Infighting between UKD warring factions refuses to die down
Aeri's announcement declared illegal
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, May 25
The infighting between the warring factions of the oldest regional party in the state, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, refuses to die down as the UKD supporters in Mussoorie have come out in open support of Trivender Panwar and have termed the announcement of Aeri as the UKD president illegal.

The central general secretary of UKD Jaiprakash Uttarakhandi extended his support to Trivender Panwar in a hurriedly called press meet in Mussoorie alleged that self proclamation of Kashi Singh for the post of UKD president was uncalled for and constitutionally illegal step.

He further said that Trivender Panwar was still their president and Kashi Singh Aeri was just playing in the hands of outsiders and the state government in order to decimate the only party still fighting for the real issues in the state. Jaiprakash Uttarakhandi termed the breaking of locks and misbehaving with the senior UKD leaders by Aeri's supporters as an act of hooliganism.

He further said that Kashi Singh Aeri was hobnobbing with the state government and has acted in such unconstitutional way only after being promised red beacon, it seems.

Uttarakhandi, citing the Election Commission decision, said that Trivender Panwar remains the legal chief of the party till the mega convention is not held in the month of July 2013.

Uttarakhandi, speaking further, alleged that these self- proclaimed leaders of UKD in the past 13 years have acted as agents of BJP and Congress and worked towards damaging the party to extreme levels for which they were shown the door from the party by Trivender Panwar.

Aggravated by these decisions, the likes of Kashi Singh Aeri were trying to damage the party. He further said that Kashi Singh Aeri also worked against the Mayor candidate of the party in the recent local bodies' elections in the state for which party workers were not ready to forgive him easily. Uttarakhandi also said that 95 % of the party workers stood behind Panwar as the president of UKD and Kashi Singh Aeri was acting at the behest of mafia against whom Panwar was fighting tooth and nail.

Jaiprakash Uttarakhandi appealed to the party workers to stand behind Trivendar Panwar, the true soldier of the party and oust the fair weather friends such as Aeri from the party in the mega convention scheduled to be held on 25th-26th July this year in order to continue the fight for jal, jungle and zameen (water, forest and land) in the state.

He also said the party office that has been occupied illegally by Aeri supporters should be seized till the mega convention.

Irshad Ahmed, Azaz Ahmed, Rajendar Kandari and other supporters also reiterated their support for Trivender Panwar here.

Hemkund Sahib opens to pilgrims
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 25
The portals of Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib in Chamoli district of Garhwal were opened to pilgrims today at 10.30 am.

A large number of pilgrims participated in the prayers on the opening of the shrine.

The Shri Hemkund Gurdwara Trust has made all arrangements for the smooth conduct of the yatra. The pilgrims would be provided with accommodation and food facilities at Rishikesh, Srinagar, Joshimath, Govindghat and Govinddham.

A large number of pilgrims from across the country come to Uttarakhand every year to pay obeisance at Hemkunt Sahib.

TS Rawat: Govt violating GB Pant University rules
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 25
Former Agriculture Minister in the BJP government Trivender Singh Rawat today said that not only is the Congress-led Bahuguna government meddling with the rules and regulations of the established GB Pant University but is also proving to be a stumbling block in setting up the prestigious floriculture institute.

The reputation of GB Pant institute has taken a beating ever since the Congress government came to power. “In the latest incident in gross violation of rules and regulations for the appointment of VC of the university, instead of appointing a chairman of the selection committee, the government has appointed an expert who has a dubious reputation,” charged Rawat.

He said that the matter had not been taken lightly by the DG, Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), S. Ayyapan, who has warned that if violations of rules and regulations continue, ICAR would be forced to stop the Rs 30 crore aid being giving to the institute for 250 research projects,” said Rawat.

Further, Rawat said that on one hand the government was hell-bent on interfering in the day-to-day functioning of an established institute, on the other hand it had failed to resolve technical issue regarding setting up of the floriculture institute. “There is a technical issue involved which has to be taken at the level of Chief Secretary of the state, but the government has been sleeping over it. Well aware of the importance of such a Centrally-funded institute, the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka are keen to set up the institute for which the Centre has decided to provide Rs 550 crore,” he said.

The minister said that the floriculture business had a humble beginning. Today the turnover had increased from Rs 25 crore to Rs 250 crore. “This institute would have benefited our farmers immensely,” said Rawat.

This issue was also raised by Union Minister Harish Rawat that the government was not providing land for setting up the institute. 

Bahuguna pays tributes to revolutionary Sridev Suman
Tribune News service

Dehradun, May 25
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today visited Jaul, the ancestral village of Sridev Suman, a revoluntionary who fought against Tehri state and paid tributes to him on the occasion of his 99th birth anniversary. He garlanded his statue and said that this land was fortunate that a great revolutionary like Suman had been born here. He said his sacrifice had led to the progress of Tehri.

The Chief Minister said the government was committed to the development of remote areas and encourage tourism in these areas. He said the adventure sports academy to be set up in New Tehri would provide employment opportunities to the youth of the region. He said that there was adequate scope for development and the youth should take inspiration from the life of Suman. He also said that a beautiful statue of Suman would be set up and he would take it up with the government that a postal stamp on the great revolutionary be brought out.

He honoured the family members of Suman with shawls. He also gave FDs of Rs. 2850 to girl students under the CM's Balika Shiksha Protsahan Yojana. GMVN Chairman and local MLA Dinesh Dhanai said the life story of Suman was extremely inspiring and should be included in school syllabus.

Face of the week
She inspires students to learn rich Indian classical music
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 25
Just when the Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SpicMacay) in Dehradun was going through a rough patch, Rupi stepped in to steer the movement in 2006. She took it beyond the schools of Dehradun into the schools of distant Garhwal so that the school and college students of the Garhwal region too could get a glimpse into the life of the famed gurus of Indian classical music and get hooked into the life time passion of appreciating the rich Indian culture and tradition.

“The highpoint for the students has been to get an opportunity to watch Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Birju Maharaj and Pandit Rajan Sajan perform live in front of them. So many students tell me that they have been changed persons, after having witnessed first-hand the humility displayed by the artistes at various concerts,” said Rupi.

It was while teaching music at the Welham Girls' School and interaction with students of different schools and colleges that Rupi realised that amid a plethora of choices and multiple influences shaping the minds of young children, an extra effort has to be made on the part of the teachers and guardians to inspire them to discover the rich Indian musical heritage. A lively discourse on music is any day better than the violent video games that children learn to play very early in life,” said Rupi.

A classical vocalist of the Rampur gharna and a Gurmat singer, Rupi’s joy knew no bounds when the famous vocalist and her guru Sulochana Brihaspati also came to perform as part of the the SpicMacay concert. “I have learnt classical music from Sulochana Brihaspati and Saryu Kelkar. It is their teachings that have stood me through all these years and in my own way, I try my best to pass it on to the students whatever I imbibed from my gurus ,” she said.

Come summer holidays, Rupi can be found busy sowing seeds of Indian classical music in Indian communities settled in Canada and United States of America. “For the past few years, I have been teaching Gurmat Sangeet to students in Virginia (USA). Gurmat singing is a form of classical singing in which Gurbani is sung in pure classical ragas,” she said.

Her love for music has seen her travelling to Poland, Norway, Austria and Newfoundland to conduct workshops in Indian classical singing.

Hazare asks people to unite for corruption-free India struggle
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, May 25
Social worker Anna Hazare has appealed to all sections of society to get united for the second independence struggle for corruption-free India. He said the second freedom struggle would make the nation free from the clutches of corrupt and anti-people politicians.

Hazare was addressing a large gathering at Haldwani in Nainital district on the last leg of his 10-day Uttarakhand tour yesterday. He said he needed 60 million youths to bring change in the country in the next two years. “The affection and eagerness this yatra has received in Uttarakhand and the love the people of Uttarakhand have given to a ‘fakir’ like me is enough to imbibe hope for the future of this movement,” said Hazare.

He added, “I am serving the nation for the last 30 years and for the last 30 months I have toured five states of the country to mobilise 600 million volunteers who will be soldiers in this second independence movement to change the entire system of the country. This country is governed by vested interests and it is yet to become a real gantantra. We have enrolled 30 lakh volunteers so far. The remaining will be enrolled in the coming 18 months by touring the rest of the country.”

He gave the details of his source of expenditure on the tours saying for every public meeting he was speaking at volunteers of Indian against Corruption or people related with other democratic movements got donations. Even the organisers at Haldwani got a donation of Rs 18,000 for the meeting and handed over to him the remaining Rs 3,000 as only Rs 15,000 was spent on organising the meeting, said Hazare.

He said he could send six Central ministers and several corrupt officials behind bars because his personal life beyond his public life had been clear and simple. “Though corrupt people have lodged 11 cases against me and sent me to jail several times, no one could damage my reputation as I have been totally transparent in my conduct and lifestyle,” he added.

Dhasmana thanks UPA govt for fixing state Plan at Rs 8,500 crore
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 25
Uttarakhand Congress vice president Suryakant Dhasmana today expressed gratitude to the UPA government at the Centre for fixing Uttarakhand's annual Plan for 2013-14 at Rs 8,500 crore.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, Suryakant Dhasmana disclosed that the Uttarakhand government had put forward a proposal of Rs 8500 crore Annual Plan for 2013-14 and the same was approved by Union Planning Commission. He expressed gratitude to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for ensuring such big Plan outlay for the state.

Referring to recent Dehradun Municipal Corporation elections, Dhasmana said he would soon be visiting various wards of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation to thank people for the support provided to him in the polls. He yet again asserted that majority of voters had voted against the BJP.

Dhasmana also criticised BJP Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli of playing politics with the issue of graveyard. He disclosed that he himself had led a delegation of Muslims to the Chief Minister for allocation of land for graveyard for the Muslims and now BJP was trying to make an issue out of it. He said the BJP in Dehradun have always opposed initiatives taken by Congress government for betterment of Muslims.

Congress councillor Vinay Kohli was also present at the press conference.

CM to tour blocks from May 26
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 25
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna will tour blocks of various districts from May 26 and assess development works, listen to peoples’ problems and direct officials to resolve them on the spot. During the tour he will hold a meeting with officials to review the progress of development works.

According to the proposed programme, he will be at Purola and Badkot on May 26. He will visit Tehri on May 27, Pauri Garhwal on May 28, Bhagwanpur, Champawat and Tanakpur on May 29 and Kichha, Khatima and Sitarganj on May 30.

50,000 attend Asaram Bapu's religious discourse
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, May 25
Renowned spiritual guru Asaram Bapu started a three-day religious discourse at Pantdeep here today.

He has been conducting annual religious discourse for the past few years during Buddha Purnima.

Alongside the Ganga ghat of Har-ki-Pauri, the discourse witnessed participation of a large number of devotees from across the country.

More than 50,000 thronged the venue to listen to the sermon of the spiritual guru. His devotees observe a fast on Buddha Purnima and eat only after taking his blessings.

City SP Kiran Lal Shah said the number of devotees was likely to increase in the next two days. The traffic and mela police would remain deployed in the city, he said.

Owing to the occasion of Buddha Purnima, city ashrams and dharamshalas are already jam packed.

‘Dhol Ka Mol’ play staged on 125th year of Oak Grove School

Mussoorie, May 25
A cultural team from the North Frontier Railway, Guwahati, staged a play “Dhol Ka Mol”, written and directed by Hargovind Mehant, at the auditorium of Oak Grove School at Jharipani in Mussoorie on the fourth day of the 125th anniversary celebrations yesterday.

The play dealt with social issues and highlighted the need to keep old cultural values intact in the race of modernity. The team from Guwahati has rendered various performances in different states of India and has won the first place in “Akhil Rail Hindi Natya Utsav” held at Varanasi and the third place in “Akhil Rail Natya Utsav” at Kharagpur.

Vishwadev Harnagar, Ankur Meena, Arpita Das, Tulika and Ananya coordinated the programme. PP Sharma, Executive Director, Railway Board, Sandip Trivedi, principal of Oak Grove School, Trivedi, heads of the three wings of the school, teachers and students and others were present. — OC

Banks told to instal CCTV cameras

Dehardun, May 25
SP, City, Jagdish Chand held a meeting with officials of various banks in the city yesterday. He told them that it was necessary to install CCTV cameras and an emergency alarm on the bank premises to ensure safety.

He suggested them to install one CCTV camera outside their banks so that footage could be available in case a crime takes place in and around the banks. —TNS