India-China border trade halts for winter months
Deals worth Rs 2 cr took place from Aug to Oct at Lipulekh Pass
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, November 2
This year’s border trade between India and China from 1,750 feet high Lipulekh Pass, situated in Pithoragarh district of the state, concluded on October 31. Last batch of Indian traders returned from public sale at Taklakot in the Chinese territory of Tibet. The Lipulekh Pass has been closed for the winter months.

Trade officer and Dharchula SDM Pramod Kumar said goods worth Rs 2 crore were traded between the two countries from the high border route this year. It included imports of over Rs 81.58 lakh by Indian traders and exports worth Rs 1.29 crore to China.

“For the first time in the last 20 years of resumption of this trade, balance of payment condition has remained in India’s this year,” said the trade officer. He said around 257 Indians — 76 traders and 171 assistants — went to China for doing business. The trade started from August instead of June due to the natural disaster in which all routes to Indian mart at Gunji were broken.

Pramod said first batch of Indian traders was sent by Army helicopters to Gunji to make essential arrangements for traders, who followed them. Border trade between the two neighbouring countries took place openly till 1962. It was closed after the war, but resumed in 1992 after an agreement between the Government of India and the Chinese government.

“Only tribal traders of Drama, Byans, and Johar subdivisions of Pithoragarh district, who are dependent on Tibetan raw material for their crafts from centuries, are allowed to bring goods for their customary use from China in this trade. It is helping in renovation of traditional crafts of the people of this area,” said Pramod Kumar.

Go-ahead for new polytechnics
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
As part of its move to strengthen technical education in the state, the Uttarakhand Government is setting up new polytechnics and also upgrading hostels for engineering colleges.

A proposal for new polytechnics has been cleared and the land has also been selected for the polytechnics that will come up in remote areas of the state.

An allocation of Rs 4 crore has been made for new polytechnics to come up at Rangar, Peru Madara, Khatima, Tanakpur, Daniya (Almora), Bhaswagang, Kawasi, Gaza, Kulsari, Pratapnagar and Garirsain. Training will be provided in mechanical and civil engineering trades in these polytechnics.

The focus on polytechnics is aimed at curbing migration of youth by providing skilled trainings. Sanction for appointments in the faculty too has been given granted.

Further, after the engineering colleges in the state started Research and Development, the need for setting up hostels was felt. The Uttarakhand government has also made financial allocations for constructing hostels on the premises of institutions.

These include Pantnagar College of Technology and Dwarahat Engineering College.

Protesting workers climb mobile tower
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
Contractual employees of the Electricity Department, who were protesting for fulfillment of their demands, climbed up on a mobile tower at the Nehru Colony police station area here today.

Four workers climbed atop a mobile tower demanding regularisation of their services as their colleagues sat on a dharna next to the tower.

The police and representatives of the administration reached the spot and tried to persuade the four persons, who climbed on the tower, to get down, but they refused to do so.

Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Harak Singh Rawat also tried to speak to protesters, but all his efforts went in vain. He said, “They are demanding that they will only speak to the Chief Minister and till then they will remain there.”

Contractual employees have been protesting for regularisation of their services for last many days in front of the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL) headquarters in the state’s capital.

Price rise affects Diwali spending
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, November 2
Diwali this year has come with a dimmer glow for many families as the pinch of price rise is being felt in the city as well.

The effect of price rise across the board was witnessed in the markets as many families restrained from big spending in order to control their budget. The increase in cost of the most of the daily use items like vegetables, milk has offset the budget of many. And a rise in the prices of crackers has not helped the cause either as fewer shoppers were witnessed at the markets till afternoon.

Anil Godiyal, a local resident who, along with his children, was buying crackers, said that with the prices rising, it was hard to decide what to leave and what to buy this Diwali.

Bharosi Rawat, another local, said that she had to restrain from buying firecrackers and only buy more essential items such as sweets. The sweet shops along with shops selling idols of various Gods and Goddess did good business but as good as previous years.

However the business picked up later in the evening after many shops started rolling out heavy discounts on various items at Kulri, Landour and Library Bazaar. The business community said that the festive season has been lukewarm so far due to price rise and less number of tourists.

The business community said that the recent disaster that occurred in the Kedarnath region has led to a decrease in the inflow of tourists. The lesser number of tourists means that the restaurants which used to be packed during this time in previous years remained empty.

For the children, however, it was Diwali celebrations as usual as they were seen persuading their parents to buy crackers in the markets.

Tyagi clears air over illegal police custody
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
Nitin Tyagi, who shot into prominence a few days back after filing a complaint against Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev's brother Ram Bharat for threatening and kidnapping him, cleared the air over the allegations that Kankhal police kept him in illegal custody.

While speaking to media persons here today, he said that he himself wanted to stay in the police custody considering that there was a threat to his from some influential persons.

Nitin Tyagi, who hails from Muzaffarnagar, filed a complaint in the Kankhal police station a few days back against Baba Ramdev's brother Ram Bharat and his five associates alleging that he was beaten up and kidnapped.

The incident turned into a political battle after BJP workers gheraoed the police station over the illegal custody whereas Congress party workers burnt the effigies of Ramdev and his brother Ram Bharat.

Nitin said that he would fight his battle alone till the culprits are penalised. He also refuted the claims that he was working at the behest of the Congress party and said that no party was behind him.

Adulterated khoya seized
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
As part of its drive against the sale of sub-standard and adulterated milk products during the festive season, Khurbara police seized 50 tonne adulterated khoya on today.

Spurious khoya that was brought for sale in Dehradun and seized by the police on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

Harish Chandra Sati, Circle officer, said that one truck coming from Muzaffarnagar was stopped for routine checking near old vegetable market in Dehradun. Spurious khoya in large quantity was recovered from the truck. Truck driver Ikraam and helper Eizaz have told police that one trader in Muzaffarnagar booked the truck for supplying milk products in Dehradun.

The khoya was supposed to be used in making sweets during the festival season. Experts from food and safety department have confirmed that the seized milk product was adulterated. The sample of the seized product has been sent for laboratory tests.

Meanwhile, police is questioning the driver and the helper of the truck to know the name of the person who booked the truck and to whom it was supposed to be delivered.

Man sentenced to death for rape, murders

Dehradun, November 2
A local court sentenced a man to gallows for raping a girl and later killing her along with her grandmother in Haridwar district. A 26-year-old Wajid Ali had raped the girl on February 19. He later poisoned her. When the girl's grandmother raised an alarm, Wajid crushed her under his vehicle, sources said.

District Judge Dhananjay Chaturvedi awarded death sentence to Wajid. He said the case belonged to the rarest of the rare category adding that the culprit deserved a punishment no less than a death penalty.

“The way in which the culprit crushed the victim's 65-year-old grandmother under the wheels of his car was most inhuman,” said the court in its order. The court had reserved its order after convicting Ali on October 29. - PTI

Talks between striking staff, govt make no headway
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
There was no headway in the talks held between the office bearers of the State Employees Joint Council and the government. The indefinite strike is expected to extend to a few more days.

Today, the minutes of the meeting were discussed at the general meeting of the State Employees Joint Council. "We are not in agreement with the government's decision to demand time till November 22 for conceding one of our demands regarding the upgradation of pay scale on the lines of ministerial employees. Soon the model code of conduct would be in place in the state in view of the panchayat elections.

So, we have requested the government to concede the demand by November 15 but as Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna left for New Delhi today, no decision could be taken," said Arun Pandey, a spokesperson of the Council.

During the meeting with the government yesterday, a revised proposal was given to the office bearers of the State Employees Joint Council so that an amicable solution could be found out to end the ongoing stir.

The proposal was discussed at the general meeting today.

With the Chief Minister expected to return on November 6, the matter would again be raised.

Wildlife park on high alert on Diwali
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
With the number of illegal felling and poaching cases increasing during the Diwali season, Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand has been put under high alert for the festival.

A highly protected area of Uttarakhand, the park has been frequently witnessing acts of illegal felling and also poaching in recent times. The fauna in Rajaji becomes most vulnerable during Diwali days. However, the park authorities have cancelled the leaves of their staff during the festival and have also asked the frontline staff to be on alert. The park authorities recently also convened a meeting of its Range officers to ensure foolproof security during the festival.

Rajaji Park is also strictly adhering to the recent advisory of State Wildlife authorities to curb bursting of crackers in close vicinity of the forests. There are several key ranges of the park like Chilawali, Dholkhand and Beriwada that are in close proximity to highly populated villages, which celebrate Diwali with the bursting of crackers on a large scale. Significantly, the park authorities are also trying to sensitize these villagers about eco Diwali and the harmful effects of the crackers on the wildlife.

Chief conservator of Forests, Wildlife and Intelligence, SK Dutt said Uttarakhand Forest Department was taking every possible step to discourage people from bursting crackers on a large scale, particularly near wildlife sanctuaries and parks. He said a sensitization drive was also undertaken in villages along the protected areas to make people understand the ill effects of cracker bursting on the wildlife.

Spread over an area of 744 sq km, Rajaji National Park is famous for its Asian elephant.

NGO requests Prime Minister to attend CHOGM meet in Lanka
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
A Dehradun based NGO, Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) has urged the Prime Minister to ensure his presence in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Sri Lanka.

In a letter to PM Manmohan Singh, RLEK chairperson Avdhash Kaushal has asked the PM to not let DMK pressurize him into skipping the meeting.

“The Sri Lankan government has successfully fought and eradicated one of the world’s biggest terrorist organizations, LTTE, which even killed our Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. We must also appreciate that the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is trying to bring all the survivors into the mainstream by holding elections in Jaffna,” Kaushal pointed out.

He said DMK leaders have their vested interests which for them are above the national interests. He also said that India’s decision to vote against Sri Lanka in the US sponsored resolution at the Human Rights Council in March came as shocker for the Indians. “Kindly represent our country in the important CHOGM meeting in Sri Lanka or else India will be isolated,” Kaushal added.

Change river course, protect shrine: ASI

New Delhi, November 2
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has suggested a change in the course of the Mandakini river to protect Kedarnath Temple as the river bed has become higher than the village area.

The ASI has been given the responsibility of restoring the shrine post the mid-June devastation in Uttarakhand, but adverse climatic condition is delaying their job.

"Our reports says the river bed has become higher than the village area in Kedarnath. We have been suggesting that they should change the course of the river so that it does not affect the temple in the future," Culture Minister Chandresh Kumari Katoch told PTI. Declining to set a time frame for the restoration work, she said the offside work could begin only next year due to adverse weather conditions.

"The GSI has given a report and it is our feeling also that if we do not know the actual condition of the foundation, we cannot start working off site. So we have started restoration work from inside like cleaning up and improving the condition of the temple," she said.

"There is no time frame because of weather and everything will be closed in the next two weeks during the winter months and the work will resume next year only," she said.

"We don't know if the foundation is fragile as too much water has rushed there. We have to wait for the GSI report for that," she said. — PTI

Pakistan duo’s sufi songs steal the show
Tribune News Service

Atta Bhag Kaley Khan and group from Pakistan performing at the concluding day of the Virasat cultural festival in Dehradun late on Friday. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, November 2
The fifteen-day Virasat festival concluded here on Friday evening and left an ever lasting impression on the hearts and minds of the people.

The evening was dedicated to two great performers from Pakistan, who crossed the boundaries of time and space and became a part of the collective art, culture and heritage.

Wahdat Rameez and Husnain Javed gave an overwhelming performance on the last day of the festival and sang the traditional sufi songs.

They presented sufiana kalam, ghazal and thumri and sang songs like “dilleadi lutti teyan yaar sajjan”, Bulleh Shah’s “tere ishq ne nachaya kar thaiya thaiya” and a ghazal by Iqbal Bano.

They were accompanied by Rayaz Ahmed on Tabla, Attah Ullah on keyboard and Husnain Javed himself played harmonium.

The next performers of the evening were Atta Bhag Kaley Khan and group from Pakpattan, Pakistan. For close to three decades, Kaley Khan’s father Atta Farid Bhag played harmonium with the legendary Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Atta Bhag Kaley Khan started learning music at the age of five years. Leading his independent quawwali group, Atta Bhag represented the timeless tradition of sufiana quawwali.

He presented some of the very famous sufiana quawwali of Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. He was accompanied by Abdul Kafar on tabla, Rajav Ali was his co-singer.

The amazing journey of Virasat enriched with music, dance, art, handicrafts and culture concluded with the ensemble performance by Susmit Sen and group. Guitarist Susmit Sen was the founding member of Indian Ocean. With great splendour and grace, the fifteen-day long extravaganza festival came to a brilliant end.

49 illegal liquor bottles seized
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 2
During a checking ahead of Diwali, Dhara Chowki police seized illicit liquor from a car infront of Gandhi Park here recently.

Notably, a black colour car was stopped for checking by the police and recovered 49 bottles of English liquor from the boot space of the car.

Ashwani, a resident of Tyagi road, was arrested for smuggling illicit liquor. The police also questioned Ashwani and he informed that he bought liquor for his personal party. All the liquor bottles were of international brands.