Dehradun, March 23
The Uttarakhand Assembly today passed by voice vote the proposal to revoke three-day suspension of six Congress legislators, who had yesterday staged a dharna inside the well of the House.

Moving the proposal, Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat regretted the behaviour of the MLAs even while pointing out that public representatives at times went to extremes when they felt that the issues of the people they represented were not being heard. He, however, assured the Speaker that there would be no repeat of such incident.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, too, termed the incident as unfortunate and asserted that the House was not a proper place to carry out such agitations. He said the House was the highest temple of democracy and the members must maintain its sanctity. He, however, appealed the Speaker for forgiving the erring MLAs.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal leader Diwakar Bhatt recalled his long association with agitations. He said even during the statehood agitation, he staged dharnas at places, which were away from the main areas of cities so as to ensure that the masses were not disturbed due to his protest. He said the behaviour of the suspended Congress MLAs was certainly not gentleman like.

Bahujan Samaj Party Legislature Party leader Mohd Shahzad too strongly favoured the revocation of suspension of the MLAs. He said protests were part of democracy. The House subsequently passed by voice vote the proposal to revoke the suspension of all the six Congress MLAs.

Congress MLAs Kishore Upadhyaya, Rajesh Junwantha, Mahendra Singh Mehra, Mayuk Mehar, Balbir Singh Negi and Govind Singh Kunjwal had been suspended from the House last evening when they staged a dharna in the well of the House shortly after the presentation of Budget over the issues linked to their respective constituencies.

Earlier today, the Congress MLAs, led by Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat created a pandemonium over the suspension of the MLAs as soon as question hour started. The Speaker had to adjourn the House initially for 20 minutes, and it was extended by 15 minutes.

Dehradun, March 23
Young martyr Bhagat Singh, along with his aides Rajguru and Sukhdev, were paid homage on their martyrdom day by different political parties and organisations in the state capital. The three bravehearts on this day in 1931 were hanged to death by the British.

The Mahanagar Congress Committee, Dehradun, paid tributes to Bhagat Singh and his associates at the Congress Bhawan conference hall here today.

On the occasion, President Harish Virmani said, “We pay our respects to the three martyrs who laid down their lives for the country”.

Shankar Chand Ramola, Din Mohammad, Deep Vohra, Sanchit Gupta, Manoj Mehndi, Anil Grovar, Jitender Taneja and Pankaj Bhatt were among the others present at the programme.

The Dharohar Samajik Sanstha and the Prakarti Band organised a programme, and the Krantikari Lok Adhikar Sangathan a poster exhibition.

In the exhibition the changes in the country and the world in the past six decades, particularly the past two decades, were shown.

The Aryan Group, a secular group working for socio-cultural development, held a rally from the Gandhi Park to the Clock Tower to remember the martyrs.

Youth leaders Lakhvir Singh and Shiv Verma recited the stories from the life of Bhagat Singh to the youth present at the Gandhi Park.

The Teesara Svadheenta Andolan, Dehradun chapter, organised a programme at Agarwal Dharamsala.

In the evening, the Uttaranchal Punjabi Mahasabha Mahanagar, Dehradun, lit lamps at the Clock Tower in their memory. The day programme was coordinated by General Secretary Harish Narang.

The ABVP and the Shiv Sena also lit lamps at the Clock Tower.

Dehradun, March 23
Mohinder Kaur (90), Honorary Director of the Dr Balbir Singh Centre for Advanced Sikh Studies of Punjabi University at Dehradun, died here yesterday morning. She was the daughter of eminent Sikh scholar Dr Balbir Singh and niece of Dr Veer Singh.

Mohinder Kaur had been unwell for the past few days and was undergoing treatment at a hospital here where she breathed her last.

Expressing grief over the demise of Mohinder Kaur, Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor Dr Jaspal Singh prayed for the salvation of the departed soul.

Dr Jaspal has also sent a four-member delegation comprising Dean, Research, Punjabi University, Dr SP Singh; Head, Religious Studies Department, Harpal Singh Pannu; Head, Guru Granth Sahib Studies Department, Dr Sarbjinder Singh and Prof Dr Gurnek Singh(retd) to Dehradun so that they can share in the grief of the family members of Mohinder Kaur.

It was Prof Puran Singh who had purchased a 2.5-acre plot at Dehradun and built a big house where he lived for many years. It was named “Panchbati” which became a hub of religious, academic and scientific debates.

Saints and thinkers made it into an ideal centre for spiritual activity. Prof Puran Singh wanted to gift this house and property to Bhai Veer Singh who refused saying that he already had a big house at Amritsar.

When Prof Puran Singh kept on reiterating his offer, he advised him to give it to Dr Balbir Singh, the younger brother of Bhai Veer Singh who did D Litt in Chemistry from London.

Before his death, Dr Balbir Singh and his daughter Mohinder Kaur donated this property to Punjabi University, Patiala, in which the Advanced Sikh Research Centre has been functioning. Mohinder Kaur was appointed its Honorary Director.

In Guru Gobind Singh Bhawan at Patiala, a condolence meeting was held by Dr Harpal Singh Pannu, Chairman of the Religious Studies Department, where rich tributes were paid to her.

Dr Himaderi Banerjee, Dr Shashi Bala, Dr Gurmeet Singh Sidhu, Dr Darshan Singh, Dr Rajinder Kaur Rohi, Dr Mohammed Habib and Dr Pardyuman Singh Shah were present along with a large number of students, researchers and teachers.

Dehradun, March 23
Call it the blessings of Shri Guru Ram Rai or sheer providence, in place of Jasbir Singh Saini of New Delhi, Mukesh Kumar will offer the Darshani cover at the Jhanda Sahib tomorrow after which the Jhanda Sahib will be raised on a mast measuring 96 feet at 5 pm.

With Jasbir Singh Saini of New Delhi having taken ill and unable to participate in the Jhanda Mela this year to offer the Darshani cover, Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Dehradun, will now offer the cover at the Darbar Sahib tomorrow. It is after 11 years that a resident of Dehradun will be making an offering. “Almost 22 years back, I had made the bookings and would have got a chance in 2012, but with this last-minute change, my turn has come early,” said the elated Mukesh Kumar.

Mahesh Ram and Shyam Lal of Yamuna Nagar have already begun stitching the Darshani satin covers. “We began the task on March 19 and will complete it by tomorrow morning. Earlier, my mother Bhagwanti Devi was entrusted with the task of stitching the covers by the ninth Mahant Indreesh Charan Das. After her death 11 years ago, the task has come my way,” said Mahesh.

Meanwhile, preparations are complete for the mega fair tomorrow. In the morning the old covers will be removed and new ones draped amidst elaborate rituals and chanting of hymns. More than 250 letters have been sent to Indians settled abroad and they are expected to participate in large numbers. “The practice of sending formal letters to devotees settled abroad was started several years ago. They usually make their own arrangements and put up at hotels, but do not fail to have an audience with the 10th Mahant Shri Devender Das,” said BP Saklani, Manager, Shri Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib.

Besides, the Darbar Sahib authorities have made elaborate arrangements for the overnight stay of devotees at the schools being run by the Guru Ram Rai Education Mission at Talab, Bindal Bridge, Patel Nagar, Race Course and Bhandari Bagh. As many as 200 tents have also been set up.

Today the Darbar Sahib premises were chock-a-block with devotees thronging the venue and by evening more are expected. An uninterrupted langar service at the Darbar Sahib fed more than 50,000 people today. “It gives me immense satisfaction to feed the hungry, and we ensure that everybody is fed. Here there is no distinction between the rich and the poor. Tomorrow we will be serving urad dal and jalebi as a special offering,” said Sikander Singh, in charge, Langar Service Darbar Sahib. Though a resident of Nawanshahar, he has been offering his services during the fair for the past 11 years.

Dehradun, March 23
SDBM scored a facile 100-run win against Agriculture here today in a 35-over match during the 59th District Cricket League at the Survey of India Stadium.

SDBM chose to bat first after winning the toss. Opening batsmen Kapil (40) and Darsant (53) played pivotal roles for the batting side. SDBM scored 185 runs all out in 33 overs.

Mukesh of Agriculture got three wickets. Mehar Panwar and Arvind Tomar took two wickets each.

In reply, Agriculture gave very poor performance and all their batsmen got out in 22.4 overs for a meagre 85 runs.

Mohan (32) was the only batsmen to score some respectable runs. Shashank of SDBM captured three wickets. Ranjeet and Ashish took two wickets each. Kapil also scalped one.

Dehradun, March 23
Security A claimed the ONGC Inter-Departmental Volleyball Tournament title defeating Centre Store 25-14, 25-18 in the final at ONGC, Dehradun, here today.

The teams were given prizes by Sunder Lal, Executive Director, Chief Employee Relations, and Desh Deepak Mishra, General Manager (Administration). Meanwhile, two senior sportspersons DD Varman and AK Gupta were also honoured at the ceremony.

Yesterday in the semifinals, Security A had beaten Security B 25-19, 15-25, 15-10 and Centre Store had defeated CSD 25-15, 25-7 to reserve their final berths.