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Soon littering public places, spitting to be offence
Efforts on to provide shelter to the homeless during winter
Woman felicitated for refusing to marry in family seeking dowry
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Officials told to give proposals for upgrading slum amenities
Rudrapur
Haridwar to have monkey enclosure
House tax relief for martyrs’ kin hailed
‘Ownership rights for slum dwellers historic decision’
Govt sets time frame for forest land transfer
Varsity VC meets Bahuguna
DG, ICFRE, opens exhibition
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Soon littering public places, spitting to be offence
Dehradun, December 18 The draft has been submitted to the Uttarakhand government for approval, and once approved, the Act will be applicable at all public places, including religious places, shopping malls and offices. The Act shall be effective on domesticated animal owners, too. The offenders of the Act can be penalised either on the spot by being issued challans, or can be arrested in case he fails to remove the littered waste. On repetition of offences, a person could be fined to a maximum of Rs 10,000 and even face imprisonment for a period of six months. "The provision for fines has been included for deterring people from littering public places, and the amount collected by way of fines could help in the generation of revenue for the urban local bodies," said Radhika Jha, Additional Secretary, Department of Urban Development. The Act also defines littering as: "When a person deposits, throws or allows to be placed, drops, spills or scatters any dirt, sand, earth, gravel, straw, shaving sawdust, ashes, garden refuse in any public place without prior permission." "Beside, the citizens who fail to take reasonable precautions during the construction, alteration, demolition of any building and litter the public place, too, would be fined," said Jha. While there are provisions in the Act to penalise citizens spitting in public, the Act has not been able to include urination in public places as an offence. I had studied several models of this kind in operation and was keen to include it in the Act but lack of public urinals prevented us from doing so," said Jha. The authorised officer, including an executive officer, medical officer, chief sanitary inspector, sanitary inspector of Urban Local Bodies (ULB), an officer of the Uttarakhand police not below the rank of sub inspector and revenue officer not below the rank of revenue inspector or an area under his jurisdiction have been empowered to take action and penalise the offenders. |
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Efforts on to provide shelter to the homeless during winter
Dehradun December 18 The DM instructed them to ensure all facilities to the homeless in night shelter homes, as per the direction of the Supreme Court in this regard. He also directed them to arrange bonfire at various places in the city at night and distribute blankets to poor people. It is at four places in the city that the night shelter homes are being operated under the authority of the DMC with the help of the district administration. The Chukkhuwala night shelter home can house 100-115 people which is run by NGO Hope since December last year. This home is equipped with facilities such as rooms, blankets, mattress, toilets and first aid facility. The NGO was selected under the DMC Commercial Scheme. Two home guards had also been deputed outside the shelter home as well. Surprisingly, only 30-35 inmates were using this shelter home, said
Ravi Pandey. It is this NGO, which is also operating another shelter home at the ISBT. The third one at BSA office permits only children and women. Ravi Pandey said not many women and children used it either. The fouth one is a temporary arrangement created at Navin Mandi Sthal on Saharanpur Road. Pandey said even this shelter home was not being used because the ISBT which was situated in vicinity already had the same facility. He informed the DM that one more two-storey shelter home was proposed on the vacant land at Majra on Saharanpur Road. The proposal would cost Rs 134 lakh. Not only this, he said, the project was being recommended to be taken up as pilot project under the Rajiv Awas Yojna. Besides this, the DMC had also consented to provide its 263 sq metre land at Kanwali Gram for street children which will be funded by the ONGC. |
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Woman felicitated for refusing to marry in family seeking dowry
Dehradun, December 18 On this occasion, Inspector General, Law and Order, Ram Singh Meena, State Minister for Planning and Sports, Dinesh Aggarwal, SSP Kewal Khurana, SPs’ and Circle Officers were present at the the Police Lines. Kavita, a 10+2 passout and resident of Baddowala colony in the city, was to marry localite Mukesh Yadav of Bhandari Bagh area on November 29. It was just four days prior to the wedding, on November 25, during the betrothal ceremony, that the boy’s father Ram Yadav and other relatives demanded Rs 1 lakh from Kavita’s family. Kavita’s uncles, who had been taking care of her and her two younger brothers, after her father’s demise in 2006, expressed their inability to do so, but this too did not melt the hearts of the boy’s family. The distraught Kavita then refused to marry the boy. Today the Patel Nagar police registered a dowry case against Mukesh Yadav's family. IG Ram Singh Meena congratulated Kavita for her indomitable courage and said: “It is easier said than done but not many can muster courage like Kavita to spurn the prospective marital alliance in our society.” He expressed hope that many other girls who otherwise got married into such greedy families and repented later on would learn a lesson from Kavita’s example. Dinesh Aggarwal said people of the city must stand by Kavita in such testing times. He said she should always maintain her spirits to fight against social evils. He said all of us talked of ill-effects of dowry but still could not rid ourselves of it. SSP Kewal Khurana said he was optimistic that one day dowry, too, like Sati tradition would fade away from the country. Kavita was of the opinion that she was happy that she could have a narrow escape from the clutches of greedy people, who would have tormented her all her life. She said she wanted to become financially independent in life. On the issue of general policing, IG Meena expressed satisfaction in the stark improvement in traffic management in the city. He said the police was also making it's presence felt everywhere in the city, and people could enjoy shopping during festivals without any fear. The SSP said more and more traffic bottlenecks would be cleared in the coming times. About crime, he said the police was working out cases side by side as they happened. |
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Officials told to give proposals for upgrading slum amenities
Dehradun, December 18 Speaking today at the orientation workshop, Khan said that the government was keen to provide funds for improving the lot of the slums under it's various schemes but the state had not been able to avail the opportunity. He urged the officials of Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital to come up with proposals under RAY. "The sooner we draft proposals that could be taken up under the Central Government-funded programme, the better it would be for the state that has meagre resources," said Khan. He has said that so far the department had received a proposal of rental housing scheme for the poor pegged at the cost of Rs 5 crore that includes construction of a transit hostel and a vending zone for vendors in Kedarpuram (Dehradun). Here the vendors along with selling their products could also stay at night by paying a nominal amount as fee. "I urge the officials to draft proposals so that the department has at least 14-15 projects under way in the next financial year under RAY," said Khan. He said that RAY offers flexibility as there are no financial constraints and the Centre was ready to provide funds for projects to the tune of Rs 100 crore for carrying out relocation and development of slums that are in safer areas,"
said Khan. Additional Secretary, Urban Development, Radhika Jha, said that most of the targets that remained unachievable under the Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and Integrated Housing and Slum Development Programme (IHSDP), launched under Jawaharlal Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) could be achieved under RAY. Project director of State Urban Development Authority (SUDA) Rajiv Pandey said that the focus of RAY would be aimed at providing basic civic amenities in the three mission towns of Dehradun, Haridwar and Nainital. While the invitations were extended to political representatives comprising MLA Sarita Arya (Nainital), MLA Umesh Sharma (Raipur), MLA Rajkumar (Rajpur), most did not turn up in the morning session. |
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Rudrapur
Pithoragarh, December 18 Quoting the study, Col Pramod Sharma (retd) said: "Land fertility in the Rudrapur Terai area has declined since the establishment of the industrial area. Industries have also polluted water in the Terai regio." Colonel Sharma, along with people from Rudrapur, Kiccha and Pantnagar, had also met Union Water Resource Minister Harish Rawat last month to find out a solution to the problem. However, he said instead of taking action in this regard, the minister referred the matter to the state government. Colonel Sharma said the physio-chemical sampling done by the university had revealed that there was a high content of lead, copper, calcium and cadmium in groundwater in Rudrapur and Tinpani, Kiccha, Haldi and SIDCUL colonies. These water pollutants are fatal for the health of human as well as animals. "The effluents flowing in the Kalyani river near Rudrapur are not only posing a threat to human health, but have also started destroying land fertility," said colonel Sharma, who is mulling launching a mass awareness campaign. |
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Ex-MLA flays Haridwar MC functioning
Haridwar, December 18 Citing the contaminated sewerage water being supplied in various colonies of the city, including suburban Jwalapur, Ambrish said that despite elevation of the civic body from municipal committee to Municipal Corporation, nothing
had changed. “ Shoddy working attitude, delay in hearing of complaints and infighting between local politicians had affected the previous municipal committee's tenure, and was now hampering the corporation working. The state government should look into this aspect otherwise the local civic body formed in 1868 will prove to be just a showpiece,” said Ambrish, who had received the best legislator award in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Alleging that the corporation was having a biased attitude towards the suburban colony of Jwalapur, Kumar said that politics and election prospects should not come in between development and civic facilities. The ex-legislator, while referring to national development-oriented vision of former Uttar Pradesh CM and Finance Minister of India Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, pointed that Uttarakhand had produced such a statesman leader who carried out development of the whole country, while now in this newly carved state, petty issue politics to gain red beacons had become almost a norm, which is quite shameful. While Rashtriya Krantikari Manch co-founder Murli Manohar said that the minority-dominated Jwalapur was facing the worst apathy from the Municipal Corporation, as a result of which many diseases owing to contaminated potable water, sewer line breakage, filth, stink and indisposed garbage had spread. |
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Haridwar to have monkey enclosure
Dehradun, December 18 It was revealed at the meeting that there were about 4 lakh monkeys in the state. These monkeys were instrumental in damaging crops in the rural areas and even were a cause for concern in the urban areas as well. These enclosures will have full provision of foods for monkeys. Earlier, Chief Secretary Alok Jain discussed about a ban on poly-bags with the officers concerned. The Union Government has banned use of plastic bags of less than 40 micron thickness. The state government was further planning to ban poly-bags. The use of polythene bags of any micron would be banned and officers would be designated to ensure strict implementation of the ban. The Chief Secretary also discussed the proposal pertaining to banning garbage dumping and spitting at public places in Uttarakhand as in Goa. Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr RBS Rawat, Principal Secretary Forest S Ramaswami, Secretary Pollution Control Board Jayraj and other senior officers were prominent present at the meeting. |
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FDI a threat to Indian economy: CITU
Haridwar, December 18 In a convention called on by CITU Haridwar unit, communist ideologues said the Congress had taken the FDI expansion decision in pressure from western economies like the USA, the UK as most of the multinational companies or so-called retail giants were based in these countries only. Veteran communist PD Baluni pointed out that be it Wallmart or Cola giants, everyone had a major stake in growing world economies like India, where potential major market existed and was being developed. “To capture this huge market, the USA and European nations are lobbying, pressuring the Indian government which is bowing easily to their directions. This is not good for Indian economy as lakhs of people will get affected, particularly small scale traders, hawkers, vendors and medium traders,”
said Baluni. On the local front, CITU members called for stringent adherence of 70pc employment to local Uttarakhand-base employees in SIDCUL-based industrial units in
Haridwar. |
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Students, teachers awarded at Jhankar festival in KV
Dehradun, December 18 R. Raj Shekhar, general manager of the ordnance factory, who was the chief guest on the occasion, appreciated the tremendous efforts put in by the students as well as their teachers. He also gave away prizes to the students and teachers who excelled in the studies and extra co-curricular activities. TP Gaur, Principal of the school, read out the achievements of the schools in various fields. Sudha Todaria, in charge, primary section, was also awarded with Kendriya Vidayalaya, regional incentive awards by Narender Singh Rana, Regional Commissioner of the Kendriya Vidayalaya Sangathan, on the occasion. Shipa Negi and Savita Bisht, both science teachers, were also awarded with Central governments’ award to propagate science at the school level. |
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Farewell functions at Indian Cambridge, Doon Cambridge School
Dehradun, December 18 The show began on a happy note with a game that involved teachers asking the “Twelfthies” about their experiences at the school such as about their likings and dislikings, their fond memories, their next priorities, etc. There was an atmosphere of good fun and joy. The selection of Miss Indian Cambridge and Mr Indian Cambridge was held in which Simranjot was the obvious choice for Miss ICS and Sarthak Negi Mr ICS. However, the King of the ISC batch was none other than Syed Uwais and the Queen of the ISC batch was Pratiksha Sood. Other winners included best dancers Rashi Chauhan and Bharat Kumar, most stylish lady and gentleman Kirti and Nikhil, the simplest girl and boy went to Nirmala Negi and Shubham Verma. In the farewell message, Principal Albert Temple shared his experiences of happy moments during the year with Class XII. He went to the extent of telling them what a good class they were, perhaps one of the best he had ever taught and that they should carry and treasure all wonderful memories of their life at the school with them. He wished each one on behalf of the management and teachers success in their coming examinations and in their lives as a whole. For his part, Brigadier R. Bhatia, a member of the management board of the school in his message, advised the students to look at their immediate priority and that was to put in every best effort for the coming ISC examinations. That there was no other alternative but for hard work for success. He wished them well and congratulated them on their good behaviour and discipline. At the end, the touching part was to see each student hug each other, tears melting down their cheeks as they wished each other “so long” – a clear sign of what their school has been for them. Doon Cambridge
Doon Cambridge School today organised a farewell party for it's class X11 students. Addressing the students, chief guest, Doon University’s Vice Chancellor, VK Jain, asked the students to ensure full preparations for the examinations slated to begin early next year. He said their performances at the class 12 exam will help shape their careers. Doon Cambridge School’s Principal HK Chhabra said she was hopeful that her students will pass the examination with flying colours. Each of the class X11 student was provided with a memento. School students on the occasion gave a cultural programme, which was appreciated by the audience. |
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House tax relief for martyrs’ kin hailed
Dehradun, December 18 Vinod Chamoli said: " The Chief Minister made the announcement at my request as I wanted to avoid the procedure of taking clearance from the state government on the matter. Now the announcement has hastened the process." He added that the working committee at its annual meeting was already giving concession of 10 pc in house tax to the families of martyrs of statehood agitators every year. The DMC thought of enforcing a policy on it. Now with the new announcement, the dependents of martyrs of statehood agitators and ex-servicemen will get 25 per cent concession in house tax, whereas the dependents of the state martyrs of armed services who laid down their lives in various wars/incidents such as Kargil or bomb blasts will be exempted from house tax. He said he met the Chief Minister yesterday and urged him to provide funds for Gandhi Park, which, he said, had statues of great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose and Durgamal, where leaders kept paying their tributes on several occasions. He said the place of such significance deserved a better treatment. "The Chief Minister has given his consent for Rs 1 crore for the beautification of Gandhi Park. He has also sought a report on the project and said by the week-end, the project will be finalised. Under the project, surrounding walls, fountains, footpaths, greenway etc will be added in the park," he added. |
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‘Ownership rights for slum dwellers historic decision’
Dehradun, December 18 Addressing a programme held to felicitate him at Brahmapuri slum in Dehradun, Uttarakhand Congress vice president Suryakant Dhasmana said by providing ownership rights to slum dewellers, the state government had benefited lakhs of poor living in slums. He said the Uttarakhand Congress in it's election manifesto had promised for ownership rights to slum dewellers. "Within 8 months of it's rule, Uttarakhand Congress government had fulfilled this promise," Dhasmana said. He also said by holding a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain on November 3 this year, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had confirmed his commitment to work for the development of backward areas of the state. Reiterating Congress commitment to work for betterment of minorities in the state, Suryakant Dhasmana said the state government had set up a separate Ministry for Welfare of Minorities. He said allowance was also being provided to the unemployed in the state. He also reminded that the BJP-ruled Dehradun Municipal Corporation had failed to provide even basic civic amenities to the residents of Dehradun in the past 5 years. Congress labour cell president JP Sharma and Councillor Arun Valmiki were present on the occasion. |
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Govt sets time frame for forest land transfer
Dehradun, December 18 Holding a meeting with senior officials of the departments concerned, Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain asked the PWD to prepare a digital map of all districts and set up a panel of geologists. The Forest Department will prepare the Standard of Operating Procedure (SOP) of the entire process of forest land transfer and fix the responsibilities of all officials concerned, the Chief Secretary said and warned officials of stern action if they failed to deliver within the given time frame. Jain asked the officials to develop the management information system for forest land and resort to web monitoring to take action against negligent employees.
— PTI |
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Varsity VC meets Bahuguna
Dehradun, December 18 Bahuguna, congratulating Dr Rawat, said the university would set a new milestone by following high principle and maintaining best education environment. He stressed expediting affiliation formalities and conducting timely examinations. He assured to provide all possible assistance to the university. He said the university would help improve education standard in the hill region and address problems relating to education there. Harak Singh Rawat also congratulated the newly appointed VC. Dr Rawat said it would be his aim to develop the university into a core centre of education in the hills. He said the timely examinations and results would be ensured. He said the affiliation formalities were being executed on a priority basis. |
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DG, ICFRE, opens exhibition
Dehradun, December 18 While nature has been a permanent focus of Phalguni Das Gupta's art, the exhibition also had on display the famous Ganesha paintings that have been reproduced by card companies. On the other hand, Mohit's focus was to present the view of the world through his camera. The results were stunning and eye- catching. |
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