Koshiyari's man is secy in central BJP team
Harbans Kapoor, Dhan Singh Rawat, Baleshwar Pal and Tarun Vijay nominated as members of national executive
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
Former Cabinet Minister Trivender Singh is the lone BJP leader from Uttarakhand who has found a place in the team announced by BJP national president Rajnath Singh today.

Though there was jubilation in the rank and file of the Uttarakhand BJP after the nomination of Trivender Singh Rawat as secretary (Organisation) was announced, there has been quite a climb down for the state unit which during the tenure of Nitin Gadkari had former Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank as one of the national vice-president of the party.

Though Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was accommodated at the national level soon after he was removed from the post of the Chief Minister of the state, the elevation of Trivender Singh Rawat too is being seen as the last-ditch effort made by former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha member BS Koshiyari to accommodate his man, more so, after Rawat was confined to the background after the election of Teerath Singh Rawat as the Uttarakhand BJP party chief.

During the election for the post of Uttarakhand party chief, Koshiyari had put forward the name of Trivender Singh Rawat but his name did not cut much ice either with the party workers or the senior leaders.

Rawat is one among the 12 secretaries nominated by national president Rajnath Singh and the new responsibility would help rehabilitate the leader who had been made desperate attempts to become the president of the state unit.

“The Uttarakhand BJP has not gained anything. The nomination of Trivender Singh Rawat has been made in an effort to achieve a balance and mollify Koshiyari who has to now contend with the former Chief Ministers Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and BC Khanduri sharing warm vibes,” said a senior BJP leader.

Along with Trivender Singh Rawat, senior BJP leaders Harbans Kapoor, Dr Dhan Singh Rawat, Dr Baleshwar Pal and Rajya Sabha member Tarun Vijay too have nominated as members of the national executive.

Panwar trains guns on Aeri
Stop hate campaign or face expulsion: UKD chief
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
A press note issued by Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) patron Kashi Singh Aeri against party president Trivender Singh Panwar has further fanned the sentiments rising against Panwar. The fissures between these two big leaders have also widened.

Panwar reacted strongly to Aeri’s letter saying, “Kashi Singh Aeri is attacking me simply for withdrawing support to the state government. He was standing in the queue hoping to get the plum position and a car with red beacon from the state government led by the Congress. Now when all his dreams have crushed on the withdrawal, which majority of the party workers and leaders wanted, he has begun levelling allegations on me.”

Admonishing him, he said if Aeri did not stop his hate campaign against him, he could expel him from the party. Aeri, too, responded in equal measures saying that his position of the party patron was not rubber stamp and he had all the rights to raise questions against those leaders who disobeyed the party’s constitution by resorting to despotism.

General secretary of the party Shanti Bisht said Aeri was trying to divide the party by calling the meeting of the working committee against the party president. He said the enthusiasm of those who were willing to participate in this meeting had cooled down after the president told them in no uncertain terms that those who would participate in the meeting would be ousted from the party. This was the reason behind the cancellation of the controversial meeting by Aeri, he said.

Another leader, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Some well wishers of Aeri are advising him to adopt the policy of wait and watch for the time being, as the working committee is bound to be dissolved two months before the mega convention of the party, which is scheduled to be held in July. At the convention, he could contest for the position of party president.”

Not only this, a few other leaders are also showing keenness to join the race for this top position in the party after Panwar’s equations with most of them are falling out. Panwar, however, has announced that he had enough support in the party to maintain his invincible position as party president till 2017. At the moment, Aeri has created enough ripples in the already-disturbed atmosphere of the UKD.

Unwell, Aeri postpones meeting

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Kranti Dal patron Kashi Singh Aeri has postponed the meeting called by him today to discuss possible changes in the leadership in the aftermath of party president Trivender Singh Panwar's decision to withdraw support to the state government.

In a statement issued here today, Aeri said the meeting had been postponed due to his ill health and not because of "baseless" statements issued by Panwar against him. Panwar had recently termed this meeting of working committee as unconstitutional as it was not convened by the president.

Aeri, in the statement issued today, accused Panwar of distorting the facts. Aeri said he had convened the meeting as per the provisions of the Constitution, so it was not against the party.

He, however, made it clear that the meeting was certainly against the arbitrary decisions taken by Panwar and a few of his close associates. He alleged that Panwar had defied the directions of the Election Commission with regard to holding a party convention immediately by postponing it till July this year.

He alleged that Panwar was making desperate attempts to quell the rage among party members against his dictatorial leadership and was taking such impulsive decisions.

He said it was quite surprising that no meeting had been called by Panwar to discuss the preparations for the coming civic poll. 

Kashi Singh Aeri is attacking me for withdrawing support to the state government. He was standing in the queue hoping to get the plum position and a car with red beacon from the state government led by the Congress. Now when all his dreams have come crashing down on the withdrawal, which a majority of party workers and leaders wanted, he has begun levelling allegations on me.
—Trivender Singh Panwar, UKD president

Civic Body Poll in Dehradun
Jan Kranti Dal to contest all seats
Tribune News Service

Dehradun March 31
President the Uttarakhand Jan Kranti Dal (UJKD), B D Raturi convened a meeting of working committee where party decided to fight on all six seats for the position of Mayor and other seats for the positions of councillors. They also agreed to contest other seats regarding civic poll throughout the state.

The party also appointed office-bearers for the committees constituted in this regard. Those members who were nominated for Central Chief Election Steering committees are BD Raturi, Diwakar Bhatt, Yogi Rakesh Nath, DN Todriya, Shivanand Chamoli, Omi Uniyal, Dinesh Badola, Surender Kukreti, DD Sharma, Sunder Lal Semwal, DK Pal, Satish Semwal, Ashok Sidhu, Mahender Singh Rawat, Bijender Singh Dhanola, Anil Singh, Nandan Singh Rawat and Girish Shah.

The members of the Dehradun District and City Steering Committee are N K Gusian, Anil Chand Baluni, Devi Prasad Vyas, Vahid Khan, Raees Kureshi, Ajay, Amit Verma, Jay Singh, Chandra Sundriyal and Sarveshvari Joshi. Similar appointments were made for the steering

committee for Haridwar, Roorkie, Kotdwar, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Tehri, Uttarakashi region.

Party entrusted the reasonability of handling finances in the election to the members of the finance committee comprising of Sunder Lal Semwal, Shivanand Chamoli, Virender Bhatt, Omi Uniyal and DK Pal. Raturi said they would also constitute the committees regarding civic polls for the Kumaon region soon.

Those who were present in the working committee meeting were party patron Yogi Rakesh Nath, senior leaders DN Todriya, Shivanand Chamoli, Dinesh Badola, devi Prasad, Mahender Singh Rawat, DK Pal, Rana Ranvir Singh, Anil Chander, Dr Kishori Lal Bhatt, Manoj Kamboj and Dr Anup Joshi.

BJP city unit formed

DEHRADUN:President of the city unit of the BJP Neelam Sehgal has nominated seven vice-presidents, two general secretaries, seven secretaries and 33 members of the working committee.

Prem Lal Belwal, Savita Oberoi, Suraj Bhatia and Bhupinder have made it to the list of vice-president, while Rajinder and Aditya Chauhan have been nominated as general secretaries of the city unit of the BJP. Jagat Ram Bhatt, Sandeep Mukherjee, Anuradha, Kundan Singh Rawat, Prema Bhatt and Adesh Chauhan have been nominated as members of the working committee. — TNS

BJP youth stage rally, burn govt's effigy
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth organisation of the BJP, took out a rally and later burnt an effigy of the state Congress government in protest against the deteriorating law and order situation in the capital city of Dehradun.

The BJYM workers gathered at their city party office at Parade Ground and later marched towards Clock Tower raising slogans against the state Congress government. Led by city BJP chief Neelam Sehgal and BJYM city chief Ranjit Singh Bhandari, the BJP workers burnt an effigy of the state Congress government amid sloganeering.

The BJP leaders alleged that law and order situation had deteriorated and goonda elements were having a field day. They charged that even the residences of the former Chief Minister adjacent to Raj Bhawan were not safe. They also highlighted the yesterday's incident where armed BSP goons entered the premises of former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and beat up ABVP workers.

They further alleged that since the Congress government had come to power, the law and order situation had deteriorated.

Project Tiger turns 40 today
Over 150 participate in marathon held at Corbett Tiger Reserve
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 31
More than 150 wildlife lovers today participated in a marathon organised at the Corbett Tiger Reserve, Ramnagar, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the Project Tiger. It was inaugurated by SDM, Ramnagar, SS Jangpangi.

The first-ever all-India tiger census was conducted in 1972, which revealed the existence of only 1,827 tigers. In the wake of this, the Government of India, with the help of the WWF, had launched the Project Tiger on April 1, 1973, at nine selected sanctuaries, including Corbett Tiger Reserve, across the country.

According to experts, the project was later followed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2006, as the number of tigers was less than that of in 1972 when the next counting was held in 2006. "After the NTCA came into force in 2006, it managed resources and budget to improve habitation and meal of tigers in jungles and established anti-poaching cells," said a wildlife expert. 

The first-ever all-India tiger census was conducted in 1972, which revealed the existence of only 1,827 tigers. In the wake of this, the Government of India, with the help of the WWF, had launched the Project Tiger on April 1, 1973.

dehradun Diary
UKD struggling for survival

THE Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), one of the regional parties credited with spearheading the statehood agitation which ultimately resulted in the formation of a separate state of Uttarakahnd in November 2000, is facing a grave crisis of survival.

However, efforts are afoot by some young party workers to revive the party by removing certain leaders who had been running the party as their own personal fiefdoms which has resulted in numerous divisions in the party's two-decade-old history.

The UKD after the formation of the state has been thrown on the political fringe due to its own wrong strategies, internal bickerings and lack of clear cut political thought.

Interestingly, the only regional political party which played a stellar role in the formation of the state could get only four Assembly seats in the first-ever Assembly elections held in the state in February 2002.

The number of seats won by the party dwindled to three in the second Assembly poll held in February 2007.

Diwakar Bhatt, a senior party leader and self-styled “Field Marshal” of the statehood agitation, was running the party and decided to support by the state BJP government headed by Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd).

He was made a minister but the party rank and file was against the move and wanted him to quit and come out of the government. But riding rough shod over the party sentiments, Diwakar Bhatt continued to be part of the BJP government.

This led to another recent split in the party with party chief Trivendra Singh Panwar, throwing him out of the party. Diwakar Bhatt formed his own Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (D). The continued infighting and resultant splits in the party had its bearing on the outcome of the third Assembly elections of the state held in Januray 2012.

The party performed badly and could secure only a single Assembly seat. Preetam Singh Panwar from Uttarkashi was the lone winner. The party decided to extend its support to the Vijay Bahuguna-led Congress state government and Preetam Singh Panwar was made the Minister of Urban Development.

But history was repeating itself. Again party president Trivendra Singh Panwar, unable to get all his demands met by the Congress government, started to threaten withdrawal of support but again his minister was in no mood to oblige him.

The party president issued him a show cause notice and withdrew support of the party to the state government while the lone party legislator continues to be a minister.

This meant that another split in the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD ) is on the cards. Preetam Singh Panwar, Urban Development Minister, has the option of either joining the Congress or float his own faction of the party.

He charged the party president Trivendra Singh Panwar with irrational behaviour and deciding to withdraw support without consulting him.

Meanwhile, Kashi Singh Airy, one of the senior party leaders, has decided to bring in all senior party workers together who left the party or were thrown out at one time or the other in the past.

He had convened a meeting of the party workers on March 31 to chalk out a plan of action to revive the party. This was also objected to by party chief Trivendra Singh Panwar who termed the proposed meeting illegal. However, the meeting was postponed since Kashi Singh Airy got ill. But it was sure that a majority of party leaders and workers want to rejuvenate the party after the proposed civic poll in the state.
—SMA Kazmi

Water crisis stares state in the face
Tankers ready for 40 urban areas
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
The Jal Sansthan has announced emergency measures in view of water crisis in the state.

Though parts of Dehradun, Pithoragarh, Tehri and Almora have always faced water problem, the winter rains this year made the authorities hope that due to adequate recharge of old water resources, the problem would be less critical. “We have already prepared a contingency plan for the state and Dehradun. According to early estimates, around 40 urban points in the plain areas of the state will be given water supply with the help of tankers. However, in the rural areas of the state, over 282 schemes have already started supplying less water,” said DD Dimri, Chief General Manager, Jal Sansthan.

The rising gap in demand and supply is proving a problem and the government has taken several measures to handle it. In the last five years, water supply has been increased by 40 mld. The demand rises to 275 mld in the summer months.

Since the creation of the state, the government has taken several steps to tide over the problem, consisting mainly of large-scale sector-level reforms through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and approval of special projects under Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Besides, the government had also spent considerable money on constructing overhead tanks in the capital city but supply from these tanks has not reached several areas. “The work is still on for increasing the storage capacity so that people can get regular supply of water. The misuse of water needs to be stopped and people must be made aware in this regard,” said Dimri.

In Dehradun alone, semi-urban areas are facing acute water shortage and in many places, the supply continues to be erratic. These colonies are located in downtown areas and across the Haridawar bypass.

Quota norms in civic bodies ignored, claims BJP
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
The Uttarakhand BJP has expressed resentment at the manner in which reservation criteria were adopted for civic bodies and six Municipal Corporations.

While the ruling party always has an upper hand in deciding the seats for reservation purpose, but the manner in which the number of seats were reserved in Kumaon and Garhwal clearly points towards the undue interest shown by the Congress government in making things favourable for the party.

"The bias of the government is evident. The number of seats that has been reserved is much more in Kumaon than in Garhwal. There should be uniformity in implementing the reservation formula but this has been totally ignored. In Kumaon out of 14 Nagar Palika parishads, only four seats have been declared general," said Ajay Bhatt, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

In Dehradun, three Nagar Palika Parishads and four corporations have been declared general seats.

"There are norms for reserving and dereserving seats which should be followed but these were ignored. Instead of taking under consideration the population of a particular community and following the rotation policy, the government undertook the task in an arbitrary manner," said Teerath Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand BJP chief.

He said in Kumaon there are around 30-35 seats which have not been dereserved for several years now.

"We have already raised objections and will present data at the time of disposal of objections," said Bhatt. 

MAD volunteers celebrate Holi with slum dwellers
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
Making A Difference (MAD), an organisation of city youngsters, celebrated the Holi festival with the residents of the Bihari Basti today.

A team of school and college-going volunteers took out an hour on the weekend to celebrate the festival of Holi with the residents of the Bihari Basti slum area on Raipur Road here today.

“We have been here many times in the past for our routine food-distribution campaigns. Moreover, we had also submitted to the Chief Minister our report on the poor implementation of the Right To Education Act in the slum areas and the findings of the same were based on our experiences and research in the Basti,” said key volunteer Sarang Godbole. It is also noteworthy that though the little children in the Basti are deprived of education, they can now somehow pronounce ‘MAD’ whenever they see a troupe of youngsters entering the basti premises.

The young activists of MAD assembled at Astley Hall at 9 am and then proceeded to Bihari Basti. “Everytime we come here, we are filled with a sense of complete dejection and disappointment. When we live so lavishly and talk about India as a major global force, it is not in reference of these people. But when we conduct activities like these, it gives us a sense of satisfaction,” remarked Kartikeya Mishra, a Delhi University student, who especially came to Doon to attend the activity.

As the volunteers started to distribute sweets and chapattis, the festivities of Holi returned and the basti people played Holi again with the leftover colours. “Humare liye Holi toh aaj hai (We had our Holi today),” opined a resident of the basti. The remark was enough to move the volunteers into tears of joy.

The activists said food distribution drives were no permanent solutions. “We know that one ‘gujjiya’ will not quench their hunger forever. There is a need for affirmative government action and that can be the only permanent solution. As a responsible organisation, we have already met the CM and the Minister for Education to discuss the issue. We have submitted to both of them our reports, but no action has been taken so far,” said Vishwas Pandey, an MAD member. “Nonetheless, these activities are soul satisfying and that is what keeps us going,” said Dev Dutt, another MAD volunteer. 

ICFRE rules finalised for award of excellence
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
Dr VK Bahuguna, Director General of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), at a meeting finalised the ICFRE rules of the National Award of Excellence in Forestry along with DDGs, Director, FRI, ADGs, heads of divisions of the FRI and other scientists of the ICFRE and the FRI here.

After detailed discussions with officers and scientists and suggestions made by them, the ICFRE rules for National Award of Excellence in Forestry 2013 have been finalised by the Director General, ICFRE.

The award rules have been made for forestry research, education and extension under three categories, (i) Awards for ICFRE personnel serving in ICFRE (HQ) and its institutes/centres, (ii) Awards for non-ICFRE individuals, institutions and organisations, NGOs, state Forest Departments and (iii) Award of certificate of excellence, recognition, appreciation, citation, plaque etc. for the ICFRE and non-ICFREindividuals/organisations.

There will be 20 cash awards in all categories with a total amount of Rs 12.50 lakh.

The ambit of the award rules has been enhanced to encourage and motivate the professional competence; to recognize practical applies research-oriented performance which has led to public welfare to cover the hitherto unorganised areas and recognise the contribution of scientific community such as technical person/research scholars and to encourage researchers, scientists, foresters, non-foresters for their contribution for the cause of forestry research.

Emphasis has been laid on award rules to those who adopt ICFRE technologies and outstanding contributions in frontier areas of scientific research in fulfilment of ICFRE mandate.

The ICFRE scientists getting these awards will be considered for relaxation in residency period required for in-situ upgradation under FCS. The awardwinningscientists/officers/research support staff may also be considered for special grant to travel abroad in pursuit of scientific excellence. The awards will be on biennial basis. 

The award rules

• Awards for ICFRE personnel serving in ICFRE (HQ) and its institutes/centres
• Awards for non-ICFRE individuals, institutions and organisations, NGOs, state Forest Departments
• Awards of certificate of excellence, recognition, appreciation, citation, plaque etc. for the ICFRE and non-ICFRE individuals/organisatins.
• There will be 20 cash awards in all categories with a total amount of Rs 12.50 lakh

17 traders start breaking demarcated portion of shops
Tribune News Service

Dehradun March 31
As many as 17 shopkeepers of Adat Bazar, whose shops have to be partially dismantled to widen the road, have begun breaking the demarcated portion themselves. Today, Vice-Chairman of the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) RM Sundaram and secretary Banshidhar Tiwari visited the area.

The shopkeepers who were afraid that heavy JCB machines could harm rest of their shops had talked to Sundaram and pleaded to do the task themselves. President of the Adat Bazar Association Rajender Goyal said the shopkeepers had asked for one-week time to complete the demolition process.

The shopkeepers today could be seen getting the tin shades and staircase portion of their shops broken manually.

Goyal said the MDDA had already allotted them shops in the shopping complex on Rajpur Road and would hand over the possession by May. He said the hall where the allotment was done was not ready as yet and the walls were yet to be erected.

Distant relative arrested for woman’s murder
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 31
The Dalanwala police has arrested Govind Singh for allegedly killing Munni Devi (65), a resident of Balmiki Basti, six days ago. It has also recovered gold and silver ornaments stolen by him from Munni's house.

Addressing a press conference, SSP Kewal Khurana said Govind Singh, a distant brother-in-law of Munni's son Chetan, committed the crime to steal cash and jewellery to pay back a debt of Rs 5,000 and arrange money for his wedding. Govind, who hails from Bijnor, is a labourer and has been living in Shanti Vihar, Raipur, here for the past two years. A night before the murder, he stayed at Munni's house. He tried seeking monetary help from various sources, including Chetan, but failed.

The police said Govind hatched a plan to commit a theft in Munni's house. On March 25, he left their home at 9.30 am saying that he was leaving for Bijnor. However, he did not go and at 4.30 pm, when he saw that Chetan was not at home, he entered the house. Munni was sleeping that time.

He saw a locked box in the house and started breaking the lock with a hammer. Hearing noise, Munni Devi woke up and in panic Govind attacked her with the hammer. She died on the spot.

The police arrested him from his paternal aunt's house in Shergarh village in Bijnor. Govind has admitted to having killed Munni Devi.

Protest against police inaction in murder case
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, March 31
Residents of Didihat town and villagers from nearby villages today demonstrated in front of the office of SDM, demanding the arrest of killers of local contractor, who was killed when he was on a morning stroll about 40 days ago.

The demonstrators later handed over a memorandum to SDM BS Fonia, demanding the government and district police to arrest the culprits. “Jagmohan singh Kanyal, a local contractor popular among the youths of the area for his philanthropic qualities, was brutally murdered. The police has failed to nab the killers so far and the situation is further boosting the morale of criminals in the area,” said Kundan Ram, pradhan of Nanpapo village.

Fasting Anganwari workers in hospital

Dehradun, March 31
The condition of two Anganwari workers who were sitting on a hunger strike in support of their demands at Raipur bus stand deteriorated forcing the police to admit them in the hospital, here today. Sushila Khatri and Ramdai Rana were taken away forcibly by the police to the hospital.

Two more Anganwari workers started their hunger strike in their place. Anganwari workers are on a relay hunger strike for the past 10 days in support of their six point demands. They alleged that the state government had failed to fulfil their genuine demands. They announced to take out a protest march towards the residence of the Chief Minister on April 2. —TNS