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Strike by bank, LIC employees on call of trade unions
Staff boycott work in Haridwar
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Councillor slaps power dept employee
Govt depts owe Rs 5.3 crore to Jal Sansthan
Kausani to have another police post
Surinder Pundir elected president of bar body
Robotic contest marks exhibition at IIT
Students participate in various events organised during ‘Srishti’ at the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur
Two-day technical fest begins
A batsman plays a shot in the inter-department cricket tournament in Dehradun on Tuesday. A Tribune photograph
Tanush academy lift cricket trophy
The Tanush Academy Cricket team that won the Vasdev Memorial Cricket Tournament in Dehradun on Tuesday. A Tribune photograph
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Strike by bank, LIC employees on call of trade unions
Dehradun, February 28 Since the private banks did not join the strike and ATMs of all banks were also in operation, the public did not face much inconvenience. A rally of the trade union and bank employees was held before Canara Bank, Rajpur Road, for two hours at 10 am where leaders of the unions addressed a gathering. They also proceeded to Parade Ground, the Clock Tower and ended their march at Gandhi Park. Employees of defence organisations did not join the march but held a rally before their premises. Virender Bhandari, convener, Joint Trade Union Coordination Committee, said, “The issues such as rising prices, marginalised labour, defunct labour laws, replacement of regular jobs with contractual job, absence of social security and the minimum wages are important for the working class but have not been addressed. To awaken the Central Government, we have called the strike today.” Jagmohan Mehndiratta, convener, Uttarakhand Bank Employees Union, raised some of their demands which included incentive for the employees, strict enforcement of all labour laws, security cover for workers of the unorganised sector, prevention of disinvestment in central and state pubic sector undertaking, amendment to the Minimum Wages Act, removal of all ceilings on payment and assured pension for all. He said the bank employees were also against the privatisation and the recommendation of the Khandelwal Committee. Meanwhile, 1000 employees of the Employees Union Ordinance Factory also observed a strike on a call given by the All-India Defence Employees Federation in support of trade unions. The employees protested before the Nirmani main entrance and held a small gathering. They did not let any employee enter the premises. President of the union Anil Uniyal said their main demand was for CSD canteen facility and employment to the dependent of those who expired while serving. He said the employees under “Peacework” were still getting salaries as per the 5th Pay Commission though it had been six years since the 6th Pay Commission recommendations were enforced in the country. He said they would oppose the proposal of the Central Government to privatise the defence department. Dharna near Jhoola Ghar in Mussoorie
MUSSOORIE: Trade union activists sat on a dharna near Jhoola Ghar in protest against price rise and the policies of disinvestment and contractual labour being adopted by the Congress government today. The workers had assembled at Jhoola Ghar since early morning and raised slogans against the UPA government and blamed it for the sufferings of the workers in the country. RP Badoni, union leader from Mussoorie, said the workers should be united against the policy of disinvestment of PSUs and violation of labour laws. They also demanded pension and a ban on the contractual labour as it was harming the workers interests. Badoni further said if their demands were not met, their agitation would be stepped up. Sunil Kumar, RP Gaud, Devi Godiyal and other leaders also addressed the gathering.
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Staff boycott work in Haridwar
Haridwar, February 28 Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, the SIDCUL industrial estate and government departments, there was a total boycott of work as employees took part in protests, rallies and march against the Central Government’s anti-labour policies. Under the Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union, all bank employees took out a protest march from Ranipur. They also opposed the Khandelwal Committee recommendations and a move to increase foreign investment in retail and other sectors in the country. Raj Kumar Saxena, district secretary of the Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union, said apart from inflation, their protest also rallied around the demand of bonus, minimum wages and pension to labourers too. INTUC and BHEL CFFP trade union leader Rajbir Singh said as the recommendations of the Khandelwal Committee were against labourers, which state that employees can be transferred anywhere, they urged the Central Government not to accept the report. If the committee’s recommendations came into force, women employees would be the most affected and families would be forced to live separately. Municipal Corporation employees too went on a strike under the Nagar Ikai Karamchari Maha Sangh, the Municipal Safair Karamchari Sangh, the Swachkar Karamchari Sangh, the Akhil Bharatiya Safai Majdoor Karmachari Sangh and other unions. Rajesh Chachar, general secretary of the Swachkar Karamchari Sangh, said the violation of rights of employees would not be tolerated and today’s strike was just a warning and if the oppressive policies of the Central Government continued, then they would be forced to take more stern steps in near future. Vijay Kumar, a villager, who had come to Oriental Bank of Commerce, Ranipur, for transaction-related work, was quite aggrieved after seeing the locked gates and a notice pasted by the striking employees. He said if this was the way to oppose, then customers too would protest by locking the gates of the banks when these employees did not perform their work up to the mark or demand bribe in lieu of granting loans.
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Councillor slaps power dept employee
Dehradun, February 28 It was on Monday when Sohan Singh Rawat, line helper, went to disconnect the electricity connection of Gobindgarh councillor Surender Kukreja with three of his colleagues, Kukreja and his son allegedly slapped and misbehaved with Rawat. The employees of the north and south divisions also joined the strike. Later, Sub-Divisional Officer BS Bisht and junior engineer Babloo Singh reached his residence and snapped the connection. With the support of the employees unions of the north and south divisions, the employees now demanding the arrest of Kukreja. District Magistrate Dileep Jawalkar said the matter was not as serious as it was projected where the councillor could be arrested. Senior Superintendent of Police GN Goswami too aired the same opinion, saying, “It is on the complaint filed by Sohan Singh Rawat against the councillor, the police is investigating the case. The matter will go to the court. The arrest is not necessary as the Supreme Court has also directed against making arrests where it is not necessary. The police will also not take any action under any pressure.” Executive Engineer Raghuraj Singh expressed reservation on the tough stance taken by the police and the administration. He said, “We have filed a complaint against the councillor under the sections which require arrest and are non-bailable such as Section 135 implying intrusion in government work and Section 506 for threatening to kill. I wonder why the administration is not taking any action or the police is not arresting the councillor.” He said the councillor lodged a complaint of error in his electricity meter a few months ago which was rectified. Earlier too, his electricity connection was cut by the department on February 14 which he restored with the help of some line men. It was after this incident the councillor came to the department office in evening and deposited the billing amount of Rs 35,329. Kukreja on the other hand blamed the electricity department for its highhandedness. He said he had made many complaints against excessive bill. After it was corrected, he proposed to make the bill payment in parts. Meanwhile, AP Amoli, president of the Uttarakhand Urja Kamgar Sangathan, made it clear that they would remain on strike unless the councillor was not arrested.
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Govt depts owe Rs 5.3 crore to Jal Sansthan
Dehradun, February 28 A total of 14 government departments owe Rs 5.3 crore towards water bills, with the Education Department being the top defaulter, followed by the Health Department. According to the Jal Sansthan authorities, the Education Department owes Rs 2 crore, Health Department Rs 92.25 lakh, the Police Department Rs 82.27 lakh, PWD Rs 67 lakh, district administration Rs 28 lakh, Rural Development Department Rs 8 lakh, Estate Department Rs 5 lakh, Social Welfare Department Rs 7 lakh, Sericulture Department Rs 2 lakh, Jail Department Rs 1 lakh, Horticulture Department Rs 57,000, Animal Husbandry Department Rs 97,000, Law Department Rs 81,000 and Agriculture Department Rs 16,000. “These departments have failed to pay the bills for the last seven years. The water tariff is one of the sources of income for Jal Sansthan after the water and sewer taxes were abolished by the government,” said D.D Dimri, Chief General Manager, Jal Sansthan. When it comes to domestic users, Jal Sansthan is usually swift in disconnecting the water connections but not so in the case of government departments. No wonder then Jal Sansthan, which is also a government department, has so far failed to crack the whip against it’s people. Nainital district is the top defaulter and it’s various departments owe Rs 74 lakh in unpaid bills, followed by Uttarkashi district (Rs 53 lakh), Haldwani (Rs 47 lakh), Pauri (Rs 38 lakh), Champawat (Rs 33 lakh) and Bageshwar (Rs 20 lakh). In Dehradun district a total of nine departments owe Rs 6 lakh as unpaid bills to Dehradun (North), Rs 26 lakh to Dehradun (South), Rs 5 lakh to Pithuwala and Rs 3.8 lakh to Mussoorie branches of Jal Sansthan. Further, Jal Sansthan is expected to present a proposal for hike in water tariff to the new government. The hike would be applicable for domestic and commercial connections. Though the Jal Sansthan had proposed it in November last year, it was kept in abeyance in view of the elections. “Before announcing the hike in water tariff, we would like the departments to clear all their pending dues and start afresh, and for this purpose a drive would be launched to recover the dues,” said Dimri.
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Kausani to have another police post
Pithoragarh, February 28 Addressing a police officers’ meet at Kausani in Bageshwar district, Pandey appealed to investigating officers that if they would display independent outlook to investigate cases, it would help to deliver justice in right direction. “Basics of police investigation in right direction begin with good behaviour with the common man,” said the DGP. Addressing the police officers, he said torturing innocent citizens in the name of interrogation brought down the image of the police department and every officer working in the police should desist from it. “We should not emphasise on producing fake statistics of police success but should in real endeavour work towards achieving these, this cannot be possible without taking the public into confidence,” said Pandey. Later talking to mediapersons, the Uttarakhand DGP said the tourist station of Kausani would soon have another police post with two women police constables posted there. This police post would be under the administration of the Almora SP, said the DG.
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Surinder Pundir elected president of bar body
Dehradun, February 28 Surinder Singh Pundir, who got 826 votes, defeated his close contestant Razia Begh by a margin of 234 votes, wheras Anil Gandhi, who got record 1110 votes, defeated Raghuvir Singh Kathait by 485 votes. Deepak Kumar got 855 votes and defeated Alok Kumar by 35 votes. Ajay Bisht got 567 votes and defeated his rival Kali Prasad Bhatt by 62 votes. For the position of librarian, Satya Dogra retained her seat by winning 902 votes and BD Uniyal also retained the position of auditor by getting 1024 votes. The beaming Surinder Pundir said he would keep the allotment process of new chambers transparent and if need arose for new chambers, he would take up the matter with the state government. The cost of the new chambers would also be reduced and parking space would be provided to the fellow advocates, he said. He also ensured all the facilities related to documentation would now be provided on the ground floor itself for the aged applicants. Anil Gandhi said he would fight to accord the status of statehood agitators for those advocates who participated in the agitation for the formation of the state. The mismanagement in tehsil compound would be contained, he said. Deepak Kumar, vice-president, said he would make efforts to set up a registrar’s office on the ground floor. The young advocates would also be helped in all possible ways.
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Robotic contest marks exhibition at IIT
Roorkee, February 28 The exhibition was held at Hobbies Club of the institute. The event was organised in various sections in which students showcased their talent, vision and creations with great enthusiasm. Categories in which the event was organised were: Robotic competition, painting exhibition, electronics competition, sketch exhibition, coin display, non-flowering plant display exhibition, flowerpot exhibition and games development event. Talking to the TNS, the Dean of the IIT, Dr SP Gupta, said the event was comparable to any other world class event. He added that such events inculcated confidence and provide a wide platform to the students who are the future of the country. Ankit Garg, who won the robotic event for his multipurpose-robotic model, said the event gave him an opportunity to present his robotic vision to a large number of people. Results Robotic event: Ankit Garg, Aamey Shahsara, Nishant Verma Electronics event: Himanshu Gupta, Faiz Akram and Jay Aggarwal (jointly) and Rohit Kumar and Samdesh (jointly) Craft exhibition: Shobhit Mittal, Ankita Bhutani and Monika Mittal Painting exhibition: Amal Kumar, Shailesh Kumar Coin exhibition: Sandeep Sharma, Ashutosh Badal and Avnish Ghosh Non-flowering plants: Dinesh Kumar, Amit Garg and Gaurav Mittal Flowering plants: Kartik Sood, Saurabh Gupta, Akash Mittal, Robin Kumar and Suraj Anthwal, Shashank Kumar (all jointly) Games devlopment event: Devesh Pradhan, Deepak Kumar, JK Vikram, Ujjwal Kumar and G Sethu, Ashwani (jointly).
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Two-day technical fest begins
Dehradun, February 28 The event was inaugurated in the presence of Silky Jain, a former director of Tula’s Institute. It was followed by a technical paper presentation by students of various colleges from across the state. The programme highlighted the need for India to provide opportunities to the youth to showcase their talent. “At Tula’s Institute we believe in the philosophy of preparing students for the future and through this event we want to project the standards that are expected of the students. The level of creativity on display at the fest has rendered me speechless,” said Sunil Kumar Jain, Chairman of Tula’s Institute. The students of the institute under the supervision of Atul Kumar, Head of the IT Department, managed the event. A ‘War of Bands’ was held where musical bands from various colleges competed with one another to conclude the first day of the fest.
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Secretariat beat PWD team
Dehradun, February 28 On the first day today, the Secretariat team defeated the Public Works Department team. Batting first, the PWD team was all out for 92 runs. The Secretariat batsmen easily chased the target score, ensuring 9-wicket win for the team. Deepak Joshi was the highest scorer for the Secretariat team with 41 runs.
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Tanush academy lift cricket trophy
Dehradun, February 28 Batting first, the Tanush Cricket Academy scored 185 runs in 20 overs at the loss of two wickets. Pawan and Sidharth scored 55 and 65 runs, respectively. Chasing the target, Chandigarh batsmen were all out for 120 runs. Vinay with 35, Netrapal 30 and Naveen 20 runs were the main scorers for the Chandigarh team.
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Bank Employees Union and the National Confederation of Bank Employees, LIC, General Insurance and Defence Coordination Committee went on a strike on a call given by central trade unions.
Opposing anti-labour policies of the Central Government, all banks, labour unions and employee unions boycotted official work as part of their nationwide strike.
Dehradun, February 28
Roorkee, February 28
The Tanush Cricket Academy beat Chandigarh in the final of the Late Vasudev Singh Raghav Youth Twenty 20 Cricket tournament here today.