|
|
|
|
|
Rain no damper for Anna’s supporters
MP invites him to state
Nishank govt to bring in Bill to curb corruption
Haridwar youth back stir
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Scarcity of Essential Items
Midday Meal Scheme
1188.42 mm of rainfall in Pithoragarh so far
Mental health programme fails to take off
Woman killed in house collapse; 2 feared drowned
Industries taking to biomass gasification
|
|
Rain no damper for Anna’s supporters
Dehradun, August 26 Anil Jain, president of the association, accused the Centre of making all the efforts to bring in a weak Lokpal Bill which would be ineffective like scores of other Bills tabled in Parliament so far. He stressed only Anna’s version of the Bill be passed. The BJP also held a rally at the Dilla Ram Chowk where city unit head Sanjeev Verma slammed the Congress for maligning the BJP for its allegedly “hypocritical stand” on Anna’s issue. He clarified: “Our national president Nitin Gadkari made it quite clear that we would support Anna in and outside Parliament. We are equally adamant for bringing the country’s enormous money stashed in foreign banks back so that it could be used for national development. It is the Congress which is exposing itself by dithering on the Jan Lokpal Bill. The teachers and students of the Drona College of Management and Technological Education took out a march from the Gandhi Park. After passing the Parade Ground they came back to the park. Faculty member Vipul Sharma said the Centre should stop laying stress on ending fast by Anna and rather focus on accepting his logical demands.
|
||
|
MP invites him to state
Dehradun, August 26 In a statement issued today, Satpal Maharaj said corruption by the state BJP government had crossed all limits and a person like Anna Hazare was needed in the state. “The people of Uttarakhand need to be made aware of corruption being committed by the state government,” he said. He also appealed to the Gandhian to end his stir. He said the entire country understood his concern over corruption. Anna Hazare was an asset to the nation, he added.
|
||
|
Nishank govt to bring in Bill to curb corruption
Dehradun, August 26 A committee has been constituted that would do the ground work for preparing the Bill and the rules and regulations regarding its implementation. The committee headed by Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma is expected to submit a report on the Bill in two weeks’ time. Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said the Act would become an effective instrument in the hands of the public who generally complain about a lack of transparency and an inordinate delay in getting the required documents for accessing public services. The other members of the committee include District Magistrate Sachin Kurve, Secretary, Agriculture, Om Prakash, Commissioner of Garhwal Ajay Singh Nabiyal. |
||
|
Haridwar youth back stir
Haridwar, August 26 Girl students of Rishikul Ayurvedic and Gurukul Ayurvedic Medical Colleges took out a silent candlelight march in the evening to express solidarity with Anna’s non-violent movement against corruption. Clad in their college uniform, the medical students took out a procession from their respective colleges and went through city streets carrying candles, which were lit at the gate of Rishikul Ayurvedic College amid pledge by the students to fight corruption. The girl students of Chinmaya Degree College took out a procession from the gate of the college. They marched on the BHEL road holding placards and
banners. Students from different public schools, like Delhi Public School, Bal Mandir and DAV, too took out a march from the Bhagat Singh Chowk. Employees of the SIDCUL area are also coming in support of Gandhian Anna Hazare with. The employees of Indian Tobacco Company took out a procession from the SIDCUL headquarters office. Organised under the aegis of the ITC Majdoor Sangh, the procession passed through the colonies of Shivalik Nagar. Youngsters of Aurangabad Colony carrying out an agitation on a large scale. College girls, Priyanka and Komal, observed one-day fast. They said if Anna could observed fast for so long then they could surely contribute a bit to his noble agitation. In Roorkee, under the banner of the Anna Samarthak Manch, youngsters are participating actively in various events, expressing their support
to Anna. |
||
|
Scarcity of Essential Items
Nainital, August 26 Over the past couple of days, there have been different forms of protests at different places where people have resorted to dharnas and agitations. At certain places, they also gheraoed officials. Haldwani is the worst affected on account of a high population density. It continues to witness protests on the issues of water, power and cooking gas crises. Residents of Dharampura locality have been resorting to one agitation after the other for over a week on the issue of irregular supply of drinking water. Even residents of Awas Vikas locality have been facing the problem of water supply. According to sources, excessive silt brought by the Gaula river coupled with low voltage are compounding the problem. On Thursday, residents of Awas Vikas held a protest at the office of the Executive Engineer of the Jal Sansthan. In Lal Kuan, residents of Devrampur D block locality have been facing power crisis for over a week as a burnt transformer has not been repaired so far. Residents also gheraoed the Power Department’s office on the issue. The problem of there being no power in the remote areas, particularly those in the hilly regions, of Kumaon continues to persist. Ramnagar has also been witnessing protests against the failure of the administration to provide them with potable drinking water. With the water supply schemes becoming non-functional, several localities have been facing the water shortage. This has been coupled with the supply of unclean water in several other localities. The town has been witnessing protests by women on the issue. According to reports, there are nearly 3,000 consumers across Kumaon who are facing a tough time on account of the shortage of LPG cylinders. This has resulted in daily protests, particularly in areas like Ramnagar, parts of Udham Singh Nagar
and Haldwani. |
||
|
Tipri-Madan Negi ropeway non-functional
Mussoorie, August 26 For residents of villages like Madan Negi and Jakhni Dhar and Pratap Nagar town, the ropeway is a lifeline, especially during the monsoon, when they are cut off from the rest of the world. Since it is non-functional, villagers are facing many problems and have to wait for many days to get the things of daily needs, as the market is situated across the lake. One of the affected villagers, Jagan Singh, said neither the Tehri Dam authorities nor the Tehri administration was concerned about the problems being faced by them. Even getting ration from new Tehri town had become difficult for them, he added. The ropeway was constructed in 2009 on the demand of villagers at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore and was inaugurated by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. But since 2010, it is non-functional. The Tehri Dam Rehabilitation Department had said it was being closed for maintenance and would reopen soon. But the ropeway has not carried a single person since then. A private company was also entrusted with the task of managing the ropeway, but it also refused stating that an amount of Rs 5 per person was too less in which they would not even recover their initial cost. Later, the district administration had sent a proposal to the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam for the management of the ropeway, but it also did not show any interest. Administrative officials said they had received financial consent on the issue from the THDC and directions had been given to the GMVN to restart the ropeway soon. |
||
|
BAN ON POLL AT SMJN COLLEGE
Haridwar, August 26 The are demanding that the management should take its decision back and allow the holding of the elections. The agitating students, Gaurav Giri and Anurag Mishra, said they wanted to give a non-violent reply to the management’s decision, which did not even want to hold talks with students’ outfits in this regard. They said in the absence of a students’ union, many problems remained unsolved. They further said they would continue with their agitation till the management announced the date for the elections. Today, several students staged a protest and raised slogans against the management. However, college principal AK Ghildiyal has urged the students to withdraw their indefinite fast. She said as last year the students’ union had violated the Lyngdoh Committee’s norms, the college management had to cancel the election process this year. Meanwhile, Garhwal coordinator of the ABVP Naveen Pant told students that they had a talk with the Vice-Chancellor of Hemwati Nandan Garhwal University, who had assured them of action in this regard. Pant expressed hope that the demand of the agitating students would be met at the university level and the college management would have to conduct the elections. |
||
|
Midday Meal Scheme
Nainital, August 26 At a meeting of the MDM Advisory Committee held at Rudrapur, District Magistrate BVRC Purshottam asked Additional District Education Officer (ADEO) AK Singh to ensure the availability of LPG to all schools in the district. At the same time he asked officials of the Health Department to see to it that the Chirayu Programme meant to address the needs of children in anganwadi centres was implemented in letter and in spirit and the children underwent regular health check-ups. Purshottam also asked officials of the Education Department to make it a priority to see that the children from the marginalised section of society granted admission to private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, attended school regularly. Referring to the MDM scheme, Purshottam asked the ADEO to ensure that the meals were prepared in accordance with the new menu. The senior officials of the Education Department were asked to carry out regular inspections to check the implementation of the MDM scheme and the level of education in the government schools. Purshottam pointed that during inspections undertaken by him, it had surfaced that despite there being facilities for providing computer education to the students, the knowledge of the students with regard to the discipline was nil. He asked District Education Officer RS Arya to seek an explanation in this regard from the computer teachers posted in different schools across the district. It was stated that 4,120 children had been admitted to various private schools under the RTE Act and were attending school
regularly. |
||
|
1188.42 mm of rainfall in Pithoragarh so far
Pithoragarh, August 26 A total of 1188.42 mm of rainfall has been recorded in the district till date this year. “The rain has affected 1,451 people of 321 families in 80 villages in the district and eroded 3,882 hectares of cultivable land,” said Joshi. The affected families have been given Rs 83,600 as immediate relief and Rs 7,44,000 as compensation for the damage caused to their houses and Rs 70,240 as compensation for the loss of crops, by the administration so far. “We have issued instructions to the engineers of the state Public Works Department and the Rural Engineering Services Department and have requested the Border Roads Organisation to open all the blocked internal roads in the district within three days so that we can send essential supplies to the interior areas of the district,” said the DM.
|
||
|
Mental health programme fails to take off
Dehradun, August 26 The district mental health units, conceived under the DMHP, still remain non-existent in different districts, thanks to the laid back attitude of the state government. To tide over the shortage of qualified psychiatrists, a year back, 13 medical officers were sent on a short training course in the Psychiatry to National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) and Mental Hospital, Agra (MHA-Agra). Sources said the services of doctors, who were trained in psychiatry, had not been utilised because of the missing district mental health units. These units had to be set up at the district and then at the block level. Dr JS Bisht, psychiatrist, State Mental Hospital (Selaqui), said the medical officers had now begun undertaking practical training at State Mental Hospital (Selaqui). Official sources said the objective of setting up district mental units was to provide the basic psychiatric treatment to mentally ill people in their
respective areas at the time of initiation of mental disorders, thus preventing them from becoming chronic patients. “We have not been able to start the district units due to delay in the allocation of funds for setting up the units. These units have to be equipped with the staff and medications,” said Dr Asha Mathur, DG, Health and Family Welfare. However, the sources pointed out that the inordinate delay was caused in drafting the proposal that ultimately led to the
delay in the allocation of funds. The proposal by the Health Department had made a provision of Rs 8 lakh for setting up the units, which was yet to be passed by the Central Government. Besides, there is acute shortage of psychiatrists in the state, as of now there is just one psychiatrist with a population of 1 crore (approx) according to the 2011 census. Earlier, a consultant (psychiatrist) was posted at the Directorate but he too has left the state and now the post of nodal officer (District Mental Health programme) too is
ying vacant.
|
||
|
Woman killed in house collapse; 2 feared drowned
Pithoragarh, August 26 The woman, a resident of Nepal, died when the house where she was living as a tenant, collapsed in Jhulaghat town on India-Nepal border in Pithoragarh district on Thursday. “The three-storied old building collapsed suddenly in daylight, burying the woman and her son. We later retrieved the body of Maheshwari (55). Her son Sanjay (23), who sustained injuries, was admitted to the district hospital, Pithoragarh,” said Naresh Durgapal, Tehsildar of the area. A resident of Baram village in the Jauljibi area was swept away by the strong current of the Gori river which was in spate following the heavy rain in the area the previous day. “The body of Gumani Ram (45), who had gone to take a bath in the river, could not be recovered despite a search carried out by the villagers on the 14-km stretch downstream,” said DN Joshi, revenue official in Dharchula subdivision. In Champawat district, a 12-year-old student was swept away by a local rivulet while he was trying to cross it on Thursday. “The body of Basant Kumar, who is feared drowned, could not be recovered,” said Khushal Singh Adhikari, Block Pramukh of Pati block in Champawat district. According to the information received from Champawat district, many houses have been damaged in the Pal Bilon area of the district due to the landslides triggered by the heavy rain in the area continuing for the past week. “In the remote village of Silar in the Chalthi area, more than 12 houses have been damaged by the landslides,” said Shankar Dutt Joshi, a social worker of the area. In Danda Kathoti village of the Sukhidhank area, last week’s rain have damaged cultivable land, fruit trees and link roads,” added Joshi. The residents of the Ritha Sahib area of Champawat district have sent a letter to the District Magistrate of their district, requesting him to send a team of revenue officials to take stock of the damage caused by the heavy rain in the area last week and to give compensation to the affected farmers. “In more than 32 villages of the area commercial crops like potato, ginger, turmeric, etc, have been devastated,” said Bhawan Singh Parwal, district president of the All-India Qaumi Ekta Committee in Champawat district and resident of a local village. The DM, Champawat, Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey, more than 12 villagers, who have been affected by the recent landslides, have been granted compensation to construct new houses and some families, which are to be shifted from their landslide-affected villages, have been identified. “Engineers of the PWD have been told to open the four blocked internal roads in the area and have sanctioned Rs 25 lakh for the repairs of the drinking water schemes,” said the DM.— OC |
||
|
Industries taking to biomass gasification
Dehradun, August 26 Chief Executive Officer, Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Authority (UREDA), AK Tyagi said, “The residue of agriculture waste is being used by factories extensively to produce power not only for their personal use but also to sell to the Power Corporation.” The process is environment friendly and a fine example of the proper use of natural resources and wastes. UREDA is a nodal agency for the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in the state and sends proposals to the ministry for subsidy which is given to a maximum of 25% of the total cost of the project. Luxmi Sugar Mills, located at Haridwar, is coming up with a mega project of 20 MW worth Rs 118.60 crore based on bagasse (sugarcane residue). Its vice-Chairman, Manmohan Sharma, said,“This will be our second project which is intended for our own power needs as well as sale to the Power
Corporation.” Sharma added that keeping in mind international norms regarding carbon credit and acute power scarcity and spiralling fuel costs in the state, biomass gasification was the best way out for industries. The project is likely to start by November
next year. Birla Tayar-Keshu Ram Industries at Luxor has opted for a rice husk power plant and is producing 7.5 MW after establishing it in February. RV Prasad, Chief Engineer, said they opted for rice husk given to its rich availability in Bhagwanpur, Bijnore and Haryana. The plant was set up to meet their own electricity requirements. Avani, NGO at Pithoragarh, favours electricity generation through pine needles. Rajnish Jain, project head, said, “We established a power plant of 9 KW five years ago and are now setting up another of 120 KW in Chachrate village for sale purposes.We intend to set up the same project in each of the 100-odd villages of
Pithoragarh. There are other industries which are producing electricity using cattle dung and maize. |
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Classified | E-mail | |
BAN ON POLL AT SMJN COLLEGE
