CM pays tributes in Doon
Dehradun, September 1
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna here today paid tributes to the martyrs of the Khatima and Mussoorie firing incidents. Bahuguna said the state government was committed to the welfare of the statehood activists.

Dehradun Club Ltd to give membership to women
Dehradun, September 1
The managing committee of the Dehradun Club Ltd, headed by Devinder Singh Mann, has decided to end gender bias in grant of membership of the club. At a meeting of Dehradun Club Ltd held today, Mann proposed major changes in rules of the club. He proposed a historic resolution to give the club membership to dependant daughters of the permanent members and women members.

7 schoolteachers to get President's Medal
Pithoragarh, September 1
Seven schoolteachers from the state, four from primary schools and three from secondary schools, have been selected for the President's Medal this year. Additional Director, School Education Department, Nagesh Barthwal said the President would award the medal to the teachers on the occasion of Teacher's Day in New Delhi on September 5.

SP asks Bahuguna to honour SC order
Dehradun, September 1 The state unit of the Samajwadi Party (SP) has asked Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to honour the order of the Supreme Court quashing quota in promotions. Addressing a press conference at the SP office here today, president of the state unit of the party Vinod Barthwal said Bahuguna, who himself is a legal luminary, should honour the apex court verdict.

Panel to set up Urdu academy formed
Dehradun, September 1
Taking an important step towards the establishment of an Urdu academy in the state, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has set up a high-level eight-member committee to be chaired by the Vice-President of Delhi Urdu Academy, Prof Akhtarul Wase. State Chief Residential Commissioner SK Mattu will be the coordinating member.

Pithoragarh September 1
On the 18th anniversary of the Khatima firing incident, rich tributes were paid to those who laid down their lives during the movement for the creation of a separate Uttarakhand state, in Pithoragarh today. Seven statehood activists were killed and a large number of others were injured in the police firing on September 1, 1994.

“We have paid tributes to those who sacrificed their lives for the creation of Uttarakhand and ensuring better facilities to the people living in remote parts of the region,” said KS Airy, a leader of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) who was the chief guest on the occasion. “The successive governments after the creation of Uttarakhand did nothing for the cause the martyrs died for, as the people in remote parts of the state are still living in difficult conditions,” said Sher Singh Digari, who took part in the 1994 statehood movement at Khatima and sustained serious injuries.

Thousands of people, some from distance places in the state, paid floral tributes to the martyrs at Shaheed Park at Khatima. “Khatima produced the first martyrs of the movement for the creation of Uttarakhand while five statehood activists were killed in police firing in Mussoorie on September 2, 1994. We have demanded the development of the Khatima area as it has been neglected after the creation of the state,” said Airy.

The speakers at the condolence meeting condemned the successive Uttarakhand governments for failing to give justice to the people of the state.

They said after the formation of the state migration of the people from hill areas of the state had increased, poverty in remote parts of hill districts had deepened and statehood activists were not being properly identified. “The Congress and the BJP are competing with each other in declaring more of their workers as statehood activists. In such a hopeless situation created by the mainstream political parties, we cannot think of fulfilling the dreams of those who died for the creation of the state and for giving a dignified life to common pahari people,” said Bhuwan Joshi, a senior statehood activist at Khatima.

Mussoorie, September 1
Even 17 years after the police firing on activists of the movement for the separate state of Uttarakhand at Khatima on September 2, 1994, the dreams of those who fought and laid down their lives for the cause of the state remain unfulfilled. This has left many statehood activists and families of the martyrs a dejected lot. Several statehood activists, who even went to jail, are yet to be identified for government benefits.

Seven persons, including the then DSP Umakant Tripathi, were killed in the police firing at Katima that was carried out on the orders of the Uttar Pradesh government headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Mussoorie played an important role in the statehood movement as it was here that the Uttarakhand Sanyukt Sangarsh Samiti was formed which became the focal point for the agitators around the state. Uttarakhand was finally formed on November 9, 2000.

Several protesters were injured and put behind bars during the movement. However, many statehood activists are still waiting to be identified for their role in the movement.

Umed Singh Rawat recalled that he was picked up by PAC personnel from the Saheed Sthal on September 2, sent to the Bareilly jail and tortured by the police there. Umed despite facing atrocities is forced to work at a liquor shop today.

He criticised the attitude of the government saying “Though I have submitted all relevant documents, I have not received any benefit from the successive state governments in the last 12 years. I am forced to work at a liquor shop for pittance to fend for my children.

Narendar Bisht, another statehood activist, who was identified in the first list of the active activists, is still running from pillar to post to get his name included in the list so that he can get government job as promised by successive governments.

Subhasini Barthwal, the lone women activist accused in the case of Umakant Tripathi’s death on September 2, said the state had failed to deliver in accordance with the aspirations of the statehood activists. Subhasini had to face a CBI inquiry for more than a decade. The women activists of the statehood movement still have to struggle to earn their livelihood and travel several kilometres to fetch drinking water in their villages. She added the condition of the primary education in the state was pathetic with dilapidated school buildings awaiting repairs.

Jaiprakash Uttarakandi, a social activist who had participated in the statehood movement, recollected the fateful day of September 2 and said the martyrdom of the agitators was the chief reason for the formation of the state.

He said the role of the women also could not be forgotten as they spearheaded the movement and kept the flame alive despite immense difficulties. Six martyrs of September 2 included two women Hansa Dhanai and Belmati Chauhan.

Uttarakhandi opined that the idea of carving out a separate state was to address the unresolved issues such as water, forest and land so that all people could take the benefit of development, but in the past 12 years such issues had been forgotten. The people who could not win the election of sarpanch in Uttar Pradesh reaped most of the benefits and became legislators, he added.

The state instead was in the control of the people with vested interests.

Family members of the martyrs, namely Hansa Dhania, Rai Singh Bangari, Dhanpat Singh, Belmati Chauhan, MM Mamgain and Balbir Singh Negi are also miffed at the indifferent attitude of the politicians and the bureaucrats. They say the politicians have failed to take up the grievances of the people in an effective manner and have become mere puppets in the hands of vested interests. 

Dehradun, September 1
Taking an important step towards the establishment of an Urdu academy in the state, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has set up a high-level eight-member committee to be chaired by the Vice-President of Delhi Urdu Academy, Prof Akhtarul Wase. State Chief Residential Commissioner SK Mattu will be the coordinating member.

The committee will furnish suggestions to the Chief Minister regarding the structure and other basic infrastructure of the academy within two months time. State Assembly member Furkan Ahmed, Sarbat Karim Ansari, Wahadulla Khan, senior advocate Mohammed Rauf Rab, Razia Beg and Dr S Farookh have been included as committee members.

The decision on the academy was taken by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna during his meeting with Prof Wase in New Delhi today. Bahuguna said, “My government is committed to the development of Urdu language and the establishment of the academy in Uttarakhand will be the first important step in this direction.”

He said the committee would study other Urdu academies and take suggestions from renowned Urdu experts and academicians.

Appreciating the decision, Professor Wase said Urdu Academy in Uttar Pradesh was the result of the efforts made by Bahuguna's father the then Chief Minister late Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna.

He hoped that the establishment of the academy would help in the promotion and publicity of the language in Uttarakhand.

Dehradun, September 1
Doctors at Max Super Speciality Hospital today conducted an endoscopic surgery through nose for a tumour located in the brain. This is for the first time that a surgery of this kind has been performed.

31-year-old Deepak was afflicted with brain tumour (Pituitary Adenoma). A team of surgeons from the neurosurgery and ENT departments operated on him using the endoscopic trans-nasal minimally invasive surgical technique and removed the tumour.

The team was led by Prof AK Singh, Director, Max Institute of Neurosciences. Dr Yashbir Dewan, senior consultant, neurosurgery, and Dr K Priyamvadha, consultant, neurosurgery, assisted him.

Dehradun, September 1
Director and playwright Abhishek Maindola is the face of modern theatre in Dehradun. In a short span of seven years, he has succeeded in rekindling interest in this field.

Revelling in experimentation through his theatre group, 'Sambhav', Abhishek quite often uses a new technique that he refers to as techno-theatre. "These days very few people are inclined towards theatre. To keep them interested is an onerous task. One has to keep experimenting. Sometimes we have to film parts of a play and then show them through a projector. It manages to keep the interest of the audience alive. Through out, the history technology has been used in one way or the other to enhance the performance or as a means to shift to another scene," he said.

Abhishek said his exposure to film director Anuj Joshi helped in grasping the finer points of the technology, which he finds useful while directing plays. This technique was effectively used in the play 'Ek aur 1857' written and directed by him.

These days, Abhishek is busy preparing a script based on the life and times of famous mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan. "Due to several factors, mathematics, in my opinion, no longer interests schoolchildren and even adults. The Dehradun-based Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology has started a project of popularising science and it approached us to prepare a play on the famous mathematician," said Abhishek.

He says: "Theatre is a good medium for conveying messages and when used as a medium of education, the purpose of entertainment with a meaning is well served. Unfortunately, in our country, theatre is not included as part of the academic curriculum. Efforts like introducing it as a subject would certainly make it popular."

"I am a professional theatre man. I have no other means of earning a livelihood. At times, things become difficult and support from the government would keep us going," says Abhishek. a

Dehradun, September 1
The Director General of Indian Council Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), Dr VK Bahuguna, has been elected Vice-Chairman of the Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institution (APAFRI).

The election took place during the sixth assembly meeting held in Guangzhou, China. The APAFRI is an independent non-profit body, which aims at enhancing research and technology development capabilities in support of conservation and management of forest resources in the Asia-Pacific region. The establishment of the APAFRI was prompted by the need to provide a viable institutional framework for research collaboration in the region. According to Dr KP Singh, publicity and liaison officer, Forest Research Institute (FRI), the APAFRI member countries have recognised the eminence of the ICFRE in the field of international forest research and therefore, bestowed the honour. The position of the Vice-Chairmanship will reinforce the leadership of India in forest research in the international forum.

Haridwar, September 1
As many as 51 units of blood were collected during a blood donation-cum-awareness camp organised on the 53rd anniversary of the Indian Oil Company at Landaura here today.

Experts, donors, doctors and volunteers of the Red Cross Society, who have been donating blood regularly, cleared the doubts of the people at the camp.

Dr Supreet Kaur, a pathologist at the Roorkee Civil Hospital, said those in the age group of 18-60 years could donate blood at regular intervals, as it had no side effects.

Secretary of the Red Cross Society Naresh Chaudhari urged the youth to come forward for the social cause.