Inspector dies of burns in Delhi
Dehradun, April 1
Inspector Ram Lal Arya, 56, who sustained 80 pc burns after his wife Radha Arya set him on fire on Saturday morning at their residence in Indira Nagar, died today at 10 am at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, where he was referred from Coronation Hospital of Dehradun.

Delegations meet CM
Dehradun, April 1
Several delegations met Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna at the latter's official residence here today.

Organisations come in support of Ruby
Dehradun, April 1
Several organisations came out in support of Ruby whose three-day-old newborn baby was allegedly kidnapped on Wednesday from the District Women's Hospital.

Dehradun, April 1
As many as 142 protesting jewellers were detained here today when they tried to disrupt the traffic at the New Cantt road that leads to Raj Bhavan and the Chief Minister’s residence. Jewellers have been resenting the imposition on the excise and custom duties on the jeweller business in the General Budget 2012-13.

As a part of their agitation against the Centre’s recent imposition of the excise and other taxes, members of the Jewellers Association of Uttaranchal today disrupted the traffic movement on the New Cantt road leading to police taking a total of 142 agitating jewellers were detained, who were, however, later released.

Yesterday, the jewellers had staged ‘chakka jaam’ on the main Chakrata road in Dehradun. It caused great inconvenience to the people.

Earlier during the morning hours, the association members staged ‘Rail Roko’ at Dehradun Railway Station. However, protest was symbolic and there was no major disruption of traffic.

The jewellers gathered in large numbers at the Dehradun Railway Station. The demonstration squatted on the track, preventing the departure of the Mumbai-bound Dehradun Bandra Express. They also climbed atop the train engine and raised slogans against the Centre. However, after the protest of about half an hour, the train was allowed to depart.

The police that rushed to the Dehradun Railway Station managed to control the protesters without using the force. Meanwhile, association’s secretary Jasbir Singh said the jewellers would continue with their protest till both the excise and custom duty imposed on the jewellery business was withdrawn.

As a part of the nationwide stir, jewellers in the state have been agitating against imposing of new taxes on them for more than one week keeping their establishments closed leading to losses to the state economy”.

Dehradun, April 1
Inspector Ram Lal Arya, 56, who sustained 80 pc burns after his wife Radha Arya set him on fire on Saturday morning at their residence in Indira Nagar, died today at 10 am at Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi, where he was referred from Coronation Hospital of Dehradun.

His three children, wife and other family members reached New Delhi where the deceased's post-mortam was conducted. The Vasant Vihar police has not yet arrested Radha.

AS Rawat, SHO, Vasant Vihar, said none of the deceased family members filed FIR against Radha, so the police could not arrest her on its own.

Her confession of having committed the crime did not count much until she reiterated her statement in the court if a case was registered against her, he said.

While bursting into tears at Vasant Vihar police station, Radha was repentant on having acted cruelly out of fury. The relationship of the couple was not good due to Lal's extramarital affair for the last five years. He wanted to marry other woman which was opposed vehemently by Radha.

The couple fought over the matter on Friday night as well. On Saturday morning, Radha who had filled a bottle with petrol from their personal car threatened Ram Lal of committing suicide. As she told the police, her husband did not object to it and asked her to go ahead and lit a match stick.

This angered Radha further who then poured petrol on Ram Lal.

The burning matchstick in no time turned into a big ball of fire and Ram Lal suffered burns. The couple's son who was sleeping in other room at that time rushed to douse the fire but by that time Lal had already sustained 80 per cent burns. Lal too gave the statement before Tehsildar accusing his wife of burning him.

Lal, who hailed from Baghpat, was promoted Inspector five years ago when he was attached with Police Headquarters at Dehradun.

Dehradun, April 1
The festival of Ram Navami was celebrated with religious fervour here today. It was at 12 noon that a religious procession from Sai temple started which was followed by children playing dandiya and women carrying kalash on their head along with a band group.

In the evening, an elaborate procession began from Prem Nagar temple. Tableau depicting various phases of Lord Rama's life, children dancing and women singing bhajans also accompanied the procession.

In the temples of the city, the prayers to Lord Rama were offered. In Prithvinath Mandir at Saharanpur Road, nine little girls, considered as nine avtars of Goddess Durga, were given prasad as a ritual on the culmination of the Navratra.

In Kali temple at Manuganj, a flag was offered as a ritual observed on Ramnavmi in this temple amid the beats of dhol, bhajans and dance.

HARIDWAR: The 10-day festival of the Navratras concluded with breaking of fast on the Navami, while the birth anniversary of Lord Rama was also celebrated with gaiety and fervour in the city.

With the twin festival falling the same day, the city soaked in religious fervour with devotees thronging temples, ashrams, Braham Kund, Har-Ki-Pauri to take a dip and perform religious rites.

While some devotees broke their fast yesterday on occasion of Ashtami, many observed fast yesterday, thereby breaking the fast today after offering food to young girls.

On the occasion of RamNavami, devotees performed a special puja in the temple of Lord Rama, with bhajans being sung at temples and homes.

In Ram Mandir, Shri Tulsi Manas Mandir, Bhoopatwala, Saptsarovar, BHEL, Jwalapur, and in all temples situated across the district devotees thronged throughout the day.

Dehradun, April 1
Residents of Mitralok Colony (Ward No. 58) are irked over the presence of a number of drains in the area. Ever since fencing has been done around some of the drains, it has become difficult to clean them.

They remain filled with garbage.

Nanak Chand, a resident, said: “Earlier, it was easy to clean the drains. But ever since the fencing has been done around some of them, they are cleaned only once in a year.”

Deepak Kumar, another resident, said: “If any animal accidentally falls into a drain and dies, it is very difficult to take the carcass out.”

Councillor Beena Bisht said: “Former Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor had spent a huge amount on the fencing project in many parts of the city, including Mitralok Colony. Though the fencing had been done to stop people from throwing garbage into drains, it has failed to serve any purpose.

Stray animals keep roaming around the drains.

Many of them slip into them and die. It is very difficult to take their carcass out.”

Another problem in the area is of encroachment. Geeta Paswan said: “A dairy owner in our area has encroached upon the land belonging to the Dehradun Municipal Corporation. He throws all cattle dung into drains ”

The councillor said: “It has been more than a decade that the dairy owner has occupied this land in the ward.

The corporation has not taken any action so far.

Owing to the shortage of land, the ward does not have any park or community hall, which the residents had been demanding for long.”

Saroj Sharma complained of poor sanitation in the area. She said: “Garbage keeps lying on the roads. Sweepers do not come regularly.”

Despite the government finally being in place and with the trust vote also having been won by the Congress, the political tempers in the state are still simmering. Now the debate that is raging is whether the state has set a kind of precedence succumbing to the politics of "blackmail" which the faction led by Harish Rawat is being accused of.

Amid the public domain, it is the fallout of the recent activities witnessed in the Congress, which is being debated. Observers point out that the tactics adopted by Harish Rawat and his followers to get the maximum for themselves in the event of the high command making Vijay

Bahuguna as the new Chief Minister, have not gone down well with the masses.

"It would have been better if they had bargained for development instead of prime portfolios and the Rajya Sabha nomination for themselves and their close associates. One would have been overwhelmed if they had said we want an early completion of a medical college in

Almora, a university for Terai, tourism promotion for various destinations and improvement in road infrastructure. Instead the bargain was a totally selfish one wherein it was Harish Rawat's men who got the Rajya Sabha nomination, the post of the Speaker and ministries," pointed out an observer in Nainital.

On the other hand, this succumbing to the armtwisting tactics of Harish Rawat and his followers has left a bad taste among those who claim to be party and Bahuguna loyalists. They can be heard complaining that while the rebels have got everything, the loyalists have been left in the lurch.

The developments have left the voters and the citizens dejected. "We just hope that this government fares better than the previous one. The start has not been so promising as what was visible. Nobody talked about the masses," said another observer.

There is also a sentiment of resentment which is being played up by certain sections with regards to the Terai area being ignored when it came to distribution of "rewards". It is being pointed out that Dr Shailendra Mohan Singhal who had been made the pro tem Speaker should have been made the Speaker for the complete Assembly term since he is pretty senior and has won for the third consecutive time. The issue of having a Deputy Chief Minister that had been raised by senior Congress leader Tilak Raj Behed prior to the declaration of the results continues to be discussed despite Behed losing his seat.

When pointed out that Yash Pal Arya who won from Bazpur has been inducted into the ministry, there are counter-observations that Arya originally hails from the hily terrain of Kumaon and has migrated to Bazpur for other political reasons.

Dehradun, April 1
Upholding the conventions of leaving no stone unturned and supporting every move to preserve and protect environment, Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, observed earth hour and switched off all lights of the campus for one hour from 8.30pm to 9.30 pm yesterday.

Even essential services on the campus were kept away from electricity. Cadets wholeheartedly supported the global crusade to generate sensitivity for conserving the fast-depleting environmental resources. Cadets were delighted to have candlelit dinner. The entire campus seemed to have stopped breathing but its inhabitants were bubbling with enthusiasm and hopefulness for a better future for it generations.

Cadets also took part in an exclusive function organised by the WWF for Nature India, organised at Doon University. Col Pankaj Kumaria, Commandant, RIMC, appreciated the bubbling zeal and enthusiasm which were dripping from the cadets for generating awareness. —TNS