Prayers in memory of stampede victims
7 died during Maha Kumbh in 2010
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 14
Exactly two years ago, when the world's greatest fair Maha Kumbh's most important holy bath, shahi snaan, was going on, a major tragedy had struck, putting a black spot on the otherwise smooth conduct of the Maha Kumbh.

Residents of the city as well as those who had been in Haridwar for the mega fair couldn't forget remembering those shocking memories as the stampede took toll of seven people on the spot, while many fell from the Birla Setu on Alaknanda ghat to save themselves from coming below the stampede rush.

Relatives of the deceased, residents residing near the fatal accident venue, social activists and local people today prayed for the peace to the souls of the deceased as well as moral support to their aggrieved families.

In fact on the shahi snaan, as per the official government figures aided with the help of satellite images, a world record 1.63 crore people had paid visit on April 13-14 in Haridwar to take part in the holy bath, which falls alternatively every 12th year, having a major religious significance among Hindus.

To usher support to the aggrieved family members of the Birla Setu stampede as well as pay homage to the victims, people prayed along the Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri Ganga ghat, for the peace of the deceased souls.

Simultaneously, they prayed for the unknown people who lost their lives during and post stampede as local people present at the occasion stated that they saw was a dozen-odd people jumping from the bridge or getting pushed owing to the huge rush of stampede, which mela administration and state government didn't take into account to make sure the stampede did not affect their claim of Maha Kumbh's peaceful conduct.

Convener of the Gandhi Vadi Ekta Manch Sanjay Chopra demanded a memorial in memory of those who died during Maha Kumbh near the Birla bridge and also necessary steps from the administration so that in future such stampedes don't occur as Haridwar hosts numerous festive baths as well as Ardh Kumbh every six years and Maha Kumbh every twelfth year.

Activists also took a march along the very bridge, urging people to remember the deceased as they remember the beautiful, enchanting memories of the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar, which generat worldwide acclaim two years back.

Birth anniversary of Bhim Rao Ambedkar
Dalit community seeks better deal in society
Tribune News Service

Nainital, April 14
On the occasion marking the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar, members from the Dalit sections of society came forward with a charter of demands seeking a better deal in the social sphere of society for those who still continue to be on the margins.

A large number of Dalits participated in the programme organised at the Ambedkar Bhawan in Tallital area of Nainital. The programme was preceded by a procession through the town in which people from all walks of life, including school children, participated.

The prime demand aired by the representatives of the Dalit communities was immediate steps on the part of the government to check the emigration of Dalits from the mountain areas of the state.

One of the members of the Nainital Shilpkar Sabha Prahlad Arya said, “A majority of those people who migrate every year in search of livelihood are Dalits. They continue to be ignored in the development process and since they are illiterate and less aware of things, they never get to avail the benefits of the different schemes meant for their uplift. The funds that come under the schemes get lapsed.”

He further pointed that while the governments have failed to fill the existing backlog of appointments meant for the reserved categories, private enterprises too continue to resist employing people from the Dalit communities. “While caste discrimination exists openly in the rural areas, it is prevalent in a hidden form in the urban centres. But the fact is that it continues to be rampant,” he said.

The speakers at the function attacked the former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state for having failed to establish the multi purpose Ambedkar Bhawans in every district headquarters. The ministers in the BJP regime had made tall claims with regard to the construction of these bhawans. The speakers have demanded that the present Congress regime should execute the project.

It was also pointed that the landless Dalits are being harassed on the issue of being bona fide residents of the state and are being asked to furnish 50-year-old details with regard to ownership of land. It was further pointed that the large-scale migration of people from the hills has seen a decrease in reservation benefits for the marginalised sections of society in the state.

It was demanded that the Secial Component Plan (SCP) benefits be extended to villages where there is 20 per cent Dalit population instead of the existing pre-requisition of 50 per cent.

Another member of the Shilpkar Sabha Manohar Arya pointed that the Dalits are still being targeted in the social domain and even in offices casteist terms are openly used against them. He demanded that a fresh survey be carried out in the state to determine the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. A memorandum of demands was submitted to the local legislator Sarita Arya on the occasion to be taken up with the state administration.

March, cultural programme held in Pithoragarh
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, April14
A large number of people gathered here to celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti, birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar, here today. A prabhat pheri, a candlelight march and a cultural programme were organised on the occasion.

Chairman of the Baba Ambedkar Janam Diwas Sanyojan Samiti Sudarshan Tamta said Baba’s followers gathered at Gandhi Chowk early this morning to take out a prabhat pheri. “The people carried placards and photos of Dr Ambedkar and the prabhat pheri later culminated into a meeting at the Zila Parishad hall. Schoolchildren presented a cultural programme and plays based on Baba’s life there,” said Tamta.

“The Ambedkar followers later organised slide shows for students in various schools of the district and held a candlelight march in the evening in the memory of Dr Ambedkar,” said Tamta.

Gurukul mode of education best in world: Academicians
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Terming the Gurukul mode of education system as the best in the world, academicians associated with the Gurukul Mahavidyalaya on the occasion of 105th founders' day of the school, urged the students to present themselves in sync with the Gurukul culture in whatever field they make their carrer.

Chancellor of Gurukul Mahavidyalaya Dr Hari Gopal Shastri stated that since ancient time Gurukul educational pattern has been making a balance between nature and humanity so that the students become more sensitive, moralistic and patriotic.

Dr Shastri added that with the moralistic education imparted in Gurukul, the scholars are a great asset to society as in the Mackaualy mode of western education this aspect has been lagging, giving only career-oriented bookish knowledge.

School principal Keshav Prasad Upadhyay said that yagna, hawan, yoga and chanting of Vedic mantras commence the day of the students, which broadens the outlook of students as well as make them think for the upligt of society.

Gurukul students, known as Brahamcharis,demonstrated brilliant display of yoga asanas as well as elocuted vedica mantras with near perfection.

Bhajans, folk songs and other cultural programmes were also presented by the brahamcharis. Among others who graced the occasion were Mahavidyalaya Sabha members Yogendra Chauhan, Vijendra Singh, Mahesh Pratap Rana, Dr Ajay Kaushik, Dr Avnish Ohri, Mayank Chauhan, Dr Shiv Shankar Jaiswal, Dr Gyan Sabha Pradhan, Satyapal Shastri and Dr Sushil Kumar Tyagi.

Corruption preventing India from becoming global power: Maharaj
50,000 devotees attend Sadbhavna Sammelan
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 14
Revered spiritual guru Satpal Maharaj, while addressing more than 50,000 devotees from across the country at the ongoing Sadbhavna Sammelan here today, termed corruption as the main hindrance in the way to Indian becoming a global power, be it in terms of economic, military or spiritual.

Maharaj remarked that in terms of industrial-economic stride, India is in top league but in terms of spiritual development, taking into consideration our ancient legacy, "we have not attained that much."

He said: " We easily blame the system or society for wrongdoings but forget introspection of our heart and conduct, which needs to be done foremost." The annual spiritual convention concluded here today evening with more than 50,000 devotees from various states attending various spiritual discourse sessions by Satpal Maharaj, his wife Amrita Rawat and Vibhoo ji Maharaj.

Citing corruption as the menace that is affecting the growth and development of the country, Satpal Maharaj urged his followers to make sure they lead a high moralistic life so that neither they give bribe nor they take it.

He pointed out that as corruption had gone deep rooted in the system, it is high time "every one of us joins hands and makes a pledge to eradicate corruption and illegal conduct from our lives."

Fire Services Day observed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Fire Services Day was observed in Uttarakhand's capital Dehradun today.

At a function held in Dehradun, Senior Superintendent of Police GN Goswami recalled the sacrifice made by 66 firemen in 1944 Bombay dockyard fire incident, which led to observation of Fire Services Day. He stressed for better preparedness to meet all fire linked exigencies.

Chief Officer, Fire Services, Dehradun, CS Jeena, disclosed that the district has a total of 5 fire stations. He said a total of 423 big and small incidents of fire took place in the district during last year. He said lives of total of 12 persons were saved due to efforts of fire services staff.

SP City Jaswant Singh, SP Traffic Ajay Joshi and Circle Officer Pramendra Dobhal were present on the occasion.

Bahuguna frames panel to amend Transfer Act
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has constituted a three-member Cabinet subcommittee to bring amendments in the Transfer Act passed by the erstwhile Khanduri government.

The committee headed by Revenue Minister Yashpal Arya would look into the anomalies present in the Act and then present their report before the cabinet.

The committee has Urban Development Minister Preetam Panwar and Water Resource Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani as members. Principal Secretary PWD Utpal Kumar Singh is member secretary. The committee was constituted after the employees' association had pointed out the various anomalies in the Act on the issue of designating areas as accessible and inaccessible in the state.

The Transfer Act was to become effective from April 2012 but as there was all-round opposition to the Act, the newly constituted Bahuguna government decided to constitute a Cabinet subcommittee. The Chief Minister had met office bearers belonging to the recognised employees' union to seek out their views on the Transfer Act that was introduced at the fag-end of BJP rule. These suggestions would be incorporated in the Act, said Yashpal Arya,

Meanwhile, the BJP has protested against the Congress government's decision to take a re-look at the decisions taken during the BJP government.

The Act was passed to ensure level playing field for all employees and ensure teachers and medical professions did not stay put in the plain areas. The Congress government should not politicise the whole issue but should bring changes only if there is a genuine need, said BS Chufal, Uttarakhand BJP chief.

‘Doon lacks quality higher education’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Pro Vice-Chancellor, Himgiri University, Dr Bhanu Pattanayak has expressed concern over the lack of quality higher education in Dehradun.

During Bharat Ratan Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant memorial lecture on the occasion of Dr Pant’s 125th birthday anniversary celebrations at Marshall School here today, Dr Pattanayak said while Dehradun had many best schools, the higher education was comparatively not the same. “As the head of Himgiri University, Dehradun, it is my endeavour to see that the best of higher education is available in Dehradun,” he pointed out. — TNS

Need to develop eco-friendly technologies stressed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Chairman and Managing Director, ONGC, Sudhir Vasudeva has stressed on the need to develop energy efficient and environment-friendly technologies.

Delivering the IIP foundation day lecture at IIP, Dehradun, as part of institute’s 52nd foundation day, Sudhir Vasudeva said that the need of the day is to develop energy efficient and environment-friendly technologies, which should be globally competitive. He stressed on the need to develop biochemical processes as these are known to be less energy intensive and to adopt simulation and modelling techniques effectively. He advised that IIP and ONGC being in close proximity should complement each other's efforts in achieving their goals.

Sudhir Vasudeva focused on brain drain, and said: "For starters, we could have prevented the now infamous 'brain drain.' While the genesis of this trend is generally believed to be of the fifties and sixties vintage, it is even today alive and kicking. Consider these numbers that were placed before Parliament in support of our institutions of higher learning in 2008. As many as 12 per cent scientists, 38 per cent doctors in the US are Indians, and in NASA alone, 36 per cent or almost 4 out of 10 scientists are Indians."

Referring to India’s spending on research and development, Vasudeva said presently India's R & D spends as percentage of its GDP is merely 0.9. Director, IIP, Garg informed the audience that the institute started functioning in 1960 on April 14th, which is celebrated as its foundation day. He said that the institute has been contributing to the growth of petroleum refining and petrochemical industry for the last 51 years.

During these five decades IIP has developed about 78 technologies, processes and products. A large number of them have been commercialised against global competition. Realising the finite availability of fossil fuels the research has been started in the areas of alternative fuels, including biofuels, biojet fuel, waste plastic to petroleum products etc.

Amrita Rawat wants spiritual, adventure tourism developed
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
State Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat expressed dissatisfaction over the progress report of tourism in the state. Rawat held a meeting with officials of Tourism Department yesterday where she stressed the need to develop tourism related to religion, spiritualism, adventure, historical venues and yoga.

She drew attention toward complaints often made by national and international tourists regarding dirty toilets and paucity of basic amenities such as drinking water on tourist spots, for which, she said urgent steps needed to be taken in this regard. She was also unhappy with the unclean rest house and poorly maintained roads, leading to tourist destinations and directed to take quick measures.

She clarified that the officials required to prepare a comprehensive tourism plan rather than focusing only on Char Dham Yatra.

The other facilities, which she said were important to add were a high-end hotel near Jollygrant Airport and hotels and motels enroute to pilgrimage destinations. In a bid to increase adventure tourism, more adventure courses should be organised for academic institutions and volunteers. The state was required to take a cue to develop tourism by highlighting the local culture and cuisine on the lines of Goa, she said.

She was informed that a number of tourists increased from 111.36 lakh in 2000 to 268.09 lakh in 2011. New ropeways are coming up on Jankichatti-Yamunotri, Dehradun-Mussoorie, Thooligaad-Purnagiri, Rambada-Kedarnath and Rishikesh-Neelkanth routes. A solid waste management centre had been set up at Jankichatti, Son Prayag and Joshimath.

Three more are being set up at Karnprayag, Gauchar, Gangotri and Gobindghat.

CPI (ML) convention from May 13

Nainital, April 14
The first state convention of the CPI (ML) will be held at Haldwani on May 13 and 14 with a motive to enhance the participation of the Left in the Uttarakhand politics in the days to come.

The road map for holding the convention was drawn at the meeting of the state unit of the party held on April 8 and 9 at the state office in the Motinagar locality. It was decided that the venue of the convention would be named Comrade Deepak Bose Smriti Sthal in the memory of Bose who had spent a substantial part of his political life in Uttarakhand.

According to the state in charge of the party Raja Bahuguna, "The convention will open with a seminar on Challenge for making a corruption free, mafia free, happy Uttarakhand and the Left". The main speaker at the seminar will be the party general secretary Comrade Deepankar Bhattacharya. The other speakers would include Vijay Rawat of the CPM, Samar Bhandari of the CPI and Raja Bahuguna. — TNS

Golf carts to replace rickshaws on Mall Road
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, April 14
If all goes well, the “Queen of Hills” is about to become the first town to use eco-friendly battery-operated golf carts in place of traditional rickshaws to avoid traffic congestion.

The district administration has provided about Rs 20 lakh from the innovative fund for the purchase of five golf carts that will cater to tourists on Mall Road in place of the traditional rickshaws this summer season. This pilot project was approved at a development review meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary in Dehradun recently.

Municipal Council (MC) president OP Uniyal said in order to avoid traffic congestion and facilitating easy travel on Mall Road they had at the meeting proposed the use of golf carts, which was accepted by the administration.

“With the introduction of the golf carts, Mussoorie will become the first town in the country to use a technology that is not only eco-friendly but also reduces physical exertion as entailed by the rickshaws,” added Uniyal.

MC Executive Officer Rohitash Sharma said a detailed project report was being prepared in this regard and Mussoorie would soon see golf carts fitted with the state of the art technology running in the town soon.

Meanwhile, the environmentalists have welcomed the move and are of the view that the MC should also look into the prospects of using solar-powered rickshaws, if available in the country.

Display prices of PDS articles prominently, says DM
Tribune News Service

Nainital, April 14
Public distribution system (PDS) outlet owners in Udham Singh Nagar have been asked to prominently display the prices of various PDS articles being sold by them.

District Magistrate PS Jangpangi on Friday ordered the SDMs and Tehsildars to keep a vigil on the PDS outlets across the district. He ordered that ration card holders must be given foodgrains and other articles as per the norms.

District Supplies Officer NC Semwal has asked the people possessing the cards meant for the Above Poverty Line, Below Poverty Line and the Antyodaya categories to avail the amount of foodgrains that they are entitled to have under the PDS from the outlets. He pointed out that if the people are unable to get the foodgrains at the listed price they can contact either his office at 242458 or the complaints' cell of the Atal Khadyann Yojana at 7830605490.

The administration had been receiving a series of complaints with regard to the irregularities on the part of those running PDS outlets in various parts of the district.