Ramdev's remark against PM draws Sikhs' ire
Haridwar, August 19
Yoga guru Ramdev's recent remarks against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have invited the wrath of the Sikh community, which has demanded apology from him.

BJP workers stage protest against power cuts
Haridwar, August 19
BJP workers today carried out a major protest against power cuts in Haridwar. They termed the Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s announcement of making Haridwar a power cut-free zone a mere publicity gimmick.

Knee deep: Boys enjoy rain on a flooded road in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

HIHT employees donate Rs 15 lakh
Dehradun, August 19
Employees of the Himalayan Institute and Hospital Trust (HIHT) have contributed Rs 15 lakh for the Uttarkashi cloudburst victims. They have contributed their one-day salary.

Model United Nations Conference ends
Dehradun, August 19
The two-day Model United Nations Conference organised by Law College, Dehradun, concluded here today.

Security beefed up on eve of Eid
Dehradun, August 19
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Dehradun Range, Sanjay Gunjiyal held a meeting with Senior Superintendent of Police, Neeru Garg and other junior police officials with regard to security arrangements in the city in wake of the Eid celebrations on Monday.

Janmanch flag released
Dehradun, August 19
The Uttarakhand Janmanch has asked the state government to file an appeal against the high court’s recent decision to grant permanent resident status to all those residing in the state since its inception. The Janmanch also released its flag today.

Aryan School outshines in swimming contest
Mussoorie, August 19
Swimmers in the boys’ section from Aryan School outshined in the 5th Brar Invitational Inter-School Swimming Competition, claiming the team trophy by securing 50 points at the aquatic centre of the St George’s College today.

Dehradun, August 19
Rain continued to wreak havoc in Dehradun today. Heavy rain that started Saturday morning continued throughout the day today, leading to widespread damage.

Some stretches of the outer wall of the Suddowala Dehradun District Prison on the outskirts of the city caved in due to the flooding water of the nearby Tons river. The river water also entered the nearby houses of prison officials. The authorities faced a tough time draining out water from the prison. Fortunately, the water did not enter the barracks of prisoners as the staff managed to divert it to a great extent.

The Dehradun drainage system arrangements, too, stood exposed. The ISBT was submerged and the residents of low-lying localities in Clement Town had to face a tough situation. The movement of buses was restricted in the ISBT and passengers faced a lot of inconvenience.

Deepnagar Shiv Temple along the Rispana damaged in the rain. The Yamuna in Vikasnagar had swollen with water entering fields.

The Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rain at isolated places, particularly in Uttarakashi, Chamoli and Dehradun in the next 36 hours. Anand Sharma of the Dehradun Meteorological Department said heavy rain would continue in the districts of Uttarakashi, Chamoli and Dehradun.

The rain had touched 90 mm mark in Dehradun till afternoon today. 

Dehradun, August 19
The rain which began on Saturday wreaked havoc in various parts of Dehradun even today. Be it roads, buildings or rivers, all bore the brunt of the continuous downpour.

State Planning Minister Dinesh Aggarwal visited the affected areas to monitor the extent of the damage to the property done by the rain.

He inspected Harbanswala, Mehuwala, Sewlakala, Brahmpuri, Brahmanwala, Chamanpuri, Rajivnagar, Lohiyanagar, Kargi, Banjarawala, Azad Bihar, Mothorowala, Dipnagar and instructed the officials to expedite the relief work.

He also heared the grievances of the affected residents and assured them of all possible help. He directed District Magistrate to prepare the detail of the damaged houses and asked him to distribute the monetary help. Executive Engineer of the Asian Development Bank VM Garg was directed to build the embankment on the Bindal river near Muslim Basti, Shanti Vihar and Kargi for which Rs 1.50 crore had been released.

Similarly, he also asked him to divert the direction of the river. He urged people of the area not to encroach upon land near the river as it might endanger their lives.

Meanwhile, information with regard to damage to the property kept pouring in from the Disaster Control Room throughout the day.

According to the reports, roads, temple and a community hall near the Rispana river at Kedarpuram got partially damaged.

The body of the child who got swept away in Madrasi Colony yesterday was found in the river in the morning. He has been identified as Karan Kumar of the same locality.

Due to damage to the banks of the Ghlata rivulet at Vikasnagar, water entered the houses of people living in the vicinity. Similarly, Dhalani, Selaqui, Dharmawala, Bhogpur, Ranipokhri, Majrigrant also witnessed destruction due to swollen rivulets or damage to the banks, which led to land erosion.

Haridwar, August 19
Yoga guru Ramdev's recent remarks against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have invited the wrath of the Sikh community, which has demanded apology from him.

The community has made it clear that Sikhs will not tolerate any remark against their religion or the Prime Minister.

During his recent agitation at Ramlila Maidan and Ambedkar Stadium, Ramdev had said that Manmohan Singh should resign as Prime Minister and do social and religious services at gurdwara, as he had failed to check corruption and bring back blackmoney stashed away in foreign banks.

The Sarv Pradesh Gurdwara Management Committee (SPGMC) has taken exception to the remark. A national meeting of Sikh representatives has been called at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj, New Delhi, on August 29 to discuss the issue that has hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community.

On August 13, Ramdev had claimed that if he wanted, he could stop the Prime Minister from hoisting the flag at Red Fort, but he would not do so.

Terming the statements as uncalled for, general secretary of the SPGMC Inderjeet Singh Chugh said Ramdev should apologise in public for these derogatory remark.

He said: "Ramdev's statements smell of a tyrant attitude. It shows that he lacks vision. The yoga guru is media savvy and is always ready to give statements."

President of the Kendriya Shri Guru Singh Sabha, Chandigarh, Jagdish Singh Jhinda has described Ramdev as a saffron-clad person who has political ambitions.

The SPGMC has also decided to take up the issue with Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and demand a probe into multi-billion assets of Ramdev.

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, the Akali Dal Sabha, the United Kingdom Gurdwara Sabha and the Shiromani Akali Dal (Delhi) have also condemned Ramdev's statements.

Meanwhile, talking to TNS, Ramdev said he had not made any statement with an intent to hurt the sentiments of any community or religion. However, he had targeted the Prime Minister as an individual, who had lost the confidence of the people of the nation.

He further said Manmohan Singh, by keeping mum over numerous scams in the UPA regime, including the recent coal scam, was, in fact, not doing justice to the constitutional post he was holding.

Haridwar, August 19
BJP workers today carried out a major protest against power cuts in Haridwar. They termed the Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s announcement of making Haridwar a power cut-free zone a mere publicity gimmick.

Party activists also blocked the traffic on the main city road near Devpura and raised slogans against Bahuguna, Haridwar MLA Harish Rawat and Power Corporation. They also burnt an effigy of the state government.

During a convention of the Hydro Electric Employees’ Union on May 12 Bahuguna had recognised Haridwar as a world famous city and said it would now be a power cut-free zone. But only after some days of the announcement, power woes began. The residents are reeling under power cuts since then.

Addressing the gathering, district unit chief Sushil Chauhan said when the Chief Minister’s word had no impact, then how could common people complain to the electricity department officials about power cuts.

Women cell secretary Poonam Jha demanded explanation from the CM over the false claim made by him.

“Uttarakhand is touted as ‘Urja Pradesh’ but seeing its condition, one can imagine the woes of the people living in far-flung and hilly regions of the state. We cannot expect good governance from state ministers who are visiting London for the Olympics when a calamity has struck Uttarkashi,” said Ujjwal Pundit, office bearer of the Yuva Morcha.

Dehradun, August 19
Employees of the Himalayan Institute and Hospital Trust (HIHT) have contributed Rs 15 lakh for the Uttarkashi cloudburst victims.

They have contributed their one-day salary.

Dehradun, August 19
The two-day Model United Nations Conference organised by Law College, Dehradun, concluded here today.

The conference took a new turn on the second day. The reason was the declaration of emergency session on the first night by the United Nations General Assembly. The emergency was declared by the Model United Nations General Assembly to make it look like real United Nations General Assembly.

What was the crisis? On the first night of the conference when the delegates were on bed, the General Assembly at 11:00 pm called up the emergency session. All delegates were present in the hall within 30 minutes. Anantdeep of Delhi University, who was chairing the General Assembly, informed the delegates that Algeria had attacked the NATO forces who were heading towards Libya. About 120 NATO soldiers perished and many got injured.

Algeria and its allies declared immediate halt of the fuel supply to NATO nations. Then began the phase of arguments. Determining the stand of Algeria, the Algerian delegate strongly asserted that the encroachment of the Algerian territory by the NATO forces was a clear violation of the territorial sovereignty of Algeria.

Opposing the same, the delegates of the NATO nations put forward their stand. The session continued up to 2 A.M. Ultimetly, a resolution declaring the Algerian attack upon the NATO forces as inhuman and against the International Law was passed.

Even in two days session, the effect of midnight emergency was clearly visible. The delegates were enthusiastic. The audience witnessed a meaningful discussion.

Principal of the college Dr Rajesh Bahuguna maintained that the conference followed the entire international norms as well as regulations in the same way as it was observed in the United Nations. In the context of quality of discussion, the conference was a unique experience. He asserted that the resolutions passed and the issues discussed in the General Assembly and Economic & Social Council would prove to be a guideline for the international community. If the same is translated into practice, the conference would prove to be a milestone.

Chairman of the college Jitendra Joshi give a cash prize of Rs 48,000 along with certificate and memento to the winning candidates.

Winners of United General Assembly:

Best Delegate – Sushoban Sen of IIT, Roorkee; High Commendation – Shubhangini Jain of UPES, Dehradun, Winners of Economic & Social Council:

Best Delegate – Dhawal Tandon of Govt. Law College, Mumbai; High Commendation – Surender Kumar of Ram Manohar Lohia National Law Univesity.

Besides the chairman of Law College, Jitendra Joshi, Anuradha Joshi, Ankita Joshi, Dr. Poonam Rawat, Kumar Ashutosh, Dr. Rachna Chaudhary, Dr. Anil Dixit, Dr. Anil Bhatt, Anjum Parvez, Dr. Romil Bhatkoti, Dr. Tripti Thapliyal, Dr. David M. Domingo, Pramod Tiwari, Dr. Prabha Lama, Vijay Srivastava, Vineesh Kumar, Vijoy, Yogendra Singh, Shalini Bahuguna, Avinash Kumar, Nisha Alag, Anand Kumar etc. were present.