Dehradun, September 23
The Waste Warriors, a passionate group of young people, organised a poster scrapping activity on Survey of India building walls at Survey Chowk here today.

A group of 20 Waste Warriors gathered to scrap a large number of illegal posters being put up on the boundary walls of the Survey of India building. The activity was part of the “Let's Clean Doon Together” campaign.

The group had earlier scrapped posters from the same area but within just a few weeks, the walls were again covered with posters, particularly of the candidates contesting the college elections. This time the things were done differently.

The team approached different government bodies, which had the authority to ensure the maintenance of cleanliness. The whole idea behind the campaign was to preserve the prominent buildings of Dehradun and to take an initiative to stop the defacement of the public property. Vijay Raghav Pant, Director General of Police, Uttarakhand, also showed keen interesting the campaign.

A stall “What waste can create” was also set up where different craft items like cardboard dustbins, flowers made from egg trays and pen stands were on display to inspire the general public.

The Waste Warriors team will continue to clean walls next Sunday near Survey Chowk and it hoped that the Survey of India authorities would also participate. The team has also proposed to make a wall mural on an environmental theme on a boundary wall.

On the eve of Gandhi Jyanti, the team has also proposed a clean-up drive to promote public involvement. A lot of fun and interesting elements will be added to the drive as well. The drive will start from Gandhi Park and cover the area from the Clock Tower to Ashley Hall. The team is involved in taking various initiatives to make Dehradun clean as the city has a big garbage problem. 

Haridwar, September 23
Peasants from across the district are camping in the city to press for hiked sugarcane support price. This time various farmers' unions have made it clear that meagre assurances would not do, and they want the rates to be announced as soon as possible.

UP IN ARMS: Farmers, under the aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, stage a protest in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Under the aegis of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, various peasant unions have pitched in to support the ongoing agitation in which daily protests are being held at various parts of the district.

They include Lakshar, Bahadrabad, Khanpur, Laldhang, Roorkee, Jwalapur and Bhagwanpur.

The gravity of this agitation can be gauged by the fact that peasants had kidnapped a sugarcane official at Jwalapur office and left him late at night only after intervention by the District Magistrate.

Garhwal division Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Sanjay Chaudhari said that for the past two months peasants have been going to sugarcane office, where no one paid any heed to their woes of delayed hike in sugarcane procurement price.

Chaudhari said that apart from this, the state government was further delaying the announcement of the support price of sugarcane, which is breeding unrest among the farmer community.

A letter has also been posted to Union Minister for Agriculture (State) Harish Rawat by the BKU, apprising him of their agitation.

It is also stated in the letter that he as Union State Minister must intervene in this matter.Taking cognizance of this letter, Harish Rawat has now written to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to ensure speedy payment to the farmers as well as make sure this year's sugarcane price is given at least Rs 20 higher than the price of last year.

While presiding over the protest meeting here today, Chaudhari Jagbeer Singh warned that till state Congress government announced new hiked sugarcane support price, farmers would not be leaving the agitation venue.

He added that ignoring farmers had cost the previous BJP state government heavily as it was not only in the plains that farmers lived but also in hill districts, where people depended on agriculture.

Haridwar, September 23
The college union election of Chinmaya Degree College for Science concluded here today and the new student council was elected. Ankush Nirwa won the post of the president with a margin of 21 votes over his rival Shefali Pawar, who bagged 11 votes.

HImanshu Dhiman got elected to the post of vice-president after defeating Pooja Kumari by 17 votes.

Rizwan Ali got elected as the general secretary after defeating Rachna Joshi.

For the post of sub-secretary and treasurer, Roopesh Bish and Harsh Chabra were elected unopposed, respectively.

Mohammed Amid and Mohit Chaudhari were elected as university representatives.

Akanksha Shrivastava, Shalini Mahajan, Meenakshi Saini, Shivam, Surya Prakash Upadhyay and Gyanesh Pant were elected executive body members.

The Principal of the college, Dr Alok Kumar, administered oath to the elected candidates and also welcomed the new executive body members, assuring them of cooperation and support.

Election coordinators were Shikha Gupta, BP Gupta, Dr Manisha, Dr AS SIngh, Dr Alok Aggarwal, Dr Ajay Swami, Vikram Singh, Gyan Prakash Barthwal and Sushil Kumar.

Newly elected members Ankush Nirwa, Shalini Mahajan and Meenakshi Saini said they would try to live up to the expectations of the students and help bridge the gap between teachers and students.

Dehradun, September 23
The DAV (PG) College authorities today announced that a writing mistake was the reason behind the goof up in the total votes polled in the Students' Union elections recently.

It has become clear after the grievance committee for the elections today completed its three-day probe into the goof up and submitted a report to the college authorities.

"It was only a writing mistake. An official in booth number 17 while submitting the election documents wrote 436 as the total votes polled in the booth instead of the correct figure of 336 votes, which he did unintentionally. This was revealed in the rechecking of poll documents and recounting of ballot papers," said Devendra Bhasin, Principal, DAV (PG) College.

He did not rule out seeking an explanation from the officer as the mistake resulted in unnecessary controversy and ruckus on the college campus.

Mahesh Jagudi of the ABVP was elected president of the DAV (PG) College Students' Union.

However, a few hours after the declaration of the results, NSUI members accused the college authorities of rigging the votes.

Dehradun, September 23
Sundarwala Boys and Adhoiwala Boys emerged winners in their respective matches during the Lala Nemi Dass Memorial Football League being played at Survey Ground here today.

In the first match, the Sundarwala team defeated Tapowan 4-0. The first goal was scored by Subham in the 12 minute of the match whereas Manoj scored the second and third goals in the 25th and 60th minutes, respectively. Abhishek scored the fourth goal for Sundarwala.

In the second match, Adhoiwala Boys defeated Gorkha Boys 3-0. Vijay Rai, Deepak and Akash scored the goals in the 12th, 21st and 41st minutes of the match, respectively.

Mussoorie, September 23
The two-day inter-school table tennis tournament organised at MPG College premises under the aegis of Rotary Club and Mussoorie Sports Association concluded here today.

In the individual girls’ category finals, Priya of MPG College defeated Sonika of the same college by a margin of 11-7,11-3,11-8. In the under-12 sub-junior category, Abhishek Tiwari from Nirmala Inter College defeated Mohan Dayal also of the same college by a margin of 11-8, 10-11, 11-9.

In the under-14 junior boys’ category, Paritosh of St George’s College defeated Harin of the same college by a margin of 11-8, 10-11, 11-9.

In the under-18 category, Sanchit Nawani of St George’s College defeated Paritosh by a margin of 9-11, 11-8, 11-5, 9-11, 15-13, 11-9.

In the open category, Sanchit of St George’s College defeated Dinesh Rana of MPG College by a margin of 11-5, 11-4, 11-2, 11-2.

In the under-14 doubles category, Harin and Pariosh of St George’s College defeated Vashisht and Dang Chulong by a margin of 11-7, 9-11, 11-13, 11-9, 12-10 and won the finals.

In the open doubles category, Sanchit and Paritosh defeated Dinsesh Rana and Nakul of MPG College by a margin of 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-7.

Woodstock School stood third in the doubles category. In the under-18 doubles category, Sanchit Nawani and Paritosh of St George’s College defeated Laksh and Raghav of same college by a margin of 11-9, 11-4, 11-6, 11-4 and emerged winners.

Chief guest on the occasion state Sports Minister Dinesh Agarwal distributed citations and awards among the participants.

Rotary Club president Pranav Ghelotra, secretary Nitish Mohan, sports chairman Salim, Manmohan Karnwal, Alok Melhotra and Sandeep Sahni were present on the occasion.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of the tournament about the forthcoming byelections for the Tehri Lok Sabha,Agarwal said the Congress would repeat its victory once again. He also said the workers from grass-roots level to the top were united in their efforts to gain victory in the byelections. He also said the Congress would create history by winning in the elections. He further stated that the BJP-sponsored Bharat bandh would have no bearing on these elections as people were aware that the Congress government at the state and the Centre would benefit them.

Lambasting the BJP, he said the people of the constituency were aware of the scams committed by the party during its previous tenure and would not make the mistake of electing the BJP candidate from Tehri.

Dehradun, September 23
Garhwal Sporting, Sarvodaya Club and Garhwal Boys won their respective matches during the Dehradun District Football League here today. In the first match, Garhwal Sporting defeated KV Sangathan 3-0. Abhishek scored 2 goals for the Garhwal Sporting while Shivam scored 1 goal.

In the second match, Sarvodaya defeated Khalanga Club 2-0. Sunil and Praveen scored for the Sarvodaya team.

In the third match, Garhwal Boys beat Doon FC 2-1. Vikram and Misang scored for Garhwal Boys while Srisant scored the sole goal for Doon FC.

Uttarakhand Police will clash with Yankees Club and Wills Youth Club will take on Doon Eagle in tomorrow's matches.

The political battle for the Tehri Lok Sabha byelection in which Saket Bahuguna, son of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, is contesting as ruling Congress candidate, the state government as well as Chief Minister Bahuguna has a lot at stake.

The outcome of the byelection, the one before the 2014 general elections, will have a direct bearing on the political career of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. By winning the byelection, he has to ensure a smooth entry for his son into the state Congress politics but also at stake is the credibility of his six-month state government.

The Chief Minister, who won the Sitarganj state assembly byelection in July this year by a record margin to enter the state legislature, is leaving no stone unturned in his effort to make his son win his first election.

Knowing fully well that public sentiments are against the ruling Congress due to reasons like high inflation, cap on LPG cylinders and diesel price hike, scandals rocking the Union government, lacklustre performance of his own state government, Vijay Bahuguna has been working overtime to ensure support for his son.

In the past one week, he was able to win over many senior party leaders. The most important entry was Matbar Singh Kandari, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader who was himself a strong contender for the partry ticket 
from Tehri.

He was annoyed from his own party men after he was denied party nomination and Maharani Mala Raj Laxmi Shah, daughter in-law of last maharaja of Tehri state Manvendra Shah was given the party ticket. But, Chief Minister Bahuguna was able to convince Matbar Singh Kandari to join the Congress. Similarly, another former BJP legislator Raj Kumar also joined the Congress.

He has also been working on the local leaders who left the Congress in the past and trying to bring them back. Jot Singh Bisht, a former senior party leader who unsuccessfully fought the assembly elections from the Dhanaulti assembly segment of Tehri district in the state, is again back in the party.

Moreover, the entire Bahuguna family, including Reeta Bahuguna, a former Uttar Pradesh Congress chief and sister of Vijay Bahuguna, Shekhar Bahuguna, another brother of Vijay Bahuguna, have been assigned different assembly segments of the Tehri Lok Sabha seat to manage the election effectively in favour of the candidate.

This formula worked very well in the Sitarganj assembly bypoll where Vijay Bahuguna, without taking any chances with his own party men, relied more on his own family members for finetuning the election management in their own favour.

But in case, the Congress fails to win the Tehri byelection, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will have to face many problems. Any negative verdict will be considered a vote against the state Congress government and personally against the Chief Minister himself since his own son is a candidate.

On the other hand, Maharani Raj Laxmi Shah, apart from encashing the public resentment against the ruling Congress, will also be banking on the tremendous goodwill and support of his late father-in-law Maharaja Manvendra Shah who represented the Tehri Lok Sabha constituency eight times in the past.

The re-entry of Munna Singh Chauhan, a senior politician from Chakrata and his wife Madhu Chauhan, chairperson of the Zila Panchayat, Dehradun district, into the BJP will also help the BJP candidate.

Interestingly, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Panwar), which is an ally of the state Congress government, has also entered the fray. Trivendra Singh Panwar, president of the UKD (P), has filed his nomination.

Lone legislator of the UKD (P) Preetam Singh Panwar is a minister in the Bahuguna cabinet and his position will be awkward during the electioneering process. While supporting his own party president, he has to criticise the Congress government in which he himself is a part.

The Congress also got a shot in the arm when Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna managed to convince the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati to refrain from contesting the Tehri byelection. The BSP is also an ally of the Congress in the state government. In a close contest, the absence of the BSP, which has a sizeable vote bank in the Tehri Lok Sabha seat, could prove beneficial for the ruling Congress. —SMA Kazmi

Dehradun September 23
The kotwali police station arrested four persons late on Saturday night for possessing three-and-a-half-kilogram of precious herb Keera Jari worth Rs 1 crore. On a tip-off by an informer, the police stopped a car near

Haridwar Road, in which the police found three boxes containing Keera Jari. The accused were identified as Jaykishan Bhatt, resident of Karanprayag, Shyam Singh, resident of district Chamoli, Dhananjay, resident of Gopeshwar, and Raguvir Singh, driver of the car. The culprits told the police that they were bringing Keera Jari to sell it in Dehradun. Since it is illegal to indulge in sale and purchase of Keera Jari, the police has registered a case against the accused under the Forest Act.