Pranteey Rakshak Dal holds protest
Dehradun, December 5
Seeking an amendment to the Uttarakhand Pranteey Rakshak Dal Act, jawans of the Pranteey Rakshak Dal (PRD) Sangathan today staged a protest in front of the Uttarakhand Assembly building in Dehradun.

Mussoorie, December 5
The hapless residents of Mussoorie, who have been suffering at the hands of the Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) for several decades, finally got some relief as more than 40 cases of illegal construction were resolved in the compounding camp held at the Municipal Council premises in the presence of Housing Development Minister Khajan Das today.

Out 400 pending cases concerning illegal construction in Mussoorie, around 40 cases were heard by Jharna Kamthaan, SDM, Mussoorie, who is also the joint secretary of the MDDA. After going through the merit of the cases, the SDM, Mussoorie, ordered to close the 36 cases without levying any monetary fine. The other four cases were also resolved after collecting the compounding fee amounting to 1.11 lakh.

Some of the cases resolved today dated back to 1994 before the formation of the separate state of Uttarakhand. Balbir Singh Chauhan, one of the affected persons fighting a case since 1994, said that a huge burden had been removed from his shoulders as it had been a long struggle for him to get justice from the department. Amit Vaish, Narendar Mittal and Navin Enterprise also got relief as their cases were also closed after collecting compounding fees.

Narendar Mittal, speaking on the occasion, said that he was fighting against the notice served to him since 1997 and had lost all the hope of receiving any reprisal from the department till now.

He thanked the state government for conducting such camps and demanded that such camps should be repeated frequently so that others also get some relief.

Former Rajya Andolankari Parishad vice-president Ravinder Jugran, speaking on the occasion, said that the camps were being conducted on the popular demand of the people of the town. He consented that due to ambiguity in the housing policies, the poor residents had been affected, amounting to loss of valuable time through unnecessary litigations. Jugran further said that after consultation with the Chief Minister, a number of such camps would be held in the near future so that more people are provided respite from the pending cases.

Housing Development Minister Khajan Das, speaking on the occasion, said that the camp was being conducted with the blessings of Chief Minster BC Khanduri, who was serious about resolving the problems faced by the common man on daily basis. Khajan Das also informed that state government had announced a new housing policy by providing relaxation in construction of residential houses, thus providing relief to the people of the state.

Khajan Das said that the state government was committed to providing fruits of development to the remotest village in the state. Later, when questioned by the media on the status of a survey, determining notified and de-notified forest land so that construction can be done on the land without any forest, Khajan Das responded by saying that the survey would begin earnestly from next week.

Dehradun, December 5
All the 615 Gentlemen Cadets of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) showed tremendous enthusiasm, vigour and zeal to put up an excellent parade in front of an august gathering as part of Deputy Commandants’ Parade here today. The main passing-out parade will be held on December 10. Major-Gen TS Gill, Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor, IMA, reviewed the parade.

General Gill has been an instructor at the academy from 1982 to 1984. He complimented all the Gentlemen Cadets to have finally reached the doorstep of a world of enormous challenges, mixed with glamour, glitter and adventure. He said: “The verve of your spirit and euphoria radiating from your demeanour makes me confident that you will live up to the standards of the academy and display impeccable discipline throughout your career. I compliment you all for gainfully utilising the training at the academy”. Being a warrior is not enough, you have to be a “scholar warrior,” he added.

The Reviewing Officer also emphasised the current challenges and the role of the Indian Army in nation building. He said the Gentleman Cadets were the flag bearers of new age, destined for greater participation in nation’s security and prosperity. He reiterated that now the Gentlemen Cadets had been transformed into true soldiers, who had the will of an “anvil” to face the might of the strike and at the same time also had the impetus of a “hammer” to crush what it struck.

“The overwhelming feeling as you cross the ‘Antim Pag’ should carry the same momentum throughout your entire career. There may be times when the result may be different from what you foresee or expect but do not get disheartened, reorganise and emerge stronger, that is the hallmark of a true soldier. Remember that an arrow is pulled back to make it move straight and forward. So always keep your spirits high,” he added.

Dehradun, December 5
Members of the Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Manch today took out a march to Chief Minister BC Khanduri’s residence to remind him about their demands through a memorandum and ask him to announce a policy for their welfare soon.

Hundreds of statehood agitators who had fought for the creation of the state marched towards the cantonment road from the Parade Ground, but they were stopped by the police on the road, where they raised anti-government slogans.

Later, they were detained by the police and taken to the Police Lines in trucks. However, they were let off in the evening.

Meanwhile, president of the manch Jagmohan Singh Negi said they had put forth various demands before a committee constituted at the Chief Minister’s behest and under the chairmanship of state minister Khajan Das on April 27 this year.

Their demands included the same pension for all statehood agitators, identity cards mentioning the status of ‘Rajya Nirman Sainani’, free medical and transport facilities and 10 per cent reservation to the dependents of the agitators. They also blamed the district administration for “misleading” people by terming August 31 as the last date of the identification of the statehood agitators.

As many as 354 such agitators from Bageshwar have not been included in the list despite the completion of all formalities in this regard.

In Haridwar and Rudrapur also, only 25 agitators had been identified, he added. Ram Lal Khanduri, state general secretary of the manch, said the hill residents were “misled” in the name of the absence of government orders and were not given ID cards. 

Dehradun, December 5
The Uttarakhand Fourth Class State Employees Association congregated at Parade Ground on the 14th day of their indefinite strike.

Darban Mehta, state president of the association, said the employees had started agitation for months for the state’s formation. The employees of the state never lagged behind in fighting for their rights, he said and demanded the salary package as per January 1, 2006.

Warning the state government, “The government should stop adopting the double policy with regard to their employees. The salary package for all employees must be same.”

General secretary Rajpal singh said the government must adopt one policy when it came to salary of its employees. As many as 52,000 fourth class employees would oppose the government’s double standard, he said.

General secretary, Rajkiya Vahan Chalak Mahasangh, extended his association’s support to the agitation and assured them that if they needed, his people were ready to block the functioning in state departments as well.

Subhash Devliyal of the Hill Teachers Associaton, Manwar Singh Negi, office-bearer of the Health Department, Prem Singh Kandari, president, Pashupalan Association, Ravinder Kumar, district president, Collectorate Association, and Guman Singh Panwar, general secretary, Education Associaton, extended their combined support to the agitation. 

Dehradun, December 5
J&K Club beat Century Club by a margin of 80 runs in the Twenty20 Beehive Challengers Cricket Tournament played on the Matawala Bagh Grounds here today.

After winning the toss, J&K Club chose to bat first. However, it lost its opener, Ajaj, early but Adil (71) and Pankaj (25) contributed well to take the total score to 155 for a loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs.

From Century Club, Sanjay and Virender took two wickets each. In reply, Century Club failed to put any resistance losing wickets at regular intervals and the entire team was out scoring only 76 runs.

Amit (17) was the highest scorer for Century Club while Faizan of J&K Club was the highest wicket taker. 

Dehradun, December 5
Tata Tea has assured of hosting “Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars,” an all- India inter-school football tourney for under-15 (boys), in Dehradun next year.

Head scout for the tournament Jamshid Nassiri has recommended the name of Dehradun for the championship. As the venue list was prepared in advance, Dehradun missed the opportunity this year. But the organisers are keen on exploring football potential in Dehradun.

India’s first city football website, www.DehradunFootball.com, had approached Tata Tea and requested to host a leg of the soccer championship in the city, according to its creator, Raju Gusain.

Appreciating the effort of the Dehradun football website, “Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars” organisers put this message on Facebook, “We are aware of your efforts and we thank you for inviting us there. Our venue list was set quite prior to the event and it was not possible to include Dehradun this time. We promise you we will definitely look at Dehradun for the next edition of this event.”

This year the tournament will start in Chandigarh on December 12 and will travel to different parts of India before concluding in Shillong on April 12 next year.

The boys from 15 cities, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Delhi, Indore, Bhubaneswar, Kozhikode, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Akola, Kolkata, Goa, Lucknow, Gangtok and Shillong, will get a chance to participate in this tourney this year.

“Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars” is a unique soccer tournament which promotes soccer among schoolchildren and helps talented young players to access the best in terms of infrastructure, training and above all an international platform to exhibit India’s next talent. The tournament began in 2007.

This year the tournament will be played across 15 cities.

The champions from each city qualify for the all-India finals. After the tournament, 35 boys will be selected by head scout Jamshid Nassiri, assisted by Premnath Philips and Brahmanand Shankwalkar to be trained by Inter Milan coaches in India. Out of these selected boys, 16 boys are included in a team to travel to Milan for a foreign exposure trip.

“Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars” programme is part of Tata Tea’s enhanced focus on the issues that concern the youth of the country. 

Dehradun, December 5
The XXXI Petroleum Sector Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) Tennis Tournament was inaugurated by Ashok Pai, Principal Secretary to the Governor of Uttarakhand, at the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) tennis facility here today.

Speaking on the occasion, chief guest Ashok Pai appreciated the corporation’s contribution to the field of sports and many other areas. He was appreciative of the star players the ONGC had created in various sports disciplines. Deputy General Manager and Head of Corporate Sports VK Mahendru said the PSPB had been conferred Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskaar by the President of India on August 29, 2011. He said the ONGC had played a major role in earning the award for the PSPB with the ONGC players winning national and international events in different disciplines.

The chief guest played the opening shot of the tournament with national champion and ONGC player Yuki Bhambri.

Around 60 tennis players of six teams representing the IOC, OIL, BPCL, EIL, GAIL and the host ONGC are participating in the five-day tournament.

The players will vie for team championship titles in the men’s and veterans’ categories as well as individual events.

The matches will be held on a knock-out basis at Shanti Tennis Academy besides the ONGC tennis facility during the next five days.

Asian Games medallist Vishnu Vardhan, newly crowned National Champion Yuki Bhambri, former national champions VM Ranjeet, Vijay Kanna and Vinod Sridhar are representing the host ONGC team. With such renowned players on their side, the ONGC are confident of giving a tough fight to the IOC, last year’s team champions.

As regards the IOC team, Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, Divij Sharan, Kaza Vinayak Sharma, Mohit Mayur and SV Abhishek will also be seen in action during the tournament. The matches for the veteran category will have yesteryear national rankers TS Bhandari and Vivek Satyajit, now with the IOC, who will give a tough competition to other veteran players. The prize-distribution and closing ceremony will be held on December 9.