Use of satellite phones in prohibited areas worries security agencies
Pithoragarh, May 6
Security agencies have expressed concern over the frequent use of satellite phones by foreign tourists in prohibited areas on the China border. The incidents of use of satellite phones by tourists have occurred on the Pindari route in Bageswar district near the China border, according to police and intelligence officials.

More than 10 lakh devotees took a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Buddha Poornima in Haridwar on Sunday. Elaborate security arrangments had been made to ensure a peaceful completion of the festival. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Facilities at Vaishno Devi shrine dwarf Char Dhams'
In the past nearly one-and-a-half-month since the Congress government led by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has taken over the reigns of the state, the day-to-day governance has gone for a six.

Army jawan killed as car falls into gorge
Pithoragarh, May 6
An Army jawan who was attached with the Kumaon Regimental Centre, Ranikhet, was killed while three others sustained serious injuries when the car they were travelling in fell into a gorge in Almora last night.

Eco vans to replace Alto cars under KKS programme
Dehradun, May 5
Maruti Eco vans would soon replace Alto cars being used as pick-up vans to drop women from home to hospital for and after the delivery under the Kushiyon Ki Sawari (KKS) drop back programme under way in the state.

Doon International School lift basketball title
Dehradun, May 6
Doon International School today lift the trophy of the 24th All-India Inter-school WC Kashyap Memorial Basketball Tournament played at Pestle Weed College here.



The Doon International School team with the won the 24th All-India Inter- School WC Kashyap Memorial Basketball Tournament trophy in Dehradun on Sunday. A Tribune photograph

Dooley Open Badminton Tournament
Dehradun, May 6
The 1st Rev. Bro. Dooley Open Badminton Tournament in the honour of Bro. Dooley, a former Principal of St Joseph's Academy, who himself was a very good athlete, started here yesterday.

Dehradun, May 6
The month-old agitation of more than 300 workers of both Satyam and Rockman Auto Limited, Haridwar-based companies, came to an end today in the afternoon with workers of Satyam striking an agreement with the management in the late evening, a day before Rockman group workers broke off

their 15-day fast and packed up to leave the venue, Parade Ground. Their persistence did not pay off at last.

The Satyam group joined hands with the management after the latter agreed to take back six suspended leaders of workers' union out of total 27.

The exasperation on workers' faces was writ large as they had been lying neglected in the Parade Ground for all these days with neither police, administration nor media taking any notice of their struggle or presence in the town. The novelty of their cause, too, had worn off with time in the absence of any sustained cooperation from main political or social parties or organisations. The move of Labour Department to embroil them in a court case, slapped on them on April 20, broke their backs as the workers were not ready to wage a long battle on their demands. Their financial condition was on the verge of the breakdown and morale, too, was sinking with no one paying any heed to their second 15-day-old fast. The police did not seem interested in burning their hands after dragging the first batch of 11 members of both groups, who were on fast, on April 15 and stuffing the rest of them in jail while earning censure from media and various political and social organisations. The matter reached to such a juncture at present that Rockman group had to admit four of it's fasting co-workers in government hospital on their own, after their health began deteriorating. It was on April 4 they had sat in Parade Ground on their demand for the reinstatement of expelled leaders who were fighting for a raise in salary structure. Just two days after the agitated members were put into jail, the management had shown some signs of preparedness for reconciliation, but given the hard stance of union leaders, they soon backtracked.

Satyam, where the workers' strike took place for the first time, took the initiative in assuaging some concerns of theirs, which set the ball in motion for their return to the workplace and live a normal life. The stiffness on the part of the management of Rockman, where the workers resorted to strike for the second time, was not melting at all.

Now the workers of Satyam are disappointed and are packing their bags to move to Delhi to put pressure on the headquarters of the company.

Pithoragarh, May 6
Security agencies have expressed concern over the frequent use of satellite phones by foreign tourists in prohibited areas on the China border. The incidents of use of satellite phones by tourists have occurred on the Pindari route in Bageswar district near the China border, according to police and intelligence officials.

“We have been informed by Army sources that some foreign tourists have used a satellite phone at the Phurkia rest house, 70 km from Bageswar town, at a height of 12,000 feet on the Bageswar-Pindari route, but we could not locate the place as the weather at there was unfriendly,” said Nivedita Kukreti, SP, Bageswar district.

Intelligence sources said the situation had arisen as neither the police had any equipment to trace the satellite phones being used in the higher reaches nor the district had any system in place to have a single place registration facility for all tourists going to the high Himalayan valleys for trekking. “In the absence of these facilities, we can neither locate the place where the satellite phones were used nor trace the group of tourists that said to have sneaked into neighbouring Chamoli district,” said Kukreti.

They said, “It was the seventh such incident when foreign tourists were found to have used satellite phones in restricted areas in this part of the Himalayas. This is also not known that these foreigners were not informed about our laws or they did it deliberately. Since 2010 foreign tourists had been found using satellite phones in the Chamoli, Munsiyari, Rishikesh and Pindari areas along the China border. Almost all of them went untraceable due to lack of necessary equipment with the police deputed in the higher reaches in the border districts of Pithoragarh, Bageswar, Chamoli and Uttarkashi,” said the sources.

“We traced the use of satellite phones, which is banned in India, in the Milam area of Munsiyari in 2010, but could not find the tourists who were using them as they sneaked into Bageswar from some high Himalayan route,” said JS Rathod, SDM, Munsiyari in Pithoragarh district

The Chamoli police also denied having any information about foreign tourists having satellite phones entering the district from high Himalayan points. “The Bageswar SP has informed us that foreign tourists, who were using satellite phones in prohibited areas on the China border, have entered Chamoli district, but we have no information about their activities in the district,” said P. Renuka Devi, SP, Chamoli.

The Army has taken these incidents seriously. It thinks China might be trying to get information about activities on this side of the border after India started strengthening infrastructure along the China border to counter the neighbouring country’s built up in Tibet. “India has an open border with Nepal, which is posing a serious threat, as satellite phones can be easily sourced from that country,” said a military intelligence source. 

In the past nearly one-and-a-half-month since the Congress government led by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has taken over the reigns of the state, the day-to-day governance has gone for a six. The state administration had been in limbo since November 2011 in anticipation of the state assembly elections and the resultant model code of conduct.

The common man of the state reeling under inefficiency, corruption and maladministration expected that a new state government would bring in some change in their lives by providing them basic infrastructure. But they were disappointed as a fractured mandate at the hustings led to horse-trading and a tug of war within the ruling Congress.

While, the Congress with the help of Independents formed its government, the factionalism within the ruling Congress has failed to subside. Instead, it has become more pronounced with discipline and propriety at its lowest ebb. The banner of revolt raised by the Union Minister of Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat against the decision of the party high command to appoint Vijay Bahuguna has been simmering.

Harish Rawat has not let any opportunity go to undermine the authority of the Chief Minister. During the first visit of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to the Kumaon region, known as the political fiefdom of Harish Rawat, the conduct of party legislators and leaders belonging to both factions was far from responsible. Three Pithoragarh legislators first boycotted the meeting of the Chief Minister on the pretext that a police official misbehaved with them.

At Almora also, workers of pro and anti-Harish Rawat factions quarrelled publicly denting the image of the state Congress government. Many of the ministers owning allegiance to Harish Rawat factions have started work after a long period that too halfheartedly.

On the administrative front, while the Chief Minister has been spending more time away from the state capital, there has been utter chaos and anarchy. There is no clarity in the administrative reshuffle and none seems to be in control. The departments of some of the officials are being frequently changed probably due to political interference, pressures or some other considerations.

While all these things are on in the corridors of power, the sufferings of the common man has multiplied. The summer season has added to the woes of the common man as power crisis has hit the state. The state has failed to arrange power from outside sources as there is no money to purchase power.

The state government sacked the Chairman of Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) but it did not benefit the common man who is going without power for hours in the state capital. The situation in the hilly and remote regions could be imagined as without power, the pumping of water supply also gets affected.

In the wake of a tottering state government, the bureaucracy has become totally unbridled. In the recent transfers, a District Magistrate refused to join duties at Chamoli district where the annual pilgrimage to Badrinath and Kedarnath has started.

The state administration was also completely exposed during the first few days of the annual Char Dham yatra. The weather played spoilsport as pilgrims on their way to these shrines were caught in unprecedented unseasonal snowfall. But it also exposed the tall claims of the state administration of making arrangements for the annual yatra.

Nine pilgrims lost their lives to exhaustion and extreme cold weather. The state administration was found completely incompetent to deal with the situation. The Army stations at Joshimath on the instruction of the central command came to the rescue of the pilgrims. The Army not only rescued the pilgrims caught on the route to Kedarnath, but also provided food and gave medical aid to the famished pilgrims. Not only pilgrims returning from Kedarnath, but even from other three dhams of Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri have horrifying tales of harassment and exploitation in extreme weather conditions.

The roads were in a bad state. To top it all, bus operators also went on strike at Rishikesh for two days stalling the yatra.

Uttarakhand came into being in November 2000 but in the past more than 11 years, no effort has been made to improve or provide better facilities to the pilgrims of the Char Dham yatra.

In contrast, Vaishno Devi shrine, a much smaller temple near Jammu as compared to Char Dhams, has been constantly receiving more and more pilgrims just because of the facilities being provided by the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. More than 1.5 crore pilgrims visit the Vaishno Devi shrine board every year and this number is increasing.

The vision of former J&K Governor Jagmohan, who took over the shrine and provided excellent facilities for the pilgrims, has transformed the economic lives of the people of the entire Jammu region.

The experience of Dr Anil Joshi, founder of Himalayan Environment Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), a voluntary group provides an insight into the state of affairs in Uttarakhand. Joshi started a project involving rural women near Katra, Vaishno Devi, encouraging and helping them to make “ladoos” from maize produced by them. The Vaishno Devi Shrine Board immediately allowed the “ladoos” produced by poor rural women to be sold as “Prasad”. The turnover of these women reached lakhs changing their economics and social lives making it a success story.

Dehradun, May 5
Maruti Eco vans would soon replace Alto cars being used as pick-up vans to drop women from home to hospital for and after the delivery under the Kushiyon Ki Sawari (KKS) drop back programme under way in the state.

After receiving complaints about the non-viability of cars that were being used to pick and drop women for and after the delivery, the Central Government has decided to fund 50 Eco (Maruti vans) under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

“The KKS programme has received exceptional response in the state as one of the ways for encouraging safe deliveries but apprehensions were raised about the use of cars for picking and dropping back the mother and the child. Now with the Central Government agreeing to provide Rs 5 crore, the new bigger Eco vans would be procured. As ambulances are used only for emergency purpose, these could not be pressed into service for pick-up purpose. But the Eco vans, which are bigger in size, are a better option,” said Piyush Singh, Additional Secretary, Health.

A total of 50 ambulances have been sanctioned, for which funds would be provided under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The vans are operating in Dehradun, Haridwar, Pauri, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Tehri and Rudrapryag in the Garhwal region and in Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital, Almora, Champawat and Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region. In Uttarakhand a total number of pick-ups from September 15-April 16 was 14,201 (Garhwal-7407 and Kumaon-6794).

Besides, for this financial year all the medical mobile units, including the 108 emergency ambulances operating in the state would be equipped with the Global Positioning System (GPS). The expected cost on the upgradation of the vehicles would be round Rs 10lakh to Rs 15 lakh. The mobile units equipped with diagnostic facilities services are being operated on the public-private mode.

“The GPS system would help in better navigation and keeping track of vehicles in remote areas. The plan was pending since last year. But under the National Rural Health Mission, the funds would be available from this year,” said Singh.

Dehradun, May 6
Doon International School today lift the trophy of the 24th All-India Inter-school WC Kashyap Memorial Basketball Tournament played at Pestle Weed College here.

Earlier in the day, the first semifinal match was played between Doon International School and Pestle Weed College, Dehradun, wherein the Doon team beat the Pestle Weed team 63-49.

In the second semifinal match, LK Singhania School beat Sainik School, Rewa, 52-31.

The final match was between LK Singhania School and Doon International School, wherein the Doon team beat the LK Singhania team 72-52.

State Minister of Planning, Information Technology, Sports and Youth Development Dinesh Agarwal, who was the chief guest on the occasion, gave away the prizes to the winners.

Suva Prabhat of Pestle Weed College was declared the most promising player of the tournament. Abhinav of LK Singhania was declared the highest scorer, Sahil of Doon International School the best player of the tournament and Piyush Dubey of Sainik Sainik School was declared the most fair player.