Pawan, Mamta cross-country race winners
Dehradun, October 1
Pawan Kumar of Maharana Partap Sports College and Mamta of MKP got first place in the under-14 boys and girls category, respectively, here today in a cross-country race which was organised by the District Sports Office on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti.

IMA celebrates 79th Raising Day
Dehradun, October 1
The Indian Military Academy celebrated its 79th Raising Day with its members, including civilian employees at Khetarpal Auditorium, here today.

Cong councillors stage protest
Dehradun, October 1
Not happy with the performance of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), Congress councillors, under the leadership of leader of the opposition Ashok Verma, staged a protest outside the office of the Chief Executive Engineer today.

Mussoorie, October 1
Illegal limestone mining that continues unabated in Mussoorie, right under the nose of authorities concerned, has wreaked havoc in the reserve forest area along the road leading to Khattapani in Landour Bazaar here.

The Tribune had published a report on illegal mining yesterday titled, “Limestone mining scars Jharipani mountain”, showing the plight of the mountain and intermittent quarrying by the building mafia.

Another such incident of illegal mining has come to fore olong the road leading to Khattapani, where the contractor under the Mussoorie Municipal Council has dug up a mountain with impunity, just below the Survey of India property, endangering the lives of many residing above.

According to the local residents, the illegal tapping of the mountain has been on in the private forest, owned by the Survey of India and the Cantonment Board, for several months, where the contractor after digging up the lime stone boulders, is utilising the sub-standard material for constructing the embankment (sidewalls) in order to gain a profit from the contract.

Residents alleged that the ward member of the area was also in cahoots with the contractor and had turned a blind eye to the sub-standard material being used in the construction.

DFO Mussoorie, Ram Gopal Verma, said he had directed his team to visit the site, but the labourers at the site had fled after seeing the team, leaving behind a spade as only evidence.

According to the Forest Department Ranger, M Maindola, the spade had been confiscated as evidence. He, however, stated that the site did not come under the notified area and since no trees had been damaged, it was beyond his purview and fell under the jurisdiction of the state Mining Department.

Officials at the Mining Department were not available for comments after repeated efforts to contact them.

The Executive Officer, Municipal Council, Mussoorie, Rohtash Sharma, when asked about the use of sub-standard material, illegally mined from the private forest on the road leading to Khattapani, responded that he had directed his engineers to investigate into the matter and if any shortcomings were found, action would be taken against the said contractor.

Dehradun, October 1
Sangeeta Kathait, BJP councillor at the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), along with residents of her ward, gheraoed the Executive Engineer of the Payjal Nigam here today.

The councillor told the engineer that the work of sewer line had been pending in her area since long. “The department has inaugurated the sewer line two years back. Even after so much time, the department is only able to dig up roads. I have asked the contractor so many times but he paid no heed to it. This is spoiling the reputation of the party and it is the councillor who has to face the people,” she said and asked the official to immediately cancel the contract of the contractor working in her area and give it to some other contractor so that work could be done smoothly and speedly.

Kathait also said if the work was not done within seven days, she would protest outside the house of minister Prakash Pant and the department would be responsible for it.

Dehradun, October 1
Tarun Kumar Jha, a fraud Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, today told the police that he took Rs 16 lakh from a Punjab resident to fetch him a job in the Railways.

The imposter was arrested by the Patelnagar police yesterday for duping several people.

The police said Faridkot native Harcharan Singh Sandhu, who reached his house, today alleged that Jha took Rs 25 lakh from him to place him as an officer in the Railways. However, Jha said he took only Rs 16 lakh from Sandhu.

SSI Abdul Kalam, who is investigating the matter, said an aide of Jha, Pawan Kumar Sinha, was working in Delhi supposedly in the Railways had shared several emails with Jha and promised people jobs.

The police checked all emails which conveyed that they had discussed on financial issues to place people in the Railways. Kalam further said a team would be sent to Delhi to trace the man. Meanwhile, a clerk posted in the Railways in Dehradun, also alleged that he was approached by Jha promising to get him a job in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. The police is questioning the accused in this regard.

Dehradun, October 1
Pawan Kumar of Maharana Partap Sports College and Mamta of MKP got first place in the under-14 boys and girls category, respectively, here today in a cross-country race which was organised by the District Sports Office on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti.

Deepak Choudhary, Karan Tiwari, Rahul Kumar and Pinju Kumar stood second, third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the under-14 boys event. Shital, Sarita, Shipla, Shailini and Deepika got second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively, in the under-17 girls event.

In the boys open, Rajesh Kumar, Ram Kumar, Naveen Parihar, Anupam Rawat, Kamaldeep and Nishu Kumar got first six places, respectively.

In the girls open, Anita Rawat, Pooja, Varsha Rawat, Meena, Sweety and Kavita Bisht were the players who got first six positions, respectively.

Meanwhile, the district level baseball championship concluded today. The players were later given away prizes at the multi-purpose hall of the Parade Ground.

Dehradun, October 1
Not happy with the performance of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), Congress councillors, under the leadership of leader of the opposition Ashok Verma, staged a protest outside the office of the Chief Executive Engineer today.

Verma said the last meeting of the board was held in October last year and since then no meeting had been organised. And this despite the fact that it was necessary to hold a meeting once in two months. He said the budget for 2011-12 had not been passed so far. Maintenance work on various roads was also lying pending.

The councillors said if the corporation failed to take proper action, they would intensify their protest.

Those who were present on the occasion included Rajkumar, Jagdish Dhiman, Ramesh Butola, Beena Bisht, Rama Gaud, Vijay Pratap Singh, Arun Balmiki, Ajay Sonkar, Anand Tyagi, Dr Vijender Pal Singh, Anup Kapoor, Sanjay Gupta, Viney Kohli, Ashok Kohli, Manmohan Dhanai, Allaudin, Rakesh Maurya, Naveen Bisht, Vipin Kumar and Abdul Aziz.

Dehradun, October 1
When Gopal Nath Goswami had assumed the charge of Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) last month, he was welcomed by a spate of crimes, including murders and other petty thefts. However, the police, under his leadership, has not only solved two murder cases in a short span of time, but also strengthened policing.

“Having 27 years of experience in various districts, this was not difficult for me. To solve a case, every possibility should be studied,” Goswami told TNS.

He said his aim was to make policemen more professional. “Crime rate is not a major concern in Dehradun. The main problem here is traffic jams for which we have deployed more policemen,” he said.

He said policemen had been asked to avoid confrontation with people on the road on any issue. Rather they should adopt an educative approach like noting down the violators’ vehicle registration numbers, he added.

For Goswami, who belongs to a lower middle-class family of a small village named Jeatap in Almora district, it was not easy to reach up to this level. “My father was a farmer while mother a housewife. After completing my intermediate in Almora, I shifted to Lucknow. After a lot of struggle, I got a scholarship from Lucknow University from where I pursued my graduation and MA (economics). I managed to clear the UPPSC examination to join as an upper-division assistant. Later, I joined police force after clearing the PPS examination,” Goswami said.

A well-grounded officer, he served as the DSP, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor and Faizabad. He also served as the SP (Rural), Lucknow, Meerut, Kanpur, Shamli and the SP (Crime), Lucknow.

After joining the Uttarakhand Police on the basis of domicile, he served as the SP (City), the SSP (Udham Singh Nagar) and the Commandant, 31st PAC, Rudrapur.

A 1983 PPS batch officer, he was promoted to the IPS rank in 2001. He is likely to get his next promotion soon, as the matter is still pending with the UPSC. His family is settled in Lucknow. One of his two sons is working as a company secretary and the other is studying.

Dehradun, October 1
To mark International Senior Citizens Day today, the HelpAge India launched a nationwide campaign, Student Action for Value Education (SAVE), in association with the Federation of Senior Citizens Association of Uttarakhand.

Dr S Negi, Director, Forest Research Institute (FRI), inaugurated the campaign.

A total of 149 children of various schools participated in the competition, which included GRD Academy, the Asian School, Guru Nanak Academy, MKP Inter College, Delhi Public School, Touchwood School, Marshall School, SGRR, Sai Grace and DBIS (Rani Pokhri).

Renowned artistes of the city Monika Talukdar, Aloke B Lal and Anjali Thapa judged the paintings.

The children expressed their thoughts towards their grandparents in the paintings.

An oath was administered to 149 schoolchildren to serve, respect and always perform their duties towards the elderly.

MUSSOORIE: Senior citizens of Mussoorie celebrated International Senior Citizens Day by organising a rally under the aegis of the All Mussoorie Senior Citizens Welfare Association that was flagged off by local MLA, Jot Singh Gunsola from Landour Bazaar and ended at the Gurdwara in Library Bazaar.

Later in a small function held at the Library Bazaar Gurdwara, five senior citizens, Rajrani Grover, Ramkumar Goyal, Ami Chand Sharma and Kripal Singh were felicitated for their exemplary contribution towards the social service.

The chief guest on the occasion, Rajpur MLA, Ganesh Joshi congratulated the elderly on the day and said senior citizens were an integral part of the society, therefore the children should recognise and appreciate the elderly population, for their values and contribution made to the families.

Senior citizens also distributed wheel chairs to needy persons on the occasion. President of the senior citizen association AS Khullar spoke about the achievements of the association and demanded better health care facilities and a day care centre at Mussoorie for elders.

Dehradun, October 1
To celebrate National Voluntary Blood Donation Day, the IMA Blood Bank of Uttarakhand organised a music concert, “Give Me Red” at the Survey of India Stadium, Hathibarkala, today.

As many as 18 bands from across the city enthralled the audience and promoted the idea of voluntary blood donation through their performances. A six-year-old drummer, Master Amogh Bhatt, of Ann Mary School, also attracted the attention of the audience. The programme was inaugurated by the governing body of the blood bank. — TNS