Dehradun, May 15
In the backdrop of the charges of alleged impropriety against his brother, Tehri Congress MLA Kishore Upadhyaya today said that he wanted a probe against any wrongdoing by his brother. Declaring his assets here today, he said that he was from a middle class rural background and had risen politically solely due to his links with the grassroots.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Upadhyaya claimed that he had been systematically targeted and there were people who were not comfortable seeing his growing political clout. In a letter written to Uttarakhand Chief Minister, which he made public at the press conference today, Upadhyaya said while he had a family property at Tehri, he had just a small Delhi Development Authority’s two-bedroom flat and 64 square feet shop in Saket, Delhi, that he had taken on rent. He said his two savings accounts at the State Bank of India, Dehradun, had a total of Rs 4 lakh deposited in them.

Upadhyaya said his wife, who was a teacher, owned 378 square metres of land in Sinola village which she had purchased through savings. He said his wife had a saving account in Punjab National Bank that had Rs 2 lakh deposited in it.

Referring to the accusation of land grabbing against his brother, Upadhyaya said he was for a probe against any of his family members. “I am strongly in favour of a probe, even if it is from the Central Bureau of Investigation”, Upadhyaya said, adding that if his brother had done anything wrong, he would be the first person to seek action against him.

Responding to a query about living in a ministerial bungalow for the the past seven years for which he was not entitled, Upadhyaya said he was not intentionally putting up in a ministerial accommodation in Dehradun. “I have written several letters to the Chief Minister and other authorities asking them to provide me an alternative accommodation so that I can vacate my present residence. But so far I have received no response,” he said. Interestingly, all legislators are putting up in the legislators’ hostel.

Upadhyaya has been staying in the ministerial bungalow even after being removed by former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tewari from his Council of Ministers in the downsizing of the ministry during the Congress regime. After the Congress lost power in the 2007 Assembly poll, Upadhyaya again became a legislator but failed to vacate the bungalow.

Upadhyaya pledged to continue with his struggle to get justice for the people of Tehri. He accused the Chief Minister of going back on his promise to redress the issues linked to Tehri raised by him recently. “I had ended my indefinite fast only because the Uttarakhand Chief Minister had assured me and my party’s leadership of addressing my concerns for Tehri, but the same Chief Minister is now going back on his promise,” Upadhyaya said.

Meanwhile, Dr Devender Bhasin, Chairman of the State Media Advisory Committee, has reacted strongly to Tehri Congress MLA Kishore Upadhyaya’s remark against Chief Minister asserting that the Congress MLA was trying to shield the acts of corruption committed by Congress leaders in the state.

In a statement issued here on Sunday, Dr Bhasin said Congress leaders, both in Uttarakhand and at the Centre, were indulging in rampant corruption. He said even the role of family members of the Congress leaders in acts of corruption could not be ruled out.

Dr Bhasin also took the opportunity to criticise the Central Government for rising petrol prices. He said the rising petrol prices would have a direct bearing on inflation, which was bound to rise subsequently.

Haridwar, May 15
Social activist and former Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh ideologue KN Gobindacharya has extended support to Uma Bharti’s indefinite fast, which has been launched by her on varied issues related to the Ganga in Uttarakhand.

Gobindacharya said he would support all agitations that would be launched to save the Ganga.

Gobindacharya had a talk with Uma Bharti at the agitating spot, the Divya Sewa Prem Mission on the foothills of the hilly range of Chandi Devi, while former legislator from Pauri Garhwal Mohan Singh Gaonwasi too spend the whole day at the venue.

Gobindacharya’s support to the agitation is being seen as vital and it is being expected that in the coming days, bigwigs from both the RSS and the BJP will be visiting Haridwar to meet Uma Bharti.

Gaonwasi said saving Dhari Devi temple was imperative, as it had deep religious sentiments associated with the people and just in the name of development, private firms should not be allowed to dictate terms. He said hydroelectric projects that were being operated in the state would have repercussions on the Ganga, so a review on such projects was justified.

When the report was filed, a meeting was taking place at the agitating venue, wherein 200-odd persons from various walks of life were present with Uma Bharti, extending their support to the agitation.

Dehradun, May 15
The fate of both the much-hyped hydroelectric projects of Tyuni Plasu (72 MW) and Arakot Tyuni (81 MW), which are to be built and handled by the Irrigation Department, has been in limbo. The first one hit the roadblock for the serious objections raised by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) over its detailed project report (DPR) while the second one has been pushed into the cold storage by the department itself.

The power starved state of Uttarakhand, which could get 273.67 MU from Tyuni Plasu and 404 MU from Arakot Tyuni, will have to wait indefinitely. The estimated costs (1300 crore) of both these projects may also multiply several times with the passage of time. Though Arakot Tyuni had got all the clearances from the MOEF regarding its DPR, the department does not seem in a hurry to start it. BK Tamta, Head of the Department, said: “The employees are not willing to switch over to the corporation. The insecurity of losing a permanent job and pension benefits are holding them up”. The Irrigation Department was allowed to set up a corporation in August last year to enable it to raise funds for the construction and management of both these projects, and get contracts from other government sectors as well.

Tamta said in the given situation, the department was thinking of raising funds by getting projects from other sources first, before taking up the Tyuni Arakot project.

Insiders thrashed the theory saying, “The employees are no longer getting benefits like pension after the directive of the Central Government, therefore, this argument holds no ground”. They emphasised if the department was willing so, it could send the employees on deputation at good remuneration for first few years and then might appoint people from outside after it had created base for the project and got into a stable financial position. The actual reason, they revealed, was that the officers and the employees did not want to shift from the comfy environs of Dehradun to small town Purola in Uttarkashi for good number of years where this project was to be built. The project, too, had become a target of intra-departmental ego clash, they said. Tamta, however, accepted toying with the idea of sending employees on deputation, but made it clear that the project was not on his priority for the time being.

The department on the other hand is getting a report prepared from the Science and Environment Department of Hemvanti Nandan Bahuguna University on the objections raised by the MOEF on the Tyuni Plasu project. It has been suggested to move the powerhouse location upstream by at least 1 km to prevent unfavorable river flow situation arising out of a series of dams on the location. The suggestion is likely to reduce the power generation from the project.

Dehradun, May 15
Due to the long drawn widening of the city’s junctions, the work on several new traffic lights which were to come up on these crossings has also stopped even as people continue
to suffer.

Work on seven of state capital’s junctions, including Tehsil Chowk, Darshan Lal Chowk, Landsdowne Chowk, Kanak Chowk, Globe Chowk, Sabzi Mandi Chowk and Kaulagarh Chowk couldn’t be started as the civic body is yet to complete the work of widening of these junctions,” RK Agarwal, one of the owners of the company, which is working on the whole project of installing lights, told The Tribune.

“However, at Ballupur Chowk and Dharampur Chowk, the work has been started and in a few days, the lights will be installed there,” he added.

He said at some of the junctions, lights were already there but they were all defunct and were being replaced. “They (lights) are all very old. They were installed by the Municipal Corporation and have been lying defunct,” he said.

Informing about the lights being installed in the city, Agarwal said, “These are all solar base lights with an LED bulb in it. Unlike ordinary lights which have a lot of wires in them, it has only two wires making it very easy to manage and maintain.”

These solar traffic signals in Doon have 24/7 a solar battery back-up and if need be then electric connection will be taken as a stand-by. Once all the lights are installed, all of them could be managed through the GPRS control system from the traffic office.

The timing of the signals can be changed according to the junction and the traffic flow on a particular road through computer. If there is some dharna or rally, the signals can be put on a blinking mode or stopped.

The traffic police officials said the coming up of traffic lights on all city junctions would help them in a big way to save their manpower vis-à-vis easing the traffic flow.

Nainital, May 15
Yet another instance of an armed skirmish between the Forest Department authorities and timber smugglers has come to light from Chorgaliya area near Haldwani on Saturday evening.

According to the information available, the incident took place in Nandhaur Range and this is the third time that firing has been reported from the area in the past three years.

It is learnt that the Forest Department personnel who were on a routine patrol in the Karakot area, came upon on a group of 15 persons who were busy cutting a tree. The matter was reported by the patrol team to senior officials who promptly dispatched a team comprising Forest Department officials and police personnel.

Seeing the personnel of the Forest Department and the police arrive, the alleged smugglers resorted to firing at them.

There was a retaliatory firing from the other side also. According to reports, the exchange of fire continued for about 20 minutes following which the alleged smugglers fled.

The authorities recovered some chopped wood of a Sal tree along with other implementes like a saw that was being used for chopping the trees.

Officials say that some of the allged smugglers have been identified and intense combing has been undertaken in the area to arrest them. Separate teams have been constituted to locate their whereabouts. This is the second such incident to have been reported from the region in the past two days. Earlier, an exchange of fire between authorities and alleged smugglers had been reported from near Bazpur on Friday.

Dehradun, May 15
A total of 889 applicants have been selected for the annual Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia from Uttarakhand through a draw of lots at a function organised here last evening.

As many as 436 applicants are from the reserved quota and 453 from the general quota. State Minister of Social Welfare Matbar Singh Kandari formally inaugurated the function that begun with the recitation of the holy Quran by Maulana Zahoor Ahmad. The State Haj Committee that supervises the pilgrimage in the state will soon hold 13 immunisation camps throughout the state for the selected pilgrims.

Meanwhile, Kandari flayed the Centre for approving “lesser quota” of pilgrims for the state. He said: “The Centre has fixed a quota of 762 pilgrims from the state, which is low. However, the government got it increased by 127, thus taking the number to 889.”

Kandari, while flaying the Congress for being “negligent” in ensuring the safety and security of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia, appreciated the BJP-led state government for giving an insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh per pilgrim and additional expenditure on providing facilities to them in Saudi Arabia. He also promised a Haj house in the state.

On this occasion, Chairman of the Awas Vikas Parishad Naresh Bansal flayed the Congress for leaving pilgrims high and dry in Madina as “none of their representatives was deputed to help them”.

Vice-president of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam Ravi Mohan was also present on the occasion.

Dehradun, May 15
More than 200 students from the capital city as well as the surrounding areas participated in an event “Hunar Dikhla Ja” organised by Meerut-based Indian Film and Television Institute (IFTI) here today. The contestants were judged for admission by actor Kanwarjit Paintal, Hitendra Paintal and Gurdip Punj along with the faculty members of the institute. The participants showed their talent in singing, dancing, modelling and acting. Many were able to impress the judges and those who failed to do so were given tips on how they can improve their skills.

Doon was the second destination for the contest and the team will now move to other parts of the country.

First three winners in each field were given scholarships by the institute and the most talented of them will get an opportunity to act in the forthcoming film produced by IFTI.

Sunny was declared the winner in singing, followed by Rahul Singh and Inder Pundir as second and third runners-up, respectively. Muskan won the first position in dancing while Tanya and Monika got second and third positions, respectively. Megha won the first position in acting.

Haridwar, May 15
Call it adversity or bad luck, but Sita Ram (65), a resident of Kankhal in Haridwar, who worked day and night during the 1965 India-Pakistan War to take on the USA-made Paton tank of the Pakistan army, is now having sleepless nights fearing that his sons may kill him.

As Sita Ram’s sons used to assault him physically and were having an eye on his property, he disowned his three sons.

But now Umesh, Dinesh and Amit, his sons, are threatening him of dire consequences.

Though Sita Ram tried to lodge a complaint against them, his sons filed a false complaint against him, putting Sita Ram behind bars. He alleged that the police had accepted a bribe from his son for the same.

Sita Ram, who is suffering from heart problem and cannot even walk without help, is running from pillar to post to get justice, but the police has also failed to pay attention to his woes.

He wants to meet the District Magistrate of Haridwar and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank to apprise them of the problems being faced by him. Several organisations have also come out in his support taking his case to the higher level.

The Rashtriya Jankalyan Samiti, a social organisation, and the Samajwadi Party has given a one- week ultimatum to the police and if it failed to act, they will launch an agitation.

“It is a matter of shame that a senior citizen is being forced to suffer and instead of taking any action against his sons, the police put him behind bars. But now i will play a son’s role and help him get justice,” said Prince, a volunteer of the Jankalyan Samiti.

Haridwar, May 15
Spiritual-religious gurus hold a specific fan following in India with the Guru being termed as the one who leads a devotee towards God apart from making him realise his inner self. One such saint having a mass following is Sant Asa Ram Bapu who has millions of followers in the country with his religious sermons and ‘Shri Ram Katha’ being more popular.

Sant Asa Ram Bapu is in the pilgrim city of Haridwar to deliver four-day religious discourses being held at PantDeep, Bhimgoda, near Har-Ki-Pauri.

Sant Asa Ram Bapu termed Haridwar as the place of liberation, thronged by saints to practise religion. He said listening to a religious discourse at a pilgrim centre was of utmost importance. — TNS

Pithoragarh, May 15
A 14-year-old boy from Khetarbari village of Samastipur district in Bihar was reunited with his family after six months, due to the efforts of a sports teacher working in the Education Department. “The boy was handed over to his father Nathni Paswan on Saturday. The family has returned to their village,” said the police.

According to the sports teacher, Jitendra Waldia, he saw the boy roaming around in the town but presumed for a while that he might be mentally upset. But, when he asked the boy about his family, he started weeping. The boy had for the first time set out from his home and reached Pithoragarh.

“I sought help from various child care helplines on the websites and came in contact with Chandramauli Pandey, a sports officer of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, who helped me in getting the address of the boy,” said Waldia.

The parents of the boy had presumed that their son had died after the boy could not be traced even after lodging an FIR with the Samastipur police, immediate after he left his home. “Today we have no words to thank Jitendra Waldia, who picked our child from street and made tireless efforts to reunite him with the family,” said Nathni Paswan, the father of the child.

Pithoragarh, May 15
Teams of the Education Department in Dharchula subdivision of the district have found most of the students in 10 schools and colleges absent during a inspection, as they had gone to the higher meadows to collect the miracle fungus, yarsa gumba. The season of the collection of the fungus has started with the melting of the snow.

“When one of the teams visited the primary schools of Sirkha, Sirdand, Pangla, Rung, Gasku and the Jaykot high school and Inter College, Makam Kailash, we found only 64 students, out of a strength of 113, were present. According to the teachers, the rest of the students had gone to the higher meadows with their families to collect the yarsa gumba, a caterpillar fungus, said US Bankoti, Block Education Officer, Dharchula.

“Not only the students but some teachers also reportedly had gone to the meadows to collect this miracle fungus, as we found only four teachers out of a total strength of 22 at Government Inter College, Makam Kailash,” said Bankoti.

The villagers from the Panchchuli base in Munsiyari and the Tawaghat and Sirkha areas of Dharchula go to the Chiplakot meadow every year to collect this fungus as it sells for more than Rs 1 lakh per kg in the market and is purchased by the traders from across the border in Nepal and China, where it is used as an aphrodisiac.

“As the teachers as well the students have gone to collect the fungus, the mid-day meal scheme has been jeopardised in these schools and contractors have stopped carrying the mid-day meal rations to the schools because no one is going to complaint against them,” said the Block Education Officer.

Dehradun May 15
In girls’ category, Welham Girls School registered a thumping 31-06 win in the quarterfinals of the District Sub-Junior (Under 14) Basketball Championship, here today.

The players of Welham Girls School made a strong start making some good strategic moves and beat Summer Valley School. They opened their account with 10 points scored by Rhea and four points by Sagarika.

In the next quarter, Aryan School beat Convent of Jesus and Mary by 16-07, St Joseph’s Academy beat Carman School by 19-07 and Jaswant Modern School beat St Mary School by 21-01.

In the boys’ category, St Mary School defeated Constancia School by 18-13 where Robin Singh made the highest score of 8 points.

In the next quarters, Welham Boys School beat St Joseph’s Academy and Doon International School defeated Carman School.