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NCTC to be effective tool in countering terror: CM
Providing better facilities to labourers must: Saint
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Victimisation of woman in the name of witch-hunting
People demand statue of statehood fighter Badoni
Horticulture Secy tells officials to implement schemes
face of the week
Scrapped hydro power
projects
Alva's greetings on Buddha Purnima
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NCTC to be effective tool in countering terror: CM
Dehradun, May 5 He said the proxy war in Jammu and Kashmir, the spread of jihadi terrorism, emergence of Indian Mujahiddin and increasing cross-border infiltration posed serious challenges to the internal security of the country, according to a press note issued by the Uttarakhand government. Bahuguna said the battle against terrorism had been fought on an ad hoc basis and by conceptualising the NCTC the Central government had sought to raise a counter-terrorism architecture that would collect, evaluate and analyse intelligence and coordinate counter-terrorism operations. “The NCTC will also have an encrypted data base and communication facilities networking nearly 500 intelligence agencies keyed on counter-terrorism,” he said, adding that this would undoubtedly make the sharing of intelligence and the execution of follow-up operations efficient, faster and better coordinated. Bahuguna regarding Section 43 A of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) said, “Legally speaking there seems to be no problem with the provisions as the UAPA is within the legislative competence of Parliament. Designating any power under this Act, therefore, is well within the authority of the Central government.” He added the NCTC while exercising this power would have to follow all requirements of Section 43 A and any lapse in this regard would be open to judicial scrutiny. This would also ensure greater judicial accountability on the part of Intelligence Bureau (IB) dealing with counter-terrorism operations. On the objection raised by some Chief Ministers to the NCTC that it violated the existing arrangement of the distribution of powers between the Centre and the states as enshrined in the Constitution, Bahuguna asserted that it ought not to be forgotten that the NCTC mandate was to draw up plans and coordinate action for counter-terrorism. He said the NCTC would have a Standing Committee comprising heads of anti-terrorism organisations of each state. The committee would ensure that the NCTC functioned as the central point of control and coordination for all counter-terrorism measures and the presence of representatives from the states would ensure greater awareness, understanding and accountability with regard to its activities. Bahuguna underlined several instances where operational intelligence and follow up plans, painstakingly developed at the personal level were lost due to lack of professional experience, legal-jurisdictional problems and delays in tying up logistics at local levels. He said the NCTC, having uncontaminated access to the subject of interest, would be able to substantially cover this gap. The Chief Minister said taking advantage of its nationwide reach, information gathered by the NCTC during search operations or initial questioning of the suspects could be used to mount supplementing operations in any part of the country with the involvement of the local police. “This would set in motion a chain of counter-terrorist actions in real time,” he said. Bahuguna said post 26/11, more than 51 modules propagating radicalism had been busted, nearly 600 extremists had been arrested and about 43 terrorist attacks had been prevented by the intelligence and security forces. “The states and the Centre had a common objective of making India safe for its people and strong, an effective NCTC would serve this objective by playing a pivotal role in combating the terrorist threat,” Bahuguna said.
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Providing better facilities to labourers must: Saint
Haridwar, May 5 He was speaking at the national convention of the Bharat Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) central executive members here. He said the defence sector alone could not make the country a superpower and labourers play a vital role in achieving economic stability. National chief of the union Sajji Narayan said in any country’s development, labourers played a pivotal role as do the farmers. Without either of them, no country could think of prosperity and development. Urging the Centre and respective state governments to specifically chalk out policies that cater to the interests of the labourers, Narayan added that exploitation and providence of basic amenities to workers should be the prime priority in framing such policies. Thanking the labourers for coming out in open in the February 28th nationwide strike called by trade unions, Narayan said the labour unity was one aspect through which they could bend governments and company management for looking into their problems. The convention is being attended by 48 executive members, which will conclude tomorrow. At the convention, various related issues are being dwelled upon and a renewed manifesto of the union is also being chalked out. EPF rates, wages, conducive working environment, time-bound hike in salary, inflation bonus and other related issues are also being discussed in the
convention.
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Victimisation of woman in the name of witch-hunting
Mussoorie, May 5 Roshni Devi, aged 55 from Thapla Village in Jaunpur block of district Tehri Garhwal, living with her husband and six children, including two daughters, has appealed to the media to protect her from continous victimisation after branded as a witch. She had also filed similar complaints to the patwari when the village was under the Revenue Department, 10years back but no action was initiated then. According to Roshni Devi, the harassment in the name of witch-hunting continued forcing her to file a fresh complaint in the month of March this year to the police, the state Women Rights Commission and even district administration but no heed was paid to her complaint, making perpetrators more fearless. The powerful coterie of around 21 men, colluding with the local “tantric’ or an “Ojha,” in order to usurp her family land, branded her as witch or dayan and accused her of bringing misfortune to others in the village. Consequently, she was ousted from her village nine months back and was once again stopped from entering her house yesterday when she was trying to recover leftover utensils yesterday. Roshni Devi, fearing for her life, returned to Thatyur town late night yesterday and finally mustered courage of narrating the incident to the media persons today morning. She also requested protection from such elements as she feared for her life if the perpetrators were not apprehended. The Kempty police station in-charge Inder Singh Bisht after being apprised by the media rushed to the spot today morning to investigate the matter. The village panchayat meeting was called in haste by the village pradhan Bachan Singh where the perpetrators refused of any such misgiving in the presence of the police and counter-alleged that Roshni Devi was trying to flare up the sentiments in the village by making false accusations. However, the victim’s son Manmohan Singh accused the police of siding with the perpetrators. He further said that the police instead of arresting the perpetrators was playing the role of mediator and forcing them of taking back their complaint. Manmohan Singh also recalled that the same powerful coterie of men from the village had ridiculed his mother and stopped them from attending any auspicious function in the village and had even tried to throw a bucket of human excreta on her few years back. Roshni Devi’s daughter Kavita also alleged that some of the men in past have also tried to break in the house when they were residing in the village and threatened of rape if the family did not leave the village. When contacted the station in-charge of Kempty Inder Singh Bisht, refuting the claim, said that police had investigated the matter without any prejudice earlier on receiving the complaint filed a few months back. He also informed that the women had complained few years back too and during the investigation conducted it was revealed that while the family was attending a religious function in the village, a dispute had arisen with local tantric whose body was believed to be under the spell of local deity Nagraja. The local tantric branding her as a witch had refused her entry into the dancing area, leading to her ostracisation and finally ouster from the village. The police then had investigated the matter and found no such proof of victimisation, added Inder Singh Bisht. He, however, said that they have reopened the case once again and are investigating the matter in detail and if any person was found guilty of such act, he will be apprehended by the police. No arrest was made till the filing of the report. Meanwhile, the women activists from Mussoorie have termed this act as a heinous crime against women and are of the view that the existence of witchcraft in the state even today showed the dismal level of education and awareness in the state. Social activist working for uplift of women in Mussoorie Geeta Kumain said that violence against women, accused of being witches, is generally present and pervasive. This violence can be so severe and dangerous that it can result in the death of women who are accused. She also said that mostly greed for property is one motivation behind witch-hunting. “Another reason for witch-hunting was the struggle for gender equality as it is also a factor in the persecution against women in addition to poverty and economic inequalities,” added Kumain. She also demanded stern action against the perpetrators so that it becomes a lesson for others around the villages in the
area.
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People demand statue of statehood fighter Badoni
Several organisations, statehood agitators and people who took part in the statehood agitation in the erstwhile Uttar Pradesh era are now pressing for a statue at Ranipur Mod-Tibdi railway track intersection for this great leader. A letter has been also written to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna in this regard by Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Manch along with state Urban Development Minister Preetam Singh Pawar for installing a statue at the said place. Veteran statehood fighter JP Pandey said that since the creation of Uttarakhand, they had been lobbying for Badoni's statute but somehow or the other no government showed interest but now with Vijay Bahuguna as Chief Minister and Preetam Pawar as Cabinet Minister, who has been himself as a statehood fighter, they have high hopes that their demand will be met. Uday Ram Semwal of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal said that Badoni played a pivotal role in igniting statehood movement across the state. He added that on August 2,1994, Indra Mani Badoni started an indefinite fast unto death at Pauri, headquarters of Garhwal division, to press for the demand of a separate state. Further, on August 7,1997 he was forcibly sent to Meerut prison by Uttar Pradesh government and later shifted to AIIMS, New Delhi, on medical grounds. He was constantly vying for overall development of Garhwal and Kumaon and was in favour for inclusion of Haridwar-Roorkee in the new state. "We need to give him due recognition in Haridwar, too, as the development spree in this region has been possible due to the efforts of statehood fighters like Indra Mani Badoni; so a statue will be a befitting tribute so that the younger generation knows about him more," said Meera Raturi, statehood activist.
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Horticulture Secy tells officials to implement schemes
Dehradun, May 6 At a review meting held at the Secretariat today, Fonia said these projects could play a vital role in giving push to horticulture activities in the state. The National Horticulture Technology Mission was launched in Uttarakhand to provide holistic growth of the horticulture sector in India and to enhance horticulture production. At the meeting, it was also decided to popularise the plantation of orchid and tulips in the state and utilise barren land at
Sitasain. The Secretary said to tackle the problem of the shortage of staff, vacant posts in the department should also be filled.
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face of the week
She has directed the police officials to take the public into confidence and encourage them to
assist the police in controlling crime. Providing a much-needed relief to the police personnel, who were subjugated under extreme pressure to be in field from morning till mid night to rein in the crime, she judiciously divided their responsibilities and working
hours. She is specifically concerned about the escalating crime rate against women. “I am intending to prepare a work plan soon in order to minimise the crimes committed against women such as stalking, eve-teasing, rape, domestic violence, dowry etc,” she says. Garg, who hails from Delhi, studied B Tech in Electronics. She says, “Though I was an engineering student, I was more interested in human beings than machines. I wanted to serve society through civil services. My first preference was to become an IAS officer but destiny had some other plans for me and I got commissioned as an IPS officer in 2005. I have had a satisfactory and fruitful career.” She fondly remembers her first posting as Rudrapur SP, which was demanding but she sailed through successfully. It is indeed a challenge for a woman police official to lead a team of police personnel. Under such circumstances, the women officials are considered to be resorting to either aggression or soft approach to assert their authorities. Garg opines, “The women officials should not be looked at a from different prism.” She firmly believes that women need not to be conscious of their gender or be vulnerable but must work sincerely to prove their mettle.
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Scrapped hydro power
projects
Dehradun, May 5 In a statement issued today, Harish Rawat said the local villagers have
also suffered due the scrapping of the three hydro projects on Bhaigrathi rivers in Uttarakhand and, thus, need to be compensated. Rawat said he was of the firm view that a balance between environment and development was must for the betterment of the
state. He also favoured effective measures to protect Ganga and Yamuna rivers and asserted that both rivers were
fast becoming most polluted rivers. Rawat also advocated green bonus fund for Uttarakhand. The Union Minister said sectors like horticulture and eco tourism must be given adequate importance as they can be major source of employment
for locals.
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46 students attend photography workshop
Dehradun, May 5 As many as 46 students from 18 institutions attended the workshop. There was representation from SBS, PGI, Ballawala, CJM, St Joseph's Academy, Touchwood School, GRD Academy, DIT, Welham Girls' School, Brooklyn School, Olympus High School, Wildlife Institute, Purkul Youth Development Society and others. Bhumesh gave tips to the students on how to shoot using natural and window light. There were specific instructions to everyone restricting them to use the flash of the camera. The workshop was conducted in the form of a discussion, where Bhumesh highlighted the use of natural light through a set of pictures clicked by him. The second day began with the critical analysis of the pictures clicked on the previous day.
Every picture was discussed in detail and the positives and negatives were highlighted.
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Victory for St Thomas in cricket
Dehradun, May 5 St Thomas won by 6 wickets. Batting first, Carman School, Premnagar, scored a total of 39 runs
with Aman scoring highest 13 runs. St Thomas easily achieved the target score. In the girls' category, St Thomas beat Ann Mary School by 7 runs. Batting first St Thomas scored 54 runs with Neharika scoring 12 runs. Ann Mary School was all out of 47 runs. Chief Guest, Principal, Constancia School, Col AK Pundir (retd), gave away the prizes.
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Pratap section triumphs
Dehradun, May 5 In the second match between Shivaji and Chandragupta, Chandragupta won 5-1 with cadet Raushan (2), Purushottam (1), Prem (1), Vishal (1) and cadet Avinash scored the lone goal on the The referees for the matches were Lance Naik Munda, Havaldar Jagwinder Singh, Sub-Maj BB Thapa and Sub Kundan Singh.
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Alva's greetings on Buddha Purnima
Dehradun, May 5 She said the teachings of ahimsa; compassion and universal brotherhood given by Lord Buddha were very relevant in today's world.
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Haridwar, May 5
Dehradun, May 5