Survey rates Khanduri as most popular CM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 7
In a survey conducted by RTI Lok Seva in the 13 districts of the state from November 9, 2010, to October 31, 2011, BC Khanduri has emerged as the most popular Chief Minister as per the ratings by 80 per cent of the respondents.

The Public Survey Campaign, conducted by RTI Lok Seva, claimed that the efforts made by Khanduri to usher in transparency and end corruption had won him favour of the respondents.

The respondents were asked to choose from the list of former Chief inister, comprising of Nityanand Swami, BS Koshiyari, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of the BJP and former Chief Minister ND Tiwari of the Congress. The survey also ascertained the views of the people on several issues concerning development, law and order, employment and welfare of employees.

Making public the details of the first ever survey undertaken by an NGO in the state, Coordinator of RTI Lok Seva Manoj Dhyani said, “Almost 100 per cent of the respondents said clean and transparent administration should be the main responsibility of the Chief Minister of the state.”

When it comes to development, former Chief Minister ND Tiwari is the preferred choice and 73.3 per cent of the respondents rate him for ushering industrial development in the state, while 46.67 per cent say that it was Tiwari who tried to put in place a system that was envisaged during the statehood stir.

Similarly, 33 per cent of the respondents said Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal managed to create coordination between employees and teachers.

A total of 60 per cent of the respondents also said both the BJP and the Congress parties had failed to curb corruption in the state.

However, 40 per cent of the respondents said the achievements of the Congress Government in the areas of rural development, rural jobs and infrastructure development was better than the BJP.

The campaign undertook ascertained views of at least 3 lakh people and 31 NGOs participated in the survey.

Chief Minister dedicates livestock centre
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 7
Chief Minister BC Khanduri today dedicated to the people Pashudhan Bhawan, a major livestock development facility set up at a cost of Rs 429.57 lakh in Mothronwala here.

Speaking at a programme organised on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the Animal Husbandry Department had undergone a revival under the aegis of Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

He said with the strengthening of the department, there was an enhancement in farmers’ income in addition to various benefits in terms of growth in livestock. He said kisan melas were a unique exercise that had contributed to providing knowledge on livestock on the doorstep of farmers.

The income of livestock owners had also gone up. He said livestock had been the mainstay of the economy, but no efforts had been initiated in this direction in the past 11 years.

On the occasion, the Agriculture Minister said significant initiatives had been taken by the department to propagate hybrid livestock.

The minister said centres, including super-refrigerated semen production centres in Shyampur and Rishikesh, a training centre in Shyampur (Rishikesh), embryo transfer and semen bank units in Lalkuan and Nainital, an animal reproduction farm and the embryo biotechnology centre research and training centre at Kalsi (Dehradun), were |extending a large number of facilities to the livestock farmers.

He said fodder nurseries were also being established.

UPP plans ‘Hoshiyar-Khabardar Yatra’
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 7
Getting into the poll mode, the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP) has decided to take out a “Hoshiyar-Khabardar Yatra” from November 25.

The decision to undertake the yatra was announced at a meeting of the committee on political affairs of the UPP held at Haldwani last evening.

The party has also announced that it would observe statehood day as Vishwasghat Divas (treachery day) on November 9.

The party leadership has lambasted the ruling BJP and the Congress for letting down the people of the state on all fronts and defying the purpose for which Uttarakhand had been created 11 years ago. President of the party PC Tewari said: “The purpose of Hoshiyar-Khabardar Yatra is to expose the two parties before the common people of the state.”

The UPP has further announced that it would come out with the list of 40 contestants for the coming Assembly poll by December. The party leadership has made it clear that the UPP would not do anything for short-term electoral gains and the party is in favour of a long-term political strategy based on the people-centric issues.

The party leadership has appealed to the people to come forward and teach a lesson to the BJP, the Congress and the the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD).

Mulayam’s visit opposed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 7
At a meeting called by the Uttarakhand Rajya Nirman Sainani Manch here today, the members registered their protest over the arrival of president of Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav in the city and condemned those who welcomed him.

Sunil Juyal, spokesman for the organisation, said they would boycott those, including bureaucrats and ministers, who welcomed the leader who insulted the women of the state and repressed state agitators with bullets and lathies. He said they would oppose the people during elections.

Present in the meeting were Nanda Vallabh Pandey, Vinod Aswal, Sunil Juyal, Mathura Pant and Sunil Nautiyal.

100th Birth Anniversary of Gayatri Parivar Founder
Management by Shantikunj better than govt’s during Kumbh: CM
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 7
While the Maha Kumbh 2010 was the biggest fair on earth which witnessed participation of 6 crore devotees, in terms of facilities, works and management, various discrepancies had come to the fore.

But in spite of having less than 1/10th of the budget as for the Maha Kumbh, the celebrations of the 100th birth anniversary of Gayatri family founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya, being organised by Shantikunj, has shown mirror to the government departments by providing facilities way better than what the government provided at the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar.

The fact has been acknowledged by the BJP-led state government Chief Minister BC Khanduri, who congratulated the Gayatri family for hosting such an organised fair.

He also directed the government departments and nodal agencies to take inputs from the organisational set up of the festival,as it’s quite commendable that despite limited resources, they have put up better facilities than the government agencies provide from huge funds.

Khanduri reached yagyashala at Laljiwala today morning where 1551 hawan kunds have been made and yajna rituals are being performed. He attended the rituals and seemed to be quite impressed with the way the entire fair has been set up. More than 50 lakh people are expected to attend the fair.

“I hope that flames of the yajna, being held alongside the Ganga River, spread love, harmony and brotherhood among all and give a definite direction to the society. As far as the state government is concerned, we are with Shantikunj and administration has been directed to cooperate at various levels” said Khanduri.

Shantikunj head Dr Pranav Pandya termed Khanduri as a crusader against corruption. “A strong Lokayukta bill has been passed by him (Khanduri) which is a strong weapon in the hands of public to fight corruption. A ray of hope has been lighted among the people of Uttarakhand and hopefully other state governments will also follow suit in implementing a strong Lokayukta Bill” said Pandya.

He also thanked the Uttarakhand Government for cooperating with Shantikunj in hosting such a big event.

Meanwhile, speaking today as the chief guest at a cultural event ‘Kala Manch’ at Laljiwala base camp of the festival, former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank termed the ongoing Centenary festival of Shantikunj founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya as a mini-Kumbh in itself.

Terming it as a privilege for him to be attending the festival, he said that two years back, Maha Kumbh was held when he was the Chief Minister of the state and now as the BJP national vice president it was a pride for both Uttarakhand and Haridwar to be conducting such mega fairs.

Besides appreciating the Shantikunj founder, he also praised the efforts pitched in by Shantikunj Gayatri family activists.

He also expressed hope that the BJP would regain public confidence owing to large scale developmental works being carried out in the state.

Gujarat Guv releases books on Acharyaji
Tribune News Service

Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal in Haridwar on Monday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, November 7
Governor of Gujarat Kamla Beniwal today launched 16 Marathi and three Hindi books on Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya here today.

Kamla Beniwal will be participating in various programmes being organised to celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of the Gayatri Parivar Founder. “A large number of people from across the world are coming to attend the celebrations. I have also come to attend it as I am deeply impressed with Acharyaji’s principles. I am feeling honoured to be part of the celebrations,” said Beniwal, who has been associated with the Gayatri family. She also visited an exhibition gallery based on Acharyaji’s achievements and works.

US exit from Iraq provides opportunity to Arab world: Expert
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 7
Professor Tim Niblock, President of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, said today that the exit of the US from Iraq has provided an opportunity to the Middle East countries to independently manage their own political, economic and security concerns.

“Without leaning towards the Western countries the Arab world should be able to manage their own collective interests and even go on to organise regional-level security outfit. The American engagement in Iraq has already exposed the short-sighted nature of the country of its policies that has only resulted in the gain for Iran. With new players emerging on the scene, especially China, it would be interesting to see if the region once again becomes a source of conflict for countries vying for space,” said Professor Niblock while delivering a talk on “China, India and the Gulf: Promoting Collective Interests and Avoiding conflict”, at Doon University here.

He said while India had long historical ties with the Gulf countries, China’s association with the Gulf countries began taking firm shape only in 2000 when it began to look for oil supplies from the Gulf to fulfil its growing needs. “As an emerging economic giant, China is expected to fill the slot vacated by the US followed by India and other countries. China enjoys a political and historical advantage, as it does not carry any political and historical baggage as carried by the Western countries. But my interaction with the Chinese suggest they are interested in building only economic ties and taking lessons from the past would like keep itself aloof politically,” the Professor said.

He said by all accounts India too had similar interest. “While it has historical ties with the middle east and a strong expatriate population in these countries, India too has several advantages. Their role in the Gulf then should be seen as complementary instead of competitive and it may eventually lead to peace in the region,” said Professor Niblock.

Speakers deliberate on issues of Dalits
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, November 7
The Dalits of the state have refused to be used as mere vote banks by the national and regional parties of the state anymore. This was stated by speakers at a meeting of the Uttrakhand Anusuchit Jati Adhikar Manch held at Nainbagh in Tehri Garhwal district today.

Eminent social activists working on the issues of the Dalits in the state said if the neglect of the Dalits continued in the state they would not hesitate from boycotting the elections in the future.

The speakers also alleged that the politicians after getting elected with the help of the Dalit votes were becoming habitual of either shirking their issues or turning a blind eye to them. They said the Dalits had been facing discrimination even after the Independence, but the government and political parties were silent on the issue. The speakers said the awareness level would be increased among the Dalits on these issues at the grass-roots level and the corrupt politicians would be unmasked so that they were not voted back in power.

Lohaghat town residents to get ownership right
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 7
The wishes of residents of Lohaghat town in Champawat district of having ownership rights of their properties will soon be fulfilled with the Uttarakhand Assembly passing the resolution of converting the kham land (belonging to the British crown, not the government) of Lohaghat town into nazul (government) land facilitating the people to apply for freehold of their plots, Prakash Pant, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, said here today.

“This step of the government has made easy the process of converting the kham land into nazul land in the towns of Tanakpur, Haldwani and Kotdwar,” said Pant. The land of Lohaghat town and the other towns where the British army had set up cantonments before the Independence has been converted into kham land in 1939. The revenue from the kham land went to the British crown, not to the government of that province. In 1947, the Government of India had converted many such properties into government land but due to the different terminology used for the land, these towns, including the town of Lohaghat, were left out of that law.

“The people of the town have long been demanding the status of government land for that part of the town, and their demand has now been fulfilled by the government,” said the minister.

With regards to the date for the Assembly poll, the minister said he expected the election notification to come out by December last. “It will be easy to conduct the elections in February as the term of the present Assembly ends in the first week of March,” said Pant.

Admn orders strict implementation of PNDT Act
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 7
The Udham Singh Nagar District Administration has ordered strict implementation of the Pre-Natal Determination Test (PNDT) Act.

District Magistrate PS Jangpangi has said health workers getting all the expecting mothers registered in their areas would be honoured and those giving information about medical outlets and laboratories carrying out pre-natal tests to determine the gender of unborn babies would be rewarded.

At a meeting of the district-level committee set up for strict implementation of the PNDT Act across the district held at Rudrapur, the District Magistrate expressed his concern over the skewed sex ratio in the district which is further moving towards negative. He underlined that foeticide was a heinous crime and those facilitating it must be dealt with sternly. He said apart from initiation of a criminal case against them, the licenses of the medical institutions carrying out these tests in a clandestine manner needed to be cancelled immediately.

Jangpangi has made an appeal to the members of the civil society and the NGOs to help the administration in implementing the PNDT Act.

At the same time he has ordered surprise checks at all the hospitals offering ultra sound facilities. Decoy customers be sent at private hospitals that are suspected to be carrying out such tests with the intention of determining the sex of the unborn babies and are facilitating foeticide in any manner, he added.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr RS Aswal, has been told that the Health Department must verify and certify the register to be used for keeping a record of the ultra sound tests.

Jangpangi said those having ultra sound facilities at their clinics and laboratories must be told not to start offering the facility till the register of records is verified by the personnel of the Health Department.

At the same time, the District Magistrate has ordered that nodal officials be appointed at the level of the Primary Health Centres (PHCs) for collecting secret information about the PNDT tests being carried out illegally in their respective areas. The CMO has been asked to provide identity cards to the non-government members of the committee on implementation of the PNDT Act so that they can start carrying out surprise checks at nursing homes.

It was decided at the meeting that a special awareness drive be carried out with the help of street plays and workshops for getting 100 per cent registration of expecting mothers. It was decided that those providing secret and accurate information about a facility carrying out PNDT tests would be rewarded with a sum of Rs 2,000 and those who get culprits nabbed by acting as decoy customers would be paid Rs 5,000.

The CMO related that the sex ratio had fallen from 913 women per 1000 men last year to 896 women per 1000 men this year.

Mountains of Kumaon Himalayas becoming hollow, says expert
Incessant rain in this area in the past 10 years is washing away various soluble ores deposit inside these already weakened mountains
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 7
Mountains of the Kumaon Himalayas are becoming hollow as incessant rain in this part in the past 10 years is washing away various soluble ores deposit inside these already weakened mountains, a well-known geologist, Dr Bahadur Singh Kotalia, has said.

“This weather effect in the Kumaon mountains is solely responsible for the increased number of landslides in the region in the past 10 years,” said Dr Kotalia.

Dr Kotalia, who has conducted a study on the Navli rock near Kakrighat in Almora district, has said that due to the washing away of iron ore from the mountain, slate-like stones pieces are leaving their place, making the mountain hollow.

He said many hills in Pithoragarh and Bageshwar have also shown the same trend. “These mountains contain the deposits of iron, manganese and sandstone that are being washed away by incessant rain, leaving behind cracks in the rocks,’ said Dr Kotalia added.

He further said the use of JCB machines and dynamites while constructing roads in the region had also weakened the solid rocks of this sub-Himalayan region. Dr Kotalia warned that: “If scientific methods to protect these mountains are not taken, landslides can cause a huge damage.”

Panel concerned over practice of sending patients to pvt labs
Tribune News Service

Nainital, November 7
The issue of doctors at the government hospitals in Almora asking the patients to get various tests done at the private pathological laboratories was raised vociferously at a meeting of the District Hospital Management Committee held at Almora a couple of days ago.

It was pointed out by a couple of members of the committee that the practice of sending patients to private laboratories for getting different tests done has become a routine. It was also pointed out that those running these laboratories fleece innocent and helpless people who come from local as well as far-off places for getting medical relief.

District Magistrate DS Garbyal, who was present at the meeting, ordered that the practice be brought to an end immediately. The facilities that are available at the women’s and district hospitals must be provided to all the patients and any laxity on this front would not be tolerated.

The meeting also saw disbursement of the second instalment of finances to the hospitals for meeting their expenses.

Addressing those present at the meeting, Garbyal said the best-possible services must be provided to the people coming to these hospitals for treatment. Stating that particular attention must be paid to the needs of the poor, he ordered that emphasis be laid on maintaining proper sanitation on the hospital premises.

He underlined that the people must not be given an opportunity to complain on any count and efforts must be made to retain the faith of the masses in the government-run medical institutions. Garbyal said along with providing quality health care to the people, their attendants too must be dealt with in a polite manner.

The participants at the meeting drew the attention of the officials to various shortcomings with regards to the infrastructure and management of the hospitals. Those present included Chief Medical Officer (CMO) RS Shahi, Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of District Hospital PC Pant and and Dr Usha Upreti from Women’s Hospital.

In the beginning of this year Garbyal had ordered immediate replacement of blankets and mattresses at the district and women’s hospitals. Garbyal had carried out a sudden inspection at the hospital and had been appalled to see the filth on its premises.

He had ordered that proper sanitation be maintained at the hospital. He had visited the surgical and private wards besides the Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) and Emergency Departments.

He had ordered proper maintenance of the generator at the hospital so that the lift can be utilised round the clock. The District Magistrate had also ordered that permanent solution be found to the blockage in the toilet pit of the hospital.