Dehradun, October 21
A fast-track court today awarded a life imprisonment to 12 persons besides a fine of Rs 50,000 each in a double murder case in Dehradun. Additional and Sessions Judge KK Pundir delivered the judgment.

Under Section 147 (rioting) of the IPC, they have been sentenced to two years of imprisonment besides a fine of Rs 5,000 each. The accused can, however, file an appeal in the Supreme Court.

The decision has been taken on the basis a medical report and 10 witnesses in the case.

The 12 persons who have been convicted of the murder include Rahul, Raja Ram, Shiv Prasad, Wasim, Guru Prasad, Chaandali, Shiv Kiran, Raj Kiran, Jai Kiran, Anish, and Mukesh. Their 13th accomplice, who had also been named in the FIR, has already been sent a juvenile court.

On May 6, 2005, Sonu (25) and his maternal uncle, Ravi (28), had gone to attend a wedding reception in their locality in Nai Basati, where they had a brawl with Rahul over a spoon. The matter was solved after the intervention of people present there. However, the same night they again encountered Rahul and had heated arguments. Following this, Rahul and his men attacked Sonu and Ravi with lathis and were beaten to death by them.

They were booked under Sections 147 and 302 of the IPC at the Dalanwala police station. The case was transferred to different courts and finally after six years, the judgment came. 

Dehradun, October 21
Members of the Communist Party of India (CPI) staged a protest against corruption and in favour of a strong Lokpal Bill at the Parade Ground today.

Samar Bhandari, state secretary, CPI, said both Congress and BJP had been involving in corrupt practices throughout and were hoodwinking public by blaming each other for it. The only way to decipher truth was a CBI enquiry into various scams that had taken place in the regimes of both the parties in the state.

He said the Chief Minister must place the entire draft of the Lokpal Bill in public domain.

He reiterated that Khanduri had already advocated inclusion of Chief Minister in the ambit of Lokpal Bill. He stressed on making a strong bill in the state.

Mussoorie: The workers of the Communist Party of India (CPI) gathered in large numbers and staged a dharna against the UPA Government at the Centre on the issue of rising prices and rampant corruption, at Jhoola Gahr here on Friday.

The workers blamed the Centre for pursuing wrong policies, leading to inflation and rampant corruption, thus making life of the common man miserable. The CPI leaders alleged that the UPA Government was bent upon saving tainted ministers who wer involved in various cases of corruption.

They demanded that the government should evolve a policy to check the rising prices and act effectively against the corrupt bureaucrats and public representatives who have been named in corruption cases. 

Dehradun, October 21
Members of the city Congress held a protest against the pathetic condition of the garbage-disposal system in the city, in front of the office of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) today.

Vice-president of the unit Deep Vohra said localities were strewn with garbage and it became difficult to breathe properly passing the heaps of rubbish. The insanitary conditions have had a bad effect on the health of the residents, especially children.

He demanded that the garbage-disposal system should be improved and the number of sanitation workers increased. He also condemned the DMC for delayed payment of salaries to the sanitation workers and delay in vehicle repairs.

Those who participated in the protest included Surender Nagpla, Bina Bisht, Anil Negi, Ashok Kohli, Mamta Gurung, Ravi Suri and Jitender Taneja.

Dehradun, October 21
The business of wholesale and retail dealers of crackers in the city is not profitable this time.

Matching up to the sales of the previous years, only 50 per cent business has been done so far by the dealers in Dehradun.

The reason behind the decline is the strictness of the authorities in issuing the licence for putting up stalls of crackers. All police stations in the valley have been issued circulars to conduct checking in their respective areas as a preventive measure against unauthorised selling of crackers. Sellers with affidavits and proper identity cards are permitted to put up stalls.

A cracker seller, Niranjan Kumar, told The Tribune, “Earlier, we used to set our stalls 15 days prior to the festival but the involvement of the police to allot licence for selling has made many small-scale crackers sellers less enthusiastic in the business.”

As per sources, for now, about a total of 500 applicants are said to be given temporary licence for only three to four days to sell crackers and they have to adhere to important precautionary guidelines of the police and the administration.

Dehradun, October 21
Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) vice-president Raghunath Singh Negi has threatened to resign in the next 15 days if the state government does not take action on his three demands of regularisation of the contractual/daily wage earners, removal of BVRC Purushottam, vice-chairman, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) for allegedly indulging in corruption as then Managing Director of GMVN and the benefit of Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) to the employees of the Anusuchit Jati Avam Janjati Vikas Nigam (AJAJVN).

Addressing a press conference on the GMVN premises today, Negi said it was difficult to survive for the contractual or daily wage earners on meagre salary. The state government must regularise them without any more delay. He flayed the state government for making BVRC Purushottam as VC, MDDA, saying, “The Chief Minister, who is spearheading the agenda of anti-corruption in the state, should remove corrupt people like Purushottam from the plum post of VC of the MDDA and take action in misappropriation of funds and appointment of people on high-level positions through fraudulent manner. He went to the extent of stealing articles from GMVN premises as well.”

He said he could not succeed in getting Purushottam punished as Chief Secretary had suppressed the matter in March this year.

He also expressed sympathy for 21 employees of the AJAJVN, a subsidiary company of the GMVN, and demanded VRS provision for the employees who had no option but to live on monthly income as per the pay commission. 

Dehradun, October 21
Chief Minister BC Khanduri inaugurated the building of the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) on the Saharnpur road yesterday.

The vice-chairman of the MDDA, BVRC Purushottam, said employees would be trained in the latest technology to reduce paper work. While three floors of the four-storey building will be utilised by the MDDA, the fourth will be rented out to a private company.

Taking a pride in the new addition to a bevy of splendid buildings in the city, Khanduri said: “The MDDA has played a vital role in a well-planned and organised development of the city.”

The Chief Minister stressed that the MDDA employees should be sensitive to the problems being faced by the public. He said for this, the single window system should to be made more effective. He also urged residents of the city to cooperate with the MDDA in various works. Sports Minister Khajan Das, MLA Ganesh Joshi, Dinesh Aggarwal, Adviser (Tourism) Prakash Suman Dhyani, chairman of the Rajya Avas Vikas Parishad Naresh Bansal and chairman of the MDDA Ajay Nabiyal were also present on the occasion.

Pithoragarh, October 21
To press for the acceptance of their nine-point charter of demands, including implementation of the state’s own Panchayati Raj Act, the gram pradhans from Pithoragarh and Champawat districts yesterday locked block offices. They also raised slogans in support of their demands.

“Even though 11 years have passed since the creation of the state, the respective governments in the state could not chart out their own Panchayati Raj Act, depending upon the UP Act which is not suitable for the hill state,” said Prem Chandra Punera, president of the Pithoragarh district

Gram Pradhan Sangh.

The pradhans locked the block offices in Bin and Munakot block yesterday to express their protest. “We are also demanding to write off a proposal of recognising the villages with population of more than 5,000 as a gram sabha in the proposed Panchayati Raj Bill of the state,” said the president. The gram pradhans are demanding honorarium and ensuring their representation in the district planning committees. “Besides these demands, we are also demanding that double standards of measurements of work and wages be ended and the BPL families in the villages be given Rs 2.1 lakh to construct their houses,” said Punera.

In Champawat district, the gram pradhans led by Prakash Singh Mahra, the president of the organisation, locked block offices and sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister through District Magistrate, demanding immediate implementation of their nine-point demands charter. “We have also warned that if our demands are not accepted, the pradhans will launch a state-wide agitation,” said Mahra. Protests by the prandhans have also been received from Lohaghat, Pati blocks of Champawat district and Didihat, Dharchula and Munsiyari blocks of Pithoragarh district.— OC

Haridwar, October 21
The three-day science exhibition at the Central school BHEL concluded here today.

Vikas Kumar of the host school and Rubina of KV, Rishkesh, were adjudged the winners and will now be representing their cities in the regional competition of the Central schools.

A total of 10 schools from Rishikesh and Haridwar took part in the exhibition with 275 students showcasing their scientific models, which were appreciated by the teachers and visitors.

The science models, depicting rain water harvesting system, irrigation in agricultural fields, battery run cycles and other related inventive creations drew attention of the visitors.

In cultural activities, Deepali Kumari and Pankaj Nautiyal were adjudged the winners in Hindi debate competition while in English debate, Deeksha Kumari and Supriya emerged as winners.

In the chorus song event, team members Radha, Himani, Garima, Shefali, Yogita, Amandeep, Madhur and Annushree won the first prize. In quiz contest, Urmila Bisht, Renu, Devkant, Akhilesh and Deepak Rana claimed maximum points in different categories.

Dehradun, October 21
The much-awaited multiplex of Silver City Cinemas was inaugurated at Parsvnath Eleganza Mall on the Rajpur road yesterday. This is the second multiplex cinema in Dehradun after City Junction Mall that is situated near the ISBT.

At a press conference, Suyash Agarwal and Shobhit Mangal, directors of the company, said the main attraction of the multiplex was the 2K digital projection technology, the Dolby 3D playback system and an ultra-modern café. “We hope to get a good response from the audience,” Agarwal added.

Mussoorie, October 21
LBM School, Jhansi, defeated Punjab Public School, Nabha, 4-2 and lifted the trophy in the All-India Inter-school Richard Carr Hockey Tournament held at Oak Grove School grounds in Jharipani (Mussoorie) today.

Punjab Public School reached the final by defeating Delhi Public School (Patna) 2-0. In other semi-final, LBM School defeated the host Oak Grove School 3-0.

Oak Grove School defeated Delhi Public School 3-0 and had to settle for third place and won the bronze medal here.

The chief guest on the occasion Colonel Balbir Singh (Retd), former national coach and the selector (Indian Hockey team) gave the winning trophy to the participants.

Balbir Singh commended the efforts of the school in organising tournament of the national level for the school teams. Elated to see that the children still had same passion for hockey as in the past, he opined that if hockey was promoted professionally, more talent could emerge and bring back the rich glory of the national game in the country.

However, Balbir Singh, saddened at the present state of hockey in the country due to constant infighting among various federation groups leading to the downfall of the hockey standard in the country, was of the view that till the time the federation did not get its act together, the Indian hockey team would not be able to compete with the teams like Holland and Germany.

He also stressed on bringing in good coaches from Europe and Australia so that the Indian players would be able to get the best training needed to compete in the international arena.

Swami Ramunujacharya Dhairacharyaji Maharaj from Ayodhya, Colonel Sunny Bakshi, alumnus of Oak Grove School, Oak Grove School principal Anurag Tripathi, organising secretary Hemant Juyal and others were present on the occasion. 

Dehradun, October 21
Doon Club got the better of KV ITBP 8-5 in a sub-junior boys’ match in the District-level Handball Tournament held at the Parade Ground here today. Subham and Neeraj scored four goals each for the winning team while Rahul and Ketan scored three and two goals, respectively, for the ITBP.

In the sub-junior girls’ section, KV ITBP had to face 6-4 defeat at the hands of MKP Inter-college. Sonam and Urmila struck three goals each for MKP. Ayushi and Anuj netted two goals each for the ITBP. SGRR, Nehru Gram, registered an 18-10 win over KV OFD in a junior boys’ match. For SGRR, Rahul scored three goals. Manish and Sohan scored four goals each. — TNS

Dehradun, October 21
Students of Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy organised an annual exhibition on the 59th Annual Sports Day today. State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Prakash Pant was the chief guest . He paid homage to the late AC Deb, founder of the school. The main attractions of the day were the dramatisation of excerpts from “As You Like It” and “The Spider and the Fly”. 

A play, “Andhkar Se Niklo” was also also staged. Students of the art and craft branch showcased their paintings whereas tiny tots revealed the wonders of the earth and the space through their models. Raaslila and Garhwali dance performed by the students held the audience spellbound. — TNS