Pithoragarh, June 24
The first batch of Kailash Mansarovar Yatra had to change its return journey route to the base camp at Dharchula from the Gala camp through an alternative route developed last year by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) as the way to Sirkha was blocked due to heavy landslide on the Gala-Sirkha route, from where they were supposed to return today.

“We changed the route towards Pangla and reached Dharchula via Chetalkot this morning,” said APS Nimbaria, liaison officer of the batch. “All 47 pilgrims of the first batch have now reached the Dharchula base camp. The batch will stay at the ITBP camp at Didihat till tomorrow and then proceed towards New Delhi,” Nimbaria added.

According to PWD sources, the way from Sirkha to the Gala camp has been blocked for the past two days and the PWD has sent its labourers to clear the route before the next batch of yatra reaches that point.

Dehradun, June 24
Uttarakhand Congress leaders led by Leader of the Opposition Harak Singh Rawat today met Governor Margaret Alva and sought action against the state government accusing it of resorting to large-scale irregularities in the state.

They also sought probe into the assets of yoga guru Baba Ramdev.

Later, talking to mediapersons outside Raj Bhawan, Rawat said the state BJP government was resorting to large-scale irregularities and recent publication of advertisement having photographs of national BJP president Nitin Gadkari amply revealed the level of corruption prevailing in the state.

“Gadkari does not hold any constitutional office in the state and thus publishing his photograph in a government advertisement was unconstitutional,” Rawat added.

He said Ramdev had been shifting funds from his Patanjali Yog Peet Trust to his private companies, which amounted to embezzlement of funds.

Rawat demanded an impartial probe into the financial activities of Baba Ramdev. Congress MLAs Mahendra Singh Mehra, Joth Singh Gunsola and Balbir Singh Negi were also present on the occasion.Besides MLAs, the memorandum had Surendra Kumar, Vijay Singh Chauhan, Vinod Rawat, Pradeep Chauhan, Kamlesh Raman and Sanjay Sharma as prominent signatories.

Dehradun, June 24
Five out of the seven industrial units of the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam have incurred losses in the current financial year. Given to the neglect from the state government, potent strategy to uplift the sagging business and periodic training programmes for the staff, these units have been performing on the same scale for the past five years.

Two units, which incurred losses on account of salaries of the staff and maintenance of the buildings, have closed down. The state’s government’s alleged apathy led to the closure of the Flush Door factory at Kotdwar after it incurred a gigantic loss of Rs 8 crore over the past few years.

Assistant General Manager, Industry, Dhananjay Aswal said, “During the UP government, we used to get bulk orders from government departments as per the directions of the then state government. However, after Uttarakhand was formed, no such order was released. This year, we spent Rs 19.85 lakh on the maintenance of abandoned property.”

A proposal of building a five-star hotel on this place was passed by the board last year.

Aswal also blamed the topography of the hills for the disappointing state of affairs. He said, “Most of our units are in the hills, for which we have to spend a large amount on transportation.”

Giving an example of a fruit processing unit set up at Tilwara here, he said they were restricted to prepare fresh juices of citrus fruits, lemon and rhododendron which grow in the hills. “Even if we want, we cannot afford the transportation of fruits from plains to diversify into pickle or chutney business. Then our factory is small and does not have ultra-modern machines as well,” he added. It lost Rs 1.50 lakh out of a turnover of Rs 26.75 lakh in food processing.

The mineral water business of the nigam too washed away the same way. Aswal said, “We had to go all the way to Delhi to buy raw materials like bottle and its packing. Therefore, we decided to close it down four years ago.”

The fortune of concrete block unit at Srinagar have been staggering for inconsistent quarrying in the area. “Though we got a 15-year permission for continuous quarrying on the two patches we have at Srikot from the MOEF for our stone crusher unit at Srinagar, the state government gives its go-ahead in bits and pieces. This time, it renewed the permission after a gap of three years. Given to the rising prices of concrete and transportation, we ran into losses,” he added.

Parwat Woodwool factory has been doing a bit well at Muni ki Reti with a profit of Rs 88.57 lakh and turnover of Rs 652.72 lakh. The other wood-based factory, Rosin and Turpentine factory at Tilwara, is in doldrums as it registered a loss of Rs 13.95 lakh.

Aswal suggested the Forest Department to take over this industry instead and make good use of their infrastructure as has been done by Himachal Pardesh.

Eight out of 32 gas agencies are performing below mark. Aswal gave them a benefit of doubt for being new in the field, whereas the rest of them and two petrol pumps saved its skin by earning a profit of Rs 159.49 lakh and Rs 10.82 lakh, respectively. Aswal concluded that the only way to save the sinking industrial of the nigam was to rope in the PPP system so that the private operators could run the business over the nigam’s infrastructure and give royalty to it.

Haridwar, June 24
Despite being home to more than 180 manufacturing units, the integrated industrial zone, set up by the State Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL), does not have a canteen and other civic amenities to cater to the needs of hundreds of workers that work there round the clock.

Such is the situation that hundreds of the workers involved in the transport sector have taken the agitation route to pressurise the authorities to provide them with basic civic facilities.

Earlier, several unauthorised eateries had mushroomed in the parking lot that used to charge exorbitantly, which was opposed by the transport workers. As a result, the SIDCUL authorities had gotten them removed them, but no temporary option was provided to the workers.

Further, as the area is about 16km far from the city, drivers, cleaners and other staff face problems as they have to go to the city just for eating purpose.

HR Nautiyal, regional manager, SIDCUL (Haridwar), said they were aware of the problems being faced by the workers and he had sought permission for a temporary canteen at the parking lot.

“As soon as we get permission, we will be establishing eateries that will charge at reasonable market price. In the industrial area dozen such canteens have been established from where the vehicular staff can avail the facility for the time being,” said Nautiyal.

But this has not be accepted by the agitating workers. According to them, “The canteens that are put up in SIDCUL industrial,area are for high income employees only and not for us. Why don’t they put up fair price rates at these canteens for labour class?” they said.

Agitating workers parked their vehicles in line refraining from work for hours to register their protest. They also warned of suspending work for one whole day if their demands are not met. The protest hampered work and also posed traffic problems in the area.

Dehradun, June 24
The Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) has received a record number of tourists this season despite poor infrastructure and insufficient facilities.

As per the yatra office, the GMVN handled 400 package tours and 7,149 tourists from first week of May to third week of June. The season will continue to sway over a positive note as despite dismal records of past several years, Valley of Flowers, the tourist destination near Badrinath, has also begun getting bookings much in advance.

Assistant general manger, Char Dham Yatra, PC Juyal said: “Arrival of tourists at this strength was a record itself in the last two decades. We have earned a revenue of Rs 6 crore in these two months. It seemed that the tourists who could not make it last time due to turbulent rains have come now. Also, the popularity quotient about these destination is spreading with each year.”

The advance bookings for Valley of Flowers have also confirmed success for this season. AGM (Tourism) DS Panwar said: “I have been managing the yatra season for six years and I have not seen the tourists so enthusiastic about the Valley of Flowers. The state government should publicise the Valley of Flowers with the Char Dham location in newspapers and magazines two months before the peak season so that people living in different parts of the country can plan their trip and make the travel and hotel bookings/reservations well in time.”

By the end of third week of June tourists arrival for Char Dham is reduced by 75% and comes to a halt in the monsoon season. It again picks up in September and lasts till October. Panwar stated that many times the tourists arrivals dip in the first week of June, but this year it has overstretched to the third week.

Nainital, June 24
Kumaon University has decided to open a centre for women’s studies. Under this centre courses on various issues related to women and women entrepreneurial development will be launched by the university.

According to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr VPS Arora,“The university is in the process of introducing several new courses that are professionally oriented besides taking several other steps for improving the academic culture and performance.”

The university is trying to introduce courses in environment, biochemistry and fisheries at the Bachelor’s level besides starting a diploma course in cinema and clinical psychology.The university authorities say that a quality assurance cell has been set up in the university to bring about improvement in the academic performance on all campuses of the university.

While linking all research centres of the university through proper networking, the university has also started the process of digitisation of the research work going on in various streams. A 2GB net connection is being provided to the university under a programme of the National Knowledge Commission. Work is also under way with regard to putting the research being done on the net. A new course under the Uttarakhand chapter of the Institute of Public Administration is also in the offing.

The course content will include organising several management workshops that could go a long way in helping the development process in the state. According to the Vice-Chancellor, a Regional Centre of Intellectual Property Rights has been set up by the university which will be providing knowhow on getting patents registered.

The university claims to be running 35 professional courses under various schemes. From this year onwards a five-year integrated MBA programme is being launched. This will be the first programme of its kind in Uttarakhand. In addition, a postgraduate course in financial mathematics is also being introduced.

Introduction of diploma programmes in RTI and Intellectual Property Rights are also in the offing. Following the guidelines of the University Grants Commission, all postgraduate courses are being run on the semester system.

This pattern is also being introduced at the undergraduate level and from next year it will be implemented for all Bachelor-level courses.

Under the UGC Infonet programme, 4,000 e-journals are being made available online to the students. A data base of research papers and books is also being prepared.

Dehradun, June 24
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant today called for bridging the trust deficit between old and new-age practioners of astrology.

Speaking at the concluding function of the national seminar on astrology organised jointly by Uttarakhand Open University and the Uttaranchal Sanskrit Academy, Haridwar, Pant said old and new astrologers should work together to take the study of astrology forward.

He appreciated the two organisations bringing together intellectuals and scholars hailing from different parts of the country on one platform.

Prof Vachaspati Upadhyaya,Vice-Chancellor of Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeth, New Delhi, said that a committee on astrology mooted by the Chief Minister yesterday would be set up soon.

“We have to conserve the astrological practices of our forefathers and at the same time appreciate the age of digitisation that is helping refine astrology,” said Upadhyaya.

Dr Anjana Joshi, lecturer, Astrology Department, Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani, was felicitated for organising the seminar.

Nainital, June 24
The District Magistrates have been asked by Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) PC Sharma to ensure that the administration is geared to deal with any form of natural disasters.

Sharma gave these directions during a video conferencing session held today. He said besides setting up control rooms before the onset of the monsoon season, the administration must ensure that there is a stock of foodgrains. — TNS

Dehradun, June 24
Chairman of the Uttarkhand Media Advisory Committee, Dr Devendra Bhasin, has refuted the Congress’s accusation that the state government has not yet recommended a CBI probe into the death of Swami Nigmanand.

In a statement issued here today, Dr Bhasin maintained that the state government had sent a recommendation letter to the CBI Director 10 days ago for probe into Swami Nigamanand’s demise and thus it was not proper on part of the Congress to mislead the public over the issue.

“On June 15, the Uttarakhand Government had decided to conduct a probe into Swami Nigmanand’s demise and on the very next day, it even sent a recommendation letter to the CBI Director,” he said.

Bhasin said Congress leaders should not give statements without verifying facts. — TNS

Dehradun, June 24
Every year a large number of children from the hills quit the secure confines of their homes for a life of insecurity and exploitation. They are often forced to work at hotels to eke out a living in far-off places or spend life on streets.

The Juvenile Justice Act (JJA), 2000, was enacted to provide protection to these children. However, after the enactment of the law, the Uttarakhand Government forgot all about its implementation. Under Section 29 of the Act, Child Welfare Committees were to be constituted in the state, but the Uttarakhand Government has managed to constitute only nine committees in the districts.

Similarly, the government has made a mockery of the Juvenile Justice Boards created under Section 40 of the Act, as not even a single meeting has been convened since the creation of the boards in the 13 districts.

“The Uttarakhand Government’s track record in implementing child legislations and provisions is very poor. Following amendments in the Act in 2006, a timeline was set for establishing Juvenile Justice Boards and Child Welfare Committees, the basic institutions that would take care of the children staying on streets. However, the government was slow to catch up on the importance of these bodies. After creation of the Juvenile Justice Boards a year ago, only customary official documents have been exchanged,” said Suresh Balodi, Manager, Plan India (Uttarakhand), that has several child initiatives to its credit.

The Juvenile Justice Act was enacted to provide a juvenile justice system for juveniles in conflict with law and children in need of care and protection.

For treating minors on the wrong side of the laws with compassion and put them through a reformative process to ensure that they do not step into the world of crime.

The Act also calls for setting up short-stay homes for kids picked up from streets so that they could be provided temporary shelter.

“The government did not make any effort to set up homes for which the finances will be provided by the Centre. These homes can also provide refuge to children who face abuse at home. In the absence of proper homes, the children are put up at probation homes,” said Gajender Nautiyal, Sri Bhuvneshvari Mahila Ashram.