Dehradun, June 2
A suspected ISI agent was arrested in a joint operation by security agencies and the Uttarakhand Police in Roorkee yesterday.

Furkan Ahmad Ansari, alias Ajay Chahuan, of Meerut, was in touch with ISI Maj Amir Ali, alias Rathore, and used to provide all information to him through e-mails.

Two maps of Meerut and Roorkee cantonments, six photographs of Meerut cantonment, an ATM card of the SBI, a visiting card of Azmi Hostel and a cellphone have been seized from his possession.

Haridwar SP (Rural) Roshan Lal Sharma said he used to keep a check on the movement of vehicles of the Army and the installation of battalions here.

According to the police, Abid Ali, alias Asad, of Pakistan, had introduced Furkan to the ISI. They were neighbourers in Meerut.

Abid, who was also a trained ISI agent and infiltrated into India through the Nepal border in 2005, was then doing a recce of Roorkee and meanwhile, Furkan was sent to Kuwait in December 2009.

However, after the arrest of Abid, Furkan came back to Roorkee in March 2011. Earlier, he was in contact with the ISI through Abid, but now he had started working directly with Major Ali.

His name had figured during Abid’s arrest. 

Dehradun, June 2
Owing to increasing water scarcity in the capital city, members of the Mahanagar Congress Committee protested outside the office of the Jal Sansthan here today. They also submitted a memorandum to DD Dimri, Chief Officer, Jal Sansthan, and asked him to probe why the residents were not able to get proper supply of water.

Harish Virmani, President, Mahanagar Congress Committee, said the department first needed to rectify its system, then only people would be able to get a proper supply of water. “The residents of the first floor are not able to get water as the pressure is very low. The supply also stops quickly,” he claimed. Virmani affirmed that residents of areas like Rajpur Road, Dalanwala, Kishan Nagar, Ballupur Chowk, GMS Road, Vasant Vihar, Prem Nagar, Kaulagarh, Dakra, Patel Nagar and Nehru Colony were facing a lot of trouble due to this while the department was sleeping.

He further stated that the department had constructed many tube wells as well as tanks but the problem remained the same. This meant that those who did not have a tank would not be able to get water.

Virmani said if the department still failed to act upon their complaint, they would have to take to the streets and protest. 

New Delhi, June 2
Uttar Pradesh Governor BL Joshi will hold additional charge of Uttarakhand in the absence of Margaret Alva.

Joshi had been appointed to discharge the functions of the Governor of Uttarakhand in addition to his own duties during the absence of Alva with effect from June 14, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement said. — PTI

Pithoragarh, June 2
The first batch of the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims was welcomed by officials of the Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN) at the Dharchula base camp today. The officials applied tilak on the foreheads of the pilgrims, as folk dancers performed “cholia”, a traditional dance of the Kumaon region.

The batch began its pilgrimage from New Delhi on June 1. “It was difficult to travel by the road from Haldwani to Almora for it was in a bad shape. The pilgrims had to wait for hours at various places on the way before reaching Pithoragarh,” said APS Nimbaria, officer of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) who is also the liaison officer of the first batch.

Before reaching the base camp, the 47-member batch had lunch at the KMVN rest house at Pithoragarh.

The members of the batch hail from Delhi, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka. Suresh Kumar Balchandani (69) from Basant Kunj, New Delhi, is the oldest member of the batch while Kartikeya Bakshi, also from Delhi, is the youngest member in the batch, said Nimbaria. “Ashok Radia from Porbander, Gujarat, is undertaking the pilgrimage for the 11th time,” he said.

At Mirthi, headquarters of the 7th battalion of the ITBP, which is in charge of the Byans valley where almost all the yatra camps are situated, the pilgrims were welcomed by the king of the erstwhile empire of Askot. “The pilgrims were briefed on the precautions to be taken while negotiating trekking routes on higher reaches of the Himalayas,” said the liaison officer.

The batch will resume its pilgrimage from the base camp on Friday and reach the first trek route camp at Sirkha after travelling 35 km by bus. “The trek route, which starts from Sirkha, is in a good shape. The snow-covered patches will become clear by the time the batch reaches there, as the temperatures are rising,” said Nimbaria.

Dehradun, June 2
Dentists working at government hospitals are irked over the “step-motherly” treatment being meted out to them for the past seven years. Call it misfortune of dentists or the apathy on the part of the government, the dentistry as a field in the government sector has remained under the shadows of prominent departments in the state.

At two main hospitals here, the dental departments are not being allocated separate budgets and have to rely on the largesse of the Chief Medical Superintendents of the hospitals.

Last year, the dental department of Doon District Hospital had received an amount of Rs 10,000 to spend, but this year it is still awaiting for the budget to be released.

Since the creation of the state, no effort has been made to upgrade OPDs. Moreover, there is no separate dental wing at all district hospitals.

“We should have experts in maxillofacial surgery, endodontics and prosthodontics in the Doon hospital because the dentistry stream has evolved so much. Several patients come to us for the root-canal treatment or even getting their crooked teeth straightened, but what we have no experts and equipment,” said Dr JDS Rana, Joint Director (Dental)

At present, the total number of patients who visit the dental OPD at Doon Hospital is nearly 70. There is only one dental surgeon to attend to the patients. The situation is no different at Deen Dayal Upadhayay Coronation Hospital, as here also one dental surgeon has been appointed.

That’s not all. After a protracted engagement, dentists just about managed to persuade the Uttarakhand Government to allocate a separate cadre in the state. But the proposal that is awaiting the Cabinet’s nod has come far short of their expectations.

The government has limited the number of dentists who would be a part of the cadre to 105 against the demand of 114. 

Dehradun, June 2
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today ordered the constitution of a committee to explore better promotion opportunities for the state forest service officers.

Addressing a two-day convention of the Uttarakhand State Forest Service Association, the Chief Minister said that Rural and Forest Development Commissioner, Rajeev Gupta, would be heading the committee that would look into the possibilities for exploring better promotional opportunities for the state forest services officers. He said government was committed to ensure better promotional opportunities for state forest service officers and the committee will also look into ways to strength the service structure of state forest officers.

The Chief Minister said 17 vacant posts of the state Forest Service Association in the Uttarakhand IFS cadre would be filled. He said forest officers shouldered much of the responsibility towards conserving environment in the state. Referring to Van Panchayats, Nishank said Van Panchayats were an integral part of the hill society and stressed on strengthening these unique institutions. The office-bearers of the Uttarakhand Forest Officers’ Association put forward the concerns of the state officers before the Chief Minister. Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation President Jyoti Prasad Gairola and Rural Development Commissioner Rajeev Gupta also spoke. 

Mussoorie, June 2
Students of Central School of Tibetans, Waverly Convent School, Oak Grove School and St Clares School were upbeat at their success after the declaration of the CBSE Class X examination results yesterday.

A total of 75 students from Central School of Tibetans appeared for the exams and all 75 were declared qualified.

Master Spandan Raut has emerged as the topper by securing an overall grade point 9.8 (CGPA).

The second place has been obtained by three students, Ragini Viswakarma, Aman Kharola and Rohit Mishra, who have secured an overall grade point 9.6 ( CGPA).

The third place has been obtained by Neha Panwar with an overall grade point 9.4 (CGPA).

At Waverly Convent School, nine students, including Anmolika Anand, Priyanka Jaiswal, Vaisna Joshi, Khushpreet Kaur, Rupnin Kaur, Aamna Khan and Nikita Singh, have secured 9.5 points (CGPA) or A1 grade.

At Oak Grove School, 59 students appeared in the exams, of which 11 students, Abhey Shankar, Amarjeet Kumar Singh, Ankur Kumar, Manish Kumar, Mrinal Kumar Mandal, Prashant Kumar, Prem Pratik, Rohit Bharti, Sagnik Chatterjee, Sanchit Kumar Thakur and Saurabh Dube, secured 9.5 points (CGPA). Abhijeet Shivam, Aakash Deep, Ayush Kamboj, Vaibhav Vinay Kumar, Aditya Vardhan, Rishab Yadav, Saurabh Kumar Singh, Heena Rafi and Shruti Sudha secured 9.1 points (CGPA).

Prachi Upreti topped St Clares School by securing more than 9.5 points (CGPA). Sudarshan Chuahan scored 9.4 points, Surbhi Tayal 9.2 points and Arjun Agarwal 9.2 points. 

Dehradun, June 2
The State Police Headquarters is busy making preparations these days for the 41st All-India Police Science Congress, which will be held for the first time in the state from June 21 to 23.

The all-India Congress is organised annually in different states on rotation by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) with a view to providing a forum for an in-depth discussion on various aspects of the functioning of the police.

Last year, it was held in Raipur, while this year it is being hosted by the Uttarakhand Police in Dehradun. This will be a special event for the police here as the Congress is being held for the first time in the state.

Dehradun, June 2
Garhwal Boys and Doon Eagle scored wins in their respective matches in the 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League at the Pavilion ground here today.

Garhwal Boys defeated Nagar Nigam 2-0. Abhishek scored a brace in the win.

He netted a goal each in the 30th and 70th minutes. There was no retaliation from Nagar Nigam till the last minute of the game.

In another match, Doon Eagle edged past Bajrang FC 2-1. Vikash (fifth) and Samir (45th) were the scorers for the winning team. Rahul (47th) scored the lone goal for Bajrang.

Tomorrow, Adhiowala Boys and Uttarakhand Tigers will lock horns while Yankies will take on Khukhri.

Dehradun, June 2
With an aim to promote water sports and adventure activities in Uttarakhand, the state Tourism Department is contemplating to set up a separate adventure sports authority.

While addressing the media here today, Madan Kaushik, state Tourism Minister, said, “Today at the 14th board meeting, it has been decided to prepare a proposal for the Cabinet, demanding to set up 15 separate adventure sports centres in 13 different districts of Uttarakhand.

“Uttarakhand has been fast emerging as an international destination for snow, water and adventure sports. Such a project will prove to be a milestone in this regard and will gain good revenue from tourism,” he added.

The minister made a statement to this effect, saying that the state had a great scope for developing adventure tourism like rafting, kayaking, rowing, boating, canoing, water skiing, yachting, beach camping, scuba diving, house boat and water sports.

Kaushik also emphasised on the development of the infrastructure, better connectivity through road, rail and air has been strengthened while the Char Dham yatra is also made accessible through helicopter services.

However, stressing that new tourism circuits were being developed in the state, Minister for Tourism said, “The government aims at attracting more tourists along with promoting more tourism activities. We hope that the 15 separate adventure sports authorities will accelerate the pace of tourism activities in the state.”

Referring to the successful organisation of the South Asian Federation (SAF) Winter Games at Auli, he said, “Auli had scaled new heights of skiing infrastructure, while now it’s the turn of other districts of the state.” 

Dehradun, June 2
Department of Science and Technology (DST) registered an eight-wicket win over Survey of India (SOI), Delhi, in the DST-SOI Cricket Series played on the Survey of India ground here today.

The DST team won the toss and elected to field first. In the first innings, SOI made a total of 134 runs at the loss of seven wickets. Usman Ali (54) and Gurbachan Singh (20) were the principal scorers.

Batting second, DST scored 149 runs at the loss of six wickets. SS Rawat (53 for 36 balls) was ably supported by Ashok Rana (41) to lead the team to victory.