Dengue patients from Haridwar, Rishikesh rush to Doon
47 confirmed cases reported so far
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
Lack of facilities to tackle dengue cases in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Roorkee and other neighbouring areas has once again forced the patients to rush to Deharadun putting pressure on Doon Hospital. So far, 47 confirmed cases of dengue have been reported in the state.

"Poor medical facilities in these towns are increasingly forcing the patients to flock Dehradun and Doon Hospital that has to make arrangements for additional rush of patients from outside," said Dr BC Pathak, Principal Superintendent, Doon Hospital.

Despite the focus on improving the medical care at Haridwar, the problem persists.

Doon Hospital received around 102 blood samples for carrying out tests from Haridwar, out of which 15 were confirmed cases of dengue.

"Along with equipping hospitals with blood banks, these should also have blood separator machines so that the dengue patients can be easily given blood platelets, said Dr SD Joshi, senior physician, Doon Hospital.

Meanwhile, officiating Director General (DG), Health and Family Welfare, has asked district hospitals to maintains stocks of aspirin and other medicines. "The symptoms at times may be confusing as it sets in with high fever, throbbing headache and muscular and joint pain," said Dr SD Joshi.

The dengue fever lasts about six to seven days with a smaller peak of fever at the end.

Clinically, the platelet count drops until the patient's temperature becomes normal.

Some patients develop much milder symptoms which can be misdiagnosed as flu or viral infection. As a preventive measure, the mosquitoes could be prevented from breeding by keeping the surroundings clean and carrying out fogging. 

No clue in Vikram murder case
Kin block traffic, demand arrest of accused within 24 hours
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
Demanding the arrest of the killer (s) of Vikram Singh, whose bullet-riddled body was found in the Timli jungle at Sahaspur last morning, within 24 hours, the victim's kin blocked traffic in the Clementown area for two hours today.

They lifted the blockade only after SP (City), Kunwar Dalip gave them an assurance that the case would be solved within the next three days.

Circle officer, Sahaspur, Prakash Chand said the police was investigating the matter from different angles. They could not make much progress in the case today as his family was busy in the cremation rituals.

However, the police talked to some of his friends and his colleagues at Scientific Security Agency, Selaqui. The victim used to drive a van of the agency.

He had left home on Monday saying he was going to the office as the van had developed some problems. However, his bullet-riddled body was found in the Timli jungle last morning.

He had married Jyoti six years ago and the couple has a four-year-old daughter.

He had good relations with his neighbours as well. 

CM dismisses BJP’s claim
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today categorically held that the land being put to use in the SIDCUL phase 2 industrialisation project at Sitarganj had been in the ownership of the state government for the past four years and denied the Opposition’s charge that the land belonged to local farmers.

Interacting with mediapersons here today, Bahuguna said, "The SIDCUL had taken the Sitarganj jail land for Rs 30 crore during the tenure of the earlier government in 2008 for the development of special economic zone in the region. The Opposition’s charge that the land in Sitarganj being utilised for the SIDCUL phase 2 project, slated to be launched on October 25, was a fertile land and belonged to local farmers was wrong. The earlier government had in principle decided to use this land for industrialisation but had failed to go ahead."

Bahuguna also asserted that the incumbent state government would ensure investments in the state to the tune of crores of rupees without taking any industrial package. He also held that a mega industrial policy would shortly be implemented in the state. He pointed out that investments were needed in the state, particularly in the power, tourism and horticulture sectors.

He also took the opportunity to announce that the state government was starting an unemployment allowance for the unemployed in the state from November 9, the state foundation day. He assured that the state government was making efforts to ensure additional subsidised LPG cylinders to the people of the state.

The Chief Minister laid stress on the need of increasing income earning resources in the state. He also emphasised the creation of more employment opportunities in the state.

5 to be interviewed for the post of VC on Nov 25
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
The search committee constituted on behalf of the Governor of Uttarakhand to select the next Vice Chancellor of Sanskrit University (Haridwar) has zeroed in on five academicians for an interview with the Governor in Dehradun on November 25.

The five academicians hail from Delhi (2), Nagpur (1), Varanasi (1) and Haridwar (1).

A search committee headed by the Principal Secretary to the Governor earlier selected these individuals during a meeting held on October 18 in New Delhi. Out of these five individuals, only one would make the final cut.

Ramesh Pandey of New Delhi and Mahavir Agarwal have confirmed to this newspaper that they would be coming for the interaction on November 25 
to Dehradun.

The committee received a total of 61 resumes, out of which five persons have been invited for an interaction with the Governor on November 25. These selected persons include Pankaj Chander, VC Kavil, Kul Guru Kalidas University, Ramtek Nagpur, Mahavir Agarwal from Haridwar, Yugal Kishore Mishra from Sanskrit University, Varanasi, Ramesh Pandey, who is professor at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Sanskrit Academy (New Delhi), and Shashi Prabha Kumar from New Delhi.

After the tenure of former VC Sudha Rani Pandey ended a few days ago, Sanskrit University has been without a permanent VC.

An academician who has spent a minimum of 10 years as professor and of a high reputation becomes eligible for the post of VC. 

Champawat residents demand water lifting scheme
Nine natural sources not enough for summers
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 24
Champawat residents have demanded a new lift scheme for drinking water for the growing town as, according to them, the demand for potable water cannot be fulfilled only by existent natural sources which are drying up continuously.

"If new water lift will not be constructed for the town, the next summer may be difficult for the town," said Dinesh Pandey, a local resident.

According to Jal Sansthan officials, the drinking water system of the town is fully depend on nine natural sources, which have gone half dry due to the scanty rains of this year.

"The district received 27 per cent less rain this year, but these natural sources could be recharged fully creating drinking water even in these months with good rain. If the situation continues, the summer months will witness drinking water crisis for the town," said PS Kargati, Executive Engineer of the Jal Sansthan, Champawat.

The engineer said out of the nine natural sources which quenched the thirst of the town, three had gone fully dry and the water capacity of six other sources had gone down to 60 per cent. "Less rain in monsoon will cause havoc for the town in summer though it is normal at present," said the Jal Sansthan engineer

Jal Sansthan engineers said if any lift water scheme was proposed for the town, it would take not less than five year to materialise and for these five years, the town would have to depend on these natural water sources or tanker supply.

"We depend on tankers for supplying drinking water to more than 7,000 residents of the town in summer months," said Kargati.

The residents have written a letter to the state government for the drinking water scheme for the town. The scheme is proposed for the Quirala valley and we have written to the government to release the funds for the proposed scheme," said Pandey.

RSS activists exhorted to work for society
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
All India member of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh Sankar Lal said the Hindus needed to counter selfishness that had taken over the humanity in the country. Addressing an annual gathering of the Vijayadashmi celebrations at the MKP College ground here, Sankar Lal said there were forces in the country that believed in fulfilling their selfish gains over humanity even if it was at the cost of dividing the country. He said such forces needed to be identified and exposed.

He said the richness of the Indian culture was unparallelled and that was the reason that made India different from the USA, England, China, Pakistan or any other country. He said some of these countries were jealous of India’s progress and were repeatedly targeting them. He said Dr Hedgewar founded the RSS with just five swaymasewaks in order to strengthen Hinduism and the country. He said the country could only progress if the ideals of RSS ideologue Dr Hedgewar were followed. He also pointed out that the policies that supported discrimination against Hindus would not be tolerated.

Referring to the festival of Vijayadashmi, Sankar Lal said the festival symbolised victory of the good over the evil. He called upon the RSS workers to work for the betterment of society.

Sah Prachar Pramukh Jagdish, Prant Pracharak Mahendra, Prant Karyavah Shashikant Dixit and Sah Prant Karyavah Lakshmi Prasad Jaiswal were present on the occasion.

Posting of woman doc at CHC sought
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 24
Women residents of Dharchula today staged a demonstration in front of the SDM's office in support of their demand for the appointment of a female doctor in the Community Health Centre.

Lila Bangyal, who led the protest, said: "Expectant mothers face difficulties during their delivery as women doctors at health centres often remain on long leaves."

The protesters said against the 11 sanctioned posts of doctor at the CHC, there were only four doctors.

Later, the women handed over a memorandum addressed to the state Health Minister in support of their demands to SDM Pramod Kumar.

Public hearing on SLF: Report sent to Ministry of Forests
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
A public hearing on construction of scientific land fill (SLF) at Shishambara under the solid waste management (SWM) project was held today by the Pollution Control Department, and a report has been sent to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).

The decision of the MoEF is likely to come in the next one month.

The Dehradun Municipal Corporation is positive about the decision of the MoEF as no complaints have been registered during the hearing process.

A school in the vicinity had held a protest in the past but the concerns raised by the school authority, too, were addressed by

the DMC.

The matter with regard to the transport centre at Shishambara of the solid waste management project continues to be stuck in legal wrangle.

It is here the SPML company, which has taken over SWM, has invested Rs 1.5 crore.

Since most of the construction is complete and the paraphernalia regarding transferring the heaps of garbage from small vehicles to big vehicles after meticulously going through the process of com pressing it is ready, it would take at the most a month to make the entire place operational.

The next hearing date in the High Court is fixed on November 28 and the company has made an appeal in the court to expedite the decision in the case in public interest.

Attack XI clash with Bajrang Club in final match today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
Attack XI will clash with Bajrang Club tomorrow in the final of the Second Kargil Martyr Jaideep Bhandari Memorial Football Tournament being played at Nehru Gram, Dehradun.

In the first semifinal match played today, Bajrang Club beat Eleven Star 4-0. Sachin, Gaurav, Anuj and Gopal scored the goals for Bajrang Club in the 28th, 40th, 50th and 55th minutes of the match, respectively. In second semifinal match, Attack XI beat Akranta Club 5-1. For Akranta, Prakash scored two goals while Om scored three goals. For Akranta, Ankit was the sole goal scorer.

Delay in providing block list may deprive minorities of benefits
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
The delay in providing revised list of blocks having 15 per cent or more minority population by the 13 districts to the Department of Minorities Welfare may deprive the minorities from reaping benefits under the Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP) in the state.

The Ministry of Minorities Affair has set October 31 as the last date for revising the list of minority concentration district under the MSDP but so far the department minorities welfare has not received the revised data.

In order to ensure that the minorities in the state were extensively covered under the MSDP, the state government had urged the Department of Minorities Welfare to take the case of Uttarakhand as a special category state and extend the programme in blocks with 15 per cent or more minority population.

The ministry accepted the suggestion and accordingly the Department of Minorities Welfare had sent letters to the districts asking them to provide the revised data. So far there has been no response from the districts.

Aiming for the betterment of the minorities, the MSDP is underway in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar which were selected on the basis of districts having minority population of 20 per cent or more. The primary objective of the programme is to improve the backwardness parameters according to which the districts were identified as backward and to bring them on par with the national average.

“In case we manage to receive the revised data on time (by October 31), several blocks would be covered. In districts of Dehradun, Nainital, Haldwani, Tehri and Pauri alone, several blocks would be covered,” said MH Khan, secretary, Department of Minorities Welfare.

The focus of the MSDP is on the construction of primary schools, colleges, ITIs, Indira Awas (Centre’s rural housing scheme), drinking water facilities, sanitation facilities and health centres or anganwari centres in the chosen villages with minority population concentration.

Raturi for Gairsain as state capital
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
President of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (J) BD Raturi has welcomed Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s decision of holding a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain on November 3.

However, he said the state government should also declare Gairsain as the state capital.

He said Chief Minister Bahuguna should pass a resolution to this effect in the meeting as the issue had been pending for the past 12 years.

Raturi said he would stage a sit-in at Shaheed Smarak Sthal on October 31 and would take along other regional parties and organisations related to the statehood agitation to launch a movement on this issue.

BJP guns for Cong govt
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 24
Buoyed by its victory in the Tehri parliamentary election, the Opposition BJP has increased its attack on Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, taking his government to task on setting up of the industrial hub at Sitarganj-II, deteriorating law and order situation and lack of development in the state.

The Congress government's poor track record in the last seven months and frequent attacks by its own senior leaders, Harish Rawat and Satpal Maharaj, are helping the BJP in mounting attack on the Congress.

"Soon after the Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt attacked the Chief Minister at a press conference for failing to initiate any development activity, the Chief Minister was forced to hold a meeting of officials and asked them to speed up the work," said BS Chuphal, Uttarakhand BJP chief.

The issue of utilising the fertile land for the purpose of setting up industrial hub at Sitarganj-II has provided the necessary fodder to the BJP who has been demanding that the Congress should come clean on the issue. 

Global angling contest from October 27

Pithoragarh, October 24
The Pancheshwar confluence of the Mahakali river will again witness an international angling competition for the sixth time from October 27 to 30. The reputed anglers have nodded to take part in the competition this year.

According to Shakat Dass, chairperson of the organising NGO “Drishtikon”, more than 12 anglers have given their approval to take part in this competition.

“The anglers from the United Kingdom Christopher Stefan, Richer James and Ivan Danish have also given their consent to participate in the event,” said the organiser. “We have taken all required permissions from the Forest Department for the competition and are arrangements are under process for our national and international guests,” said the organiser. —OC

Autumn fair begins
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, October 24
The autumn fair celebrations began with a bang where the singers enthralled the audience by recreating the 70s era through vivid musical rendering at Shagun Wedding Point here today.

The first item was dedicated to the completion of 100 years of Hindi cinema.

Priyanka Baudiyal mesmerised the audience with her Kathak performance that was much appreciated by audience.

Eminent singer Mannu Vandana enthraled the audience with her rendition of Punjabi and Hindi songs. She also sang Garhwali songs. Kishan Sargwan sang Mohammad Rafi songs on the occasion.

Three hurt as jeep overturns

Mussoorie, October 24
Three persons sustained serious injuries when the jeep they were travelling in overturned near Sia village here today.

A total of eight persons were travelling in the ill-fated jeep. Of them, three sustained serious injuries while the others escaped unhurt.The accident took place when the driver of the vehicle, which was on its way to Jaunpur in Tehri Garhwal, lost control over it. —OC