The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Congress workers sore about lack of strategy Rajeev Khanna Nainital, May 7 Discontent is brewing among the rank and file of the Congress over the failure on the part of the leadership to put its house in order and put its act together. The Congress workers at the lower level are discontented with the failure on the part of the leadership to come up with a clear-cut strategy for taking on the state government even as merely a few months are left for the Assembly elections. These workers are also angry at the disjointed and individualistic drives being carried out by the leaders who are seen as potential candidates for the post of the Chief Minister. Talking to The Tribune, some of the leaders from the Kumaon region have questioned the wisdom of the party leadership, even those who have been given the responsibility of the state at the central organisational level. These leaders, while pointing to the political resolution passed by the party at its state-level convention in Dehradun on April 10, have asserted,"In its own resolution, the party has accepted that the party prospects were hit badly by the rebel candidates in the 2007 Assembly elections. At that time there were 18 rebels who had contested and today all of them are enjoying a high position within the party organization. Our question is that will the party be giving the ticket to them this time and put its weight behind them and what would it do if they once again rebel on being denied ticket. A difference of 18 seats in an Assembly of 70 is quite a lot."The party also accepted in its resolution that the Congress managed a clean sweep in the 2009 parliamentary elections since it was united. Another aspect of the resolution that has become a part of the discussion among the Congress workers at the lower level is the party observation that although the Congress was able to attract the Dalits and minorities to its fold in 2009, the efforts of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to divide the Congress vote in certain pockets in order to have a hung Assembly is clearly visible. "Since we already have a Dalit state unit chief, this observation has a lot to say if read between the lines," say the Congress workers. It is a well-known fact that the BSP has been gradually increasing its voter base since the state came into existence. Although the BSP's area of influence has mainly been the plains of Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar district, of late the party has been making strenous efforts to find a foothold in the hills also. Its leaders have been working a lot in certain areas. The Congress workers further point out,"Even before winning the poll, we have five candidates for the post of the Chief Minister in the waiting. This sends out a wrong message to the electorate. Just when all Congress leaders are carring out a Satyagraha Yatra in the region, we have the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Harak Singh Rawat on an individual tour. Former Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tewari has also been sending confusing signals." Even the party in charge for Uttarakhand Anees Ahmed had recently accepted that the party till now has failed to act as a responsible opposition to take up the people- centric issues.
	Most farmers go in for crop insurance scheme Neena Sharma Tribune News Service Dehradun, May 7 Farmers in the state no longer have to worry about the vagaries of weather playing havoc with their crops, as most of the farmers have got themselves covered under the Agriculture Insurance Scheme. The scheme is benefiting the farmers of the state by providing easy insurance for their crops. Over 16,000 farmers had insured their Rabi crops, mainly wheat, till March this year, and the number of beneficiaries is expected to rise further. “As is the case, the agriculture insurance for Rabi crops begins in October and will continue till May 31. Out of the total 16,096 farmers, who have got their Rabi crops insured till March, a maximum number of 3,150 farmers are from Dehradun district, and about 1,600 are from the hilly region,” said Om Prakash, Secretary, Agriculture Directorate. In the initial years, the Agriculture Department had a tough task at hand, as the farmers were not keen to insure their crops and it took a lot of persuasion by the government to finally get the programme going. Besides farmers in the plains, farmers belonging to hilly areas in the state are also availing benefits of the insurance scheme. “Over the years, since the inception of the state in 2002, the Agriculture Insurance Scheme has become popular among farmers, particularly in the hilly areas, as these parts have been the worst hit due to below normal rainfall during the recent years. Krishi melas and awareness programmes, launched by the government, have managed to provide some information to them,” said Madan Lal, Director, Agriculture Directorate. While 561 farmers from Nainital (about 480 farmers from Nainital’s plains and the rest 81 farmers from Nainital's hilly areas) have got their crops insured, Chamoli district is not far behind with 383 farmers getting their wheat crop insured. Presently, the crops that are being covered under the agriculture insurance scheme in the state are: wheat, paddy, ginger, potato and local cereals. With the recent introduction of the modified scheme in two districts of Dehradun and Haridwar, it was expected that more farmers would be able to manage risk in agricultural production in a better way. “The Modified National Agriculture Insurance Scheme will succeed in stabilising farm income, particularly during crop failure on account of natural calamities,” said a company official from ICICI Lombard General Insurance that is responsible for carrying out insurance in Dehradun district, while Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC) has been entrusted with the task of getting crops of farmers insured in Haridwar.
	Elephant electrocuted near Haridwar Tribune News Service Haridwar, May 7 An elephant was found dead at Jiopata village 6km from Haridwar today shocking villagers and wildlife lovers. The elephant died owing to a direct contact with a high-tension electricity wire line while it was trying to cross the agricultural land late in the night. As soon as Forest Department officials were informed of the incident, a joint team reached the spot where the elephant was found dead. The 11,000-volt electricity line claimed life of the elephant that fell just a few metres away trying to get away from the shock. The carcass of the elephant was sent for a postmortem, which confirmed death due to electric shock.Forest officials blame the Electricity Department for keeping the height of high-tension wires quite low and not paying any heed to their requests to shift these lines from the area where elephants roam around quite frequently. According to the villagers, the movement of the jumbos in the area is almost a routine one, but it increases particularly in the late evenings. Villager Vijay Saini said the spot where the accident occurred was an agricultural plot, but elephants came to the place to reach sugarcane fields as well as water trenches. In the past few years, a couple of elephants have died accidentally coming into contact with high-tension wire lines. Wildlife lovers have expressed shock as well as resentment over the laxity shown by governmental departments when it comes to safety of wild animals, mostly elephants, in the state. Dr Ritesh Joshi, a veteran researcher on Asian elephants at Rajaji National Park in Haridwar, said whatever be the cause of accidental deaths, the innocent animals were becoming the targets, which could be avoided by stern adherence to safety measures by the departments concerned.
	Man beats up wife with help of 2 friends Nainital, May 7 In a gruesome case, reported from the Dineshpur area of Udham Singh Nagar, a woman was allegedly beaten up black and blue by her husband and two of his friends. The accused allegedly raped her also. The police has registered a case of assault in the matter and says that the section of rape would be added when reports of her medical examination come in and confirm the charge. The accused are also learnt to have dumped the victim near her house. It is learnt that the victim had been married to a youth from the Gularbhoj area about two months back. The couple failed to get along and the husband, Subhash, used to beat his wife over petty issues. This had led to the victim coming back to her parents' house some days back. It was on late Thursday night that Subhash entered her parents' house with two of his friends, Lakhan and Rakesh, and took her away forcibly. They went on to allegedly thrash her. SThe mother of the victim has even charged them with having raped her. After this, they dragged the victim, who was in a semiconscious state, back to her parents' house and dumped her outside. This incident was followed by a massive demonstration by the women of the area outside the police station, demanding the arrest of the accused. The police has booked the three on charges of assault and are investigating the charges of alleged rape. — TNS
	Preparations for India-Tibet trade begin Our Correspondent Pithoragarh, May 7 The subdivisional administration of Dharchula has started preparations for India-Tibet trade, which begins every year from June 1.“In connection with the preparations, we have called a meeting of traders on May 10,” said Abhishek Tripathi, SDM of Dharchula . According to the SDM, the administration this year is thinking of issuing trade passes to helpers as well. In the absence of such passes, the helpers face rough treatment in Tibet during the trade.“We will settle all formalities concerning the trade in May itself,” said the SDM. India-Tibet (China) border trade, which was open, prospered till 1962 when the India-China conflict took place. It was resumed in 1992 and has been continuing from the Lipulekh pass situated in the Byans valley in Dharchula subdivision. “The traders will demand at the meeting on May 10 a money exchange facility at Gunji (Kumaon), lifting of the ban on the import of live animals from Tibet and extending the period of the trade up to October 31 ,” said Padam Singh Raypa, president of the Bharat-Tibet Byapar Samiti,an organisation of tribal traders. According to the administration, hundreds of persons go to Tibet for trade.Chinese traders did not come to the Indian mart of Gunji despite the government having provided facilities for Tibetan traders there.“Every year we invite Chinese traders to the Indian area for trade.However,not a single Chinese trader has come to Gunji over the past 20 years,” said the SDM.
	Geographers to study tribal society in Himalayan region Tribune News Service Pithoragarh, May 7 A 20-member team of international geographers reached Darkot village of Munsiyari today for an excursion to study the effect of globalisation on the tribal society living in the Himalayan region. The team, led by Nobel laureate Prof Martin Price, was welcomed by volunteers of the Malla Johar Vikash Samiti, and Johar club , who took the team around the village and showed them the traditional activities on which the people depended. Prof Raghubir Chand, Department of Geography at Kumaon University, Nainital, who is also the convener of the excursion, said, “The main purpose of this excursion is to study how these Himalayan villages were self-sufficient for centuries, and after globalisation, these villages have gradually become dependent on the government. The team also wants to find out how the traditional bases of these marginal societies are breaking down,” said Chand. The team included, besides Prof Martin Price, Prof Donald Lynch of University of Alaska, USA, Prof Kim Doochul, Yokohama University of Japan, Prof Ruth Kark, Hebrew University, Israel, Prof Water Leimgruber from the University of Fribourg (Universite de Fribourg) , Switzerland, and Prof Alderliev, Vice Chancellor of International University, Kirgizstan . The main speech was delivered by Prof Alderliev, who compared the tribal society of Kirgizstan with the Sauka (also called Bhootiya tribesmen of Uttarakhand) tribal society and said, “From the climatic point of view these mountains are far better than those in my country.” Former Information Commissioner of the state, Dr RS Tolia, delivered the VIIIth Pt Nain Singh Memorial lecture in Munsiyari. He talked about the beginning, the rise and the fall of Tibetan trade from these Valleys. He said it was Hiuen Tsan , the Chinese traveller, who opened the doors of Tibet for trade on which the tribal people of the Himalayan region later became dependent. Dr Tolia also said the former close ties could be resurrected by opening up this trade from all the passes of these Valleys . The team of international geographers had reached Munsiyari from Nanital after taking part in a two-day conference of the International Geography Union.