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Rs 2.11 cr found in ex-Drug Controller’s locker
Commercial flights to Delhi |
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‘Tainted’ Dwivedi sacked as USTDC chief
Yatra enters state tomorrow
Registrar kanungos end stir
Four officials face action for skipping panel hearing
Akhada chief for more efforts to save Ganga
CM gives call for environment conservation
Cane support prices announced
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Rs 2.11 cr found in ex-Drug Controller’s locker
Dehradun, November 15 Earlier, the team had recovered Rs 1.97 lakh in cash, gold coins, gold-plated statues, passbooks of various banks and 23 liquor bottles from his house. Addressing mediapersons here today, Director-General (Vigilance) Satyavrat said: “I had assured the Chief Minister of the recovery of Rs 50 lakh from his locker and sought the cooperation of the government to allow us to open it. After getting the permission, our team,
led by SP (Vigilance) BK Juyal, opened the locker this afternoon and was shocked to find a huge amount in it. It took the team two and a half hours to count the money. We have clicked pictures and sealed the locker after putting the money back.” The DG said they would also assess the value of the former Drug Controller’s residence at Baba Marg and other property at Bulandshahar and Noida. He said the department had been tracking his case for the past six months. The DG said they had also searched his PNB’s locker but found nothing. He appreciated the SP (Vigilance) for handling the case successfully and gave away a cash prize of Rs 5,000 to the team. He has also recommended the state government to reward them Rs 5 lakh for
their success. Meanwhile, Satyavrat also talked about 17 cases of the Kandpal Commission that had been handed over to the Vigilance. He said he would not complete the investigations in a hurry. “We will check all records and take experts’ opinions before coming to any conclusion,” he added. He also refused to comment on the ongoing inquiry into the cases. He, however, said: “We are yet to get complete documents from the departments concerned. I would request the state government to help us in providing all documents in
these cases.” He said their team had also made a list of those departments where they suspected misappropriation of funds at a large scale. The list is yet to be sent to the state government. |
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Commercial flights to Delhi
Pithoragarh, November 15 ”The airliner brought technical and managerial staff of the company to study the practical aspects of the possibility to start regular flights from this border district where the air strip is ready for the past 15 years,” said Pankaj Shah, business associate of the company. Uttarakhand Cabinet minister and local MLA Prakash Pant, who was present on the occasion, said the state government planned to run regular commercial flights from not only the Naini Saini air strip but also from Chiniyalisaur, Uttarkashi and Gauchar in Chamoli
as well. “We have invited Deccan Aviation only to study the possibility to run the flights from these places of the border districts of the state, where the air strips are ready,” said Pant. According to Deccan Aviation officials, the company intends to run two flights from Pithoragarh, one to New Delhi and another to Dehradun, from the air strip. “We will study the air length and fuel consumption capacity from this destination, besides the weather aspects, and after studying all these aspects, we will submit our report to the state government within three days,” said Shah. |
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‘Tainted’ Dwivedi sacked as USTDC chief
Nainital, November 15 A blue-eyed boy of former Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank, Dwivedi was always amid controversy. His removal comes in the face of allegations regarding corrupt practices in the USTDC. There had been reports in the local media regarding the Managing Director and District Magistrate of Udham Singh Nagar PS Jangpangi having written to the office of the Chief Minister about various ‘irregularities’. This has not only led to Dwivedi’s removal on Monday evening but a probe under the Kumaon Commissioner Kunal Sharma has also been initiated. Dwivedi’s removal at this stage gives credence to the demand by a section of the party that action must be taken against those blue-eyed figures of the Nishank regime who have been facing allegations of corruption. “There is no point in promulgation of a Lokpal Act till examples are set. The people will only support the party if they see action being taken,” a BJP leader had told this correspondent a couple of days back. Even Chief Minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, while replying to a query during his last visit to Nainital in October, had indicated that action was expected against those involved in the alleged corrupt deals that had marked the reign of his predecessor Nishank. Dwivedi’s appointment itself had been an issue of controversy as the post of Chairman had always been held by a bureaucrat from the Indian Administrative Services (IAS). It was alleged that Nishank had appointed him while turning a blind eye to the norms. Thereafter, he had been reportedly embroiled is a series of allegations although he had denied every single charge. Observers see his removal as a tit-for-tat move by Khanduri against Nishank who had removed Ravindra Jugran from the post of the Chairman of the Rajya Andolankari Kalyan Parishad some time ago. Jugran had openly expressed his admiration for Khanduri’s way of functioning. The ‘counter’ move is being seen as taking the cold war within the BJP to the next level. |
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Advani’s yatra litmus test for Kaushik
Haridwar, November 15 Almost every day either a national or state party leader is visiting Haridwar to oversee the preparations for the yatra. It’s more of a litmus test for state Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik, as the state party leaders want the rally to be a hugely successful one, hoping to draw a crowd of at least 20,000 people to the rally. While the state unit of the party wants to impress the probable BJP Prime Ministerial candidate in the next parliamentary elections, it also wants to give the Uttarakhand public a strong message in view of the coming Assembly elections which are just months away. The state BJP has appointed state Cabinet minister Madan Kaushik, who is the local legislator, the chief coordinator of the Advani’s visit. Kaushik is known to have multiple resources at his disposal, which will come handy in ensuring a huge crowd at the rally. Party insiders revealed that Kaushik has strictly directed district, city, block, tehsil and panchayat-level office-bearers to make sure that a record number of people are present at Rishikul, the venue for the party rally. This is being seen as a do-or-die situation for the Cabinet minister, who has in the line of Opposition criticism for his role in the alleged Maha Kumbh scam. Also with Congress parliamentarian Harish Rawat making a dent in the BJP vote bank and subsequent loss to the party in the three-tier Zila Panchayat elections, the BJP high command is not happy with Kaushik. “I have not been made the coordinator of the rally just to boost my image, it’s a responsibility bestowed upon me by the senior leaders of the party. There is a curiosity about Advaniji’s yatra as people are fed up with the Congress-led UPA government’s corrupt governance,” said Kaushik while inspecting arrangements at the venue for the rally.
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Yatra enters state tomorrow
Dehradun, November 15 Spokesperson for the BJP Vishwas Dabar said on the same day, an election meeting would be held in Dehradun. On November 17, the BJP leader would arrive at Herberpur in the afternoon and later hold an election meeting at the Parade Ground, Dehradun. “An election meting will be held at Rishiku on November 18. From here he will travel to Jaspur, Kashipur, Bajpur and Kaladunig and
later address a meeting at Haldwani,” he said. The last election meeting would be held on November 19 at Rudrapur, he added.
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Registrar kanungos end stir
Dehradun, November 15 The main demands included the salary structure of registrar kanungos should be the same as patwaris’. This provision will be restricted to those who have joined service under the category of revenue patwari. A new service regulation pertaining to registrar kanungos will soon come into practice. Nayab Tehsildar will now be promoted on a seniority basis. The vacancies for posts of computer expert will be published as well. All the pending vacancies in the department will be filled through the District Magistrate. The employees who were made to give their services for the census work will also be provided an allowance henceforth. Haridwar which has been having only one position of registrar kanungo will have two or more such positions. Bhatt said all the demands would be met within three months. The members of the association would also be paid salaries for the duration of the strike and would not be punished for any scuffle or offence occurred during
the strike period. The office-bearers of the association have thanked the minister for accepting their demands. |
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Rajaji Park
Haridwar, November 15 Despite chilly weather, more than 24 tourists, including foreigners, visited the Chilla range on the first day of its opening for this winter season. Opening the park gates for the tourists, Deputy Director of the park Shravan Kumar highlighted the various initiatives and works done by the park authorities to draw more visitors. Shravan hoped that there will not be a major affect on the tourist inflow due to unavailability of an elephant safari at the park. “We are providing trendy gypsy safari along with a guide to tourists. Be it elephants, leopards, tigers, Himalayan black deer, birds, hyenas, peacocks or the flora fauna, the park has a wide array of attraction,” said Shravan Kumar. Chila Park Ranger DP Uniyal said a large number of queries and bookings were being received at the range registration office from the foreign tourists. Eleina Myskina, a Russian tourist, who arrived at the park in noon when the park had closed, said the park authorities needed to advertise the park timings, its wildlife and the facilities on a large scale. She said according to the information she had about the park, it was one of the major attractions for wildlife and nature lovers world over. |
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Four officials face action for skipping panel hearing
Nainital, November 15 Namdhari has ordered the secretary of the commission, Sher Ali, to issue notices to the Executive Engineer of the PWD, Kashipur, Yogesh Lal, Tehsildar, Sitarganj, Sunder Singh Tomar, Patwari Sunil Kumar and Kanungo Hem Raj Singh. He has ordered that the officials must appear in person before the commission during the hearings and they should come after doing their homework. He took up 18 matters pertaining to the minorities during the hearing
of the commission at the Vikas Bhavan this morning. The vice-chairman of the commission, Mohammad Mazhar Naeem Nawab, took to task the officer in charge, Nandan Singh Naganyal, for not having come with proper preparations. He said officials must come well-prepared in the future as their failure to do so not only led to a wastage of time but also created hurdles for the commission to dispose of the cases. The matters that were taken up by the commission ranged from complaints related to the Power Department to service matters. Several orders were given by the commission with the instructions for compliance within a stipulated time frame. |
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Akhada chief for more efforts to save Ganga
Haridwar, November 15 Mahant Gyan Das, who is on a visit to Uttarakhand, was speaking at a religious function at Hare Ram Ashram. The akhada chief pointed out that as religion was above politics and even the nation, one should not hurt the religious sentiments of the people. Citing the rising pollution level in the Ganga and the innumerable hydro projects being made on the river bed, in the name of development, he said this would not be tolerated by the saint community. He said, “This has put a question mark on the very aspect of faith and religious significance we associate with the holy Ganga, which is the lifeline for millions of Indians and is revered by people living in other parts of the world too”. “Our objective should be to save the nation, its culture, heritage and work for the society. It’s not appropriate to hurt religious sentiments and also nationalism” said Mahant Gyan Das, who urged people not to pollute the Ganga. Saints from various akhadas also expressed concern on thousands of crores being spent on the Ganga Action Plan and other such governmental schemes, but on the ground level not much had fructified. Among others who spoke on the occasion were Mahamandaleshwar Rajendra Das Maharaj, Shri Mahant Bali Das, Vishnu Das, Deen Bandhu, Sanjay Das, Hemant Das and Mahant Madhav Das.
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CM gives call for environment conservation
Nainital, November 15 He was speaking at a function held to mark the occasion. “We all have to obey the orders of nature. At present the conservation of rivers, environment, forest wealth is a challenge for everyone and we all have to work in this direction in a planned manner,” he said. General Khanduri pointed out that with the increase in population, the problems have increased manifold. He said while the needs of every man had to be fulfilled through development schemes, the 65 per cent forest wealth available in the state had also to be put to optimum use. He pointed out that Uttarakhand was the only state that had led from the front in various environment conservation movements be it the afforestation drive or the Chipko Movement that was started by an illiterate lady who loved the environment immensely. General Khanduri inaugurated a photo exhibition on the occasion and appreciated the dance drama “Bageshwari”, invoking the power of the Goddess for tiger conservation that was presented by the Sanskara Development Trust. The trust in partnership with Wild Aid has initiated a new wildlife awareness campaign for people in villages located near the tiger reserves in India. The new campaign that invokes the power of the Goddess within is based on a theme that connects the pride of jungles to values and beliefs. From “Durga” to “Bageshwari”, the cultural ballet has been conceptualised by Tykee Malhotra and Sharmila Bhartari, choreographed and performed by Sharmila Bhartari, Ritesh Kumar Sharma and group. It is narrated by Tom Alter. “The aim of the new drive is to work together with local people around the tiger reserves and garner support for the protection of India’s tigers and all the endangered wildlife,” says Tykee Malhotra, Managing Trustee of Sanskara. General Khanduri pointed out that Jim Corbett had taken steps for tiger and wildlife conservation when people were living under the fear of the animal. He dedicated the Dhangarhi and Kalagarh gates that had been built to mark the Platinum Jubilee of the park. Speaking at the function, the Chief Wildlife Warden, Dr RBS Rawat, said in the past four years the state had set up a Special Task Force and Corbett Foundation besides starting online reservations for the visit to the park. He pointed out that the park had witnessed a 38 per cent growth in the population of the tigers in the context of the national tally. |
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Cane support prices announced
Dehradun, November 15 The Chief Minister also released Rs 15 crore as payments of sugarcane farmers for last year pending with government sugarmills. — TNS
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A team of the state Vigilance today claimed to have recovered about Rs 2.11 crore from a locker of the SBI belonging to former Drug Controller Dharam Singh, who was arrested
while allegedly taking a bribe.
In a trial run to start commercial flights from Pithoragarh to New Delhi and
Dehradun, a nine-seater aeroplane of Deccan Aviation landed at the Naini Saini.
Rajaji Park
Nainital, November 15
