Balkrishan released from jail
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 17
Balkrishan, close aide of yoga guru Ramdev, was released from the Sadhowala jail in Dehradun this evening after he was granted bail by the Nainital High Court yesterday. A single Bench of Justice Tarun Aggarwal granted bail to him. He also ordered Balkrishan to furnish two personal sureties of Rs 10 lakh and directed him to appear in person in lower court for further hearing.

Balkrishan was arrested by the CBI for forgery and the violation of the Indian Passport Act. He appealed to the high court for bail after his bail plea was turned down twice by lower courts. A Special CBI court rejected his bail plea on July 20, the day he was arrested from Haridwar and by the Dehradun District Courts on July 31.

After coming out of the jail, Balkrishan said the UPA government would not be able to quell discontent growing against black money stashed in banks in foreign countries. He added he along with Ramdev would continue to wage a fight against corruption and black money.

Balkrishan said the UPA government had implicated him in a false case to divert attention from its scams and it would not be able to prove anything against him.

Ramdev said his fast against black money held in New Delhi was a runaway success. He added trust shown by the public in him had encouraged him to intensify his agitation. The convoy of Ramdev and Balkrishan passed through many parts of the city, including Clock Tower and Rajpur Road, where their supporters raised slogans in their favour. They also showered flowers on the duo. 

Cops host Iftaar at Jwalapur
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 17
Roza Iftaars by politicians are common but Iftaars at police stations are never heard of. But in the pilgrim city, special Roza Iftaars at police stations are organised for both police and citizens.

Haridwar is seemed to be a Hindu-dominated city, but in reality it has a sizeable number of people from the Muslim community.

Since Independence, communal riot has never occurred in Haridwar. Instead Muslims help in smooth conduct of the Kanwar fair while Hindus organise Roza Iftaar.

Keeping in mind the coming Eid festival, the Jwalapur police organised a Roza Iftaar for Muslims on the police station premises.

Muslim brothers were taken by surprise as the police station was decorated and policemen were serving them food after breaking of Roza.

Attending the Iftaar, Superintendent of Haridwar Police Dr Kiran Lal Shah said the mutual bonding between the two communities in Haridwar was an ideal example of communal brotherhood and peace.

The idea of hosting Ifaar at the police station came to the mind of Circle Officer Shah Jahan Khan Javed, who noticed Muslim community people helping Hindus during the Kanwar fair which passed through Jwalapur.

"It was a daunting task to manage the influx of 1.92 crore Kanwariyas passing through the Muslim area of Jwalapur. All our fears vanished as Muslims stood up offering water and food to the Kanwariyas. Even they cleaned the garbage and leftovers, so when it came to their festival, we decided to hold similar function for them at our police station" told Shah Jahan.

Seeing the success of the Jwalapur police station's Iftaar, the Ranipur police station is also hosting an Iftaar on its premises.

More relief material sent to Uttarkashi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 17
A truck containing relief material, donated by Bharat Mata Mandir, Haridwar, was flagged off to Uttarkashi by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna from his residence today. Meanwhile, Cooperative Bank Tehri Garhwal donated Rs 1, 14, 456 in the Chief Minister Relief Fund. Prantiya Goswami Mahasabha Samiti also donated Rs. 25,000 in the Chief Minister Relief Fund.

The relief material donated by Bharat Mata Mandir included packed food, clothes, blankets, torches and other items of daily usage. Bahuguna said the state government was not leaving any stone unturned to provide relief to the calamity-hit people. He said the government was trying its best to bring life to its normal course in the disaster hit areas. He said private organisations and individuals in large numbers were extending help to the affected people.

Also present on the occasion were Swami Devmitranand, Manishanand, Lalitanand, Brahmamitranand, Nyayamitra Sharma, Indradutt Sharma, Udaynarayan Pandey, Mahant Vinay Saraswat, Vijay Saraswat and other dignitaries.

The delegation of the Sevanivrit Rajkiya Pensioners’ Sangathan led by its general secretary PD Gupta called on the Chief Minister and apprised him of their various problems. Chief Minister Bahuguna said the state government was committed to the welfare of workers.

Ex-servicemen to collect woollens

Ex-servicemen in Dehradun have decided to collect woollen clothes for the Uttarkashi cloudburst victims.

In a statement issued here today, the president of the Dehradun Ex-services League, Brig KG Behl, expressed concern over the plight of the victims. He said: “Although the government and other agencies were trying their best to help the victims, it needs to be further supplemented by social organisations in different ways, where the government may not be able to reach.”

Brigadier Behl said they had decided to collect woollen clothes and arrangements were being for distribution through Army sources.

Appeal by Sahayata Samiti

RSS-backed Uttaranchal Devi Apada Pidit Sahayata Samiti members are actively working towards providing relief to the Uttarakashi cloudburst victims.

A team of samiti members were among the first to reach the disaster-affected Bhagirathi valley in Uttarakashi. Samiti president AK Srivastava said their relief team was first to reach the most-affected Gangori in the Bhagirathi valley and undertook relief operations. He said the samiti was now providing food to the victims.

The samiti has even appealed to the people to come forward in aid of the affected families. Srivastava held that while the government had admitted that it may take around 7 to 8 months to bring normalcy to the disaster-affected villages, the samiti has appealed to the people of Uttarakhand to come forward to donate. He reminded that the samiti had also been actively working for natural disasters across the country.

Kosi, tributaries flow reducing: Scientist
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, August 17
The Kosi, the lifeline of Kumaon, and its 21 supporting non- glacial rivers are gradually losing its flow, as the nature of rain has changed in the region in the last 20 years, scientists working on the rivers claim.

According to Professor JS Rawat, a geographer working on the flow of the Kosi, which flows across Almora district, despite good monsoon, the water level of the Kosi has gone down by 90 litres per second from 180 litres in the beginning of summer this year.

“This is due to the changing nature of rain in the hill region in which rain comes heavily instead of slow pace for long time as during old days,” said Rawat, the researcher professor of geography in Kumaon University.

“Besides the Kosi river, the Saryu, the Ramganga (western), the Ladhia and the Panar, which are other non-snow fed rivers of the mid-Himalayan region are meeting the same fate, but the water level of the Koshi is going down at faster pace,” said profession Rawat.

According to the scientist at the Himalayan Research and Environment Development Institute at Katarmal in Almora, the global circulation of temperature has started affected the northern part of India, resulting into less rains due to weak formation of then low pressure areas in the Pacific Ocean.

“The Al Nino effect, which repeats itself in three to seven years time, is another major factor and due to an increase in the temperature of seas, the velocity of rain has changed to the extent of uncertain nature, which is also affecting the Himalayan region,” said Dr Kirit Kumar, an environment scientist at the institute.

CM assures ADB of help in project execution
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 17
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has assured the Asian Development Bank of all possible cooperation in its various projects of infrastructure development in the state.

Executive Director, ADB, Ashok Lahiri called on Bahuguna at his residence yesterday and apprised him of various works undertaken by the ADB in the state.

Lahiri said the ADB had undertaken development projects such as drinking water, sewerage and others in sectors like tourism, transport, power and urban areas. He said construction works worth $1264 million had to be completed out of which projects worth $507.95 million was underway presently.

He requested the Chief Minister for technical assistance and availability of skilled human resources for project management unit for the execution of these projects so that entire amount could be utilised and projects completed in stipulated time frame.

Two held for car dealer’s murder
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 17
On a tip-off, the police arrested two persons for the murder of 32-year-old Ikraar Ahmed from Ekkad railway station here today.

During interrogation, accused Amzad and Rajab Ali, residents of Gadowali village, confessed that they had murdered Ikraar Ahmed, a resident of Ekkad village, near Ekkad railway crossing on August 14.

The accused said first they shot him twice, but when they saw that he was still alive, they beheaded him. Later, they set his car afire to make it look an accident case. However, when the accused saw two persons coming they ran away. Passersby somehow extinguished the fire and reported the matter to the police. Ikraar's body was identified easily as it was yet to be charred.

The victim was into the trade of buying and selling second-hand cars. One of the accused, Amzad, works in a vehicle spare parts shop and Ikraar came in contact with him during his business only. Amzad showed him a car which was for sale at his shop. Ikraar liked it and offered a cash of Rs 40,000 to him as initial payment.

However, when Rajab Ali arrived at the shop, both conspired to kill Ikraar, eyeing Rs 40,000. They asked Ikraar to see another car at nearby Sarai village, which he agreed to. On their way, they consumed liquor at Jagjeetpur and the accused asked Ikraar to drive the car. Nearing the railway crossing, they shot at him and later beheaded him.

SP (City) Kiran Lal Shah said a knife, a country-made pistol and Rs 36,500 that the accused had taken from the victim had been recovered. 

Rotary Club adopts garden, plants 66 saplings
Tribune News service

Dehradun, August 17
The Rotary Club, Dehradun, today adopted Touch and Smell Garden at the National Institute of Visually Handicapped (NIVH) and its members planted 66 fruit saplings there. Rotarian Dr S Farooq, a noted philanthropist who has been helping the NIVH, also addressed the students. In his inspiring speech interspersed with anecdotes and sher-o-shayari, Farooq exhorted the students to make the maximum use of the facilities provided to them at the NIVH, develop their capabilities and serve the nation.

Club president Jyoti Dhawan explained to the children the role played by the Rotary for over 100 years as a service club. He assured them that it would continue its association with them by holding health camps at the NIVH, especially for adolescent girls.

Later the children visited Touch and Smell Garden lush with fragrant plants and spices like clove, tejpatta, cardamom, mint, herbs like peppermint, ashwagandha, basil, lemon grass, camphor, a variety of citrus fruits and flowers like jasmine, mogra, rat ki raani and sadabahar, among others.

The Rotarians, along with their families, planted and adopted fruit saplings at the NIVH complex and pledged to take care of not only the ones planted by them but also of others. Later, NIVH director Anuradha Mohit gave a succinct presentation regarding the institute and elaborated upon how it had grown from the St. Dunstan’s hostel for war blind in 1943 to a bustling institute that catered directly to about one lakh persons. Its services included vibrant listening library services. The institute is engaged in various services from teaching, training, research and development and manufacturing of toys and tools for the visually impaired to printing reading material in Braille. 

Uttarakhand Police to clash with CRPF in Durand Cup today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 17
A 16-member team of Uttarakhand Police left Dehradun today to participate in the 125th Durand Cup.

The team will clash with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in its opening match tomorrow at the Ambedkar Stadium in New Delhi.

The cops managed to get an entry in the prestigious Durand Cup for the second time. They took part in the tournament for the first time in 2010. This year, the Uttarakhand team faces a stiff challenge to overcome the CRPF team in its first match. About 12 teams will be aiming to make it to the last two of the cup.

Devendra Bisht, secretary of district football association, said, “It is a big thing for Uttarakhand Police to feature in the Durand Cup. The platform will give good exposure to the team.”

The team consists of Shailendra Rawat, Himanshu Upadhyaya, Manoj Adhikari, Veer Singh, Deepak Kandari, Anup Devli, Birendra Pandey, Naveen Chettri, Sisir Shah, Saurav Rawat, Ashok, Bhanu pandey, Virendra bisht, Sanjay Mehar, Suresh Mathpal and Ramprakash Bhatt.

MLA threatens fast if posts of doctor not filled by August 25
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, August 17
Elected representatives from the ruling and opposition parties in Almora and Pithoragarh have taken the agitation route in protest against the lack of medical facilities and a shortage of doctors in both districts.

Congress MLA from Almora Manoj Tiwari today threatened that if the authorities failed to fill vacant posts of doctors in district hospitals till August 25, he would launch an indefinite fast in front of the Almora District Magistrate office from August 26.

He said the posts of physician, surgeon and anaesthetist were lying vacant for long at the District and Base Hospitals in Almora.

The MLA said patients from the remote areas of Almora, Bageshwar and parts of Pithoragarh district visit Almora Base Hospital in hope of better medical facilities. However, it lacked even basic facilities. “Against the sanctioned posts of 236 doctors, only 74 doctors are working in various hospitals of Almora,”’ claimed MLA Tiwari.

The Congress MLA also expressed resentment over the recent transfer of doctors from various hospitals of the district and relieving them without appointing anyone at their place.

Meanwhile, Pithoragarh BJP workers, who were staging a protest on the District Hospital premises for the past one week, today called off the agitation after District Magistrate CMS Bisht gave them an assurance that no doctor would be transferred from the district till new appointments were made at their place.

General secretary of the state unit of the party Suresh Joshi said party workers called off the agitation after the District Magistrate assured them of not relieving any doctor without getting a substitute for them.

BRO Capt, who died during relief work in Uttarkashi, cremated
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 17
Capt A Rahul Ramesh, serving in the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), succumbed to injuries sustained during the relief operation after the cloudburst in Uttarakashi on Dharasu-Gangotri (NH 108) road, when the work on the Bailey bridge, critical to the communication in the area, was in the final stage.

Capt Ramesh was immediately taken to MI Room Harsil, Army Camp, and further airlifted to Military Hospital, Bareilly. However, he succumbed to his injuries on August 14 at the hospital.

A cloudburst occurred in the Uttarkashi region on August 3 that damaged major roads and permanent bridges between Uttarkashi and Gangotri and left more than 300 pilgrims stranded between Harsil and Gangotri.

Two major permanent bridges at Sawari Garh and Gangori were washed away, leaving a stretch of 28 kms between them completely cut off. In order to restore the bridges, stores were moved from Bhairo Ghati, Harsil and Gajnani.

The 100 ft bridge was planned at Sawari Garh and it was to be opened by Capt Ramesh and his team. The opening was from the home bank on the Harsil side and the bridge was boomed out even as additional bays were added. On August 14, when the Bailey bridge was about to tip on the far bank, the hill side on the home bank gave way, causing a massive slide. Capt Ramesh pushed driver BP Panda, who was working on the launching rollers, to safety and tried to jam the rollers so as to stop the bridge from sliding down the nullah. While he succeeded in jamming the rollers with a steel pin, he got stuck between the bridge and abutment and a transom fell on his back resulting in a serious injury. Four other persons were also hurt.

The mortal remains of Capt Ramesh were transported to Delhi by road, which were received by senior officers of the BRO. Yesterday, the mortal remains were taken by air to his native place Nagpur, accompanied by his family members and an officer of the HQ DGBR. The mortal remains were received by Station HQ Nagpur and were cremated with military honour.

BRO resources, including dozers and excavators, were moved from Bhairo Ghati and other locations along the road. A total of 10 slides were cleared, opening the road from Rishikesh to Uttarkashi by August 6.

Graft hampering country’s progress: Gujjar Sabha
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 17
Representatives of the Gujjar Sabha, Panchpuri, today stressed on the need to fight against the menace of corruption, which is hampering the progress of the country.

During a one-day convention at Gujjar Bhawan here today, the representatives talked about the Assam violence which had instilled fear into a section of the citizens who feel unsafe in their own motherland.

Chief of the sabha Harpal Singh Pawar claimed that the Gujjar community had always been hard working, peace loving and felt hurt whenever anti-social elements tried to disintegrate the communal harmony of the country.

Chaudhari Kulweer Singh Pawar, launching a book on the occasion, said there should be the ties of brotherhood among all communities.

Chaudhari Ran Singh Baislla said Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel had integrated more than 500 states to form a unified India and they would not not allow anyone to disintegrate once again any part or state of the country.

Light was also shed on the 9th century Gujjar King, Raja Mihir Bhoj, apprising younger generation of the noble works done by the emperor.

KP Singh, Sukhpal Singh, Dr Karn Singh Verma, Braj Pal Naghar, Sateesh Parmar, Dr Sateesh Gujjar and Naresh Jainar were also presented.

Pledge to save state bird monal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 17
Ailing wildlife conservationist Ram Babu 'Jungali' has pledged to start a conservation movement for protecting state bird Monal.

Jungali, who shot into fame for his ability of mimic wild animals, today announced to work for the conservation of Monal. “Although my health does not allow, I will continue with my efforts to protect the bird,” he said, adding that the pheasant faced the threat of hunting.

He sought efforts on the part of the state Forest Department towards conserving the wildlife, particularly Monal. He said the bird was being ignored by the authorities.

He also raised the issue of rising pollution in the Ganga. He said pollution was on the rise in the river and no serious efforts were being made to check pollution in it.