Pithoragarh, July 4
The first batch of tribal traders from Dharchula will have to wait at Gunji for one week before crossing the Lipulekh Pass till the trade office opens there.

“We have still not received instructions from the state government about the modus operandi of the trade, thus creating a confusion as to who should be given the charge of theoffice and how many employees should be posted at the mart for four months,” said Dharchula SDM Abhisekh Tripathi.

According to the SDM, out of a total of 375 trade passes, only 17 had been issued so far. “Almost all related departments have opened their offices at Gunji except the trade office. Normally, the trade begins from July every year,” the SDM added.

The president of the Bharat Tibet Byapar Samiti, Padam Singh Raypa, who is leading the first batch of the traders to Tibet said Indian traders were bringing many goods along with them like jaggery, sugar candy, tobacco, coffee and woollen cloths and would exchange them in Tibet with wool yak butter and Tibetan blankets.

Dehradun, July 4
The incumbent Governor of Uttar Pradesh, BL Joshi, was today sworn in as the Governor of Uttarakhand. Joshi was administered the oath of office by Uttarakhand High Court Chief Justice Barin Ghosh at a function at the Raj Bhavan.

State Chief Secretary Subash Kumar read out the presidential communiqué appointing Joshi as the Governor of the state.

Joshi will hold the additional charge of Uttarakhand in the absence of Governor Margaret Alva who has proceeded on one-month leave.

Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha Harbans Kapoor, the Lokayukt, Justice MM Ghildiyal, Advocate-General SN Babulkar and State Information Commissioners Vinod Nautiyal and Anil Kumar Sharma were present.

Later, Joshi inspected a guard of honour presented to him by a contingent of the Gorkha Rifles.

Earlier, Joshi had been sworn in as the Governor of Meghalaya in April, 2007, Governor of Uttarakhand in October, 2007, and the Governor of Uttar Pradesh in July, 2009.

Immediately after the oath-taking ceremony, Joshi undertook an inspection of the Governor’s Secretariat and sought information regarding the pending works from the officials.

The Governor said the level of responsibility of officials and employees of the Raj Bhawan was much greater than the rest. He said the officials must execute their duties with dedication and politeness, to help preserve the Raj Bhawan’s venerable decorum in society.

Those who were present at the meeting include the Secretary to the Governor Ashok Pai, Legal Adviser to the Governor Gyanendra Kumar Sharma, Finance Controller Poonam Singh Sobti, ADCs to the Governor VK Krishna Kumar and Major PPR Chaudhary, Major Ashutosh Thapliyal (UP).

Dehradun, July 4
A three-day meeting of the All-India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA) concluded here today.

Later, central committee general secretary Sudha Sunderaman, while addressing mediapersons, expressed grave concern over the alarming increase in incidents and nature of violence against women and girl children.

She said,“At the meeting, we condemned the growing attacks on the democratic movement and supporters of the AIDWA in West Bengal against which we will launch a campaign in that state.We also discussed escalating prices and corruption and decided to stage a protest before Parliament House on August 9. Decline in the girl child sex ratio, almost total neglect of the PNDT Act and the growing network of micro finance institutions were also discussed. An all-India campaign will be launched against growing violence against women and attempts to weaken Section 498-A.”

The organisation also decided to hold a dharna in front of the RBI headquarters in Mumbai to demand the regulation of MFIs and direct payment of loan amounts to women at preferential rates of interest.

Expressing her concern at the continuous decline in the child sex ratio, state president of the organisation, Indu Naudiyal, said the members resolved to launch a state- level programme on this sensitive issue which would include the use of the RTI by the state committees Two other resolutions, one against the privatisation of water by the BJP government in the state and another related to the reported large number of cases of genetoplasty in Indore city were also passed. The members demanded strict action against the erring doctors.

Dehradun, July 4
National president of the BJP Kisan Morcha Om Prakash Dhankar said today that his organisation was against the Seed Bill and the Pesticide Management Bill in their present form, as these would damage agriculture and harm interest of farmers.

The members of the Kisan Morcha would stage a demonstration outside Parliament during the monsoon session if the UPA government tries to table the Seed Bill. “The Seed Bill and the Pesticide Management Bill are being brought in to facilitate the interest of multi-national companies (MNCs). These would put the peasantry at the mercy of the agri-business houses,” said Dhankar while interacting with media persons at the BJP office here.

He said the government ought to collect data on the incidents of seed failure taking place around the country. “The companies supplying seed should be made liable to compensate the farmers, in case of seed failure. These issues have not been addressed in the Bill,” he said.

Even the Pesticide Management Bill that was pending with the standing committee and was expected to be re-introduced in the Rajya Sabha this monsoon session would hit the farmers hard. “The Bill is meant to monopolise the market for companies, rather than being pro-farmer,” he stressed.

He charged the Central Government with trying to intervene in the states’ right to retail seed price and royalty charge through the Seed Bill.

The leader categorically stated that if the government was immune to the demands of the farmers, even the organisations of farmers became weak. “In our opinion the reasons behind suicides by farmers are inability to factor in the cost of production of each crop,” said Dhankar.

Earlier, at the two-day national executive meeting of the BJP Kisan Morcha held in Haridwar, discussions were held on the condition of farmers in the country. The morcha will hold a national-level meeting in New Delhi in September.

Nainital, July 4
Despite good showers and water table, residents of several localities of Haldwani are having a harrowing time managing water for their daily needs.

Sources said there was no dearth of water, but the fault lies in the inefficient system of managing water resources available in these towns. According to reports, the availability of water for Haldwani is as high as 45 mega litres per day (MLD), of which 35 MLD is made available by the Gaula river while the remaining comes from tubewells. While 8 MLD of water is being supplied to the adjoining rural areas, 2 MLD is lost on account of leakages. The consumption of the town stands at a mere 27 MLD.

The situation is pathetic in several localities where people have to spend a major part of the day arranging for water. Residents maintained that the “inability” of officials to get new pipes laid in place of the damaged ones and extending the same to newly constructed buildings was one of the main reasons for the crisis.

The condition of tubewells is also miserable. In several cases, there is a frequent breakdown in the functioning of tubewells with motors being burnt and no one caring to repair them well on time.

Residents of the town feel that the only way the water supply system in the town can be improved is by the construction of overhead tanks and laying down water supply lines with large capacity pipelines. They added that water could be pumped to overhead tanks from tubewells and subsequently supplied across the town.

These days the problem had been further complicated by heavy silting in the Gaula on account of heavy rains which had led to the water treatment plant not being able to function properly, they added.

The sources said despite there being ample rains, the government had failed to develop a water storage facility. The much-talked about water policy for the state was not visible anywhere as of now.

Officials and ministers, however, maintained that orders had been given to lay new pipelines and the construction of overhead tanks.

Dehradun, July 4
Aggrieved by the hike in the prices of LPG and petrol, members of the BJP held a procession in bullock carts here today.

The activists protested against the Central Government for the rapidly increasing prices of fuel in the country.

The procession had a large number of women protesters in it.

Nainital, July 4
Despite the town being a divisional administrative headquarters, the bus connectivity from Nainital to other places in Kumaon, particularly the hilly areas, is very poor. The hundreds of commuters who travel daily are on the mercy of taxi drivers.

The people who have to come to the town for various works are worried about how to return home in time. The worst affected are the students who come to the town from remote areas of the district daily, the people who have to come to the town for their health care and those who have administration-related works at the office of the Kumaon Commissioner or the Collectorate or the High Court.

Dharmendra Pant, local book vendor, said: “For places like Mukteshwar and Almora, no more than one bus a day plies. If anyone intends to go to Almora or beyond after the bus leaves early in the morning, he has to first go to Bhawali by a bus or a Jeep and then he has to either go by a shared taxi or wait for buses coming from Haldwani that are being operated by the Kumaon Motor Operator Union (KMOU) or the Transport Department. Finding a seat in these buses is a remote possibility.”

The worst affected are the people who come to the town from remote areas like Okhalkanda, Ramgarh, Dhari, Nathuakhan, etc.

“It all depends on the mood of the Jeep operator. He will operate only if there are enough passengers. The marriage season is the worst when these vehicles are hired by households where marriages are being solemnised and routine passengers have to bear the brunt,” said Gayatri Devi in an interaction with The Tribune. A resident of Nathuakhan, she had come to Nainital for a health checkup.

People point out that it is a pitiable state of affairs when there is just one bus or no direct public transport available for those wanting to go to Champawat, Almora, Pithoragarh and Bageshwar. They say despite Transport Minister Bansidhar Bhagat being from the district, he has done very little for extending the transportation network to the settlements in the hills. Things at Nainital are all the more worse as the KMOU does not operate from the town. Hence the entire dependence is on the government buses.

Even reaching Haldwani is an ordeal in the evening. An official at the bus depot, M Hasan, says: “Post 6 o’clock one is unable to find local buses heading to Jeolikote, Kathgodam and Haldwani. As a result, the taxi drivers charge a higher rate in the evening, hiking the rates to as much as Rs 100 per passenger at night.”

Another problem that irks the commuters is that there are no direct buses even to bigger cities in the adjoining states. The buses that are available are only for Dehradun and Delhi.

Seema Singh, who works at the bus inquiry office, says: “The newest addition to the network is the morning Rajdhani Express, an air-conditioned bus to Dehra Dun.”

However, places like Kanpur, Lucknow and Chandigarh, from which a great number of tourists visit Nainital, have no direct bus service.

Mussoorie, July 4
The spiritual head of Sant Nirankari Mission, Baba Hardev Singh Maharaj, today announced the setting up of a multi-speciality hospital in Mussoorie soon.

According to zonal in charge of the mission Harbhajan Singh Niranakari, Baba Hardev Singh Maharaj met senior citizens and agreed to their demand of the setting up of a multi-speciality hospital. The senior citizens also demanded the setting up of a shelter for elders.

Harbhajan Singh said the work on the hospital would begun after the clearance of the suitable land allotment.

Citizens of Mussoorie, along with Municipal Council chief OP Uniyal, had raised the demand for the setting up of a multi-speciality hospital.

Dehradun, July 4
Workers of the Mahanagar Congress Committee today protested outside the office of the Chief Executive Engineer, Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), and later on submitted a memorandum to him.

Anil Negi, general secretary of the committee, said the state capital was known for it beauty but the corporation was doing nothing to maintain it. “Filth is spread in all the parts of the city, roads are damaged and full of mud and the menace of stray cattle could be seen all over, but neither the corporation is able to do anything nor the PWD. Moreover, the street lights are not functional though the contractors are paid hefty amounts for installing these,” he stated. “The corporation should also treat everyone equally regarding the removal of encroachments and before removing any encroachment they should provide an alternative place to poor people,” Negi stated.

The city is under the control of the BJP, which has no control over officials due to which residents are suffering and land mafia is flourishing, he added.

Negi maintained that during the civic elections, Mayor Vinod Chamoli had promised residents that a lot would be done regarding the beautification of the city, development of slums, availability of proper and water, construction of new parks and many more, but he had failed to do so.

Meanwhile, members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha also submitted a memorandum to the Mayor regarding the waterlogging problem in the Brahmpuri ward.

Satish Kashyap, mandal president, said the ATI ground in the ward became a pond during the rainy season and some times water entered houses.

Haridwar, July 4
City-based Prof DR Khanna has been conferred with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Eminent Academician and Researcher Award by the Sewa Dal Society and the coveted International Society for Science and Technology (ISST) in Mumbai.

Notably, Professor Khanna has been associated with the renowned Gurukul Kangri University in Haridwar serving as the head of the Zoology and Environmental Science Department. He was awarded the twin awards at the two-day conference organised by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development in Mumbai. More than 300 eminent educationists, scientists and research scholars participated in the conference, which concluded yesterday.

The Lifetime Achievement Award comes with a citation and a cash award of Rs 51,000 and it is managed by the Sewa Dal Society, which has been involved in the fields of education and research for the past 50 years while the ISST is a premier society involved in the scientific field.

An elated Khanna told The Tribune that the awards were an acknowledgement of his work in this field for the past 25 years and those had further motivated him to carry out more intensive researches.

Professor Khanna has also been contributing to research journals both at the national and international levels. He has been Editor-in-Chief of two famous international journals.

Terming the achievement as a matter of pride for Gurukul University as well as the whole state, the Assistant Prof, Dr Gagan Matta, said Professor Khanna had been a guiding force to the youngsters helping them in their researches. The twin awards are a befitting acknowledgement of his achievements.