The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Students perform an item during a dance competition held at SGRR School, Race Course, in Dehradun on Friday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

469 youths visit China, Nepal borders
Dehradun, November 23
VK Agarwal, president of the Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS), Uttarakhand, said a total of 469 youths from different parts of the country visited the international border with China and Nepal. They even interacted with the nation’s defence forces guarding the frontiers.

New list of BPL families soon
Pithoragarh, November 23
The district rural development authority, Champawat, will send a new list of the Below Poverty Line families of the district to the state Rural Development Commissioner by March 20. A thorough survey process for the BPL families in the district had begun, said chief development officer (CDO) JK Tiwari.

16 film artistes to be awarded on December 11
Dehradun, November 23
The Uttarakhand Film Association will award 16 artistes in its third UFA Award 2012 at a function to be held at Parade Ground, Dehradun, on December 11. Addressing a press conference here today, UPA president SPS Negi said the awards would be given to the artistes who had achieved excellence in different spheres of film-making, including acting, music direction, lyrics and others.

Peyjal Nigam union, state minister talks inconclusive
Dehradun, November 23
As the late night meeting between Uttarakhand Water Resources Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani and the office-bearers of the employees union of the Peyjal Nigam remaining inconclusive, the lockout being carried out since Monday at the headquarters in Dehradun, Nainital and Pauri will continue.

Protests begin against new subdivision
Pithoragarh, November 23
Residents of the Devalthal area have started protests against declaring Kaprigaon as the 79th subdivision of the state. It is situated between Devalthal and Kanalichina in this district. The people were demanding the subdivision status for Devalthal.

ANMs gherao DG office
Dehradun, November 23
In protest against the non-fulfilment of their pending demands, Auxillary Nurses and Midwives (ANMS) today gheraoed the office of the Director General, Health and Family Welfare, here today.

Bal Thackeray’s ashes brought to Dehradun
Dehradun, November 23
The ashes of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray were brought to Dehradun today, where hundreds of people paid tributes to the departed leader. The ashes were brought to Dehradun by chief of the state unit of the Shiv Sena Gaurav Kumar.
Women pay tributes to Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in Dehradun on Friday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

	Villagers: Centre team skipped cloudburst-hit areas * Affected people hold demonstration at Ukhimath * Team calls on Bahuguna Tribune News Service Dehradun, November 23 Residents of the cloudburst-hit villages of Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi have accused a Centre team, which was sent to assess the losses in the cloudburst-affected areas, of not visiting their villages and only surveying the area from road heads. Villagers of Chunni village in Rudraprayag also held a demonstration at Ukhimath yesterday against the lackadaisical approach of the team. The villagers were pacified by the local officials. Fiftyseven persons were killed in four villages of Ukhimath in Rudraprayag district following a massive cloudburst on September 13. Meanwhile, the Centre team, led by Joint Secretary of Union Home Ministry M Gopal Reddy, called on Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna here today. Bahuguna urged the team to submit the report at the earliest so that the state could get relief from the Centre. He said the Centre had already provided interim relief. Chief Minister Bahuguna said, "The state government, with the assistance of the Centre, has made efforts to provide relief to the disaster-hit people. The state government is providing compensation for damage to commercial establishments on its own. Though the Centre has provided interim relief, looking into the degree of damages, more funds are needed to reconstruct basic infrastructures damaged in the natural calamities." The team members said they had visited all disaster-hit areas and collected all information. The report would be submitted to the Centre at the earliest, they said. The team was accompanied by state Disaster Management Secretary DS Gabryal. Later, the team also met Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain and other senior officers at his Secretariat office. Jain said considering the difficult geographical condition, the norms for disaster relief to hill states should be relaxed and relief amount should be enhanced. He recalled that the Defence Ministry had extended special assistance for evacuating the stranded pilgrims during the disaster by helicopters. Meanwhile, the state government had tried to provide financial support through its own financial resources. Jain said an additional fund was needed to reconstruct the damaged roads, bridges and restore power supply, health services, agriculture and irrigation facilities. He said 2,425 projects were damaged and Rs 61,244 lakh were needed to repair them. He maintained that Rs 23,621 lakh were needed for the immediate maintenance of the projects and Rs 37,622 lakh for activating these projects.
	Now, tigers can be preserved in forest outside Corbett reserve BD Kasniyal Pithoragarh, November 23 The National Tiger Conservation Authority has agreed to extend the project status to the forest area outside the Corbett Tiger Reserve. According to sources, the authority has released Rs 15 lakh of the sanctioned Rs 5 crore for the purpose. The released amount will be spent for mitigating man-animal conflicts in the area outside the Corbett Tiger Reserve, said Paramjit Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests, Kumaon region. He said the Forest Department was demanding the status and facilities of project tiger for the forest area outside the Corbett Tiger Reserve. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had approved the proposal. This would help in the preservation of tigers outside the Corbett park. “We have 90 tigers outside the Corbett Tiger Reserve and of these the habitation of 80 tigers falls in the forest divisions of the Kumaon region,” said Paramjit. Sources in the Forest Department said after the project tiger status was granted to the forest area outside the tiger reserve, the corpus fund meant for preserving tiger habitats could also be used for the purpose in the area. “The department can now use the Rs 5 crore budget for the preservation of wild animals outside the Corbett Tiger Reserve in the western division of Kumaon forests,” said Paramjit.
	469 youths visit China, Nepal borders Tribune News Service Dehradun, November 23 VK Agarwal, president of the Forum for Integrated National Security (FINS), Uttarakhand, said a total of 469 youths from different parts of the country visited the international border with China and Nepal. They even interacted with the nation’s defence forces guarding the frontiers. Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, VK Agarwal said the Forum for Integrated National Securityhad started “Sarhad Ko Pranaam” programme under which youths of the country were taken to the borders to apprise them of the prevailing situation on the borders and also give a boost to the security personnel defending the nation. He disclosed that under the “Sarhad Ko Pranaam” programme, a team of youths that was sent to different border areas of the country and made even to stay close to the borders from November 19 to 23. He said out of the 469 youths who participated in the programme, 123 belonged to Uttarakhand. Agarwal said the programme was aimed at apprising the youths of the challenge of border infiltration being faced by the country. He said India shares a total of 15,106.7 kilometres of international borders on land and asserted that most of its borders were porous and subject to infiltration and trafficking of all kinds. Lakshmi Prasad Jaiswal, convener, “Sarhad Ko Pranaam” programme was also present at the news conference.
	New list of BPL families soon BD Kasniyal Pithoragarh, November 23 The district rural development authority, Champawat, will send a new list of the Below Poverty Line families of the district to the state Rural Development Commissioner by March 20. A thorough survey process for the BPL families in the district had begun, said chief development officer (CDO) JK Tiwari. The CDO said the BPL families, who had missed their enlistment in the 2002 survey, now had a chance to enlist themselves. “We have prepared a list on 13 points on which the criterion of enlisting into the BPL list will be decided,” he added. According to the survey plan made by the district administration in Champawat district, open meetings at the gram panchayat level will be held from December 5 to select the genuine BPL families in the villages. From December 6 to January 20, the objections will be sorted out at sub-division level in order to send the list to the district level. “After clearing the objections at the district level, new lists of the BPL families will be published from February 16 to March 5 and if no objection comes up, the final list of the BPL families in the district will be sent to the rural development commissioner,” said the CDO.
	16 film artistes to be awarded on December 11 Tribune News Service Dehradun, November 23 The Uttarakhand Film Association will award 16 artistes in its third UFA Award 2012 at a function to be held at Parade Ground, Dehradun, on December 11. Addressing a press conference here today, UPA president SPS Negi said the awards would be given to the artistes who had achieved excellence in different spheres of film-making, including acting, music direction, lyrics and others. The main award would be presented to Zee TV Dance India Dance fame Raghav Juyal. Negi said this year, the UFA award had been dedicated to the late Jaunsari Folk Singer Jagat Singh Verma, who died in a road mishap. A family member of Jagat Singh Verma would also be honoured in the ceremony. He said a cultural programme would also be staged at the award ceremony which included presentation by folk singers. Uttarakhand Film Association patron Balraj Negi, vice-president Govind Rana and general secretary Rajendra Singh Rawat were present at the press conference.
	Peyjal Nigam union, state minister talks inconclusive Tribune News Service Dehradun, November 23 As the late night meeting between Uttarakhand Water Resources Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani and the office-bearers of the employees union of the Peyjal Nigam remaining inconclusive, the lockout being carried out since Monday at the headquarters in Dehradun, Nainital and Pauri will continue. However, the employees have decided to defer their programme of statewide indefinite stir from November 26 till December 3 this year. "The Cabinet minister did not offer us anything but told us to call off the stir when our office-bearers met him at Srinagar last night. No indication came from him about further talks to be held. On returning from Srinagar, our office-bearers convened a meeting and decided to continue with the lock-out programme but deferred the call for indefinite stir till December 3," said Sanjeev Kumar Dosad, president of the Adhikari Karamchari Sanyukt Samiti of the Peyjal Nigam. The members of the samiti also reacted angrily to the statements of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna that by incurring huge losses, the Uttarakhand Peyjal Nigam had lost the confidence of the public. "We are only answerable to the government and are not a political entity and so cannot be answerable to the people. The government through its directionless policies has damaged the prospects of the nigam and should take the blame," said Dosad.
	Protests begin against new subdivision Our Correspondent Pithoragarh, November 23 Residents of the Devalthal area have started protests against declaring Kaprigaon as the 79th subdivision of the state. It is situated between Devalthal and Kanalichina in this district. The people were demanding the subdivision status for Devalthal. “Though the people of Devalthal welcomed the announcement of the formation of new subdivision in the district by the state government, they are unhappy over the selection of Kaprigaon as they had long been demanding the subdivision status for Devalthal," said Harish Joshi, president of the Tehsil Banao Sangharsh Samiti at Devalthal. Sangharsh samiti volunteers today sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister of the state demanding the creation of subdivision headquarters at Devalthal. However, the people of Kanalichina have welcomed the status of subdivision near their block at Kaprigaon. “As the people of Kanalichina and Devalthal had been demanding subdivision in their area, the previous BJP government had selected Kaprigaona as it lies between the two places and the people of the village were also ready to donate 5 acres of their land for the construction of subdivisional headquarters. The people of Kanalichina are happy that the present government has endorsed the proposal of the BJP government in making Kaprigaon as tehsil headquarters,” said Kishen Singh Bhandari, a resident of Kanalichina and district president of the BJP.