Kalam: Need to check infant mortality rate in U’khand
Tribune News Service

Nainital, August 10
Suggesting a road map to be undertaken by Uttarakhand to achieve the goals set by him in his Vision 2020 document, former President APJ Abdul Kalam has stressed the need for a three-fold increase in per capita income and taking the literacy level in the state to above 90 per cent.

Speaking at the 11th convocation of Kumaon University here today, Kalam stressed the need to check the infant mortality rate (IMR) in the state.

The former President has suggested that the tourism sector in the state must attract double the number of domestic and triple the number of tourists arriving here at present. He said this could be done by improving the tourism infrastructure. At the same time, he said the earning capacity of the people of the state must also be increased.

He further said: “Uttarakhand must work towards becoming the first carbon neutral state in the country. There is also a need to provide urban amenities in rural areas.” Kalam said biodiversity in the state offered an immense potential and the state could use the same for developing bio-fuel and bio-medicine.

Giving references of eminent personalities from the world of science and literature, he told the students to aim high in life and make contributions that are unique. “Inventions and discoveries have emanated from creative minds that have been constantly working and imagining the outcome in the mind. The question is: Are you willing to become a unique personality?” he asked.

In her address, Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva, also the Chancellor of the university, dwelt upon the role of education in democracy. She said: “Education plays a pivotal role in democracy. Teachers have to train and mould the minds of the young so as to make them worthy citizens of our secular state and instruments of change. 
That change, must be for the better.”

She further said: “In this era of technology, the role of teachers in higher education has to be reoriented. Teaching today is student centric. There is a need to inculcate three As -aspiration, attitude and action in students to help them reach the highest realms of professional excellence.”

Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Alva said: “The real difficulty is that people have no idea of what education truly is. We assess the value of education in the same manner as we assess the value of land or of shares in the stock exchange market. We want to provide only such education that will enable the student to earn more. We hardly give any thought to the improvement of the character of the educated.”

Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank who was also present on the occasion underlined how the state was fast becoming an education hub.

Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydro-power Project
World Bank to give $648 m loan to Tehri corpn
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, Aug 10
The Wo rld Bank has signed a $ 648 million loan agreement with the Tehri Hydroelectric Development Corporation (THDC) to build the Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project on the Alaknanda river which is expected to generate an estimated 1,665 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year to help relieve India’ s chronic power shortage.

The agreement was signed by Venu Rajamony, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, on behalf of the Government of India, Deepak Sarwal, General Manager, THDC, S D Sharma, Additional Resident/Investment Commissioner on behalf of the Government of Uttarakhand and Roberto Zagha, Country Director for India on behalf of the World Bank in New Delhi today.

The World Bank fund will help build project infrastructure that includes a 65-metre diversion dam near Helang village in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand to create a small reservoir in the Alaknanda river, a 13.4-kilometre headrace tunnel to carry the water to an underground powerhouse near Haat village to generate the power and a 3 km-tailrace tunnel that will take all the diverted water back to the river.

The electricity generated from the project will be supplied to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. The project will also help reduce India’s greenhouse gas emissions by 1.6 million tonnes each year, compared to a thermal plant of the same capacity.

Apart from providing power at a reasonable cost to those who currently have limited or no access to electricity, the project will also provide Uttarakhand a royalty of 12 per cent of the power generated, which is estimated to be around Rs 90 crore (around $ 20 million at current exchange rates) each year at expected tariffs.

According to THDC officials, there will be negligible impact on downstream water quality as a result of the project and the THDC will ensure that there is a minimum flow of 15.65 cumecs of water in the Alaknanda at all times to sustain the aquatic health of the river. This is equivalent to approximately 45 per cent of the average lean season flow in the Alaknanda and represents one of the highest minimum flow standards maintained by any hydropower project in India. The Vishnugad Pipalkoti Project was cleared for construction only after the Ministry of Environment & Forests studied the cumulative impacts of hydropower development on the Alaknanda basin and, as such, it incorporates important safeguards such as a higher environment flow standard, said Roberto Zagha, World Bank Country Director for India. “As a responsible corporate citizen, the THDC is keen to see the hydropower industry move to more sustainable practices and we look forward to our continued association with the World Bank as we build out internal capacity and set up systems that will achieve this,” said R S T Sai, Chairman-cum- Managing Director, THDC.

Located on a section of the Alaknanda where it flows through a deep, largely uninhabited gorge, the project is expected to have minimal negative impacts on the local communities and the environment.

“Large infrastructure projects often inconvenience the host communities, especially during the construction phase. The THDC has not only tried to reduce this burden but will also share with the local people some of the benefits that will ultimately accrue from the project”, said Michael Haney, Senior Energy Specialist and Task Team Leader for the Vishnugad Pipalkoti Hydroelectric Project. Once the project begins generation, each household affected by the project will receive 100 kWh of free electricity every month for 10 years. The THDC will also make available 1 per cent of the annual revenue of the project for the development of the local area and can be used to build hospitals, roads and water supply schemes. This is apart from Rs 310 million that the THDC will provide to help build community infrastructure (like footpaths, footbridgesetc) in project-affected villages over the next five years.

CM carries out surprise checks in Nainital offices
Tribune News Service

Nainital, August 10
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank carried out surprise checks in several offices of Nainital after attending the convocation of Kumaon University today.

At the treasury, he found that all records and cheques have been kept in an unorganised manner. Not finding any senior official present on his arrival, he asked for the attendance register and was peeved at finding that most of the officials had not signed it.

He has ordered District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli to ensure an improvement in the functioning of the treasury and the proper maintenance of the records. Later, he went to the Tehsil office, where he sought details regarding the money made available to the Tehsil for distribution under various heads and the money lying there at present. The Tehsildar informed that the money meant to be disbursed to the people on various accounts had been given to the beneficiaries. After this, Nishank visited the PWD office. He went to every section of the office and enquired about various works being carried out, particularly those where there has been a delay in execution. He wanted an explanation for the non-execution of some works since 2008.

He asked Kumaon Commissioner Kunal Sharma to get the pending works executed. He was also annoyed over the delay in the reconstruction of the Nainital-Almora highway that was devastated a year ago in a rain-related disaster that had hit the region. He ordered that the road be repaired at the earliest. Inspecting the office of the Lake Development Authority, Nishank asked officials to clear the pending permissions regarding the passing of maps for the construction and repair of buildings as per the norms. 

Nod to Eco-Tourism Corporation

Dehradun, August 10
The state will have another corporation in the tourism sector as CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has given his approval to float the Eco-Tourism Corporation at a meeting held with the Chief Secretary and the Principal Secretaries of various departments at the Secretariat here today. The GMVN and the KMVN already exist in the state. Nishank also agreed to levy water charges on electricity generation by Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited on the suggestion of the Principal Secretary, Irrigation Department. The meeting was convened to review the status and possibilities to enhance the economically viable resources in the state. “The income of the state should be enhanced by making an optimum use of its resources and improving efficiency of the administrative machinery, as we can not afford to put additional burden on the public,” he said.

Regarding the Eco Tourism Corporation, a joint venture of the Tourism and the Forest Departments, he asked both the departments to come up with a systematic proposal on the same. The Principle Secretary, Forest, said their department had set a target of generating an additional income of about Rs 150 crore from the river rafting and beach camping.

Putting forth his views on the proposal regarding a new mining policy formulated by the Industry Department, Nishank said the GMVN, the KMVN and the Van Vikas Nigam should earn a revenue of about Rs 800 crore per annum under the existing rules and regulations. He also expressed displeasure over the fact the government corporations were using only 70 per cent of the land allotted to them.

Principal Secretary of the Irrigation Department PC Sharma said by levying charges on the usage of water by the UJVNL on the lines of Jammu and Kashmir, they could earn an income of Rs 1,700 crore (by charging levy at a rate of 25 paise per cubic meter), Rs 1350 crore (at a rate of 20 paise per cubic meter) and Rs 700 crore (at a rate of 10 paise per cubic meter). — TNS

ILLEGAL QUARRYING
Operators take village routes to avoid checkposts
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 10Despite a ban on quarrying in the Kumbh mela area in Haridwar, the activity is going on at various places on a mass scale. To avoid being caught red-handed, the persons involved in this illegal activity take the routes passing through interior villages to transport the illegal material from the Ganga riverbed to different destinations.

Instead of the direct Lakshar-Haridwar route, illegal operators take their vehicles laden with quarrying material on the routes leading to nearby villages like Durgagad and after passing through Sultanpur, Ranimazra, Katarpur they reach Ferupur. Taking this route, which is a detour of almost 20-25 km, the illegal operators avoid at least three police checkposts on the Luxar-Ferupur road. The vehicles carrying illegal material can be seen passing through the nearby villagers round the clock. Additional District Magistrate SN Pandey said illegal quarrying had come to administration’s notice and already several vehicles had been impounded. All the Sub-Divisional Magistrates have been given directions to make sure that quarrying is totally stopped and persons involved in this illegal activity are put behind bars, he added.

He stated nakas would be set up on the inner roads leading to villages to check the transportation of quarrying material and additional police force had been sought from the SSP to effectively stop illegal quarrying. Meanwhile, at one of the busiest bridges of the city, Indira Gandhi Setu, popularly known as the Chandi Ghat bridge, illegal quarrying by the Irrigation Department in the name of disaster management has been stopped because of the violation of the quarrying norms.

As per the Quarrying Act, quarrying is prohibited within 500-metre radius of any bridge but at the Chandi Ghat bridge the quarrying was being done just within 50-metre radius of the bridge. District quarrying coordinator MD Dhaundiyal said quarrying had been stopped at the bridge and an investigation ordered as to how the contractor was allowed by the Irrigation Department to carry out quarrying despite the very site coming under the Kumbh mela notified area.

Armenian students visit Gurukul Kangri varsity
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 10
Welcoming Hindi students from the Republic of Armenia here this morning at Gurukul Kangri University, two km from Haridwar, Vice-Chancellor of the university Swatantra Kumar urged the students to use Hindi as a medium to bring both countries closer.

Five girl students accompanied by their Hindi teacher had come on an invitation by the university to visit the century-old university so that they could get information about the Indian culture and the art of yoga.

Speaking at a welcome function, Dr Manjula Rana, a member of the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission, asked the Armenian students to utilise the opportunity of coming to Uttarakhand.

One of the students Anjila Mikalyan said both India and its national language was respected by Armenians, particularly owing to the Indo-USSR friendly ties when Armenia was a part of the USSR.

“We have Armenia as our state language though Russian is the second language widely spoken in our country. Interest in Indian culture and languages like Sanskrit and Hindi is on the rise in our country due to which we are pursuing the Hindi language” said Lyusin Daliyan to TNS.

Other accompanying students Emma Torosyan, Nili Bayozyar, Sushenik Mirjyon and Lyusin Darliyan also spoke of their experience while learning the Hindi language and the similarities between the two countries.

Hindi teacher Dr Anita Verma, after having a brief session with the Armenian students, appreciated the curiosity and willingness of the batch. She pointed out that even these students had been working on their accent so that when they could interact with Indians in Hindi.

On the occasion Ashok Kumar, Professor Mahavir Aggarwal, Dr Pradeep Kumar Joshi, Dr Ram Pal and Gurukul students in a large number were present.

Cong leaders told to avoid media
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 10
The Uttarakhand Congress Disciplinary Committee has asked party leaders to desist from going to the media every now and then and must report their grievances to the committee.

The committee’s chairman Narendra Singh Bhandari at a press conference today said the Disciplinary Committee of the Congress had issued directives to its party leaders not to go to the media to air their grievances and must rather put their concerns before the disciplinary committee that was a proper platform.

Bhandari said after the committee had issued notices to party leaders against pasting of posters and pamphlets on the Congress Bhawan walls, no poster or pamphlet can now be seen on the walls.

He reminded that in the last parliamentary elections, the disciplinary committee ensured that none was allowed to create indiscipline during polls which finally led to resounding victory for the party.

He said the committee in the last parliamentary elections had also categorically stated that anyone found inactive during the polls would also be considered as part of indiscipline. Bhandari said the party leaders had also been asked not to organise any meeting without seeking proper permission from the authorities.

Earlier, Bhandari at the committee meeting held at Congress Bhawan also looked into complaints received by party men.

DIG for adopting community policing
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 10
“A lot need to be learnt from the effective community policing system of foreign countries. Members of the community need to be empowered to get the good result from the system,” said DIG Deepak Ghildiyal who recently returned from a two-week training from Manchester, London.

The system of community policing, which aimed to identify and solve problems, had brought fruit in other countries while in India it had not been that successful.

In countries like Britain, other than acting as a force multiplier, the system had also helped the police to reduce crime and anti-social activities in their respective areas. These volunteers made people feel safer in the society and provide inputs to the police, he said.

Ghildiyal said a few police constables were only assigned to work in the community policing in London.

“Other than this, the police there believes in empowering the dedicated and deserving members of the community. Under the community policing, the cops name some of the members as Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). The PCSOs are given uniforms and walkie-talkie but their powers are strictly limited and they are not paid money. The police also makes some of them special constables in different areas”, he said.

“These constables are given training and are also paid some amount on the monthly basis. The PCSOs and the constables are further given weightage in the recruitment of the police constables,” he elaborated.

“One good thing is even the seniormost police officers in England rise from the rank of a constable unlike India where IPS officers directly assume the top posts,” the DIG added.

Ghildiyal told The Tribune that police officers at a meeting were briefed about it and were asked to adopt these things. “Of course, we cannot adopt everything which is prevalent in other countries but whatever good we can we should,” he added.

A total of 115 DIGs/IGs from India went for the training programme. From the Uttarakhand Police, other than Ghildiyal, IG Alok Sharma also attended the training. Under this Mid-Career Training Programme, they also went to the National Police Academy, Hyderabad, for six week training earlier.

S Wasu Memorial Table Tennis
Summer Valley School shine

Dehradun, August 10
Summer Valley School got the better of Jaswant Modern School 3-0 in the final of the Under-12 team championship on the first day of the 6th S Wasu Inter- School Table Tennis Championship here yesterday.

In this final, Shobhit Dangwal beat Nitin Gusain 11-5,11-4,11-5. Pankaj Goel defeated Tushar 11-1,11-4,11-2 and Amogh Rautela thrashed Ajeet 11-1,11-4,11-3.

Summer Valley School also won the under-14 team championship beating Shri Guru Nanak Public School. Suraj Rana outplayed Pankaj 11-3,11-0,11-1, Pankaj Goel beat Kamil 11-3,11-6,11-4 and Nimish Latiyan defeated Aakit 11-6,11-7,13-11.

In the under-14 team championship semifinal, Summer Valley School beat Doon School 3-0. Pankaj defeated Chaitanya 11-9,11-3,12-10. Suraj beat Nachiket 11-4,11-2,11-9, while Nimish defeated Raghav 11-4,11-3,11-6.

In the second semifinal of the same category, Shri Guru Nanak College surpassed Welham Boys 3-0. Kamil got the better of Sushant 11-7,8-11,11-6,11-7, Aakib beat Pranav 11-3,11-3,9-11,11-4 and Pankaj surpassed Vikram 11-3,11-2,11-6.

Whereas in the semifinal of the under-17 team championship, Summer Valley School defeated Jaswant Modern School 3-0. Akshay Dabral got past Ayush Semwal 11-8,11-3,11-2.

Akash Gupta beat Anurag Thapli 11-4,11-7,11-5 and Suraj Rana defeated Shubham 11-3,11-6,11-3.

In the second semifinal, Kasiga School edged past Shri Guru Nanak College 3-2. Siddharth defeated Kishan Raj Ojha 11-4,11-1,11-4. Thawin lost To Amanjeet 11-8,11-13, 8-11,7-11 and Natapong lost to Aakib 1-11,5-11, 5-11. — TNS

Football trophy for Wynberg Allen School
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 10
Wynberg Allen School beat its tough rival Tibetan Homes School 2-1 in the final to walk away with the trophy of the 27th Carbery Memorial Inter-school Sub-junior Football Tournament at St Jude’s School, Mazra, today.

The fiercely contested final saw all three goals being scored in the first half as the second half remained goalless. For Tibetan School, their star striker, Dorjee, scored the lone goal in the 11th minute.

Kisley and Deo Anand scored a goal each for the winning team. The Tibetan side could not score any other goal later despite a few good chances.

Col AK Pundir (retd) , Principal, Constancia School, gave away 
the prizes.

Pratap section ahead in RIMC soccer tournament

Dehradun, August 10
The results of the matches played on the second day of the inter-section football competition being held in the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) are as follows-

Juniors: The match between Pratap section and Shivaji section was drawn 3-3. Cadets Akshat and Shivam scored goals for Pratap section while cadets Maikel and Param scored for Shivaji section. Chandragupta section defeated Ranjit section 2-0. Cadets Tomthin and Mukul scored for Chandragupta section.

Seniors: The matches between Pratap section and Chandragupta section and Ranjit section and Shivaji sections were drawn goalless. At the end of the day, the section standings were as follows-

Pratap section - 8 points, Ranjit section - 4 points, Shivaji section - 5 points and Chandragupta section - 4 points.