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Cong performed well in hills: CM
Many minting money from illegal quarrying, says SSP
Geologists for effective steps to tackle disasters
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Cong SC/ST cell stages dharna
Higher education in tatters in Uttarakhand
SFI activists protest against bogus colleges
Trivender Rawat in race for post of state BJP chief
Nanda Devi yatra showcased, folk dances presented
Cops told to remain alert in festival season
Separate policy for hill states mooted
BSNL union holds protest
‘Industries must innovate to cut wastage’
Youth held for stealing jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh
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Cong performed well in hills: CM
Dehradun, October 15 He further said there was an effect of negative propaganda on the issue of inflation, capping of LPG and corruption by the BJP in Dehradun and the Congress failed to counter it. Bahuguna said the same issues were raised by the BJP in the last assembly elections six months ago and in the Sitarganj assembly bypoll also, but it failed to convince the voters. He admitted that even the traditional Congress voters belonging to the minorities and Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes did not vote for the party. “There is something wrong and it will be looked into,” he said. He refuted the allegations by some of his detractors in the Congress that senior party leaders were not involved in the election campaign and his family ran the campaign on its own. “Election is like a ‘yajna’ where every party leader has to contribute and those who lost the assembly poll have no right to comment,” he said. Asked whether it was a verdict against the performance of his own state government, Bahuguna replied that period of six months was a short time to judge anyone. He said during the past six months, there was twice the imposition of the model code of conduct and natural disaster during monsoons. “Probably because my son was contesting the poll, there was much hype about the byelection. Otherwise byelections are routine poll and will have no effect on either the state or the Centre,” he said. Defending his son as a party candidate, he jokingly said a single flop film does not mean that the actor is a failure. “It was a trailer, the film would follow,” he quipped. He also denied that the results of the byelection would have any influence on the assembly poll in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. “The state assembly poll in these two states would be held on the performance of five years of the respective state governments,” he added. On the demand of the Opposition to seek his resignation, Vijay Bahuguna said it had become a fashion to demand resignation from everyone right from the Prime Minister to Chief Minister. He said there was no possibility of change in his cabinet but there could be a change in the portfolios of some ministers. “We will take a decision after consultation with the party high command,” he said. The Chief Minister also denied reports that he had been either summoned or called by the party president Sonia Gandhi to discuss the Tehri defeat. “I am not summoned or called by anyone in New Delhi,” he said.
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Many minting money from illegal quarrying, says SSP
Dehradun, October 15 While clearing his position, District Magistrate Ravinath Raman said his directions were of general nature and not specific. SSP Neeru Garg, however, appeared miffed, saying: "It is the police which is always pulled up when it comes to quarrying. The police has neither been given any power nor any role to contain illegal quarrying. The only job of the police is to check whether the trucks containing extracted material are overloaded. At the maximum, the police can seize such vehicles." She admitted that police personnel were making money from mafia gang members, saying everyone who was directly or indirectly connected to illegal quarrying was benefiting from it and the police was no exception. In a stern tone, she made it clear that now onwards, the police, too, was going to play a significant role to prohibit illegal quarrying in the city. "If the police is to be defamed like this, then it would take upon itself the task to book illegal quarrying traders. The police could not be a mere mute spectator, she said. Raman rejected giving any authority to the police in this matter, saying: "Quarrying does not come under the Police Department. It is strictly under administration." The matter has also become a talking point in police circles after the stunning revelations made by policeman of Rajpur police station, Vijay Prakash, before the media about a fixed income being siphoned off to police officers in illegal quarrying business. Garg had to give orders for an inquiry. The police stations have begun impounding such vehicles as well to impress the SSP. Two such trucks have been stationed in Prem Nagar police post for the past two days. Instead of cracking down on the drug mafia, the Bindal police post is fully engaged in controlling quarrying. The same goes for other police stations also. This issue has also gained significance after reports with regard to indiscriminate illegal quarrying in Vikasnagar, Doiwala, Raiwala and Rishikesh came to the notice of the district administration. It has alerted the concerned officials in the administration, and the Police Department has been told to remain vigilant and take action against the illegal business as and when it is detected. |
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Geologists for effective steps to tackle disasters
Pithoragarh, October 15 Speaking in a national seminar on "Geology, bio- diversity and natural resources of the Himalayan region", organised by the geology department of local PG college, the geologists said the natural resources and intellectual property were part of geo-physical structure of the Himalayan region. “The occurrence of earthquakes in the Himalayan region is frequent,” said Professor Charu Chandra Pant, Dean of the geology department, Kumaon University, Nainital. “In the past 10 years, more than 4,000 earthquakes of minor density have occurred, which is the indication of the reality that the region is highly earthquake prone,” said Professor Pant. According to Dr Pant, the depth of earthquake centres in the Himalayan region is not more than 15 to 20 km, which is very dangerous and can do more damage. “The districts of Pithoragarh, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Bageshwar are highly sensitive as these districts are situated at high sensitive fault,” said the geologist. Inaugurating the first session of the seminar, BD Joshi, former professor of Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, emphasised the need to protect the people at the time of geological incidents. |
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Dehradun, October 15 He said the Dalits under state Congress president Yashpal Arya had voted overwhelmingly for the party in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections but after coming to power, Yashpal Arya was denied the position of Chief Minister. Moreover, as promised by the Congress in its Dalit sammelan held in Dehradun last year, Dalits leaders were also denied 22 per cent reservation in the Congress. Parnwal, in a memorandum to the Chief Minister, demanded that Dalit party leaders should be given positions in state government corporations and other positions of profit. — TNS |
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Higher education in tatters in Uttarakhand
Dehradun, October 15 Of 83 degree colleges that have came up in the last 10 years, most do not have their own buildings and land (government), while those colleges that have land and buildings are in need of immediate repair and upgrade. According to the Directorate of Higher Education, a plan to construct colleges at Kapkot, Garud, Gangolihaat, Satpuli, Kotabaag, Rudrapur, Guptkashi, Chinyalisaur, Narender Nagar, Munsiyari and Thatyud has not been implemented due to the non-availability of land. The colleges in these places are being run from rented buildings. Though land has been allotted for colleges at Luxar, Blaukot, Garudbanj, Barkot, Nainbag, Doshpani, Chakrata, Tyuni, Nagnath, Pokhri, Thalesain, Someshwar, Kanda, Tanakpur, Chokutiya, Rihnikhal and Bhiyakisain, buildings have not been constructed. Hence, these colleges exist on paper only. Often announcements for opening colleges were made under public and political pressure. Several colleges were announced in the past but many of them were yet to come up. “The priority of the Education Department is to upgrade the existing colleges and also ensure that these get proper buildings,” said Nidhi Pande, Additional Secretary, Department of Higher Education. In fact, the department in its various reports has given top priority to providing land and buildings to degree colleges but the government has ignored them. “When Uttarakhand was created in 2000 it had 34 colleges in total. Now, there are 83 graduate colleges. However, infrastructure continues to be poor in most of these colleges. Some of the colleges do not have laboratories and practical tests are seldom conducted. Some of the students may not even get an opportunity to handle laboratory equipment by the time they pass out of the college,” said Dr BK Joshi, former Vice-Chancellor of Kumaon University. |
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SFI activists protest against bogus colleges
Dehradun, October 15 Carrying banners and placards, SFI workers marched up to the Secretariat from Parade Ground and held a dharna. They demanded action against bogus educational institutions running in a single room and fleecing students in the name of distance edication and placement services. The protesters highlighted the plight of the students who had been duped by an engineering college being run from a four-room building at Kotdwar. More than 300 students of the institute had been on strike since September 24. It was demanded that the affected students should be adjusted in other polytechnic institutions without any charge. Their fee should be refunded and severe action be taken against all those involved in the fraud.
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Trivender Rawat in race for post of state BJP chief
Dehradun, October 15 Though the defeat in the 2012 Assembly elections by a few votes from the Raipur Assembly segment had dampened his spirits, he soon recovered and did lose touch with the people of the Assembly segment. From the Raipur Assembly segment alone, BJP’s Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah managed to garner the highest votes ( 28,631). This emphatic victory of Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah in the Assembly segment held by sitting MLA from the Congress Umesh Sharma is expected to boost Rawat’s standing in the party and also firm his case for the post of BJP president. At present, BS Chuphal is holding the post of president of the state unit of the party. His tenure is expected to end by December. Organisation secretary Dhan Singh Rawat and former minister Mohan Singh Gaunwasiare also in the race for the post. “Since the byelection results are out, Rawat has not let a chance go by to take credit for the victory of Mala Raj Lakshmi Shah. He continues to have good rapport with the senior leadership, especially former Chief Minister BS Koshiyari, and has strengthened his position after the elections,” said a senior BJP leader. In the past, the BJP has nicely balanced the regional aspirations of the state by appointing a CM from the Garhwal region and the president of the party from the Kumaon region. As Chuphal is from the Kumaon region, this time round, the party is expected to pick a leader from the Garhwal region and in the backdrop of the Tehri byelection victory, Rawat has managed to strengthen his position. |
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Nanda Devi yatra showcased, folk dances presented
Dehradun, October 15 The Rajya Sabha MLA, Tarun Vijay, said that the cultural show was organised to shed light on the cultural and religious journey that is expected to attract a large number of people from outside the state. The members held discussions on the various facets of the journey at a meeting, which followed the cultural show. |
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Cops told to remain alert in festival season
Dehradun, October 15 She said police force be deployed near banks and showrooms. The SSP said during the festival season, people buy gold jewellery or bring home from lockers to wear, which might lead to a sudden increase in theft cases. She asked them to beef up security and night patrolling.
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Separate policy for hill states mooted
Mussoorie, October 15 The seminar was inaugurated by Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi by lighting the ceremonial lamp. The speakers on the occasion emphasised on a separate policy of Himalayan states in order to preserve the culture and history of the region. The speakers said that many traits of the history of Uttarakhand were found in the history of Nepal, Tibet and Himachal Pradesh. Therefore, a need of interacting closely with the scholars of these states to bring new research about the state was being felt urgently. The scholars also said that a need to strengthen the history of the region in detail was also being felt. A cultural programme was organsied on the occasion, in which Kathak dancer from Florida mesmerised the audience with her scintillating performance here. Professor Lal Bahadur Verma, speaking on the occasion, said that due to emergence of nationalism and captialism, the history of the small regions of the world had taken a back seat. He further said that the regional history and culture can be preserved only when every single tribe and culture was documented and given due importance, and if it was not done, then the history of the small regions will also be in oblivion. He said history acted as a tool to empower various cultures and preserve their identity effectively. He advised new historians to remain alert with changes in society currently, otherwise they would be not able to document new history. The president, Uttarakhand History and Cultural Association, Shekhar Pathak, speaking on the occasion said that the need of integrating the Himalayan region on a whole was the need of the hour to preserve the history of the region. He said that a town like Mussoorie had a lot of hidden history that needed to be revealed, for which a completely separate section was required, but it could happen only when a separate Himalayan policy is in place that is sensitive to the regional demands. He also paid homage to the deceased historians of the world and presented the annual report on the occasion. The other speakers lamented the fact that in a state which was still bereft of adequate tourism and cultural policy to demand a separate policy for the growth of historical research was farfetched. The book on the life of Boxa tribes of Kumaon and Terai written by Girdhar Singh Negi was launched on the occasion. Later, several papers on the history of the region were presented on the occasion. |
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BSNL union holds protest
Dehradun, October 15 President of the union JP Kothari said it was seven-year ago around 3.5 lakh employees of the Telecom Department opted to join the BSNL whereas the ITS officials refused to become part of the BSNL. These officials also never paid heed to the progress of the BSNL. He lamented that the BSNL management was making all possible efforts to retain these officials in the BSNL fold. The members also expressed anguish saying these ITS officials must be repatriated to their original cadre. Until then, Kothari said they would continue their agitation and go on fast from October 29 for four days. |
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‘Industries must innovate to cut wastage’
Dehradun, October 15 “The mantra of the industries should be reduce, reuse and recycle products to bring efficiency in their functioning. This will automatically lead to adherence to standard procedures. Standards are nothing but tools that help us in cutting wasteful expenditure and bringing efficiency,” he said. He was speaking at a function organised by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Dehradun, on World Standards Day. Tripathi said along with the industries, society should make collective efforts in reducing wastefulness. “Instead of individual efforts, we need collective efforts to reduce wastage,” he added. On the other hand, Dileep Kumar, Head of the BIS, Dehradun, said as India was a member of WTO, it was imperative for her to follow the norms laid under the Technical Barrier to Trade (TBT). “The TBT lays stress on adherence to standards. By following standards, the international technical regulations calling for conformity and assessment can be overcome. At least 74 per cent of the Indian standards have been harmonised with the International Standards Organisation (ISO). This will help us in overcoming trade barriers,” said Dileep. |
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Youth held for stealing jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh
Dehradun, October 15 During interrogation, the accused said he had committed theft to make up for the loss he had incurred during the IPL betting. The stolen jewellery has been recovered from his possession. According to the police, the accused's father, Kunal Malhotra, a manager in a pharmaceutical company, had urged his friend Bhandari to allow Anmol to stay with them as he was getting into bad company. He also wanted his son to learn the basics of the pharmaceutical business from Bhandari. On September 28, Bhandari, along with his family, had gone out for some work. However, when they returned in the evening, they found their almirah and locker open and gold jewellery and a diamond pendent was missing. As Anmol was also missing, they reported the matter to the Bindal police post. During an inquiry, it was found that Anmol had not even reached his home in Gaziabad. Through his cellphone location, the police zeroed in on him at Gandhi Park today and arrested him. Earlier also, Anmol had allegedly stolen jewellery from the house of his maternal aunt Santosh Talwar and her tenant Sandeep Kumar. |
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Members of the Forum of BSNL Union sat in the office of Chief General Manager in protest against the demand of repatriation of Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officials to their original cadre.
He also announced that the cabinet meeting would now to held on November 3 instead of November 9 at Gairsain in Chamoli district.
