The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Haridwar Stampede Shantikunj head suspects foul play Tribune News Service Haridwar, November 14 Almost a week after the stampede, in which 20 people had been killed, occurred at the venue for a massive yajna at Laljiwala, the Shantikunj head, Dr Pranav Pandya, has addressed the Gayatri family activists at Shantikunj for the first time. He expressed doubt that the incident might be preplanned and he was looking into this angle, as there were arrangements for the live-video coverage of the very area where the stampede occurred. As a high-level magisterial probe is being conducted by ADM Girdhari Singh Rawat, Dr Pandya said he would be discussing this aspect with the investigating officer. “Investigation is on and perhaps in a fortnight the report will be out, but this aspect needs to be looked into seriously,” he added. Accepting that some mistakes may have occurred on the part of the organisers, he said had it not been Guruji’s blessings, the casualties could have been more. Dr Pandya said both he and Shailjiji haven’t slept properly since the day of the incident as they were busy meeting the witnesses to the stampede. “This is the time to have faith, be mentally stable and confident, as now onwards we will concentrate on our constructive programmes, making sure that we give them right focus and impetus,” said Dr Pandya. Elaborating on these future programmes of Gayatri Parivar, he said a wide array of such programmes, including a tree plantation drive, de-addiction camp and a water harvesting project, was on the anvil. Pointing out that the massive yagna has not been left incomplete, Dr Pandya said for the past few years they have been carrying out yajnas with proficiency.
	Centre taking steps to arrest inflation: Harish Rawat Tribune News Service Haridwar, November 14 With food inflation touching an all time high in the past few weeks, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Harish Rawat said today that the Central Government was taking several steps in order to bring the spiralling prices down. During a tour of his constituency, Rawat said: “We (the government) will surely be able to rein in inflation in the coming weeks and for this a massive drive is being carried out at a higher level. I assure the common man that we understand their concerns but it’s just a matter of time before the remedial steps are being taken by the government show results on the ground level”. While talking to The Tribune about bringing in a strong Lokpal Bill, Rawat said inputs are being taken from Team Anna too. The Bill is being reviewed by the Parliamentary Standing Committee. “An effective Jan Lokpal Bill is being formulated and it will be according to the Constitutional norms. If the BJP doesn’t create a ruckus during the upcoming winter session of Parliament, the Congress, as claimed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is committed to bringing in the Bill,” said Rawat, who also holds Additional Parliamentary Affairs portfolio in the Union Cabinet. He lashed out at former BJP national president Lal Krishan Advani, who is scheduled to arrive in Uttarakhand later this week as part of his Jan Chetna Yatra. He said Advani had always used his yatra to ignite communal disharmony and to gain political mileage. Rawat questioned Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’s removal from the post of Chief Minister, saying that it was only a drama as the very next week they nominated him as BJP vice-president. “If Uttarakhand’s Lokayukta Act seems to be perfect to the BJP, then why don’t they implement it in those states where they are in power? Even the Uttarakhand Lokayukta Act has serious anomalies, which have been deliberately introduced to save ministers or bureaucrats from the Lokayukta’s action,” said Rawat. Meanwhile, on November 18, the day when Advani’s Jan Chetna Yatra arrives in Haridwar, the Congress District Committee will be holding a mega rally at SIDCUL. Veteran leader Purushottam Sharma said whenever Advani has organisd a rath yatra, either communal tension has prevailed or communal forces have got strengthened.
	Direct Assured Career Progression Scheme Docs resent non-implementation of time-bound promotions Neena Sharma Tribune News Service Dehradun, November 14 By failing to extend the Direct Assured Career Progression (DACP) Scheme to government doctors, the government has not been able to take concrete steps to attract young doctors. Non-existent promotional avenues and poor salaries are some of the reasons that are discouraging young doctors from rendering services to the state. When the Uttarakhand Government had recently extended the Assured Career Progression (ACP) Scheme to most of the government employees and the staff of medical services, excluding doctors, it was expected that the BC Khanduri-led government would extend this facility to the state doctors as well. But that has not been the case. Dr BC Ramola, president of the Provincial Medical and Health Services (PMHS), Uttarakhand, said: “The government is not serious about improving the condition of the government doctors and making the services attractive for young doctors. We have been demanding the implementation of the DACP scheme for long, but to no avail. After implementing the DACP in 2002, the Central Government had asked the state governments to implement the scheme as part of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations for the government doctors.” The government’s inability to address this problem since the creation of the state has resulted in the government services appearing unattractive for young medical officers. “Even the neighbouring states of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana are implementing the scheme. No wonder new entrants prefer joining the services in these states,” added Dr Ramola. Doctors say that the recent decision to raise the age limit of doctors from 60 to 62 years was never demanded by them. “We have been demanding the implementation of the DACP scheme. However, our this demand has fallen on deaf ears. There are several doctors who have never got the benefit of promotion. For the past 15 years, they are on one post only. Nearly 50 per cent of the doctors have been denied promotion,” said Dr DP Joshi, general secretary of the PMHS. Once the DACP scheme is implemented, doctors will get time-bound promotions and increments. As soon as a doctor completes four years, his first promotion will be due along with time-bound increment. Thereafter, he will be eligible for three more promotions. This will automatically encourage young doctors to join government services.
	Get theft in BJP office probed: Cong to CM Tribune News Service Dehradun, November 14 The Uttarakhand Congress launching an attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked Chief Minister BC Khanduri to order a probe by the CBI into the theft of Rs 27 lakh from the office of the state BJP in May 2002. Addressing a press conference here today, Surender Aggarwal, Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson, alleged that while Khanduri had been talking about crushing corruption in the state, he had failed to take cognizance of the suspicious theft that took place in the state BJP office in 2002. Giving copies of an internal inquiry report prepared by Mukesh Mohindra, a senior state BJP leader on the reported theft, Aggarwal said the report spoke clearly about the involvement of insiders in the BJP office in the theft. Mohindra, a lawyer and nowadays working as a BJP spokesperson, has clearly mentioned that the money which came from the liquor mafia for the Assembly elections in 2002 was taken away by some insider but an impression was created that the money had been stolen. Mohindra had stated in his report that two senior leaders of the BJP took no interest in the theft and the dog squad of the police had indicated that the theft was done by some insider. Aggarwal said even after nine years, the state BJP had failed to take action against any person in this case. “It showed the hypocrisy of the BJP and the double standards of Khanduri in tackling corruption and giving good governance. He should look inside and do some soul searching,” said Aggarwal. He further said now it was the BJP government in the state and the entire police machinery was under the control of the Chief Minister. “The Chief Minister should order a probe into the matter and if he has doubts about the fairness of the state police, he can ask the CBI to probe into the matter,” he said. Meanwhile, Yogendra Khanduri, another Congress spokesperson, has raked up the scandal in the making of the state capital during the interim government of the BJP at the time of the formation of the state. Yogendra Khanduri in a statement said “The capital formation” scandal was the first scandal of the state involving the state BJP government in 2000. The state Chief Minister is making tall claims on corruption. The first thing he should do is to punish those involved in the first scandal of the state,” he demanded.
	Rajaji National Park opens today Tribune News Service Haridwar, November 14 The world famous Rajaji National Park, spread in three districts of Pauri Garhwal, Haridwar and Dehradun, opens tomorrow. Situated in the 820 sqkm area, the park, which was closed on June 15, will be opened to the visitors at 7 am, with park director SP Subodhi, deputy director Shravan Kumar and other park officials to be present at the Chilla range gate falling in Pauri Garhwal. To make sure more tourists throng this season, the park administration has taken various steps to provide better facilities to them. From this season onwards, petrol-run special safari gypsies will be provided to the tourists who want to enjoy the wildlife as well as flora and fauna of the park. While this will facilitate better riding viewing, the vehicles in comparison to previous diesel-run safaris will help in lessening of environmental and noise pollution too. Chilla range park officer DP Uniyal said to lure more tourists and make sure the vehicular ride was comfortable and eco-friendly, these newly modified safari vehicles had been launched by the park administration. Initially, 15 vehicles have been deployed with an MoU with the Eco-Development Committee, which will be operating these safari vehicles. For domestic tourists Rs 150 per person has been fixed and Rs 600 for foreign tourists of which Rs 50 will go to the EDC. Tourist guides and attendants will be assisting the tourists. They have been specially trained to provide tourists a pleasant experience. “For the past six months, we have been upgrading the inner park roads, cleaning and charting out various points on the safari routes from where tourists can get a glimpse of the wildlife that is the quality of this park” said Uniyal. The Rajaji National Park has more than 500 animals, 300 species of mammals and birds. A total of 13,585 tourists, including 1,935 foreigners, visited the park last season.
	Almora admn starts poll preparations Tribune News Service Nainital, November 14 The Almora administration has started making preparations for conducting the forthcoming Assembly polls. District Election Officer DS Garbyal has made appointments of nodal officers and officers in charge for the purpose of conducting the polls in a smooth manner. The officials appointed have been asked to carry out the jobs entrusted to them with a complete sincerity in accordance with the directions of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the State Election Commission (SEC). They have also been asked to maintain coordination while the exercise of conducting the polls is on. The Chief Development Officer (CDO) will be acting as the election convener while Additional District Magistrate Rajiv Sah will be the Nodal Officer for polling and counting of votes. District Information Technology and Science Officer Anil Arya has been entrusted the task of officer in charge with regards to polling and counting. He has also been asked to prepare a data base of officials involved in the task of conducting elections and to depute micro observers. Deputy Mukul Pathak has been deputed as Additional Officer Incharge while the Additional District Education Officer has been asked to act as an Assistant Officer Incharge. Various other officials have been deputed to carry out related exercises with regards to managing the plying of vehicles for the purpose, transportation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), maintaining a record of the correspondence with the officials at the state and central levels and for monitoring the conduct of polls in different parts of the district.
	Ensure presence at meetings, DM to officials Tribune News Service Nainital, November 14 Annoyed at the absence of the Social Welfare Officer Jagmohan Singh Kafola at a meeting, District Magistrate of Udham Singh Nagar PS Jangpangi has ordered district-level officials to ensure their presence at meetings held to review performances under the various schemes. Attending a meeting held by the lead bank in the district at the Baroda Self Employment Development Institute in the State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttaranchal (SIDCUL) hub in Pantnagar, Jangpangi underlined that most of the self-employment and development schemes were linked directly to the banks. He pointed out that the problems related to grant and repayment of loans could be solved through an interaction between the bank authorities and loan seekers. Jangpangi called for an increase in the credit deposit ratio in the district to ensure that the process of development got a further impetus. Udham Singh Nagar is one of the most industrially developed districts of the state. An official of the lead bank Vishambar Dyal said of the target of Rs 2,700 crore to be disbursed as loans, the banks had disbursed Rs 917 crore till September. He further said the CD ratio till September stood at 108 per cent which is 12 per cent more than the last year’s figure for the same period. He gave details about the various schemes under which loans had been disbursed by the banks in the district. He also said 6,750 kisan credit cards had been disbursed till now against the annual target of 20,000.
	Science and technology congress begins at Kumaon varsity Tribune News Service Nainital, November 14 The Sixth-Uttarakhand State Science and Technology Congress began at Soban Singh Jeena Campus of Kumaon University in Almora with former Vice Chancellor of Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University Professor AN Purohit calling for a development model that has environment protection and conservation at its core. Prof Purohit also dwelt on the proposed Project Human Being, which was recently presented at the National Development Council (NDC) meeting by the Chief Minister BC Khanduri to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. He underlined that the project envisaged the protection of the rights of the people along with the increased production and development through value addition based on science. He stressed upon the need for promoting techniques that were conducive for promoting development in the hilly regions. He appreciated the efforts of the mass-media organisation in giving a prime space to science and technology related issues and pointed out that it helped in taking the science and latest research to the common man. He expressed a hope that interaction between young scientists and experts from various fields during the congress would go a long-way in helping the former. The three-day congress began with the Vice Chancellor of the Kumaon University talking about the support extended by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, Gobind Ballabh Pant Institute of Environment and Development at Kosi Katarmal, Vivekanand Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan at Almora, Uttarakhand Sevanidhi Paryavaran Shikshan Sansthan at Almora and National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), chapter of the Indian National Science Academy at New Delhi. He also talked about the activities being carried out by Kumaon University in the field of science and technology. In his address, the Director-General of the Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST), Dr Rajendra Dobhal, said the purpose of organising the congress to inculcate an interest in science and research among the student fraternity while identifying and honouring the young scientists from the state. Three books on abstracts of the papers to be presented in the Congress, Proceedings of Third congress and Bio resources of Uttarakhand, were released on the first day of the congress. Dr Dobhal called upon the students to participate in the brainstorming sessions on five topics that would be held during the three-day exercise. The topics relate to agriculture, forestry, science and society, development of Mathematics in Uttarakhand and the Single Document Interface (SDI). One of the main highlights of the event will be the NASI lecture, which will be delivered by Prof Lalji Singh, the Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University.
	Traditional fair begins on Indo-Nepal border Our Correspondent Pithoragarh, November 14 The six-day traditional Jauljibi fair began at Jauljibi on the Indo-Nepal border today. The fair was inaugurated by state Cabinet minister Prakash Pant. People from both countries are participating in it. The Pithoragarh SP, NA Bharane, said: “More than 80 police constables and a platoon of the Provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed at the venue.” He added that the administration had started the registration of traders and the issuance of identity cards to them last year only. Dharchula SDM and mela officer Abhishek Tripathi said a total of 500 traders, including 100 tribals, were participating in this fair. Besides, traders from West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Bareilly and Moradabad were also participating. The fair was started by landlords of the erstwhile Askot state. It was first organised on the auspicious day of Brischik Sankranti keeping in mind the confluence of the rivers of Gori and Kali there. “The fair is a platform for traders to sell goods obtained from Tibet during the Indo-Tibet trade and crafts produced by tribal Bhotia women,” said Shakuntala Datal, a craftswoman from the tribal Bhotia community. Dr Lalit Pant, an expert, said: “Earlier, the fair was based on the barter system. However, after 1919, the Victorian coins replaced the traditional system. In the mid 20s, the fair used to draw businessmen from the high Himalayan valleys of Johar and Darma, Kolkata, Panipat, Kanpur, Kashipur, Amritsar, Almora and Nainital.” He further said woollen, wooden goods and cosmetics used to be main attraction for the locals. Besides, agricultural equipment made by Ban Rawats, a primitive tribe, and copper craftsmen from Almora and Bageshwar and iron smiths from Barakot also used to reach the fair till the 70s, when the fair was being organised by the district administration, he added.

Delhi humble Ranchi in cricket final
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 14
Delhi’s opening batsmen Kushan and Vikas gave a solid start to their state team in the final of the ongoing All-India Level Cricket Tournament being organised at the zonal level in Haridwar.

Winning the toss, Ranchi skipper chose to take advantage of the morning dew and windy conditions at the BHEL sports stadium, which is close to the forest terrain. But the Delhi’s opening batsmen neutralised the bowling-friendly conditions with their aggressive strokes.

Kushan (30) and Vikas (28) gave a half century partnership in just six overs. Siddharth (28) also chipped in to take the team’s total to 149 runs in the stipulated 20 overs.

From the Ranchi side, Rishabh took 3 wickets while Dheeraj and Noor Hasan shared two wickets each, though they initially struggled to control the swing of the bowl.

Chasing the target, the Ranchi team openers failed to provide a good start falling cheaply as the scoreboard read just 25 runs.

Despite a solid 41 runs from Ravi Kumar, the other batsmen failed to provide him support and the whole team fell short of 36 runs, as they bundled out for just 103 runs.

Vishwas proved handy with the ball too as he took 3 Ranchi batsmen and was ably supported by Tushar and off spinner Nitin.

For the third place, the Uttar Pradesh team won by 8 wickets against Rajasthan, claiming the third spot.

Umpiring was done by Parvinder Singh, Inder Mohan Barthwal, Kamal Chamoli while the final match was officiated by Jitendra Kamboj, Piyush Chawla, Bhoopendra, Pankaj, Tarun, Mukesh.

Villagers demand killing of man-eating leopard
The animal has killed three children in the past two months
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 14
In the wake of the killings of three children by a man-eating leopard in the past two month, panic-ridden residents of Haldu village here today met District Forest Officer (DFO) MS Sirohi and demanded the capture or killing of the wild cat.

“In the past two months, the wild cat has killed three children,” said Khim Raj Joshi, a villager.

According to information, last night, 12-year-old Pradeep also fell victim to the leopard. His half-eaten body was later found in the forest.

According to villagers, this is the third such incident in the village in the past two months. Besides this, the wild cat has also injured many people in the area. Villagers said children were afraid of going out of their houses.

The DFO has given an assurance to the villagers that they would install a cage to capture the leopard.

The DFO further said permission to kill the leopard had also been sought from the state Chief Wildlife Warden.

“We have given a relief of Rs 5,000 to next to kin of the boy who was killed by the leopard last night. Compensation will also be given to the families of other two deceased and those of the injured,” the DFO added.

Punjab overall champions
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 14
A grand colourful function marked the concluding ceremony of the All-India Mahatma Hansraj Aryan Inter-Zonal Games that was held at Dayanand Arno Vernacular School, Jagjeetpur, in Haridwar.

In the closing ceremony, former Chief Justice RN Mittal, who is also the chief of the DAV College Managing Committee, distributed prizes to the victorious teams and individual winners.

Omvir Singh, coordinator of the games, was given a special memento, who was also awarded this month as the best physical education teacher by the Central Board of Secondary Education.

The results in the 14 disciples in which 1400 students participated from 10 zones and 28 schools are as follow:

Badminton-Panchkula, Basketball-Faridabad, Cricket-Delhi, Football-Punjab, Handball-Delhi, Kho-Kho-Faridabad, Kabaddi-Faridabad, Table Tennis-Delhi, Volleyball-Panchkula, Judo-Delhi, Yoga-Ranchi & Punjab (jointly), Lawn Tennis-Delhi, Hockey-Punjab and Archery-Ranchi.

While, the coveted overall championship of the entire game was accorded to the team of Punjab for being champions in two events and runners-up in seven events.