HC gets tough with illegal dog breeders
Directs district magistrates to check practice
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 6
The Nainital High Court has directed district magistrates of all the 13 districts of Uttarakhand to ensure that no unregistered dog breeder is allowed to conduct business.

The direction came following a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Gauri Maulekhi, Uttarakhand member-secretary of People for Animals (PFA) and co-opted member of Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), against illegal dog breeders.

The court directed the district magistrates to ensure that no one carries on dog breeding without proper permission under the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules, 2001.

As per the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2001 framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, all breeders and exhibitors of dogs have to get registered with the AWBI.

In June 2012, an AWBI team visited some of the unregistered puppy mills in Uttarakhand and found that a large number of dogs were kept in horrifying conditions. A report was submitted to the Forest and Rural Development Commissioner and FIR applications were moved but no action was taken against the offenders.

Maulekhi then filed a PIL in December 2012 in the Nainital High Court. The writ petition stated that puppy mills in the state were flouting all rules and regulations and keeping hundreds of dogs chained up for months in filthy conditions without proper food and veterinary care.

Maulekhi observed that the breeders resort to heinous ways of killing the unsold puppies, the most popular method to drown them.

She said the registration with the AWBI involves tagging all the dogs with radio-frequency microchips. “The detailed identities of all buyers have to be maintained and it has to be ensured that the buyers are aware of the pup care guidelines. It has to be ensured that all unsold puppies are rehabilitated with the help of a registered NGO,” Maulekhi observed.

Decision of 2 Assembly buildings draws statehood agitators’ ire
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 6
Several prominent statehood agitators congregated at Shahid Sthal today and flayed the state government for Vidhan Sabha at two places in the state.

BJP leader Ravinder Jugran said, “The state government is building Vidhan Sabha at two places, one in Dehradun district and the other in Gairsain, whereas it is yet to declare the capital of the state. The Vidhan Sabha building is built in the capital city so the government must come clean on this issue.”

He said the way the state government was budging under pressure and building one Vidhan Sabha in plains and the other in a hill area was dividing the state between Garhwal, Kumaon and Terai.

“The decision to build a high court in Nainital to appease people of Kumaon while blatantly ignoring the fact that most of the registered advocates practise in Dehradun has proved disastrous for the tourist city,” he said.

He also emphasised that such appeasing attitude only reflected the weakness of the state government. He blamed the previous state government for failing to muster courage and give the state a capital city in the past 12 years.

He suggested that the state government should rather opt and utilise hundreds of bighas of land of IDPL, lying redundant at Rishikesh, to build newer infrastructure such as Vidhan Sabha, Secretariat, MLA house, residential colonies for the secretaries etc instead of constricting the Dehradun city, which is already under severe strain due to exponential increase in the number of buildings and vehicles.

Pradeep Kukreti, a leader, said the state government always rued the shortage of fund when it came to disbursement of pension to statehood agitators but now when it was planning to build Vidhan Sabha at two places, it did not think of funds. He said the state was not resourceful enough to bear the expenditure of two Vidhan Sabha premises. He said on the one hand the bureaucrats were talking of felling dozens of trees at Raipur to make way for Vidhan Sabha Bhawan and on the other hand, the development projects were stalled over cutting of three to four trees at various places in the city. He blamed the state government for creating all this chaos.

Two students hold protest against quarrying in Ganga
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 6
Quarrying issue has become a major issue in Haridwar, though it has again been banned in two Ganga embankments by the state government, yet quarrying is still going on unabatedly.

Raising this issue, two teenagers Vasu Singh and Veer Singh today sat on a daylong agitation, demanding conservation of the Ganga river from the ill-effects of quarrying and construction activities going on on the riverbed.

Vasu ,16-year, and Veer 12-year, got inspired from the 27-day fasy observed by Matra Sadan ashram disciple Brahamchari Poornanand Saraswati and another fast being observed at Chandracharya Chowk by social activists.

While talking to TNS, Vasu, student of Shiv Dale Public School, revealed that while going to the school he used to see agitators sitting at Chandracharya Chowk and when he read in newspapers and enquired from his father about them, he came to knew about the damage being done to the Ganga.

“My father introduced me to the social activists and I also decided to contribute to the Ganga.We should do something constructive for saving the river as not only humans but also animals depend on the river water which is getting polluted day by day”, said Vasu.

Veer also held an agitation for four hours as a mark of protest accompanying Vasu. Both young agitators became the cynosure of all eyes with many people stopping at the venue and on knowing about their motive they also supported them by accompanying them.

Social activists JP Baduni, Ajay Sharma and Ashish Gaud said the government and the administration should take a lesson from the youths viewpoint as instead of being concerned about the Ganga, they are having dangerous liaison with the quarrying and builder mafia.

Meanwhile, Matra Sadan ashram has made it clear that it will not give up its anti-quarrying agitation unless they get a written assurance from the Uttarakhand government and the district administration in this regard.

Notably, yesterday the Uttarakhand government via the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, the licence issuing agency for quarrying in the district, prohibited quarrying at two places, Bishanpur Kundi and Bhogpur on the embankment of the Ganga.

The quarrying was opened at these two lots on December 1 against which Matra Sadan staged a massive agitation with Brahamchari Poornanand Saraswati sitting on hunger strike from December 10 onwards.

Matra Sadan head Swami Shivanand made it clear that unless written assurance was given and all sections levied against agitating seer Brahamachari Poornanand Saraswati were taken back, they would not call off agitation.

Quota in promotions
SC/ST workers stage dharna
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 6
The Uttarakhand Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Association today staged dharna at Ambedkar Park here today demanding that no Departmental Promotion Committee be convened for general employees till the Justice Irshad Hussain committee submits its report.

The protesters alleged that quota in promotions for SC/ST employees must be restored in the state. They asserted that reservation was their birth right and they cannot be deprived of their right. They said they would put forward their case before the Justice Irshad Hussain committee.

The Justice Irshad Hussain committee was set up by the state government after general and SC/ST employees were at loggerheads over the issue of quota in promotions.

State doesn’t need fast-track courts: CM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 6
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has said there are a few pending cases related to crime against women in the state and there was no need of fast-track courts for early disposal of such cases.

"We do not need fast-track courts, considering few cases of crime against women pending in the courts. The existing courts can handle such cases on priority basis,” Bahuguna told mediapersons at his residence here today.

"The high court based in Nainital has decided to hear cases of crime against women every Friday, while the lower courts will hear such cases on a day-to-day basis to expedite the justice-delivery system and ensure disposal of the cases within next six months," Bahuguna said.

The Chief Minister said there are 540 pending cases of crime against women in the state which will be settled within next six months.

On his recent visit to South Africa to invite industrialists to Uttarakhand, Bahuguna said a delegation of investors from South Africa will visit the state in April.

"We have told the investors about incentives being offered by Uttarakhand to entrepreneurs and they have shown interest in investing here," he said.

Bahuguna evaded a reply on the controversial issue of making Gairsain as the summer capital of the state as demanded by state Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal.

He said the state government plans to build two assembly buildings -- one at Gairsain so that at least one Assembly session in a year could be held there and Dehradun will have a new Assembly building in the near future.

"The Vidhan Bhawan at Gairsain and other infrastructure would take nearly three years to be built. All the MLAs can then sit together and decide whether Gairsain is fit to be declared as the summer capital of Uttarakhand," he said.

The foundation stone of the Vidhan Bhawan at Gairsain will be laid by Congress president Sonia Gandhi on January 14.

Cold wave effect
Schools in US Nagar shut till January 13
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 6
The Udham Singh Nagar district administration has ordered closing of all schools till January 13 in view of the cold spell has taken the entire district in its grip.

The region is covered in dense fog and the temperature had gone record-breaking low in the past 10 years. “The schools had to be open on January 7 but the conditions in the district are not suitable for running classes,” said a district administration spokesperson.

According to Meteorological Department sources in US Nagar, Saturday happened to be coldest day in the past 10 years as the minimum temperature of the district dipped down to 4C. “While the temperature in Champawat on Saturday was recorded at -2C, Rudrapur town of US Nagar experienced the coldest day in the past 10 years at 4.4C,” said Dr HS Kushwaha, head of the weather department of the Pant Nagar university.

Dr Kushwaha, the cold in the Terai region became more intense on Saturday as the fog density remained two km above surface in the region.

“The cold winds originated from the Jammu and Kashmir region and reached the Kumaon region at a speed of 4 km per hour, making the region colder,” said Dr Kushwaha.

Punjabi Mahasabha honours 25
Tribune News Service

Dehradun January 6
The Uttaranchal Punjabi Mahasabha today honoured 25 distinguished personalities of the city in a gala function.

After holding their annual meeting, city president of the organisation Santokh Singh Nagpal and convener Harish Narang today felicitated five MLAs representing the Punjabi community who were Harbans Kapoor, Harbhajan Singh Cheema, Rajkumar Thukral, Pradeep Batra and Umesh Sharma.

The other persons who were also honoured included Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Dehradun SSP Kewal Khurana, who himself could not come, ex-MP, Nainital, Balraj Pasi, former Health Minister Tilak Raj Behra, former state minister Neelam Sehgal, business tycoon Rakesh Oberoi, hotelier SP Kocharm, founder of the organisation Ram Murti Mapoor, National air pistol shooter Dil Raj Kaur, Subhash Kohli, CJ Chapra, Dr Himmat, NP Diwan and Bharat Sabharwal.

2013 to be observed as year of solidarity with Tibet
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 6
The Tibetan community living in India will observe 2013 as “Year of Solidarity with Tibet” to mark the support for its struggle against Chinese occupation of their homeland.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, chairman of the Representative Committee of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile Dawa Tsering today said they were seeking support for the cause of Tibet at international forum by observing 2013 as “Year of Solidarity with Tibet”. He said Tibetans look towards India to further their cause.

Tsering said China’s frequent incursions into Indian territory cannot be taken lightly. He said several rivers of India, like Brahmaputra, originate in Tibet and Chinese occupation of Tibet is destroying the environment which could be detrimental to the existence of these rivers.

Ven Kasamg Damdul, MP of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile, said they were getting support from Japan, Taiwan and other countries. He said Chinese were unleashing worst sort of oppression in Tibet, forcing the Tibetans to attempt self-immolations. He said since 2009, 95 Tibetans have immolated themselves with 80 attaining martyrdom and the rest getting arrested by the Chinese authorities.

Damdul said Tibetans will stage a peace march tomorrow in Dehradun to seek support from Indians in opposition to the Chinese occupation of Tibet. “A religious meeting will be held in Dehradun on Tuesday for peace of all those who have attempted self-immolations for the cause of Tibet independence,” he said.

Ven Mogru Tempa and Gang Lhamo, MPs of Tibetan Parliament in Exile, were also present on the occasion.

Anti-polythene campaign
Sale of jute, paper bags on the rise
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, January 6
The anti-polythene drive launched by the Municipal Corporation has started to have an impact in the city. Six days since the initiation of the drive, both traders and consumers can be seen opting for eco-friendly options in place of polythene goods.

Sale of jute bags and paper bags is on the rise int he city. Owing to the drive, polythene garbage in the city has reduced to a great extent.

Talking to The Tribune. City Magistrate Jeevan Singh Nambiyal polythene bags had been confiscated from many traders in the city. Traders have also been warned against stocking of polythene bags.

Nambiyal said to make the pilgrim city clean and green, shunning of polythene was important.

Chief Executive Officer of the Municipal Corporation Harshwardhan Mishra said various teams had been formed in the city to conduct impromptu checking drives.

“Various teams are working in the city to make sure polythene bags are not used. We have also been working towards generating awareness about negative impact of polythene bags. In this, educational institutes and social organisations are also helping us,” said Mishra.

The National Service Scheme’s (NSS) anti-polythene drive at Gurukul Mahavidyalaya, Jwalapur, is also making an impact in the city. In a camp being held at Jamalpur Kalan, students are generating awareness among people in this regard.

NSS programme officer Sushil Kumar Tyagi pointed out that penalisation or legal laws alone would not curb the menace. Awareness among people was equally important, said Tyagi.

Uday Ram Semwal of Brijwasi Sweets, Ranipur Mod-Chandracharya chowk, said he had disposed of the polythene stock and had purchased jute bags, which are eco-friendly and recyclable.

Campaign against corruption
VK Singh to visit Kumaon
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, January 6
Former Chief of the Indian Army and now a companion of social activist Anna Hazare in his movement against corruption, General VK Singh (retd) will visit the Kumaon region to awaken the people of the region on the issue of rampant corruption in the county.

This was stated by PC Thapaliyal, spokesperson of the Uttarakhand Purva Sainik and Ardh Sainik Sanyukt Sangathan here today.

Thapaliyal on a visit to the region along with sangathan president SS Pangti, who is a retired IAS officer, said after his visit to Srinagar and Dehradun on December 14 and 15 last year, Gen Singh (retd) now wanted to organise ex-servicemen, retired paramilitary personnel, women and youths of the region for the campaign against corruption. “We have had contacts with like-minded people during our visit to the Didihat, Munsiyari, Haldwani Almora and US Nagar districts of the region and hopes are high to get support from these classes in the campaign launched by Anna Hazare,” said Thapliyal.

Pangti said the rulers of the state were involved in rampant corrupt practices in the name of domicile status, mining of minor minerals and liquor tenders.

He said the fight against corruption had to take a firm seat as the common man was getting nothing out of these. “If the nation has to be a great nation, then we will have to be cautious of corrupt practises that new leaders are indulging in,” added Pangti.

Dehradun Diary
Speaker’s remark on Gairsain lands Cong in row

Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal causes a trouble for the state Congress government by demanding that Gairsain should be declared as the summer capital of the state following a decision by the state government to construct an Assembly building at Gairsain in Chamoli district of Garhwal.

The ruling state Congress government was trying to politically encash the emotional issue of constructing an Assembly building at Gairsain.

Interestingly, the state Congress government headed by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, after a stunning defeat in the Tehri Lok Sabha byelection in which the Chief Minister's son Saket Bahuguna lost in October 2012, decided to hold a Cabinet meeting at Gairsain on November 3, 2012.

Since the days of statehood agitation in the 1990s, Gairsain, a place in Chamoli district, was declared as the future capital of the proposed state by the statehood agitators. But after the creation of the new state on November 9, 2000, Dehradun was made as the provisional capital 
of the state.

The interim state government formed a commission to suggest a place for the permanent capital which got many extensions. The report was finally submitted during the previous BJP government, but the state government failed to take any concrete decision on the emotional issue.

It is a practical reality that while the statehood agitators and people in the hills demand capital of the hill state in the hills and that too at Gairsain, a majority of people reside in the Terai region of the state, particularly in Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. With migration from the hilly areas, under new delimitation of Assembly constituencies, the number of Assembly seats in the Terai region has increased as compared to the hilly areas.

The two mainstream parties, the Congress as well as the BJP, were weary of taking a stand on the issue. But Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna decided to construct a new Assembly building at Gairsain to win over the voters of the hilly areas in the run-up to the crucial 2014 Lok Sabha poll.

He argued that with the coming up of a new Assembly building, at least one assembly session will be held at Gairsain every year and it will fuel economic activity leading to the development of the hilly area. In a balancing act, the Chief Minister as well the Assembly Speaker also decided to construct another new Assembly building at the Raipur area of Dehradun since the present Assembly building was functioning from a makeshift building.

The opposition BJP finding itself losing on the issue demanded that Gairsain should be declared as the summer capital of the state. The state Congress government did not wanted to commit anything on the sensitive issue but the sudden demand by Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal has put Chief Minister Bahuguna in an awkward situation.

Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal, who belongs to Harish Rawat camp in the Congress, was all along with the Chief Minister Bahuguna on constructing two Assembly buildings at Gairsain and Dehradun.

It was interesting that whether his demand to make Gairsain as the summer capital has the tacit understanding of the Chief Minister or whether it was an attempt by the Harish Rawat camp to trouble the Chief Minister.

The issue has divided the state Congress leaders. While, one group welcomed the demand, the other group criticised the demand by the Speaker. On the other hand, the statehood agitators and the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) have criticised the statement. They argued that Gairsain could only be the permanent capital as per the sentiments of the statehood agitators and any attempt to make it summer capital would make Dehradun as the permanent capital which would be unacceptable to them. The politics over the sensitive issue will continue to dominate in the year 2013.

— SMA Kazmi

Fun activities mark Family Day at Kirby
Tribune News Service

Children of employees perform a cultural programme as part of Family Day at Kirby Steels at SIDCUL in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, January 6
In view of generating bonhomie between officers and workers, apart from giving the employees a break, a function titled "Family Day" was organised at Kirby in Integrated Industrial Estate, SIDCUL, here today .

Employees shared a dais with officers in which their queries, problems and working conditions were discussed.

Families of the employees were also invited for the day to generate bonhomie and mutual understanding among the officers and the employees.

Sudhir Mehta, general manager, Kirby, anchored the whole function knitting various events like poem recitation, musicial, dance, kids questionnaire, folk and other fun activities with élan.

Earlier inaugurating the function proceedings, director, HR of MNC Alghanim industries, KS Shyam, said in the coming years, Haridwar would be a major industrial hub and if government provided easier access like a single open window for industries and availability of improved infrastructure facilities, then it would leave other industrial cities behind that had been set up in the recent past.

Officials D Raju among others were also present on the occasion apart from 1,000 employees and their families.

Building at Gairsain for ministers’ fun: SP

Dehradun January 6
In a district convention of the state unit of the Samajwadi Party, state president SN Sachan called upon party workers to work in unison to facilitate victory for the party in the local bodies as well as Lok Sabha election.

He castigated both BJP and Congress saying that these parties gave nothing to poor public except astronomical inflation and increased prices of petrol, diesel and LPG gas. He lamented that these parties misguided people in the name of permanent domicile and caste certificates.

He also pulled up the state government for building two Vidhan Sabhas, one at Raipur in Dehradun district and another at Gairsain. He said the building at Gairsain was meant for fun and frolic for ministers and bureaucrats during hot summer months which would incur further expenditure for exchequer. — TNS

Manmohan is Janmanch general secretary
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, January 6
Manmohan Lakhera has been the general secretary of the Uttarakhand Janmanch.

According to Uttarakhand Janmanch spokesman Shivanand Pandey, apart from Manmohan Lakhera, Arvind Panwar, Naveen Juyal, Keshav Mohan Bijalwan, Girish Tamta, Hemant Nautiyal and Rakesh Thapliyal have been appointed as secretaries.

Ramesh Nautiyal has been appointed as treasurer. Vipin Rawat, Jaiveer Chauhan, Gaurav Bhatt, Arun Kanswal, Manoj Semwal and Vipin Saini have been appointed as working committee members.

Pandey said office-bearers of the Uttarakhand Yuwa Janmanch had also been appointed. Vijay Gusain had been appointed as president of the Uttarakhand Yuwa Janmanch. Ganesh Bhagwat and Harish Thapliyal have been appointed as general secretaries of the Uttarakhand Yuwa Janmanch.

All the appointments were done by the core committee of the Janmanch.