Haridwar, October 21
Despite the elevation of the Haridwar municipal committee to the status of Municipal Corporation, the hoarding policy and rates remain unchanged, which is affecting the exchequer of the corporation.

But now the Municipal Corporation is envisaging a new policy on hoardings, under which these will be given on tender-based contracts that will multiply manifold the income of the civic body.

Currently, the per single hoarding cost was being charged from advertising agencies or applicants. But now with bulk contracts being given, it is felt that the coverage area from Shantikunj on the border of Dehradun-Haridwar to Ranipur-BHEL-Jwalapur will fetch revenue more than 10 times the current policy is fetching.

The Haridwar corporation's city periphery will be divided into two zones, Shanti Kunj-Chandi Ghat Chowk and Chandi Ghat Chowk till Pull Jatwada, Jwalapur.

As per civic office tax officials, currently, for a single 20x10-size hoarding, the fee is charged Rs 1500 per month, which is quite low when compared to other cities like Dehradun, Haldwani and Nainital.

The same size hoarding is now being fixed at the base price of Rs 20,000 per month, which contractual advertising firms will have to pay in bulk for the two zones.

Additional Town Officer Harsh Vardhan Mishra told TNS that rules, manuals, contractual norms and guidelines were being finalised with officials of the two zones, which have been bifurcated out of the municipal periphery.

He added that this would pave the way for big advertising agencies and corporate publicity houses to come to Haridwar, as they would get fixed, multiple display hoarding places in the world-famous pilgrim tourist city of Haridwar.

“Any time in Haridwar thousands of people come from different states of the country and foreign nations. During the festive bath, millions of people flock Haridwar, and during Ardh Kumbh and Maha Kumbh Melas the number of people is even beyond this figure. The publicity that hoardings get here is sure to attract advertisers,” said Mishra.

The beautiful layout design is also being chalked out so that the impact of the hoarding is maximum with lighting facility also in place, on the lines of the capital of the state, Dehradun.

In view of the social responsibility towards society, the Municipal Corporation is also contemplating reserving a certain number of hoardings layout boards for conveying social messages.

These specific hoardings will convey the messages of environment conservation, saving earth, shunning polythene, advocating literacy and informing society of traffic rules, besides giving information about other social messages of importance.

Tax inspector Mahendra Singh said that in some areas of Haridwar installing these hoardings would be prohibited, like in the Har-ki-Pauri core mela zone.

He added that this would also put brakes on the mushrooming of illegal hoardings as the allocated hoardings would be limited.

Dehrdun, October 21
The police has nabbed one more accused Vikas alias Vikki alias Mahendra, resident of Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pardesh, who was involved in the sensational Pushpa Saklani murder case. Another accused Basant, resident of Dehrakhas, Patel Nagar, has already been arrested. With fresh information gathered from these accused, new names have come to light which are Billa and Kalim. The accused are known to Sunny (driver) and Basant. At present, Billa, Kalim and driver Sunny are still absconding.

The theory of committing murder due to old rivalry too has been highlighted with new revelations. Both arrested accused told the police that their intention was to steal and not to kill Saklani. It was the unexpected presence of a maid servant which unnerved them and they killed Saklani. She had also recognized Basant as well.

Senior Superintendent of Police Neeru Garg briefed mediapersons about the murder mystery. She said it had come to the knowledge of police that some of the accused had also come, a day prior to the murder, to do a recce of the house . They tried to seek entry into the house posing as employees of the power department but Pushpa did not let them enter after they could not show their identity cards to her. A neighbour, who saw the suspicious movement of these men, had also noted their car number plate that helped the police in gathering vital information about them.

It was found that Basant had been coming to Saklani’s house for the past 15 years to fix electrical fittings and repair work. Somehow, advocate OP Saklani did not like his ways and discouraged his wife from taking his services but Pushpa did not take his warning seriously. Since Sunny was a good friend of Basant so he too began visiting Saklani’s house.

Both OP Saklani and his wife lived alone in their well- built house on the New Park road as their only daughter was married in Delhi. Seeing their good financial condition, Sunny and Basant planned to commit a theft into Saklani’s house four months ago. They also called Billa, Kalim and Vikas in Dehradun to assist them on October 14. Sunny and Basant arranged for their lodging at Ashiana guest house which later they changed to Rama Palace on the ID of Basant.

On the fateful day of October 16, the accused drank heavily at Lal Pul in the city in day time. After that Billa left on Basant’s motorcycle whereas rest of the three followed them in an Indica car. As per the recce done by them, they were sure of finding Pushpa alone at home.

But when all five entered the house around 11.30 am, they got shocked to see the maid still present in the house.

Basant and Billa beat her up badly after which she became unconscious. Mistaking her for dead, they went to Pushpa’s room where the latter recognized Basant. Sunny soon covered Pushpa’s face with a piece of cloth to prevent her from recognizing him as well. The other three were also there.

As Basant went out of the room, he saw the maid servant missing from the room. He informed his friends about this. Now after getting recognized by Pushpa and the fear of getting caught by the police on the information provided by the maid servant, they killed Pushpa with the knife kept in the kitchen and soon rushed out.

Dehradun, October 21
The 210th group day celebrations of the Bengal Sappers commenced today with the flagging off of the Roorkee marathon from the Centenary Pavilion by Brig Dig Vijay Setia, Commandant, Bengal Engineer Group and Centre, Roorkee.

This year’s theme was ‘Our veterans our inspiration’ and the event was dedicated to the veterans who contributed to nation building by their distinguished services. The Roorkee marathon this year comprised of four events.

More than 500 participants became part of the 42-km marathon, half marathon of 21 km, senior citizens’ run of 6 km and run for fun of 5 km which was organised for women and children and was flagged off by Anjali Setia, president, Family Welfare Organisation, Bengal Engineer Group and Centre, Roorkee.

Prizes were given in all categories which included medals, cash awards and certificates. To motivate a healthy participation from youth, the prize money was increased from Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 2.3 lakh.

The winner of the marathon was Angad Kumar of the Group Sports Company, BEG and Centre Roorkee who was awarded a cash prize of Rs 45,000. The first runner up was Durga Bux Yadav while Birender Kumar of the Artillery Centre, Hyderabad, was the second runner up.

Dehradun, October 21
The Dehradun Attack XI team defeated Tapowan XI 2-1 in a match during the Kargil Martyr Jaideep Bhandari Memorial Football Tournament being played at Nehru Gram here today.

Prakash Gurung scored both goals for the Dehradun Attack XI team. The first goal came in the 6th minute while the second goal was scored in the 24th minute.

For Tapowan, Mayank scored the sole goal in the 45th minute of the match.

Mahendra Singh was the chief referee for the match.

Dehradun, October 21
Minda Corporation Limited, Pantnagar, emerged as the winner and ITC Limited, Haridwar, runner-up of the CII Uttarakhand Tata Motors Cricket Tournament -2012 that concluded here today.

After winning the toss, the Minda Corporation team decided to bat first and scored 133 runs at the loss of 10 wickets in 17.4 overs. The ITC Limited, Haridwar, team was all out at 79 runs in 18.5 overs.

Sports Minister Dinesh Agrawal and Secretary (Sports) Ajay Kumar Pradhyot were present on the occasion.

Rakesh C Aggarwal, Chairman, CII Uttarakhand State Council, said the tournament that started on September 28 in Garhwal and Kumaon zones was very well-received by sports lovers from the industry.

He said it was organised by the CII Uttarakhand to celebrate the spirit of competitiveness among the industry.

Sunil Dutt Sharma of Minda Corporation Limited, Pantnagar, was declared the man of the match and Surendra Bhandari and Mahesh Negi of ITC Limited, Haridwar, were declared the man of the series and the best bowler, respectively.