MDDA lowers limit on house size to benefit weaker sections
Dehradun, December 19
Officials of the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) in it's board meeting today elicited a consensus on lowering the cap on the size of a house to enable the people of weaker section to have houses of their own. Vice-Chairman, MDDA, RM Sundaram, said: “According to land bylaws, a house has to be at least 75 sq metre to get it's map cleared from MDDA. This restriction comes in the way of poor people who at times cannot afford to purchase this much land. Hence, the board members were of the opinion to lower this cap up to 60 sq metre."

Tax Commissioner killed in mishap
Dehradun, December 19
Ekta Chaudhary, Commissioner of the Commercial Tax Department, died in a car accident near Doiwala here today. Ekta Chaudhary, a PCS officer, was returning with her five-year son in her car.

Dehradun, December 19
Protests by students and social activists continued across Dehradun against the Delhi gang-rape case. Condemning the incident, social activists led by Chairperson of the State Women’s Commission Sushila Baluni gathered at Gandhi Park and urged the government to ensure the cities became safe for women.

“Along with strengthening our existing system that ensures swift action against the perpetrators, we need to sensitise the youth against gender violence and sexual assault,” said Baluni.

Jhanvi Tiwari of Disha said that girls should be provided physical training and training in self-defence so that they could handle such situations better and confidently.

There was stress on reporting sexual violence and assault immediately. “ I have noticed, women at times ignore eve-teasing incidents for fear of repercussions. We need to instil confidence in girls so that they can report the matter immediately,” said Ramindri Mandarwal, District Protection Officer.

The students of MKP Girls' College also took out a march today, protesting against the incident and demanding jail for the culprits in the Delhi rape case. The students carried out a signature campaign supported by their Principal and teachers.

Dehradun, December 19
The police has got a big response to the women's desk started at the SSP's office where the desk in-charge, Shikha Arora, got 16 calls in the day today. Out of this, the issues regarding six calls were handed over to Special Operations Group to take out call details in the related matters and zero in on the culprits. Shikha Arora said: " Women/girls usually complained of people abusing them on the phone or sending lewd texts on their mobile phones."

The calls which were made from international numbers, too, are being verified as well. SSP Kewal Khurana said: "There is a probability that people sitting in the city would be making these calls from international contact numbers. Usually these calls are made for job offers overseas. The authenticity behind these calls and callers will be verified."

Taking a cue from the infamous gruesome rape incident which took place in a bus in Delhi, Kewal Khurana today launched a Night Patrolling Cell, which will be headed by a team of Sub-Inspector and

four constables. The cell will undertake patrolling from 10 to 12 at night in areas surrounding ISBT, Saharanpur Road ahead towards jungles and secluded places. The licence of buses and vehicles on suspicion will be checked during these hours. — TNS

Dehradun, December 19
Officials of the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) in it's board meeting today elicited a consensus on lowering the cap on the size of a house to enable the people of weaker section to have houses of their own. Vice-Chairman, MDDA, RM Sundaram, said: “According to land bylaws, a house has to be at least 75 sq metre to get it's map cleared from MDDA. This restriction comes in the way of poor people who at times cannot afford to purchase this much land. Hence, the board members were of the opinion to lower this cap up to 60 sq metre."

However, the final measurement is yet to be decided. A sub-committee had been constituted which will give it's report about the size of the plot as per the location in the city, he added. Secretary, MDDA, Chief Town Planner and Mukhya Nagar Adhikari will be members of the committee.

The second decision was regarding buying private land at circle rates to arrange for a land bank. Sundaram said MDDA lacked land bank to build housing projects at affordable costs for city residents, as most of the land had either been purchased, while the rest was occupied by encroachers. Hence, the members agreed to buy land from private buyers at the circle rates. A committee of the Secretary, MDDA, Chief Town Planner and Mukhya Nagar Adhikari will submit their report with regard to location of land and the respective circle rates. Thirdly, it was decided to give third and fourth floors of newly constructed MDDA shopping complex on Public Private Partnership mode at Clock Tower. Sundaram said it was the third party which would decide about the way these floors were to be used. The MDDA would not intervene in that. 

Dehradun, December 19
Ekta Chaudhary, Commissioner of the Commercial Tax Department, died in a car accident near Doiwala here today. Ekta Chaudhary, a PCS officer, was returning with her five-year son in her car.

It was hit by a speeding truck on the Dehradun-Rishikesh road near Doiwala.

Her car was completely smashed and she was rushed to Himalayan hospital where she died. Fortunately, her son escaped unhurt.

The truck driver fled from the scene. The police had impounded the truck.

Dehradun, December 19
The agitating state government employees protesting against the Constitution Amendment Bill providing quota in promotions in government jobs today laid siege to the Uttarakhand BJP headquarters and burnt the effigies of central leaders, condemning them for facilitating the passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha. Lashing out at the BJP leaders for its double speak, the leaders said the employees would vote out the MLAs in the next election and punish the BJP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"We had voted out the Congress in the Tehri parliamentary election with the hope that the BJP would protect our interests but the party has let us down. For petty political gains, the BJP has repeated the mistake made by the Congress. They are supporting a provision that is directly in conflict with the fundamental rights," said GS Bhakuni, chief coordinator of the Uttarakhand Adhikari Karamchari Shikshak Sangharsh Morcha.

The members accused senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and BS Koshiyari for failing to protect the interests of the members of the general category and supporting those in favour of quota.

They raised slogans against the BJP leaders and said the BSP's committed voters would never split and both BJP and Congress would never benefit from pro-quota politics. "They have deserted the members of their own community and are keen to please others. I along with my family members have been voting for the BJP but after this incident we will never support the BJP," BR Uniyal said. The protesters waved shoes at BJP party workers who were standing on the terrace. None of the senior leaders emerged from the office and the gates of the office remained shut throughout the protest.

Tomorrow, the members have decided to stage a street play titled "Aarakshan Mukti Devi" on the Parade Ground.— TNS

Dehradun, December 19
Mumbai won the match against Chandigarh by seven wickets today in the Late Bankelal Shah Memorial Cricket Tournament being played on the Rangers College ground here.

Chandigarh won the toss and elected to bat first. It scored 112 runs losing all wickets in the allotted overs. Abhay of Chandigarh scored 26 runs. Jagdish of Mumbai took four wickets in his three-over spell.

Batting next, Mumbai easily got to the target losing three wickets. Bhuvnesh of Chandigarh took two wickets. 

Dehradun December 19
The Dehradun Bar Association (DBA) is hosting the 10th annual cricket tournament from December 23 for eight days at Tanushak Stadium in the city where 16 teams of various district Bar associations of the state will participate in it.

President of the DBA Surinder Singh Pundir said the DBA had hosted one such tournament in past as well and achieved the victory by winning it for eight times, barring one tournament where the Naintal team bagged the victory.

District Judge will inaugurate tournament this time.

Dehradun, December 19
St Joseph's Academy (SJA) organised a Christmas function along with a felicitation ceremony to honour Josephites who excelled in various fields.

Journalist Raj Kanwar was the chief guest on the occasion. The programme began with a prayer ‘Shout to the Lord’ melodiously sung by Jahnavi Shrivastava and Gauri Saxena. The choir then presented traditional Christmas carols ‘Silent Night’ and ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, followed by an enlightening play depicting the birth of the Christ.

The Josephite of 2011-2012 award was won by Siddharth Priyadarshi Sharma, the Sportsman of 2011-2012 award by Abhishek Prakash Jaunsar, the Best Student Outreach Programme (ISC) 2011-2012 award by Anusha Rahinwal, the Delany Scholarship by Vandana Singh and the Most Deserving Student award by Arpit Raphael.

The Krishna Kumari Wahi Scholarship has been given to Palak Dutta of class VII. Jerome Clement won the Inder Pal Singh Deol Memorial Scholarship. Bhuvanyaa Vijay and Jahnavi Shrivastava were given the Best Debator Special award for winning the finals of the Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-School Debate Competition and were rewarded with Rs 20,400 each. Teachers with 100 per cent attendance were also felicitated on the occasion.

The AFII Education Foundation sponsors an annual prize of Rs 1 lakh to the deserving students for higher education. This year, the prize money was shared between Siddharth P. Sharma and Saumya Agarwal. The awards were presented by two AFII representatives, Mahesh Sharma, Director, Corporate Affairs, and Saurabh Uboweja, Director, Corporate Communication.

Addressing the audience, Vice-Principal, Bro Dennis, emphasised the importance of cooperation and togetherness. Principal, Bro AJ George, proposed a vote of thanks. He congratulated the recipients of various awards and the parents of the prize winners. 

Mussoorie, December 19
A joint team of officials of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) and Municipal Council inspected the distribution system and construction of new overhead and underground power lines in Mussoorie today.

The officials were of the view that the high tension power lines would be laid underground on a stretch of 2 km on Mall Road and later in the whole town. The MC has sent a proposal in this regard to the UPCL and as a result the inspection drive was carried out today.

The Executive Engineer, UPCL, Rajendar Singh Barfiyal, said a budget proposal had been sent to the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) for the project of laying the underground lines. This project will be taken up first, which will be followed by installing electricity poles and street lights.

MDDA official Shyam Mohan Sharma informed the media that in the first phase around Rs 9.50 crore would be spent on the project.

The MC president, OP Uniyal, speaking on the occasion said that the inspection was being conducted due to the efforts of Municipal Council and with the completion of this project the town would look more beautiful.