Ministers yet to submit details of assets
Neena Sharma /TNS

Dehradun, October 8
While the bureaucrats have shown alacrity in submitting the details of their assets, so far not a single minister in Chief Minister BC Khanduri’s cabinet has submitted the details of their movable and immovable assets, the deadline for which is October 15.

In a bid to usher in transparency and greater accountability soon after taking office for the second time in October, the Chief Minister had asked the bureaucrats and his ministers to provide details of their assets.

While keeping with the directives of the Central Government, the IAS and IPS officers had already submitted the details of their assets to the Department of Personnel (Central Government) in July, the same details have now been given to the Personnel Department of the state. However, none of the ministers in the Khanduri government have submitted the details of their assets and any inquiries on this issue have only yielded evasive replies. “We will be submitting the details of our assets at the time of elections to the Election Commission and we have been doing this whenever we stand for elections,” said Balwant Singh Bhoriyal, Social Welfare Minister.

While the ministers are reluctant to submit the details of their assets, it remains to be seen if the Khanduri government would also make public the details of the assets of the bureaucrats and the ministers on the government website.

“Once the government receives the details of their assets, in all fitness of things it should put these on the website for ushering in greater transparency. The Bihar Government had taken a similar step,” said Avdhash Kaushal, Chairman of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK).

The move may aimed at weeding out corruption and may have the approval of the public but several IAS and state PCS officers are against such a move because the information might be misused. “The information about the bureaucrats’ assets is already with the Central Government. I do not think such a move will be detrimental to the safety of the officials,” said, Utpal Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary (Personnel).

Making train travel safer
Railways testing anti-collision device
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 8
After claiming that it has considerably brought down the incidence of accidents across the country during the last decade, moves are now afoot by the Railways to go in for an advanced technology to further reduce the number of accidents, particularly the collision of trains.

To a query, Chairman of the Railways Board Vinay Mittal said the Railways was testing the latest anti-collision device and looking at the fruitfulness of its installation. It was also toying with the idea of introducing the train protection warning system (TPWS) on high-density routes.

“I have directed the Directorate concerned to look into it holistically. We want to reduce the human factor while enhancing the equipment. Our target for accident reduction over the last decade as per the international standards was 0.17 per million train km. What we have achieved is 0.15 per million train km,” he said.

He further said one third of the train accidents were reported from unmanned level crossings and the Railways was now looking at doing away with such crossings by 2016. The Chairman said nearly 19,000 trains run across the country every day, of which 11,000 were passenger trains.

When asked about the fiscal health of the institution, Mittal said demand for freight carriage was going down and this was a matter of concern. He said an increase in the demand for the carriage of things like cement and iron ore could help putting things back on track. He underlined that providing cheap viable transportation to the people was a social responsibility of the Railways.

Over the last decade, there had been no increase in the cost of railway travel whereas the operations costs had shot up.

Mittal further said the payment of arrears following the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations had alone cost the institution a sum of Rs 70,000 crore. “Such payments do off set the balance once in a few years and it takes two to three years for things to get back to normalcy,” he said.

He further said the progress of the Railways was an ongoing process. When asked about the controversy over the performance of the Railways going down since Lalu Prasad Yadav departed as the Railways Minister, he said the progress of the Railways could not be measured in a span of five years and was a continuous process. He underlined that it must be kept in mind that the economy was in an upswing during Lalu’s tenure. It was a time when demand for freight carriage was such that the Railways was facing a shortage of waggons and locomotives. 

Assembly Poll
Anna’s stir to hit Cong prospects: BSP
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, October 8
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will form the next government in Uttarakhand. This was stated by state BSP general secretary Sheespal Singh at a press conference held here today.

Sheespal said the BSP would field its candidate in all 70 seats in the coming Assembly elections. The candidates have been named for more than half the seats and for the rest names will be declared soon. He further said the Congress stood to lose the most after Anna Hazare’s movement against corruption as most of the Congress workers had a large amount of black money deposited in foreign banks.

Sheespal was of the view that both the Congress and the BJP were the two sides of the same coin and people were fed up with their “misrule”, thus leaving the BSP as only alternative in the state. “The BJP and the congress both have failed in developing the state, especially the hilly regions, and have indulged only in exploiting the poor people of the state leaving them high and dry and reel under debt trap,” he added.

He asserted the development in the region reached its pinnacle only under the rule of Mayawati when the state was part of Uttar Pradesh and if the people elected the BSP to power, then the party would ensure a speedy development.

International Yoga Fest concludes in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 8
The week-long International Yoga Festival concluded at Dev Sanskriti University here today, with the final session being addressed by spiritual head of the All-India Gayatri Family Shail Jiji.

All the yoga experts from 20 countries sought blessings from the revered spiritual guru, who also had an interaction with the foreign delegates and advised them on their personal problems too.

Quite elated over getting an opportunity to have a close look at the twin institutions of Gayatri Family namely Shantikunj and Dev Sanskriti University, most of the foreign participants termed their stay in Haridwar as one of the highlights of their life as they learnt a lot about the art of yoga, spirituality and moral conduct as preached by Shantikunj founder Acharya Pandit Shri Ram Sharma.

Clad in the traditional yellow attire, the participants also took a pledge to take the Acharya’s teachings on yoga and spirituality to the countries they belonged to.

Pointing out the threat of global terrorism and uncontrolled liberalisation posing to the world, Dr Pranav Pandya, Chancellor of Dev Sanskrit University, urged the delegates to take the message of love and peace to their respective countries as most of the answers lay in these two elements not dollars or nuclear bombs.

“Most of today’s problems can be easily prevented by living a simple and disciplined life based on morality and spirituality. Yoga aided by positive thinking of making this world a peaceful place can bring a drastic change in our society,” said Pandya.

Prior to their departure in the evening, all the 200-odd foreign delegates were taken for a round of the upcoming temporary township which is being constructed in view of the centenary birth anniversary celebrations of Pt Shri Ram Sharma in Haridwar. The grand celebrations will be held from November 6 to 10.

Cong to block Ramdev’s entry into Pithoragarh
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 8
The Congress workers of Pithoragarh district have decided to block yoga guru Ramdev’s entry into the district during his visit to the district headquarters where he will be holding a yoga camp on October 13.

“We will demand from Ramdev to reveal the name of the minister in Uttarakhand Government who, according to him, had demanded a bribe of Rs 2 crore from him during the first tenure of Major-Gen BC Khanduri as Chief Minister of the state,” said Mahendra Singh Lunthi, president of Pithoragarh District Congress Committee.

Ramdev, who is on a tour of the Uttarakhand hills, will reach Pithoragarh on October 13 and hold a two-day yoga camp at DS Bisht Ground in the town. “At first our workers will stop the yoga guru at Berinag where he is scheduled to enter into the territory of the district and thereafter he will be stopped by the Congress workers at Satsiling before he enters into DS Bisht Ground,” said Lunthi.

The Congress has alleged that Ramdev was ready to name the corrupt minister but later patched up with the BJP. “Instead of preaching yoga, Ramdev has now started promoting political interests of the BJP,” said the district Congress president.

Ramdev began his 12-day Uttarakhand tour on October 5 from Kotdwar in Pauri Garhwal and will conclude the tour on October 16 after holding a two-day yoga camp at Almora.

“The Congress workers submitted a memorandum to the Pithoragarh District Magistrate today and have demanded from the administration not to let the yoga guru enter into the district as he is spreading political hatred in the name of yoga,” he said.

BJP to highlight graft issue in poll

Dehradun, October 8
Senior BJP leader and Rajya Sabha MP BS Koshiyari has claimed that in the forthcoming Assembly elections the BJP would raise the issues of corruption and rising inflation to retain power in the state.

While addressing a press conference here today, Koshiyari said the people in the state were affected by the wrong policies of the Congress government which had been unable to control inflation and curb corruption. Nor had it been able to check the steep rise in the prices of food grains and vegetables.

He also said that the Union Planning Commission had allowed the undertaking survey of four strategically vital railway projects. The two projects namely the Rishikesh-Karanprayag-Chamoli and Tanakpur-Bageshwar rail lines are in Uttarakhand and would be taken up as national projects.

He further said the Planning Commission had requested the Ministry of Railways to submit the requirements of funds, technical inputs etc. — TNS

Meeting reviews projects of oilseed board
Tribune News Service

A regional review meeting of research and development projects of the National Oil Seeds and Vegetable Oil Development Board under way in Dehradun

Dehradun, October 8
A regional meeting to review the research and development projects of the National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board of the Union Ministry of Agriculture for 2010-11 was held at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) here today.

The chief guest was M Gopi, Secretary, National Oilseeds and Vegetable Oils Development Board, who emphasised the utility, importance and awareness about tree species giving oil particularly in Northern India. He said the selected programmes on these tree species would be supported by the board and that would also be in the interests of the farmers.

Dr HS Ginwal, Head of the Genetics Division, FRI, made a presentation highlighting the importance of new tree varieties.

Earlier, the delegates from the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand were welcomed by AS Rawat, Group Coordinator, Research, FRI, who highlighted the importance of the programmes of the board being implemented in the region. He also explained that one of the projects (on pongamia pinnata) funded by the board was being executed by the FRI and it had produced very encouraging results.

The participants also presented their research papers and the achievements of the various projects sponsored by the board. These projects are about tree improvement, management practices and post-harvest technology of different tree-borne oil varieties like jatropha, ponagam, wild apricot, chura and seemaroba. The researchers also highlighted the problems faced by the farmers.

Dr Virendra Kumar, Dr SS Negi, Director, FRI, Dehradun, were also present.

Communal Riots
Rudrapur witnesses exodus of workforce
Rajeev Khanna
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 8
Communal riots in Rudrapur recently have resulted in the exodus of a large number of people, mostly labourers, skilled and semi-skilled workers, from the town.

Even as the town has returned to normalcy, it is uncertain whether these people would return. Curfew in the town has been lifted during the day from Saturday onwards. Long distance buses have also started plying through the town during the day.

Official sources say that the situation is under control and everything is back to normalcy. Residents also revealed that the town had witnessed the exodus of workforce along with their families over the past few days. Most of these people were from minority communities who had come from the neighbouring areas of Uttar Pradesh in search of employment. The area around the town has emerged as a major industrial hub proving employment opportunities.

Most of these workers, who have gone back to their villages in Rampur, Pilibhit and Bareilley districts, had been working in an unorganised sector as carpenters, painters, daily wage labourers etc. They had been living in the congested areas of the town.

Observers say that they have fled fearing for their safety and security. Reports even suggest that a large number of industrial workers too have left for their homes and are expected to come back only after a few days.

The administration, on its part, has been making efforts to provide a sense of security to the residents of the town. There is a large deployment of police and other security personnel in the town. Regular checks are being carried out, particularly on the roads leading to the town. Meetings by the Peace Committee are also being held in various parts of the town.

Police officials are continuing with their drive to nab those involved in triggering the riots that had left four persons dead and scores of people injured besides there being a large-scale destruction of infrastructure. The police is also viewing video recordings made during the time when arson and violence was on to determine the role of suspicious characters and arrest them.

Officials said the probe ordered into the incident under Commissioner (Garhwal region) Ajay Singh Nabyal by Chief Minister BC Khanduri is going on smoothly.

CII Cricket Tournament begins in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 8
Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals and CavinKare won their respective matches on the inaugural day of the CII Uttarakhand Cricket Tournament here today.

In the first match, Akums Drugs & Pharmaceuticals beat Hindustan Unilever Limited by 68 runs while CavinKare defeated Himalaya Drugs Co by 80 runs in the second match.

A curtain-raiser to the second edition of the tournament was held here on October 1. Khajan Das, state Sports Minister, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Garhwal zone league matches will be played at Quantum Global Campus, Roorkee. Ajay Goyal, chairman, Quantum Global Campus, appreciated the CII’s efforts to promote the sports within industries.

The final match will be played between the winners of the Garhwal zone and the Kumaon zone on November 5 at Maharana Pratap Sports College, Raipur, Dehradun.

Youth held for climbing tower
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 8
The police has arrested a youth, who had climbed a BSNL tower near Kanalichina two days ago demanding the arrest of district BJP chief Kishen Singh Bhandari, on the charges of trespassing on government property and attempt to suicide.

“The youth, Ravindra Singh Sirola, has been arrested under Sections 309/553 of the IPC,” said Amit Sriwastava, circle officer, Pithoragarh.

He further said the youth had accused the BJP president of beating him up, causing injuries to his ears. According to the police, it was the second time that he had climbed a tower. “Last time, he had climbed the same tower and come down on his own at midnight. He had justified his action as an act of emotional outburst. However, this time he has levelled charges against the BJP president. He has also submitted a medical proof to the police,” said the circle officer.

The youth will be medically examined and a case against the culprit would be registered on the basis of its report.

Nainital DM seeks details of pensioners
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 8
Nainital District Magistrate Nidhi Mani Tripathi has asked officials of the Social Welfare and Child Development Departments to ensure transparency in providing benefits to the beneficiaries of various government schemes.

She has ordered that the money that has been sanctioned for the implementation of various schemes must be utilised for the benefit of the target groups. She has also sought the details of pensioners in the district and has asked the officials to prepare a separate list of those getting pension through banks and post offices. The District Magistrate also took stock of various schemes being implemented by the officials of the two departments in the district on Friday evening.

Rail connectivity on hilly routes not viable:Surveys
Tribune News Service

Nainital, October 8
Uttarakhand’s chances of getting rail connectivity on the hilly routes, for which the people of the state have been agitating for long, appear remote.

Chairman, Railway Board Vinay Mittal said today that surveys conducted by the Railways regarding connectivity on routes like Bageshwar-Tanakpur, Chaukhutia-Ramnagar etc had revealed that providing rail connectivity on these routes was not economically viable.

He was in the city to inaugurate the All-India Railway Mid-session Golf Championship being held at the Raj Bhawan Golf Course. As many as 95 golfers from the Railways are participating in the two-day tournament.

Referring to the Bageshwar-Tanakpur rail route for which an agitation has been on for years, he said the estimated cost for connecting the two destinations was working out to be Rs 2,252 crore for a mere 51.48 km stretch.

He further said such projects could become viable only if they were cleared by the Planning Commission and Parliament. At times, the state governments come forward to share 50 per cent of the cost involved and work is expedited on such routes. Such offers have come from states like Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

He said the help of the state governments was required on several fronts by the Railways. ”The Railways also works under the Constitution”, he said.

To a query regarding encroachments on land belonging to the Railways in Kumaon, he said since its removal was a social problem, the state government’s help in taking action against encroachers was required.