Dehradun, July 18
The police today arrested a class IV employee of the Survey of India (SOI) for allegedly murdering his colleague whose body was found in a drain near his house on the Hathibarkala campus of the SOI yesterday.

Deceased Avtar Lal (48), also a class IV employee, had been missing for two days before he was found dead on Sunday. The suspect, who has been identified as Suresh Ram, allegedly killed his colleague following a dispute between them, the police said.

According to SS Bisht, Hathibarkala police chowki in charge, Suresh had allegedly stolen something from Avtar’s house, who was a native of Tehri district. The latter came to know of it and made a complaint in writing to his department in this regard.

Suresh repeatedly asked Avtar to withdraw the complaint. However, the latter did not agree to it. This perturbed Suresh as he could have faced strict disciplinary action.

They even fought over the matter several times, their neighbours told the police.

On July 14 at about 9:30 pm, an angry Suresh hit his colleague with a cricket bat on his head and face following a heated argument with him. Avatar bled profoundly and died on the spot, said the police. After murdering Avtar, he threw the body into a drain near his house. In the morning, the neighbours spotted the body and informed the police. The chowki in charge said Suresh had confessed to the crime.

The police said it got to know about the murderer after Avtar’s relatives reached Dehradun and suspected him of being murdered. Then the neighbours also told the cops about the fight between the two.

A case of murder has been registered against Suresh at the Dalanwala police station.

Dehradun, July 18
Sticking to their demands, the Students’ Council of DAV PG College, Dehradun, did not let the college reopen today.

Holding placards, students raised slogans and locked the main gate of the college as a mark of protest against the Vice-Chancellor of HNB Garhwal University.

Recently, the council had submitted a memorandum to the VC in which it was stated that it would not allow the college to reopen from July 18 if their demand for checking the answersheets of 2,500 students was not fulfilled.

The university had rejected the examination forms of 2,500 students for late submission. But the university later directed the college to issue handwritten roll number cards to the students and conduct their examinations. But now it has refused to check their answersheets.

College Principal BL Nautiyal also met District Magistrate Sachin Kurve and sought his intervention in solving the tussle between the students and the university.

Dehradun, July 18
Under the banner of the AICTU, workers of the Uttarakhand ASHA Health Workers Union today held a march to the Secretariat from Dehradun railway station in support of their demands.

In the morning, a large number of ASHA workers from across Uttarakhand gathered at the railway station.They marched towards the Secretariat and later gheraoed it.

The protesters displayed placards and banners and raised slogans against the “unhelpful” attitude of the state government towards Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA).

Their demands include the provision of proper remuneration on a monthly basis, regularisation of the services of health workers, turning ad hoc workers into pay-roll workers, setting up of a proper infrastructure and safety for the health workforce. The protesters handed over a memorandum to the Chief Minister.

Dehradun, July 18
A father, who had allegedly been sexually exploiting his minor daughter for over a year, killed himself today by jumping before a moving bus at Purola in Uttarakashi district. He was being taken to the jail when he pushed a constable escorting him and jumped in front of the bus, apparently in guilt. He breathed his last at a local hospital, the police said.

According to Pravender Rawat, Station House Officer of the Purola police station, Kendar Singh, a chowkidar with the Forest Department, was arrested on Saturday from his house.

The SHO said his wife had died two years ago and he had been sexually exploiting his daughter since then. The 15-year-old victim had filed a complaint with the police on Saturday after her father tried to abuse her.

She told the police that her father had been raping her for the past one and a half years. Though she protested against it, her father warned her of dire consequences if she ever spoke to anyone about his wrongdoing.

However, she gathered courage to tell the matter to her siblings and later to the police. The man has six children.

Dehradun, July 18
Soon the Uttarakhand police will conduct DNA tests and viscera examinations in the state only. The process to have these facilities in the state has been started with the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) of the Police Department at Panditwari recently getting some of the equipment required for carrying out the DNA test. While proposals have been sent to the state government for the supply of chemicals for the purpose. The department will send its teams to other states for training in such tests.

GC Pant, Deputy General of Police (FSL), said: “We have received some of the equipment required for carrying out the DNA test while the remaining are yet to come. We can say we have just started the procedure to have a facility in the state where these tests can be conducted.”

The proposals for these equipment were approved by the state government in 2010-11.

The DGP, however, said: “We are yet to get a separate room for setting up a laboratory and the policemen are yet to be trained in these tests. We will send our men for a month-and-a-half training in the DNA testing to Kolkata.”

At present, the state police sends the samples of these tests to other states and union territories. Not only does it take months for a single test report to be received by the department, but also the investigation is delayed.

For the DNA testing, the police has been sending the samples to Kolkata and Hyderabad while the viscera samples are sent to Agra. Of late, all the samples were sent to Chandigarh.

Dehradun, July 18
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today directed the Youth Welfare Department to initiate the Swami Vivekanand Award for the NSS while chairing the fifth meeting of the National Service Scheme, State Advisory Committee, at the Secretariat here.

He said the NSS should be strengthened through coordination among the departments concerned and asked the authorities to send a reminder to the Government of India for opening a separate regional centre for the NSS.

He said, “National integration camps and training on disaster management should be organised under the NSS.”

Emphasising the need for strengthening blood banks through the NSS, he said blood banks should be set up on various routes in hilly regions as well as near tourist places.

He also asked the Director-General, Health, to review the status of blood banks.

He asked the officials concerned to organise science festivals in addition to youth festivals. He said universities must incorporate NSS programmes in their curricula and project works.

The CM laid stress on including programmes like Sparsh Ganga in the compulsory syllabus of environmental studies.

Pithoragarh, July 18
Despite frequent attacks by wild animals on humans and livestock as well as the incidents of crop destruction by wild boars, monkeys and bears, Almora villagers have not got compensation for their loss in such incidents some of which are as old as four years. The department has not been provided with sufficient budget to compensate villagers for their loss in such incidents.

“During the past four years, leopards had killed two persons and 379 domesticated animals for which the compensation is still awaited by the affected villagers,” said Naveen Bisht, a social worker and journalist residing in Almora.

According to the Almora Forest Department, out of the budget available with the department, it could only give a sum of Rs 50,000 to the relatives of a person killed by a leopard in the district this year.

“We have two cases of compensation for the loss of human life and 354 cases of deaths of domesticated animals in attacks by wild animals pending with us. We are awaiting the budget amount to be released by the government,” said Rahul, District Forest Officer (DFO), Almora. “To compensate people for their loss in these cases, we have demanded a sum of Rs 17.23 lakh from the department,” he added.

According to the rules, for a bullock killed by a wild animal a compensation of Rs 5,000 is given to its owner, for a cow Rs 3,000 and for a goat Rs 500 is given to their owners as compensation. “If a man is killed by a wild animal his nearest relatives are given Rs 1 lakh as compensation while in the case of injuries Rs 15,000 is given to an affected person by the Forest Department,” said the DFO.

Wild boars, which are found in large numbers here, have been wreaking havoc on the crops in the district for the past four years. “A total of 15 cases of crop damage during 2010-11 and 10 cases during 2011-12 are still pending with the department for the want of sufficient budget,” said Rahul.

Dehradun, July 18
Bhut Jolokia, the spiciest chilli in the world, has now found a new home in Uttarakhand.

The District Horticulture Department has grown 500 plants of red chillies at its nursery located at the old Circuit House and is now readying to distribute these among progressive farmers in and around Dehradun.

What sets apart these plants from the regular chillies is the presence of capscine, a natural chemical, that gives them a high degree of pungency. While these chillies are a boon to the spice industry, reports suggest that the Army, too, is planning to use these as part of its arsenal.

“Bhut Jolokia is coveted for its high degree of pungency level that measures around 10.01 lakh SHU.The best part is that the translocation from one region to another does not impact the pungency level. It may only vary marginally,” said SK Singh, District Horticulture Officer.

While the origin of Bhut Jolokia is debatable, as some scientists trace it to Assam while others say that it is of foreign origin, the district horticulture authorities have great expectations from these plants that do not require much care.

“We have already forayed into the spice market by producing high-quality ginger, garlic and the regular varieties of green and red chillies. Certainly, a new addition will add to our basket of products. As we increase our production, we will be able to break the hegemony of the North-Eastern states,” affirmed SK Singh.

The spice industry’s preference for Bhut Jolokia stems from the fact that only a limited quantity can double the degree of pungency,making the sale of dry powdered chillies extremely profitable.

“Mixed with dry spices, Jolokia shores up the taste, but it cannot be eaten raw as in the case of the other chillies,” he cautioned.

Besides the spice industry, even the drug industry is using Bhut Jolokia for making different medicinal preparations.It is said to cure food-borne diseases.

In 2007 Bhut Jolokia had figured in the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest chilli in the world.

Dehradun, July 18
Members of the Pradeshik Viklang Sangathan, Uttarakhand, held a march from the Parade Ground to the Secretariat in support of their demands here today.

The protesters were demanding the fulfilment of their 15-point charter of demands, which include 3 per cent reservation for physically challenged persons in government and non-government organisations, 5 per cent job reservation in power projects set up by companies and financial allocation for setting up a separate office for the organisation.

Basant Kumar Thapliyal, state president of the sangathan, said, “The government has been made aware of most our demands in the past through letters and meetings, but none of the demands has been fulfilled yet.”

Dehradun, July 18
With his only goal of the match, Akash Thapa showed the winning path to Garhwal Boys over Rising Star 1-0 in the 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League here on Monday.

Thapa struck the goal of the match in the 58th minute. The first half ended on a goalless note as neither side could convert their chances. All eyes were on the second half and it was Thapa who turned the tables.

While City Young registered a 3-1 win against Hostel Club in another match Bhagwat (third) scored early for the Hostel team but no goal could come their way after this score.

On the other hand, City Young scored through Rakesh (21st), Tenzing (60th) and Manish (64th) later.

For tomorrow, Gorkha Rangers are scheduled to meet Doon Challengers and Vijay Cantt is slated to play against Gorkha Boys.