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Resentment in dist Cong over 2 PCC appointments
Fake Documents Case
Protest against entry of yoga guru into dist headquarters
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Leaders explore third front possibility
Slow pace of work on projects irks minister
2 Jammu boys, servant found in Pithoragarh
Working Group to address hill people’s concerns
Villagers end relay fast
Special House session in Nov
Dist Athletic Meet to begin on Nov 5
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Resentment in dist Cong over 2 PCC appointments
Haridwar, October 12 The appointment of Furkan Ali as vice-chief and Santosh Kashyap as general secretary of the PCC has not gone down well with office-bearers and workers of the district Congress. Both Furkan and Santosh, who are close to a senior party leader, don’t have much political base in the region. While Furkan lost the gram panchayat election from Kaliyar village, Santosh is almost an unrecognisable face in the district politics having lost badly in the last Assembly poll
from the Laldhang Assembly segment of the district. Both the candidates have switched parties on numerous occasions in the past. Furkan was in the BJP during the Kalyan Singh regime in Uttar Pradesh. He switched to the Samajwadi Party and got closer to Mulayam Singh
Yadav after he became the Chief Minister. Later in 2002 on the call of DP Yadav he joined the Parivartan Dal but later shifted to the Congress, and since then has been known to be more closer to senior party leaders rather than being with party workers. Similarly, Santosh was earlier in the saffron party and had condemned Congress philosophy but as party fortunes changed she joined the Congress. Party insiders told The Tribune that this step by the state high command might backfire as it would only lead to factionalism in the Congress and loyal cadres would feel cheated. Many senior women party office-bearers stated that only one women had been inducted in the PCC as general secretary and that was not up to the expectations of the
party workers. “Definitely, we feel ignored. Be it helping Harish Rawat win parliamentary elections by a record margin, carrying out party programmes in rural areas or countering the BJP in the past five years we were in the forefront of all that. But what we got, two PCC berths for the leaders who even don’t have the calibre of winning a panchayat or ward member election,” said a senior office-bearer who is a probable Congress candidate from an Assembly segment in Haridwar
district. District Congress chief Chaudhari Rajendra Singh declined any such resentment, saying that taking into consideration all the factors, eligible candidates have been given berths in the PCC. Every party worker should focus on grass-roots work as the Assembly elections are due in a few months and by working collectively the Congress can surely win at least
six seats from the district, added Singh, who is known to be closer to Harish Rawat. In the last Assembly elections, the Congress had won just one seat from Laksar out of nine seats in the district while in 2002 it couldn’t open its account. |
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Fake Documents Case
Nainital, October 12 The case was taken up in the court of Justice Tarun Aggarwala that put November 4 to be the date of final hearing. Meanwhile, the stay on the arrest of Balkrishna continues till then. In the last hearing held on September 15, the counsel for the CBI had contended that the stay be vacated as the accused was not cooperating in the investigations, a charge that was denied by the counsel defending
Balkrishna. The passport of Balkrishna had been submitted before the High Court on August 5 and another hearing in the matter had taken place on August 29. The High Court had granted Balkrishna immunity from arrest on July 29 and asked him to present himself before the CBI and help in the investigations. A petition by
Balkrishna, charged by the CBI with having furnished fake certificates to get a passport, had been taken up by the court of Justice Tarun Aggarwala in the last week of July. The court while restricting the CBI from arresting him, had asked the agency to file a counter affidavit in the case within three weeks. The counsel for Balkrishna had pleaded that the CBI had been claiming that the birthplace of Balkrishna was in Nepal but he got his education in
Kankhal, Haridwar, thus misrepresenting the facts. |
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Protest against entry of yoga guru into dist headquarters
Pithoragarh, October 12 Mahendra Singh Lunthi, president of the Pithoragarh District Congress Committee, said: “Earlier, party workers blocked the entry of Ramdev at Berinag asking him to disclose the name of the state BJP minister against whom he had levelled an allegation of demanding Rs 2 crore from him for getting some work done at his ashram in
Haridwar.” They also raised slogans against Ramdev when he reached Siltham near Berinag town. He was also shown black flags by them. “If Ramdev failed to disclose the minister’s name, we will oppose the yoga camp being organised by him at the DS Bisht ground here tomorrow,” said
Lunthi. According to the Pithoragarh police, heavy police force has been deployed at the venue for the security of Ramdev who is visiting here with 100 of his companions. “We have also deputed NCC cadets for security reasons,” said NA
Bharane, SP Pithoragarh. Ramdev will hold a two-day yoga camp in the town before leaving for Almora on October 14. |
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Contractual teachers march to Secretariat
Dehradun, October 12 Addressing the protesters outside the Secretariat, Dr DC Bebni, state president of the Uttarakhand Contractual Degree College Teachers’ Association accused the Uttarakhand Government of ignoring the concerns the educated youth of the state. He said most of the contractual degree college teachers were the local youth who would now lose jobs as the state government had decided to fill vacancies in degree college teachers through the Public Service Commission. Another speaker, Dr Manoj Pant, pointed out that the contractual degree teachers, who were MPhil, were appointed at various colleges of Uttarakhand in 2008 as per University Grants Commission guidelines and there was no justification now in removing them from their posts. Even as protesting teachers raised slogans against the state government, they also had minor skirmishes with the police that tried to control the unruly mob. A number of agitators were also taken into custody but were released later. The teachers, however, threatened to further intensify their agitation even as they also continued with their dharna outside the Uttarakhand Assembly. |
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Appoint competent men as Public Info Officers: CIC
Dehradun, October 12 “The Public Information Officers should be a competent person with gravity so that he does not face difficulty in providing information about the departments under the RTI Act. He should also be able to provide information in 30 days as envisaged in the Act. If juniormost officials are appointed as PIOs, they are bound to be thwarted in their efforts to collect information by their seniors,” said the CIC while speaking at the sixth anniversary of the implementation of the RTI. Soon after the Act was implemented in the state, secretary-level officials were appointed as PIOs, but later the position was downgraded to the level of section officers. The CIC also said under Section 25 of the Act, the State Information Commission too has to prepare a yearly report that is then tabled in the House with an Action Taken Report (ATR). “But we are running two years behind and have prepared reports of 2008-2009 that will be presented soon to the government,” said the CIC Napalchayal also called for identifying NGOs, Self-Help Groups and social organisations that were receiving funds from the government so that they were covered under the RTI Act. He also called for spreading information about the RTI Act among villagers and women so that they too become its active users. On the other hand, Dr BP Maithani who was formerly a coordinator, RTI task force, stressed on the need to set up a cell at the Secretariat that acted as a bridge between the government and the Information Commission. He also called upon the government to ensure protection to RTI activists. |
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Centenary Celebrations at Shantikunj
Haridwar, October 12 Apart from Indians, hundreds of foreign women will also be carrying these ‘kalash’ to proceed to 1,551 yajnashalas being constructed at the Laljiwala ground. Flowers and petals will be spilled from helicopters on the entire route, making it an added attraction of the numerous events to be held during the 10-day-long celebrations that commence from November 1. These kalashs are being painted in yellow colour which signifies the purity and then Gayatri Mantra is being inscribed on these. A number of these kalashs are being made these days at Shantikunj while Gayatri family activists spread in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh too
are voluntarily making these kalash, which are being brought to Haridwar. Accompanying the 24,000 women will be 11,000 handicraft artists,108 musical groups,1551 youths, 2001 dholak artistes aided by 501 motorcycle-borne activists with 108 vehicles displaying the philosophy of Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya followed by 51 cultural groups from around the country. In charge of the kalash procession Shyam Bihari Dubey of Shantikunj said this royal procession would be one of its kind and already enquiries
from international media houses had been pouring in while registration for the kalash-carrying women is almost 95 pc completed,with hundreds of foreigners willingly participating in the procession. |
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Plan to turn krishi kendras into mini-varsities
Nainital, October 12 The fair was inaugurated by Assistant Director-General (Agriculture Extension), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, Dr AK Mehta. A large number of progressive farmers were present during the opening ceremony. The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr BS Bisht, showed the chief guest stalls of different colleges and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) of the university put up at the fair. In his inaugural address, Dr Mehta said the Pantnagar university, which had rightly been termed as the harbinger of the Green Revolution by Dr Norman E. Borlaug, a Nobel laureate, had done the maximum work for the welfare of the farmers of the country through its KVKs. He said the council had planned to develop KVKs into mini-varsities so that farmers could get all information and facilities to achieve area-specific development in the country. He said each KVK would have the facilities of soil testing, insect control and a disease control laboratory besides a mobile van. In his residential address, Dr Bisht said the purpose of the fair was to show the latest techniques and technologies to farmers so that they could get the maximum production by conserving their resources and the environment. He exhorted the farmers to visit research centres of the university. He also emphasised upon the need of having more number of students from the rural and remote areas of the state in the university so that the benefit of the advancement of agriculture could reach these areas. The Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Open University, Dr Vinay Pathak, expressed concern about the increasing tendency of the rural youth not to make agriculture their main occupation. He also emphasised upon the need for social security and an appropriate price policy for the produce of farmer. This four-day seminal event is very popular among the farming community as thousands of farmers from all parts of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and also from Nepal visit this fair. A number of big, small and medium agribusiness firms have put up their stalls showcasing the best and latest in the agriculture technology. |
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Leaders explore third front possibility
Dehradun, October 12 A joint statement was released after the meeting in Dehradun in which the leaders held that a joint third front could pose a challenge to both the BJP and the Congress in the state. The speakers at the meeting said while an impartial inquiry into the Rudrapur riots must be ordered, the matter should also be brought to the notice of the National Human Rights Commission. Taking the Khanduri government to task, the leaders of both the Raksha Morcha and the Left parties said large-scale transfers of bureaucrats at a time when the elections were just a few months away questioned the state government’s intentions. Raksha Morcha leaders Surendra Singh Pangtey, Major-Gen S Bahuguna (retd) and PC Thapliyal, state CPI secretary Samar Bhandari, state CPM secretary Vijay Rawat and Janata Dal Secular leader Harjendra were among those who participated in the meeting. |
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Slow pace of work on projects irks minister
Dehradun, October 12 Presiding over a review meeting, Rawat directed for maintaining quality, transparency and utilisation of funds in construction works. He also held that any act of irregularity and complacency would be taken seriously. The minister also expressed unhappiness over delay in even completion of construction works that had started way back in 2003-04 but were still to get completed. In several construction works, Rawat also sought explanation from the departments responsible for the delay. He also asked that the funds being provided to Uttarakhand by the Central Government and the World Bank should not be allowed to get lapsed. He directed for speedy construction of 11 women hostels in SC/ST dominated villages under a World Bank scheme. Uttarakhand Principal Secretary S Raju and Additional Secretary Shailesh Bangoli were the prominent participants to the meeting.
— TNS |
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Problems of leprosy-affected persons sorted out
Haridwar, October 12 Officials of the Leprosy Department, representatives of various NGOs and the Red Cross Society and the coordinators of programmme listened to representatives of leprosy patients of the district. The areas from where the representatives of the leprosy-affected people had come included Chidanand Colony, Chandrapuri (Roorkee), Bhimgoda Shiv Mandir, Vivekanand Laljiwala, Chandrashekhar Azad Colony and Dayalpuri. The state coordinator of the Netherlands Leprosy Relief Foundation, Dr VS Pal, gave a detailed report on the aid given to the leprosy-affected people by the government and different social organisations in Haridwar district during 2010-11. A leprosy expert, Dr DS Bisht, said the widely used multi drugs therapy (MDT) was very effective in curing leprosy patients and needed to be followed by the patient for a long duration. The need of the hour is to generate awareness among the people so that at earlier stage the symptoms are spotted and instantly medical therapy is prescribed to the patient. Deputy Chief Medical Officer Suresh Aggarwal gave the representatives information about the issuance of certificates of physical disability which is being given by the Social Welfare Department. He pointed out that still very few affected people were availing themselves of the benefits of this government-run scheme. Indian Red Cross Society secretary Naresh Chaudhari presented three tricycles to the leprosy-affected persons. |
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2 Jammu boys, servant found in Pithoragarh
Pithoragarh, October 12 The boys were handed over by the police to Pawan Khajuria, a close relative of the boys, who reached here from New Delhi. “A case about the missing boys, namely Dhruv Sharma (10), and Kartik Sharma (13), was lodged at the Gandhi Nagar, police station, Jammu. The Jammu Police will investigate into the matter for which a police
team from Jammu is awaited,” said NA Bharane, Superintendent of Police, Pithoragarh. According to the Pithoragarh police, servant Dharmanand Joshi said the boys had expressed their will to visit Nepal without informing their parents, he took them with him to Nepal. On not finding the boys as well as the servant at home, their parents lodged a complaint about the missing children with their servant at the Gandhi Nagar police station on October 9,” said the SP. The police said the case came into light when a hotel owner at Jhoolaghat was informed by the parents of the boys about their missing sons with their servant. Before crossing into Nepal, Kartik Sharma called up his parents on Tuesday that he had reached Jhoola Ghat before crossing into Nepal. “The parents immediately informed the hotel owner who immediately informed the local police who took the boys and the servant into custody. They were later taken to Pithoragarh district headquarters,” said
Bharane. |
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Working Group to address hill people’s concerns
Nainital, October 12 The group has been constituted under the chairmanship of B K Chaturvedi, who is a Member, Planning Commission. The terms of reference for the Working Group include considering various aspects of the mountain eco-systems, environmental sustainability, problem faced by the people living in the hilly areas in terms of connectivity, social and basic infrastructure, livelihood issues, etc and suggesting appropriate policy measures to tackle the problems. According to former Chief Secretary and Chairman of the Central Himalayan Environment Association (CHEA) Dr RS Tolia, who is also a member of the group, the Working Group will suggest how best the identified issues can be addressed within the existing schedule framework or suggest alternative mechanisms for tackling such challenges. It will also consider any other issues appropriate for making policy recommendations. The Secretaries of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Tribal Affairs and the Chief Secretaries of mountain states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim along with academicians, have been nominated to this 18-member Working Group that will submit its report by November 30, 2011. According to Executive Director of the CHEA Dr Pushkin Phartiyal, the rationale of the formation of the group as explained in the notification of the Planning Commission is "the issues of vulnerability of mountain eco-system, environmental sustainability and problems faced by the people living in the hilly areas are being raised in various forums from time to time" and the group is expected to give recommendations for formulation of the 12th Five Year Plan. He added that the CHEA, a civil society based in Uttarakhand, has launched the Indian Mountain Initiative (IMI) to bring stakeholders from 11 mountain states at a common platform to discuss various policy. The Sustainable Mountain Development Summit organised in May 2011 at Nainital gave recommendations for collective actions to bring policy interventions for the well-being of mountains and mountain people. He said besides organising a ‘Meet of Mountain States’ in Delhi on November 3, the IMI would hold two stakeholder consultations in Uttarakhand to seek recommendations for the Working Group. |
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Villagers end relay fast
Pithoragarh, October 12 They are demanding the construction of a road to their villages. “We had been running our agitation peacefully for the past 26 days. However, instead of extending help to us, BJP and Congress workers are playing politics,” said Radhey Shyam Dwivedi, the convener of the agitation. Congress leader from Munsiyari Harish Dhami who had been on an indefinite fast in support of the Munsiyari movement also called off the fast today on the advise of doctors. “Dhami has lost 16 kg and has got kidney problem,” said Dr DS Dharmshaktu, a medical officer. Meanwhile, RS Pangti, Superintending Engineer of the state PWD, said though the department had approved the construction of a road between Kaichi and Basantkot, construction on the rest of the proposed 18-km-road was yet to get the nod.
— OC |
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Special House session in Nov
Dehradun, October 12 “We are working overtime on the Bill. It will be ready by the first week of November and the government will then call a special session of the Vidhan Sabha for tabling it,” said Subash Kumar. Speaking today on the sixth anniversary of the RTI Act, Subash Kumar said the state government would be able to have its own Act before the Central Government. “We have studied Karnataka Act as well and I can assure you our Act will be the best,” he said.
— TNS |
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Stadium Trainees beat Bulls Club
Dehradun, October 12 The second quarter (13-6) and the third quarter (7-4) were also won by Stadium Trainees while in the last quarter it had to face tough resistance from Bulls that finally went down fighting 7-8. Abhishek Pal topscored with 15 points and Rajat scored 14 for the winning team and played an important role in the win. Hemant (14 points) of Bulls also fought well but his team lost the match.
— TNS
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Dist Athletic Meet to begin on Nov 5
Dehradun, October 12 Secretary of the Uttarakhand State Athletics Association and president of the District Athletics Association Sandeep Sharma said the meet would be held in different age categories, including under (U)-12, U-14, U-16, U-18, U-20 and open for both boys and girls. Interested persons can send their entries to the District Athletics Association by October 25. Sharma said the best athlete and the overall best in boys and girls would be declared. |
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Results of boxing semis
Dehradun, October 12 Santosh defeated Rishabh and Ajay beat Monu in the 46kg-48 category. In the 48kg-50 kg, Sachin defeated Vipin and Resham beat Neel to enter the finals. In the 50kg-52 category, Shivraj got the better of Rajat and Pawan defeated Arun while in the 54kg-56 category, Vishal beat Dinesh and Saurabh defeated Kuldeep. In the 42kg- 44 category, Shrikant got past Naveen and Tushar defeated Himanshu. Harsh beat Shivam and Ashish surpassed Atul in the 64kg-69 category. In the girls’ categories, Neha, Sangita, Kanishka, Karishma, Pooja, Manvi, Sandhya, Netra and Mamta have qualified for the final.
— TNS |
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