DM seeks volunteers’ help in regulating traffic
Dehradun, October 20
District Magistrate (DM) of Dehradun Dileep Javalkar has lauded the Civil Defense Organisation for providing security in the city and holding blood camps from time to time. He said the organisation must come forward in helping aged people to get their rights.

Cops gear up for Divali
Dehradun, October 20
The Dehradun police has made elaborate arrangement to prevent any untoward incident during Divali.

UKD (P) supports agitating bodies
Dehradun, October 20
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar) has extended support to various organisations that have been holding protests outside the state Assembly in support of their demands for a long time.

Drop in number of BEd applicants, says assn 
Dehradun, October 20
Owing to the delayed commencement of the BEd academic session 2010-11 at HNB Garhwal University, the number of BEd applicants at the self-financed institutes has decreased significantly.

Pine needle biomass power plant to be set up in Pithoragarh
Dehradun, October 20
A 120-KV pine needle biomass electricity plant is going to be established at Berinag village in Pithoragarh in the month of December by Avni Pine Needle Gasifier. It will start generating electricity by March next year. For the first time, a pine needle plant in the state, which has signed an agreement with the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), will be set for power generatation.

Ministerial association to stage protest
Dehradun, October 20
The Uttaranchal Federation of Ministerial Association will lay siege to the office of the ICDS Directorate on October 21 in a protest against non-fulfillment of their demands.

School exhibition organised
Dehradun, October 20
The Unison World School organised an annual exhibition on its campus here today.

‘Khushiyon ki Sawari’ benefits 1,187 patients
Dehradun, October 20
Since the start of the ambulance facility “Kushiyon ki Sawari” in Uttarakhand by the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya 108 Emergency Ambulance Services, a total of 1,187 patients, including women and children, have benefited from the schemes being funded by the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

PNB to open four new branches in rural areas
Dehradun, October 20
AK Verma, General Manager for UP West and Uttarakhand, the Punjab National Bank (PNB), disclosed today that the PNB would be opening four new branches in rural areas of Dehradun, namely Narendra Nagar, Raipur, Miyanwala and Mehuwala, by the end of the year.

Marathon 2011 on Oct 23
Dehradun, October 20
Bengal Engineering Group (BEG) and Centre, Roorkee, is all geared up to organise ‘Marathon 2011’ on October 23. Roorkee Marathon, an annual event since 2004 is being organised by the BEG.

Pharmacy institute humble DIMT
Dehradun, October 20
The Himalayan Institute of Pharmacy and Research beat DIMT by nine runs during the ongoing UTU Inter-college Cricket Tournament at Raipur today.

Dehradun, October 20
Bowing to the demands of the anganwari workers, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri today issued orders for fixing an honorarium (state share) of Rs 1,500 for the anganwari workers and Rs 750 for assistant workers per month. Now, the anganwari workers would receive a total honorarium of Rs 4,500 and assistant workers Rs 2,250 per month. Earlier they used to get only 3,000 and 1,500 as honorarium provided by the Central government.

The orders were issued following talks between the Chief Minister and a delegation of the agitating workers today.

The Chief Minister also issued orders for creating a corpus fund for the welfare of the workers by providing assistance to those who have reached the age of 60 and above.

Earlier in the morning, the anganwari workers staged a protest in front of the Secretariat here.

General Secretary (central unit) of the Anganwari Karyakarti/Sewaika Karamchari Union, Uttarkhand, Asha Rawat said the government had failed to revoke the government order that had slashed their honorarium.

The main demands of the workers are appointment of anganwari workers as supervisors, leave facility, appointment as teachers as per qualification in government primary schools, provident fund and ESI facilities for the workers and they be declared government employees, etc.

Dehradun, October 20
Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva visited the Crafts Bazar under way at the Parade Ground today and interacted with craftsmen. She encouraged them and appreciated their work.

She bought several decorative as well as utility items made of terracotta and bamboo besides handmade woollens. Going through the “Himadri” stall showcasing handicrafts and handlooms from Uttarakhand, she said Himadri products should be displayed and promoted prominently in Delhi and other metro cities in order to offer better opportunities to the craftsmen from the hills.

The bazar, which will conclude on October 24, has been organised by the Uttarakhand Handicrafts and Handloom Development Council.

Dehradun, October 20
District Magistrate (DM) of Dehradun Dileep Javalkar has lauded the Civil Defense Organisation for providing security in the city and holding blood camps from time to time. He said the organisation must come forward in helping aged people to get their rights.

“The volunteers of the organisation should also help in streamlining traffic, especially during festivals. The administration will try to link up with the organisation under various Acts and provisions,” he said, suggesting its office-bearers to involve themselves in works such as pollution control, plantation, anti-encroachment drives for the betterment of the city.

Chief Warden of the organisation Chander Gupt Vikram apprised the DM of their ongoing projects.

Dehradun, October 20
Owing to the delayed commencement of the BEd academic session 2010-11 at HNB Garhwal University, the number of BEd applicants at the self-financed institutes has decreased significantly.

Informing about the admission process for the course, which would start tomorrow, Sunil Agarwal, secretary, Association of Self-Financed Institutes, Uttarakhand, said: “The results of the entrance examination held on August 28 this year indicates the decline in the number of the applicants for the BEd course.”

“The delayed commencement of the academic session and the migration of students to other places to pursue the course are the main reasons behind the decline in the number of the applicants,” asserted Agarwal.

While the admission to the course is scheduled to start from tomorrow at all the centres offering the course on a merit basis, the university would only conduct the counselling at its three campus colleges situated at Tehri, Pauri and Srinagar.

“The candidate could only seek admissions to the BEd course once it gets the approval of the university. Moreover, eligibility qualification are 40 per cent marks in intermediate and 55 per cent marks in the entrance test,” he added.

Though there is no online admission facility, students can contact on the helpline numbers- 7351321000, 9358103902 in case of queries.

Dehradun, October 20
A 120-KV pine needle biomass electricity plant is going to be established at Berinag village in Pithoragarh in the month of December by Avni Pine Needle Gasifier. It will start generating electricity by March next year. For the first time, a pine needle plant in the state, which has signed an agreement with the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL), will be set for power generatation.

Rajnish Jain, the convener of Avni, claims that theirs is the only one which has ever experimented with the pine needles as a biomass product in the country. It has been successful in generating 9 KV electricity from the biomass plant at Pithoragarh. Now five more Delhi-based companies are in line to take permission for their pine needle plant projects of 60 MW from the state government and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for the electricity generation.

Anil Kumar, Chief General Manager, UPCL, appreciated the project of Avni and said similar projects, where electricity was produced through biomass, would not only help in improving the power situation in the state but it would also provide employment to the local population in hills.

Rajnish Jain confirmed receiving a letter from the MNRE, providing them with a subsidy of 20 lakh on their project costing Rs 70 lakh. He said they would rapidly generate electricity from March till July. For the subsequent months, they would store enough stock to back them till the beginning of the next season.

Jain said his organisation would abide by the policy of the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Agency (UREDA) and the MNRE in setting up small plants of 100 or 150 KV in future.

Dehradun, October 20
Since the start of the ambulance facility “Kushiyon ki Sawari” in Uttarakhand by the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya 108 Emergency Ambulance Services, a total of 1,187 patients, including women and children, have benefited from the schemes being funded by the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

Addressing a press conference here today, Manish Tinku, state head of the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya 108 Emergency Ambulance Services, said the mother and child were transported back home in the ambulance free of cost, soon after their discharge from the hospital.

“A total of 83 ambulances have been deputed for the purpose in the state. Out of these, 39 vehicles are in Kumaon and 44 in Garhwal. The scheme is applicable to government hospitals,” said Tinku.

Dehradun, October 20
AK Verma, General Manager for UP West and Uttarakhand, the Punjab National Bank (PNB), disclosed today that the PNB would be opening four new branches in rural areas of Dehradun, namely Narendra Nagar, Raipur, Miyanwala and Mehuwala, by the end of the year.

He stated this here in a press conference after inaugurating a blood donation camp at the PNB Zonal Training Centre.

Verma said the PNB had 177 branches at present in all the 13 districts of the state. He also revealed that the PNB was all set to recruit 1,200 officials, including 6,800 clerks to make up for its staff shortages.

He added that credit deposit ration of the PNB in Dehradun circle was highest among all the nationalised banks in the state.

Dehradun, October 20
The Himalayan Institute of Pharmacy and Research beat DIMT by nine runs during the ongoing UTU Inter-college Cricket Tournament at Raipur today.

After winning the toss, the Himalayan institute chose to bat first.

It scored 114 runs in 23.3 overs before getting all out.

Pramod (30) and Yogender (14) were the main scorers. DIMT’s Pavitra took four wickets.

DIMT could score only 105 runs in 20.3 overs. Owaish (27) and Rahul (18) were the main scorers for the team. 

In the second match, the Hermes College of Engineering defeated the SGRR Institute by four wickets.

Dehradun, October 20
KV ITBP dominated the day winning both the junior boys and girls’ league matches in the District-level Handball Tournament held at the Parade Ground here today .

In the junior girls’ section, KV ITBP had to use all their strength to beat tough rival KV Hathibarkala number 1 (4-3). Ayush and Anjali did a good job for the winning team scoring two goals each.

Hathibarkala’s Ruchi emerged as the lone scorer with three goals.

In the junior boys’ category, KV ITBP did not face much resistance from KV OFD who were beaten 13-8. Arjun and Uttkarsh struck four goals each while Arjun Rawat and Anup scored three goals for the winning team.

For OFD, Abhilash and Kuldeep netted three goals each along with Amit, who scored two. In another girls’ match, MKP Inter College defeated Nehru Gram 14-10. Madhuri, Deepa and Urmila struck five, four and three goals, respectively, for MKP.

For the losing side, Khushi and Meenakshi scored four goals each while Meena netted two.