Dehradun, May 18
The state government seems to be serious to bring out Uttrakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) from massive losses by checking electricity theft. Principle Secretary, Power, SS Sandhu has given directions to all 97 subdivisions of UPCL in the state to report the cases of electricity theft to him every week.

The areas such as Haridwar, Roorkie and Udham Singh Nagar where cases of power theft are the maximum are in the centre of the focus and the sub-divisions of these regions have been given the target of reporting at least 10 cases of electricity theft every week to him.

Sandhu said, “The power theft is the only factor for losses at UPCL. By arresting it, we can also generate revenue.” UPCL is incurring losses to the tune of Rs 1,960 crore.

Out of 1,100 cases from April to May 15 in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar, 368 cases of irregularities were spotted of which 172 FIRs had been lodged. As a result, an assessment of recovery of Rs 91.6 lakh was made. Out of this amount, Rs 47.5 lakh had been already been collected.

Managing Director, UPCL, AK Johri said, “Now double electric meters are being installed in all factories which are the users of 33 KV and 11 KV connections. One meter is already placed inside each factory, now one more meter is being installed outside the factory to cross-check the meter reading. At sub-stations too, along with an original meter and a check meter of different brand is being installed so that even employees of sub-stations too could not tamper with the reading. All these meters are now being checked after every 15 days.”

There are 214 factory consumers who use 33 KV connections and 1803 use 11 KV connections in the state. The target is to first install double meters in all 11 KV consumers by the October end this year.

The domestic sector is also being pulled up in this regard. The electro-mechanical meters are being replaced by electronic meters and installed outside the houses. Under this drive, 34,000 consumers will be covered out of total 14 lakh by December-end this year.

Under a case study which was conducted on 180 consumers in Dehradun, it was found that with the installation of electrical meters outside the houses, 58 per cent energy was saved, which was earlier consumed in stealing.

Similarly in Kotdwar, 87 per cent energy was found saved in a survey conducted on 98 consumers.

Johri said the high-ended consumers, who used 65 per cent of the total input energy and were users of 25 KV connections, had been brought under the Key Consumer Cell (KCC) system, where their billing was directly processed at the UPCL headquarters.

Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) equipment, which are SIM card enabled and connected with modem, provide access to the meters of these consumers at UPCL headquarters. Such AMR system has been fixed on the premises of 5000 such consumers out of total 7000.

Now a project has been prepared to cover 11,000 more consumers with AMR system who use connection between 5 and 25 KV. As many as 8000 of these consumers have already been connected with the KCC system. The tenders for AMR will soon be opened at the corporation.

Dehradun, May 18
Giving rest to speculations, the Uttarakhand BJP today appointed Ranikhet MLA Ajay Bhatt as the Leader of the Opposition ahead of the assembly session beginning on May 28.

With active support from senior BJP leaders Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and BC Khanduri, Bhatt was a front-runner for the post and a formal announcement by Ananth Kumar, general secretary of the BJP (central) today sealed his position.

"The announcement was made today by the central leadership which went on the advice of the Uttarakhand leadership," said Mukesh Mahindra, Uttarakhand BJP spokesperson.

The senior BJP leader, who was Health Minister in the interim government, lost the 2007 assembly election but again made a come back in the 2012 election.

"The party has entrusted me with a huge responsibility and I will try to live up to their expectations. We will focus on the weaknesses of the Bahuguna government in the upcoming assembly session. Instead of controlling inflation, the Bahuguna government's main focus has been on shutting down programmes launched by the BJP government," he said.

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand BJP chief BS Chuphal has welcomed the appointment of Ajay Bhatt as the Leader of the Opposition.

Haridwar, May 18
With Swami Ramdev being served a notice by Income Tax Department and his charitable Patanjali Yogpeeth trust now getting exempted from the concession of Section 80 (G) of IT Act, the yog guru has termed it as a deliberate pressure tactics being adopted by Congress-led UPA government owing to his movement against black money.

Clarifying that already this case was going on at Income Tax Tribunal where Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust has submitted requisite documents, the yog guru remarked that the very objective of serving the notice of Rs 58 crore was senseless.

Though, he made it clear that any such pressure tactics will not have any bearing on his black money movement and he will go on to stage a massive protest in New Delhi on June 3.

He added that it is for the Income Tax Tribunal to decide on this matter but serving notice again is nothing "but an attempt to harass us and present our image in front of the public as law violators. But we will fight this as we know truth prevails, and as far as the movement against black money is concerned, that will go on."

Talking to TNS, Managing Director of Patanjali Yogpeeth trust Acharya Balakrishan said that Congress government had been trying since last June 4 all ploys to dismantle their agitation but every time Swami Ramdev had emerged stronger.

“People know everything. That is why they are with us and Anna (Hazare). We have been clear that we are a charitable trust and nothing has been secret or unclear in our day-to-day working, be it public life or charitable affairs,” said Balkrishan.

On June 3 Delhi agitation, Balkrishan said that tens of thousands of activists of Bharat Swabhiman Trust from around the country will be participating while at all the districts where the trust has its offices symbolic agitations will be carried out.

He added that Swami Ramdev's followers will be supporting Anna Hazare-led Jan Lokpal Bill while simultaneously activists of Team Anna will be lending their support to the movement against black money.

Dehradun, May 18
While the Congress government is preparing to table a resolution to repeal the Transfer Act in the upcoming Assembly session, no one knows the fate of the Panchayati Raj Bill that has been in the works for the last 10 years and was tabled hurriedly by the BJP government in the House before its tenure ended in 2011.

Political analysts say it was a political compulsion that forced the Congress government to cancel the Transfer Act and it was political expediency that forced the BJP to introduce the legislation on Panchayati Raj.

But under the stiff resistance from the then Opposition Congress, the BJP government was forced to refer the Bill to a Vidhan Sabah Committee to examine the shortcomings in the Bill .

But now with the Congress in power, the Bill is again expected to become a casualty with very thin chance of the Congress government extending the tenure of the committee of the Vidhan Sabha constituted to examine the shortcomings in the Panchayati Raj Bill.

“As the new House has been constituted, it can be safely assumed that the Vidhan Sabha committee too stands dissolved. If need be, the Congress government could redraft the Bill. Another option is to extend the term of the committee and table the same Bill of the BJP, but so far we have not received any intimation,” said DP Gairola, Principal Secretary, Vidhan Sabha.

Buckling under pressure in the wake of the stir launched by the members of Pradhan Association and worried about it’s impact in the 2012 Assembly elections, the then BJP Panchayat Raj Minister had forced the Uttarakhand Panchayati Raj Department to prepare a draft for the Panchayati Raj Bill, even as the Uttarakhand Assembly session was on.

Though the Uttarakhand government has decided to replace the Transfer Act with a transfer policy applicable for a year, the fate of the Panchayati Raj Bill remains uncertain. 

Haridwar, May 18
BJP party leaders in the district have expressed their concerns over former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank receiving a threat call.

Nishank had received a threat letter also during his tenure in the state.

A meeting was held at the district party office todaywherein the state government has been urged to provide high-level security cover to the ex-CM, who is also currently designated as the BJP national Vice-Chief.

BJP youth cell chief Naresh Sharma said Nishank was a veteran party leader, who was also indulged in separate statehood movement; so it’s the duty of the state government to take necessary action in this regard.

He added that earlier Nishank had received threat letters but the Congress-led Central government didn’t provide Z+ security cover to the ex-CM but this time, with the threat call being made personally to him, it was high time that such a security cover be provided.

Vikas Tiwari, secretary of the district unit, said all ex-CMs should be provided special security cover and party politics should not come in between the security aspect of the leaders. A letter has also been forwarded to the Uttarakhand DGP in this regard.

Dehradun, May 18
The district administration has selected 18 centres in Dehradun district where around 8372 candidates will appear for civil service (Preliminary ) exams conducted by Union Public Service Commission on May 20, Sunday. The exam will be conducted in two shifts, from 9.30 to 11.30 in the morning and 2.30 to 4.30 in the afternoon.

Additional District Magistrate Vinod Suman said the system of sending admission cards through post had been ceased from this year. Now the aspirants could download them from the website of UPSC. This arrangement would solve the grievances of the candidates of not getting admission cards. The entries in the answersheet would now be filled with black ball-pen than pencil so that the candidates could not change their answers again. On the day of the exam, the photostat shops in the surroundings would be closed down. Section 144 will be enforced in the 100-metre area around examination centres.

The aspirants can gather all sorts of information regarding examination centres, admission cards etc from the facilitation counters of UPSC and its website, which are:

Facilitation Center contact number-: 011 -23383052 , 011 -23382627, 011- 23381131, 011-3074458 UPSC Website : www.upsc.gov.in.

Dehradun, May 18
Dehradun city will be divided into zones and sub-zones where effective night patrolling will be executed under the command of Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) and Circle Officer (CO) as zonal officers, and Station House Officers (SHO) and Inspectors as sub-zonal officers.

The new directions were placed by Deputy Inspector General, Dehradun Range, Sanjay Gunjyal, at the SSP's office, while holding a meeting with SSP, Neeru Garg, SP, City, Jaswant Singh, SP, Traffic, Ajay Joshi, Cos, SHOs and Sos.

Gunjyal said : "The officers will ensure the compliance of night patrolling by holding a regular review meeting in the police stations."

He said the barrier arrangements should be made at all the main exit points of the city such as Raipur, Vasant Vihar, Cantt, Nehru Colony and Claimontown after 10 at night.

The police must coordinate with private guards and use fire alarms before banks and ATMs during patrolling time.

Gunjyal stressed on using videography and loud handlers to contain the incidents of duping people through sedatives on crowded places such as ISBT, taxi stands etc.

He expressed concern with regard to unidentified bodies, saying that out of 226, only in 8 matters, cases of murder had been registered.

He said the identification of the body was the irst and foremost pivotal point in cracking the mystery behind the death, and directed that within 72 hours of filing an inquest report of such a death, subsequent monitoring will be carried by a circle-level officer.

Dehradun, May 18
The city-based Siddhartha Institute of Pharmacy claims to have made a discovery of two new molecules, namely ursolic acid stearoyl glucoside and a new steroidal derivative, Stigmast-4, 20 (21), 23-trien-30one from the Lantana camara and bryophyllum pinnatum with their anti-diabetic potential and anti-inflammatory and analgesic potential.

The work has already been published.

Addressing a press conference today, Dr Firoze Anwar (Dean) of Siddhartha Institute of Pharmacy said: "This new compound (ursolic acid and stearoyl glucoside) with potential anti-diabetic action may prove to be a boon for the people suffering from diabetes."

The molecule may act by enhancing insulin secretion from pancreas or by receptor activation .

The molecule awaits major clinical tests. 

Dehradun, May 18
The Uttarakhand Nadi Bachao Abhiyan has yet again urged the state government not to encourage tunnel-based hydro power projects in the state.

In a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, abhiyan activists Radha Behn and Suresh Bhai said the tunnel-based projects had resulted in large-scale destruction of environment in the state.

Citing example of Chai village in Chamoli Garhwal district, they said the village faced threat on its existence due to destruction caused by a hydro power project tunnel that goes beneath this village. They advocated that a thorough scientific study must be carried out on all such under-construction projects.

Suresh Bhai said the state government should rather go for minor hydro projects rather than tunnel-based projects. He said minor hydro projects would strengthen the rural economy in the hill areas of the state. They, however, also demanded the setting up of a commission with social activists, geologists and other scientists as its members for carrying forward minor hydro power project activities in the state.

Dehradun, May 18
The Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) held another round of consultations with the civil society in Dehradun on Wednesday in support of hydropower projects in Uttarakhand.

Chairperson of the RLEK Avdhash Kaushal said those opposing hydropower projects in Uttarakhand were against development in the state. He added foreign agencies were funding agitations against hydropower projects to stall development in the region.

Congress MLA from Kedarnath Shaila Rani Rawat said three hydropower projects that were on the verge of completion in her Assembly constituency now stood stalled due to agitations. “There was no point in stopping these projects when over 60 per cent of the construction work has been completed and the people are also supporting them,” Rawat said.

She added that locals had lost employment opportunities and other benefits due to the abrupt stopping of work on these projects.

President of the Dehradun District Panchayat Madhu Chauhan said, “The dream of making Uttarakhand an energy state cannot be achieved till we start supporting hydropower projects.” She, however, added locals must first get the benefits of the hydropower projects coming up in the state.

Chairperson of the Uttarakhand Ex-servicemen League Lt-Gen HB Kala (retd) said it was shocking that a few religious leaders were agitating against hydropower projects on which crores of rupees had already been spent.

Chairperson of the State Women’s Commission Sushila Baloni said those opposing hydropower projects did not have any concern for Uttarakhand. She added that only rich people, who did not belong to the state, were opposing the projects.

President of the Tehri district panchayat Ratan Singh Gunsola said the hydropower projects could pave the way for the development of the state. Padamshree Leeladhar Jagudi again demanded that the Vishnugaad Peepal Koti, Himjyoti and Alaknanda hydropower projects be started immediately. Former General Manager of Jal Vidhyut Nigam Limited SK Rastogi said industrialisation could only come to Uttarakhand if there was an easy availability of power. He added Uttarakhand had already invested a large sum of money in the construction of the Palamaneri and Bhairongahati hydropower projects that were stopped midway under pressure of religious leaders. 

Dehradun, May 18
Exuberance and joy was writ large on the faces of all who enjoyed the “Summer Carnival - 2012” at St Joseph’s Academy organised by alumni, the staff and students of the school here yesterday.

The carnival was declared open by SSP Neeru Garg, who was the chief guest on the occasion. The carnival was packed with a large variety of amusement . The proceedings of the day began with a baby show that held in different categories. The sight of the cute little ones wearing unarming innocent smile and dressed up in colourful attires left the onlookers charmed.

The students also didn’t lag behind and under the guidance of their class teachers put up stalls of different fun games. SJA had organised a band competition to tap the immense talent of the students in which band groups of Unison World School, St. George’s College, Mussorie, and the Redemption Group etc enthralled the listeners and received an overwhelming response. 

Dehradun, May 18
The semifinal matches were played in the 7th ONGC Uttarakhand State Sub-Junior (U-14) Basketball Championship here yesterday.

In the girls’ category, Mussoorie beat Haridwar 24-16 and Dehradun beat the Haridwar district team 49-28. In the boys’ semifinals, Haridwar city beat Mussoorie 38-28 and Dehradun beat the Haridwar district team 46-8.