BJP flays Centre for reducing kerosene quota
Dehradun, April 5
The city unit of the BJP has criticised the Central Government's decision to reduce the quota on kerosene released for the state.

Atal Khadyan Yojana may be withdrawn
Dehradun, April 5
The former BJP-led state government's pet cheap foodgrain scheme, Atal Khadyan Yojana, is likely to be withdrawn as the ruling Congress-led state government not keen on extending it.

Rishikesh, April 5
With the summer season peaking and the annual examinations of schools over, suddenly a huge rush of tourists is being witnessed at the rafting terrain along the Ganga river in Rishikesh.

Such is the rush that the whole rafting route from Kaudiyala-Shivpuri to Muni-Ki-Reti is abuzz with colourful rafts and enthusiastic rafters.

Not only is the river route witnessing congestion but also the Rishikesh-Sringar Garhwal-Badrinath highway stretch till Kaudiyala is witnessing traffic jams as rafting companies' vehicles fetching rafts and tourists are plying in large numbers to and from on this route.

If this is any indication, then in the coming days in later part of this month, when the world-famous Char Dham pilgrimage yatra of Shri Badrinath, Shri Kedarnath ,Yamunotri and Gangotri shrines along with Hemkund Sahib gets started, then one can imagine the huge rush on this route.

In the past couple of years a large number of rafting tour agencies have mushroomed in this area that is one of the finest rafting routes in the whole country,often regarded as a paradise for rafters.

Notably, the 36-km stretch from Kaudiyala to Rishikesh has more than 30 camping sites with a levelled flow of Ganga water making it quite safe and convenient for rafting experience. Not only domestic but a large number of foreign tourists also throng this rafting zone, which is closed during monsoon season as the water level and flow is quite high during this period.

As this is the peak season for the rafting business, tourist flow is bound to increase here, which the administration should ensure proper facilitie.

Meanwhile, the Forest Department has started a drive in this rafting zone to ensure that no illegal rafting or activity takes place in this forest area. Forest Inspector Rakesh Chand told TNS that impromptu drives are being carried out to check rafts without number plates being sailed in the river.

He added that in the past, too, several rafts were seized and many rafting operators tried to ply non- registered rafts to escape various taxes.

Anirudh Rawat, a rafting agency owner at Tapovan, who has been into this business for the past five years, said that taking into account the huge rush being witnessed this season, they are expecting record turnout of adventure-loving tourists.

While Deepak Bhatt of Rafting Association said that they are already getting bookings and inquiries in bulk, particularly from corporates, educational institutes and foreign firms for which they are acquiring new rafts and equipment to meet the demand.

Dehradun, April 5
Chairman, Selaqui International School, Maj-Gen Basant Singh (retd), today gave his version of the incident of the corporal punishment of a student that took place in the school on February 22.

While speaking to the mediapersons, Basant Singh said a number of articles had been published in the leading newspapers which were inaccurate, highly exaggerated and published by the interested party with the intention of defaming and blackmailing the school authorities.

“The corporal punishment was resorted to by the sports teacher which was strictly against the school’s policy. No other incident of beating the student by any other teacher and thereafter subjecting him to any physical violence, hurting any religious sentiments or sexual harassment, as reported, has occurred and is denied. The school, as per the policy, asked the accused teacher to resign, which he did,” said the chairman.

He also alleged that Apaar Singh, father of victim Harjot Singh, behaved aggressively all through his three meetings with him and threatened to defame the school unless the headmaster and other teachers allegedly involved in the case were dismissed.

“Ever since the refusal to accept his unethical demand, father of the student has been approaching the media and getting his fabricated stories published. Unfortunately, a number of newspapers have carried this exaggerated and fabricated story without any verification,” added Basant Singh.

He regrets that an incident of corporal punishment has occurred and assured the society and parents that he was totally against the use of corporal punishment. Strict action would be taken against the guilty.

Present on the occasion were Headmaster RK Tomar and Deputy Headmaster of the school Jashvi Chowdhari.

Dehradun, April 5
The city unit of the BJP has criticised the Central Government's decision to reduce the quota on kerosene released for the state.

Terming the move of reducing the kerosene quota to 66 per cent, the city unit chief of the BJP Punit Mittal said the decision of the Centre has once again proved that it is prejudiced towards the state.

"The reduction in quota would hit the poor the hardest as they rely on kerosene to meet their cooking requirements. Along with reducing the quota of kerosene, the erratic supply of cooking gas has compounding the problems of the citizens of the state," Mittal said.

Mittal held the Gongress government responsible for reducing the kerosene quota and also for the erratic supply of cooking gas.

"The Centre has already increased the quota for other states and by decreasing the quota for Uttarakhand, the Congress government has done injustice to the people of the state," he said. 

Dehradun, April 5
The former BJP-led state government's pet cheap foodgrain scheme, Atal Khadyan Yojana, is likely to be withdrawn as the ruling Congress-led state government not keen on extending it.

Launched a few months before the elections, the Congress government is in a fix regarding the procurement of 14,000 MT of rice that would impose an additional burden on the government.

In the past, the Uttarakhand government had faced problems in raising extra quota (14,000 MT) of rice per month. At present, it gets around 3,500 MT of rice under the quota. In such a situation, the government will have to raise the extra quota from the market, thus putting pressure on its limited financial resources.

"The BJP government had decided to sponsor the programme for both BPL and APL categories, which could not be carried for long. We are examining all options and may extend for the BPL categories only," said Preetam Panwar, Minister, Food and Civil Supplies.

Mussoorie, April 5
The building of the Horticulture Department situated near the Company Gardens here is in a state of dilapidation and posing threat to the lives of employees.

The building is very old and no repair work has ever been carried out by the authorities. The sign board on the building still mentions the name of the state as Uttaranchal. Sources in the department said despite several requests to the authorities concerned with regard to the repair work, nothing had been done.

The building houses a processing unit, where juices are made from local fruits and flowers. It helps providing employment to the locals. The building is also used for imparting training to villagers of the area in making sauces and pickles to promote the small-scale industry in the state. But due to the poor condition of the building, all these activities have come to a standstill.

When Mussoorie was part of Uttar Pradesh, the processing unit was situated on Mall Road and it used to be bustling with activity as it was easily approachable. However, after the unit was shifted to this building, it gradually lost its importance. Earlier, there were five employees in the processing unit. But now the number has reduced to two. One of them is working as in charge and the other as observer.

Devi Godiyal, a member of the Rajya Andolankari Association, said public representatives were busy fighting over plum posts in the state government. They were least interested in addressing the problems of migration and unemployment and the dilapidated horticulture unit in Mussoorie was a living example of it.

He urged the state government to intervene and revive the processing unit so that people who were dependent on it could earn their livelihood.

In charge of the processing unit Jagdish Purohit said due to the poor condition of the building, all the activities for which the unit was established had come to a halt and the place now wore a deserted look.

He said despite repeated requests to the authorities, no action had been taken so far.

Former Municipal Council president Manmohan Singh Mall said if the government was unable to run the unit and repair the building, it should lease it out to some private agency under the PPP mode.

Dehradun, April 5
On the 54 founder's day celebrations, the children residing at Raphael presented a scintillating cultural programme. The Garhwali dance and yoga performance by the inmates of the home left the audience spellbound.

Speaking on the occasion Chief Secretary Subash Kumar lauded the efforts of Raphael in providing care to the underprivileged and the needy. "The example set by the home is worth emulating. It was several years ago that this institute was set up for the leprosy and TB patients, today it caters to the needs of persons with multi-disabilities," he said.

In his welcome address, Chairman Raphael, Air Marshal BD Jayal (retd) stressed on the need to set up a strong partnership between the private and the government, "Together we can ameliorate the suffering of the needy and the poor," he said . He also mentioned about the 29 bronze medals won under the International Award for the young (IAY) programmes

Air Marshal Jayal also traced the history of Raphael and highlighted the multifaceted activities in which Raphael is engaged. He recounted the contribution made by the founders Lady Ryder and Lord Cheshire and its erstwhile Chairman, late Major General Ranbir Bakshi.

The inmates of the home had put up different stalls depicting different activities carried out at Raphael under the aegis of a Special Education Wing. 

Dehradun, April 5
In a daylong All-India Handloom Weavers’ Conference organised at the National Handloom Expo 2012, insurance companies laid emphasis on seeking maximum benefit from the comprehensive welfare schemes set up by the Uttarakhand Handloom and Handicraft Development Council (UHHDC).

Expressing his concern over the less number of enrollments of weavers for the life insurance coverage, Dr PS Gosain, Director (Industries), Uttarakhand, said, “Less number of weavers are availing the life insurance scheme provided by the Government of India. The insurance scheme for weavers is a small investment plan, which can be availed by the enrolled members with the maximum coverage. For additional benefits, an associated scheme of education scholarship is also given to handloom weavers along with the credit cards scheme,” he added.

However, for medical claim, handloom weavers can get a membership card as a premium amount of the policy that accredits four family members of the weaver, owing them the limited amount for operations, treatments and medicines as per the requirement. The Centre as well as the state government has also contributed in the coverage amount of the insured policy.

More than 100 weavers and artisans from 12 states attended the convention and got clarifications on their doubts by experts and personnel of the department.

Apart from this, SC Nautiyal, Additional Director (Industry), Uttarakhand, spoke on providing maximum benefit for the development of the handloom sector through group insurance schemes. “The council, in association with the Government of India, is aiming at formulating multiple training centres for converting raw fabric materials into the end product. Forming of clusters and local groups, providing equipments, raw material, training, emporiums to display and a marketing team get relevant value for their work in a most effective manner,” said Nautiyal.

Weavers from the local handloom clusters and from other states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, Orissa and Assam attended the convention.

Present on the occasion were Deputy Director (Industry) GC Pandey and assistant director Shaily Dabral among others.

Dehradun, April 5
On the second day of the Rashtriya Indian Military College Inter-section Basketball Competition, a total of seven matches were held.

In the juniors' category, the first match was held between Pratap Section and Shivaji Section, in which Pratap Section won 47-41 with Cadet Paras Singh scoring 28 points. In the second match, Ranjit defeated Chandragupta 36-20 and Cadet Vijayant scored the highest (15) points. In a match between Pratap and Chandragupta, Pratap won 36-29 with Cadet Paras scoring 15 points.

In the middle category, Pratap defeated Ranjit 28-25 with Cadet Ajinder scoring 18 points from Pratap Section. In Ranjit and Shivaji, Shivaji won 40-32 with Cadet Abhimanyu scoring the highest - 16 points.

In the seniors' category, Chandragupta defeated Ranjit 52-31 with Cadet Harsh scoring highest 24 points.

In Ranjit against Shivaji, Shivaji won 53-34 with Cadet Saurabh Shukla and Pratik Pegu scoring 18 points each from Shivaji.