for gardening and watering the sprawling lawns, which act as a golf course.

The Raj Bhawan has an area of 85 acres and the construction covers only 35 per cent of the entire land. It was built by the British as residence of the Governor of North-West Province. Now the Raj Bhawan is the official accommodation of the Governor of Uttarakhand. State guests coming to Nainital also use it for their stay. It consists of a marvelous garden, golf links and a swimming pool. Jhandidhar Modi Heights along with the Munshi Heights are the other places in the complex worth seeing.

The Governor’s House was built on the lines of Buckingham Palace having 113 rooms in the double-storied building.

It was built in 1899 and designed in a Victorian gothic style by architect FW Stevens. It is one of the few Raj Bhawans in India, which allow the public to enter its gates to explore its lovely interiors. The conservatories on the grounds are worth a look. The Raj Bhawan in Nainital has a rich collection of 19th and 20th century antiques.

Dehradun, March 7
The study of neutrino, a massless particle, can help unravel the presence of new matter existing in the universe, offering a window of opportunity to scientists to take up extensive research.

“The universe is dominated by the matter, anti-matter and neutrinos and by their very nature of interaction with ordinary matter can help in deciphering the presence of new matter, if it exists at all. It would be the next big thing in scientific studies at par with the big bang theory,” said Prof SK Singh, V-C of HNB Garhwal University, and a noted physicist.

He was speaking at an international workshop on “Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions” organised by HNB Garhwal University (Srinagar) today.

On the other hand, Geralyn, Laboratory Assistant, Zeller-Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Batavia, Illinois, USA, said the collaboration among nations is a must for studying the properties of neutrino. “The interest in neutrino studies was generated after 2001 when the scientists began to understand its oscillating properties better. The particle can only be studied in neutrino detectors and efforts are on to develop advanced accelerator detectors,” said Geralyn.

Prof J. Morfin of Finland said the workshop would be helpful in furthering the cause of solving neutrino mystery.

He said as the research in neutrino particle is a costly affair, several countries are collaborating.

“At present, Japan has collaborated in building the neutrino detector while the USA is providing beam for undertaking studies,” he said.

Professor M Sakuda of Okayama Japan said India could play a big role in the construction of next-generation neutrino detectors and help in analysis and computation of data in which it has proven expertise.

Dehradun, March 7
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), at its meeting held at Doiwala, has demanded a better treatment of the area. State secretary of the party Bir Singh Rawat said despite the fact that Doiwala was a sugarcane-rich area, the farmers had not been given their dues yet. It had exposed the anti-farmer policies of the state government. He demanded for scrapping of the toll tax being levied on commuters using the bridge that had been built across the Song river. “This bridge connects Haridwar, Rishikesh but it has become a source to loot the commuters. The authorities concerned charge toll even after the stipulated timings. The toll tax must be stopped immediately,” he added.

Rawat has demanded that three more bridges be built on the river to facilitate easy travel to the residents of Soda Saroli and Badasi Grant villages.

He lashed out at the state government for not making the optimum use of the funds released under the MGNAREGA programme and not providing adequate employment to the poor under the scheme.

Dehradun March 7
Digressing from the escapist stance of rest of the team of Board of Directors in taking any action against those who committed irregularities in the selection of high-level officials in Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN), vice-president, GMVN, Raghunath Negi, nailed former Managing Director, BVRC Purushottam, for heading over the entire controversial selection procedure.

He also signalled toward the findings of the inquiry report of Commissioner, Garhwal, about the alleged treachery, saying that he quite emphatically mentioned about the various anomalies made at various levels in the selection process. “Since the MD executed the entire selection process, and that, too, without taking approval of the Board, he must be held accountable for playing with the career of unemployed people.”

Giving different figures from the ones of 27 given by president Anil Nautiyal for VRS benefits, Negi talked about 18 for VRS and three employees of SC/ST Corporation for absorption in GMVN.

He gave some additional inputs on the issue of renovation of sick tourist rest houses of GMVN and said the renovation would be done on Public- Private Partnership basis.

For regularisation of 375 daily wage earners/contractual employees of GMVN, preference would be given on seniority basis, he added.