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Excessive commission charged by wholesalers
Govt lacks both vision and mission, says Nishank
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Lokayukta to be under anti-corruption dept
Mussoorie mourns Rajesh Khanna’s death
Implementation of RTE norms
Workshop concludes
Kumaoni festival 'Harela' celebrated in Doon
Swift police action sought in missing girl case
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Excessive commission charged by wholesalers
Dehradun, July 18 Already retailers in Haldwani are on warpath and are on a strike for the past three days against the imposition of 2 per cent more commission by the arhatiyas (wholesalers). The Fruit and Vegetable Retailers Association, Dehradun, today took up the issue of alleged illegal charge of 2 per cent extra by the arhatiyas and threatened that if the illegal practice was not stopped, they would go on strike from tomorrow. Interestingly, the arhatiyas, who have been given big shops at the mandis, are allowed 3 per cent commission from retailers. They are also allowed to charge another 2.5 per cent mandi tax from retailers, but in practice they are charging 6 per cent. Former Chief Minister BC Khanduri through an ordnance had done away with the 2.5 per cent mandi tax last year. However, the wholesalers continued to charge 6 per cent from the retailers. Recently, the ordnance brought by the previous BJP government had lapsed. But the wholesalers hiked their commission from 6 per cent to 8 per cent, infuriating the retailers. Interestingly, while the arhatiyas are charging 8 per cent from the retailers, they are also charging 6 per cent from the farmers to sell their produce in the mandis. Hence, in all they are charging 14 per cent from both farmers and retailers. A delegation of the Fruit and Vegetable Retailers Association led by their patron and senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana today met Vijay Thapliyal, secretary of the Dehradun Mandi Parishad. Thapliyal also acknowledged that the charging of 2 per cent extra commission by wholesalers was illegal. “We will take action by canceling licences of the wholesalers if any complaint against is received,” said Thapliyal. Shailndra Mohan Singhal, Congress legislator, and Chairman of the Uttarakhand Mandi Parishad, apex body of mandis in the state, said it was illegal for the arhatiyas to charge over and above the prescribed commission. On the other hand, the wholesalers argued that it was difficult for them to survive on such low commissions as they had invested in storage, staff and electricity. “It is becoming difficult to survive on such low commissions,” said Jitender Chauhan, president of the Fruit and Vegetable Arhatiyas Association, Dehradun. But the association pleaded that the arhatiyas were ruling the roost while the retailers, the farmers as well as the consumers were suffering. “It is open loot by middlemen supported by the BJP which should be checked or fruit and vegetable retailers will go on strike from tomorrow,” said Dhasmana.
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Govt lacks both vision and mission, says Nishank
Dehradun, July 18 "The Annual Plan budget of Rs 8,200 crore has only seen an increase of Rs 400 crore from last year. However, during the tenure of the BJP government, we had managed to get a budget that was Rs 1,000 crore more than last year. It would have been better if the Vijay Bahuguna-led government had focused on the revival of the industrial package that would have brought in more than two lakh jobs and an investment of Rs 65,000 crore," said Nishank, while addressing a press conference here today. He alleged that the government lacked both vision and mission. It should have taken up the issue of the revival of the industrial package, power to be given in lieu of the shortage being faced by the state due to the closure of hydropower projects and the state's share in power generated through the Tehri Dam with the Centre. "When I was the Chief Minister, I had held regular communication with the Centre to give us 2,000 MW additional power to tackle the situation arising due to the closure of Pala Maneri (480 MW), Bharion Ghati (381 MW) and Loharinagpala (600 MW) power projects. Besides this, I had also asked for the continuation of 80 MW of additional supply given to us during the Mahakumbh mela. At that time, the Centre had agreed to our demand. The state government should have taken up this issue in the interest of the state," he claimed. Having a dig at Cabinet minister Mantri Prasad Naithaini for giving "irresponsible" statement by holding him responsible for the closure of the dams, Nishank clarified that he had never been against the projects. "In the interest of the state, I had asked the Centre not to adopt bipartisan but also close down the Loharinagpala project being built by the NTPC. I am ready to sit on dharna along with BJP chief BS Chufal, if Naithani takes up these issues that are in the interest of the state," said Nishank.
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Lokayukta to be under anti-corruption dept
Dehradun, July 18 Lacking teeth, the anti-corruption, good governance and public service department, set up last year by former Chief Minister BC Khanduri in the wake of Anna Hazare’s fast unto death, had been engaged in processing complaints and sending these to the departments concerned only. “The department had so far been engaged in providing guidelines to offices to set up time-bound grievance redressal system but now there has been an agreement to bring the existing Lokayukta under the newly created departments so that the offices and organisations compulsorily follow the recommendations of the Lokayukta,” said Surinder Singh Rawat, Secretary, heading the department. He said it would encourage greater compliance as the recommendations of the Lokayukta too would be followed by the offices. While the anti-graft legislation brought by Khanduri was pending approval from the Centre, the government was expected to continue with the existing Lokayukta by strengthening the investigation arm of the ombudsman. Further, since the setting up of the department last year, a total of 300 complaints and suggestions have been received. These have been forwarded to the departments concerned for action. “A total of 69 departments have been asked to make the information online. Simultaneously, similar exercise is being held in the districts where an office would be set up to ensure public grievances are addressed online. For this, we asked the Central Government to provide us a software,” said Rawat. For carrying out open-ended investigation into cases of corruption and carry as part of punitive measures, the Vigilance Bureau too had remained out of the ambit of the anti-corruption, good governance and public service department. While the BJP government had started the process of bringing the Vigilance Bureau under the newly created department, the government could not proceed due to elections. But now there has been a general agreement to bring the bureau also under this department. As of now the department is under the personnel department. Besides, suggestions have also come up for setting up an internal vigilance unit for strengthening anti-corruption measures which would monitor the activities of the officials.
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Mussoorie mourns Rajesh Khanna’s death
Mussoorie/ Dehradun, July 18 Rajesh Khanna, who will always be remembered for timeless melodies like “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani...” in “Aradhana” and “Zindagi Ek Safar” in “Andaaz” passed away at the age of 69 at his residence in Mumbai after being critically ill since last April. Expressing shock at Khanna’s death, a local historian, Gopal Bhardwaj, said the superstar had a close connection with Mussoorie. In Mussoorie he acted in a film titled “Karam” in 1975. Most of the film was shot at Hampton Court School situated near Jhoola Ghar. He once again visited the town during the shooting of famous film Ghar Ka Chirag in 1987. This film was shot at Wynberg Allen School, near Bala Hissar, in Mussoorie. A few scenes from the film, “Mere Jivan Sathi” were also shot in Mussoorie. Bhardwaj said the arrival of the great actor created a mass hysteria among the locals, especially women, who jostled to catch a glimpse of the superstar of his times. Advocate Rajendar Kumar recalls that he along with girl students bunked college classes to watch Khanna work during the shooting of “Karam”. Khanna dressed immaculately obliged his fans with photos after the completion of the shots during all 15 days of the shooting, added Rajendar. Mahavir Prasad Bahuguna, a close friend of Khanna, said it was indeed the saddest day in his life as he had lost not only a friend but also an actor par excellence who entertained people for several decades. He added Khanna stayed in Mussoorie for around 40 to 45 days during the shooting of film, “Ghar Ka Chirag”. He was a secular person. Bahuguna said during a conversation Khanna had revealed that he was fond of a song from film “Guide”, “Wahan Kaun He Tera Mussafir Jayega Khan” and used to hum it on several occasions. Besides, he also liked the song from his own film “Raaz”, “Akeley Hain Chaley Aayo” immensely. Of his own films, Khanna liked “Safar” a lot. “Rajesh khanna was like a coconut, hard from outside and soft in heart,” added Bahuguna.” Aashish, another fan of Khanna, remembered the great actor with tears in his eyes and said during the shooting of “Ghar Ka Chirag” at Jabarkhet he hesitantly approached Khanna, who was sitting on a chair in one corner, and requested him for a picture with him. Khanna instantly got up from the chair and asked a photographer to do the needful. “He was the only romantic superstar of his time and would be remembered in Mussoorie for a long time to come,” added Aashish. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has expressed grief over the demise of Bollywood actor Rajesh Khanna. In his condolence message, Bahuguna has prayed for the peace of the departed soul and strength for the bereaved family members. The Chief Minister described Khanna’s demise as a great loss to the Indian Cinema. He said the yesteryear's superstar was a fine actor and the void created by his demise was difficult to fill.
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Primary teachers stage dharna
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, July 18 Led by their president Baldev Bhandari, demonstrators said the state school education directorate had started the recruitment for 2,253 vacant posts of primary teachers whereas as per Right to Education norms, vacancies were to be filled for 7500 posts in primary schools of the state. Bhandari said the state school education authorities were taking little interest in implementation of the Right to Education norms in Uttarakhand. He pledged that the primary teachers would continue with their agitation till their concerns got addressed. JP Mamgain, Amit Kashyap and Anup Chowdhary were prominent among the protesters.
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Workshop concludes
Dehradun, July 18 The workshop focused on thematic areas like land degradation, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptability policy and institutional reforms, monitoring and evaluation frame work and communication strategy. Further, the monitoring and evaluation framework must be quantifiable and simple. The impact assessment by the SLEM project for future initiation and guidelines for implementation of sustainable land and ecosystem management must also be ensured.
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Kumaoni festival 'Harela' celebrated in Doon
Dehradun, July 18 Principal of Central School DEAL, Raipur, said, "We need to celebrate 'Harela' every day. It brings us closer to nature," he said. Local singer Poonam Sati sang songs related to the festival. "In the hills, women used to get together and sing songs in praise of nature," said Sati. Tanmaya Mamgai of Dhad said, "We brought children and made them aware of the importance of trees and then taking care of them."
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Swift police action sought in missing girl case
Dehradun, July 18 Led by Rajiv Ghai, president, Uttarakhand Punjabi Mahasabha, alleged that Ranjit Kaur, daughter of Nisan Singh, resident of Jaspur, had been missing for the past 22 days but police officials were doing little to trace the girl. The Punjabi Sabha members feared that the girl in all probability had been abducted by a local Jaspur resident. Ghai said the Uttarakhand Punjabi Mahasabha believed in communal amity and sought prompt action from the police.
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Dehradun, July 18
Former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said today that although the Congress-led state government had received a hefty Annual Plan package, it had failed to ask for the revival of the concessional industrial package that would have provided more than two lakh jobs to the people of the state.
