BJP women workers told to gear up for LS poll
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 10
Newly appointed district chief of the BJP women’s cell Sanjana Sharma today urged party activists to mobilise their resources and work actively to ensure the victory of the party in the upcoming parliamentary elections in 2014. She exuded confidence that the party would win all five Lok Sabha seats, including Haridwar seat, and said there was a wave in favour of the BJP. She chaired a meeting of the party office-bearers and workers at the district party office at Devpura here.

“With the BJP naming Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate, people are looking forward to the party to provide corruption-free governance. People are angry with the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre as it has failed to contain inflation, price rise, corruption, scams, poverty and unemployment. We as office-bearers and loyal workers of the party need to work hard in our respective constituencies, districts and blocks and at the panchayat level,” she said. Sanjana was felicitated by party workers on the occasion.

Asked whether the women wing would support any specific candidate from the Haridwar seat, Sanjana said it was up to the party high command and national party president Rajnath Singh to decide.

“We as sincere party workers need to focus on strengthening the BJP in the district and take the ideology and the development-oriented vision of the party as well as weaknesses of the Congress to the people. Whether the party fields former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati or former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank or former state Home Minister Swami Chinmayanand or three time local MLA Madan Kaushik, we will work for the victory of the candidate,” she added.

42 villages excluded from sanctuary area
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 10
As many as 42 villages have been excluded from the Govind Pashu Vihar Widlife Sanctuary area.

Manoj Chandran, Additional Secretary, Forests, said when the initial notification of the sanctuary was issued in 2004 these 42 villages were mistakenly added to the sanctuary area due to confusion about its geographical limits.

Chandran said this was affecting development works in these villages. “The state government in its final notification issued now has excluded these 42 villages," he said.

All forest rights and traditional rights at the sanctuary had been upheld, he added.

Copter service to Kedarnath begins
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 10
Rudraprayag District Magistrate Dilip Jawalkar said today that the helicopter service to Kedarnath had begun on a trial basis.

Jawalkar said before flying to Kedarnath, pilgrims would have to undergo a medical check-up at Guptakshi.

He said four pilgrims from Mumbai used this service to Kedarnath yesterday.

Smooth travel for villagers migrating to Dharchula valley
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 10
Tribal villagers of the Drama valley, who have started migrating to lower valleys to spend the winter, will have no difficulty in travelling as the Public Works Department (PWD) has opened all track routes to the Dharchula valley. Kumaon Commissioner AS Nayal was given this information at a meeting at Dharchula today.

Nayal said he had instructed the officers concerned to give priority to the construction of village roads in the Darma valley. “We have also instructed the officials that fabricated huts be placed at selected locations. Anyone who does not take a hut is entitled to a grant of Rs 5 lakh for constructing a two-room house on his land. The administration will provide extra money for the purpose,” he said.

JC Arya, Superintendent Engineer, PWD, apprised the Kumaon Commissioner about the ground situation in the area post-natural disaster. He said it would take more than two months to construct a road to Sobla from Tawaghat that was washed away in flash floods. “Though we have opened track routes from Dar to Tidang in the upper Darma valley to facilitate migrating villagers, it will take more than two months to build a new road as a 2 km portion of the road between Tawaghat and Chirkila, upward of the Darma valley, was completely destroyed in the flash floods in June,” said Arya.

“We have diverted the Tawaghat route used by the migrating villagers from Sobla towards Kanchoti. It will take them some more time to reach their homes at Tawaghat to spend the winter,” he said.

Public representatives demanded the immediate opening of tracks and the motor route up to Sobla, which is 41 km from Tawaghat. They told the Commissioner that if these routes were not opened soon villagers of the Darma valley would face difficulties in migration during the winter and the summer. “We don’t know how much time it will take to construct a road to Sobla, which is 41 km from Tawaghat, when a 6 km road needs two more months to complete,” said Aan Singh Rokaya, Zila Panchayat member from the area.

Emerging hill towns to be focus of development
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 10
Now the emerging hill towns would be the focus of upgradation and development under the Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), a component of Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). The Department of infrastructure has proposed coverage of Gopeshwar, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Barkote towns under UIDSSMT.

A proposal with a cost of Rs 30 crore for each town has been prepared for approval from the Central Government. After the approval, the urban local bodies would prepare the detailed project reports and submit these to the state level nodal agencies and technical agencies. The sharing of funds is in the ratio of 80:20 between the Centre and the state.

The upgradation components are in the area of sewerage, drainage, water-supply scheme, parking, water conservation and road construction. The hallmark of the exercise would be improved infrastructure, create durable assets and promote integrated development and quality services in towns and cities.

Portals of Hemkund Sahib close for winter
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 10
The Sikh shrine of Hemkund Sahib closed for the winter today. The portals of the shrine was closed at 12.45 pm with ardas. About 300 pilgrims along with a Sikh Regiment band were present on the occasion.

According to the Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee, over 7,000 pilgrims paid obeisance at the shrine this year. It would now open after six months.

Governor allows 32 B.Ed colleges to admit students
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 10
Governor Aziz Qureshi has given permission to 32 B.Ed Colleges affiliated to Kumaon University to admit students. The permission has been given for the academic session 2012-13 following the interim directions of the Nainital High Court. However, it will be subject to the final decision of the court.

A committee comprising Vice-Chancellors of Uttarakhand Technical University and Sridev Suman University and the Additional Secretary to the Governor was constituted at a meeting at Raj Bhavan here recently.

The committee would ensure that approval and recognition was given institutions only after examining whether they were following the norms of AICTE, UGC, NCTE and the government.

The Governor said a detailed examination should be done at all levels to grant recognition and affiliation to institutions. He also gave instructions for filling more than 800 vacancies in various government colleges within three months and taking action on recruitments to be made through the State Public Service Commission.

He said he had directed the Vice-Chancellor of Kumaon University to start courses in philosophy, Gandhian Studies and Urdu. He had also directed the Vice-Chancellor of Doon University to start the School of Physical Sciences and courses in Urdu, French, Korean, Arabic and Japanese.

Mussoorie-based writer Stephen Alter’s thriller hits the stands
Ajay Ramola
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 10
The mystery thriller titled “Rataban Betrayal” written by Stephen Alter, an eminent author from Mussoorie and published by Penguin, has hit the stands much to the delight of his fans in Mussoorie.

The maiden venture into the espionage thriller has brought accolades to the writer from various quarters as the fiction written in an impeccable prose reveals his deep knowledge of the region.

The eminent director, Vishal Bhardwaj, in his recommendation on the cover says that the way Alter has put together the story, it seems like a readymade screenplay for a Bollywood thriller.

Speaking about his venture, Stephen Alter says that he has been fond of espionage novels and had always thought of writing one but was not able to figure out the settings. So one day while passing through the Institute of Technology Management, a subsidiary of Defence Research and Development Organisation, on his way home it struck to him that why not set it on Mussoorie, the town he knows in and out. ''Mussoorie on surface is a quiet town but everyone has a story to tell,'' added Alter.

Alter's thriller is set in Mussoorie but focused on Tibet with its flora and fauna, beautiful but dangerous peaks and ever changing weather. From the undercover operatives of RAW to spies of CIA, Alter has weaved in many layers of truth in his storyline where, unlike American page turners, no organisation has been given a clean chit.

When questioned why ''Rataban Betrayal'' as the choice for the title of the book, the author elaborates that the word Rataban, actually Rakthban(arrow of blood), is a mountain visible from valley of flowers and was misspelt by the British as Rataban. The myth behind the word is that during the Mahabharata war, the warrior Karna fighting for Kauravas fired several arrows towards Pandavas and one arrow cut the Bhyundar Valley and landed in the mountain peak known as Rakthban or Rataban. Hence, the title, added Alter.

''I liked that idea and the story behind it and since the novel is about terrorism and violence espionage and all that, so I figured that this mountain would fit in the scheme of things and the story takes place in that mountain people trying to climb, and then certain things happened which have an effect on the characters of the story,'' he said.

Alter in order to bring in realistic flavour has used the frequent traffic jams witnessed in the town in one of the chase sequence scene so that the people can relate with the story in many ways.

When asked if he has been inspired by the true spy characters that he might have met earlier, Alter with a smile on his face says: ''If I told you I would be killed.”

Stephen Alter’s first novel was “Neglected Lives” written in college and published in 1978. The other novels by the same author are “All The Way To Heaven” and “Amritsar to Lahore”.

Speaking about his future projects Alter says that a book about my recent treks in Himalayas, including a journey to Mount Kailash and several approaches to Nanda Devi is nearly complete and he is also planning to write another detective story in near the future.

Stephen Alter was born in Mussoorie, where he currently lives and writes. For 10 years he taught creative writing at MIT and, before that, he was director of the writing programme at the American University in Cairo. He has received numerous honours for his writing, including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the East-West Centre in Hawaii, and the Fulbright Programme. He is also founding-director of the Mussoorie Writers' Mountain Festival.

Kshetra, Zila Panchayats to have administrators
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 10
With the term of Ksehtra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats also coming to an end, the government today issued an order for the appointment of administrators instead of political representatives.

According to the government order issued today, the SDMs concerned would be appointed administrators of Kshetra Panchayats and the District Magistrate concerned administrators of Zila Panchayats in the state.

Now in anticipation of the Panchayat elections to be held in December, the entire tier Panchayati Raj system is under the administrators instead of the elected panchayats.

The administrators would oversee that the development work is completed before the election date is announced.

Meanwhile, a rapid survey for OBC population is under way in the state. It would be completed by October 31.

Students gherao DAV College Principal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 10
Students owing allegiance to the Pattu group gheraoed principal of DAV PG College Devendra Bhasin here today on the issue of alleged irregularities in the M.Com exam results.

The students led by Govind Singh told the principal that a few students of M.Com, who had failed in the internal college exams, had cleared the university exams. They accused the DAV College teachers of giving wrong marks to the students in the internal exams. They questioned the quality of teaching in regular classes of M.Com in the college.

The students demanded an immediate review of the internal examination marks given by the college teachers. The principal assured them of looking into the matter and taking required action.

Ashes of CP Maken immersed in Ganga
Tribune News Service

Congress general secretary Ajay Maken immerses ashes of his father CP Maken in the Ganga at Kankhal in Haridwar on Thursday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, October 10
The ashes of CP Maken, father of former Union Minister for Sports and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Ajay Maken, were immersed in the Ganga here today. Ajay is at present a general secretary of the Congress.

The ashes were brought by Ajay Maken along with relatives and family friends here today evening. The ashes as per Hindu rituals were immersed in the Ganga at Kankhal-based Ganga ghat.

CP Maken had died on Wednesday after being ill for quite some time at the age of 75. Maken left behind his wife and two sons.

CP Maken was the elder brother of late Lalit Maken, parliamentarian from South Delhi who was killed by assailants in 1985. As soon as the news about Ajay Maken’s visit spread, Congress leaders, activists and local people gathered at the Kankhal ghat to offer condolences.