Dehradun, April 29
The work remained paralysed in the district courts of the state where the entire advocate fraternity held vigorous protests, and all over the state, against the alleged threat given to former president and Uttarakhand Wakf Board (UWB) member, Razia Beig, by Social Welfare Minister Matbar Singh Kandari.

Kandari allegedly pressurised Razia to extend her support to the controversial chairman of the Uttarakhand Wakf Board, Haji Sharafat Rao Ali, whose alleged misdeeds, she had been exposing from time to time before media.

No legal work was done in Dehradun district courts as well and the court premises remained closed for the whole day.

Beig said she did not get any apology from Kandari till date but in case he made any positive gestures, she would be ready to hold talks with him over the matter. In the absence of any clarification from his side, she said, the protests would continue to intensify in future.

Nainital, April 29
Senior Congress leader and Union Minister Harish Rawat has lashed out at the state Chief Minister, Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank, and the government led by him on the issue of revelations that have come to light regarding misuse of funds for organising the Kumbh at Hardwar in the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).

Rawat has asked Nishank to show some respect to the institution and remove all ministers and officials whose names figure among those, accused of misuse of funds. He has asked Nishank to order a probe into the matter. “The Chief Minister should request the Centre to order a probe by the CBI into the matter. There has been swindling of more than 50 per cent of the money provided by the Centre for organising the Kumbh,” said Rawat.

Lashing out at Nishank and the BJP, he said, “In Delhi, a mere leakage of a portion of the report (on 2G Spectrum) leads them to demand resignations from the ministers but what about this case? There are a series of irregularities pointed out in the report. “Rawat pointed out that the CAG report went on to show how funds were diverted, works were not executed and those works that were to be permanent in nature were done temporarily and several other violations.” He said,” Those who have been doing politics on the water of the Ganga have themselves sullied it by such an act.”

Replying to a query on the developments related to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on the 2G Spectrum issue, he said that in a democracy decisions were always taken on the basis of majority and the people are the best judge of the developments. He also raised the question whether the PAC could go beyond the scope of audit and even take up issues of governance.

Meanwhile, Rawat has asked the Uttarakhand Government to increase its budgetary outlay for agriculture so that the state can get additional funds for development in the sector under the National Agriculture Development Plan (NADP).

Talking to mediapersons here on Friday, Rawat said that Uttarakhand had been allocated Rs 134 crore under the NADP for the current financial year, which is a considerable allocation given the fact that the state had got just Rs 110 crore in total over the last four years.

Stating that there is an immediate need of interventions to save the agriculture in both the Terai-Bhabar and the hilly regions of the state, he asserted that the yield had to be accelerated.

Rawat said the Centre had initiated four major programmes for improving agriculture. He said that the first of these was a Rs 300 crore plan aimed at replenishing micro nutrients in the soil. Then there is a plan with a similar outlay that is aimed at promoting cultivation of coarse grains like Manduva and then making their clusters. He further stated that there were plans aimed at fodder development and promoting exclusive pulse-growing villages as clusters.

Dehradun, April 29
Starting as small suppliers of khukri to the Gurkha regiment, stationed here during the British Raj, little did one anticipate that the Dehradun-based Windlass Steel craft would one day acquire the Marto, a leading European company in Spain, that manufactures decorative historical swords.

While the company officials here are tight-lipped about the total value of the acquisition, after this giant leap taken yesterday, the company has become the largest company in the world that manufactures decorative swords. “It is a great tactical move in terms of quality as the company has become the biggest in the world and has already established its credentials in a place no less than Hollywood,” said Pankaj Gupta, President of Industries Association (Uttarakhand).

The acquisition will also include Marto's two sister companies, Bermejo, which manufactures military dress swords for many international governments, and Midas, a high-end jewellery manufacturer catering to the world's gift market, said the company’s press note.

In fact the Windlass Steel Craft Company, set up in 1943, acquired a reputation of sorts when it began supplying special tin caps worn by soldiers of Scotland Yard. Soon it graduated to purchasing film rights of movies with historical plots for providing battle gear. As of now, the Rs 40-100 crore company makes three types of products: collectors’ items, edged weapons for the world’s elite armed forces and replicas for Hollywood movies. The company exports 50,000 to 60,00 swords every year. It has provided props to the biggest Hollywood productions like “Gladiator”, “The Lord of The Rings”, “Troy” and “The Mummy Returns” and manufactured some amazing licensed replicas of many top collectible items.

“The company has been supplying licensed replicas that have a historical accuracy of battle-gear like swords, sabers and helmets to Hollywood, since 1979,”said Major-Gen Chander Prakash Sabharwal, Chief Executive Officer of the company.

These masterpieces go through the process of hand forging, hand polishing and hand grinding carried at units scattered on the outskirts of Dehradun. Historically, this small town has been home to top quality steel craft that falls under handicrafts and basking in the reflected glory are around 15-20 units engaged in exporting armour and decorative swords to United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany and Columbia.

“We are governed by the Arms Act so a proper licence has to be procured before exporting these products that have blunt edges,” said Irshad Khan, properitor, Sharp Edge, that is also exporting decorative armoury, comprising of ceremonial swords, helmets and other headgears to Germany and Columbia and had also provided props for Hindi Film ‘Veer’. 

Dehradun, April 29
A resident of Mohkumpur Khurd, Ram Naresh, who invented an eco-friendly device to be fitted on the petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles to control air pollution, gave a demonstration of the device here today.

Naresh had been honoured by former Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala for inventing the pollution-control machine at such an economical cost.

Ram Naresh said: “This device can be fitted on both two and four-wheel vehicles. With a modification, the machine can check carbon emissions from both petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles.”

“I have been working hard on the device from a long time. By carrying out a few more modifications, the device can also control pollution in air,” asserted Ram Naresh, who is employed with the Public Works Department.

Dehradun, April 29
As many as 81 employees related to quarrying in the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) have been forgotten and abandoned by officials and the employees’ associations of the GMVN who are observing a strike for the past many days in pursuance of their demands. Surinder Singh Rawat, a quarry worker, said, “All employees of the GMVN are seeking regularisation and are quite close to getting that. But no one is thinking about us. Those who had been working continuously till 2007 have been included in the list, then we, too, should not have been left out as we, too, fall in the same category.”

The grievances of these employees are not only confined to the issue of regularisation. The latest in the series is deprivation of an increased allowance of Rs 2000 for grade III and 1200 for grade IV. They are fighting on that front as well. Rawat said, “The orders were released to provide us with the increased allowance from August 15 last year after we observed a strike with the backing of vice-president Raghunath Singh Negi but we did not get the enhanced sum till date, though 13 other juniors amongs us got the perks.”

In connection with the ban imposed on quarrying in many of the big rivers of the state by the High Court in 2008, which has been relaxed now in a few cases, the fate of these 81 people had been hanging in the balance ever since then.

The quarrying work even otherwise remains suspended for three months from July to September every year. Despite all these factors, these employees claim that they are useful and providing GMVN with Rs 25 lakh quarterly from the quarrying activity permitted in Bihari Garh, Haridwar and Roorkie.

Pithoragarh, April 29
Seven villages, which are supposed to get electricity from a micro electricity project in the Madkot area of the district, are up in arms against the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA), as it has failed to supply electricity to these villages.

The transformer through which electricity is supplied to these villages got burnt immediately after the start of a powerhouse of the project at Seraghat six months ago.

“We have decided to start an agitation against the agency as all the seven villages are bound to use kerosene and candles to light their houses, which is not sufficient enough for the students to continue their studies and for the villagers to protect their crops from wild animals,” said Digar Singh Kalakoti, a social worker of the area.

The agency has constructed a 350-kilowatt electricity project at Seraghat in the Madkot area of Munsiyari subdivision to electrify 22 villages of the Madkot area six months ago.

“The officials of the agency have not visited the affected villages, since they abandoned the project following the burning of the transformer. Wild animals are destroying our vegetable crops, which are the main source of our income in the area,” said Kalakoti.

“The officials of the agency many a time gave them assurances about replacing the damaged transformer with a new one, but nothing has happened so far.

The villagers have now decided to start an agitation on the issue despite the assurance by Pithoragarh District Magistrate NS Negi,” said Kailash Koranga, another social worker of the area.

Haridwar, April 29
The city is abuzz with the election campaigns of various employees unions seeking affiliation to the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) Union. Such is the atmosphere that not only in BHEL township but also in the nearby areas of Ranipur, Jwalapur, Shivalik Nagar and Roshanabad the heat of the election fever can be felt.

From door-to-door campaigning and public meetings to advertisements, the contesting unions are leaving no stone unturned to make sure they win in this prestigious election. A total of 14 unions are in the fray of which the maximum percentage vote garnering one will be declared the number one while others as per their percentage share will be bracketed in the numerical order. Those unions which don’t garner minimum 10 pc of the votes polled will not be counted in this numerical order.

With the BHEL union election has a significant importance in the public sector undertaking having two units namely Central Foundry Forge Plant (CFFP) and Heavy Electrical Engineering Plant (HEEP). Various unions vie for the affiliation, which gives the winning union consent of the BHEL management and right to represent thousands of employees working in the company.

Two unions, the Heavy Electrical Workers Trade Union and the Central Foundry Forge Union, have formed an alliance. Union chief Ram Yash Singh informed The Tribune that their union for the past couples of years had been fighting for the rights of employees and if their union got elected then they would make sure that their demands were met instantly.

“We have underlined our demands in a priority-based manner, be it payment of arrear, which has been delayed for almost two years, upgrade of the canteen facility and protection of the rights of the workers,” said Ram Yash.

While the BHEL Workers Union, too, has pitched in all its resources to make sure their candidates emerge victorious with union posters having been pasted at major intersections, public places and roadsides.

At a huge rally today, BP Ojha, chief of the BHEL Workers Union, said many unions had retired engineers, supervisors and other officer-rank members in their executive committee, which was a matter of concern as how could a labour think of protection of his rights by such unions when they have retired management cadre on their committees.

Meanwhile, the BHEL management has made it mandatory for the unions contesting in the election to have at least one-year affiliation. While the decision has been welcomed by old unions, it has generated discontent among the new ones. The BHEL Majdoor Trade Union has even filed a writ in the Nainital High Court against the decision of the management.

“With changing times the proportion of election campaign in the BHEL election has also taken a huge leap but its in sync as we have to reach out to thousands of employees working in various units to make sure we cover each and every workers’ problem,” said Rajveer Singh, general secretary of the BHEL Majdoor Kalyan Parishad, who filed his nomination papers to the accompaniment of the traditional ‘dhol damou’.

Dehradun April 29
The fourth year law students of the ICFAI University, Dehradun, organised a farewell party for the final year students here today. The farewell party, christened ‘Au Revoir’, was organised on the premises of the college, where junior students presented various cultural events and game shows for their seniors.

On the occasion, the Director, Faculty of Law, extended his good wishes to the final year students. Accompanying him was Prof GP Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, Dr SC Deorani, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof PK Dash, Registrar, and the deans and the directors of various departments.

The seniors, who are on the verge of passing out, were given ‘titles’ by their immediate juniors. Vinesh Deswal was awarded the title of ‘Mr ICFAI’, and Rashmeet Kaur was declared ‘Miss ICFAI’. There were also the titles for ‘Mr Evening’ and ‘Miss Evening’, which went to Pranay Raj Singh Jhala and Swati Sharma, respectively.

Apart from these titles, there were other special titles, ‘The Faculty’s Choice’, ‘The Best Entertainer’, ‘Picasso the Great’, ‘Miss Simplicity with Brain’ and ‘The Style Icon’. The final year students also shared their fond memories on the occasion.

Pithoragarh, April 29
The problem of drinking water in the villages situated on the Indo-Nepal border of the district, dominated the multipurpose camp held by Balwant Singh Bhauriyal, Uttarakhand Minister of Medical Education, at Gaurihat, today. The villagers complained about low voltage of electricity, and lack of motor roads and irrigation canals in the camp.

According to the press note released by the Information Department, the minister received 222 applications for financial help to construct a shelter. A number of certificates, including 30 of permanent residency, 22 certificates pertaining to income, and 18 caste certificates, were also made on the spot by the officers, besides providing a sum of Rs 75,000 to three beneficiaries under ‘Gaura Devi Kanyadhan Yojana’, and Rs 24,000 to five physically challenged under the disable pension scheme. 

Dehradun, April 29
The Uttarakhand skating team has been selected to take part in the 7th All-India Skating Championship to be held by the Uttar Pradesh Roller Skating Association in Meerut on May 29 and 30. The team will participate in rink races, road races, hockey matches and artistic show.