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Lokayukta Act model for other states, says Jaitley
SC/ST members in Lokayukta demanded
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Governor’s consent for Bills
Officials inspect Bhimtal, Bageshwar offices
Villagers call off proposed relay fast
Haldwani facing water scarcity
PCC flouts SC/ST quota norms: Cong leader
Identify, book illegal miners, DM to DFO
Students get aid
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Lokayukta Act model for other states, says Jaitley
Dehradun, November 3 “We are proud of that the BJP government has become the first state in the country to adopt an effective Bill that is in keeping with the aspirations of the nation which is already in the midst of a full-fledged agitation against corruption launched by Anna Hazare and his team. Not only is the Lokayukta strong but also the procedure of appointing him is impartial. It will become a model law for the states. On a scale of 10, I would give 10 points to the Act,” said Jaitley while speaking with media persons. He was in Dehradun today in connection with a party function to collect and coalesce information on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP as the principal Opposition party had already kept its point of view in the House and it has been “the concerted opinion of the party that if need be, all the existing anti-corruption laws, including the Lokayukta, should be revisited,” he stressed. He also said as and when the BJP-ruled states feel the need, the “Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act could be adopted by them as well”. When he was asked to comment on Anna Hazare’s changed stand not to canvass against the Congress in the coming byelections and Assembly elections, Jaitley said: “I would not like to comment on it but I can say this much the agitation launched by Anna Hazare did manage to stir the consciousness of the people in the entire country,” he said. On the controversy surrounding the visit of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in connection with the stone-laying of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag-Chamoli railway project in Uttarakhand, Jaitley said:“As it is a national project and will usher in development in the state, in the fitness of things the Prime Minister should come for the ceremony,” he
said.
‘Samarg Atal’ launched
Dehradun: With his eyes set on the next general elections, senior leader of the BJP Arun Jaitley tried to weave nostalgia by harking back to how popular former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was.
Narrating experiences from Vajpayee’s life, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said political acumen and quick decision-making were the hallmarks of Vajpayee’s personality. “When comparisons are made with the present government and that of Vajpayee, his political acumen and not postponing any decision for another day stand out,” he said. He was speaking at a function to mark the launch of “Samarg Atal”, under which the information on the works and speeches of Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be collected, in Dehradun today. He said not only was the former Prime Minister a true democrat who ensured that intense consultations were held during the Cabinet meetings.
— TNS |
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SC/ST members in Lokayukta demanded
Dehradun, November 3 Punia said, “Lokayukta is after all a government body. It should ensure that the members hailing from the SC and ST communities are also selected.” The chairman also said siphoning off funds meant for the welfare of the SC and ST communities should be deemed as corruption of the highest order and should be dealt with strictly and special provision should be made in all anti-corruption laws to deal with it. The panel chief also showed concern at the slow pace of discharge of the cases concerning the SC and ST communities. He also raised concern over the loss of jobs of atleast 10,000 SC and ST members due to the government’s recruitment drive of appointing 24,000 workers on a contract basis.
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Governor’s consent for Bills
Dehradun, November 3 She recorded her consent to these two Bills passed by the Assembly. She hoped that the Bill would help curb corruption in the state. Khanduri thanked the Governor for giving her consent and said efforts would be made to speedily implement the Lokayukta Act in the state.
— TNS
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Koshiyari doing nothing for rly line to Kumaon: Satpal
Dehradun, November 3 Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Satpal Maharaj said while he had successfully ensured that the Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line project in Garhwal went in right direction, Koshiyari had so far done little to bring railway line to Kumaon. He warned Koshiyari to avoid resorting to misleading campaign on Rishikesh-Karanprayag line. Maharaj said the BJP rather owed an explanation to the people of Uttarakhand as to why the Backward Regions Grant Fund was not being utilized in the state. He accused the Uttarakhand BJP government of failing to utilise central funds. He disclosed that Congress president Sonia Gandhi would be reaching Karanprayag on November 9 to lay the foundation stone for the railway line. He said the new railway line would ensure all round development of the hills. He said the Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line would also help in highlighting the lesser-known tourism destinations of the state apart from the Char Dham. He said coming up of the Railways in the state would open new employment opportunities for the youth.
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Gram Pradhans lock Vikas Bhawan
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Enactment of a new Panchayati Raj Act
Pithoragarh, November 3 “The Gram Pradhans kept the employees at the bhawan captive for four hours on a call given by the Uttarakhand Gram Pradhan Sangathan,” said Prem Chandra Punera, president of the Gram Pradhan Sangthan, Pithoragarh. According to the Gram Pradhans, the state government had earlier assured them of the enactment of the new Panchayati Raj Act, which would be a localised Act and different from the Act of Uttar Pradesh that the state had adopted at the time of its inception. “We also want incorporation of the provision of honorarium for the Gram Pradhans in the new Act on the lines of the honorarium given to the MLAs and other persons holding various other government positions in the state,” said Punera. The Gram Pradhans, who had also locked the block offices on October 21 to press for their demands, today demanded that it should be made essential to obtain the permission of the respective Gram Sabha before sanctioning any development project under the MLA Local Area Development Fund. “Sometimes the people authorised by the respective MLA to invest an amount in a village invest it on the projects which the village does not need,” said Punera. “If the government fails to accept our demands, our sangathan will intensify its agitation in the next phase, which will soon be announced by the state unit of the sangthan,” he said.
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Officials inspect Bhimtal, Bageshwar offices
Nainital, November 3 In the Bhimtal area, Chief Development Officer (CDO) Dhiraj Garbyal and Director (Planning) Hargobind Bhatt carried out an inspection in various offices located on the Vikas Bhawan premises only to find a large number of employees, including officials, not present on their seats. The officials found to be absent were from Agriculture, Social Welfare, Savings, Irrigation, Statistics and Horticulture Departments. It was conveyed to the officials carrying out the inspection that some of these officials had either gone to the High Court or were in the field. In any case, the CDO has sought an explanation from all those found absent from their seats during the surprise check. In Bageshwar, CDO Roshan Lal was in for a big shock when he went around 23 offices located on the Vikas Bhawan premises. He was peeved to find marks of guthka stained spittle on the walls and layers of dust on the files. He gave a piece of his mind to the officials and reminded them that the consumption of guthka and smoking at public places was prohibited. He has ordered that the officials leave their offices for field visits after duly filling the log books. The CDO expressed his displeasure over the state of affairs prevailing with regards to the functioning of Minor Irrigation, Irrigation, Agriculture, Co-operatives and Rural Development Departments. He has asked the officials to mend their ways. He ordered that things be put in order within one day. He has also ordered relevant action against an employee of the Horticulture Department who has been absent from duty for the past six months.
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Villagers call off proposed relay fast
Pithoragarh, November 3 “The fax concerning the approval of the construction of the road has reached the district and has been sent to the PWD office for further action,”’ said Pithoragarh District Magistrate
R Rajesh Kumar. ”The Under Secretary in the Uttarakhand government, in her letter written to the Chief Engineer of the state PWD, has said the Uttarakhand Governor has approved the road construction of which will begin at Darati village in the Goripar area of Munsiyari and go up to Dheelam, including the villages of Matiyali, Basant kot, Bothi, Dhapa and Ucheti,” said the District Magistrate. According to the villagers, they had already sent a notice to the district administration for an indefinite relay fast to support the demand to construct this road, but it has now been called off as the government has approved it.
— OC
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MAHAKUMBH SCAM
Haridwar, November 3 With Anna scheduled to visit Haridwar as a part of the centenary celebrations of the Shantikunj founder Pt Acharya Shri Ram Sharma next week, the Gandhivadi Ekta manch members staged a silent protest along the Ganga river at Alaknanda ghat. Lamenting that Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, despite his anti-corruption drive and enacting of stern Lokayukta Bill, is not contemplating any action against Kumbh mela in charge Madan Kaushik, Cabinet Minister, the manch activists said only Anna could move the BJP government for a high-level probe in the matter. Gandhivadi Ekta manch founder Sanjay Chopra said Anna would be addressing thousands adjacent to the Ganga river and it would be more appropriate if he raises the issue of the Maha Kumbh scam in Haridwar. “Yeddyurappa and Nishank were ousted on Anna’s movement impact only and now it’s time that those who misused the Rs 755 crore Kumbh budget fund be exposed as this is relates to our religious sentiments also. We urge him (Anna) to take up the issue during his visit to Haridwar. He should not ignore one of the biggest scams that have taken place in the state,” said Chopra. Holding posters and placards of Anna, the manch activists attracted attention of pilgrims and tourists as well.
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Haldwani facing water scarcity
Nainital, November 3 The crisis has been triggered this time by the delay in the repair work of tube wells with technical faults. It is learnt that the tube wells located at Paniyali and Heeranagar localities have been out of order for more than a week. As a result, the residents of Heeranagar, Judge Farm, ITI, Paniyali, Ramdi Aan Singh, Haripriya Nagar and Kathgariya localities are facing an acute problem of water supply. People are spending a major part of the day fetching water to fulfil their basic needs. The officials of the Jal Sansthan said efforts were on to fix the faulty tube wells. They assured that the tube well at Heeranagar would be repaired by Thursday. The residents have started to loose patience and have threatened to launch an agitation if things do not improve in the coming days. Meanwhile, the villages located at the tail end of some water schemes are also facing an acute water crisis. With a frequently disrupted supply, the people are agitated over the lack of initiative on the part of the officials to rectify the problem. The worst affected areas are Mota Haldu, Talli Haldwani, Lal Daanth, Oonchapul, Himmatpur Malla and Gora Padav. According to the information, there is no dearth of water but the fault lies in the inefficient system of managing the water resources available in these towns. Reports appearing in the media say that the availability of water for Haldwani is as high as 45 Mega Litres per day (MLD) out of which 35 MLD is made available by the Gaula river while the remaining comes from the tube wells. Reports say that while 8 MLD of water is being supplied to the adjoining rural areas, 2 MLD is lost on the account of leakages. The consumption of the town is mere 27
MLD.
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PCC flouts SC/ST quota norms: Cong leader
Dehradun, November 3 Addressing a press conference here today, former Rishikesh Municipality Member and Congress leader Anshul Arora alleged the reservations had not been given in the newly constituted PCC in the state. Arora asserted that he had registered his protest with all top Congress leaders of the state, including state party president Yashpal Arya. “I am now left with no option other than staging a dharna at the state Congress Headquarters on November 11,” Arora held. He said Congress president Sonia Gandhi had always taken care of dalits and minorities and asserted that it was unbecoming on part of the Congress to deny a representation to these communities in the state party executive in the state.
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Identify, book illegal miners, DM to DFO
Nainital, November 3 Speaking at a meeting held in Rudrapur on Thursday afternoon, Jangpangi made it clear that the violation of quarrying norms would not be tolerated at all. Referring to the incomplete jobs undertaken under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), he has asked the Block Development Officers (BDOs) to restart work on them soon and ensure that they are complete within the stipulated time. Jangpangi has also ordered the BDOs to stick to the norm of making payments to those employed under MNREGA within a maximum time limit of 15 days. Addressing the officials of the Forest, Agriculture and Irrigation Departments he said the work should be expedited on the schemes aimed at preventing cutting away of agricultural lands by water bodies.
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Students get aid
Dehradun, November 3 The chief guest on the occasion was Urmila Bijalwan and president of the society Dr Abdul Sattar chaired the event. Bijalwan emphasised on educating children and eradicating illiteracy from the society. She said, “Its commendable on part of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan to have joined hands with Madarsa to impart education along with religious knowledge.” “I congratulate the founders of the society for working towards the noble cause,” she added. |
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MAHAKUMBH
SCAM
