Dehradun, June 6
Visitors to the capital city will be welcomed by beautiful small parks on the roadsides. The Dehradun Municipal Corporation is trying to get the nod from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to beautify the entry points to the city.

At present, the entry points to the city just have hoardings welcoming the visitors. The Mayor, Vinod Chamoli, wants that those who visit the city feel good about it once they reach the entry points.

Talking to The Tribune, Chamoli said: “We have sent an application to the National Highway Authority of India and are expecting their approval for the project soon.” “Once we get the nod from the authority, the corporation will hire an architecture to beautify the entry points to Dehradun. Green areas would be developed on the both sides or on the dividers of the roads at the entry points. We want to make the entry points beautiful, just like the ones developed by the Noida authorities.”

Approximately Rs 25 lakh will be spend on the beautification of the entry points. “We have already sanctioned Rs 10 lakh for the beautification of the entry points and will manage the remaining amount after getting the nod from the NHAI as the land will be provided by it only,” Chamoli added.

The entry points to Dehradun to be spruced up under the project are the Chakrata Road point near Nanda Chowki, Subash Nagar on the Saharanpur Road and Jogiwala near Mohkampur.

Dehradun, June 6
As many as 546 Gentlemen Cadets of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) showed tremendous enthusiasm, vigour and zeal to put up an excellent show for the Deputy Commandant’s parade here today. They marched elegantly while singing the IMA song.

Major-Gen TS Gill, SM, VSM, Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor, Indian Military Academy, reviewed the parade. He was an instructor at this academy between 1982-84. He complimented all the young Gentlemen Cadets for choosing this profession and asked them to be ready for all types of challenges.

In his address, he emphasised on professional competence, self-education, values and ethics for the cadets. He also emphasised on the current challenges and the role of the Army in the nation-building process. adding that the profession they had chosen demanded physical fitness, professional skills, leadership, and the most importantly decision making.

He complemented the Gentlemen Cadets for an excellent display of drill. He said as the cadets moved closer to crossing the last step in the academy with the passing- out parade on June 11, they took along good wishes of their instructors who had toiled hard to mould and shape them into valiant officers. “I expect you to always rise to the expectations of your parents, gurus, the Army and the people of this nation,” he concluded.

Dehradun, June 6
A team of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation today removed banners and hoardings (rooftop) at various places in the city.

Starting from the CMI roundabout towards Aaraghar, the team removed five illegal hoardings and eight banners. It also removed 14 hoardings and banners from the Saharanpur road. HR Rawat, Assistant Executive Engineer, DMC, said the team also removed stands made by rickshaw-pullers at various places. — TNS

Dehradun, June 6
Since the launch of the midday meal programme in Uttarakhand, bhojan matas are relying on a handy booklet containing recipes for sumptuous meals.

Bhojan matas have an array of recipes to choose from. Numbering nearly 50, the recipes have been prepared keeping in mind the local taste and the availability of local cereals.

“A considerable amount of time was spent in selecting the recipes. For instance, the local sweet delicacy, ‘arsey’, made of rice flour and jaggery, is not only high on taste but also has high calorific value. Similarly the recipes of sesame rice and radish curry have been included because of their high calorie and iron content,” said Sowjanya, Project Director of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.

The Bhojan matas are instructed to cook food in an iron pot and ensure that cooking is undertaken in hygienic conditions. For their efforts, they are paid an honorarium of Rs 1,000 per month.

“The recipes have been designed keeping in mind the seasonal availability of local vegetables. For example ‘pulam’ ( local vegetable) has high iron and fiber content and has even been recommended by nutritionists. We have sought to revive the traditional food of Uttarakhand that may not find favour in restaurants and modern homes,” said PK Bisht, Joint Director, midday meals.

The recipe book has also been appreciated by a Central Government monitoring team that has asked the the state Education Department to ensure the daily monitoring of the system through the interactive voice response system.

To end malnutrition and increase body resistance of schoolchildren studying in Classes 1-VIII, Midday meals are being served in 18,000 government and aided schools.

According to the Central Government ,directives the midday meal provided in the form of lunch should ensure that the total intake of calories for upper primary school children is 700 and for primary school children, it should be 450.

Dehradun, June 6
National President of the Rashtriya Sikh Sangat (RSS) Gurcharan Singh Gill has reiterated the demand of rebuilding Gyan Godhari Gurdwara at Haridwar.

Addressing a press conference here today, Gill urged political parties and other organisations to desist from politicising this issue. He said the gurdwara held significance not only for the Sikh community, but also the entire state.

Gill is visiting the state to celebrate the silver jubilee of his organisation and is holding a dialogue with members of the organisation and the Sikh community. He also flayed the eviction of Ramdev from the dharna site in New Delhi.

State president of the RSS Sukhdev Singh Namdhari demanded ownership rights for those Sikh migrants who settled down in Udham Singh Nagar decades ago.

Gill also proposed the constitution of a separate department which would see into developing Sikh religious places in the state and provide amenities on the lines of the Char Dham. “The state has renowned Sikh religious places such as Nanak Ritha, Nanak Matta and Nanak Puri Tanda, which are visited by thousands of devotees every year. Therefore, the state government should create a separate department to further develop these places.”

To protect the Sikh heritage for the future generations, he stressed upon the need of providing Sikh scholars in state schools for those who wanted to learn Punjabi. He also demanded the setting up of a research institute in the state to explore Sikh literature and history pertaining to Haridwar and Haldwani.

Mussoorie, June 6
A three-day workshop-cum-training programme on women empowerment for the women staff of the Northern Railway began at Oak Grove School in Jharipani, Mussoorie, today. It was inaugurated by Gopal Mishra, General Secretary of the All-India Railway Men’s Federation.

More than 35 participants from various divisions of the Railway deliberated on various topics concerning women empowerment.

Mishra said the training programme would help the participants to understand problems being faced by women at workplaces. They will also be made aware of their rights. He said it was necessary to improve the skills of the women force in the Railway.

President of the Northern Railway Men’s Union (NRMU) Harbhajan Singh, Assistant General Secretary (NRMU) SK Rana, Vice-President KN Sha, Divisional Secretary, Moradabad (NRMU) DN Chaubey, Divisional President (NRMU) SR Tyagi and Chairperson of the women’s wing (NRMU) Saroj Dixit were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, June 6
Class IV employees of government departments in Dehradun district went on an indefinite strike today on a call given by the Uttarakhand Chaturth Vargi Raj Karamchari Mahasangh.

The employees gathered at Gandhi Park to register their protest over the non-fulfilment of their demands.

Addressing the employees, acting president of the association Bhagvan Singh Negi said, “We have no other option but to go on strike for the reason that the state government has not removed the glitches from the government orders released on April 16. Now we have been called for a dialogue on June 16, though we had announced our strike on June 6, much in advance.”

Organisation secretary KK Shukla said that when their agitation had intensified, they were called for talks,only to thwart their agitation. Later the government orders fell short on the contents of the mutual agreements because of which Class IV employees had to resort to a strike.

Shukla said the employees were undergoing acute physical and mental strain and the agitation, too, was tarnishing the image of the state government.The state was also incurring losses, he added.

Dehradun, June 6
It seems people visiting the Dehradun Collectorate will not get respite soon and will have to return without getting their work done due to the ongoing strike by members of the Uttarakhand Ministerial Collectorate Karamchari Sangh.

On the sixth consecutive day of the strike today employees in tehsils and offices of the SDM/DM in the state put a lock on their office doors.

Owing to this, work relating to revenue, the sale of stamp papers and the issuing of various documents was hit.

Their main demand is the restructuring of the Collectorate.

Rajinder Kumar, state president of the sangh, told The Tribune that they would organise Sunderkand path on Tuesday.

Dehradun, June 6
In order to get their demands fulfilled, members of the Uttarakhand Revenue Sangrah Ameen Sangh held a procession here today.

They submitted a nine-point demand memorandum to the Chief Secretary (Revenue). They said employees in four districts of the state would go on an indefinite strike and sit in front of the Vidhan Sabha from June 7 if their demands were not met.

The demands include the promotion of Ameens to the post of Naib Tehsildar and an increase in their pay scale from January 1, 2006.

Talking to mediapersons Uma Shankar Kashyap, state president of the sangh, said the government should increase their allowances from Rs 50 and Rs 75 to Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000. He also demanded that they should be given travelling allowance and the stationery amount of Rs 10 per month given to them should be increased to Rs 500.