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76 per cent cast vote in Sitarganj bypoll
CM thanks voters for large turnout
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DMC, admn, too, waiting for tragedy to happen
Reports of Violation of Child Rights Dehradun Diary
ONGC team ranked 8th in Asian volleyball
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76 per cent cast vote in Sitarganj bypoll
Dehradun, July 8 Despite intermittent rain, throughout the day, heavy polling was witnessed with people lining up in serpentine queues in front of polling stations. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Tehri Garhwal, is contesting the byelection to enter the state Assembly after his elevation as the Chief Minister. Prakash Pant of the BJP, a former Speaker of the state Assembly, is contesting against the Chief Minister. The counting of votes will take place on July 11. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna along with his family members spearheaded the election campaign and was helped by state Congress leaders, including Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya and other Cabinet colleagues. Union Minister Harish Rawat also visited Sitarganj for a day to campaign for the Chief Minister along with party MP Raj Babbar. From the BJP, the campaign was spearheaded by former Chief Minister and BJP national vice-president Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, state BJP president Bishan Singh Chufal and the Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt. Former Chief Ministers BC Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank also campaigned for Parkash Pant. Nearly 1,500 personnel, including four companies of central paramilitary force and three platoons of the PAC, were deployed for security purpose in the Assembly segment. Besides, the polling staff of nearly 600 people were on duty in 116 polling booths, according to Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi. There are a total of 91,247 electorates, including 42,447 women voters, in the Sitarganj Assembly segment.
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CM thanks voters for large turnout
Having a dig at the BJP, he said efforts by the opposition to malign him and his family were deplorable. "The people have come out in a large number to give a befitting reply to the opposition propaganda," he said. He expressed hope that he would win the poll by a huge margin. On the other hand, BJP candidate Parkash Pant also claimed that the large turnout of voters indicated that people had rejected the Congress propaganda and would have voted for the BJP. Meanwhile, Vice-President of the state unit of the Congress Suryakant Dhasmana claimed that the people of Sitarganj, by coming out in large numbers despite inclement weather, indicated that they had reposed faith in the policies of the Congress.
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Old, unsafe buildings threat to residents; authorities
sleep
Mussoorie, July 8 The anger of the residents is brewing with every passing day and they have termed every drop of rain falling on the buildings as a nail in the coffin. Due to the apathy, the problem could turn into a major disaster any moment. The local resident, Ravinder Goyal, is of the view that as most of the buildings have worn-out and in every monsoon some or other part of the buildings fell apart, more than 500 families were fearful of their life. “The residents do not have any other place to go hence are forced to reside in these buildings that are in state of dilapidation” added Ravinder Goyal. Mussoorie Traders Association president Rajat Agarwal, lamented the fact that despite several reminders and multi-level meetings with the government authorities, no action had been initiated so far that was indicative of the insensitivity prevailing among the authorities towards the people residing in such houses here. He further demanded that the government should either allow the residents to renovate their dilapidated buildings or they should be shifted elsewhere. The DMMC, Dehradun, has already declared more than 3,500 buildings unsafe through a research conducted a few years ago. The DMMC in its report stated that of the surveyed buildings 615 showed high probability of Grade 5 damage and very high probailty of Grade 4 damage in the event of seismic activity reaching intensity of MSK scale. The DMMC also suggested that the government should think on providing loans and other tax benefits to motivate the people to take up the initiative of getting their buildings retrofitted before it’s too late. The Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) too, taking cognizance of several reports appearing in the media, had directed the authorities to take an appropriate decision after a survey of the buildings that are in the state of dilapidation but authorities are yet to act upon the directions. SDM, Mussoorie, Ram Jee Saran Sharma said the administration was aware of the situation. He also said as most of the people residing in the damaged buildings were on rent, the building owners were not keen on repairing or renovating them now. However, the administration was trying to bring all people under one roof to mitigate the imminent risk emerging from the damaged buildings here, added
the SDM.
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DMC, admn, too, waiting for tragedy to happen
Dehradun, July 8 However, with the work yet to begin, it seems both the DMC and the administration are
waiting for a tragedy to happen. Last year when a 70-year-old building had collapsed in the city, though no causality was reported, both administrative and DMC officials had decided that all such buildings would be dismantled before the onset of the monsoon.
However, nothing has been done so far. District Magistrate Ravinath Raman had also said that such buildings would be identified and demolished. But that never happened. There are various such buildings on Chakrata Road that continue to pose threat to the lives of passersby and those residing nearby. The PWD which had been entrusted with the demolition work has also done nothing in this regard. On the other hand, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Ashok Kumar said: “Most of the cases pertaining to the dilapidated buildings are not genuine. In 80 per cent of the cases, it is the house owner who deliberately removes a few bricks to show that the building is in a poor condition and demand demolition. It is a ploy to get the buildings vacated from tenants who have been occupying it for generations together and paying peanuts in terms
of rent.” He said a number of such cases were pending, which would not be cleared till verification was done.
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RSS-BJP rejects Padgaonkar committee report on J&K
Haridwar, July 8 They rejected the three-member panel of educationist Radha Kumar, former Information Commissioner NM Ansari and eminent journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, who heads the panel which was formed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Activists of the RSS sat on a day-long agitation at Pt Gobind Ballabh Pant Park in Devpura accusing the UPA government of not being serious on the Jammu and Kashmir issue. They questioned the Dileep Padgaonkar committee report that held talks with various organisations and groups taking their considerations on the issue terming it as one that propelled voices of anti-national elements. Addressing the activists, Sangh preacher Laxmi Prasad Jaiswal said the Congress had always been on the backfoot when it came to take a tough stance on Jammu and Kashmir or Assam which had been affected by terrorists-extremists for the past few decades. Jaiswal remarked that under pressure from western powers, particularly the United States, the government was mooting a dialogue process which seemed to be appeasing and accepting Pakistan’s stance of separate Kashmir and making the Line of Control as the actual international border. RSS regional ideologue Chandra Singh Negi said Kashmir was an integral part of India where both Hindus and Muslims lived with harmony. He also pointed out that while more than 500 Muslim groups’ memorandums found a place in the report, there was no mention of the displaced Hindus from the terror-affected state which put questions on the methodology adopted by the interlocutors. "We will carry nationwide awareness drive, similar agitations and, if need be, will not hesitate to give life for our unified country. It’s Pakistan who promotes terrorism and sows seeds of hatred in our country between different communities. We will not allow wrong pro-western policies of the UPA government to divide our country for which thousands of our soldiers risk their life day and night,” said Negi. Later in the day BJP legislators Madan Kaushik, Swami Yatishwaranand, Aadesh Chauhan and Chandra Sekhar Bhattewala also arrived at the agitation venue lending their support to the RSS move.
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Reports of Violation of Child Rights
Dehradun, July 8 The recommendations came after a team led by commission’s chairperson Ajay Setia visited various districts and interacted with various departments concerned with the elimination of child labour as it was found that the problem of child labour required an immediate intervention. In a recommendation made for the Labour Department towards the implementation of the Child Labour Act, the commission has recommended for preparing a detailed assessment on inspections conducted, violations detected, prosecutions launched, convictions and acquittals under the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986. The commission has asked the department to ensure that there should be a specific helpline where cases of child labour may be reported by the pubic and action on the same is taken immediately with the help of the police. “In case child labour is found and their number is high, then immediate action should be taken within 24 hours after contacting the district collector and the police by carrying out a raid through an action force.If the number of child labour is less, then immediate action should be taken to liberate them on the vary day with the help of departmental colleagues and
the police,” the commission held. Further in its recommendations to the Social Welfare Department, it sought ensuring the formation of district child protection committee in every District Child Protection Unit as per Section 62 A of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000. It held that the state government may try to make a shelter home in every district or at least on a division level, take charge of children in need of care, provide protection immediately upon recovery and see that they are provided with adequate food, clothing, shelter and due care is also taken to ensure their safety and well being. It also held that the state government may issue letters to the respective child welfare committees to nominate a member who can be a part of the district child labour task force. Such member of the child welfare committee can be a link between the child welfare committee and district child labour task force for all purposes, including attending pre-rescue planning meeting of the task force, issuing orders for the interim care and custody of the rescued child, verification and identification of their families and their ultimate
repatriation. The commission has recommended to the police to ensure registration of FIR under Section 23 and 26 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000, and other relevant sections of the IPC, Bonded Labour Systems Abolition Act, 1976, and any other law applicable for the time being in force in all cases of child labour being detected. It also held that the police should treat the liberated child labour with respect and honor and hand them over to children's home for further
care.
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Dehradun Diary
THE issue of construction of hydro-electric projects in Uttarakhand, particularly on the Ganga, has become more contentious after a delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by senior leader LK Advani, met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with three former Chief Ministers, BC Khanduri, Bhagat Singh Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, and demanded to save the Dhari Devi temple supposed to be submerging in the 300 MW Srinagar Hydro-electric Projects on the Alaknanda, a tributary of the Ganga.
The BJP leaders tried to play the Hindutva card by pleading to save the old Hindu temple. Interestingly, already plans are afoot to lift the temple piece by piece and rebuilt it at a higher elevation. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati, who was at Srinagar, had also reiterated her support to the project with the rider that the temple was taken out intact and placed at a safer place. The hydro-electric projects in the state have been marred by controversy since 2008 when Prof GD Aggarwal started an agitation at Uttarkashi for closing of all hydro-electric projects on the Ganga on the ground that these would harm the Ganga, considered sacred by the Hindus. He got the support from various Hindutva forces, particularly the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the RSS. The then BJP state government led by Chief Minister BC Khanduri reluctantly stalled Maneri Bhali Phase-II and Bhairon Ghati hydro-electric projects to be built by the state government. Later, the Lohari Nagpala project (600 MW), being built by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), was also stalled by the Union Government following agitation by GD Aggarwal. There had been opposition to the building of a large number of hydro-electric projects on the rivers and streams of the state by various environmentalist groups. They argued that more than 200 such projects would have an adverse impact on the eco-systems of these rivers. Even after more than 11 years of existence, the state has failed to come up with a consistent policy to exploit the abundant water resources and to come up with a consensus on hydro-electric projects. The issue has now become more political after the state assembly polls of 2012. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has pleaded for re-start of the stalled hydro-electric projects as the state faced one of the worst summers and long power cuts. Bahuguna had pleaded before the Prime Minister in the Ganga River Basin Authority meeting for re-starting the projects for the overall economic development of the state but the authority failed to take a decision. On the other hand, saints raised pressure on the Union Government to stop the Srinagar hydro-electric projects which is 80 per cent complete. They held a dharna at New Delhi on June 18 which forced the Union Government to stall the project for three months and appoint an expert committee that would study the concerns of the saints and environmental groups and give its report within three months. On the other hand, a strong pro-project lobby has also been agitating for the re-start of the projects. Most of them are locals who are affected by closure of these projects. They argued that most of the environmentalist group and saints had nothing to do with Ganga or its cleanliness and were outsiders. They further argued that Himachal Pradesh had done so well on hydro-electric projects but politics had overtaken the issue in Uttarakhand. The state Congress government had also taken a tough stand on the issue. Uttarakhand Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani has given an ultimatum to the Union Government to take a decision on the projects or he would hold a day-long dharna in support of the projects on July 9 at New Delhi. With heightened tensions and politicisation of the issue, it would be a tough call for the Prime Minister to take a decision on the issue.
Sitarganj bypoll
The result of the Sitarganj byelection where polling was held on July 8, will also be a landmark in the political history of Uttarakhand. In case, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who is seeking election from Sitarganj to enter the state assembly, wins the polls, it will be for the second time that a senior political leader of the state has dared and won an election from a different region from his own native place. The family of Vijay Bahuguna belongs to the Garhwal region but has entered the electoral fray from Sitarganj in Udham Singh Nagar of the Kumaon region. In a state which is clearly divided into two regions of Garhwal and Kumaon, it was for the first time during the Lok Sabha elections of 2009 that senior Congress leader shifted from Almora to Haridwar Parliamentary constituency and won to become a Union minister. Vijay Bahuguna will be the second senior leader who has tried to cross the regional boundaries. Political and social analysts believe that such actions of political leaders would lead to breaking the regional barriers and assimilation.
— By SMA KAZMI
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ONGC team ranked 8th in Asian volleyball
Dehradun, July 8
According to a release issued by the ONGC, Dehradun, in a match that lasted two-and-a-half hours, the Indian team put up a spirited fight against the formidable Japan. From the India side, Lalit Kumar, Lavmeet Katariya, Ranjit Singh and Subba Rao gave impressive performances. With this loss, the Indian side ended up at 8th position in a tournament where total 17 teams
participated. This is the first time that an ONGC team participated in the championship, where it had to play against teams from Asian giants like Kazakhistan, China, Indonesia and Kuwait. Still the performance of the team has been impressive to say the least.
— TNS
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Dehradun, July 8