Finally, all Cong MLAs take oath
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 25
Putting rest to all speculation for any major trouble for the Uttarakhand Congress Government in near future, all Congress MLAs have finally taken oath as members of the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Pro tem Speaker SS Singhal administered the oath of office and secrecy to rest of 12 MLAs, including the Anglo-Indian nominated member to the Vidhan Sabha. Several Congress MLAs were so far avoiding taking the oath as member of the Assembly giving air to speculations that all was not well within the Uttarakhand Congress. Now all 33 Congress MLAs, including the nominated member from the Anglo-Indian community, has take the oath.

Congress MLA Govind Singh Kunjwal today also filed his nomination for the election of Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Harish Rawat, Parliamentry Affairs Minister Indira Hridyesh, former opposition leader and Rudraprayag MLA Harak Singh Rawat and other Cabinet ministers were present on the occasion. 

Christians thank CM for nominating RV Gardner

Dehradun, March 25
A Christians' delegation met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today and expressed it's gratitude for nominating RV Gardner from Anglo-Indian quota as 71st member in the new state Assembly. Bahuguna assured themn that the state government would give top priority to the development work for minorities, backward communities and those living in far-flung areas.

He said it was necessary to improve the condition of drinking water and roads in the state. The state would send proposals to Central Government in various sectors so that the state government could provide employment to the unemployed youth. He said the Centre was giving huge funds to the state government under various schemes under Jawaharlal Nehrau National Urban Renewal Mission, which would be used for building an ideal city in Dehradun. — TNS

Congress not keen on pursuing scams of previous govt: Rawat
Tribune News service

Dehradun , March 25
Uttarakhand Congress is no longer interested in pursuing the alleged scandals that occurred during the previous BJP government in the state. Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat gave an indication of this in an interaction with media persons during his visit to Dehradun today.

Interestingly, Congress had harped on investigating the alleged scandals committed during the BJP government during the poll campaign. Even Congress president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi lashed the BJP for their wrongdoings.

On the scams of the BJP government, Harish Rawat said: “It is an issue which should be addressed by the Chief Minister but I feel that we should not waste our energy in digging old graves. We will rather utilise our energy in development works.”

The Union Minister ducked many questions, including on his resignation. But on the Vijay Bahuguna led Congress government he said: “The Congress government is stable and will complete full five-year term. The party has comfortable majority in the House.”

Rawat claimed that the performance of the BJP in the state Assembly polls surprised him.

“The performance of the BJP has shocked us. Congress failed to get the majority on its own due to poor performance in Udham Singh Nagar and Haridwar. The results in the plain and Terai areas were shocking for the party.”

Rawat expressed pain over non-inclusion of any member of religious minority in the Bahuguna Cabinet. “We are sad that Congress leader Furkhan Ahmed failed to figure in the Cabinet. But we are hopeful that he will get important responsibility in the state government soon,” he added.

Interacting with the media, Rawat also hinted that some of the works were still pending. 

State BSP president removed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 25
State BSP president Surajmal was removed today. After BSP performed far below expectations in the recently held Assembly elections in the state by winning merely three seats in comparison to eight seats in previous Assembly elections, the removal of Surajmal seemed imminent.

Abiding by the tradition of BSP, Surajmal, however, took BSP supremo’s decision in his stride and said: “The overhaul of the state committee happens after every Assembly election, where positions are changed. As a loyal sepoy of Mayawati ji, I would continue to serve the party with full honesty and dedication in whichever capacity I would be directed to work.”

He said he was the first to be removed because he led the party in the state. “It is always the head of any party, organisation or group who is removed, not the entire team, because he represents the rest.” He asked to wait as the names and the positions of rest of the flock would be marked in the new list. “A new list of names has been prepared by the state organisation with regard to positions. It will be up to Mayawati ji to decide whom to approve or reject. The decision will be announced in a week’s time,” he said.

While pretending not saddened by the decision of his removal, he said he was all set to contribute to the party preparations for Lok Sabha elections to be held in year 2014 in the state. 

Keen contest for Speaker’s post
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 25
With Dehradun BJP Cantt MLA Harbans Kapoor also filing his nominations for election of Speaker, the stage is all set for a keen contest between the ruling Congress and BJP for the post of Speaker. Congress has 32 MLAs and is supported by 3 BSP, 1 UKD (P) and other Independent MLAs, whereas BJP has 31 MLAs.

Congress MLA Govind Singh Kunjwal and BJP MLA Harbans Kapoor today filed their nominations for the election to the post of Speaker. Former Chief Ministers BC Khanduri and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Prakash Pant were present when Harbans Kapoor, who was also Speaker in the earlier House, filed his nominations.

Both BJP and Congress are trying their level best to keep their flock of MLAs together as election of Speaker will be the first acid test for Vijay Bahuguna government. Interestingly, BJP MLAs that were stay putting in Madhya Pradesh arrived in Dehradun today. Uttarakhand BJP had taken all it's MLAs to Ujjain so as to protect them from any possible act of poaching on part of Congress.

The election to the post of Speaker in Uttarakhand Assembly will take place tomorrow.

Congress ke 126 Varsh released
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 25
A book titled "Congress ke 126 Varsh" (126 years of the Congress) was released by the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Harish Rawat here today.

Lauding the attempt of D N Pandey, renowned historian and the author of the book for mentioning the prideful history of the Congress, Rawat said, "The book has each and every details of what the party has done for the society, how much it had struggled and how much it had gained in its 126 years of service."

"The author has done justice to all incidents that have occurred so far by mentioning the factual reasons behind it. The apt usage of words to describe the sacrifices, efforts and struggle of the party members by the author is heart touching and encouraging at the same time. I will congratulate the author of the book for a splendid conglomeration of the party's past.

The function was chaired by Manoram Dobriyal, former Mayor, Dehradun.

Family sits on fast to support Anna's fight against corruption
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 25
While on the one hand Gandhian Anna Hazare sat at Jantar Mantar on a one-day fast in memory of those people who laid down their lives in fighting against corruption, a family also sat on fast agitation in Haridwar to express it's solidarity with the families of these martyrs.

So be it 75-year-old Tara Devi or even 4-year-old Sangeeta, all 20 members of this Singh Dwar Kankhal-based family sat on a day-long fast, drawing attention of the people.

Notably, one of the young members of this family Jugal Kishore went yesterday to Delhi to sit on agitation along with Team Anna members.

Elder member of this family Chandra Pal Rathore told TNS that he was first impressed with Hazare after learning about reformed movement in his home village Ralegaon Siddhi.

Later, when Anna led nationwide Jan Lokpal movement they all participated in various candlelight marches and agitations in the city.

Now again they want to make sure the flame of the anti-graft movement of Anna doesn’t fade; all the family members decided to sit on a day-long agitation today.

Seeing this, neighbours of the Rathore family also came at the agitation venue, sitting on fast for the whole day. Be it elders or children, everyone wore Gandhian caps and what was more satisfying was the knowledge young school children had about Lokpal Bill, RTI and Hazare.

Like Madhulika Rathore, class XII student, and Bhayvanshi of class V said: “RTI is an effective tool available to citizens, while Jan Lokpal Bill will nail the government employees and politicians who misuse their authorities. Even we face corruption in the form of educational donation taken from us during admission time; so it is imperative that we all support Anna uncle.”

Further, in memory of martyr IPS officer Narendra Kumar, who was killed by quarrying mafia in Madhya Pradesh, and Haridwar-based slain RTI activist Jagdeesh Chauhan, these agitators observed silence for a minute.

Harsh Kumar, neighbour, said that if Hazare can reform a whole village then at least we can make sure our colony remains quite active in such social causes and usher in support to the anti-graft movement.

Sewa Bharati celebrates formation day
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 25
The Sewa Bharati organised a function on its formation day in which its 145th branch was opened.

Regional coordinator Shiv Kumar pointed out that while this was the 145th branch centre in Uttarakhand. The society has more than 1,000 such centres in the whole country.

He added that since 1925, when a group of social activists had formed this organization, more than thousands of children had been provided free of cost education, books, school dresses and scholarships by them.

Dehradun-based social activist Anuradha, while lauding the efforts of the society, pointed out that while the government was also launching various educational schemes for the poor, yet due to corruption, they didn't reach the target audience but Sewa Bharati volunteers make sure that the aid was availed by the student only.

While district secretary of the organisation Naresh Kala said now they were providing girls with sewing machines and aiding them in learning job-oriented courses to make sure they stand on their feet.

Lata, a daughter of slum dweller, who now has completed her intermediate, said while her father used to spend all her labour income on alcohol, it was Sewa Bharati members that met her school expenses and now she was hopeful of cracking medical entrance exams.

On the occasion, all meritorious students who topped their respective classes were also honoured by the society office-bearers Mehar Chand Jain, Anil Bhati, Shiv Kumar and Narendra Pal.

Demand to waive sewer, water tax

Haridwar, March 25
Unhappy over the redressal of their demands, dharmshala owners of Haridwar today staged a protest for waiving sewer tax and rebate in water tax.

Under the aegis of ‘Rashtriya Dharamshala Suraksha Samiti’, agitators staged a protest at city magistrate officer in Mayapur.

Chief of the samiti Mahesh Gaud said despite dharamshalas playing a pivotal social role in the city, they were denied of basic concessions as should be provided to them.

Gaur added that even the administration was taking sewer tax from them which affects their income as they provides accommodation to thousands of pilgrims, devotees and tourists on minimal rates in the pilgrim city.

“Haridwar is an ancient pilgrim city that has hundreds of ashram, dharamshala and muth, which provide adequate accommodation to people on affordable rates. But every year, the government departments hike taxes. The Jal Sansthan has imposed a 15 per cent hike in the water tax in the past three years, which is affecting us. We are unable to provide good facilities to the pilgrims on this account,” said Gaud.—TNS

Rules eased for land regularisation
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 25
Lohaghat Subdivisional Magistrate Promod Arya informed the residents of the town at a meeting held today that Uttarakhand government had converted all the land under Kham category in the town of Lohaghat as Zajul land, making easy for the residents to apply for the regularisation of the land. "After being declared as Nazul, the management of this land is being done under the Nazul policy of the state government, and the entire land has been divided into four categories from regularisation points of view," said Subdivisional Magistrate of Lohaghat.

The administrative officer said that the circle rates for the regularisation of the land have been fixed on the basis of those in the year 2000. He said that the land plots, which have been sold by Meena McDonald, the landlady of the town, to any resident will have to be regularised again but no stamp charges would be taken if they have previously paid that. "The land up to 400 square feet would be regularised free for the people belonging to BPL category," said the tehsildar.

According to the tehsildar, different rates have been fixed for the land of different categories in the town. "The land within 100 metres of National Highway No 9 would be charged Rs 700 per square metre for regularisation under circle rates of the year 2000; land within 500 metres of the highway would be charged Rs 500 per square metre, while the residents will have to pay a sum of Rs 375 for the land plots lying outside 500 metres of the Tanakpur-Pithoragarh highway. 

Interests of Himalayan people being ignored, says Aandolan activist
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 25
Due to inadequate representation of the Himalayan people in Parliament and the imposition of non-viable development policies on Himalayan societies, there has been increased exploitation of resources in the past decade, while local communities have been ignored. This thought was expressed by Suresh Bhai, convener of Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Aandolan, at a meeting held here today.

The meeting was convened by the aandolan workers to motivate local people to sign a draft of Himalayan Lok Niti, which has been prepared by the aandolan and the draft of which has to be sent to the Central Government after having signatures of Himalayan people from every corner of the state. Suresh Bhai said that the country had remembered the Himalayas from the Fifth Fifth Year Plan and the Planning Commission constituted a separate Himalayan cell, but the parametres of development could not be changed thereafter and remained based on the parametres set for plain areas of the country. “This wrong approach not only deprived the people of the region rheir traditional natural resources but also led to migration from there," said Suresh Bhai.

The speakers on the occasion said that despite the Himalayas having 16.3 per cent area of the country, and known as the water tank for the country, the Himalayan people are facing the crisis of water due to the wrong policies of the governments at the Centre. “Whereas we wanted to have water at the top of hills to feed plants and people below, the governments have erected tunnels for the hydro electric projects down in valleys, depriving the hilltops and settlements around of precious water," said Suresh Bhai.

The Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Aandolan activists said that they have started working towards presenting a separate Himalayan policy draft from the angle of local people to make them aware of real state of their region. “The andolan has also started celebrating Himalaya Day on September 9, from the year 2010," said Prem Pancholi, another activist of the aandolan. 

Dev Bhoomi Cricket Academy win

Dehradun, March 25
The Dev Bhoomi Cricket Academy (DBCA), Haldwani, edged past Uttranchal Developer India Pvt Ltd (UDIPL), Dehradun, by 124 runs in a match in the ongoing 4th Uttarakhand Cricket Cup played at Ranger's grounds here today.

After winning the toss, UDIPL elected to field first. In the first inning, DBCA made a good opening with Rohit and Abhishek scoring 77 and 66 runs, respectively. Umang and Manu who scored 44 and 36 runs each ably supported the openers. The team made total runs of 315 losing six wickets in 35 overs.

While chasing the score, UDIPL made a total score of 191 runs losing 8 wickets in 35 overs. Mohd Atiq and Dilshad Ali remained the highest scores of team 51 and 26 runs, respectively, during the second inning. — TNS

Badminton championship begins
Tribune News Service

A match in progress during the 36th Senior National Badminton Championship in Haridwar on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Haridwar, March 25
The five-day 36th Senior National Badminton Championship commenced here at City Sports Complex with more than eight state teams participating in this championship hosted by the Uttarakhand Badminton Association.

In the today's matches, Bhoopendra Rawat of the host Uttarakhand defeated Manish Kumar of Maharashtra by 21-14, 21-19 while Vivek Sharma of Jharkahnd romped home with 21-15, 21-17 straight sets victory.

Results of other matches are Nakul Devdhar (Maharasthra) 21-15, 21-10 against Sushant Bal (Odisha), Ajay Salvi (Odisha) 23-21, 21-10 (Jammu Kashmir)Pooran Chand, Shaffik Nawab (Bihar) 21-7, 21-12 Shiv Kumar (Tamil Nadu), Murli Vardhan (Andhra Pradesh) 21-12,21-13 against Dheeraj Verma (Uttar Pradesh), Arvind Sharma (Uttarakhand) 22-20,15-21,21-13 against Senthyl Velan (Tamil Nadu), Rajesh Chaudhari (Jharkhand) 21-6, 21-18 against Anurag Gupta (Uttarakhand), Lalit Yadav (Uttarakhand) 21-3,21-4 against Asit Mishra (Odisha), Harish Joshi defeated Rajesh Chaudhari 21-12,21-15, HC Singh (Manipur) 21-10, 21-11 Sanjay Bhansali (Chandigarh), Anurag Sharma(UP) 21-15, 21-16 Deepak Dhamania (Maharashtra).

Earlier, chief of the association Ashok Kumar expressed happiness in the mass participation of the players, terming the championship a successful one with it being held for the first time in Haridwar.

State Cabinet Minister Surender Singh Negi expressed happiness on Uttarakhand hosting such a national level event and termed sports imperative for good health.