Dehradun March 16
It is after 14 years that the officials of Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) have woken up to the fact that they did not charge any rent and annual rent increase from 135 shopkeepers running business from the shops rented out by DMC to them at various locations in the city. Now these shopkeepers have been served notice to vacate, which led to a furore and anxiety among them. After assurance given by Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (AMNA), they have been permitted to give aggregate rent to DMC.

These shops are built at many localities such as Race Course, Chandan Nagar, Saharanpur Chowk and Brahampuri, where under an agreement, each shopkeeper was supposed to pay a monthly rent of Rs 500, which was to increase by 25 pc with each passing year. The agreement was also to be renewed after every five years. But nothing was done. Shockingly and astonishingly, DMC officials never asked them for rent.

Harak Singh Rawat did not deny laxity on the part of DMC but criticised shopkeepers for being equally guilty in the matter.

The shopkeepers indeed enjoyed the fruits of amnesia bouts on the part of DMC and never felt it their duty to pay rent on their own. But now they are asking for forgiveness. Sanjay Kumar, shopkeeper said: “We are indeed at fault for not paying rent for all these years. But DMC officials themselves never bothered about it. Now they have asked us to vacate all of sudden, which is gross injustice with us.” Kumar acknowledged the fact that they have been heard out and, hence, allowed to pay the aggregate rent within a month.

The administrative machinery of DMC, which keeps lamenting about shortage of revenue when it comes to the developmental work in the city, is itself responsible for not either collecting revenue from the sources wherever it is due, or not harnessing the resources available to it. For instances, out of 30 shops on Kanwali Road shopping complex, only 7 shops have been allotted so far; 23 are yet to be auctioned. On Malviya Road Shopping Complex, 10 shops and 13 godowns have been auctioned, 23 are remaining. Similarly, in Race Course Shopping Complex,13 shops have been allotted with 13 left to be auctioned. Lastly, on Kuchhery Road Shopping complex, 51 have been auctioned and 51 more are to be auctioned. In totality, 110 shops are waiting to be auctioned for several years. One can assess the revenue these shops, which had been built at prime localities in the city, would bring.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli said: “In the last board meeting, the auction of the shops had to be deferred because the members asked for 10 per cent reservation for statehood agitators in the auction process. That matter had now been resolved by segregating 10 per cent of the total shops where only statehood agitators would be allowed to compete among themselves. Now we will soon proceed with the auction process.”

Dehradun, March 16
The state BJP has described Union Budget 2012-13 as anti- people and inflationary.

State BJP President Bishan Singh Chufal said the budget provisions would fuel inflation in the country. “Reduction of the agriculture-linked subsidies will put unnecessary burden on farmers. Further, rise in the prices of cement will shatter the dream of the middle class for low cost housing,” Chufal said. Senior BJP Leader Ajay Bhatt said by increasing service tax, the government had shown its insensitivity towards the middle class.

Meanwhile, industry in the state has by and large welcomed the Union Budget 2012-13.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Uttarakhand State Council Chairman Rakesh C Aggarwal said while the CII would have liked to see no change in the service tax and excise rates in the view of the slowdown in the industrial growth, it did welcome the measures towards moving closer to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Direct Tax Code (DTC) implementation. These tax reforms need to be expedited as they have the potential to boost the slowing economic growth. Aggarwal also welcomed the proposals related to governance, including the white paper on black money, bill on public procurement legislation and the legislative measures for strengthening anti-corruption framework.

Vice-Chairman, CII Uttarakhand State Council, Sandeep Jain, welcomed the budget proposals. “There has been substantial increase in the allocations related to Rural Development, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meals. The continued thrust on education, health and skill development is also a step in the right direction,” he added.

Reiterating the high priority that CII accords to the Affirmative Action agenda, Jain said earmarking of four per cent of all purchases made by the Ministries and Centre Public Sector Enterprises to be procured from Micro and Small Enterprises owned by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes entrepreneurship, along with the 18 per cent increase in the allocation of the Scheduled Castes sub plan are positive moves. 

Dehradun, March 16
The pro tem Speaker, Shailender Mohan Singhal, today administered the oath of office to three MLAs from the Congress who had failed to turn up yesterday.

The Speaker administered the oath at his chambers in the Vidhan Sabha. The MLAs who took the oath include Prof Jeet Ram MLA Tharali, Pranav Singh Champion (Khanpur) and Pradeep Batra (Roorkee).

Of the three MLAs Pradeep Batra is said to belong to Harish Rawat camp. After Pritam Singh, he is another member from the camp to have taken the oath.

While speaking with reporters today, Batra said that due to personal engagment at home, he was unable to participate in the oath-taking ceremony. Similarly, Jeet Ram from Tharali said that he was informed very late about the date for the ceremony. 

Dehradun, March 16
Principal Secretary Utpal Kumar, who was awaiting posting at the Centre, was today given the new responsibility of Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister.

In a major shuffle affected by the Congress government today, Principal Secretary Dilip Kotia has been divested of the charge of Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Information, Vigilance, Suraj, Anti-corruption and Jan Sewa and has now been made Principal Secretary, Home.

In his place Principal Secretary Utpal Kumar has been given responsibility of Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and also entrusted with the responsibilities of Vigilance, Suraj, anti-corruption and Jan Sewa. He was earlier Principal Secretary, PWD, Personnel, Higher Education, Home and Potable Water.

According to Additional Secretary (Personnel) Arvind Hayake, the government has shuffled the responsibilities of 4 IAS and 2 PCS officers.

Additional Secretary Sowjany has also been given the additional responsibility of Additional Secretary to the CM. She would continue with the post of joint chief electoral officer.

Additional Secretary, Power, and MD, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, has also been entrusted with the responsibility of Additional Secretary to the Chief Minister.

On the other hand, Additional Secretary Kunwar Singh has been divested of the responsibility of Additional Secretary to the Chief Minister. He will continue to hold the responsibility of Finance Department.

Additional Secretary Bhupal Singh Manral, too, has been divested from the responsibility of Additional Secretary to the CM, He would continue to handle Protocol, Administration, Estate Department.

Joint Secretary Arunender Singh Chauhan has been divested of all the responsibilities and has been sent back to his parent department. He has been divested of the charge of Joint Secretary to the Chief Minister, Suraj, Anti-corruption and Jan Sewa Departments. 

Dehradun, March 16
Uttarakhand Congress workers in large numbers today took out a candle light march in the state capital Dehradun in support of Congress MP and dissident leader 
Harish Rawat.

The participants in the march also raised slogans in favour of UPA chairman Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

The march that started from Congress Bhavan culminated at Clock Tower. The speakers asserted that Harish Rawat had been instrumental in strengthing of Congress in the state in the last one decade.

Congress spokesman Surendra Kumar, Congress leaders Prithivpal Singh Chauhan, Rajeev Jain, Rajendra Prasad Mamgain and Luxmi Nautiyal were prominent participants in the candle march.

Dehradun, March 16
Devendra Singh, the erstwhile ruler of Sahanpur, an important principality in Bijnor district, lost an 11-year-long strenuous and painful battle against cancer and died here this morning at his Mussoorie Diversion Road residence.

"Hunting was his passion and he had shot his first tiger in 1945 at the age of 12. He was a professional hunter, who is also credited with shooting the world’s largest tiger, measuring 12 feet and one inch at Kaladungi, the present day Jim Corbett National Park. Its skin still adorns the walls of the famed Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC," said his son, Kunwar Bharatendra Singh.

“Later, my father started taking interest in politics and was elected from Najibabad as an Independent MLA to the UP Assembly in 1967,” said Bharatendra, who himself got elected to the UP Assembly for a second time as a BJP candidate in the just concluded elections.

Devendra again became an MLA in 1969 and was made the Irrigation Minister in the Cabinet of Late Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna. It was during this ministerial tenure that Devendra had initiated the Eastern Ganga Canal Scheme that stretches from Haridwar to Badaun. During the Emergency, Devendra staunchly opposed its draconian regime, yet remained in the Congress. He was again elected an MLA on the Congress ticket in 1985. He was an alumnus of local DAV College.

His wife Anjali, whom he married in 1959 kept her composure in talking to the mourners who came in large numbers. His body has been taken to Sahanpur.

Dehradun, March 16
A team has been constituted by the Department of Urban Development for ensuring the quality of works being carried out for the augmentation of water supply and laying of sewerage pipes under the Uttarakhand City Area Development Investment Programme, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The project director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the team was carrying out impromptu checks so that the quality was not compromised.

“We have already penalised several officials and a penalty of Rs 25 lakh was imposed on contractors, wherever the work was delayed or not up to the mark,” she said.

To lessen the problems of residents of the city, who may be inconvenienced due to intensive digging underway in the city, the department has also set up a toll-free number 18001804159 that will take up complaints of the citizens and give them a time limit for finding solution to their problems.

Besides, a non-government organisation has also been entrusted with the task of interacting with the residents and become a bridge between the department and the people. 

Dehradun, March 16
Biologic, a national symposium, on biotechnology was organised by the Beehive Group of Colleges where experts, academics as well as industrial scientists, threw light on various aspects of medical, animal and plant biotechnology at AMN Ghosh Auditorium on the ONGC premises in here yesterday.

The symposium was inaugurated by chief guest AK Rawat, Joint Director, Department of Biotechnology. The guest of honour for the day as JMS Rana, Director, SBP, Haldi, Uttarakhand.

Amit Kapoor, Chairman, Beehive College, said the symposium had been held to bring awareness among people and students about the basic concepts of recent advances and potential of modern biology by the name of Biologic. It would also offer an opportunity to know about biotechnology better and get a quality insight on some of the contemporary topics in biotechnology.

The symposium was supported by the faculty of Beehive College, including Purnima Kapoor, Managing Director, Atul Kapoor, Executive Director, Dr. Aaftab Ahmed, Director co-convener, Khalid Hasan, Dean Academics, Dr Vinod Kumar, HOD, Biotechnology department, Shozeb Javed, Associate professor, Biotech department, Dr Vasudha Verma, HOD, Physiotherapy department, and Dr. Mahaveer Singh, Director, B.Tech department.

Dr. Ajay Thakur (Scientist, Department of Plant Tissue Culture, FRI, Dehradun) delivered a lecture on some clone variations in plant tissue culture. Dr Rahul M. Srivastava (Associate Prof, Department of Bioinformatics, MANIT, and Bhopal MP) gave valuable information on molecular modeling and drug design. Dr. Dunichand (Associate Prof, Department of Biotechnology, HP University, Shimla, HP) delivered his lecture on myth and realities about transgenic food. Dr. Puneet Kumar (Deputy manager/veterinary officer grade-1 ULDB) spoke on current application of semen technology in live stock improvement.

During symposium, a poster presentation competition was also organised where prize for the best poster was bagged by Avadish from Sai Institute, Dehradun.

The first runner-up was Namita from Beehive College of Advance Studies, Dehradun, second runner-up was Avinash from Himachal Institute, Ponta Sahib, HP, and the third runner-up was Kalpana Sachdev. 

Haridwar, March 16
An international conference on "Vedas and Thought Revolution" started at Dev Sanskriti University from today in which Vedic experts, intellectuals and academicians from various countries are participating along with a large number of scholars from India.

Orators dwelled on thoughts and thought revolution that the Vedas created in the life, citing references from the Vedas aiding them with today's social conditions.

In different sessions, conferences are being held with research papers too being read out by scholars. Dr AV Raj Gopalan from Manipal, Karnataka, linked the Vedas with the current management and related educational mode.

Dr Raj Gopalan pointed out that the Vedas could be of immense use to the younger generation by incorporating Vedic knowledge with modern education.

Whereas Kerala-based Vedic expert Dr AK Uma emphasised on the development of Indian philosophy which fructified by immense knowledge stored in the Vedas. Terming the Vedas as the mainstream of all literature, Dr Kakholi Gosh from Kolkata said the Vedas were the storehouse of knowledge with literature taking basic references from these only.

The Vedic-era period was the topic of Dr Anjula Pandey from Ramabai Nagar while Vanasthali Vidyapeeth's Neeraja Kumari cited various references of human life which one can get in the Vedas too.

"Indian culture is a humanity-based culture which harps on mutual growth and living of all cultures which the Vedas duly indicate. Such conferences are of immense importance as the Vedas are the roots, which have been the pivotal resource of Indian's knowledge" said Pradeep Kumar, Jawahar Lal Nehru University, New Delhi.

On the sidelines, a gala cultural fest was also held at the cniversity auditorium by students. Cultural diversity of India was presented beautifully with Kathak.