Pithoragarh, May 27
The Himalayan states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh hope to get their demand of ‘green bonus’ from the Planning Commission from the 12th Five-Year Plan as the Planning Commission has given an affirmative nod to the demand, according to Prakash Pant, Uttarakhand Planning Minister, who had met the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia in New Delhi last week.

“The state of Uttarakhand along with Himachal Pradesh has demanded from the Centre that having a large portion of their land mass under forests and governed by the forest law, the state of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh help the nation in conservation of ecology. Since more than 65 per cent land of the state is under forests, green bonus should be granted to these states as they could compensate the development needs of their people,” said Pant.

“The Planning Commission has agreed to our proposal and nodded that if the Himalayan ecology has to be kept intact for the nation, the Himalayan states will have to be given green bonus,” claimed Pant. The Uttarakhand Planning Minister claimed that only the state of Uttarakhand helped the nation by preserving ecology worth Rs 25,000 crore annually.

“Both the states have more than 65 per cent forest area and more than two dozen sanctuaries, national parks and bio-preserving bodies which further block the development of the infrastructure, according to the demands of the people,” Pant said.

Giving details of the annual plan of the state for the next year, Pant said this year the Planning Commission had given the state Rs 660 crore as additional central assistance for infrastructure development in the state, which would be spent on the development of tourism infrastructure in the state.

“Further work on the air strips in the hilly areas of the state and development of artificial lakes in different parts of the state will be taken under it,” he said.

According to Pant, the annual plan of Rs 7,800 crore of the state will emphasise on the secondary sector of the economy for development. “The Planning Commission has given a priority to develop the primary sector of the state and noted that 10 per cent of the planning budget should be spent on the development of the primary sector, while the state wanted to spend only 7 per cent of the total plan budget on the primary sector,” said the Planning Minister.

Haridwar, May 27
International chief of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Ashok Singhal has declared that the parishad has extended full support to Uma Bharati’s ongoing agitation relating to the Ganga and has even written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in this regard. Appreciating Prime Minister’s decision on forming the Ganga River Basin Authority, scrapping the Lohari Nagpala Project in Uttarkashi and allocating about Rs 7,000 crore for the cause of the holy river Ganga, Singhal pointed out that some aspects still remained unaddressed.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, a copy of which is with The Tribune, Singhal referred to the 17-day fast held by Bharati in Haridwar, pointing out that in the way the Uttarakhand Government has committed to saving the ancient Dhari Devi temple at Srinagar (Garhwal), the Union Government should carry out its duty on the part of the people of the whole country to save the shrine and the ecology of the hilly regions of Uttarakhand.

Singhal terms the demand for tabling a Bill in Parliament regarding the Ganga River Basin Authority as apt, saying that just according a coveted national river status to the authority will not be sufficient as by giving it legal status an effective implementation of the authority's recommendations can be adhered to.

The second demand of Uma Bharti for forming a Ganga board, whose panel should have environmentalists, scientists, representatives from religio-spiritual fraternity and local people residing on the Ganga basin, to decide on the consent of allowing or scrapping of any hydro-power project, has also been supported by the VHP international chief.

When contacted, Singhal said he was in constant touch with political and religious leaders and other representatives to make sure the ongoing mission of Uma Bharati got accomplished.

Haridwar, May 27
The outline of the second phase of Uma Bharti’s save-Ganga movement will be decided at a two-day convention starting tomorrow in Haridwar. The convention, which has been titled “Samagra Ganga-Samvad Samadhaan”, will be attended by distinguished personalities from political and religious fields, environmentalists, scientists, geologists and social activists related with the Ganga conservation.

The convention will be dwelling on two vital points: The national river status to the holy Ganga by bringing a Bill in Parliament and having a separate Ganga board on the lines of the Ganga Basin River Authority.

Anita Singh, general secretary of the Rashtriya Jan Shakti Party, said Uma Bharti would be unveiling the next course of her agitation, “Ganga Ahlaan”, on May 29 at the Alaknanda ghat after taking inputs from the experts during the seven sessions of the two-day convention.

Reacting to Uttarakhand Revenue Minister Diwakar Bhatt’s comments, terming Bharti an outsider, Anita Singh said the Ganga was not only confined to the territory of Uttarakhand, but also flowed through various states of the country.

Ashok Tripathi, chief of the Ganga Parivar related to the Divya Prem Sewa Mission, where the convention will be organised, said only small hydroelectric projects should be constructed in hilly districts so that both “vikas” and “astha” are protected, as had been successfully done in HP.

Haridwar, May 27
Just a week after getting elected as Uttarakhand Youth Congress president, Anand Rawat today said that if the party high command gave its nod, then he was willing to contest in the coming state Assembly elections to serve the people of the state better.

Rawat said in the next three months, when the Youth Congress executive members’ report cards would be analysed by the party high command, he would be laying a claim along with other capable youth leaders to give representation to the youth based on the grassroots level work.

“My work will speak for itself. If the party bestows faith in me, I am ready to serve the people of the state by contesting the election. But for now I want to work hard for the next few months as Assembly elections are close and we have to organise our unit’s structure and increase its organisational strength,” said Rawat during his first visit to his father’s constituency after his victory.

The statement comes at a time when the Congress in the state, too, is facing charges of nepotism as Anand Rawat is the son of Union Minister of Agriculture Harish Rawat who represents the Haridwar parliamentary constituency.

In the Youth Congress election, losing candidates as well as party leaders associated with state party chief, Yashpal Arya, a bête noire of Harish Rawat in the inner-party politics, had alleged discrimination and bias in the election process owing to the political influence of Anand's father.

Already speculations are rife that general secretary of Women’s Congress Anupama Rawat, daughter of Harish Rawat, is preparing to contest from an urban Assembly segment in Haridwar.

Anupama has been quite actively involved in all the Congress agitations and movements in Haridwar district, bringing various factions in the Women’s Congress to one forum that speaks of her stature. While in the last parliamentary elections, contrary to her brother Anand, Anupama had campaigned on a large scale and so now people and party workers know her better which strengthens her claim for the party ticket.

Though one section of the party is elated with both Anupama and Anand, showing willingness to contest, there is another faction within the party which is feeling insecure.

"We have only one legislator from Haridwar, so the party needs winning candidates who will be chosen only after the party high command takes into consideration the party members’ opinion. So, ultimately it’s all about gaining maximum seats so that there should be no qualms if any party leader’s children show willingness to contest; they are as equal to contest as any general party worker," remarked Chauhan.

While taking a dig at Anand's statement, BS Tejiyan, member of the state organisational committee, said that still there was time for Assembly elections and party leaders having organisational portfolios should refrain from any statements that may distract the party from its focus, which is to bring the Congress back to power in the state.

Mussoorie, May 27
The self-help groups of more than 85 women from Purkul village in Dehradun will exhibit their products for sale at Padmini Nivas Hotel in Mussoorie, beginning June 3. This was stated by Chinni Swamy, the director of “Purkul Stree Shakti Samiti” at a press meet yesterday at Mussoorie.

Showcasing one of the products to be exhibited from June 3 to 5, Swamy said the village women would exhibit their hand-made products such as quilts, bags, cushion covers, place mat sets and various other handicrafts that include embroidery and crochet for the benefit of tourists and residents alike during the exhibition.

Swamy explained that the main objective of Purkul Stree Shakti Samiti was to create economic stability for women to meet the needs of their desperately poor families. The programme aimed to empower women to become earners in their family by providing them with resources and training for producing and selling handicrafts. The women received the full benefits of their labour and were able to produce a sustainable income to ensure proper education and healthcare for their family and children. This year alone, more than 85 women had benefited to the tune of Rs 30 lakh, added Swamy.

The samiti also supports the women by providing them free transportation to the training centres and production facilities. It also ensures that the children of such women receive quality education through “Shishu Shakti Early Childhood Development Centre”, where young children to attend and receive social development and primary education, while the women are quilting. Apart from this, Stree Shakti also provides access to education and preventative health care to the women.

“The product cost is on the expensive side due to the inflated cost of raw material such as cotton, etc and the other factor being the intricate hand work involved in the whole process that takes around one month to complete,” said Swamy.

Dehradun, May 27
Suspense prevailed the entire day today on premises of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) over the position of Managing Director (MD), but no confirmation in writing had come from the Secretariat till evening. The employees’ union of the GMVN complained that because of the confusion prevailing over the position of MD, they had not been getting salaries for the past five months, as officiating MD RK Sudhanshu was not sanctioning the “yatra fund” to be used to pay salaries to the employees. All the tourist rest houses of the nigam across the state send their revenue (“yatra fund”) to the headquarters in Dehradun.

Vice-Chairman of the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority RK Sudhanshu is holding additional charge as officiating MD of the GMVN, as MD A Santhiyal Pandiyan had gone on leave for election duty in West Bengal. Though he returned more than a week ago, Sudhanshu still had the additional charge of MD. Reliable sources say Santhiyal did attend office for a couple of days, but discontinued coming to the office in the absence of any order in writing from higher-ups in the Secretariat. Sudhanshu too is visiting the GMVN office almost daily.

Making his position clear on the matter, Sudhanshu said: “Since I have been asked to take charge as the MD of the GMVN, I am attending office and clearing files every day. Pandiyan, too, has come back from his election duty, but his position has not been cleared yet, regarding which he has written to the state government.”

Regarding the salaries, he said he cleared salaries for April just a day ago, but was not aware of any complaint regarding five months’ salaries not paid to the employees of any wing of the nigam.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact Pandiyan for his version failed, as he did not respond to the calls. Before Sudhanshu, General Manger UC Kabadwal, who is also holding the additional charge of Additional Secretary, Food, was functioning as officiating MD. He was replaced by Sudhanshu to take control of the precarious situation born out of a strike by the joint associations of the GMVN and the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN). But, the employees’ union complained that Sudhanshu was not holding a meeting with them despite their repeated requests, and therefore they wanted the suspense over the charge of the MD be cleared.

Dehradun, May 27
While reviewing the progress of works announced by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, at a meeting held at the Secretariat here today, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar looked into the pace of works under way in the Thalisen Assembly segment of Pauri Garhwal district.

Manisha Panwar, Secretary, Higher Education, said the construction of the building of a degree college at Thalisain had started and the government order for naming the college after Veer Chander Singh Garhwali had been issued.

The Chief Secretary directed the officials concerned to speed up the work and sort out the problems coming in the way of the college project. With reference to Government Degree College, Majra Mahadev, the Secretary, Higher Education, told the meeting that posts for the college had been created and the college had started functioning from a rented building. Efforts were being made to acquire land to construct the building of the college, she added.

With reference to the construction of buildings of Industrial Training Institutes at Paithani, Pawo and Bungidhar, the Secretary, Technical Education, Rakesh Kumar, said initial proceedings for the purpose had been completed and the construction of the buildings of the ITIs would be completed soon.

As regards the announcement by the Chief Minister that sub-tehsil would be set up at Kirti Nagar and Chakisain, the Under Secretary, Revenue, Santosh Badoni, said action for the construction of permanent buildings of the sub-tehsil was in process. Meanwhile, the Nayab Tehsildar would sit at these places permanently and the Tehsildar would hold the office twice a week, he said.

Dehradun, May 27
Employees of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) paid homage to Keshava Dev Malviya, the father of the Indian oil industry, on his 30th death anniversary here today.

Floral tributes were offered at the statue of Malaviya in the Keshava Deva Malaviya Institute of Petroleum Exploration campus.

Dr Tarun Chakraborty, Group General Manager (ONGC Academy), Anil Bhandari, Group General Manager (geology), Keshav Dev Malviya Institute of Petroleum Energy, and DD Misra, general manager (head corporate), administration, were also present.

Haridwar, May 27
With the completion of 10 years of functioning of the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission, a function was organised here yesterday. Speaker of the state Assembly Harbans Kapoor, State Urban Development Minister Madan Kaushik were the chief guests.

Shedding light on the working of the commission, Dr DP Joshi, chief of the commission, said at the time of creation of the separate state of Uttaranchal in 2000, initial years where spent on putting in place infrastructure, man power and basic facilities but later the commission focused on the requirements and aspirations of the state and its people.

“We are successfully carrying out recruitment processes in a free and fair manner and on a timely basis and carrying out our constitutional duties in a professional and systematic manner. We have chalked out our very own style of working keeping in mind the tough geographical conditions in the hills,” said Dr Joshi.

Laying stress on the need for generating more funds as well as looking into the security aspect, former chief of the commission SK Das said to be able to cater to the growing needs of the state, particularly taking cognisance of that in the past one year only the commission had successfully held written tests for 2600-odd posts and interviews, the need of the hour is to set up specialised wings, expand administrative office and incorporate IT in the working for better efficiency.

A souvenir titled “Megha-2001-2011” carrying the achievements of the Uttarakhand State Public Commission over a decade of its existence was also released by Dr Kapoor. He assured the commission that the state government would be looking into the requirements of the commission so as to make it one of the best commissions in the whole country.

“We need to provide benefits of development to every poor in every far-flung area and this commission should look into this aspect, as in the hilly districts, because of tough living conditions and a lack of information tools, recruitment advertisements and other information about the process is not easily available,” said Kapoor.

Among others who were present at the function were members of the commission Manjula Rana, TN Singh, Manjula Bisht, Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy Vice-Chancellor Sudha Rani Pandey, Secretary of the Commission Kunwar Singh and Superintendent of City Police Kiran Lal Shaw.

Dehradun, May 27
The five-day training-cum-workshop on “Essential oils, perfumery and aromatherapy” organised by the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dehradun, in collaboration with the Fragrance and Flavour Development Centre, Kannauj, concluded here today.

Addressing the valedictory session, the Director (FRI), Dr SS Negi, underlined the importance of such training programmes in the fast changing scenario of the fragrance and flavour industry. Dr Negi appreciated the efforts of the chemistry division of the FRI and the FFDC for organising the training-cum-workshop.

Dr YC Tripathi, Head (chemistry division), FRI, said with increasing awareness in society about health and environment, choices and preferences of consumers were also changing. He said aroma industries and entrepreneurs should bring in changes in themselves according to this changing scenario. Dr VK Varshney explained methods and techniques for the fractionation and value addition of essential oils.

The training-cum-workshop was attended by participants from diverse fields and different parts of the country.

Six technical sessions were conducted entailing a detailed exposure towards fundamental and applied aspects of extraction, processing, quality assessment, value addition and therapeutic benefits of essential oils. The applications of essential oils in perfumery and the usage of aromatherapy for advancements of scientific knowledge, skills and entrepreneurship of participants were also deliberated through lectures.