Dehradun, November 3
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today announced the construction of a Vidhan Sabha bhavan at Gairsain, increase in compensation to victims of man-animal conflicts and regularisation of slum colonies in the state. He, however, stopped short of making big ticket announcements for the development of hill and remote areas of the state.

At the end of the first Cabinet meeting Gairsain, the Chief Minister announced the construction of a Vidhan Sabha bhavan at Gairsain for which the foundation stone would be laid on January 13 next year He said a part of Rs 88 crore allocated under the 13 Finance Commission would be used for the construction of the bhavan. He added after the necessary infrastructure was built at Gairsain, the government would hold an Assembly session there once a year.

The compensation for damage caused to lives and property by wild animals was also increased. The compensation for seriously injured was increased to Rs 50,000 from Rs 15,000. In case of damage to standing sugarcane crop, the compensation was increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 25,000.

The compensation in case of damage to Kutcha houses was increased from Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000. The payment of compensation would be made through the District Forest Officer. Around 30 per cent of the amount would be paid within 48 hours and the remaining within 15 days.

For the first time, damage caused by Neel Gai, monkeys and snakebites to human was included in the list for compensation. It was decided to frame Man-Animal Conflict (Prevention) Fund Rules-2012.

Other important decisions included approval to regularise slums, nod to operate the Uttarakhand Border and Backward Development Fund in May 2012 under which an action plan had been prepared to develop basic infrastructure in 74 border and backward areas. It was also decided to establish a separate micro, small and medium industries department to promote Khadi, village industry, handloom and handicrafts.

The Cabinet also decided to provide bicycles to girls studying in Class IX and pay an amount equal to the cost of a bicycle in fixed deposits in the bank accounts of girl students from the hill areas. It was also decided to provide a government guarantee of Rs 500 crore to enable farmers refinance crop loans from Uttarakhand State Cooperative Banks in 2012-13.

A loan up to maximum Rs 15 lakh for bona fide residents of hill areas under the Veer Chandra Garhwali Self Employment Scheme as against the existing limit of Rs 10 lakh was also approved.

In line with Delhi Haats, haats in Dehradun, Haldwani, Srinagar and Almora would be established for marketing products of the Khadi and Handloom Board. In Dehradun, the haat would be established at the land of the Agriculture-marketing Haat located on Sahastradhara Road. The loan limit in schemes run by the Khadi Evam Gramodhyog Board for personal entrepreneurs under the district scheme was increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2 lakh. 

The foundation stone of the Vidhan Sabha bhavan at Gairsain to be laid on January 13 next year

A part of Rs 88 crore allocated under the 13 Finance Commission will be used for the construction of the bhavan

Bicycles for girls studying in Class IX and payment of an amount equal to the cost of a bicycle in fixed deposits in the bank accounts of girl students from hill areas

In case of damage to standing sugarcane crop, the compensation increased from Rs 4,000 to Rs 25,000

A Man-Animal Conflict (Prevention) Fund Rules-2012 to be framed

A government guarantee of ~500 crore to enable farmers refinance crop loans from Uttarakhand State Cooperative Banks in 2012-13

Loan for bona fide residents of hill areas under the Veer Chandra Garhwali Self Employment Scheme increased to ~15 lakh from ~10 lakh

The compensation for damages caused to lives and property by wild animals increased 

For the first time, damage caused by Neel Gai, monkeys and snakebites to human also included in the list for compensation

Slum colonies to be regularised

The Uttarakhand Border and Backward Development Fund to be made operational in May 2012 

Dehradun, November 3
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna at his maiden rally at Gairsain today announced the construction of an engineering college and a polytechnic at Gairsain.

He also announced the renaming of Benital, a tourism spot, after Baba Mohan Uttarakhandi and Rs 3 lakh for organising agriculture fair.

He said a government order would be issued approving five posts of teacher in Government Higher Secondary School, Pindwali.

Other announcements are a 33 KV power station at Adi Badri Nandasain, 66 KV power station at Maihalchori, hot-mix work on the Bungidhar-Maihalchori-Budhwaban road till Devpuri, metalling of the Khajurkhal-Bhandarikhod-Kunigarh road, construction of two bridges and a 10-km road to connect the Divalikhal-Kimoli road with Narayanbagad. Besides, he also announced restructuring of drinking water schmes and their extension to improve supply to Gairsain, construction of a building for the nagar panchayat and creation of posts in the nagar panchayat.

The Chief Minister said a mini stadium would be constructed at Gairsain Government Girls’ Inter-College and beautification work in Mehelchauri ancient Hanuman Temple would be undertaken.

Other works announced by the Chief Minister included upgrading of Chaurasen High School and approval of agriculture as one of the subjects at the school-level.

The starting of a Delhi-Gairsain bus service via Ramnagar and the extension of Delhi-Nauti bus service to Delhi-Nauti-Devalkot was also announced. Other projects announced included a suspension bridge over the Alaknanda at Karnprayag from the ITI to Subhash Nagar and funds for the construction of Gairsain Inter-College building.

Bahuguna said the government was committed to providing health, education and employment to the people of the state. “It will be our endeavour to bring people back to Uttarakhand who had migrated from here,” he asserted.

He said infrastructures would be developed to generate jobs for the people. Non-residents of the state would be urged to invest here, he added.

Earlier on his arrival at Gairsain, the Chief Minister and Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha Govind Singh Kunjwal garlanded the statue of Peshawar battle hero Veer Chander Singh Garhwali.

Dehradun, November 3
Uttarakhand BJP president BS Chuphal today criticised the Congress government for spending crores of rupees on the Cabinet meeting at Gairsain when the state 
was already facing a resource crunch.

“Had the ministers gone by road, they would have come face to face with the stark reality of Gairsain. However, they instead preferred to fly by helicopters and wasted public money,” said Chuphal.

He added the outcome of the Cabinet meeting was nil. All these announcements could have been made from Dehradun, but the Congress government wanted to take its ministers and bureaucrats on a ride. “This wasteful expenditure should have been avoided by the government,” he said.

Meanwhile, former Agriculture Minister Trivender Singh Rawat said the Cabinet meeting was a damp squib. “It proved to be an excursion for the ministers and the bureaucrats,” he added.

Former state president of the Samajwadi Party Vinod Barthwal said the Cabinet meeting at Gairsain was a publicity stunt.

“Had they been serious, they would have declared Gairsain the summer capital of the state. After doing such an elaborate exercise, they have not made the declaration,” he said. 

Pithoragarh, November 3
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (J) has welcomed with some reservation the decision of the state government to construct a Vidhan Sabha bhawan at Gairsain in Chamoli district.

“We welcome the decision of the Cabinet taken today to make Gairsain the summer capital of the state. However, we will not cease our agitation until they make it the permanent capital in place of Dehradun,” Kashi Singh Airy, UKD leader, told this correspondent.

It was decided at the Cabinet meeting at Gairsain today that the foundation stone of the Vidhan Bhawan building at Gairsain would be laid on Uttarayani Day (January 14) next year.

Some of the local political outfits like the Uttarakhand Parivartan Party (UPP) have expressed dissatisfaction that no decision on the development of the hill region was taken by the Cabinet despite much hype created about the meeting. It was being said that the Cabinet could take some path-breaking decisions to improve the hill economy.

The half-hearted decision of the Cabinet belied the aspirations of the people of the hill districts as it took no decision on boosting the sources of livelihood of hill villages and discourage migration from the region, said PC Tiwari, president of the UPP. 

Dehradun, November 3
Germany-born Erika Nandi, an expert in Bharatnatyam and Kathak, performed at Ecole Globale Girls’ International School here today.

Her performance left everyone spellbound. Erika runs a dance school in Dhubri, Assam, where students take the exams conducted by Lucknow’s Bharatkhande University, the Prayag University and the Sarba Bharata University of Kolkata. She has also conducted workshops for schools like Assam Valley School, Tezpur, St Helen’s School, Kurseong, and more. Well in her 60s, Erika’s Joie de vivre and more importantly her penchant for dance was amazing and inspiring. 

Unison school bids farewell to UK students 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 3
A farewell function was held recently for the students of Abbots Bromley School of England who were on an exchange programme at Unison World School here.

A cultural show was organised to bid farewell to the delegates. The programme commenced with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by Principal of Unison World School Veena Singh and Julie Dowling, Headmistress, Abbots Bromley School.

The programme comprised of song and dance performances. A concert of Indian vocal instruments by the students of the England school was also held. The performances were a showcase of the regular training they received during their stay at Unison World School under the guidance of their mentors. They enthralled the audience and surprised them by their finesse which they attained in such a short duration. The delegation was presented with souvenirs and Bhagvad Gita as a token of appreciation.

During their stay, the students and teachers attended and observed the academic and activity classes at Unison and imbibed first-hand knowledge about the culture of India. As it was their first visit to India, they were mesmerised to witness the diversity of the Indian culture which was showcased in the form of cultural workshops. The school had organised various academic, co-curricular and extra-curricular competitions during their stay.

Dehradun, November 3
The Brother SE Coffey Memorial Tennis Tournament began here today. It is being organised by the St Joseph's Tennis Academy.

The tournament was inaugurated by Brother AJ George, Principal, St Joseph' Academy. As many as 100 students from Dehradun schools including Welham Boys' School, Kasiga School, St Joseph's Academy, Brightlands School, Shivalik International, Doon International, DPS, Dehradun, DPS, Hardwar, Col Brown School and Grace Academy, are participating in it.

Today's results are as follows:

Under-18: Atishay Jain (SJA) beat Himanshu Das (DPS Hardwar) 5-0; Aryan Khanna (SJA) beat Rakesh Vohra (Shivalik International) 5-1; Prakhar Pal (Summer Valley) beat Abhinav Narain (SJA) 5-4; Aditya Pratap (Kasiga) beat Dipesh Beniwal 5-0 and Anubhav Gupta (Brightlands) beat Vidul Sikka (Kasiga) 5-0.

Under-14: Dhruv Sabbarwal (SJA) beat Aman Sharan (DPS, Haridwar) 5-2; Aryan Khanna (SJA) beat Ujjwal Raj 5-0; Rohit Rawat (DIS) beat Himanshu Das (DPS, Haridwar) 5-0; Siddharth Aggarwal (SJA) beat Udai Kochar (Brightlands) 5-2 and Ritiwik Kothiyal (SJA) beat Dhruv Swaroop (Welhams) 5-0.

Under-12: Siddharth Aggarwal (SJA) beat Aman Prabhakar (DPS, Haridwar) 4-0 and reached the quarterfinal and Drona Walia (DIS) beat Archit Uniyal (Brightlands) 4-2.

Under-10: Anirudh (Brightlands) beat Aryan Sondhi (Grace Academy) 4-2; Manjot beat Aryan Gupta (Brightlands) 4-1 and Yash Pantri (SJA) beat Shreyansh Kochar (Brightlands) 4-2.

Dehradun, November 3
Nitin Jyal, the promising midfielder of the Indian (under-16) football team, is looking forward to an exciting career and aims to be part of the senior Indian football team.

A Class X student of Sports College, Raipur, Nitin has impressed one and all by his sheer talent in football.

Being part of the Indian teams (under-13 years and under-16 years) for the past four years, Nitin has been working hard under the watchful eyes of his football coach Tarun Negi to make it to the national football circuit.

Last week, Denis Schaeffer, Director of the FC Metz Academy of France, who is renowned for developing players like Robert Pires, Emmanuel Adebayor, Cisse and Louis Saha, and his under-17 chief coach Sebastian, who visited Sports College, Raipur, were impressed by Nitin’s performance.

A native of Pithoragarh district of the state, Nitin showed keen interest in football as his father, an army man, is also a football player.

Studying in Don Bosco School at Pithoragarh, he was selected in the Sports College, Raipur, here. Playing in the under-13 national football tournament, he was picked up for the national team. He represented the country in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) tournament at Iran in 2008. He again represented the country in the under-14 tournament at Iran in 2009.

Being one of the promising young players, he was given scholarship by the Reliance Group to get training in football from IMG Academy, Florida, USA, for one and half years.

“It was a great learning experience as I learnt about methodical and scientific physical training besides being trained by top football coaches,” he told The Tribune.

Nitin represented the Indian (under-16) team in the South Asian Federation (SAF) football tournament held in Nepal in 2011. He lamented that the team lost of Pakistan in the final match. Representing the team again in the AFC tournament at Uzbekistan in September this year, Nitin played very well.

“I am looking forward to focusing more on my training and enhancing my skills with more experienced teams,” said the young sportsperson.

Tarun Negi, the football coach who has trained Nitin, lamented that there were no facilities or resources to send such talented players for advanced training with some national or foreign clubs.Unison school bids farewell to UK students