CM: Form panel to monitor agencies handling development projects
Dehradun, May 17
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has directed officers to constitute a monitoring committee headed by the Commissioner, Garhwal mandal, to maintain control over the agencies handling infrastructure development projects under Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the JNNURM in Dehradun.

DGP Pant meets Guv
Dehradun, May 17
Several eminent persons from various spheres of life made courtesy calls on the newly-appointed Governor Aziz Qureshi at the Raj Bhavan here today.

Dehradun, May 17
On June 6, the eighth transit of the venus will take place. It will happen again in 2117 when it will be the last opportunity to see the transit of the venus” in this century.

To make community aware on this event, the Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS), a voluntary group on science popularisation, in collaboration with the Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science & Technology, and the Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology (UCOST), has started a two-day workshop here at Youth Hostel, Mussoorie.

In the inaugural session, Dr Rajendra Dobhal, Director General of the Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology, said to build a scientific society such celestial events be observed scientifically. He said the council was committed to spreading scientific literacy among the community in Uttarakhand.

“On June 6, between the sunrise and 10:15 am, the venus will pass across the disc of the sun. The event is known as the transit of venus. It has great scientific significance, since the earth is the third planet from the sun, the transit can be observed only for the inner planets of the solar system — the mercury and the venus.

The transit of mercury occurs 13-14 times in a century, but in the case of the venus it is extremely rare,” explained Dr Brij Mohan Sharma, Presient of SPECS.

It is not just a rare occurrence, but astronomers say historically it helped in measuring the size of the solar system.

“Transits of the planets across the sun do not take place frequently compared to eclipses. The transit of the venus occurs in pairs, separated by eight years. The last transit occurred on June 8, 2004, and the second of this pair will be on June 6. This pattern is repeated after periods of 105.5 and 121.5 years,” he said.

Well-known astronomer Edmund Halley in 1716 said by observing the transit from two different places one could accurately find the distance between the earth and the sun.

A transit of the venus illustrated the method by which astronomers were now searching for the planets in the habitable zone around distant stars, Dr. Sharma said.

Dr. Amitabh Pandey, scientist, Vigyan Prasar, said the transit should be seen through approved solar goggles and filters. The better way would be to project on to a screen with a telescope. The transit would appear like a small spot when viewed from the earth.

In the workshop, participants will learn to make 70 mm telescope. They will carry telescope with them and on June 6, the transit of the venus” will be seen by people in the different parts of all 13 districts of Uttarakhand. A total of 50 participants from all districts of Uttarakhand are participating in the workshop.

Dehradun, May 17
The Congress government’s decision to cancel the Transfer Act has come at a time when the Education and Health Departments are facing maximum problems due to inadequate school and hospital staff members, most of whom were posted in remote areas of the state.

The revocation of the Act spells trouble for the teaching staff posted in the hill state for the last more than 15 years. They had viewed the Transfer Act as a God-sent opportunity for them to finally get a transfer in the accessible areas of the state.

“There are around 2,500 single-teacher primary schools urgently requiring service of more than one teacher; but now with the Transfer Act being invalidated for a year, it would be an uphill task to provide teachers in these schools. As it is, single-teacher schools do not fulfil norms under the Right to Education Act (RTE),” said P.S Jangpangi, Project Director, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

From time to time a transfer policy was drafted for the Education Department, mainly to negate the interference of the ministers who held the reins of the department and did not fail to use their political influence to post teachers known to them in places around Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Haridwar and Terai areas of Nainital.

But the interference of political leaders continued, though the Transfer Act by the Khanduri government was drafted at the fag-end of the BJP rule in September 2011 to support the countrywide anti-corruption stir launched by Anna Hazare. Nevertheless, it was welcomed by all political parties who were already in the election mode.

However, the first to raise the banner of revolt against the Transfer Act were the doctors who were too hit by the Act, earmarking remote and accessible areas in both the hills and plains according to a definition that was not in consonance with the cadre allocation under Provincial and Medical Health Services (PMHS) of the state.

But after Bahuguna brought amendments in the Act during a Cabinet meeting, the norms were revised but these were again not to the satisfaction of the teachers or the doctors. Nevertheless, the department had started making preparations for sending doctors to the 25 Community Health Centres (CHC) without doctors, and also filling of 70 posts of specialists in these CHCs. But in the changed situation, this is not expected to happen any time soon. “There are several doctors who have evaded the hill posting after getting attachment posting in the nearby areas of Dehradun. Now we will have to wait and watch for the transfer policy to get these doctors moving to the hills,” said Dr D.P Joshi, general secretary, PMHS. 

Dehradun, May 17
Former Chief Minister B.C Khanduri today hit back at the Vijay Bahuguna government for invalidating the Transfer Act passed unanimously by all members of the House to end corruption and nepotism.

"I am puzzled by the attitude of the Congress government. They have put in abeyance the Transfer Act in favour of policy that is still to be drafted. When the Act was passed in the Assembly in September, the Congress MLAS did not raise even a murmur of protest because they feared a backlash from the people as elections were near. Now soon after coming to power, the party has cancelled the Act," said Khanduri, while speaking with media persons today.

He said the Transfer Act was brought in the first place to reward honest employees and usher a culture of compliance and fair play, "Never for a moment did we say the Act was perfect; discussions could have been held in the House to remove the anomalies. The Lokayukta Bill and Transfer Act are strong instruments against corruption and Uttarakhand had become the first state in the country to pass strong legislations but the Congress government has undone the good work of the BJP government," charged Khanduri.

Expressing fear about the effectiveness of the transfer policy that would replace the Act, Khanduri said it would again encourage culture of corruption and political interference with money and favouritism having an upper hand.

Later, asked to clear his stand on the issue of Congress government appointing the chairman of the probe panel to examine the alleged corruption cases that came to light during the BJP government's rule, Khanduri said he had no objection to such a commission but after retired IAS officer K.L Bhatti openly declared he had not been served the terms and conditions of the appointment, the intention of the Congress government is suspect.

Similarly, Khanduri also said the purity of Ganga water and harnessing power are two different issues. "It cannot be stated that purity of the Ganga had been affected by building of dams. There is no connection between purity of river and harnessing power. On our own will, we need to keep our rivers clean. But at the same time, if doubts are being expressed about the purity of the rivers being affected, scientific experiments should be carried," he added.

On the issue of his participating in the byelection and being pitted against Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Khanduri said he would cross the bridge when the opportune time came.

Dehradun, May 17
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has directed officers to constitute a monitoring committee headed by the Commissioner, Garhwal mandal, to maintain control over the agencies handling infrastructure development projects under Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the JNNURM in Dehradun.

He told the officers to prepare proposals for the construction of subways at Clock Tower, railway station and Ashtley Hall.

Bahuguna was chairing a meeting to review infrastructure development works under the ADB and the JNNURM at the secretariat here today. He instructed the officers present at the meeting to prepare a proposal on the build operate transfer (BOT) basis for the construction of a bypass from the Jolly Grant airport to Dehradun to ease traffic congestion.

The Chief Minister directed them to speed up the process of preparing proposals for flyovers at the ISBT, Niranjanpur Sabzi Mandi and Saharanpur Chowk.

He said the state government was committed to welfare of slum-dwellers and directed the officers to prepare a concrete action plan for the regularisation of slum areas and infrastructure development there. He told them to constitute a committee comprising MLAs to monitor the works in their areas.

The Chief Minister stressed on the timely completion of construction works and ordered the officers to ensure better coordination with the MLAs and the local people. He told them to resolve disputes regarding development works pending in courts through talks with the parties concerned.

Uttarakhand Planning Minister Dinesh Agarwal, while advocating ownership of dwelling units for the people living in slum areas, said the money generated through it could be utilised for infrastructure development in those areas.

He directed the officers present to ensure that the solid waste management project worked in a systematic way and the remaining 30 wards of Dehradun were also covered under the scheme.

Rajpur MLA Rajkumar emphasised on developing areas between Saharanpur Chowk and Rajpur road as a green belt. He also called for the beautification of the historical Clock Tower.

Secretary, Urban Development, Dr Umakant Panwar apprised the Chief Minister and the Planning Minister about various projects under the ADB and the JNNURM. He said the time period for development projects under the ADB was eight years (2008 to 2016).

Panwar said a total of 31 cities had been identified and the works would be completed in four phases at a cost of Rs 2,250 crore.

The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Alok Jain, Principal Secretary, Planning, S Ramaswami, Principal Secretary, Tourism, SS Sandhu and other officers of the departments concerned. 

Dehradun, May 17
Doonites today woke up to a hazy morning with suspended dust particles in air reducing visibility in the region considerably. The poor visibility conditions continued throughout the day in the state capital barring an hour in the afternoon.

According to Executive Director, Meteorological Centre, Dehradun, Dr Anand Sharma, duststorm in Rajasthan and adjoining areas had resulted in winds carrying dust towards Dehradun. He said while a western disturbance could lead to thunder showers in hilly areas of the state, plain areas of state like Dehradun would have a little rainfall.

The Meteorological Centre, Dehradun, also issued advisory over the poor visibility conditions due to haze in Dehradun during morning hours. It alerted the Dehradun airport authorities about the poor visibility conditions. It also asked people suffering from respiratory problems to be on caution and suggested them for using mask while travelling outside.

Meanwhile, dust haze also led to cancellation of number of flights in Dehradun. Even Prof. C.N.R. Rao, Scientific Adviser to the Prime Minister, who was to attend a lecture programme at Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in Dehradun, could not make it to the venue due to cancellation of a Delhi-Dehradun flight.

Haridwar May 17
Police officer Shah Jahan Javed Khan today advised Muslim girls to shed veil and opt for employment-oriented education.

Khan was speaking at a workshop for girls belonging to the minority community being conducted by Gurukul Kangri University here today.

Khan said the girls should not remain confined to household chores and try to learn various skills as women were proving their mettle in almost every field.

The police officer said women empowerment was the need of the hour but to achieve that “we have to be self-dependant which was possible through education and career-oriented courses”.

“Individually or in a group one can foray into various self-employment avenues. Lijjat Papad or the Amul cooperative society in Gujarat got started with mini groups and are now providing employment to thousands of people. We have to take a cue from this as now we have women proving their worth in every field; be it politics, aviation, Army, sports, space science, hospitality, media or police.

Riyaj Fatima, a local teacher, said young girls from the community were now coming out to learn various trades like knitting, beautician courses, computer, typing etc., which was a good sign.

Ashma, Shaila Tanjeem, Sheeba Qureshi, Shabnam, Bushra Khan, Ahmadi Kaur, Kausar Varsi, Nargis, Hina, Bano Begum, Nagma, Tarranum, Shabiya Khan, Lavshina, Kunwar Jahan, Firdaush Khan and Nehal Malik were awarded certificates for their meritorious performances in their respective trades. 

Dehradun, May 17
To bring the people of Uttarakhand and Nepal closer, Principal Secretary, Civil Aviation, Rakesh Sharma, yesterday mooted a direct flight between Dehradun and Kathmandu and called upon a high profile delegation from Nepal to give a push to the idea at their end.

Speaking at a seminar on 'Tourism, Trade and Investment Opportunities in Nepal,' Sharma said: "We need to open borders to allow flow of people and trade. Besides opening up the border, direct flight between Dehradun and Kathmandu would spur trade between the two Himalayan regions. I will take up the matter with the authorities at the Centre."

In the same vein, K.N Adhikari, Charge d' Affaires, Embassy of Nepal, highlighted the cultural ties the people of Nepal and Uttarakhand share and highlighted the visit of Prime Minister of Nepal Baburam Bhattarai, who visited Dehradun and SIDCUL in Haridwar last year.

"The tempo built by our Prime Minister has to be sustained by exchange of trade between the people of Nepal and Uttarakhand. We welcome the Indian businessmen, especially from Uttarakhand, to come to Nepal ad establish their business houses here. We have a sizeable market in Nepal and the focus should shift to strengthening of economic ties between the two countries," he added.

B.P. Lamsal, Ministerfrom the Embassy of Nepal, said the liberal industrial policy of 2010 had been introduced to improve the investment climate. " The Government of Nepal has formally announced that fiscal year 2012-2013 would be observed as Nepal Investment Year. During this phase, we expect maximum investment from our Indian and Uttarakhand business men," he said. 

Dehradun, May 17
Finance Minister Dr Indira Hridayesh has stressed on the recovery of 100 per cent taxes to increase the state revenue instead of imposing new taxes on public. She was chairing a review meeting of the Commercial Tax Department before the budget session of the state assembly.

Dr Hridayesh directed officers to expedite the process of tax collection and ensure quick disposal of pending cases in the court. She also asked them to ensure expected performance from the officers and workers deputed in mobile teams.

She made it clear that officers and workers working with sincerity in revenue generation would be appreciated and posted in important offices, while, those who would not live up to the expectations would be dealt accordingly.

Ensuring resolutions to difficulties projected by them and appropriate action on their suggestions, Dr Hridayesh said the hard work done by the officers and workers would be appreciated.

Dehradun, May 17
Chairman of Revenue Council Subhash Kumar directed officials of the Revenue Department to dispose of the revenue-related pending cases, improve the collection of bank dues and check on sale-purchase of land of tea-gardens in the state at a quicker pace.

While addressing the officials in a meeting held in the city today, he expressed displeasure in lenient handling of revenue-related cases.

There are 1366 such cases pending in the state. He directed Returning Officers to fix a court day and time frame to dispose of these cases.

He said the ROs would make a chart of such cases, which would be the basis of the annual evaluation.

He gave instructions to ensure cent per cent collection of land revenues. While reviewing bank dues, he said the collector had been given all the rights to collect the bank dues, under which the collector must make a list of big defaulters and take action against them.

He also reviewed pending audit objections and directed District Magistrate, Dehradun, to find out the real status of tea-gardens and take effective measures to prevent the illegal sale and purchase of such land.

He also ensured to address the grievances regarding fund allocation for the new collectorate premises of Revenue Department and vehicles.

Dehradun, May 17
Quantum Global Campus, Roorkee, organised a farewell titled “Lamhe” with pomp and show for their outgoing “Founder Batch” yesterday. The B.Tech 3rd year students made the farewell moments unforgettable by organising many activities such as ‘Expose of Talent’, games, songs and a soothing musical performance.

Ajay Goyal, chairman, Quantum Global Campus, could not stop himself from going onto the stage and appreciating the students for their sincere efforts. He shared a few golden tips for success along with many blessings for their bright future. “Your batch has come up with flying colours in studies and placements as per our expectations which can never be

forgotten. Therefore, there will always be a soft corner for you in our hearts and I wish your excellence be an inspiration to your juniors,” he said.

The outgoing batch delighted everyone with a surprise item, a scintillating dance performance.

Nishant Chopra was nominated as Mr. Quantum and Nidhi as Miss Quantum. Akshay Dusheja as Mr Spark of the evening and Shruti Mamgaim as Miss Spark of the evening. Mementos along with special gifts were given to each outgoing student by Ajay Goyal.