RTI Act boon for weaker sections of society, says Aziz Qureshi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 17
Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi today said that the right to information had enabled the “faceless and voiceless” to fight for their rights.

While delivering a lecture at a conference to mark the seventh anniversary of Right to Information Act held today at the Raj Bhavan, the Governor said that the Act had empowered the common man to making him more vocal about his rights.

“The objectives of the Right to Information Act were to make governance transparent and reduce corruption,” he said.

He said people should be made aware of this right by holding camps at gram panchayat, block and district levels.

Chief Secretary Alok Jain cautioned against the misuse of the Act and said that it’s misuse should be checked so that it did not become a tool for settling scores.

On the other hand, Chief Information Commissioner NS Napalchayal spoke on the RTI Act and the role of the public authorities. He said that the public authorities were the repository of information which the citizens had the right to have under the Right to Information Act.

The Governor later honoured six persons chosen for their work in the field by the state Information Commission.

These included Nadeemuddin and Vibha Devi Namdev. 

Memorandum to Governor on permanent residence issue
Tribune News Service

Members of the Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Manch and the Mahila Manch hold a march from Parade Ground to the Governor house in Dehradun on Monday.

Dehradun, December 17
Members of the Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Manch and the Mahila Manch jointly held a march from Parade Ground to the Governor house today where they submitted a memorandum to the Governor, urging him to implement the ruling of the Supreme Court with regard to the permanent residence issue.

They urged Governor Aziz Qureshi to issue guidelines and bring about an amicable solution within the purview of the Constitution on the issue. Aziz Qureshi too assured them of taking up the matter with the state government.

Those who joined the rally included Kamla Pant, Ravinder Jugran, Jagmohan Negi, Omi Uniyal, Nirmala Bisht, Ram Lal Khanduri, Mohan Singh Rawat and Pradeep Kukreti.

Annual meeting of hotels’ association
Ways to boost tourism in Mussoorie discussed
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, December 17
Members of the Mussoorie Hotels’ Association deliberated upon ways to increase the tourist inflow in the town during the annual general meeting held in two sessions at a hotel here today.

In the first session, president of the association RN Mathur welcomed the members and the minutes of the last annual meeting were read out and confirmed.

The amendments in the constitution were also discussed and given a green signal. In the open-house discussion, the members raised several issues related to the tourism industry in the context of Mussoorie. The members also discussed ways to improve basic facilities and beautification of the town to attract more tourists.

The second session was inaugurated by chief guest on the occasion Subodh Uniyal by lighting the ceremonial lamp.

The members of the association also presented a memorandum to Uniyal addressed to the Chief Minister, demanding additional parking facilities in the town, easing the excise duty on bar licenses, developing the tourist spots, namely Bhatta Fall, Mossy Fall, Company Garden and George Everest House, and linking them to one route in order to ease the tourist movement.

The members also raised the issue of acute water shortage being faced by the town and demanded new projects to draw more water either from Hardy Falls or the Yamuna.

Invited guest and senior Congress leader Manmohan Singh Mall lambasted his own government and said the residents and the business community were sad at the nonchalant attitude of bureaucrats and politicians who promised heaven when in Mussoorie but forgot about it after reaching Dehradun.

Mall further said the problems of parking, drinking water and construction of town hall were being given cold shoulder by the politicians and bureaucrats under various governments, leaving the hapless tourists and residents to suffer.

He also raised the issue of harassment by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) in the name of Supreme Court Monitoring Committee (SCMC) of the small residential houses, who had converted their properties into home stays, guest houses and hotels.

Mathur said the administration should not have given the licenses for the conversion of residential property into guest houses and hotels in the first place if it was illegal. He also said the people should shut down their business units for three days in protest against the administration if the authorities continue to ostracise the hoteliers in the near future.

He also demanded an increase in the number of deluxe buses from Delhi to Mussoorie so that people do not bring their own vehicles and add to traffic congestion in the town.

Secretary of the association Ajay Bhargav read out the annual report and highlighted the achievements of the organisation in the current year. He also said the tourists would be given attractive packages in the festive season of the Christmas and New Year.

Municipal Council president OP Uniyal, who was the other invited guest, said the bureaucrats and elected representatives should keep their egos aside and jointly work toward the development of the town.

Chief guest Uniyal, while addressing the gathering, said Mussoorie was the crown of the state and the government was committed towards resolving the problems being faced by the hoteliers and the residents.

He further said a delegation of hoteliers would meet the Chief Minister and raise the issues being faced by the town.

He also said the demand for a new tourism circuit, linking Lakhamandal, Mussoorie and Tehri, will also be raised in front of the Chief Minister. He also said a tourism conclave would be organised in the town to give a boost to the tourism industry.

Kanwaljeet, Shalendar Semwal, Varun Ranawat, Madhuri Nautiyal, Ram Kumar and others were present on the occasion.

CM announces four new tehsils
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 17
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has announced the formation of four new tehsils in the state. He said this would facilitate development works at the tehsil level.

Bahuguna said owing to the absence of tehsils in several areas, the general public was facing a lot of problems. Considering this, the government has decided to make four news tehsils- Ghat and Adibadri in Chamoli district, Kandisound in Tehri district and Bungapani in Pithoragarh district.

With four of these new districts, the total number of tehsils in the state has gone up to 82.

Walnut farming efforts in state fail to bear fruit
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 17
The efforts of the Department of Horticulture to promote walnut cultivation by sourcing plants from France to be grown in the hills have not borne fruit. The most of these plants have failed to multiply, forcing the department to rely on local varieties.

Despite ample scope for the cultivation of walnut, mainly due to conducive soil and weather, the department has not been able to bring new areas under the crop.

At present, walnut is being grown across more than 10,000 hectares in the state. But most of the trees are scattered and are not part of the orchards. To encourage walnut cultivation as a cash crop, the department had procured best varieties of walnut saplings from France three years ago so that these could be distributed among the farmers but the experiment failed to yield results.

“Most of the saplings that were planted in Botanical Garden at Chaubatia, near Raniketh, and in poly houses in Almora had either dried or had been eaten by wild animals. As a result, the saplings did not multiply and could not be distributed among farmers,” said IA Khan, Director, Horticulture.

The high quality 4,000 plants were specially imported from France so that these could be introduced to the farmers in Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and Pithoragarh districts. “As both soil and weather conditions are conducive for the cultivation of walnut in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, the department had then set a target of bringing 1,000 hectares under the walnut cultivation every year in the state.

After the fiasco, the emphasis is now on developing walnut orchards comprising varieties of hard, medium and thin shells that are already being grown in the Kashmir valley,” Khan said.

In Dehradun district, walnut is cultivated in 2,200 hectares in the Chakrata block. “The walnut fruit requires less snowfall and is a hard fruit that does not require much care in terms of storage facilities. While the apple fruit requires a good spell of snow for maintaining cool conditions, there is no such requirement for walnut,” said Amar Singh, District Horticulture Officer.

With a little effort walnut too could become a major cash crop of Uttarakhand. Even the walnut kernel could prove useful as part of the prasad distributed in Badrinath and Kedarnath temples.

School students launch clean Ganga awareness drive
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 17
Several programmes were held in the district as part of the ambitious Sparsh Ganga Abhiyan of the state government under the National Service Scheme (NSS) today. Students of all government schools carried out a mass awareness drive to clean the Ganga under the NSS.

Students of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College, Sector-2, BHEL, held a rally that started from the school and passed through Chandracharya Chowk and Prem Nagar Ashram before culminating at the Vishwakarma Ganga ghat.

Carrying placards the students urged people to ensure that they did not pollute the Ganga, which has religious and spiritual significance for the Hindus and provides livelihood to a large number of people.

Coordinator of the programme Pankaj Sharma and school principal Uday Raj Chauhan shed light on the importance of the Ganga and the need for the younger generation to ensure that it remains clean.

Students of Jwalapur Intermediate College also planted saplings and held a drive to clean the Ganga ghats.

Under guidance of NSS in-charge Satish Kumar and principal Phool Singh, students collected garbage.

Two years ago the then Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, in the presence of actress Hema Malini, who was the official ambassador of the project, and former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani had launched the Sparsh Ganga Abhiyan to clean the river.

Govt schools shut as students shift to private schools
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, December 17
The primary education scenario in the district has remained dismal during 2012. Despite an increase in the number of teachers, 3,454 students left government schools to join private schools, sources in the district education office said.

“Due to the shortage of students, 13 government schools were closed in the district this year. As many as 221 primary schools in the district are still having less than 10 students each at present,” said VK Tamta, District Education Officer (DEO).

The sources said after the closure of 13 primary schools, the district had 1,183 primary and 286 junior high schools. Though these schools were situated in interior villages of the district, the number of students in these decreased in the present year. “The number of students in the primary schools, which was 30,727 in year 2011, reduced to 27,725 in the current year, while the number of teachers in primary schools increased from 1,429 in year 2011 to 1,464 in the current year,” said the DEO.

The sources said though the government was running programmes to attract poor children to primary schools, the students were shifting rapidly to private schools. These schools have now even opened in remote areas as well. “Even the schemes of mid-day meal, free of cost books and free school uniforms did not succeed in attracting poor students to government primary schools in the district,” said the DEO.

Cash subsidy scheme to empower poor
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, December 17
Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat has said the cash subsidy scheme being run by the Union government is aimed at transforming the lives of 30 crore people of the country who are still lacking basic facilities.

Rawat was addressing a public meeting at Bageshwar after inaugurating a medical camp organised by the Hans Foundation. He said the scheme would transform the lives of women especially. “In Brazil, where it was first launched, it had changed the lives of poor people,” he added.

Rawat said with the cash subsidy scheme would economically empower the people below poverty line. “If the priorities of the UPA government get people’s support, the dream of a modern and powerful India will be realised by 2025,” he added.

The Union minister said soon the UPA government would launch a food security scheme which would ensure meals to crores of poor people of the country. “We are prepared to face economic challenges that are being confronted by the USA and China. The pace of economic growth, which is sure to increase in the coming years, will ensure a strong position for India in the world,” he added. 

Baithaki Holi begins in Almora, Nainital, Pithoragarh
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 17
The Holi preparation have begun across the Kumaon region with the begininng of the Hindu month of ‘Paush’. Popularly called ‘Baithaki Holi’, the Holi bhajans are sung in the classical ragas across the region.

The Holi mandals in Nainital, Almora and Pithoragarh districts started singing devotional Holi songs from the first Sunday of Paush, which fell on December 16 this year.

“The tradition of Holi singing in Nainital began in 1918 after the Ram Sevak Sabha, a cultural body, was constituted,” said Ganga Prasad Shah, chairman of the sabha.

“We begin with the singing of ‘Bhav bhanjan gun gao mein apne shyam ke’, which is dedicated to Lord Krishna, the deity worshipped across the region during the festival of Holi. It is considered a Vaishnav festival,” said Shah.

Shah said in the Kumaoni tradition, devotional songs on Holi are sung from the beginning of Paush to Basant Panchami. From Basant Panchami to Ekadashi, beauty and ornamental songs are sung by the devotees which continues till Holi. “We have excellent tradition of maintaining communal harmony during the festival of Holi as some members of the Muslim community also take part in all three phases of Holi in the Kumaon region,” he added.

ABVP members meet SSP against drug mafia
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 17
Members of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the state unit of the Shiv Sena met SSP Kewal Khurana today to complain about the increasing clout of the drug mafia in the city and urged him to take effective steps in this direction.

The SSP asked the complainants to first stop indulging in drunken driving or creating scene or indulging in eve-teasing after getting drunk on roads before coming up with complaints of this sort. ABVP members gave him their words for this and assured him of all cooperation on the matter.

General secretary, ABVP, Ashish Bahuguna said the people who sold drugs trapped schoolchildren by selling these drugs outside the gates of the premises. He demanded stringent punishment for such students who either sold or bought drugs.

He said places like parks, cinema-halls and bus-stations had become the hub of sale and purchase of drugs and hence must be checked time to time.

City head of the Shiv Sena Tarun Ahuja demanded immediate ban on sheesha lounges and rave parties saying that their operation were against the ethos of Indian culture.

4 policemen suspended for dereliction of duty
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 17
SSP Kewal Khurana today suspended Sub Inspector Dinesh Singh, constables Vijay Pratap, Mahender Singh and Deepak for negligence.

These four had accompanied accused Prakash Pandey involved in the Madhumita murder case when they had taken him from the city jail to Gorkhapur in Uttar Pradesh two days ago for court hearing. Kewal Khurana said the policemen not only had liquor with the accused but also went to Pandey’s relative’s petrol pump on the latter’s insistence. When the SSP enquired about it, the policemen concerned lied, but, thereafter, the SSP enquired from the SSP of Gorakhpur and other sources, and found the policemen at fault. He suspended all four of them today. 

Training programme on climate change begins at ICFRE
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 17
A training programme on “Climate Change, Forest Ecosystem and Biodiversity: Vulnerabilities and Adaptation Strategies” for scientists and technologists of the government sector started at the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) here today.

Speaking on the inaugural session of the training programme, Dr VK Bahuguna, Director General, ICFRE, said climate change was a major challenge for the developing countries like India that faced large climate variability and were exposed to enhanced risks from climate change.

Dr Bahuguna added that the percentage of literacy was good in India and various technologies developed so far to deal with the climate change mitigation and adaptation were very well understood by the greater number of masses in the country.

The scientists must come up with different adaptation strategies for implementation in addition to getting involved in the negotiation process. India had reasons to be concerned about the impacts of climate change as its large population depended on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture and forestry for livelihoods, he added.

Saibal Dasgupta, Deputy Director General (Extension), ICFRE, welcoming the participants, said the ICFRE was proactive in forest and climate change-related issues at the national and international level and was engaged in the capacity-building programmes

of the officers of the Indian Forest Services and scientists and technologists working in the government sector. He said biodiversity-rich forests were less vulnerable to climate change and biodiversity conservation programmes must be linked with the climate change.

The ICFRE is organising a five-day training course for the scientists and technologists working in the government sector from 17-21 December. A total of 24 scientists and researchers from different scientific organisations and universities of various states and Union Territories are participating in the training programme.

The training programme is sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the “National Programme for Training of Scientists and Technologists working in the Government Sector”.

Dr TP Singh, Assistant Director General and Director, Biodiversity Conservation, at the ICFRE is the course-director of this training programme. Dr Anita Srivastava gave vote of thanks and Dr Shilpa Gautam coordinated the inaugural session.

Annual convention of power staff
Tribune News Service

Dehradun December 17
Members of the Bijli Urja Kamgaar Sangh started their two-day annual convention at Yamuna Colony today which was inaugurated by state minister Surender Singh Negi.

Chairman of the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam (UJVNL) , Subhash Kumar, Managing Director, UJVNL, GP Patel and officials of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation and the Power Transmission Corporation of Uttarkhand were also present.

President of the organisation AP Amoli presented a memorandum regarding their demands, which included pay revision, upgradation of pension scheme, fulfillment of vacancies and promotions, to the minister who assured them that all their demands would be met by December 25, as promised by the management of the UJVNL.