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Van Gujjars to get smart cards for identity, says Chief Secy
Quota in Promotions
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Seminar on child rights on July 28
Women from Uttarkashi villages visit Vidhan Sabha
600 tourism professionals to get training in hospitality
DMC to call for new tenders for purchase of electrical appliances
Centre urged to grant SC status to 3 castes
‘Youth leadership of Army ensured victory in
Kargil’
Governor, CM express gratitude to Army
Vijay Diwas
Rain damages 12 houses in Dharchula, Munsiyari
Power production hit due to silt, shutdowns
Tree plantation drive in Mussoorie, nearby areas
Raturi new president of UKD (D)
Alok Kumar Jain
Minister directs officials to prepare for National Games
2 ABVP activists held, bailed out
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Van Gujjars to get smart cards for identity, says Chief Secy
Dehradun, July 25 The Van Gujjars of the Rajaji National Park and the Corbett National Park would be rehabilitated at other places and their smart cards would be made for identity. A proposal to include them in the Scheduled Tribe category would be forwarded and a concrete programme would be chalked out by the Social Welfare Department for their social and economical development. Chief Secretary Jain said out of the 1,390 Gujjars from the Rajaji National Park, 1,228 had been rehabilitated in Pathri and Gainda Khatta in Haridwar. “Soon the remaining 162 will also be rehabilitated,” he said, adding that 160 acres in Haridwar had been sanctioned for 181 Gujjars of the Corbett National Park. Jain said the rehabilitation also included the facilities of electricity, water, hospitals, schools and other basic amenities. “Besides this, one-time payment of Rs 10 lakh each will be made to 6,151 Gujjar families to bring them in the mainstream of society,” he said. Jain directed Secretary Social, Welfare, Subardhan to take effective measures to bring in change in the lifestyle of Van Gujjars through skill development, vocational training, counselling, awareness programmes and education. The Chief Secretary said a resolution would be passed in the state Assembly and the Centre would be urged to include Gujjars in the ST category. He directed the Forest Department to issue them smart cards to boost their confidence. These cards would consist of their fingerprints and other personal details, so that they could open bank accounts, get issued voter ID and ration cards. He directed the officials concerned to conduct fresh baseline survey. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had constituted a high-level committee chaired by the Chief Secretary to draft a policy for the rehabilitation of Van Gujjars. Principal Chief Forest Conservator RBS Rawat, Secretary, Finance, Radha Raturi, Principal, Forest Conservator (Wildlife), SC Sharma, Additional Secretary, Forest, Sushant Patnaik and other senior officials attended the meeting. Other proposals |
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Quota in Promotions
Dehradun, July 25 “We are in total agreement with the Uttarakhand Adhikari, Karamchari Shikshak Sangharsh Morcha and will participate in the rally to be held on 27 in Dehradun. In case the government fails to honour the High Court order, we will be forced to announce statewide strike,” said Dr RK Singh, Additional General Secretary of the PMHS (Uttarakhand). He said the Uttar Pradesh Government had already decided to follow the High Court directives and the Uttarakhand Government should also follow suit as it was in the interest of the employees who had been demanding better working conditions. Dr BC Ramola, president of the PMHS, also condemned the government’s move to cancel the meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) in wake of the High Court order, “The government should have continued with the DPC, several senior level doctors, who will be retiring at the end of the month and were also in the line of promotion, have been deprived of this chance,” said Dr Ramola. Along with Director General, Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharat, Kishore, Director Doon Group of Hospitals and Dr RS Rawat, Director (Admn) will be retiring on July and Dr Rawat was also in line of promotion. The immediate repercussion of the government’s decision to keep the DPC in abeyance will affect the future of 148 medical officers awaiting promotion in the general cadre, 53 Senior Medical Officers and 100 officers in the medical officers (cadre). “It is not clear how long will the government continue to sit on the decision. Meanwhile, the officers would continue to retire without getting their due,” said Dr Ramola. Meanwhile, with the government dithering on the issue and MLAs taking different stands, the issue is expected to get complex with each passing day. |
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Seminar on child rights on July 28
Dehradun, July 25 Addressing a press conference, the Principal of DAV (PG) College and Chairman for the seminar, Dr DK Bhasin, said a seminar on child rights would be held for the first time in the state. He said eminent personalities, who have worked for child rights across the country, would participate in the seminar. The seminar will be held at Deendayal Upadhayaya Auditorium of the college. The convener of the seminar and assistant professor with the sociology department, Dr Ravi Bhushan Pandey, said 100 research papers had already been received by them so far. He said Chairman of the Uttarakhand Child Rights Protection Commission Ajay Sethia would be the chief guest at the inauguration ceremony of the seminar while former Uttarakhand cabinet minister Prakash Pant would be presiding over the valedictory session.
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Women from Uttarkashi villages visit Vidhan Sabha
Dehradun, July 25 These women, who are part of self-help groups working in Uttarkashi district of the state, came to Dehradun on their maiden visit. After having a look at the house and other sections of the Vidhan Sabha complex, the women met minister Pritam Singh Panwar, who also hails from Uttarkashi. Panwar, who expressed happiness over the visit by women from Uttarkashi villages, also offered lunch to the women. Jamuna Devi from Ladari village of Uttarkashi said visiting the Vidhan Sabha was certainly a matter of pride of her. "Visiting the Vidhan Sabha was certainly a new experience and a matter of pride for me. I had not imagined that one day I will be able to go in the Vidhan Sabha building in Dehradun, which is the highest temple of democracy in Uttarakhand", she said. Echoing the similar sentiment, Saroj, another woman from Koti village of Uttarkashi, said they were mostly involved in household manufacturing of essence sticks and other items. She said coming to the Vidhan Sabha is certainly a life-time opportunity for her. Later, the women also visited Vigyan Dham at Shuklapur in
Dehradun. |
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600 tourism professionals to get training in hospitality
Dehradun July 25 The first batch of 15 professionals from the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) is undergoing training on the IHM premises these days. Of these, five are working at the canteen of the secretariat, five at the canteen of the Chief Minister’s office and another five at the canteen at the Chief Minister’s residence. Each workshop will run for one week. General Manager, Tourism, GMVN, HD Pandey said the training would be provided in services such as front office and housekeeping, besides basics in etiquettes. The trainees would also be guided about the significance of information with regard to historical, geographical or cultural perspective of the place where their hotel or restaurant or outlet was situated to satiate any query of the tourist. Pandey said the GMVN employees posted at various tourist rest houses lacked training in hospitality and this was affecting business. According to sources, most of the employees working at the 91 rest houses of the GMVN were those who were hired decades ago on the recommendation of the higher management of the GMVN or politicians. No one bothered to check their educational background, leave alone specialisation in the field of tourism. This is the reason the employees in most of the rest houses are found wanting in according warm reception, keeping rooms spot clean and providing quick services to guests. They also dither on showing enthusiasm to woo customers to their outlets. The Tourism Department is hoping to remove this deficiency in a big way. Even those dhabawalas, eating outlets, hotels and restaurants, which are associated with tourism activity directly or indirectly in the vicinity of the rest houses, will also be included in the workshop. Only those rest houses will be selected for training which have the capacity of 20 beds or more. This way, more than 40 rest houses, which are situated in far off places and have been declared sick, will automatically get excluded. To make the workshop comprehensive, demonstrations will also be given. A stipend of Rs 1,200 along with a certificate will be given to the participants after holding an exam at the end of the workshop. The best performers will be duly rewarded. |
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DMC to call for new tenders for purchase of electrical appliances
Dehradun, July 25 Chamoli said he had hoped that the issue of purchase of electrical appliances would be finalised by the High Court soon but since the matter had further been postponed for a month, he had no option but to call for new tenders to provide these items to each ward as per their requirement. It has been almost six months since a Rudrapur-based electrical company approached the High Court over the new policy of the DMC, which permitted only those electrical firms/companies which had a turnover of Rs 200 crore or above for the tenders. The appellant contended that with the new parametres, small companies would not be able to compete in the tenders. Chamoli said the turnover was raised to invite only established industries, which could provide quality products, whereas the local companies had been giving substandard items, which had been developing defects quickly. Since the matter got stuck in the High Court, the DMC could not make any bulk purchases from the company whom the contract was awarded to. Small purchases of Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh were made by the DMC at it's own level. But since the pressure from the councillors had been increasing for the purchase of electrical items for their respective wards, the Mayor said it had become imminent to hold new tenders. The annul purchase of electrical items comes to around Rs 4 crore. The norms for new tenders will also be decided. |
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Centre urged to grant SC status to 3 castes
Dehradun, July 25 During a meeting with Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Mukul Wasnik at Shashtri Bhawan in New Delhi yesterday Bahuguna apprised him of the Ethnographic Science Survey conducted by Govind Ballabh Pant University in 2009 which had found these groups to be eligible for inclusion in the Scheduled Castes category. The Chief Minister said on the basis of the survey a resolution was passed in the state Assembly on February 27, 2009, recommending to the Centre to include these castes in the SC category. Bahuguna urged the Union minister to do the needful so that those castes could also avail of the benefits of various schemes launched for the welfare of SCs
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‘Youth leadership of Army ensured victory in
Kargil’
Pithoragarh, July 25 Talking to this correspondent on the eve of the Kargil war anniversary, General Bhandari (retd), who was involved in the Kargil war, said young officers and jawans of the Indian Army for the first time faced the enemy who was sitting on advantageous heights and was in a position to inflict maximum damage. "It was patriotism par excellence that made the Indian Army win the Kargil war and give the enemy the message that the Indian army was one of the best armies in the world, and it's dedication to the nation was unprecedented," said Bhandari. “The Kargil war, which consumed 5300 MT of ammunition, and 3000 artillery fires, besides taking a toll of 527 lives, including those of 75 Army jawans from Uttarakhand state, was thrust upon the country by Pakistan as that country never remained in position to win a direct war with the Indian Army right from 1948,”said the Kargil War General. The Kargil began when some intruders were seen by civilians on May 4, 1999, on top of Kargil peaks in black attires. “The Army started operations from June 10 onwards under the name of Operation Vijay. The jawans of 10 Garhwal Regiment, who were patrolling those ranges, were the first martyrs who, by sacrificing their lives, gave the Army the resolve to oust the enemy. The enemy had already come 10 km inside Indian territory,” the general said. The main purpose of the enemy was to cut off Ladakh region from the rest of India by taking control over Srinagar to Leh motor road, which would have helped them to take on a proxy war with India,” said the General. According to information received from Rajya Sainik Punarvasj Nidesalaya, more than 12 Army regiments, including Kumaon, Garhwal and Gurkha Rifles, besides Naga regiments and Grenadiers, took part in the Kargil war. “The challenge of fighting the enemy, who was sitting at 16,000 feet high peaks of 80 degree curve at a temperature of below zero degree Celsius, was given to the brave soldiers, who accepted the challenge and showed that the Indian Army can accept any challenge given to it during any situation,” said General Bhandari. “The country cannot forget the sacrifices made by Major Rajesh Adhikari and Major Vivek Gupta at Tololing, Rifleman Dilip Singh Negi of Garhwal Regiment at Tiger Hill, Mekh Bahadur Gurung and Girish Singh Samant at Drass and Jawahar Singh Dhami at Kargil, besides scores of other brave soldiers who showed exemplary courage in the face of enemy fire,” added General Bhandari. “We also learnt a lot from the Kargil war. We learnt the need to strengthen our information network, which let us down at both the Army and civilian intelligence levels. The Raw chief of that time had also agreed that we failed on this front. We also learnt never to trust Pakistan at any stage of diplomacy as that country had only aim, and that was to inflict maximum damage on India,” added the General. |
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Governor, CM express gratitude to Army
Dehradun, July 25 “Our soldiers fought Kargil War in an extremely tough terrain and pushed the enemy out of our territory by sacrificing their lives. The country expresses its gratitude to the dedicated warriors,” he said in his message. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, in his message, said the Kargil victory was a symbol of courage and valour of the Army. “The nation will remain indebted to the soldiers who had laid their lives and made supreme sacrifice during the Kargil war,” he said. The Chief Minister said the state had the tradition of bravery and sacrifice. He said the state government was committed to the welfare of soldiers. |
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Vijay Diwas
Dehradun, July 25 State vice-president of the party Suryakant Dhasmana said the sacrifices made by brave soldiers from Uttarakhand in Kargil would always be remembered. He said the Kargil War revealed the determination of the Indian soldiers to push the invaders out of the Indian territory. Dhasmana also remembered Sridev Suman, the hero of the Tehri uprising in the state. He said it was a great coincidence that both Sridev Suman and the Kargil martyrs were being remembered on the same day. “Sridev Suman attained martyrdom in 1944 on this day after staging a hunger strike against the Tehri kingdom,” pointed out Dhasmana. Former MLA and Uttarakhand Congress general secretary Kedar Singh Rawat said the Congress would also be working towards redressing the problems being faced by family members of Kargil martyrs. Congress farmers cell’s general secretary Hussain Ahmed and Dehradun Councillor Arun Valmiki also offered their tributes to the martyrs. Family members of Kargil martyrs Kashmir Singh, Sanjay Gurung, Rajesh Gurung, Kailash Kumar, Kishan Thapa, Gyan Singh and Mekh Gurung were also honoured on the occasion. |
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Rain damages 12 houses in Dharchula, Munsiyari
Pithoragarh, July 25 “Those shifted to safer places include families from Naya Basti village of Munsiyari and five from Chetabagar village of adjoining Bageshwar district, who have been given shelter at Nachni town,” said Pan Singh Karki, tehsildar of Munsiyari subdivision. According to information given by the tehsildar, the families of Manohar Ram, Dharma Devi, Uday Ram, Kamla Devi and Neema Devi from the Bageshwar village have been sent to safee places as their houses have developed cracks after the rain. “Four families each from Timtia and Golfa village of Munsiyari have also been sfifted to Nachni,” said Karki. According to information given by RS Rana, District Disaster Management Officer, 14 families of Dharchula have left the houses immediately after water entered their houses and left. "Some houses in villages of Timtia, Borgaun, Birthi and Nachni in Munsiyari and Metli in Dharchula have been damaged,” said Rana. The main road, which links Pithoragarh town to the border town of Munsiyari, had been closed since last night as the landslides had been witnessed at three places on the road. “The road can be opened only by July 28, as three places of Hararia, Ratigar and Lajhekla spots have seen debris on the road,” said
Rana. |
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Power production hit due to silt, shutdowns
Dehradun, July 25 Maneri Bhali of 60 MW had to be closed down on Tuesday night due to obstruction by trees and silt in the rivers. Similarly, 264 MW Dharasu and 136 MW Chilla power houses were also shut down at 3 pm today. The shortage of 450 MW due to the closure resulted into snapping of power in the rural areas of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, small towns and the hill region barring Haldwani for four hours. In other cities, Dehradun, Vikasnagar, Doiwala and Haldwani, power supply had been affected for two hours. Jawalapur, Haridwar and Rishikesh had power cuts for 3 hours. Steel furnace and other industries too had to face power cuts for the whole day. |
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Tree plantation drive in Mussoorie, nearby areas
Mussoorie, July 25 The plantation drive began early morning when school students from Sanatan Dharam Inter-College gathered on their school premises and planted around 15 saplings of Oak and Deodaar. In another event around 9000 saplings of trees such as Grewia Optiva (Bhimaal), Blackjack Oak, Golden Shower Tree (Amaltaash), Aegle marmelos ( Bael), Kharik and Pachnaar were planted around Kempty Falls area jointly by the 127 battalion of Eco Task Force and students of Government Inter College, Kempty. Colonel HS Rana, Commanding Officer of the task force, led the team which planted the saplings in widelspread areas around Kempty and adjacent villages here. According to Subedar Dilip Kumar, the Eco Task Force has set a target of planting around four lakh trees in a year and assist in greening the Aglar-Yamuna valley. The 127 Battalion of Eco-Task Force (ETF), Dehradun, was set up on December 1, 1982, with the aim to control the process of ecological degradation of Shivalik Hills and area around Mussoorie, where continuous mining over the years had wreaked havoc on the flora and fauna. Rama Devi Inter College students planted saplings near their school to mark the occasion of Sri Dev Suman Shaheed Diwas. They also planted around 50 saplings and contributed in greening the environment. Eco-friendly Students of Sanatan Dharam Inter-College planted around 15 saplings of Oak and Deodaar Around 9000 saplings of Grewia Optiva (Bhimaal), Blackjack Oak, Golden Shower Tree (Amaltaash), Aegle marmelos ( Bael), Kharik and Pachnaar were planted around the Kempty Falls area |
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Raturi new president of UKD (D)
Dehradun, July 25 Bhatt said his detractors were not happy to see him leading the party. Twenty-three resolutions were passed in the convention. These included a pledge to make Gairsain the capital of the state, resumption of stalled hydropower projects, cheap electricity to Uttarakhand and land to displaced sections of society. Raturi said the UKD would fight the Tehri Lok Sabha byelection with renewed vigour. He added efforts would be made to strengthen the party. Bhatt said he would also support the party. He expressed confidence in Raturi’s leadership and said the party would progress under him. Some activists of the rival UKD (P) were present in the convention though they evaded media attention. Party spokesperson Satish Semwal said most of the party leaders as well as members of both UKD (D) and UKD (P) were keen on unification and only a handful of leaders of the UKD (P), including party president Trivender Singh Panwar, were against the merger of the two parties. Panwar distributed sweets among UKD members and leaders to celebrate the foundation day. He said there was no possibility of joining hands with Diwakar Bhatt who they had expelled for lifetime. He said the party base would be expanded by enrolling more members and constitution of district-level committees. Convener of the UKD (Ekta) NK Gusain held a separate programme to mark the foundation day of the party. He too lambasted Panwar and said the way the latter served a notice on founder and patron of the party Kashi Singh Aeri for attending a protest organised by his party a few days ago was unfortunate and an undignified act. |
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PDS to be
computerised, says Chief Secy
Dehradun, July 25 At a meeting regarding the computerisation held today, Jain said that the computerisation process would be completed in the coming one year. He directed the officers concerned to prepare a database of ration card holders and digitise them by using software prepared by the Government of India. Jain said that the entire supply chain would be computerised through this software. Distribution and payment by card holders would be verified electronically. The database of ration cards would be uploaded in the website of the state government. The ration cards would bear fingerprints of three persons, including the head of the family, so that in the absence of the family head, other two could draw foodgrains from the ration shop. Jain said that biometrics system would automatically cancel fake ration cards. He asked the officers to study the system prevailing in other states like Chhatisgarh and Haryana and prepare an action plan in 15 days. |
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Minister directs officials to prepare for National Games
Dehradun, July 25 At a meeting held at Vigyan Bhavan today, Agarwal directed the officers concerned to upgrade all the sports stadiums, indoor stadiums, swimming pools and other sports facilities present in other districts for the National Games. He instructed them to prepare action plans for upgradation of sports fields and other infrastructures of schools and colleges so that they could be used during the event. He asked them to find out the possibilities of private sector partnership in constructing games' villages for lodging and boarding of the players. Agarwal stressed on extension of roads to sports complexes in other districts, especially in hill regions. He instructed the officials to ensure participation of youth from all over the state in the games so that the sportspersons of the state would feel inspired with the hosting of the National Games in the state and would also have better sports infrastructure. He laid emphasis on developing sports complexes at Maharana Sports College, Raipur, and an international standard stadium at Suddhowala so that maximum events could be conducted in those places. He stressed on developing a sports environment in the state. |
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2 ABVP activists held, bailed out
Dehradun, July 25 President of the ABVP Ashish Rawat flayed Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for shielding those NSUI members who attacked ABVP activists with hockey sticks and knives and falsely implicated them. — TNS One dies of stab injuries
Dehradun: Saurabh, resident of Kanwali road, who was stabbed with a knife by his friend
Abrar, resident of the same locality in a spat over a trivial issue on July 10, succumbed to the injuries today at CMI Hospital. — TNS
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Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain, charing a meeting at the Secretariat here today, said several initiatives would be taken to bring Van Gujjars into the mainstream of society.
Dehradun, July 25
The Kargil victory over Pakistani intruders on July 26, 1999, was a victory of youth leadership of the Indian Army over the obstacles unparalleled put before any army in modern times, said Lt Gen MC Bhandari (retd), who was the chief spokesman of the fighting Indian forces at the time of the Kargil war, 13 years ago.
The Congress honoured family members of Kargil martyrs from the state on the eve of Kargil Diwas today. The function was held under the aegis of the labour cell of the Congress.
BD Raturi is the new president of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (D). At a convention organised to commemorate the foundation day of the UKD (D) today, Diwakar Bhatt said he had stepped down as the president of the party to pave the way for its unification with other factions. The birth anniversary of martyr of the agitation for Uttarakhand state Sridev Suman was also observed on the occasion.
