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New applicants for LPG agencies cry foul
Ex-Mayor seeks hike in LPG quota
Tourism dept decision on Lensdowne resthouse flayed
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BPL card holders to get ration after the 15th of every month
‘Expedite’ relief to 120 Tehri Dam-hit families
Court orders arrest of 2 Nepalese held with banned phones
CM calls for awareness on environment
Workshop to review training material
for Saakshar Bharat
World Environment Day
Guv's message: Check food wastage
BJP denies crisis in central leadership
Khulbe is Governor’s legal adviser
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New applicants for LPG agencies cry foul
Mussoorie, June 4 The last date of the submission of the documents for the new applicants was December 30. But the agency concerned, after announcing the list of 73 areas to be given additional LPG agencies in the state, abruptly stalled the process around December 25 under mysterious circumstances. The new applicants, speaking to the Tribune under condition of anonymity, alleged that they had even begun the process of submitting the draft amounts of Rs 1,000 as per the requirement for the new dealership of the LPG agency. But the agency concerned, falling under the Ministry of Petroleum, returned the amount, without citing any reasons. Many new applicants alleged that the process was stalled at the behest of the existing LPG agency distributors who have the monopoly over the LPG distributorship in the state, in connivance with officials in Ministry of Petroleum, Government of India. The new entrants in the LPG business demanded a thorough enquiry into the matter so that the trail of irregularities committed in the whole process was unearthed. They said that the agency concerned had spent a a large amount of money on the advertisements for the new distributorships, but the process had been stalled. The Tribune has also learned that apart from the list of 73 areas identified for new gas dealerships in the state, there were 400 other areas in the country which were to receive additional LPG agencies, but no action was initiated since December 2012. It is also learnt that a similar list was released in 2004, but is was put aside due to the alleged pressure of the existing LPG gas distributors in the country. Meanwhile, residents of Mussoorie have been demanding an increase in the number of LPG agencies as they are dependent only on one gas agency for delivery of goods despite the high number of consumers here. Two agencies were listed in the advertisement issued in December, 2012, for Mussoorie, but no action was initiated thereafter. The Petroleum Minister, Government of India, Veerapa Moily, speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the ministry being held at Jaypee Residency in Mussoorie said there was no question of stalling the process of granting new dealerships as the ministry had taken a policy decision of increasing the number of the agencies after the identification of the areas and no one had the right to stall the process. He said if any anomaly had occurred in the exercise at the local level, he would look into the matter on priority. |
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Ex-Mayor seeks hike in LPG quota
Dehradun, June 4 She also demanded CNG pumps and gasline projects for the cities of the state. Manorama Sharma met Moily when he was on his way to Mussoorie to attend a parliament consultative committee of the petroleum ministry. She demanded that the issue of pension to retired officers of the UNGC should be addressed on a priority basis. The Union Petroleum Minister assured the Congress delegation of looking into these issues.
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Tourism dept decision on Lensdowne resthouse flayed
Dehradun, June 4 The Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB) has sought application forms from interested parties by June 7. Negi said Rs 5 crore had already been spent on adding new tourist huts in Lensdowne TRH known as ‘Tip N Top Heritage Home’, which had been operated by the GMVN. Moreover, the TRH was a profitable entity, so there was no need of giving it on the PPP mode, he said. Negi alleged that the entire conspiracy was mooted to benefit a favoured person/group by the state government. He said two more TRH, Cheela and Kodiyala, both running into profit, were next in the line to be handed over in the PPP way. Negi said recently the state government had spent Rs 5 crore on adding new five huts equipped with double beds in the TRH. Not only this, Rs 1 crore extra was spent on further renovation of the building. He said the previous state governments had been suggesting giving loss-making TRHs on PPP mode till now, but it was for the first time a profit-churning unit was being sold to private builders. He called upon employees to do something about it or else all the profitable entities would slip away in private hands. However, Dr Pankaj Pandey, Managing Director, GMVN, expressed ignorance about the move of the UTDB. He said, “If a private operator gives the Tourism Department more profit than the GMVN, there is no harm in giving it on the PPP mode. As far as the interest of the GMVN is concerned, we will certainly ask for our share of revenue which we had been earning from this TRH each year”. |
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BPL card holders to get ration after the 15th of every month
Pithoragarh, June 4 The order, issued on June 1, says that no ration shop owner will sell his quota of fair price ration before the 15th of the month. A ration shop owner said earlier the date of depositing money through the bank in the account of the department was not fixed and a fair price shop owner was free to pick up ration even in the first week of the month. But with this order, the consumers will have to wait for at least 15 days to get their quota of fair price ration. “The poor ration card holders of BPL families begin demanding ration on the first day of the month,” said a fair price shop owner on the condition of anonymity. When asked, district supply officer Tezbal Singh said the order had been issued to get uniformity in the fair price ration distribution in the district. “Some fair price shop owners who pick up APL and BPL category ration late from the department godowns tend to sell it on the black by compelling poor consumers to resort to other alternatives for feeding their families. With this order, every ration shop owner will have to take the quota by the 13th of the month and he will start distribution from the 15th all over the district,” said the DSO. Though the nearly 800 fair price shop owners in the district are happy with the new order, BPL card holders are perturbed. “I have to feed six members of my family out of this BPL quota of ration given to me every month by the government. If my family gets the ration after the 15th, how I will feed them till then,” said Gopal Ram, a BPL card holder who works as a blacksmith in Satgal village of the district. Some fair price shop owners feel that had the order given the 15th day of a month as the last day to finish distribution of ration, it would have been better from the poor card holders' points of view. While the date for beginning ration distribution has been fixed at the 15th, the order has not put any date to conclude it. “Some mischievous ration shop owners could play with the poverty of card holders by distributing ration in the last week of the month as the DSO has not fixed any last date for completing the ration distribution to poor card holders,” said Bhim Ram, a social worker in Kumaiya Chaur area of the district. |
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‘Expedite’ relief to 120 Tehri Dam-hit families
Dehradun, June 4 Reviewing the rehabilitation work linked to the Tehri Dam project in Dehradun today, Yashpal Arya said that the Union Government had come up with a rehabilitation policy as per the Supreme Court guidelines and aspirations of the affected people. He asked the officers to ensure coordination amongst them so that the 104 families, whose assets have been estimated for value got compensation on time. He said 80 per cent of the amount must reach these people this month. Uttarakhand Irrigation Secretary Kunal Sharma said that a total of 5,291 families had so far been re-settled in New Tehri as part of the rehabilitation plan since the start of the urban rehabilitation process. Uttarakhand Additional Secretary, Irrigation, Shridhar Babu, Chief Engineer, Irrigation, Garhwal, DP Jugran and Chief Engineer, Irrigation, PK Tamta were prominent participants at the meeting. |
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Court orders arrest of 2 Nepalese held with banned phones
Pithoragarh, June 4 The Nepal citizens, Gyanendra Bahdur Singh and Virendrs Bahadur Singh, of the World Food Programme who were going to Dadeldhura district of Nepal through the Madlak area of Champawat in India, were apprehended on Saturday by the Champawat police, after waves of the banned satellite phones were traced by the authorities. “After taking these Nepali citizens into custody, we produced them in the court which has ordered their arrest under Section 20 of the Indian Telegraph Act,” said Nagnyal. “After taking the Nepali citizens into custody, we requested the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Champawat to grant permission to arrest the foreign citizens. After permission granted by the court, we arrested the Nepali citizens,” said B.K. Vishwakarma, police inspector in Thana Champawat. |
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CM calls for awareness on environment
Dehradun, June 4 In his message on World Environment Day, he said more awareness needed to be created for environment conservation. He called on people to contribute towards environment protection for human welfare. The Chief Minister said unscientific felling of forests and depletion of the ozone layer were global problems. There was a need to create a balance between development and environment conservation. Bahuguna said the government was committed to making Uttarakhand polythene-free. He appealed to voluntary organisations and the people to create more awareness regarding the need to shun polythene. He also appealed to the people to plant more trees and be more aware of the harmful effects of non-biodegradable garbage. |
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Workshop to review training material
for Saakshar Bharat
Dehradun, June 4 The workshop aims at preparing material for the interpersonal media campaign (IPMC) under Saakshar Bharat, including electoral literacy, legal literacy, women and child development, right to education and financial literacy. Addressing a gathering on the first day of the workshop today, VK Agarwal, Deputy General Manager, State Bank of India, said literature on financial literacy should be available in easy and lucid language and the material prepared here should be used nationally at all levels to promote financial literacy. GM (NABARD) Qmar Javed said: "NABARD plays a major role in promoting financial literacy using many innovative ways like puppet shows and has a wide reach with the rural populace. This workshop shall definitely help prepare material that will help the beneficiaries in being a part of financial inclusion process." He also informed the gathering about the rupay card that would soon be launched for farmers in place of farmers' credit card. AGM, training, SBI, Abha Menon, eminent writers like Nishat Farouq from Delhi, Virendra Mulasi, Manav and Devendra Singh were also present. A team from SRC, Uttar Pradesh, led by Director Rachna Pal, was also present. |
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World Environment Day
Dehradun, June 4 The programme was inaugurated by Arvind Gupta, chairman of the association, by planting a sapling. In his inaugural address, he said both environment conservation and development were important, but one could not be achieved at the cost of other. Rajeev Ranjan Singh, president, Dolphin Alumni Association, said the association had formed committees in various states so that it becomes easier for students to communicate with each other. “In future, convocations will also be organised for the pass out students. There is also a plan to release a monthly magazine of the activities of the association,” he said. Renowned zoologist and director of the institute Dr Arun Kumar, environmentalist Prerna Bahuguna, Dr Sovan Bagchi and Dr CS Pandey discussed various issues related to environment. The winners of various competitions were felicitated on the occasion. Former students who were honoured for their outstanding achievements in their respective fields were Dr Ilma from Physiotherapy Department, Rozy Chauhan and Vikas from Microbiology Department, Sumanpreet Kaur and Prem Shankar Pandey from Pathology Department, Ankush Teshwar from Forestry Department, Shivam Upadhyaya and Megha from Biotechnology Department, Neeraj Chandra from Biochemistry Department, Sapna Swarup from Biomedical Sciences, Mahesh Singh Guleria from Pharmachemistry Department, Pushpraj and Bunny Taj from Chemistry and Education Department, respectively. Four Alumni students who were honoured for their special achievements in their respective fields were Dr Robinson, Dr Vyom Gyanpuri, Priya Kumari and Rohit Kumar.
Guv's message: Check food wastage
Dehradun, June 4 In his message on the eve of World Environment Day, he said the nature was generous but human beings never realised this. He said they put pressure on the nature and the environment by growing food. The United Nations Environment Programme's theme for World Environment Day is “Think, eat, save reduce your foodprint”, which is an anti-food waste and food loss campaign that encourages to reduce foodprint. “The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates that a third of global food production is either wasted or lost. Food waste is an enormous drain on natural resources and a contributor to negative environmental impacts,” he added. The Governor urged the people of the state to check food wastage and make changes in their lifestyle which would help in protecting the environment. “Feel proud to be healthy residents of a biodiversity-rich state,” he said.
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BJP denies crisis in central leadership
Dehradun, June 4 “There is no rift in the party on this issue. We are lucky to have not one but several leaders to choose from. Unlike other parties, where hereditary considerations play a major role in the selection of the leader, BJP swears by internal party democracy and candidates are selected after a due process,” said Radha Mohan Singh. Talking to the media, the leader, who was on his first visit to Dehradun after being made the state in charge, downplayed the absence of former Chief Ministers BC Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank from the meeting held with the party office-bearers yesterday and today. “My visit was not planned. It happened all of a sudden. Besides, the leaders are away touring the state and it would not have been possible to meet them. I have already held meetings with the office-bearers and the party workers for preparing a strategy for winning all five Lok Sabha seats in 2014,” he said. He said the party had been asked to focus on the Lok Sabha elections for which election in charge and coordinators would be appointed at the level of the Lok
Sabha, the Vidhan Sabha and mandal after a central-level party meeting in Goa. “Soon, we will launch a massive campaign to arouse the people of the state against the misrule of the Congress government at the Centre and in
Uttarakhand," he said. |
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Khulbe is Governor’s legal adviser
Dehradun, June 4 Besides being the legal adviser to the Governor, Khulbe has the charges of the chairman of the State Transport Appeal Tribunal and secretary, Lokayukta, Uttarakhand. Earlier, he was a district Judge, Uttarakashi.
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distributorship of LPG agencies are crying foul at the stalling of the process of increasing the number of the gas agency distributorships despite announcing the list of around 73 areas in the state through an advertisement released in December.
Uttarakhand Irrigation Minister Yashpal Arya has sought speedy disbursal of compensation amount to be provided to 120 families of Rolakot, who are affected by the Tehri Dam project.
A four-day national workshop to review training and education material for the Saakshar Bharat Programme started at the State Resource
Centre, Uttarakhand, here today.
Dolphin PG Institute of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, Dehradun, celebrated World Environment Day under the aegis of the Dolphin Alumni Association here today. More than hundreds alumni and students participated in the celebration. Fourteen former students were honoured for their achievements in the field of academics and four were honoured for their professional achievements.
Rejecting claims that the BJP central leadership was divided on the issue of projecting a prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Uttarakhand party in charge Radha Mohan Singh said today that the issue was unnecessarily being given prominence in the newspapers.
