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Heavy rain lashes Munsiyari, Dharchula
Stress on sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants
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More bypass roads, flyovers, planned for Doon region
Mandal to make KMVN profitable corporation
All set for review meeting tomorrow
5,000 saplings to be planted on SOI campus
Women’s panel chief continues to be underpaid
Ensure villagers’ participation in watershed projects: Arya
Sewerage, drinking water supply to be improved
Advocate alleges NGO being run without registration
Jal vidyut nigam, power corpn ink purchase pact
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Heavy rain lashes Munsiyari, Dharchula
Pithoragarh, July 24 According to the Pithoragarh District Magistrate, keeping the second spell of monsoon in mind, the district administration has ordered the transport department and the police to keep a strict vigil on drunken driving on long routes and check the overloading of the vehicles. “Due to drunken driving, some persons had been killed in the district in accidents last week. These accidents could have been averted, had the strong vigil against the drunken driving been maintained,” said CMS Bisht, District Magistrate of the district. “The district has received more than 450 mm of rainfall in the second spell so far which has resulted in the closure of 16 internal roads, causing difficulties for the villagers and students in some parts of the district,” said RS Rana, District Disaster Management Officer. According to Rana, three rescue teams have been put on alert at Dharchula, Ogla and Jauljibi to take on any eventuality in the sensitive part of Dharchula and Munsiyari subdivision. According to villagers in the remote part of the district, the school students in these areas are the worst victims of the landslides. “The village of Sumkot in Munsiyari subdivision has been cut off from the main road for the past one month, causing a crisis of kerosene and cooking gas and also compelling 1400 villagers to travel 17 km daily to reach the nearest market of Munsiyari,” said Dharma Singh, Gram Pradhan of Sumkot village. |
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Stress on sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants
Dehradun, July 24 Releasing a document 'Status and distribution of medicinal plants in various forest divisions of Uttarakhand' in Dehradun today, Kunwar Pranav Champion outlined the need to preserve the precious medicinal plants of Uttarakhand. He said sustainable harvesting of medicinal plants needs to be given importance. He appreciated the efforts on part of the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation and Wildlife Institute of India towards coming up with an authentic record of medicinal plants in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand. "Five years have gone into making of this document, which calls for all appreciation," he pointed out. Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat congratulated the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation and Wildilfe Institute of India for coming up with a foolproof document about medicinal plants in Garhwal, and suggested a similar exercise for the Kumaon region. Rawat said the Uttarakhand Forest Department, as part of promotion of medicinal plants, has even asked the officers to compulsorily include medicinal plants in their working plans. Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation's Managing Director Srikant Chandola disclosed that shortly after carving out the state of Uttarakhand, the then Chief Secretary RS Tolia had taken the initiative for coming up with a comprehensive baseline study on medicinal plants available in Uttarakhand hills. "Today, part of that task has been accomplished, and such study needs to be now undertaken in the Kumaon region," he observed. |
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More bypass roads, flyovers, planned for Doon region
Dehradun, July 24 At a meeting of various departments chaired by Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain at the secretariat here today, the plan to make the Thano-Raipur doube lane was discussed. Besides, Jain directed the District Magistrate, Dehradun, Ravinath Raman, to strengthen the traffic system of Dehradun. He also stressed on the proper management of parking system. He instructed the officers of the PWD to convert alternative Jolly Grant-Thano-Raipur Road into two-lanes so that passengers coming from Jolly Grant Airport could reach Dehradun in a short time. He laid emphasis on implementing strictly the Roadside Construction Act. He directed Additional Secretary Forest Sushant Patnaik to resolve the issue pertaining to transfer of 3.70 km forest land located between Jolly Grant Airport and Bhumiya Mandir. He said that the construction of the road would shorten the distance between the airport and Dehradun by about 7 km. He also instructed the officers concerned to prepare a DPR of bypass roads. He said that 200 mtr, 100 mtr and 150 mtr-long causeways would also be constructed. Considering traffic congestion on the Haridwar-Dehradun road, Jain directed the officers to complete the work on priority. |
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ABVP members protest before police HQ
Dehradun, July 24 A delegation of students were allowed to meet Inspector General of Police Ram Singh Meena, SSP Neeru Garg and DIG Gunjiyal, who assured them that an inquiry was being conducted into the matter and the guilty would not
be spared. President of the ABVP Ashish Rawat said he along with other members of the organisation were attacked by NSUI members on July 17 first on the DAV college campus and the next day again with knives and hockey sticks when they were released from jail. He said they had to take shelter in the Bindal police post where they filed an FIR against the accused students but instead of arresting them, a cross-FIR was filed against nine ABVP members in which four were booked under serious sections such as 307 (attempt to murder). He said if the accused were not arrested soon, they would start an agitation in the city. SSP, Dehradun, Neeru Garg said the ABVP members had been assured of a fair inquiry into this matter which was already in
the progress. Stringent action would be taken against those found guilty in the report. |
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Mandal to make KMVN profitable corporation
Pithoragarh, July 24 “The KMVN suffered a loss of Rs 13 lakh last year. This is a cause for concern as it was constituted to generate employment in the region through tourism and score of other activities by remaining self-sufficient,” said Mandal. He said he would explore the possibility of making the KMVN beneficial for backward communities like the Bengali community and involve all communities in its affairs. “At present the region is facing an acute shortage of cooking gas. It will be my priority to increase the LPG supply though there is shortage from the refinery itself,” said Mandal. He added the proposals for new appointments and opening of some closed factories owned by the KMVN to create more jobs in the region had been brought to his notice. “The issues of modernisation of tourist rest houses owned by the KMVN and making its construction unit the nodal unit for government works will be his top priority,” said
Mandal. |
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Wildlife film series for children released
Dehradun, July 24 Rawat invited school students to Rajaji National Park and Corbett Park and said the children need to be apprised about animals in the wild. He greeted the WWF-India for making such a special series of wildlife to target children. Conservator of Forests, Uttarakhand, Samit Sinha said the state had much significance in terms of wildlife conservation as it had a thriving population of tigers in Corbett Park and a healthy population of elephants. He added Uttarakhand had just 2.4 per cent of India’s geographical area but was richer in biodiversity than most of other states. Dr Dipankar Ghose, Director of WWF-India for Species and Landscapes Programme, talked about how the Jungle Gang films would help in spreading the message of conservation. “Jungle Gang is the first Indian wildlife film series by the WWF-India that has been made exclusively for children and youths. The film has three animated characters which travel to different parts of the country and inform the audience about threatened animals, their habitats and conservation efforts that have saved them from extinction.” Film director Krishnendu Bose, WWF-Head for Terai Arc Landscape, Dr Harish Guleria, Uttarakhand Education Director Chandra Singh Gwal, WWF-India Dehradun Programme Officer Dr Jatinder Kaur, students from Welham Girls, Government Girls Inter College, Raja Ram Mohan Rai Academy and Doon University witnessed the event. |
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All set for review meeting tomorrow
Dehradun, July 24 The points include the state government achievements in last four months, areas of priorities, strategic target, review of the progress in important development programmes, citizen-centred governance, effective services, public grievances, maximum utilisation of IT in providing transparent and clean governance, encouraging the maximum investment through policy frame work, private participation in development projects, evaluation of third party in projects, issues pending at the Central Government's level, important policy decision on pending issues and departmental problems. The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary to Chief Minister DK Kotia, Principal Secretary PWD S Raju, Principal Secretary, Planning, S Ramaswami, Principal Secretary, Medical Education, Ranvir Singh, Secretary, Urban Development, Umakant Panwar, Secretary, Cooperative, PS Gusain, Secretary, Rural Development, Arun Kumar Dhundiyal, Secretary to the Chief Minister MH Khan, SS Rawat, Additional Secretary to the CM Dilip Jawalkar, Nidhi Pandey and other senior officers. |
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5,000 saplings to be planted on SOI campus
Dehradun, July 24 He said often old trees fell after getting dried up due to other reasons and thus planting of new saplings was important to maintain the greenery. Additional Surveyor General of India BP Nainwal was also present on the occasion. |
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Jagadguru for overhaul of education system
Haridwar, July 24 The Jagadguru pointed out that Macaulay-based education was designed to sow seeds of division between literate-wealthy and illiterate-poor giving English language a predominance. Shankaracharya gave away prizes to winning students who took part in a cross-country race organised here today in the memory of late Prime Minister Chandrasshekhar. Chandrashekhar had a close association with the Shanakaracharya. Shankaracharya Rajeshwaram motivated the students to indulge in positive co-curricular activities and said the future of India was in their hands. Noted social activist and organiser of the race and Jan Chetna Society office bearer Sunil Dutt Pandey apprised school students of the holy seat of the Jagadguru Shanakaracharya and the personality of Chandra Shekhar. |
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CM takes up airport upgrading with Centre
Dehradun, July 24 Bahuguna, during a meeting with Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in New Delhi today, said Dehradun was a core centre for international tourists visiting Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri, Gangotri and Hemkund Sahib. The Chief Minister added Uttarakhand had great potential in adventure tourism like river rafting, trekking and jungle safari and hence the presence of an international airport in the state was a must. Bahuguna told the Union minister that the Nepal Government had urged him several times to start air services between Dehradun and Kathmandu. The Chief Minister laid emphasis on the need for extension of the Pantnagar airport and said adjacent areas of Pantnagar had been developed into industrial areas. He added Pantnagar was the gateway to the Kumaon region. He said the development of the Pantnagar airport would not only help in industrial development but also facilitate connectivity to various world famous tourist places like Nainital, Jageshwar and Baijnath. Bahuguna said there was no direct flight to Delhi or Dehradun from Pantnagar. He urged the Union minister to do the needful in this direction. He also invited Ajit Singh to visit Kedarnath. The Union minister assured Bahuguna of considering his demands and said he would soon visit
Uttarakhand. |
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Devotees offer milk, fruits at Nag temple
Mussoorie, July 24 Devotees from the region gathered at the temple to worship Lord Nagraj and offered milk, fruits and sweets to Him. A bhandara and havan were also organised by the Nag Devta Mandir Committee for the devotees. Temple committee president Hoshiyar Singh Thapli donated
several items to poor girls who would be married off this year. |
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Women’s panel chief continues to be underpaid
Dehradun, July 24 Though both posts fall under the Department of Women Welfare and Child Development, anomalies continue to exist between the salaries of Baluni and Setia. While Baluni receives a monthly salary of Rs 80,000, Setia gets a paltry sum of Rs 10,000, a discrepancy which had even baffled former Governor Margaret Alva, who had openly expressed bewilderment. However, her comments did not shake up the government and to this day, the discrepancies continue. Usually vocal on the issues of gender equality, Baluni says: “The slight by the government is deliberate and an effort to undermine women and their struggles. The child rights panel and the women’s commission come under the Department of Women Welfare and Child Development. Our salaries are disbursed through this department, but still a glaring anomaly has not been addressed.” Her term will end in February next year. Senior officials say when the women’s panel was formed in 2003, no effort was made to study the existing commissions in the state and the salary of the Commission’s Chairperson was fixed similar to the pay band of the chairpersons/presidents of numerous boards created at that time. They alleged it had been done to reward political leaders who could not be adjusted in the Cabinet. Earlier, Setia’s appointment as Chairperson of the Uttarakhand Child Rights Commission had generated enough heat. And now the department has no answer for the fixation of his salary at Rs 80,000. |
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Ensure villagers’ participation in watershed projects: Arya
Dehradun, July 24 He said the programmes must be the means to create livelihood opportunities for villagers and improve their standard of living. The minister said the schemes linked to fisheries, horticulture and agriculture, if taken under watershed programmes, could boost village economy. He also directed for the speedy conduct of watershed programmes. Secretary of the Watershed Department Bhaskaranand Joshi gave an assurance to the minister that the villagers would get all benefits of the watershed schemes. |
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Sewerage, drinking water supply to be improved
Mussoorie, July 24 The members deliberated on the ways to improve sanitation and sewerage in the area. Some ward members suggested that the construction work for the sewerage project should be done in three phases to avoid inconvenience to the residents of the area. The ward members also suggested that the area was facing the problem of drinking water supply and it should be resolved after consultation with the Jal Sansthan. Yadav also directed the officials to keep the public toilets clean on a regular basis. Speaking to the media, Yadav said the Cantt board was committed to improving basic facilities in the area and a sincere effort was being made to provide the facilities to the residents. Cantt Board vice-president CP Baloni, CEO Ashok Kumar, Col SS Dhillon, ward members Jasvinder Garg, Munni Devi, Kamal Sharma and Narendar Padyar were also present. |
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Advocate alleges NGO being run without registration
Dehradun July 24 Sharma alleged that Renu Singh had also tried to implicate him in false cases. He said the police was also siding with her. Sharma is fighting a divorce case against his wife Nandini, a member of the NGO. Nandini’s mother said she had wanted her daughter to leave the NGO. Renu Singh said her NGO was legally registered and she had the valid documents to prove it. She castigated Sharma saying that he wanted to tarnish her image and those of the rape victims, who lived at her home. She said Nandini was not willing to go with him and had started teaching at a school, Scholar’s Home in the city. The couple got separated in 2008. |
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Jal vidyut nigam, power corpn ink purchase pact
Dehradun, July 24 Under this agreement, if the UPCL will pay bills on time, it will be given a discount of 2 per cent, but if it delayed the payment by 60 days, a penalty of 10.5 per cent quarterly would be imposed on it. Managing Director, UJVNL, GP Patel said under the agreement, the possibility of the bills remaining pending would be nil and it would be easy for them to execute their projects efficiently with the regular flow of funds. Director (Finance), UJVNL, CP Madan and Chief Engineer, UPCL, SK Tamta signed the agreement. |
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