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1,000 phone connections go dead as fire rages through BSNL room
Two offers to Chakrata Road traders
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Death of casual GVK worker
CPI, CPM star campaigners to visit state
MP Tarun Vijay to Gadkari’s defence
BJP keeps option open for rapprochement with rebels
BJP criticises Sonia Gandhi
NGO guns for Team Anna
Polling only if weather permits
Street Star romp home
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1,000 phone connections go dead as fire rages through BSNL room
Dehradun January 19 Ashok Kumar, General-Manager, BSNL, said at least 4,500 connections, which were also switched off due to safety measures, were put into operation by the afternoon. Because of the mishap, the banks, ATM machines and the commercial offices running on lease lines got severely affected in the areas in the radius of around two km of Cross-Roads, which include the main commercial area of the city, namely Paltan Baazar, EC Road, Rajpur road and Dispensary Road. The landline phone series, which began with 65 series, was the worst
affected. It was 5 in the morning, the safety alarm attached in the BSNL exchange room got active after the smoke began rising in the room and the guard on duty informed the officers. The fire brigade team had reached the venue by 6 am and extinguished the fire in an hour, but by that time three racks of exchange were completely burnt. The operation in the rest of the racks was also disconnected to minimise the damage. Since the water was used all over in the exchange room, the moisture had to be dried up with the help of blowers and the operation in them was resumed, with which 4,500 phone connections and lease lines began functioning. Rest, more than a thousand phone connections and lease lines are yet to be made operational. Anil Sharma, Executive Engineer, BSNL, said the heat might have affected many optic fibers of other connections as well, so the team was also verifying the extent of damage besides repairing or replacing the damaged phone lines. He said the team would continue working at night as well and it might take two to three days to make all the phone lines operational.
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Two offers to Chakrata Road traders
Dehradun January 19 In an extended meeting held with freehold traders of Chakrata Road in the aftermath of the strong reservation expressed by the freehold shopkeepers with regard to forsaking one metre area in the remaining portion of their demolished shops a day before, vice-chairman, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), took them by surprise by offering them double the space of what they were left with at Chakrata Road in the new shopping complex. The VC gave them two offers to choose from. In case they decided not to leave any space in the existing remains at Chakrata, then they would not be allowed to have front entrance and will have to erect a wall seeking lateral or backside entrance. They would also have to get the map cleared from MDDA. In second offer, they were offered double the space in the new shopping complex only if they eschewed their claim on the shop area left on Chakrata Road. The shopkeepers were stupefied to believe the second offer at first sight though they are also not convinced about the first. They have asked for a day to decide on the matter. Yusuf, a freehold shopkeeper, said they were not
ready to believe MDDA officials. They had earlier gone back on their promise
of giving one-and-a-half times bigger shops in the new shopping complex. MDDA is also apprehensive about the stance of freehold traders and had asked them to put their demands in writing so that it could forward the matter to the state
government for further approval. The freehold shopkeepers, however, are preparing a list of those who are interested and the area they are left with to send it to MDDA.
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Death of casual GVK worker
Pithoragarh, January 19 “Ganga Singh Tolia, a casual worker with GVK company, died during the blasting of rocks for the road. GVK is involved in the construction of the road under the Border Roads Organisation (BRO),” said Kailas Dwivedi, a co-coordinator at the GVK local unit. “The manner in which the body was sent for a post-mortem by company officials without informing Tolia’s relatives is deplorable,” said Munna Singh Dokti, pradhan of Dhapa village. Dokti said Tolia, a resident of Jimighat village, died on January 15 but the company did not even pay money for his cremation despite a promise. “Managers of the GVK company are reaching here in the next three days and may sort out the issue of compensation,” said Dwivedi. Residents of Jimighat village had given a memorandum to the SDM, Munsiyari, demanding compensation to the bereaved family. They had threatened to stop the construction work on this strategically vital road to the Tibet border. “As Ganga Singh was the only breadwinner of his family, it is now starving,” said Munna Singh, gram pradhan.
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Art exhibition begins in Haridwar
Haridwar, January 19 Prior to the exhibition opening, renowned artists were felicitated with artist BP Kamboj getting Anand Gupta Memorial Award and a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Six other artists hailing from different parts of the country, namely Jagdeesh
Verma, Shiv Balak, Shardul Mishra, Anand Karmakar and Devvrat Rai, were felicitated for their contribution to this field. The opening day saw an overwhelming audience with all the artists present at the occasion. Inaugurating the exhibition, Delhi Public School Principal KC
Pandey, JS Gujral vice-president, Mahindra group, termed the lone exhibition of the district entering its fifth phase as growing awareness among people about art.
— TNS
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CPI, CPM star campaigners to visit state
Dehradun, January 19 CPM Politburo member Brinda Karat would visit Haridwar,Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Karnprayag and Sahaspur on January 24. The state party sources said her travel plans could change if the weather in any of the areas became hostile during that period. Tapan Sen, another very senior leader, would visit Sahaspur, Haridwar and Tehri during the same time. Saman Pathak, Rajya Sabha member, would stay put up at Sahaspur for three days from January 20 onwards. Sindhu, trade union leader, would address people at Tehri and Dehradun. She is in Chamoli at present. Mohammad Saleem, member of central committee, will visit Haridwar, Dehradun and Nanakmatta in Udham Singh Nagar on January 22. Party state secretary Vijay Rawat has been canvassing in Haridwar and Nanakmatta and will now go to Thrali (Chamoli), Sahaspur and Kedarnath in the coming days. CPI national secretary Atul Kumar Anjaan would address gatherings at Kedarnath, Badrinath and Gangotri constituencies on January 23.
— TNS
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MP Tarun Vijay to Gadkari’s defence
Haridwar, January 19 Tarun, who is a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand, was here today as part of the election campaign. He addressed a number of meetings and said be it Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Lal Krishan Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Rajnath Singh, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri or Nitin Gadkari, everyone of them had contributed to the party in their own ways. The former editor of RSS mouthpiece ‘Panchjanya’ added that Gadkari was not a weak party president nor was he running the party as a businessman. In fact he had strengthened the BJP at the grass-roots level and the party would form the governments in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh again. Tarun cited the enactment of the Lokayukta Act by Chief Minister BC Khanduri and said the BJP had always been a party with a ‘difference’ and the Lokayukta, Citizens Charter and the Right to Service Acts were examples in the case. He denied there was factionalism in the party post-reinstatement of Khanduri as Chief Minister. “The decision was taken in line with the election strategy of the party. We are going to regain power in the state and both Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will win from the Kotdwar and Doiwala seats, respectively, with a huge margin,” said Tarun. Meanwhile, BJP leaders welcomed Tarun’s yatra at Shantikunj, Doodhadhari Chowk, Chandighat Chowk, Devpura Chowk and later at the party office in the city. BJP media spokesperson Tej Prakash Sahu said Tarun would also attend more such election meetings in rural segments of the district.
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BJP keeps option open for rapprochement with rebels
Dehradun, January 19 On the face of it, though the Uttarakhand BJP is maintaining it would be able to win around 35 seats, the close contest in Uttarakhand is forcing the BJP to keep negotiations open even with the rebels. For this purpose, the BJP has already pressed into service senior party leaders who are in touch with the rebels and were from the very beginning not in favour of taking strong action against them. Party sources maintain along with this standby arrangement, in the event of the party failing to muster enough seats towards a simple majority, the party leaders say, a scenario, where the BSP that won 8 seats in the 2007 election, too, may be approached. “The party that was slipping away in popularity has managed to regain some lost ground after B.C Khanduri was brought back as Chief Minister. He may not be able to arrest the damage and the complete revival of the BJP may not be possible at this late juncture. So, we are keeping our options open. The BJP has always been amiable towards the BSP and it can be approached for support in case we are not near majority,” said a senior leader. Significantly, while the party has projected B.C Khanduri as the Chief Minister, certain sections in the party fear the move may be counter-productive in the Kumaon region, keeping in mind the caste and regional dynamics. “In the last two elections the two national parties have refrained from projecting a leader to maintain a balance but this is the first time the BJP has projected Khanduri as the CM and he hails from the Garhwal region. It may upset the regional balance as Kumaon region has always had ascendancy in politics. The Congress, too, can stir up a propaganda on the sly against the party which may put the BJP on the defensive,” said a senior leader.
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BJP criticises Sonia Gandhi
Dehradun, January 19 At a press conference yesterday, Dawar said the people of the state and the BJP would like to know why the Centre ended the industrial package and also reduced the state quota of food, kerosene and sugar. He said the Congress could not hope to come back to power on the basis of an election speech based on false promises. Dawar also objected to the alleged charges of corruption levelled by the Congress president in her speech in the conduct of the Kumbh Mela. He also urged the Congress president to do something to curb corruption at the Centre. “It would be appropriate if she takes steps to contain corruption in her own party and her government,” he said. Dawar also objected to the Congress president’s taking credit for opening the AIIMS in Rishikesh. “The foundation stone for the AIIMS at Rishikesh was laid by former central minister Sushma Swaraj during the NDA government’s tenure,” said Dawar.
— TNS
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EVMs ready for use
Dehradun January 19 Jawalkar said 1,485 EVMs would be required for the Assembly elections and 409 extra EVMs would be given to Returning Officers as reserve. He said the political parties needed to get the publicity material they intended to use during the elections cleared from the Certification and Review Committee. Jawalkar nominated Geetanjali Sharma as the Protection Officer.
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NGO guns for Team Anna
Dehradun, January 19 The average citizen here is enlightened. People are well read and they understand issues that plague the country today. Citizens of Dehradun do not welcome parashooters neither do they need people from outside to come and tell them whom to vote for, we are very well aware of our democratic responsibility and have a clear idea of whom to vote.” He pointed out that on one hand the Team Anna says they will not ask voters to back or oppose any particular party but make them aware of every party’s stand on the Lokpal Bill whereas Uttarakhand had passed the Lokayukta Bill in November, which Team Anna had then hailed as “cent per cent” identical with its Jan Lokpal Bill. Kaushal was of the opinion that Team Anna while in Uttarakhand should visit the Patanjali Yogpeeth and try to convince their ally Ramdev, who, through corrupt means has usurped land of village panchayats and villagers, to return their lands. Awdhash Kaushal said by starting their campaign from Uttarakhand, a state that has passed the Lokpal Bill, which is closer to their version, clearly speaks about their political leanings. “The best part is that members of the committee formed to welcome it and organise its campaign in Uttarakhand are the ones who are known for encouraging corruption and wrongdoings in the state,” he added Dr Priya Zadu, Human rights activist, said: “These people should focus on their work in Delhi. They along with their conference on “Rebuilding the Republic" should also focus on rebuilding their own sullied images. While talking about others doing, they should clarify their own credentials”.
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Polling only if weather permits
Dehradun, January 19 In a statement, she said in view of the forecast made by the weather department, the state electoral office may undertake repolling in snowbound areas. “We have begun preparations to tide over the bad weather condition and have even requisitioned three helicopters from the Indian Air Force,” she said. Radha Raturi yesterday said the voters without photo identity cards would be able to cast their vote in the January 30 polls by showing the 14 documents mandated by the Election Commission of India. Raturi said the ECI had introduced the alternative arrangements under which mandated 14 documents could also be shown at the time of casting of vote. The documents also include passport, driving license, Pan Card, identity cards issued by the Public Sector Undertakings (PSU) and others.
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Niz Sports, HCA, Sunrise win
Dehradun, January 19 Honey with 7 runs was the highest scorer for Royal Tiger. Chasing the target, Niz Sports, Delhi, easily managed the score losing just 1 wicket in the process. The second match saw a clash between HCA and YSM. Batting first HCA piled up 76 runs. Pankaj scored highest 16 runs for HCA. Haider of YSM took 5 wickets. Batting next, YSM lost all its wickets at the score of 33 runs, thereby ensuring HCA a 43-run win. Manish of HCA took 5 wickets. The last match of the day was played between Sunrise and Haryana XI. Batting first, Sunrise scored 74 runs, whereas Haryana could only make 65 runs in the allotted overs, thereby ensuring Sunrise a
9-run win.
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Chandigarh team enter quarters
Dehradun, January 19 Anshul Dhiman took three wickets for 41 runs while Manish took three wickets for 59 runs. In reply, Uttarakhand XI scored 201 all out in 33.1 overs losing the match by 89 runs. Vaibhav Panwar was the top scorer with 55 runs. Varun Khanna took five wickets for 20 runs. The Chandigarh team entered the quarterfinal of the tournament.
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Street Star romp home
Dehradun, January 19 Batting next, Hathibarkala Club could just score 120 runs losing all its wickets in the process, thereby ensuring 18 run win for Street Star. Kamal scored 45 runs for Hathibarkala Club but failed to take his team to victory. Sports Trainees Raipur will take up Saigrace in tomorrow’s match.
— TNS
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