Dehradun, May 14
While no big promises were made at the Ambassadors’ Meet that took place today, African countries, especially Nigeria and Senegal, evinced keen interest in the pharmaceutical and agriculture sectors.

An open invitation by the Nigerian First Counselor, Adebola O Labiran, to invest in Uttarakhand in the pharmaceutical sector brought smiles on the faces of representatives from the pharmaceutical sector.

“There is a tremendous scope for the sale of Indian medicines and these markets should be explored. Incentives such as tax holiday and free land will help attracting industrialists to these countries,” said Pramod Kalani, MD of Oasis Laboratories Private Limited.

He said most the pharmaceutical companies had received World Health Organisation Goods Manufacturing Practice certification that would be an asset for industries to export.

To this end, the Industries Association of Uttarakhand also facilitated a visit to the pharmaceutical cluster of foreign dignitaries yesterday.

On the other hand, Principal Secretary (Finance) Alok Jain said Uttarakhand had a unique advantage, as Dehradun was located near the NCR.

President of the Industries Association of Uttarakhand (IAU) Pankaj Gupta said the meet provided an excellent opportunity to entrepreneurs of Uttarakhand to build bridges with these countries.

Principal Secretary Utpal Kumar (drinking water) said: “There is a tremendous scope of exporting organic and ayurvedic products to countries such as Singapore and Malaysia and we can also reserve certain percentage of seats at our engineering colleges and universities for African countries ,” said Utpal Kumar.

Earlier, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who offered mementos to the participants from 12 countries, inaugurated the meet.

Dehradun, May 14
When in the early nineteenth century they were transported from British India as indentured labourers to Indian Ocean and Caribbean islands to work variously in the sugar plantation fields, their ties were snapped forever with the country of their origin.

While Indian Ocean nations like Mauritius were able to establish links with the country of their origin, for Trinidad and Tobago, a small Caribbean island nation, it has taken almost 165 years to do so.

“On the diplomatic front our efforts to establish ties are still in the infancy; we have recently abolished visa requirements for Indians visiting Trinidad and Tobago,” said Chandradath Singh, High Commissioner of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He was in Doon today to participate in the Ambassadors’ Meet on Trade and Business Opportunities organised by the Indian Industries Association of Uttarakhand and the Government of Uttarakhand.

The High Commissioner said that notwithstanding the delayed start at the diplomatic level, relations between the two countries were provided the necessary warmth through the game of cricket. “Indian teams frequently travel to the West Indies, and with our country, too, cricketing ties have gone from strength to strength. In fact, some years back these were the only links we had,” he said.

He said the two countries had also started ministerial exchanges and the Ministry of Overseas set up in India was also playing a key role in taking the relationship on to a new plane.

High Commissioner Chandradath Singh’s ancestors migrated years ago from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. “While most of the ancestors of Indians residing in the West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago were from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, my ancestors were from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. To this day we adhere to religious rituals whose seed was laid by our ancestors,” he said.

He said the death of Sathya Sai Baba was mourned by thousands in Trinidad. “In fact, our acting Prime Minister had publicly mourned his death.”

On his first visit to Dehradun, he called on the Uttarakhand Government to join hands with his country in exploring opportunities in the agricultural and education sectors.

Thousands in Trinidad and Tobago have mourned the death of Sathya Sai Baba. 

Dehradun, May 14
The Georgian Ambassador Extraordinary, Zurab Katchkatchishvili, today sought cooperation from Uttarakhand for investing in agriculture, forests and resource and development sector.

Speaking with The Tribune, he said that Uttarakhand and Georgia could gain from each other as they had similar topographies. “We can learn from each others’ experiences in the field of agriculture, forest and education,” said Zurab. At least 10 companies from India are engaged in power and infrastructure development activities in Georgia, the country that was earlier part of the erstwhile Soviet Union.

The Georgian Ambassador Extraordinary, Zurab Katchkatchishvili, said the Indian companies had begun to show interest in investing in Georgia after the relationship between the two countries was upgraded. “Jindal Power is engaged in exploration of oil, while CCI Company is engaged in the biggest hydroelectric power project (700 megawatt capacity) at Khudony," he said. 

Dehradun, May 14
The roads leading to Jhakan came to a standstill for about an hour here today when Sanjay Shetri, district president, Yuva Morcha Mul Niwasi Samaj Party, climbed the hoarding located in the area and refused to come down till the hoardings were removed. He only came down after the interference by the Municipal Corporation Assistant Executive Engineer HR Rawat who ensured that all illegal hoardings would be removed by Monday.

While talking to the media, Shetri claimed that the government had sold the footpath areas to the hoarding mafias for their benefits, causing trouble to the residents of the area.

He further stated that the hoardings were just 5-10 feet above the ground level, which caused difficulty for the passersby, and due to this the road had also become accident-prone and any mishap could take place any moment. Shetri affirmed that the party had many a time written to the state government about the same but no action had been taken by them till now and the party was giving the last warning today. If they failed to remove these hoardings, the party members would make sure that the work all over the city was put on hold. 

Dehradun, May 14
The police has dispatched teams to Himachal Pradesh to trace the two men who allegedly murdered a resident of Yamunanagar at a village in Vikasnagar on Thursday morning.

They are supposedly somewhere in Paonta Sahib in Himachal where the police is trying to trace them. Neeraj was found lying on the floor inside a house, badly stabbed in his stomach by locals.

“Police teams have been formed and sent to Himachal to arrest the accused,” Shaspur Circle Officer (CO) Sarita Dobhal told The Tribune. She said the motive for the murder could not beestablished as yet.

However, police sources said possible reason behind the murder could be an illegitimate relationship. Elaborating, the sources said the two alleged killers, Ravish and Ranjit, alias Rana, and victim, Neeraj, all were of a criminal background.

When Neeraj was in jail, his wife, mother of a child, started living with Ravish and also had a child from him. But the matter turned worse when Neeraj came out of the jail and the woman went back to live with him.

This irked Ravish and he had a dispute with Neeraj. The former decided to eliminate the latter. On Thursday, Ravish along with his friend, Ranjit, brought Neeraj to his village on some pretext on a bike. But later the two friends killed him with a sharp-edged weapon, the sources added.

Dehradun, May 14
As staff members of the local Treasury are on leave for one week, it has caused a temporary shortage of supply of stamp papers. This has enabled stamp vendors, who had stock with them, to earn more by selling stamp papers at higher prices.

Though officials deny the shortage of stamp papers, at the same time they accept that due to the absence of the staff, they are unable to issue the same.

Talking to TNS, Dehradun District Chief Treasury Officer PC Khare said: “There is no shortage of stamp papers in the district. However, two of the officials are on leave for a week following which stamp papers were not issued to vendors this week.”

Sources in the department said they were unable to provide stamp papers to vendors due to a shortage of trained staff.

“Only qualified persons can count the amount in lakhs per day and make distinction between fake and original currency notes, which otherwise is not possible. This is the main reason that stamp papers have not been provided to vendors this week,” they claimed.

“We have asked stamp sellers to deposit their money (cost of stamp papers) in bank and collect stamp papers from the Treasury office, but venders denied to do so,” an official said.

Rajan Malhotra who visited the Tehsil yesterday to get the stamp paper said the rate of these stamp papers varies as per the merchant in courts and the estate office. “Due to its shortage, we are forced to buy papers at higher price as vendors sell it according to their wish,” he said.

Tapas Khanna, another buyer, said stamp papers were being sold at higher cost in comparison to the actual price, as there was no one to check and stop them from selling at higher cost.

Khare said stamp papers would be available for vendors at the Treasury office from Monday onwards. 

Mussoorie, May 14
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar faction) will oppose the outsiders, seeking jobs in the recently announced government posts in Group “C” category. This was stated by the state president of the UKD, Trivendar Panwar, in a press conference held in Mussoorie yesterday. Panwar said the youth of the state had sacrificed a lot during the demand for a separate state and they should be considered on priority basis. Panwar also said that the UKD would oppose the plans of the state government to centralise Pant Nagar Agriculture University. He said a centralised university would mean loss to the applicants from the state who at present enjoyed preferential treatment in enrolment.

He further said that the job opportunities for the people of the state would also diminish as the outsiders would also contest for the posts created in the university, which did not augur well for the job-starved state. He also said that the BJP and the Congress were jointly conspiring to sell out the resources for a meagre amount.

The UKD also condemned the raising of the application fee to Rs 500 by the state government and said that it was an “ugly joke” with the unemployed youth of the state. Anwar also questioned the intention of the government, to provide jobs to the people from Uganda, Bhutan and the Tibetan community. Panwar further demanded that the government should raise the age limit to 40 years for the posts in Group “C” cateogory. Targeting the bureaucracy, he said the BJP was playing in the hands of an autocratic bureaucracy which was not sensitive towards the youth of the hill state. Pramila Rawat, Latafat Hasan, and others were also present on the occasion.

Dehradun, May 14
Love for children and to help them make good human beings made Harender Juneja go in for teaching.

He started his career as a free lancer English teacher with the British Council, New Delhi, and later started his own public school at Bhaniawala, Dehradun, in 1990. He also opened a preparatory school.

Juneja is at present the Director of Maple Bear, an elementary school in Dehradun, where he, along with his wife, is putting in all his efforts to bring in difference in the upbringing of every child.

He says: “My day as a teacher starts at 7 am when I reach the school for work, adding that, “It was my aim to be a teacher.

He says, “If attention is paid towards children from the beginning, they can be moulded into a good human being.”

Juneja also boasts of having the best team of the assisting staff in the town that prepares children for entrance tests to take admission in good schools like Welham Girls’ School, Hopetown Girls’ School and The Doon School.

He opines that the nurturing of children is a combined effort of children and teachers. “Parents should spend time with kids and should be open with kids,” he added.

He is also a religious person and visits gurdwara daily. He, along with his students, also works with some NGOs in the community service that can help the masses.

“My wife and children have always supported me. I want to give my children and students a bright future ahead with the capability of handing all pressures in life,” he added. 

Dehradun, May 14
Minister of Social Welfare Matbar Singh Kandari today distributed cheques among beneficiaries of widow, handicap and old-age pension schemes.

At a camp organised today at Gandhi Park, the Minister distributed 1,237 cheques to beneficiaries of old-age pension scheme, 300 to widows and 22 cheques to handicap persons.

The minister said he had personally overseen the distribution of cheques to ensure transparency. “Incidents of bogus beneficiaries have been reported in some districts, which we are investigating,” he said.

He said the Social Welfare Department would also introduce a cluster plan in which beneficiaries would be able to draw pension cheques from banks near their villages or homes in the town.

Dehradun, May 14
Mountaineering is an integral part of adventure activities at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC). The cadets take a keen interest in mountaineering by going for various adventure courses at the National Institute of Moutaineering (NIM), Uttarkashi, Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling and Jawahar Lal Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, JIM, Pahalgam (J&K). The RIMC cadets have also scaled nine peaks, some of which are Mt Banderpunch, Mt Jogin III, Mt Bhagirathi II, Mt Deo-Tibba, etc. “Limca Book of World Records” also holds the name of RIMC cadets.

A total of 31 cadets of the RIMC, Dehradun, completed their basic mountaineering course from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institue of Mountaineering & Allied Sports (ABVIMAS), Manali, successfully as a prelude to their next mountaineering expedition to Mount Srikanth (6,133 metres) later this month.

The cadets started off with rock climbing in the rocks of the Pir-Panjal range. This was accompanied by rope-knot practice, jummaring and absailing. After the rock craft, the cadets proceeded for Solang (8,500 ft.) where the cadets trekked to Mount Patalsu (12,600 ft.) where they had the first glimpse of the snow-covered mountains. This was followed by camping at Dhundhi (9,000 ft.). The cadets practised the techniques of snow craft and ice craft at Panchlni Thatch (10,000 ft.). The cadets also trekked to Bakarthatch (10,700 ft.), near Beas Glacier, which is the permanent base camp of ABVIMAS. The cadets trekked for almost 150 km in the 26- day course and the best part of the whole training was that all the 31 cadets successfully summited Mount Balchandran (15,050 ft.) during the last part of the training.

The cadets acquired the five most essential things required for mountaineering trekking, rock craft, snow craft, ice craft and elevation gaining, according to CS Vishwakarma, coordinator of the course.

The cadets also got the opportunity to meet Rajeev Sharma, Deputy-Director, ABVIMAS, a renowned mountaineer, and Dicky Dolma, both of whom had climbed Mount Everest.

The team was accompanied by Sanjay Kumar, an experienced mountaineer himself who has already summited five peaks in the Garhwal region and one in the Dhauladhar range above 6,000 metres.

Col PK Kumaria, Commandant, RIMC, appreciated the efforts of the cadets and gave his best wishes for the forthcoming expedition. 

Dehradun, May 14
Even as the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board prepares to promote Tons, another major river rafting stretch after the Ganga, the Sahasik Paryatan

Sangharsh Samiti, a conglomerate of rafting companies set up by local entrepreneurs, is all set to upset the board’s plans.

Rafting companies that mostly engage in white water rafting in the Ganga have decided to oppose the Tons River Rafting Festival proposed to take place on September 20-21. Their grievance is against the government’s policy to levy hefty entertainment tax on rafting companies.

At a meeting of the samiti held in Rishikesh, the entrepreneurs decided to oppose the proposed Tons festival. The samiti members said they would not accept the proposed 20 per cent entertainment tax on tourism activities like river rafting and bungee jumping. They would now “expose” the tourism board’s false claims of promoting adventure tourism in the state.

The samiti has decided to write to the tourism development board about its proposed Tons protest. Deepak Bhatt, president of the Sahasik Paryatan Sangharsh Samiti, said by levying hefty taxes on rafting companies, the government only wanted to discourage adventure tourism in the state. “There are also efforts to auction Ganga river beaches. This would put an unnecessary financial burden on rafting companies”, Bhatt said, adding that they would oppose such policies of the state authorities.

He also expressed reservations on Uttarakhand’s proposed draft policy on river rafting and beach camping. Those engaged in adventure tourism should have a say in the framing of the policy.

Bhatt alleged that certain bureaucrats aimed to introduce the auction of beaches in a clandestine manner. He threatened to stop rafting activities in June and stage a protest.

Rafting companies and the state authorities have been at loggerheads for a long time. Rafting operators accuse the state authorities of high-handedness and harassment even as the authorities have taken a stand that rafting companies earn much and pay very little revenue to the state government. The forest authorities maintain that rafting activities need to be limited due to environmental considerations.

Dehradun, May 14
Carman School surpassed The Aryan School 20-5 in boys’ section on the second day of the District Sub-Junior (Under-14) Basketball Championship held at Doon International School here today.

In this match, Sahil (seven points) played a pivotal role for the winning team. Arjun chipped in with two points for Aryan. Pestle Weed College edged past SGS 16-14. Shoriya top scored with 10 points while Ravinder scored eight in the match. — TNS

Dehradun, May 14
Cantt Blue edged past Vijay Cantt 5-4 in the tie-breaker round on the inaugural day match of the 3rd President Cup football tournament being organised by Doon Valley Self-Reliant Cooperative here on Pavilion Ground. The two sides played a neck and neck match as the play ended on nil in the stipulated time.

While in the penalty shootouts, Dipesh, Suraj, Manish, Arju and Anshul scored for Cantt Blue. Madhur, Nitin, Siddharth and Jatin struck a goal for Vijay Cantt that lost the match by a narrow margin. Earlier, AK Kala, managing director, state cooperative federation, who was the chief guest, inaugurated the competition.