Budget balanced: CM
Dehradun, May 31
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, describing the budget presented a balanced one and in public interest, said the welfare of all sections of the society had been kept in mind in the Budget.

Dehradun, May 31
At a time when the state is reeling under the impact of inflation, Finance Minister Indira Hriyadesh proposed a revenue-surplus budget without imposing burden of new taxes on the common man.

Tabling the budget today in the Uttarakhand House amid din created by opposition BJP MLAs, the Finance Minister said the key areas of her budget proposals were providing livelihood security, economic security, energy security, forest and environment security and international and external security.

In her short budget speech, Hriyadesh did not announce any new taxes but proposed VAT exemption of Rs 1.87 per litre on petrol against the recent hike of Rs 7.50 per litre on petrol prices.

“People have been weary of rising prices. The exemption of VAT on petrol is one way of transferring the burden of the common man on the government,” said the Finance Minister.

She also announced the reduction of VAT from 13.5 per cent to 4.5 per cent on CFL bulb and tubes in order to incentivise the energy saving instruments. She also proposed waiving VAT from all types of umbrellas and also exempted the candle industry from taxes.

She also announced the setting up of first 2.40 megawatt wind energy project in Tehri district.

Announcing sops for women empowerment, the Finance Minister announced an allocation of Rs 425 crore for women and child development programmes and announced several measures to give impetus to girls education.

“I further propose setting up of model schools and girls hostels in 19 educationally backward blocks. To encourage girls to take up technical education, the government intends to start the session of first women engineering college in 2012-2013,” the minister said.

Announcing benefits for the farming community, the minister announced the exemption of stamp duty on agricultural loans up to Rs 5 lakh for farmers. “My government is keen to strengthen the hands of farmers and for this we have proposed setting up of Horticulture Marketing Board," she said.

Announcing the setting up of night shelters on the Char Dham route, the minister said these would be no liquor and tobacco zones and used by hermits and pilgrims.

For the welfare of minorities, the Finance Minister said Maulana Azad Education Foundation will be set up for giving financial assistance to the poor and medium class minority community for higher education.

The minister also announced several incentives for promoting eco-tourism in the state, including the setting up Eco-Tourism Corporation.

However, the Finance Minister failed to announce any major scheme for extending medical facilities in the state. 

Dehradun, May 31
The Finance Minister today said while the government had not made any allocation for doling out unemployment honorarium to the educated but unemployed youth in budget proposals, but it has managed to reiterate its commitment in the budget proposals tabled today in the Uttarakhand Assembly.

"As soon as the rules and regulation for doling out unemployment honorarium are framed, the government will make a provision of Rs 100 crore in the supplementary budget," said the minister while addressing a press conference.

She also said while a better financial budget was the priority of her government, there was no revenue deficit estimated in the financial year 2012-2013. "Revenue surplus to the tune of Rs 441.84 crore has been estimated, indicating thereby that revenue expenditure will be less than revenue receipts. The targets of zero revenue deficit and fiscal deficit are within the targets given in the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act," she said.

On being how the government expects to mop up additional resources for undertaking development activity in the state, the minister said: "Uttarakhand expects to receive funds from the Central Government under the flagship programme and also through the international funding agencies. We will be using Rs 16,000 crore provided by the ADB and the state government would also be contributing Rs 7000 crore from its kitty for initiating development activities," she said. 

Dehradun, May 31
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, describing the budget presented a balanced one and in public interest, said the welfare of all sections of the society had been kept in mind in the Budget.

He said giving more impetus to the development of alternative energy sources a 2.4 MW wind-energy project would be undertaken in Tehri district. This will be the first-ever project in the state.

Meanwhile, the BJP, that created din in the House throughout the budget speech of the Finance Minister, has described the budget as lacklustre.

"There is nothing new in the budget. Several schemes have already been announced", said Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition.

In view of the bandh call given against the hike in petrol, the opposition BJP wanted the issue to be debated in the House which was promptly dismissed by the Speaker. They continued with their tirade even when the House reconvened after the lunch session.

Interestingly, as soon as the House was adjourned after the budget proposals were tabled, a few among the BJP MLAs trooped outside the office of Indira Hriyadesh and made enquiries if the Budget had proposed a slash in the MLA Local Area Development Fund, the answer in negative satisfied them.

Haridwar, May 31
On the pious festival of Ganga Dasehra, lakhs of devotees from around the country took a dip in the holy Ganga in Haridwar today. Particularly at the sanctum sanctorum, Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri, there was a sea of humanity from the wee hours of the morning itself as the astrological timing of commencement of the bath began at 4 am.

Ghats of Har-ki-Pauri, Malviya, VIP, Alaknanda, Birla, Kushawrat, Rishikul, Gobindghat, Premnagar and Jatwada remained full with pilgrims with many offering rituals and rites to the holy Ganga and the sun God as per teerth purohits' directives.

Till the filing of this report, as per estimate more than 10 lakh people had thronged the city with vehicles still being seen pouring towards the city, particularly from nearby regions of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.

In view of the mega festive bath, elaborate security arrangements were put in place with the whole mela zone being bifurcated into 10 zones and 31 sectors.

District Magistrate Sachin Kurwe and Senior Superintendent of Police Arun Mohan Joshi monitored the whole-day proceedings from the city control room towers and on the field, too.

As tomorrow is another festival of Nirjala Ekadasi, similar arrangements will be in place with the Transport Department cancelling the holidays of its entire staff till June 2.

Additional buses from other city depots have been pitched in to fill the demand as passengers in thousands are being seen at the bus-stand.

Assistant Regional Manager Suresh Chauhan said that while 97 buses of Haridwar depot ran jam-packed, all the depot buses from Dehradun, Dehradun Rural, Roorkee and RIshikesh also ran extra rounds to cater to the pressure of the pilgrims.

Chauhan added that on seeing maximum passengers from a certain region, buses were plied immediately to that route so that the crowd is eased out from time to time, like on Moradabad, Meerut, Kotdwara routes.

Additional coaches were also attached at various trains as per railway official, Haridwar railway station, Gajkendra Singh said that today 74 up and down trains were operated, and if the rush is more, then additional coaches will be attached. Tomorrow, too, in view of Nirjala Ekadasi festival bath, the same administrative and security arrangements will be in place.

Mussoorie, May 31
The continuously raging fire for the past three to four days has engulfed several hectares of prime forest land both government and private just below Nirankari Bhavan at Camels Back road along with the area under Binog Wildlife Sanctuary at Hathipaon leading to destruction of eco-system and biological diversity.

At Camels Back Road ,the forest fire reached just below the Christian cemetery and Nirankari Bhavan. Forest and Fire department officials struggled to control the fire with the means available to them at both places in Camels Back Road and Mountain Quail Binog wildlife sanctuary in Mussoorie today.

The smoke emanating from the forest fire is also posing health hazard as the level of pollution has reached such an extent that it is becoming difficult to breathe even.

Harbhajan Singh, zonal in charge of the Nirankari Mandal Mission, here informed the media that the forest fire was raging from past three to four days and if the forest department would have acted promptly it could have been controlled without much effort.

Inder Jeet Arya, fire safety officer in Mussoorie who reached the site around noon today and began the fire control operation, said as the fire was in deep jungle it was difficult to carry water to the area. The absence of the hydrant hoses near Nirankari Bhavan was also hindering the work of fire officials in dousing the fire.

Ascertaining the cause of the forest fire, he said due to increase in the temperatures and availability of a lot of dry leaves, the fire could have started accidently but he also did not rule out the human hand from it. The fire and forest officials were fighting to douse the fire till the filing of this report.

Environmental experts also believe that accidental fires sometimes start during burning of the crop residue in agricultural fields near forests, or perhaps due to a live cigarette or 'bidi' butt thrown by a careless passerby.

DFO Mussoorie Ram Gopal Verma said the forest officials were working round the clock to control the forest fires in different forest areas of the town.

Haridwar, May 31
The traffic on National Highway 58 (New Delhi-Dehradun) and NH-72 (Moradabad-Haridwar) went at a snail's pace due to a large number of pilgrims moving towards Haridwar for the festive bath of Ganga Dasehra.

As early as 8 am, the traffic on both these highways got slowed down due to a heavy rush of vehicles pouring in from New Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and from within the state, too.

It was a tough time for the traffic police personnel as the whole day Superintendent of Traffic Police Kiran Lal Shaw, Circle Officer, Traffic, JR Joshi, and Traffic Inspector Devendra Dabriyal were seen roaming from one end to the other to decongest the traffic jam and directing police personnel as well as traffic violators. By noon such was the situation that SSP Arun Mohan Joshi, SP, City, Yogendra Singh Rawat, CO, Shah Jahan Javed Khan, and other senior cops also pitched in to ensure a smooth flow of traffic on the national highway.

Such was the situation that at many stretches jams reached inner city lanes at Rishikul, Ranipur, Prem Nagar and Jatwada intersections.

Traffic diversion was also resorted to but had not much impact due to the heavy rush of vehicles as tens of thousands passed every hour through the city periphery.

Be it buses, cars, sport utility vehicles, mini trucks, bullock-carts or ‘juggad’ vehicles, the rush of pilgrims didn’t seem to be lessening even till late afternoon. As the expansion work of the NH is currently on, traffic flow got disrupted at various points.

SP, Traffic, K L Shaw, informed media persons that in view of the second successive festive bath of Nirjala Ekadasi tomorrow, entry of heavy commercial good vehicles will remain prohibited in the city area, while traffic diversion plans will be put in place as soon as the rush on the national highway leading towards Har-ki-Pauri begins.

“We have taken many lessons from today’s arrangements and will imply them tomorrow as rush of pilgrims doesn’t seem to be lessening at these twin festive bathes and also with summer season at its peak rush of pilgrims is bound to increase” said SSP Joshi.

Dehradun, May 31
Ranjit Singh of Chandigarh and Utkarsh Bhardwaj of Uttarakhand won the under-18 and under-14 titles, respectively, in the finals of the AITA Talent Tennis Series Tournament played at Shanti Tennis Academy here today.

In the under-18 year category of boys’ singles finals, Ranjit Singh (Chandigarh) defeated Parnav Suri (Chandigarh) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. In the under-14 boys’ singles final match, Utkarsh Bhardwaj (Uttarakhand) beat Sabrang Sandal (Chandigarh) 6-2, 6-0.

In the girls under-14 singles category, Sachi Belwal (Uttarakhand) defeated Nimrat Walia (Punjab) 6-1, 6-3 to lift the title. In the under-18 girls’ singles final, Avika Sangwan (Delhi) defeated Arushi Kakkar (Chandigarh) 4-0, 4-2.

In the boys under-18 doubles category, Dhiranush Bhatti (Chandigarh) and Kamal Maderna (Rajasthan) defeated Pravar Dogra (Punjab) and Samrat Singh Rana (Chandigarh) 6-2,6-2. The girls under-18 doubles title went to Sachi Belwal (Uttarakhand) and Arushi kakkar (Chandigarh), who defeated K Gyatri and Nikita Bishnoi, both from Chandigarh, 6-0, 0-6,10-4.

Avnish Yadav, an international volleyball player, presently employed with the ONGC, was the chief guest.

Dehradun, May 31
The Garhwal Heroes, New Delhi, and the Punjab Police, Jalandhar, teams reached the semi-finals of the Narendra Kharola Memorial All-India Football Tournament played at Ambedkar Stadium here today.

In the first match, Garhwal Heroes defeated District Football Association (DFA), Hoshairpur, by 2-0. It was Dheeraj of Garhwal Heroes who scored the first field goal for his team in the 39th minute of the game. Al-Hasan scored the second goal in the 45th minute to give inaccessible lead to Garhwal Heroes. The Hoshiarpur team tried their best but could not score till the end.

In the second match, Punjab Police, Jalandhar, defeated District Football Association (DFA), Dehradun, by a solitary goal. The lone goal of the match was scored by Harpreet in the 51st minute of the game.

The semi-final matches will be played on Friday. The Punjab Police team will take on Garhwal Rifles, Lansdown, while Titanium Club, Kerala, will play against Garhwal Heroes, New Delhi.

Dehradun, May 31
The Quetta Cricket Club Pakistan have high hopes from cricket as means to boost friendly ties between India and Pakistan.

Shaukat Ali, skipper of the Quetta Cricket Club, that is in Doon to participate in the 30th All-India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament said cricket was a formidable means to boost ties between India and Pakistan. He said cricket was obsession in both India and Pakistan and the sport could now bring together the two nations.

“Tournaments like All-India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament can open new chapter of friendship”, he pointed out.

Ali said the cricket atmosphere in Pakistan was very conducive and said the nation was looking forward towards Pakistan Premier League slated to take place in Pakistan shortly.

Jhanzeb Khan, manager of the Quetta Cricket Club, said despite facing some visa problems, a 13-member team had arrived in Dehradun to participate in Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament. He disclosed that the team members had undertaken 52-hour bus journey beginning from Quetta to Lahore and then from Lahore to Delhi and subsequently from Delhi to Dehradun.

He, however, did no fail to thank Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj for his efforts in facilitating visa for the Pakistan team members.

Meanwhile, former minister Hira Singh Bisht, President of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand, Dehradun, that is hosting the tournament, said the All-India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament was one of the oldest cricket tournaments of North India after Shishmahal Lucknow that stood discontinued today.

He said the tournament that started in Dehradun on May 20 would have its final on June 3. He said the team from all over the country that include state teams and the services teams like the Railways were participating in the tournament.