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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

Sahastradhara maintenance project shelved
Dehradun, February 28
The project introduced by former District Magistrate Dileep Jawalkar to make local people responsible about the maintenance of the areas surrounding Sahastradhara, including hot sulphur waterfall, has been shelved.

91 officers, subordinate staff join ITBP
Mussoorie, February 28
As many as 91 officers and subordinate staff joined the mainstream of the ITBP in a colourful passing-out parade and attestation ceremony at the ITBP grounds here today.

Dhasmana alleges corruption in Town Hall repair
Dehradun, February 28
Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana has alleged corruption in the renovation work of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation's Town Hall. Talking to mediapersons here today, Dhasmana said the claims of spending Rs1.5 crore on the renovation of the auditorium by Mayor Vinod Chamoli were exaggerated.

Class IV staff of Irrigation Dept threaten to boycott work
Haridwar, February 28 
Class IV employees of the Irrigation Department have threatened to boycott work if their demands are not fulfilled. The decision was taken by office-bearers of the employees' union under the aegis of the Chaturth Vargiya Karamchari Mahasangh.

 


EARLIER EDITIONS


Talks between teachers, govt fail
Dehradun, February 28
The talks between representatives of the Rajya Shikshak Sangh and officials of the Education Department regarding the demands of government school teachers have failed putting uncertainty over the conduct of the board examinations. The teachers had threatened to boycott the board examinations starting from the first week of March in case the state government fail to accept their pending demands.

No match with the golden era of Hindi films, says Rati
Haridwar, February 28
Despite new themes, creative ideas, advanced technology and thousands of films being produced per year in India, the golden era of the 60s and 70s is unmatched.

Qureshi unveils silver golf cup trophy 
Dehadun, February 28
Governor Aziz Qureshi unveils a silver golf cup trophy of Sara Governor's Golf Cup Tournament at Raj Bhavan in Dehradun on Thursday. Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi unveiled the silver golf cup trophy of Sara Governor's Golf Cup Tournament which will open in Dehradun on March 2. The two-day tournament will be held at FRIMA Golf Course and has been organised at the Governor's inititaive by FRIMA and Sara Industries. A total of 120 golfers from Dehradun, Roorkee, Ranikhet and Nainital will participate in the event.
Governor Aziz Qureshi unveils a silver golf cup trophy of Sara Governor's Golf Cup Tournament at Raj Bhavan in Dehradun on Thursday.

Striking ANMs join duty today
Dehradun, February 28
With the state government now willing to concede to the demand for the payment of pending arrears to the striking ANMs but at the same time agreeing not to apply the no-work no-pay rule, in case ANMs report to work by March 1, the striking ANMs will be joining duty from tomorrow.

Five promoted as DSPs
Dehradun, February 28
The state government has promoted five inspectors to the position of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and raise their pay bands from 9300-34,800, Grade Pay Rs 4,600 to pay band 15,6000-39,100 and grade pay 5,400.

Forest dwellers stage rally, seek voting rights 
Dehradun, February 28
Forest dwellers hold a demonstration in support of their demands in Haldwani on Thursday. Forest dwellers under the banner of All India Kisan Mahasabha, an affiliate of CPI (ML), staged a demonstration at Haldwani town today, demanding voting rights for them in the coming panchayat elections. Led by Purushottum Sharma, Uttarakhand state president of All India Kisan Mahasabh, thousands of forest dwellers marched through the streets of Haldwani town in support of their demands.

Forest dwellers hold a demonstration in support of their demands in Haldwani on Thursday.

Forest officials seek better pay
Dehradun, February 28
Demanding better pay and perks, forest guards along with forest beat officers yesterday took out a protest march in Dehradun.

Uniyal supporters gherao BJP leaders 
Dehradun, Februray 28
BJP workers protest against the appointment of a new city party chief in Dehradun. The appointment of Neelam Sehgal as president of the city unit of the BJP is being opposed by a faction led by Sunil Uniyal who was a contender for the post and was overlooked by the BJP leadership. The supporters of Sunil Uniyal yesterday held protests at the BJP headquarters and gheraoed BJP leaders Vinod Chamoli, Dr Baleshwar Pal and office in charge Urba Dutt.

BJP workers protest against the appointment of a new city party chief in Dehradun.

Docs ask people not to panic on H1N1 
Dehradun, February 28
Senior doctors in Doon Hospital and Coronation Hospital have asked the people not to panic and rush to the hospitals in case of suspected cases of H1N1.

Medicos at Coronation to be on double shift
Dehradun, February 28 
With the contract of three emergency medical officers (EMO) coming to an end today and no replacement in sight, the medical staff of Coronation Hospital will have to do double duties to tackle with the emergency cases.

Rahul, Sunil shine in tennis tournament
Dehradun, February 28
The 2nd Inter-Sectoral Tennis Tournament of ONGC Limited concluded here yesterday. In the singles’ open, Rahul (southern sector) was declared the winner and Chandrasekhar (western sector) the runner up. In the singles 45 plus, the winner was DJ Borpuzari (Assam sector) and the runner up was SR Gupta (headquarters, Dehradun).



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Sahastradhara maintenance project shelved
Seema Sharma/TNS

Dehradun, February 28
The project introduced by former District Magistrate Dileep Jawalkar to make local people responsible about the maintenance of the areas surrounding Sahastradhara, including hot sulphur waterfall, has been shelved.

The local people have begun taking indiscriminate charges from tourists for parking and using the medicinal water.

The District Tourism Officer, who was also directed to create the coordination among people and supervise the project, never bothered to check the mismanagement taking place around Sahastradhara.

The stairs leading to the spring are dirty and broken at many places. The parking is haphazard. The area around waterfall is in a mess. When District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam was asked about it, he said, “I will make the District Tourism Officer take up the charge of the project and make monthly report on it.” He further said, “Not only Sahastradhara, I will apply the same model on other tourists spots in the district also where local community will work in tandem with the Tourism Department in the maintenance of the tourist spot and healthy atmosphere in the surrounding. For this, they will be allowed to take some charges from the tourists, which the administration will fix soon.”

District Tourism Official Yogender Gungvar said the DM had asked for a progress report on the project and denied considering any other project unless he yielded positive results on it. Jawalkar threw some light on the concept originally mooted and forwarded by him saying, “I had conceived this idea when the infrastructure around Sahastradhara had incurred damage due to a cloudburst. I saw the local people, including shopkeepers, collecting arbitrary charges from the tourists for food, parking or bath in sulphur water, without bothering about the sanitation or maintenance of the tourist spot. So to streamline the entire system and make local community aware of its responsibility, I directed formation of a committee, having representatives of both local people and district tourism officials. The rates of facilities extended were also fixed as well.” He expressed disappointment on the casual approach of the Tourism Department and reckless attitude of locals in carrying on with the project.

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91 officers, subordinate staff join ITBP
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, February 28
As many as 91 officers and subordinate staff joined the mainstream of the ITBP in a colourful passing-out parade and attestation ceremony at the ITBP grounds here today.
The newly inducted ITBP officers during a passing-out parade in Mussoorie on Thursday
The newly inducted ITBP officers during a passing-out parade in Mussoorie on Thursday.

Inspector General (ITBP) MS Bhurji, who was the chief guest, was presented with the ceremonial guard of honour. He also gave away citations and trophies to the trainees for their excellent performance during the course in different streams.

The parents of the passing-out officers, distinguished local representatives and serving and retired ITBP officers witnessed the ceremony.

The passing-out officers from the 37th GOs' batch included one from Assam, two from Andhra Pradesh, two from Bihar, two from Delhi, one from Jammu and Kashmir, one from Kerala, one from Manipur, one from Maharashtra, one from Nagaland, four from Rajasthan and one from Uttar Pradesh.

The subordinate officers from the SOs condensed course who passed out today included 18 officers from Uttar Pradesh, 13 From Rajasthan, six from Bihar, 10 from Himachal Pradesh, four from Haryana, three from Uttarakhand, three from Madhya Pradesh, two from Manipur, two from Chhattisgarh, two from Tamil Nadu, two from Delhi, one from Andhra Pradesh, two from West Bengal, one from Assam, one from Jammu and Kashmir, one from Jharkhand, one from Kerala and one from Oddisa.

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Dhasmana alleges corruption in Town Hall repair
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 28
Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Suryakant Dhasmana has alleged corruption in the renovation work of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation's Town Hall. Talking to mediapersons here today, Dhasmana said the claims of spending Rs1.5 crore on the renovation of the auditorium by Mayor Vinod Chamoli were exaggerated.

\He claimed that since the auditorium building was already there, such works could have been done in mere Rs 30 lakh whereas the DMC had spent Rs 1.5 crore.

He said he would request Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to order a probe into the entire matter. He further alleged that Mayor Vinod Chamoli had utterly failed to do anything for the city as there was no proper system to collect and dispose garbage from the city.

On the condition of roads in the city, he said the Chief Minister had ordered re-laying of the city roads and sanctioned Rs 12 crore for the purpose.

Similarly, the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) will also re-lay roads for which tenders had already been flouted. He claimed that all the roads of the city would be re-laid before May 15, 2013.

Dhasmana also announced that state party chief Yashpal Arya would be touring the districts to meet district-level party workers to prepare them for the civic elections.

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Class IV staff of Irrigation Dept threaten to boycott work

Haridwar, February 28
Class IV employees of the Irrigation Department have threatened to boycott work if their demands are not fulfilled. The decision was taken by office-bearers of the employees' union under the aegis of the Chaturth Vargiya Karamchari Mahasangh.

Chief of the Roorkee unit of the union Mahaveer Singz said employees, both in Haridwar and Roorkee, would join hands to get their demands fulfilled.

He said they were yet to get the benefits of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission and pay grade on a par with UP Irrigation Department employees. He said according to the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations (2006), class IV employees should be getting Rs 1,800 benefit. However, they were being given Rs 1,300 only. — TNS

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Talks between teachers, govt fail

Dehradun, February 28
The talks between representatives of the Rajya Shikshak Sangh and officials of the Education Department regarding the demands of government school teachers have failed putting uncertainty over the conduct of the board examinations. The teachers had threatened to boycott the board examinations starting from the first week of March in case the state government fail to accept their pending demands.

Karnail Singh, president of the Rajya Shikshak Sangh, said the teachers would hold a demonstration in front of the state Assembly on March 1 to press for their demands.— TNS

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No match with the golden era of Hindi films, says Rati
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 28
Despite new themes, creative ideas, advanced technology and thousands of films being produced per year in India, the golden era of the 60s and 70s is unmatched.

Veteran actress Rati Agnihotri during the shooting of a movie on the Gurukul Kangri University premises in Haridwar on Thursday.
Veteran actress Rati Agnihotri during the shooting of a movie on the Gurukul Kangri University premises in Haridwar on Thursday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

At that time emphasis was on quality, script, acting and rural India was almost a part of the 70 mm, but today despite young talented filmmakers churning out new ideas, the golden era of Bollywood seems to be a distant past now.

This was echoed by veteran Hindi film actress Rati Agnihotri, who had made her foray into Hindi film industry with award winning-block buster movie 'Ek Duje ke Liye'(1981).

In a chat with The Tribune while shooting for her upcoming flick 'Ranbeer-The Marshal' in Haridwar, Rati Agnihotri was quite enchanted to be in the pilgrim city of Haridwar, which according to her is a blend of spiritualism and nature.

Rati ,who has worked in more than five language films, said that in Haridwar the common language was only one, i.e. spirituality. She offered Ganga jal to all her unit members. "Haridwar has in it something that makes you feel spiritual and inclined towards. We are proud of the diversity of our Indian culture, religion and nature. It is a blessing that adjacent to the holy Ganga we are shooting at famous Gurukul University," said Rati.

Having worked with legendary actors such as Amitabh Bachchan , Kamal Hassan, Rajnikant, Shatrughan Sinha, the actress, who did glamorous roles as well as parallel cinema, while remembering those earlier days of her acting career said that golden era of Hindi films was in it's last phase then.

Be it Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dalip Kumar , Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt ,Majrooh Sultanpuri, Naushad, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Manna Dey, Mukesh... you name any top artiste, he or she belongs to that era. Fan following was also long lasting. But today's film stardom is based on one film success only. Dalip Kumar and Amitabh hold the same aura as they had in the 50s, opined Agnihotri.

Currently occupied with her business of artefacts, candles, fashion accessories, and having her own shop 'Om to Home' in Pune, Rati said that along with her husband Anil Virmani they had opened a commercial complex which was personally designed by the actress.

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Qureshi unveils silver golf cup trophy 
Tournament begins on March 2
Tribune News Service

Dehadun, February 28
Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi unveiled the silver golf cup trophy of Sara Governor's Golf Cup Tournament which will open in Dehradun on March 2.

The two-day tournament will be held at FRIMA Golf Course and has been organised at the Governor's inititaive by FRIMA and Sara Industries. A total of 120 golfers from Dehradun, Roorkee, Ranikhet and Nainital will participate in the event.

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will inaugurate the tournament on March 2 and Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi will be the chief guest on March 3 and will give away prizes at the closing ceremony.

Present on the occasion of unveiling of the trophy were IMA Commandant, Lt.Gen Manvendra Singh, and his wife, and Rakesh Dhawan of Sara Industries. 

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Striking ANMs join duty today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 28
With the state government now willing to concede to the demand for the payment of pending arrears to the striking ANMs but at the same time agreeing not to apply the no-work no-pay rule, in case ANMs report to work by March 1, the striking ANMs will be joining duty from tomorrow.

The government had expressed its inability to pay the arrear for the pending period of 15 years at the last Cabinet meeting and yesterday it again reiterated the commitment but decided not to apply no-work no-pay rule in case the ANMs return to work on March 1.

“We will be joining duty from tomorrow on the condition that the government would take up our demand in the future. We have given a three-month time to the government to decide on the matter,” said Guddi Matuda, president of the Uttarakhand Matar Shishu Evam Parivar Kalyan Mahila Karamchari Association. 

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Five promoted as DSPs
Trbune News Service

Dehradun, February 28
The state government has promoted five inspectors to the position of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and raise their pay bands from 9300-34,800, Grade Pay Rs 4,600 to pay band 15,6000-39,100 and grade pay 5,400.

They have been given postings.

Inspector, Vigilance, Rajender Singh Hayanki has been promoted as DSP, Udham Singh Nagar, Inspector, CID, Dehradun, Munna Lal Chauhan has been promoted as DSP Chamoli, Inspector, CID, Dehradun, Mahipal Singh Pal posted to DSP, Dehradun, Inspector, Intelligence, Vidhan Sabha Security, Johri Lal as Assistant Commandant, 40 PAC Batallion, Haridwar,

Inspector, Chamoli, Pratap Singh Chauhan has been posted as Assistant Commandant, IRB-II Haridwar.

Some DSPs have been transferred in the state.

DSP Dhani Ram has been transferred from Chamoli to Bagheshwar, Prakash Chander Pant from Bagheshwar to IRB-I Ram Nagar and Rajan Singh from Udham Singh Nagar to PTC Narender Nagar Tehri. 

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Forest dwellers stage rally, seek voting rights 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 28
Forest dwellers under the banner of All India Kisan Mahasabha, an affiliate of CPI (ML), staged a demonstration at Haldwani town today, demanding voting rights for them in the coming panchayat elections.

Led by Purushottum Sharma, Uttarakhand state president of All India Kisan Mahasabh, thousands of forest dwellers marched through the streets of Haldwani town in support of their demands.

Addressing the forest dwellers, Purushottum Sharma alleged that even after 65 years of independence, the forest dwellers of Uttarakhand had not been given voting rights. He said that forest dwellers would be forced to intensify their agitation if the state government failed to honour the earlier agreement reached with them. He also demanded that there should be a ban on eco-zones in the state and a complete ban on conversion of agriculture land for other purposes. A large number of forest dwellers, including women, participated in the protest.

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Forest officials seek better pay
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 28
Demanding better pay and perks, forest guards along with forest beat officers yesterday took out a protest march in Dehradun.

Starting from the Forest Department headquarters at Dilaram Bazar, Dehradun, the protesters took the Rajpur road-Clock tower route before culminating their march in the form of demonstration outside the Secretariat.

Addressing the protesters, Forest Guard Forest Beat Officers Union Uttarakhand president Indra Mohan Kothari accused the state government of continuously ignoring their genuine concerns.

The protesting forest guards and forest beat officers are prominently demanding an increase in the grade pay and also provision for risk allowance.

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Uniyal supporters gherao BJP leaders 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, Februray 28
The appointment of Neelam Sehgal as president of the city unit of the BJP is being opposed by a faction led by Sunil Uniyal who was a contender for the post and was overlooked by the BJP leadership.

The supporters of Sunil Uniyal yesterday held protests at the BJP headquarters and gheraoed BJP leaders Vinod Chamoli, Dr Baleshwar Pal and office in charge Urba Dutt.

Later, they held a sit-in outside the office. Those who participated in the dharna included Sanjeev Verma, RS Parihar, Vinod Rangar and others.

The supporters of Uniyal are upset with the top leadership for foisting Neelam Sehgal and ignoring the claims of Uniyal who had worked hard to strengthen the party at the grassroots. 

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Docs ask people not to panic on H1N1 
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 28
Senior doctors in Doon Hospital and Coronation Hospital have asked the people not to panic and rush to the hospitals in case of suspected cases of H1N1.

"The best treatment is to take precautions and stay at home incase of flu, so that it is fully cured. Only patients in the last stage of H1N1 require ventilator care but there is a tendency to bring patients to the hospitals at the slightest provocation," said Dr KC Pant, senior physician, Doon Hospital.

Both Doon Hospital and Coronation Hospitals have set up isolation wards. Doctors and nurses have also been trained to handle H1N1 cases.

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Medicos at Coronation to be on double shift

Dehradun, February 28
With the contract of three emergency medical officers (EMO) coming to an end today and no replacement in sight, the medical staff of Coronation Hospital will have to do double duties to tackle with the emergency cases.

The staff strength of medical officials at the hospital is very thin and from tomorrow the hospital authorities will be pressed hard to depute staff to take up emergency duties.

The hospital has still not managed to get a pathologist and has just one physician and one surgeon to attend to the day-to-day cases.

However, a homoeopathic dispensary under the Ayush wing has come into function at the hospital. —TNS

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Rahul, Sunil shine in tennis tournament
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 28
The 2nd Inter-Sectoral Tennis Tournament of ONGC Limited concluded here yesterday. In the singles’ open, Rahul (southern sector) was declared the winner and Chandrasekhar (western sector) the runner up. In the singles 45 plus, the winner was DJ Borpuzari (Assam sector) and the runner up was SR Gupta (headquarters, Dehradun).

In the doubles open, the winners were Rahul (southern sector) and Sunil Mathew (headquarters) and the runners up were PT Vijay and Naveed Iqbal (Mumbai sector). In the doubles 45 plus, the duo of Mishra and DJ Borpuzari (Assam sector) were the winners while HM Bangari (Mumbai sector) and Sunil Mathew (headquarters, Dehradun) were declared runners up.

n the team event open, the winner was the Mumbai sector and the runner up was headquarters, Dehradun. In the team event 45 plus, the winner was the Assam sector and the runner up was headquarters, Dehradun.

Chief guest BS Sidhu, Uttarakhand Police, Director General (Prosecution), handed over the prizes. Seven ONGC teams- Delhi, Western sector, Assam sector, Eastern sector, Mumbai offshore, Southern sector besides hosts headquarters Dehradun participated in the four-day tournament.

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