Dehradun, April 27
It is troubled times for patients in most district hospitals of the state as medical officers and specialists leave the hospitals to take up duties for the Char Dham yatra.

With the first leg of the yatra already on and most of the medical officers on their way to perform duties on the Char Dham route, the authorities of Doon Hospital, Coronation Hospital and Female District Hospital have already started feeling the heat.

A total of 75 doctors from various government hospitals are now on the roster. They will be performing duties for a month for the yatra. “Six doctors from Doon Hospital will also be leaving for the Char Dham yatra,” said Dr BC Pathak, Principal Superintendent, Doon Hospital.

A total of 14 temporary relief posts have been created on the route, where along with doctors, portable oxygen cylinders will also be available in case yatris fall ill.

Two women doctors from Doon Female Hospital too have been put on the roster for the yatra. “The situation is expected to get worse, once we relieve more doctors for the yatra,” said Dr Archana Srivastav, CMS Doon Hospital.

Both Dr Shikha Jangpangi and Shalini Dimri, who have now been put on the roster duty for the yatra, were giving double shifts in Female District Hospital, after two doctors had resigned recently.

Besides the medical staff, 98 pharmacist too will be giving duties on the Char Dham route, putting into disarray the complete medical facilities. In addition, the Health Department has deployed 63 ambulances on the yatra route, out of which 31 are from the department and remaining 32 by the108 service.

Dehradun, April 27
Chairman of the Uttarakhand Wakf Board (UWB) Rao Sharafat Ali has finally been removed from the post due to allegations of irregularities and misusing his position for personal gain.

He was considered to be a close confidant of former Social Welfare Minister Matbar Singh Kandari and enjoyed his patronage as long as Kandari held this portfolio. After Kandari was replaced by Balwant Singh Bhoriyal, Ali's countdown for removal began.

The inquiry was ordered into all suspected deals and decisions he had taken in the last two years.

Elected member of the UWB Razia Begh, who had been vocal in opposing Ali's controversial decisions, welcomed the state government's decision and said, "It is indeed heartening that the UWB finally got rid of a corrupt chairman and is equally sad that it took so long to remove him. The BJP government favoured him all along."

Now the Congress must replace the nominated members of the BJP government with its own people. As far as elected members are concerned, the government can replace two former MLAs, Mohd Shahzad and Taslimuddin, who faced drubbing in the Assembly elections, with winning candidates, MLAs Furkan and Sarbat Karim.

Rest of the elected members, who are inclined to the Congress, must be allowed to complete the remaining period of three years. "If the Congress attempted to replace them, they will go to the court against the decision", she said.

She said the Congress must not lose time in putting the entire team together so that the board could complete all pending tasks, such as conducting a survey of the Wakf's properties in the state and those properties which were fraudulently sold or encroached upon by Ali's men.

The rules of the UWB, which had not been streamlined despite the existence of the body since 2004, are to be undertaken on priority.

Qamar Siddiqui, caretaker of Dhamawala mosque, said, "The state government's decision in expelling Rao Sharafat Ali was due for long. This man, who should have helped the poor and needy, indulged in corruption and started making money from the donation at the Piran Kaliyar shrine and awarding tenders to his own associates and family members".

"An inquiry against him must be initiated so that his successors could learn a lesson from it and won't repeat the same mistake. Besides that, a probe must be conducted against the other nominated members of the BJP who were conniving with Ali. A new team of the UWB must be put in place by the state government soon so that it could proceed with its functions smoothly without any further delay", he said.

Dehradun, April 27
There will be no Janta Milan programmes in the coming three days at the Chief Minister residence.

As per the information received from the Chief Minister Office, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will be out of station on April 28, 29 and 30. Hence, there will be no Janta Milan programmes on these days. The Chief Minister listens to the problems of general public at his officials residence daily from 9.30 to 10.30 am.

Dehradun, April 27
Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar has assured the redressal of the concerns of class IV employees of the state. Subhash Kumar gave the assurance after meeting a delegation of the Uttarakhand Class IV Employees Association in Dehradun today.

The employees are demanding fulfillment of salary-linked demands. Kumar said a committee had been set up by the state government which was looking into the concerns of the employees. He said the committee was studying the salary-structure system of class IV employees of other states.

The delegation was led by Dalbir Singh Mehta.

Haridwar, April 27
Kin of a newly wed woman, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances along the Ganga canal last evening, today gheraoed the Jwalapur police station and blocked traffic for hours. Anita had got married three months ago.

Members of the deceased's family alleged that the police got the post-mortem examination of Anita conducted without even informing them. Alleging a conspiracy by her in-laws, her family demanded the second post-mortem examination and said they would not perform the last rites till then.

However, as Jwalapur police station officials tried to delay the matter, aggrieved kin gheraoed the police station.

The victim's brother, Dheeraj, alleged that the police was trying to hide the matter as he feared the role of her sister's in-laws behind her death.

He said they used to harass Anita for bringing more dowry.

The protesters also burnt tyres on the inner city road, blocking traffic for almost an hour. Heavy police force was deployed at the spot.

The matter was resolved only after SP (city) Yogendra Singh Rawat's intervention, who gave them an assurance with regard to the second post-mortem examination by a panel of doctors.

Meanwhile, many women organisations have come forward in support of the family.

Dehradun, April 27
The Reeta Sharma Memorial Award was conferred upon publisher Ranu Bisht Oberoi at a simple ceremony at MKP College here yesterday. The award is given by the family of Reeta Sharma, a noted social worker, poetess and lecturer at MKP College, who died in 2006 due to a prolonged illness, to women who create a niche for themselves in society despite all odds.

Ranu has been running a printing press in the name of ‘Samay Sakshi’ in the city for the last 15 years and is promoting regional and vernacular literature. Till date, she has published 30 books based on the life around the Garhwal region.

The going has not been easy for Ranu as the odds were stacked against her from the day one. She said, “I never faced gender bias from my parents and hence I grew up as a confident woman who knew what she wanted and how to get it. But when I decided to set up my own printing press, which was quite an off-beat profession for a woman in those days, people would enquire from my mother about my late homecoming at night. They would hurl questions at me which made me quite uncomfortable. But it could not shake my resolve to continue strengthening my base in my new career. Here I am today, quite successful and happy to have opted to become a publisher.”

Elated at the award, which is third as she had got two awards, Ranu said, “Women are not less than men in pursuing career. In fact they are capable and adept at multi-tasking. They must set out to achieve whatever they want in their life with determination and hardwork.”

Dehradun April 27
The two-day cultural fest "Lamhe- 2012" was organised at Institute of Management Studies (IMS) here today.

The event on the first day witnessed a large gathering of students from all departments of the college. The enthusiastic students not only presented their skills and talent on the stage but also participated in the fest with great fervour.

The programme commenced with the welcome of the chief guest, Professor Durg Singh Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor, Uttarakhand Technical University, who later lighted a ceremonial lamp. Chauhan exhorted students to work hard on every aspect of life and bring good name to their college as well as to the family.

He also encouraged them to participate in the extra-curricular activities apart from academics for better development of mind, body and soul.

In a cultural show, students presented solo songs, group dance comedy show while participating in various competitions, including collage making, painting, rangoli, instrumental music and others.

In today's event, a team of MBA course bagged the first position in rangoli competition while BBA was declared first in collage making. However, the attraction of the day was "Fashion show" where students, dressed in colorful and stylish outfits, walked on the ramp and left everybody spellbound.

Dehradun, April 27
Prof KK Vishwas from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, visited the Research and Development Department of Graphic Era University (GEU) here today to made it aware about the modern day technologies and inventions.

Prof Vishwas gave a lecture to the students and the faculty of the institute on ‘Application of Artificial Intelligence to Image Processing’. He said, “The pace with which technology is heading towards future, it will surely make life much easy for human beings. Robots are working on this technology while the manufacturing of other machines based on the sensory technology is under way.”

He emphasised on the role of ‘3D Technology’ and on micro processor in the field of research and technology. Prof Kamal Ghansala, chairman of the GEU, thanked Prof Vishwas for visiting the institute.

Dehradun, April 27
The Uttarakhand Child Protection Advocacy Network yesterday called upon the government to curb the practice of female infanticide in the state and also ensure the rights of children are protected.

At a meeting of Uttarakhand Child Protection Advocacy Network, Gajender Nautiyal of Sri Bhuwneshwari Mahila Ashram said effective steps should be taken for curbing female infanticide. "The laws should be implemented stringently to curb female infanticide," he said. —TNS

Dehradun, April 27
The Doon School and Welham Boys School continued their winning streak on the second day of the All-India Afzal Khan Memorial Basketball Tournament under way at The Doon School, here today.

In the morning session, Scindia School, Gwalior, defeated Meerut Public School, 56-18; Welham Boys School, Dehradun, beat Yadvindra Public School, Patiala, 40-18,

The Doon School trounced LaMartinere, Kolkata, 46-33 and Delhi Public School beat Lawrence School, Sanawar, in a tough match 56-51.

In the evening session, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, beat LaMartinere, Kolkata, 54-30, Lawrence School, Sanawar, defeated Pine Groove School, 39-31, The Doon School beat Meerut Public School, Meerut, 28-13 and Welham Boys School, Dehradun, beat Delhi Public School, New Delhi, 62-51.

Dehradun, April 27
The MKP Girls College team won the Second Welham Girls Invitational Hockey Tournament by defeating Welham Girls School (A) 2-0 in the final match played on the Welham Girls School grounds here today.

Both goals were scored by Pooja Bhatt in the 3rd and 7th minutes of the game. Welham Girls also tried hard through out the match to reduce the margin but could not succeed. Later, CK Mehrishi, former Sports Authority of India (SAI) hockey coach, who was the chief guest on the occasion, gave away the prizes to the players.

On the occasion, Mehrishi called for the laying of astro truf for hockey in Dehradun and requested the school managements to invest in it. He said the SAI would also help in such a venture. Shreya Gupta of Welham Girls was declared the best player while Medghavi was declared the most promising player of the tournament. Alisha Joy of Moravian Institute was adjudged the best defender while Esha was declared the best goal keeper. Jyotsna Brar, Principal, Welham Girls School, was also present.