Dehradun, April 27
All the seven police personnel from Uttarakhand, against whom non-bailable warrants were issued in connection with the alleged fake encounter case of Ghaziabad youth Ranbir Singh, will surrender before a Delhi court tomorrow, officials said.

"All the seven police personnel will surrender before the Delhi court on April 28 as per the directives from the court," GS Martolia, Senior Superintendent of Police (Dehra Dun), said.

The seven police personnel against whom warrants were issued last week include GD Bhatt, Santosh Jaiswal, Nitin Chauhan, Rajendra Bist, Neeraj Yadav, Chandra Mohan (all Sub-Inspectors) and constable Ajit Kumar. All of them have been charge-sheeted by the CBI for allegedly kidnapping and murdering Ranbir Singh.

The agency had charge-sheeted a total of 18 police personnel in the case, including seven for murder. The seven police personnel were arrested in September by the CBI.

The police had claimed that 22-year-old Ranbir Singh, from Ghaziabad, along with his companions, who were riding on a motorcycle, were asked to stop by Bhatt in the Dalanwala area here on July 3, 2009, during President Pratibha Patil's visit.

Instead the youths allegedly thrashed Bhatt and fled towards the Ladpur jungles after looting his service revolver.

When Bhatt flashed a message over the wireless, the youths were intercepted at Ladpur jungles and there was an alleged encounter in which Singh was killed. But after the autopsy report, the demand for a CBI probe got louder prompting Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank to recommend the case for an inquiry by the investigating agency.

The case was transferred to Delhi from Dehra Dun by the Supreme Court on the plea of Singh' s family which prayed for shifting of the case expressing fear that the Uttarakhand police can influence the trial. — PTI

Haldwani, April 27
The Government Medical College at Haldwani has approached the Medical Council of India (MCI) with the request to increase the number of seats allocated to it at the postgraduate (PG) level from existing the quota of 27 to 36 seats.

It has asked the MCI to conduct an inspection of the existing facilities in the college, to acertain that it fulfills the norms laid down by the medical council.

According to sources, one PG-level seat is allocated for an existing strength of one professor and two assistant professors in a medical college. In addition, the college will deposit a sum of Rs 2 lakh for every student enrolled at the postgraduate level.

Last year, the college expected that it would be allowed to have at least 32 students at the PG level, but the permission granted by the MCI was only for 27 seats out of which 13 seats were marked for the all India quota, while the rest were meant for students from Uttarakhand. Incidently, this is the only medical college in the entire state that is running courses in medicine at the PG level.

At present there are four seats each for the Departments of Anaesthesia, Women Diseases and General Surgery. Three seats have been allocated to the Department of General Medicine, while two seats each have been allocated to the Departments of Community Medicine, Anatomy, Opthalmology, ENT and Paediatrics. One seat each has been allocated to the Departments of Biochemistry and Pathology.

A spokesperson of the college said, ”We would like to have an increase in the number of seats in the existing departments, and also for certain non-clinical departments.”

Ironically, while the medical college authorities have been trying to make this an institution that is amongst the best in the country, the approach of the state government has been less than encouraging. The state administration has still not decided upon the fee structure for the students that are being enrolled for the forthcoming academic session. The sources say that repeated communications in this regard from the college authorities to the state government have proved futile till now. As a result the college authorities have started asking the students to deposit their fee according to the rates of the previous session, which amounts to Rs 70,000.

The medical college, which was formerly being run by the Uttarakhand Forest Hospital Trust, had been granted formal recognition by the MCI in February 2010. Till then, the MCI had been conducting inspection regarding the functioning of the college every year before giving clearance for starting the next batch.

Dehradun, April 27
A university for Bachelor’s degree in Education (B.Ed) will soon come up in the state if the proposal for a self-financed university in Uttarakhand gets the state government’s nod.

At present there are over 60 B.Ed colleges affiliated to Hemwati Nandan Garhwal University in Uttarakhand, and many others are affiliated to other universities in the state. A new varsity for the B.Ed course will relieve the burden from the varsities providing students the opportunity to get cost effective quality education as every year, over 10,000 students go to the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh for pursuing the course.

Sunil Agarwal, secretary of the proposed university, said, “The Garhwal University is already overburdened with many B.Ed colleges due to which students are suffering. This session, the B.Ed course could not be started, and it has been delayed by a year. To avoid this kind of problems, a specialised university for the B.Ed course will be appropriate.”

Agarwal also said,“We are framing the curriculum for the B.Ed course along with the project details for sending a proposal to the state government regarding the opening up of a B.Ed varsity in the state.”

However, the forms inviting applicants for the B.Ed course has not yet been made available even after a year. Sources of the proposed university say that the forms will be out by end of this month. 

Haridwar, April 27
Even as almost four months have passed since the banning of sale and usage of polythene in the city, the usage of this eco-hazard material can be seen openly.

After several complaints from non-users and reports in newspapers, the administration has, finally, waken up and begun raids on polythene retailers and shopkeepers.

Taking cognisance of the reports of violation of administrative directive regarding polythene ban, Magistrate R Shreedhar Babu has started an anti-polythene drive inspecting markets, raiding godowns and imposing penalties on violators.

Accompanied by Health Officer Anil Tyagi, the administrative team raided several godowns of polythene distributors, who had stocked polythene bags in godowns to escape from administration’s notice, and used to sell these bags from the godowns despite polythene prohibition in the city.

Informing the Tribune about the administrative drive, Magistrate R Shreedhar Babu said in future, if regular violations of the administration’s directives are found, strict legal action would be taken against the offenders. 

Dehradun, April 27
For the third consecutive day, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned Arun Mishra, former Chief Engineer of the Uttar Pradesh Industrial Devolvement Corporation, in connection with money laundering of crores of rupees. The CBI is soon likely to produce him in the CBI court after arresting him. However, till the filing of the report, there was no such development.

According to sources, the industrial development corporation had lodged a case against him and it was transferred to the CBI since it involved crores of rupees. Mishra is accused in a case relating to the Tronica City Project in Ghaziabad and money laundering in Dehradun.

In the Tronica city project, he had allegedly sold a big piece of land for the project at very low rates than the normal.

Other than this, he had allegedly laundered crores of rupees in the bank accounts of his family, relatives and others at a Pujnab National Bank (PNB) branch near the Vidhan Sabha in Doon. The CBI had earlier raided several places in Dehradun and Haridwar.

He had then surrendered at the office of the CBI at Dehradun. The officers of the CBI have been grilling Mishra for past three days since then. Sources said he might be arrested and produced before the CBI court this evening.

Dehradun, April 27
Beat constables will have more responsibility on their shoulders in view of the 2012 Assembly elections in the state.

The constables have been asked to gather information on the polling centres which fall in their respective beats. They have to identify the sensitive places and the areas where the chances of the law and order situation getting disturbed may be high during the poll.

Director-General of Police (DGP) Jyoti Swaroop Pandey on Tuesday held meetings with senior officers at Haridwar, Rishikesh and Kashipur along with officers of the nearby areas.

The DGP asked the SSPs, the Circle Officers and the Station House Officers to start assessing the situation in view of the coming elections.

Pandey told The Tribune the officers had been directed to ask beat constables to work at the polling centres which fell in their areas.

“The constables have been asked to check the history of suspected persons in their areas to avoid any problem ahead of the poll. The identity of voter card holders will also be checked thoroughly by the cops,” the DGP added.

Pandey also directed the cops to brace for the Char Dham Yatra that is scheduled to be held next month.

Dehradun, April 27
On the second day of their strike, the Joint Employees Association of Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam have given an ultimatum to suspend the gas supply all over the state from April 30

if their demands were not met by that time. The gas agencies run by GMVN and KMVN exercise the largest stake over the gas supply in the state.

Viewed as a positive development, General Manager UC Kabadwal had been given the complete authority of Managing Director in his absence.

The president of the association, Purushottam Puri welcomed this move and said, “By handing over the charge of officiating MD to Kabadwal, the management has made things easy for the GMVN. Now at least there is

someone competent to consider our demands.”

He alleged that the state was incurring a loss of Rs 20 lakh a day because all tourist rest houses had ceased to function in the wake of the strike.

Those who spoke on the occasion included vice-president SP Pant, president of the Manager’s Association BD Petwal, general secretary NK Ghildiyal and secretary Rajesh Rangola.

Dehradun, April 27
The Uttarakhand Government will soon be hiring ex-servicemen and class IV (retd) employees to man the input stores run by the Agriculture Department for selling seeds in districts.

In all 670 posts would be filled in the state and the government order will be issued in the coming days.

“These employees will be working part time for four hours and will be paid Rs 2,500 per month,” he said.

Earlier, the government was contemplating hiring members of the Prantiya Rakshak Dal but the plan was shelved as the government was not happy with their demand for a wage of Rs 200 per day.

Dehradun, April 27
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Officers Mahila Samiti celebrated its annual function, ‘Husbands’ Nite’, on Tuesday evening at the AMN Ghosh auditorium here.

The evening started with the lighting of lamp by the dignitaries amidst the recital of ‘Iswar Stuti’ by Anjali Shukla. This was followed by the welcome address delivered by Rukhsana Hussain, president, Mahila Samiti, Dehradun. Roopam Khanna, Secretary of the Samiti, read out the Samiti’s annual activities report of 2010-11.

The theme of the annual day celebrations was ‘Zindagi Ke Rang Mahila Samiti ke Sang’. The cultural programme unfolded with the performances by the trio, Chavvi Goel, Meenaksi Bhatnagar and Prabhpal Waraich, the cultural in charges of the samiti, followed by a scintillating dance performance depicting the colours of love from adolescence to old age by Urmila Shrivastava, Abha Aggarwal, Dr Neeta Nainwal, Anuda Narain, Preeti Sikha, Sweety Kaler , Ruchi Verma, Sweety Dhoopar, Seema Sharma , Promila Singh, Meera Dave, Manju Rawat.

A Qawaali was presented by Shikha Singh, Anjali, Jha, Madhuri Sinha, Papia Maiti, Neelam Sharma, Mamta Gupta, Sunita Singh, Pratibha Kumar, Kavita Kumar, Suman Singh and Shobha Wason.

A hilarious skit, ‘Promotion Strategy’, was enacted by Sarita Verma, Salma Haq and Nidhi Mathur, which sent the audience into peels of laughter. The skit was directed by Rukhsana Hussain, and Farooq Bilgrami wrote the script.

A game, ‘Shringar Geet Mala’, made the husbands put on their thinking caps as they had to write songs emphasising the ‘Shringar’ of ladies. This was followed by Gidha presented by Yashodhara Adhikari, Bindu Tayal, Vinita Singh, Meenakshi Kaushal, Kiran Kanel, Preeti Nautiyal, Prachi Mittal ,Sunita Prasad, Tanu Bhatia, Surbhi Jain, Renu Rank, Ranjana Vij, Pommy Hanngotra, Sanjeevani Bisht, Shubha Aggarwal and Kusum Bhatia.

AK Hazarika, Chief Managing Director, of the ONGC, who was also the chief guest at the function, praised the dedication and commitment of the members of the samiti for their enthusiastic participation in the events of the annual day celebrations.

Haridwar, April 27
Though the CBI has filed charge sheets and arrested many bigwigs in the 2-G spectrum scam and also with regard to the irregularities in organising the New Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010, the BJP leaders have termed this as only a shield to protect the ‘big fish’ of the ruling party.

A protest rally was held in the city in which party activists said the UPA government at the Centre had been the worst so far, which was marred by multi-scams involving Cabinet Ministers, Chief Ministers and party leaders, reflecting badly on the credibility of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh owing to his delayed reaction on the scams.

Citing the example of the recent Jan Lokpal Bill, Sanjay Trival, division chief, minority cell, said initially, the Centre’s motive was to legislate a Bill that was ‘weak’ and shielded politicians. But it was only after Anna Hazare’s mass movement that the government finally crumbled to public pressure and included civil representatives in the drafting committee of the Bill.

Veteran leader Tej Prakash Sahu, who just joined the BJP leaving the Congress after 30 years of association, lashed out at the Congress for failing to live up to the vision and ideals of its great legacy.

“It’s a matter of shame that today it is the Supreme Court that is ruling the country, as the corrupt Congress leaders have corrupted the whole system, even the bureaucracy,”said Sahu. The party activists also burned the effigies of the Central leaders demanding fair trial, and investigation into the scams.

A memorandum was also forwarded to the Prime Minister demanding fair and speedy trial of the offenders in various scams. 

Dehradun, April 27
Every year in April, the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies conducts a 10-day free of cost residential coaching programme for the students studying in the government-run schools of Uttarakhand. This camp is held under the banner of project ‘ABHILASHA’, and is one of the many social obligations undertaken by the university.

This year the programme began on April 18 and concluded today. A total of 65 students of class XII were selected by the Directorate of Education, Government of Uttarakhand, but only 35 students, including 13 female students, could attend this camp. These students came from various districts of Uttarakhand like Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Srinagar, Uttarkashi, apart from Dehradun and Haridwar. Dr Mandira Aggarwal, corporate social responsibility head of the university said the objective of ‘ABHILASHA’ camp was to assist the deserving students from the hinterland of Uttarakhand to prepare for various entrance examinations of engineering streams, like All-India Engineering Entrance Examinations (AIEEE). The participating students are subjected to a 10-day extensive coaching in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. The teaching faculty not only sharpens their knowledge but also focuses on the various problem-solving techniques.

Speaking at the concluding ceremony of ‘ABHILASHA-2011’, chief guest Manisha Pawar, Secretary, School & Higher Education, Government of Uttarakhand, said she was encouraged by such initiatives.

Arun Dhand, camp director, said the Directorate of Education had assured that in future, students from districts falling under the Kumaon region would also participate in these camps.

Dehradun, April 27
Grappling with the problem of decreasing crop productivity, the Uttarakhand Agriculture Department has prepared a comprehensive soil analysis map of 13 districts that will guide the farmers in arresting fertility of soil and allow them to replenish their soil with the right mix of supplements.

The soil map points out to the absence of micronutrients comprising Boron, Sulphur and Zinc, in all the Blocks of the state.

“The entire region is saddled with the prospect of dwindling returns from agriculture, if steps are not taken to arrest the declining productivity of the agricultural land.The soil mapping is expected to provide information to the farmers so that they can opt for the right varieties of crops,” said Madan Lal, Director Agriculture.

In the hills, soil erosion is the main reason behind depletion of nutrients, while in the plain areas of the state, it may be due to over-exploitation. A total of 14 per cent of the area is under agriculture production in Uttarakhand.

Besides, the Agriculture Department is also planning to establish soil-testing laboratories in five more places beginning this year. The laboratories will be set up in Dehradun, Haridwar, Bageshwar, Champawat and Almora, equipped with spectrophotometers.

“As of now, there are two existing soil testing laboratories in the state at Srinagar (Garhwal) and Rudrapur (Kumaon). The new laboratories will be funded under the centrally-sponsored scheme. The micronutrient deficiencies of zinc, iron, manganese and boron are widespread and are associated with specific soils or soil-cropping systems. This has resulted in the soil becoming a poor food crop producer,” said Madan Lal.

He said unless immediate steps were taken to replenish the micronutrient reserves, the soil would lose all its fertility. The improper use of fertilizers has worsened the problem at many places. “The increasing use of fertilizers, generally devoid of micronutrients, has brought about the problem related to micronutrient deficiencies by depleting the resources in the soil. Though fertilizers are essential for increasing production, they should be used very judiciously. Armed with the knowledge about the soil, the farmers are expected to boost agricultural activities, he emphasised.