Withholding of Result
HC sends student’s plea to HNB university
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 30
The Nainital High Court, while giving its ruling on a writ petition filed by a student, termed HNB Garhwal University the competent authority for the redressal of grievances pertaining to a case concerning withholding of result.

The case is regarding a student from DAV PG College, Dehradun, who had filed a petition against HNB Garhwal University for holding back her result along with 3,200 students on the grounds of late admission in the academic session 2010-11.

“No direction can be issued by the Uttarakhand High Court to declare the result while the liberty is given to the petitioner to make a fresh representation before the Vice-Chancellor of the university to redress her grievance,” reads the HC order.

The court orders also clarifies that as per the rules of the university, the roll number and enrolment number are issued by the university after the submission of the examination forms of the candidates.

A girl student of Bachelor of Arts had filed a petition in the high court, stating that she had completed all admission formalities, including submission of fee, for pursuing graduation after which she was allotted enrolment number.

In the writ petition filed by her, it stated that the petitioner had attended classes regularly and filled in the examination form for appearing in the BA-I examinations in due time. She was also issued admit card with a roll number and she appeared in the exams held during April-May 2011 to which results were declared in September.

When the results of the petitioner was not declared along with other students, she was informed by the college administration that her result was held back due to her late admission.

 GD Aggarwal to meet PM on Ganga issue
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 30
After observing a fast for the cause of the Ganga for a month, Prof Guru Das Aggarwal, a renowned environmentalist, who is now Gyan Swaroop Sanand, has decided to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 17 with regard to the issue. He has expressed hope that his meeting with the Prime Minister would have landmark results.

Gyan Swaroop Sanand stated this at Patanjali Yogpeeth here today. He further said if the PM failed to meet the demands of Ganga activists, he would relaunch the agitation.

He also talked about the "lacklustre" approach of the Prime Minister-led Ganga River Basin Authority, which was formed 18 months ago, towards the cleaning of the Ganga. He said it was shocking that since the formation of the authority, only two meetings had been held.

He further said a meeting in this regard would be held at Kalika Temple in New Delhi, where he would hold talks with his supporters to chalk out future course of action.

Meanwhile, yoga guru Ramdev has extended support to the cause of the Ganga river being spearhead by GD Aggarwal and other Ganga activists.

Ramdev said if talks between the PM and Guru Sanand failed, then Ganga activists would also 
stage agitation along with Guru Sanand.

 Fear of Landslides
Jijli villagers reiterate demand for relocation
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, March 30
The residents of Jijli village in the Chamba block of Tehri Garhwal district, who have been living in fear of massive landslide, have demanded their relocation to some safer place in an around the district. The landslides have been going on from the past one decade but the local administration has not taken any action so far.

According to four families from Jijli, the landslide began from the day the construction work on the Banali-Nagni road began a decade ago.

The villagers lamented the fact that as a result of the constructed road, the soil had loosened in the area because of which the mud debris fell over the houses of the villagers. This had severely damaged their houses.

Tota Ram, Ram Prasad and Kala Devi, residents of Jijli, said the situation aggravated with the increase in the landslides after the last year’s natural disaster during monsoon when a huge boulder fell on a school building. Fortunately, the school was closed that day.Presently, the school is being run temporarily in a tin shed at Silya Saur, 4 km away from the village.

The villagers said they were living under fear because of this.

The villagers, who have been demanding relocation for the village for the past one decade, have alleged that their plea had gone unnoticed. They said if this time their demands were not met, they would be forced to launch a massive agitation at the district headquarters in New Tehri.

When contacted, block pramukh, Chamba, Swarn Singh, said the district administration had been apprised of the situation and the matter of relocation was pending at the government level.

 Tomato growers may get more price
Tribune News Service

Nainital, March 30
Tomato growers in Uttarakhand are expected to get more price of their produce in October. The price is expected to go up to Rs 1,250 per quintal.

This forecast has been made by scientists of the agricultural economics department of Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar on the basis of a research done under a National Agriculture Innovation Project (NAIP) sub-project "Establishing and networking of market intelligence centres in India".

According to a university spokesperson, "One of the objectives of this project is to make price forecast well in advance of sowing of selected agricultural commodities. A research team of the university conducted a market survey of the Haldwani market, a major market for tomato in Uttarakhand, and analysed the wholesale price data which has prevailed for the past 22 years in this market.”

An econometric analysis indicated that the wholesale price of tomato in Haldwani will be in the range of Rs 900 to Rs 1100 per quintal in August and September 2012 while during October, the price is expected to increase from Rs 1100 to Rs 1250 per quintal.The scientists have advised farmers, who wish to take tomato cultivation on their farms in the coming season, to consider these forecast of harvest time and decide the area under the tomato crop cultivation.

According to experts, tomatoes are grown throughout the world in about 47 lakh hectares with a production of about 13 crore tonnes. India ranks third among the top tomato-growing countries contributing around 8 per cent of the world’s tomato production.

Major tomato-growing states in India are Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh which together accounted for about 82.20 per cent of India’s tomato production during 2009-10.

Tomato is a major vegetable widely produced throughout Uttarakhand where it is grown both in the hills as well as in the plains. Nainital, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and Hardwar are the four major districts producing tomato and constitute about 63 per cent of the total tomato production in the state.

 Vedas teach humanity, harmony: Experts
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 30
Terming the Vedas the ancient treasure house of knowledge, which teach the lesson of humanity, harmony and well-being of all, Sanskrit as well as Vedic experts emphasised on the need of learning these sacred texts.

The workshop on "Vedic Teachings", organised at Shri Bhagwan Das Adarsh Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya concluded here.

Renowned Sanskrit literateur Gyanendra Pandey from Gujarat cited the reference of a revered poet Kalidas, who was also an exert in zoology and medicine science due to being a great reader of the Vedas and other scriptures.

He cited various references from the four Vedas namely the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda, the Sam Veda and the Atharva Veda.

Professor Ved Prakash Shastri, former vice-chancellor of Bhagwan Das Adarsh Sanskrit Mahavidyala, clarified on the clear, simple and effective references of the Vedas which apply perfectly even today as thoughts and wisdom live forever while the only human cycle get changes.

Shastri also referred to the phrase of "Vasudev Kutumbkam" which we get from the Vedas. It signifies that the Vedas teach the world to live as one family, which is the best message of humanity.

While Gyan Chandra Shastri pointed out the need of good literature for a good society as what they read has a direct bearing on the mind and so if one reads literature like the Vedas, epics and positive books, ones gets inclined to that mode only.

In her speech, Uttarakhand Sanskrit Vishwavidyala Vice-Chancellor Dr Sudha Rani Pandey appreciated the efforts of the workshop emphasising the need of having more such as these relived the ancient old scriptures, bringing them more closer to the younger generation.

Renowned literati Manu Dev Bandhu, Keshav Prasad Upadhyaa, Dr Shweta Singh, Deep Shikha and Mahavidyalaya Principal Dr Bhola Jha also spoke.

 Deen Dayal Gramin Awas Yojna
Poor still deprived of houses
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, March 30
The homeless poor, who have been waiting for the construction of houses under the Deen Dayal Gramin Awas Yojna in Pithoragarh and Champawat districts, are a disappointed lot as the money sanctioned under the scheme earlier was called back last week due to non-approval from the Finance Department. This was disclosed by sources in the offices of chief development officers in both districts.

“The sanctioned amount of Rs 1 crore for the construction of houses for the homeless poor in the district was called back by the government last week due to lack of approval from the Finance Department,” said Ashok Kumar, Chief Development Officer, Pithoragarh.

In Champawat, the Rural Development Department had sanctioned Rs 53.35 lakh under the scheme, but the money was called back by the government. “About 110 houses were to be constructed at a cost of Rs 53.35 lakh for allotment to the homeless poor under the scheme in the district, but as the sanctioned amount was called back by the government, the deserving people would have to wait for another year to have a house,” said TS Brizwal, Chief Development Officer, Champawat.

The former BJP government had launched the Deen Dayal rural housing scheme for poor families in 2007. Under the scheme, BPL, homeless, APL and other homeless families belonging to the Schedule Castes and the Schedule Tribes living in huts in the rural areas were eligible to get financial support from the government for the construction of pucca houses.

“After the scheme was launched in 2007, 604 houses were built for the homeless poor in the district in the last four years. But this year the scheme failed to take off as the approved money was called back,” said Brizwal.

In Champawat, of 20,186 BPL families in the district, 1,863 are homeless. “The administration has identified 110 of the total homeless families for the allocation of Rs 48,000 each for the construction of houses under the scheme in the district,” he said.

In Pithoragarh district, more than 200 families have been awaiting the construction of houses in the rural areas under the scheme this year. The local administration is now trying to allocate money for the construction of houses to the rural poor under the Indira Awas Yojana. About 442 houses were built under the scheme in the district this year. “Due to a shortfall of nearly 200 houses for the poor in the district, we are now trying to readjust the priority of the needy homeless people against houses under other housing schemes for the poor,” said Ashok Kumar.

 Jewellers intensify stir against excise duty
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 30
With no positive signs from the Centre with regard to the roll back of the proposed excise duty on gold, jewellers have intensified their agitation. Under the aegis of the Sharraf Association of Panchpuri, protest are being held to oppose the move.

Striking jewellers stage a demonstration in Dehradun on Friday.

Association members held a torch march here today and warned the Centre of dire consequences if their demands were not met.

Addressing the members before the march, association chief Shiv Kumar Gupta said the move would have long-term repercussions on the livelihood of millions of people associated with this trade.

“Our agitation will continue till the government rolls back the proposed excise duty on gold. If need felt, we will hold a protest outside Parliament,10 Janpath and 7 Race Course also,” said Nitin Maha Dev, a jeweller at Ranipur.

Among others were Mahesh Gaurav, Javed Ansari, Pankaj Malik, Sushil Verma and Navneet Kumar led the march.

 Measures afoot to make Someshwar polythene-free
Tribune News Service

Nainital, March 30
Efforts have been initiated to make Someshwar town polythene-free and reduce the level of pollution in the Kosi river.

Joint Magistrate, Someshwar, Sonika has ordered officials to put a proper solid waste disposal mechanism in place in the picturesque town. She has also called for a sustained public awareness campaign on the issue.

The administration has sought help from the associations of local traders and taxi owners. At a meeting with taxi owners and operators recently, it has been decided that a proper slot be identified and taxis be parked there. Only one vehicle would stand at the designated stop for taking passengers on shared basis to places like Kausani, Ranikhet and Almora while the others would await their turn.

This will help streamlining traffic flow and also work towards the convenience of the passengers. It has been envisaged that a wall be erected near the Someshwar bridge and arrangements be made for the dumping and segregation of solid waste.

The administration has decided to launch an awareness campaign against the use of plastic bags. People who continue to use these bags even after the campaign is over will face action. People have been urged to voluntarily contribute towards getting rid of the menace.

Traders have been asked to ensure that they do not encroach upon public space and cause inconvenience to passersby. The administration said an anti-encroachment drive would be launched after a brief awareness campaign on the issue.

Sonika underlined that since Someshwar is a major transit point for tourists heading towards Kausani, Dunagiri, Edagaugh, Gananath, Pinakeshwar etc., it must be kept polythene-free and efforts be made to maintain a free flow of traffic.

 Skirmish over animal sacrifice
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 30
A skirmish was reported from the Gairsain region of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand after the administration tried to stop the animal sacrifice on navratras.

Villagers at Maithan in the Gairsain region tried to perform sacrifice of buffalo on occasion of navratras. The Chamoli administration that tried to stop the sacrifice had to face heavy resistance from the villagers which resulted in a skirmish. The police had to resort to the usage of tear gas-shells to control the mob.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Director-General of Police JS Panday said the situation was completely under control at Gairsain and no major use of force had taken place. 

 Good parents, school important for successful career, says Kiran Bedi
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, March 30
Team Anna member Kiran Bedi was in Mussoorie to deliver the inaugural speech to 250 students from about eight schools at a two-day workshop titled Model United Nations held at Parker Hall of Woodstock School here today.

Kiran Bedi was welcomed by the principal of Woodstock School, Dr Jonathan.

Bedi addressing more than 250 students from around 25 countries being imparted education here shared her experiences of her tenure as a police adviser to the United Nations. Speaking on the ways to develop leadership qualities, she said for a successful career three things, namely good parents, a good school and good health were important.

She desisted from speaking on controversial issues surrounding the team Anna and laid stress on issues concerning the students. She appealed to them to join politics so that people of integrity could lead the country. She said to become a good political leader one should have an impeccable integrity and character so that the people could have complete faith in his abilities.

Bedi added most of the students were inclined towards government jobs but they should also seriously think of joining politics so that people with high intellect and integrity could reach the highest level of leadership and serve society.

She advised the students to choose careers according to their passion to achieve excellence in life. They should secure mastery in the field they were passionate about pursuing and then only they would find a true meaning in life, added Bedi.

She said they should themselves realise their dreams and work towards fulfilling them. She said there were four types of education, namely physical education, professional education, spiritual education and social education, of which the last one was the most important. If students could develop social aspects in their lives, they would surely become responsible citizens of the country, she added.

The principal of Woodstock School thanked the guest speaker and said the Model United Nations programme had been a popular student activity. The students and the staff of the school, who organised the first Woodstock School MUN conference in March, 2005, have since participated in conferences sponsored by Harvard University in Bangkok and Singapore, at Cairo American College in Egypt, Amman Baccalaureate School in Jordan, in Thailand and Italy as well as in schools in Delhi and Chennai.

He said the programme had become an intrinsic part of the school experience and such workshops and conferences gave the students the motivation to study the practical aspects of politics and the government that they usually experienced in theory. The students were expected to prepare and present public speeches, both formal and informal, and learn the importance and relevance of formal meeting protocol. They were encouraged to craft written documents that reflected not only their own positions on issues, but also incorporate the ideas of others. Thus they could discover first-hand the importance of fluency in both spoken and written language and the necessity of careful preparation and clear thinking, he added.

The students from other schools around Dehradun said they were inspired by Bedi's speech and would imbibe her thoughts in thier lives too. Bedi would be adressing the students on the final day also.

 Yadav is consumer welfare body chief
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, March 30
The newly elected Uttarakhand executive working body of the International Consumer Welfare Committee has raised voice for the protection of the consumers’ causes and to help provide justice to exploited consumers.

National chief of the committee Dr KP Dwivedi Shastri, after the election of the Uttarakhand unit committee, said the committee had been working for the past few years for consumer welfare, bringing to notice and aiding hundreds of affected consumers who either were being exploited or unknowingly facing problems due to the lack of consumer right awareness.

“To provide justice to the aggrieved consumers is our foremost objective.

Meanwhile, Ram Naresh Yadav has been chosen as the Uttarakhand state chief of the International Consumer Welfare committee.

Yadav thanked the committee members saying his focus would be to generate awareness among consumers in the hilly districts.

 Satpal Maharaj wants release of cover on Indo-Japan friendship
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 30
Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj accompanied by Japan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Takashi Ogura yesterday met Union Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot and urged him to release a commemorative cover on the occasion of the completion of 60 years of Indo-Japan friendship.

Maharaj said India and Japan shared a long history of friendship and called for the continuation of cooperation between the two countries. He said both countries play an important role in the world economy.

Satpal Maharaj also took opportunity to urge the minister to release a commemorative postal stamp on the completion of the 125 glorious years of Garhwal Rifles. He said the history of Garhwal Rifles was full of valour and had to its credit a number of bravery awards, including Victoria Cross.

Govt committed to women’s welfare
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 30
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today met a deputation of Women’s Congress office-bearers led by their president Sarojini Kainthura.

In his interaction with the members of the deputation, Bahuguna reiterated his government’s commitment to work for the betterment of women in the state. He said the government would be launching a number of welfare schemes for women and would also increase honorarium of Asha volunteers.

Kainthura also stressed on stern laws to check female infanticide.

She pointed out that girl students must be given adequate encouragement to undertake studies. She also supported 30 per cent reservation of women in government jobs.