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THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

D E H R A D U N    P L U S

Raid on Doon Hospital Police Post
SSP suspends entire staff
Dehradun, December 7
Senior Superintendent of Police Kewal Khurana today suspended the entire staff of the police post at Doon Hospital for drinking liquor at the working place and extorting money from patients as well as their attendants.

Multi-activity display at IMA
Dehradun, December 7
Members of the Sikh Battalion perform bhangra at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun on Friday A multi-activity display was organised at Somnath Stadium of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on the eve of the passing-out parade autumn term-2012 here today.
Members of the Sikh Battalion perform bhangra at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun on Friday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Kaushik take Panwar to task for dirty Doon
Madan KaushikDehradun, December 7
BJP legislator from Haridwar Madan Kaushik today took Minister for Urban Development Pritam Singh Panwar to task for filthy conditions in Dehradun and other districts of the state.
                                         Madan Kaushik


EARLIER EDITIONS


8,000 land dispute cases pending in tehsildar office
Dehradun, December 7
Nearly 8,000 cases of land disputes and clearance of land-related documents have been pending in the office of the Upper Tehsildar for the past three years.

House Session
Delay in sugarcane MSP announcement
BJP legislators raise slogans in support of their demands while coming out of the state Assembly in Dehradun on Friday BJP MLAs stage walkout from Assembly
Dehradun, December 7
The BJP today staged a walkout from the Uttarakhand Assembly protesting against the delay in the announcement of the minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane even as the crushing season was already on.

BJP legislators raise slogans in support of their demands while coming out of the state Assembly in Dehradun on Friday. A Tribune photograph

‘Those residing in state since 2000 to get certificate’
Dehradun, December 7
Uttarakhand Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh today informed the House that the government had issued directives to issue domicile certificates to the persons residing in Uttarakhand since 2000.

Schoolchildren participate in a workshop on pottery and bamboo art-making organised by SpicMacay SpicMacay workshop on pottery, bamboo craft
Dehradun, December 7
SpicMacay organised a workshop on pottery and bamboo for the students of the Purkal Youth Development Society and John Martin’s School here today. During the four-hour workshop, the students got a sensory experience of touching and feeling, designing and making clay and bamboo crafts. India is a land of arts and crafts. These crafts origininated in the past and characterise the Indian cultural legacy.

Schoolchildren participate in a workshop on pottery and bamboo art-making organised by SpicMacay in Dehradun on Friday.

168 illegal hoardings removed in Doon
Dehradun, December 7
The drive against illegal hoardings, which was going on for a fortnight, has finally come to an end. Deputy Mukhya Nagar Adhikari, Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), Sadia Alam Khan, said all the 168 illegal hoardings which were to be removed from the rooftops as well as ground had been removed successfully.

legislative privilege
Bureaucrats must accord respect to MLAs: Speaker
Dehradun, December 7
Terming the instance of breach of legislative privileges concerning BJP MLA Bhim Lal Arya a serious matter, the Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, Govind Singh Kunjwal, today directed the government to ensure the bureaucrats of the state followed protocol and accorded due respect to the MLAs.

Question Hour
Minister admits delay in housing project
Dehradun, December 7
The Uttarakhand Minister for Urban Development Preetam Panwar today admitted in the House that the project to provide houses to urban and rural poor in the state was delayed.

Ministers missing from Assembly
Dehradun, December 7
Uttarakhand Minister for Planning Dinesh Agarwal and Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat were missing from the treasury benches during the second session of the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Library Sports Club, Manav Bharti School win matches
Mussoorie, December 7
Library Sports Club and Manav Bharti won their matches on the third day of the Mussoorie Cricket league Tournament being held under the aegis of Mussoorie Cricket Club at Survey Ground yesterday.

Ex-Mayor for building of subways, flyovers
Dehradun, December 7
Former Dehradun Mayor and Congress leader Manorama Sharma has urged Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to ensure the construction of elevated roads, subways and flyovers in Dehradun city to facilitate the smooth movement of traffic.

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Raid on Doon Hospital Police Post
SSP suspends entire staff
Cops charged with drinking liquor at working place and extortion
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
Senior Superintendent of Police Kewal Khurana today suspended the entire staff of the police post at Doon Hospital for drinking liquor at the working place and extorting money from patients as well as their attendants.

Those who were suspended are Sub-Inspector (SI) Basant Pandey, Head Constable Kuldeep, four constables, Mukesh Uniyal, Pradeep Arya, Shashi Kant and Amit.

The SSP made a surprise visit at the police post around 6 in the evening and within 15 minutes, he announced the suspension of the staff at the police post.

Kewal Khurana said he had been getting complaints from the aggrieved people that the staff of the police post forced them to purchase liquor, cigarettes and other such items for them and were also extorting money from them.

The affected persons were mostly those whose family members or patients got injured in a scuffle or other reasons and were embroiled in a legal case.

Taking undue advantage of their vulnerability, the police post staff force these hapless people to serve them. It was when the SSP reached the police post today, he got upset to see a liquor bottle lying in the police post.

He said it was serious issue that the policemen were drinking at a sensitive place like hospital during their duty time.

Head Constable Kuldeep said he came from the Luxman Chowk police post and joined the Doon Hospital police post two days ago as he had undergone a surgery and was recuperating.

Since he required rest, he had requested to be posted at Doon Hospital. He said he was innocent and got unduly punished.

SI Basant Pandey also pleaded innocence saying that he was ready to bear the consequences if those, who levelled allegations against them, said these in front of him. He, however, could not justify the seizure of the liquor bottles from the post.

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Multi-activity display at IMA
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
A multi-activity display was organised at Somnath Stadium of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on the eve of the passing-out parade autumn term-2012 here today.

Lt Gen K Surendra Nath, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, GOC-in-C, Headquarters, ARTRAC, graced the occasion. Lt Gen Manvender Singh, AVSM, VSM, Commandant, IMA, along with military and civil dignitaries and parents and family members of the Gentlemen Cadets of the passing-out course, also witnessed the event.

The multi-activity display started with flag hoisting and mounted salute. This was followed by exciting show jumping, aero modelling display, trick riding and tent pegging.

A splendid show depicting the culture of north east and that of Punjab was exhibited by warriors of Assam Regimental Centre and a team of one of the Sikh Battalions.

An equestrian and PT display show by Gentlemen Cadets, along with a dog show and skydiving demonstration by the alumni of the academy, was applauded by the audience.

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Kaushik take Panwar to task for dirty Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
BJP legislator from Haridwar Madan Kaushik today took Minister for Urban Development Pritam Singh Panwar to task for filthy conditions in Dehradun and other districts of the state. He asked the minister whether his department had made any credible scheme to keep Dehradun city clean and ensured sufficient staff in the Dehradun Municipal Corporation.

An uneasy Panwar said the government had started door-to-door collection of household waste in all 60 wards of the city. “We have deputed 10 safai karamcharis in each ward and 610 employees under mohalla samitis are also serving in all wards.”

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh intervened in the matter and said keeping the city clean was a problem. “Our garbage disposal system continues to be poor in the capital city while in the villages the system is non-existent. Soon, a project under Asian Development Board for garbage disposal will be launched in the villages,” said Hridayesh.

To another question by SM Singhal, Congress MLA from Jaspur, about using garbage to produce electricity, Panwar said the government had no such plan as of now.

BJP legislator Harbans Kapoor also drew the attention of the House towards the poor disposal system of cow dung that was been dumped in drains by milk dairy owners.

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8,000 land dispute cases pending in tehsildar office
Seema Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
Nearly 8,000 cases of land disputes and clearance of land-related documents have been pending in the office of the Upper Tehsildar for the past three years.

Taking serious note of this, District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam has directed Upper Tehsildar Shuzauddin Siddiqui, who took charge a couple of months ago, to clear the pending cases.

President of the Dehradun Bar Association Surinder Singh Pundir said both public and advocates had been facing tough time as their cases had been stuck in the Upper Tehsildar court for the past three years. Neither they were cleared nor passed over to other jurisdiction.

He said people kept running from pillar to post to get their documents cleared. However, nothing happened.

The DM said the post of Upper Tehsildar remained vacant for almost three years. This was the reason that the files could not be cleared.

He said since the post had been filled, he had directed the Upper Tehsildar to work on these pending cases on a priority basis.

Sunil Gupta, a shopkeeper at the DM office, said he had been making rounds of the office of the Upper Tehsildar for one year.

Every time he was told that his property documents would be cleared only after the post of Upper Tehsildar was filled.

Upper Tehsildar Shuzauddin Siddiqui said he had started holding the court on a daily basis and was spending four to five hours in clearing the pending files.

He said he had cleared a lot of backlog with the assistance of some staff, whom he had engaged for this purpose.

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House Session
Delay in sugarcane MSP announcement
BJP MLAs stage walkout from Assembly
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
The BJP today staged a walkout from the Uttarakhand Assembly protesting against the delay in the announcement of the minimum support price (MSP) for sugarcane even as the crushing season was already on.

Madan Kaushik, BJP legislator from Haridwar, moved an adjournment motion in the House and said the government should explain the delay in announcing the MSP that was affecting about 1.60 lakh farmers of Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

“The farmers are feeling cheated as the government has not announced the MSP for sugarcane even as the crushing season is on. The government appears to be insensitive to the concerns of the farmers. It has not constituted a committee to deliberate on the issue. Are you planning to continue with the MSP announced by the BJP, which was highest in the country,” said Kaushik.

Sugarcane Minister Surinder Singh Negi, while replying to the adjournment motion, said the Congress government had waived dues of Rs 498 crore of sugar mills and dues of Rs 129 crore of farmers.

“All these instances are indicative of our resolve to address the issues affecting the farmers and the MSP for sugarcane will be declared shortly,” said Negi.

However, not convinced by Negi’s reply Kaushik persisted with his demand that the sugarcane MSP be pegged between Rs 300 and Rs 350 per quintal.

Later the BJP members led by Sanjay Gupta, Raj Kumar Thukral, Rajesh Shukla and Madan Kaushik stormed the well of the House shouting slogans and later staged a walkout. The Speaker then adjourned the House.

Later when the House reconvened in the evening, the Uttarakhand Cooperative Society Amendment Bill 2012 pertaining to the Department of Cooperatives and the Salaries Disbursement Amendment Bill of the Department of Labour and Employment were passed. The House would now convene on Monday.

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‘Those residing in state since 2000 to get certificate’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
Uttarakhand Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh today informed the House that the government had issued directives to issue domicile certificates to the persons residing in Uttarakhand since 2000.

As there had been problems regarding the issue of caste certificates in Haridwar and other plain districts, the government had in principle decided to assign the year 2,000 as the benchmark year for ascertaining residency of an individual in the state.

This would ease problems being encountered in the issuance of caste certificate.

On taking cognizance of the lockout being observed by employees of the Peyjal Nigam after the BJP MLAs Harbans Kapoor and Ganesh Joshi raised the issue in the House in the afternoon session, the Minister of Water Resources Mantri Prasad Naithani said the government was contemplating raising the centage (charged by the Peyjal Nigam on the cost of project).

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SpicMacay workshop on pottery, bamboo craft
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
SpicMacay organised a workshop on pottery and bamboo for the students of the Purkal Youth Development Society and John Martin’s School here today.

During the four-hour workshop, the students got a sensory experience of touching and feeling, designing and making clay and bamboo crafts.

India is a land of arts and crafts. These crafts origininated in the past and characterise the Indian cultural legacy. The pottery and bamboo crafts of India are popular across the globe for their functional and aesthetic appeal.

The students were brought face to face with the old-age craft of bamboo and pottery through SpicMacay artisans. The zeal with which the craftsmen produced a variety of utilitarian item using natural materials with the mastery over the art amazed the children. It was a fun-filled learning time for the students, who showed immense interest and were curious to make many more things.

The students were thrilled to see their own handmade products.

The workshops not only educated the children about the handicrafts but also kindled their creative mind.

The students felt proud to have their own creation of bamboo and clay.

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168 illegal hoardings removed in Doon
Drive launched at behest of High Court ends
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
The drive against illegal hoardings, which was going on for a fortnight, has finally come to an end. Deputy Mukhya Nagar Adhikari, Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC), Sadia Alam Khan, said all the 168 illegal hoardings which were to be removed from the rooftops as well as ground had been removed successfully.

The hoarding issue, which was boiling for the past six months, was finally wrapped up, but only after the due intervention of the High Court.

Rajender Singh of Media 24X7 company had bagged the tender at the DMC to instal advertisement hoardings on four main roads, Rajpur Road, Gandhi Road, Saharanpur Road and Chakrata Road in the city. He paid Rs 2.26 crore to the DMC for it. But he found that many people were still carrying on with the illegal business of displaying advertisements on hoardings installed on rooftops as well as ground on these particular roads. Many of them were leaders of various political parties and influential persons, who were making easy money.

Singh was not getting many advertisements as others who were paying nothing to the DMC were still doing well by taking advertisements on lesser rates than what Singh quoted.

It became difficult for him to recover the money he deposited with the DMC. All pleas of Rajender Singh to remove these hoardings fell on deaf ears in the DMC, as the influential people always managed to throw their weight around on the issue.

It also happened that Sadia Alam Khan who went out to remove hoardings of a heavyweight politician of a national party, had to shelve it midway after the politician concerned put pressure on MNA Ashok Kumar. Seeing no hope of getting any justice in the ineffective administrative machinery of the DMC, Singh had then moved the High Court.

While taking swift action, the High Court had then sent two court commissioners to take stock of the illegal hoardings installed on rooftops and ground in the city. On their report 168 such hoardings were earmarked and on the new direction of the High Court, the DMC team led by Sadia Alam Khan removed all these hoardings, while hardening their stance against all the opposition or influence coming their way. Khan managed to evade one such physical attack mounted by a noted hotelier and his son when she gave orders to remove their hoarding on Rajpur Road.

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legislative privilege
Bureaucrats must accord respect to MLAs: Speaker
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
Terming the instance of breach of legislative privileges concerning BJP MLA Bhim Lal Arya a serious matter, the Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly, Govind Singh Kunjwal, today directed the government to ensure the bureaucrats of the state followed protocol and accorded due respect to the MLAs.

With the consent of the Speaker, Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt had raised the question of legislative privilege pertaining to BJP MLA Bhim Lal Arya, pointing out that the words, respected MLA, were missing before the name of Arya in the literature circulated to the MLAs by the Secretariat staff of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.

An angry Bhatt also gave another example of the bureaucracy not according due respect to the MLAs.

He said the MLA had staged an indefinite fast in support of the demands raised by the people of his constituency in Ghansali but neither the government, nor the administration took note of it.

Several days had passed but the government did not take note nor did the representatives of the government tried to meet him. The MLA had been elected by the people and the bureaucracy should be taught to follow protocol and accord due respect to the elected representatives, said Bhatt.

However, with the Speaker taking immediate note of the issue and passing directives to the government to ensure that the protocol was followed in all matters pertaining to the MLAs, the matter was allowed to rest.

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Question Hour
Minister admits delay in housing project
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
The Uttarakhand Minister for Urban Development Preetam Panwar today admitted in the House that the project to provide houses to urban and rural poor in the state was delayed.

While replying to a question raised by Congress MLA Mayukh Mahar, the minister said out of a total 7,068 houses, 173 were complete and the remaining 5,315 house were in the various stages of completion.

“These houses proposed under the Central Government-funded Uttarakhand Urban Sector Development Investment Programme (UUSDIP) and the Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP) under the Jwaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in the state were meant for the poor.

"We have been behind schedule and wherever the houses are incomplete, the government plans to allocate these wherein the amount will be given to the allottee for completing the construction,” said Panwar.

On persistent enquiries by Congress MLA Navprabhat about the delay in the project as Rs 76.26 crore released under the BSUP in 2010 was being utilised now, the minister said an enquiry had been initiated by the government in the causes of the delay.

MLA from Mangalore Sarvat Kalim Ansari also urged the minister to initiate an inquiry into status of the total number of 461 houses proposed to be built in Mangalore.

In another question, the minister also informed the house that a total of 582 malin bastis had been surveyed under the UUSDIP project.

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Ministers missing from Assembly
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
Uttarakhand Minister for Planning Dinesh Agarwal and Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat were missing from the treasury benches during the second session of the Uttarakhand Assembly.

Though there were no questions listed from the departments headed by the two ministers, the ministers preferred to stay back. Uttarakhand Minister for Panchayat Raj Pritam Singh trooped in after the Speaker had taken his seat. On the other hand, Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat entered the house very late.

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Library Sports Club, Manav Bharti School win matches
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, December 7
Library Sports Club and Manav Bharti won their matches on the third day of the Mussoorie Cricket league Tournament being held under the aegis of Mussoorie Cricket Club at Survey Ground yesterday.

In the first cricket match, Library Sports Club defeated Four Seasons Club by 3 wickets. Four Seasons Club, batting first, scored 115 runs in the stipulated 15 overs. Pawan with 71 runs was the highest scorer.

Library Sports Club reached the target with the help of 58 runs by Rocky with the loss of three wickets.

The second match was played between Manav Bharti School and Panwar Club. Panwar Club batting first scored 112 runs in the stipulated 15 overs. Mohan scored 54 runs. Manav Bharti reached the target at the loss of four wickets.

Sidhant was the highest scorer with 38 runs for Manav Bharti. Ajay Uniyal, Satish Dhaundiyal, Harishrao, Lalit Verma, Prashant Rawat, Manuj Agarwal, Narendar Padyar and others were present on the occasion. 

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Ex-Mayor for building of subways, flyovers
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 7
Former Dehradun Mayor and Congress leader Manorama Sharma has urged Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to ensure the construction of elevated roads, subways and flyovers in Dehradun city to facilitate the smooth movement of traffic.

In a letter to the CM, Manorama said Dehradun needed a better road infrastructure to cater to the growing traffic challenges. She said elevated roads, subways and flyovers could solve the traffic problems of the city.

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