Dehradun, July 29
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY) cards that were distributed to residents of Chakrata amidst much fanfare are proving to be of no use to villagers.

Grossly inadequate and prepared in a haste, most of the cards lack vital information like the fingerprint record of all beneficiaries.

In the absence of the fingerprint record, the card is of little use to the rest of the family members, as it happened in the case of 40-year-old Fetaru’s (Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana card no 0001 8871 0504 6237 7) son.

In May 2011, Fetaru was issued the card at a camp held in Bijnoo village in Chakrata, while all the names of five members were registered, company officials forgot to take fingerprints of all the members so that they too could access medical treatment under the scheme.

On July 28, when Fetaru’s son Chotu landed at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Coronation Hospital for undergoing treatment of a wound inflicted on his hand, the hospital authorities told him that he was not the beneficiary of the scheme as the chip did not contain record of his fingerprints.

“It appears the company officials, who were entrusted with the task of making the cards, undertook the work in a half-hearted manner. We are encountering daily complaints of this nature from Kalsi and Chakrata blocks. Ultimately, it inconveniences the patients, who come from remote areas to Dehradun with a hope that the card would solve most of their problems but the reverse is happening,” said Dr A S Rawat, Chief Medical Superintendent Coronation Hospital.

Through the cashless smart card, under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), patients living below the poverty line (BPL) can get treatment for 980 diseases at empaneled government and non-government hospitals.

The beneficiary and his family can avail services of Rs 30,000 by making an yearly payment of Rs 30 only.

In the districts of Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli and Champawat, the health scheme is being implemented by Star Health India Ltd and in Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, Udham Singh Nagar and Pauri, it is being implemented through United India Insurance Company.

Dehradun, July 29
The bodies of two missing teenaged girls from Ranchi were found on a bank of the Chilla canal in Rishikesh today. The police sent the bodies for a postmortem to a district hospital in Haridwar.

The police said there were no visible injuries on the bodies and prima facie they seemed to have died of drowning. However, the police said the real picture could come only after the postmortem report.

According to Rajesh Shah, Station House Officer, Lakshman Jhula police station, they got information about the incident from locals who spotted the bodies lying on the bank of the canal.

Following this, the police sent the bodies to the district hospital in Haridwar for a postmortem. The two have been identified as Nikita Saha and Mousam Modi, both in the age group of 17 to 18.

A case had been filed at the Ranchi kotwali on July 20.

Family members had been informed about the incident and they were likely to arrive soon, the SHO added.

Dehradun, July 29
Continuous rain wreaked havoc in the city as rainwater entered houses in Harbanswala, Ajabpur Kala, Shivlok Colony, Sapera Basti (Mothrewala), Soda Saroli Brahamanwala Mehboob Colony (Sahastradhara), Adhoiwala, Indra Colony, Chakuwala, Nai Basti, Mangal Basti Rajeev Nagar and Deep Nagar.

The most-affected areas are those that are located near the Rispana and Bindal rivers.

The Nai Basti area has been declared a danger zone.

A community centre at Chak Raipur and Sarona Marg also damaged due to heavy rain. However, people heaved a sigh of relief in the afternoon when rain stopped.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli said they were making all efforts to ensure that the areas that were submerged last year did not face the same situation.

Dehradun, July 29
A 27-year-old faculty member of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), situated at Rajpur Road, has been missing for the past two days.

His family alleged that he had been kidnapped by a couple known to him. Family members and relatives in a large number reached the Dalanwala police station against inaction by the police.

The police on the other hand said it seemed to be a case of a love triangle involving the missing man. However, the police has got no major clue into the case.

According to Munna Lal Saha, an Adhoiwala resident, his son Amit Shah, who was an admission head at IIPM, had gone missing from July 27 at 8 pm. He alleged that his son had been abducted by Saurabh and Nidhi who, he said, had a love affair.

Saha said his son received a call from the duo to come to a store at Kalidas Road where Saurabh ran a modular kitchen business. He went there and never returned. “My son has been abducted by them,” the father alleged.

Superintendent of Police (City) Ajay Joshi said they questioned Saurabh and Nidhi who had said following the meeting Amit left from

there and they did not know where did he go after that.

Nidhi was earlier an MBA student at the institute and was employed at the same place. She reportedly had an affair with Saurabh.

The police thinks it seems to be a case of a love triangle which had gone sour.

The police is also of the view that Amit might have been tensed over something and must have gone to some lonely place.

However, till the filing of the report, the police was investigating into the matter.

Mussoorie, July 29
Rain has revealed the lackadaisical attitude of the Education Department as students at Girls Junior High School near Kulri Bazaar are forced to sit under the leaking ceiling that could cave in any time threatening the lives of students and damage to computers that have been bought under the “Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan scheme”.

In addition to that, several students have refused to use the computers due to the fear of electric shock that they receive due to wet walls.

An item on the subject was also published last year in August in The Tribune, titled “School roof waiting to cave in”, which had forced the public representative to rush to the school and make promises which eventually were not fulfilled.

Teachers said local MLA Jot Singh Gunsola and Municipal Council Chairman OP Uniyal had promised to repair the ceiling last year but contractors after providing cosmetic touches left the work incomplete and the problem has resurfaced once again this year.

Headmistress of the school Nimesh Dangwal said the two rooms that could have been used by the students were right now in the possession of Nagar Shiksha Adhikari and had not been returned despite many reminders. It forced them to use the headmistress office as make-shift computer room but that room was leaking from several places.

“If the Nagar Shiksha Adhikari would have returned the rooms to the school, they could have been in a position to shift the computers there,” added Dangwal.

Gunsola said he had visited the school last year and it was decided that the Municipal Council would repair the roof. It was really unfortunate that rooms were not vacated for student. He also stated that if the school gave him in writing, he would pursue the matter with the local administration and try to resolve it soon.

Uniyal said he would direct his engineers to look into matter urgently and rectify the problem so that the students could learn in congenial environment.

Dehradun, July 29
A district-level table-tennis tournamentconcluded here today at the multi-purpose hall of the Parade Ground.

In the junior boys’ final, Akshat Dabral got the better of Akash Gupta 11-8, 11-9, 7-11, 11-7 to claim the title. The two had a tough battle before Dabral managed to win the match.

In the sub-junior girls’ final, Vanishka defeated Tina Rawat 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 7-11 and Sunita beat Apoorva 7-11, 12-14, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7 in the junior girls’ final. Till the filing of the report the matches were under way at the hall.

Dehradun, July 29
Doon United and Sunderwala Boys won their respective league matches 3-0 here today during the 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial District Football League.

Doon United beat Indra Club 3-0 with the help of Sukh Bahadur (34th minute), Vijay (56th) and Poonum (59th) who contributed a goal each. Indra Club could not score any goal.

The same was the fate of BC Milan, which was thrashed by Sunderwala Boys 3-0. Sushant Rana (10th), Shashank Mamgai (40th) and Shubham (59th) struck a goal in the win of Sunderwala.

Tomorrow, Shivalik Club will play against Nagar Nigam and Cantt Blue will take on Garhwal Sporting.

Mussoorie, July 29
Ankit Sinha and Mehul Sharma from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School (GNFC) today reached the final of the second MSA Inter-School Table Tennis Tournament organised by the Mussoorie Sports Association and the Rotary Club, Mussoorie on the MPG College premises.

Sanjana Upreti from Mussoorie Girls Inter-College and Aanchal Bajaj from Oak Grove School reached the finals of under-14 girl’s category.

Earlier in the first semi-finals of under-12 boys, Ankit Sinha (GNFC) defeated Shubham Jha (Oak Grove) in straight sets 11-8,11-3,11-7. In the second semi-final Mehul Sharma (GNFC) defeated Keshav (Mussoorie Girls and Boys School) 11-5, 11-3, and 11-4.

In the first semi-final of under-14 girls, Aanchal Bajaj (Oak Grove) defeated Sonam Gaur (Mussoorie Girls) 8-11, 11-8, 14-12. In the second semi-final Sangeeta Upreti(Mussoorie Girls) defeated Monika (Oak Grove) 11-2,11-6,11-2.

In another semi-final of under-12 girl’s, Aakansha(Mussoorie girls) defeated her Simran (Mussoorie girls) 10-12,11-7,11-3. In the second semi-final, Pooja Rawat(Mussoorie Girls) defeated Nida (Oak grove) 11-1,11-2.

The tournament was inaugurated by Mussoorie Municipal Council President OP Uniyal and Rotary Club president Shalabh Garg. MSA officials were present on the occasion. The doubles, mixed doubles and senior boys and girls singles will be played tomorrow and the final will be held on July 31. 

Dehradun, July 29
The following are the results of the matches played in the Inter-house Squash Championship of the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) on the fourth day.

Under-13 years - Winner - Cadet Kapil (Chandragupta section), Runner-up - Cadet Punit Jatrana (Shivaji section), Winner - Cadet YS Shrivastav (Chandragupts section), Runner-up - Cadet Shreshta (Shivaki section).

Under -17 years: Winner - Cadet Ankit Singh (Ranjit section), Runner-up - Cadet Rahul Dev (Chandragupta section), Winner - Cadet Vinay Chaudhary (Shivaji section), Runner-up - Cadet Lalit (Pratap section), Winner - Cadet Gokul Mahajan (Shivaji section), Runner-up- Cadet Mayank Dhama (Pratap section), Winner- Cadet Punit Kumar (Ranjit section), Runner-up - Cadet Mayank Dhama (Pratap section), Winner - Cadet Aman Gupta (Pratap section), Runner- up- Cadet Mohit Mayank (Ranjit section)

At the end of the day, the scores were as follows -

Pratap section- 10 points, Ranjit section- 34 points, Shivaji section- 26 points and Chandragupta section- 24 points.

Mussoorie, July 29
Devotees from far and wide gathered at Nag Devta Temple, 6 kilometre from Mussoorie, to participate in the “Doli and Kalash Yatra” procession, held in honour of the local deity “Nag Devta”, today.

The devotees, predominantly women, assembled at the Nag Devta temple early this morning for special prayers and sought blessings by offering milk to the main deity, thereafter they placed the religious Kalash(vessel) filled with holy water on their head and set forth on a 12 kilometre journey from the temple, bare-foot amid the chants of “Nag Raj ki Jai.”

The high priest of the temple accompanied the Kalash Yatra along with the palanquin (Doli) of the the lord accompanied by the beating of traditional drums and musical instruments that invigorated the atmosphere and added to the religious fervour all along the way.

The devotees, after completing the circuit, returned to the temple and established “Kalash and Doli” on the temple premises where it will remain till the auspicious occasion of Nag Panchmi falling on August 4 this year.

Bhagwat Katha was also organised where Acharya Parshuram and Bhagvat Bhushan enlightened the devotees quoting from the holy scriptures. A bhandara was held in the evening on the occasion.

Dehradun, July 29
Acting on reports related to the collapse of a staircase and a wall at the Pavilion Ground here, Utpal Kumar Singh, Chief Secretary (PWD), today attached Mulayam Singh, Executive Engineer (PWD) and YN Rajwanshi, Assistant Executive (PWD), to the Chief Executive’s office.

Earlier, Junior Engineer Manoj Chawdhry had been attached to the Chief Executive’s office. On July 21, Sports Minister Khajan Das had visited the spot and asked for action against the officials who did not check the quality of material being used in the construction.

He had also asked for investigations at the top level, but officials kept on ignoring it.