Village Development Officer shot
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
One Village Development Officer (VDO) was shot dead by assailants in broad-daylight at his home in Majra in the Patel Nagar police station area here this morning. Reportedly, the three assailants killed Devesh Kamboj, aged 45, today morning when he was at his home in Shakti Vihar, Majra. It is to be noted that Devesh was working as a VDO in Sahaspur block.

According to MP Saini, head of Patel Nagar police station, ''the matter seems to be related to property dispute and the family members have recognised the murderers who came on a bike, and we have set up 3 teams to nab the assailants.''

The police are claiming that Devesh was killed by his sister's brother-in-law along with his two more friends due to some property dispute. ''As per the preliminary investigations, we have found that Anil, who is the brother-in-law of Devesh's sister, Ritu, made a plan to kill him along with his two more friends, Ankit and Manoj,'' said Saini.

According to the police, Ritu was having a property dispute with her in-laws after her husband, Sanjay, died in 2012 and Devesh was reportedly supporting his sister in it. It was also revealed during the investigations that one plot in Clement Town area was the main bone of contention between Ritu and her in-laws.

Reportedly, the plot was on Ritu's husband's name but was later transferred on her name after the death of Sanjay, which made his family furious, especially his brother Anil. ''The brother-in-law of Ritu, Anil, planned to kill Devesh, as he thought that with his support, Ritu got the plot transferred in her name,'' claimed the police.

''All the three assailants hail from Saharanpur and our teams are going there to catch them,'' said Saini.

War veterans speak about the 1971 conflict with nostalgia
Parwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
For Subedar Gaur Singh Negi (90) and Subedar Gabar Singh (88), Vijay Divas holds a special place for more than one reason. Old and feeble, the duo who are probably the oldest alive 1971 war veterans of the state, still remember the minutest details of the war.

Every year visiting the war memorial on Vijay Divas is nothing less than an annual pilgrimage for both the veterans who retired from the Corps of Engineers (Bengal Sappers).

Speaking to The Tribune, Gaur Singh Negi said that he still remembers the days of war and the hard work the forces had to put in to keep the enemy out. “Our main task was to construct the bridges and provide a path to our forces. Corps of Engineers play a very prominent role, especially during the hour of crisis.”

“I may have become hard of hearing, but the memory is still fresh about the war. The victory was a great moment for us. It was much more than defeating the enemy and was instead a huge morale booster for the forces,” said the veteran, who retired from 237 Engineer Regiment.

The veterans who joined the forces in 1943 had also participated in World War II. “By the time we were sent to the WW II it was almost in the final stages. POWs were captured and from many places the for ces were pulling out. But it had definitely given us the first experience of a full-scale war,” said Gabar Singh, who was part of the 236 Engineer Regiment and active in the Khemkaran sector during the war.

Enjoying their retired life, the veterans now pass away their time speaking to the people about their experiences during the war. “People come to us and ask about the war. The Indo-Pak war of 1971 still holds a very special place in the hearts of people,” said Gabar Singh.

However, the only regret they have is that none of their sons or grandsons opted for the forces.

“Our sons and grandsons were attracted by the civil life as they got a higher package there. But the kind of life Army gives, that is incomparable to any other profession,” said the duo.

Rise in temperature hits citrus fruit production
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 16
The increase in temperature in the district has affected quantity and quality of citrus fruits. While the quantity of citrus fruit has decreased by 1,000 metric tones (MT) in the last 10 years, the quality has also gone down in these years, according to horticultural department officials.

“The required temperature of 8-15 degree Celsius for malta and oranges 
has increased to above 12 degrees in the citrus fruit-producing belts in the past 20 years, which has resulted in souring and decrease in output of the fruits, thus becoming less competitive in the market,” said BS Adhikari, an inspector in the horticultural department.

He said the production of lemon, big size lemon, malta and orange, which was at 16,422 MT in 2000, has decreased to 15,475 MT this year. “Not only the quantity has decreased but the quality of these fruits has also become sour in these years in comparison to the previous years,” the inspector said.

However, the horticultural department has attributed other factors to this decrease, including the continuous lack of officers in the department after the formation of the new state and migration of farmers from the villages which were known as fruit producers. Ramari, Nachni, and Gurna villages were known for citrus fruits production in the district, has become empty as the residents have left the villages due to lack of facilities there. Some of the fruit growers have attributed this situation to the lack of vision of the department.

“While HP and Punjab has championed themselves in the production of kinnu in these years, the state Horticulture Department sat idly from varied plantation of fruits,” said Kedar Dutt Pandey, a citrus fruit producer.

Training programme on bamboo handicrafts begins at FRI
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
A five-day training programme on ''Demonstration and training on bamboo handicrafts" under direct to consumer scheme for villagers, including women, organised at Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, started here today.

The programme has been organised at Common Facility Centre for Bamboo Processing and Training (CFCBPT), Forest Products Division, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. A total of 25 participants from various self help groups, i.e. Gajendra Singh from Adrash Swyam Sahayta Samooh, village Than; Anita Bisht from Disha Sahayta Samooh, village Pitambarpur; Maya Thapa from Unique Sahayta Samooh, village Pitambarpur; Deeksha Bisht from Nayi Drishti Sahayta Samooh, village Pitambarpur, and Kamla Bisht from Samriddhi Sahayta Samooh, village Pitambarpur, and their teams are participating in this programme.

The training is to create awareness about value addition and appropriate utilisation of bamboo for furniture and handicraft items. The objective of the training is to train self-help groups, NGOs, local artisans and others in bamboo processing, seasoning, preservation, polishing, board and furniture making.

Dr Sadhna Tripathi, scientist and head, Forest Products Division, elaborated that during the five days' training, participants will learn about utilisation and value addition of bamboo. There are several machines for bamboo processing in CFCBPT on which training would be imparted. They will also learn different processing techniques of bamboo.

The trainees will also learn about preparation of bamboo boards, seasoning of bamboo, bamboo finishing and preparation of various articles. Scientists of the division, Kishan Kumar, Nirmal Upreti, D.P. Khali, Ajmal Samani, J.P. Singh and technical staff were present on the occasion.

Vijay Divas celebrated at war memorial
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Refreshing the significant victory during the 1971 war, Vijay Diwas was celebrated at war memorial amidst the presence of ex-servicemen and war veterans of the city, here today. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, along with Dr Harak Singh Rawat, minister for Sainik Welfare, laid the wreath at the war memorial. A pipe band from 13 Jak Rife was also present on the occasion. The 1971 war holds a special meaning for Uttarakhand. Nearly 255 martyrs were part of the 3,843 war causalities that the country suffered during the 1971 war.

Addressing mediapersons, Bahuguna said they were proud of the Indian Army. “Not only does the army plays a prominent role in safeguarding the borders of the country, but also comes to the rescue at the time of disaster.

The soldiers have brought laurels to the state,” he added. Lt Gen HB Kala (retd) former Army Commander, Western Command; Brig AN Bahuguna (retd), director of Uttarakhand Directorate of Ex-Servicemen Welfare and Rehabilitation; Dehradun District Sainik Welfare Officer Lt Col (retd) Anil Wadhwa and Brig KG Behl (retd) were present on the occasion.

Indifferent attitude

Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna , who was the chief guest on the occasion, left the venue soon after laying a wreath at the war memorial, thus inviting wrath of ex-servicemen

Harak Rawat takes exception to Narendra Modi's statement
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Minister for Agriculture Harak Singh Rawat today accused BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi of spreading misinformation about the rehabilitation efforts of the state government post the mid-June disaster.

Rawat said during his "Shanknad rally" here yesterday, Modi said the Uttarakhand Government had not done enough for the disaster-affected people. "I fail to understand why Modi raised this issue when he had himself written a letter lauding the efforts of the Uttarakhand Government," said Rawat, while addressing mediapersons today.

He said Modi was allowed only an aerial survey of the disaster-hit areas as it would have hampered relief work. Even Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde undertook an aerial survey. But as things began to settle down, leaders were allowed

"AICC Vice-President Rahul Gandhi also came afterwards. We would have allowed Modi had he visited the second time. We had even facilitated the visits of BJP leaders, including Uma Bharti and former CM BS Koshiyari, to Kedarnath," he said.

Rawat said all norms were set aside and rules were relaxed so that the disaster-affected people could be extended reasonable ex-gratia. "According to the National Disaster Relief Fund guidelines, we would have received only Rs 1.40 crore as aid. But after the rules were relaxed we managed to get Rs 300 crore under the NDRF," said Rawat.

Disaster-hit roads, villages continue to remain ‘neglected’
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, December 16
General conditions in disaster-affected areas of Dharchula and Munsiyari subdivisions of this district have not improved even after 180 days of the disaster, as neither have the villages been connected with roads, nor the semi damaged villages on river banks have been given prominence by constructing embankments to protect these from further sliding in the coming summer months when the Himalayan snow melts and gives extra water in the glacial-fed rivers of the area. .

''Nearly 15 villages and towns, situated by the three rivers of Dhauli, Gori and Kali, were identified by the administration for construction of embankments to protect these from further sliding in summer months, but nothing has been done so far in this direction,'' said Aan Singh Rokaya, local social worker in Darchula.

According to SDM of Dharchula, ''we are committed to construct these before the water level in these rivers comes up in summer this year.''

According to the local residents, the condition of Baluakot town is worst in this regard as the market and residential areas of the town are fully under the grip of the sliding zone of river Kali.

According to the local residents of Darma valley, despite partial linking of way to Darma on Sunday, most of the villages are still far-flung from the main road in the valley and the villagers from these villages are still compelled to travel from 36 to 76 km to reach the main highway to collect essential items.

''Besides linking 18 km long roads from Sobla to Sumdung and Sobla to new Suva, to provide ration to the population of 2000 living there, the government has to construct five bridges on small rivulets that would swell in summer months due to melting of snow, making it difficult for villagers to cross these from their village,'' said Rokaya.

The villagers in Darma valley said that they were drinking water from open sources or from rivers nearby as drinking water projects for their villages have not been repaired till date by the administration. ''The drinking water projects at Newdhura, Zinglan, Kankhi, Khet and new Sela are still damaged forcing the villagers to take open source water for drinking,'' said Krishna Singh Phirmal, resident of Philam village of Darma valley.

Will implement only Centre's Lokpal Bill, says Bahuguna
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said today that his government would only implement the Centre’s broad-based Lokpal Bill which was pending discussion in the Rajya Sabha. He alleged the Lokayukta Bill passed by the erstwhile BJP government was the handiwork of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) president Arvind Kejriwal and lawyer Prashant Bhushan.

“Let there be no doubts about the Congress government’s commitment to eradicate corruption. We will implement the Centre's Lokpal Bill as it is broad- based, to which social activist Anna Hazare has also given his approval. As the old Act has automatically been repealed, we have time till February 28 next year to bring in our own Bill. Even then, the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly has the power to repeal the Lokayukta Act that has received the presidential assent,” said Bahuguna, while talking to mediapersons here.

Bahuguna accused local BJP leaders of failing to brief BJP prime ministerial candidate Narindra Modi properly on several issues and tore into the leader’s claims made at his rally here yesterday.

"Local leaders did not do their homework properly. As a result, Modi made claims that were not based on truth. On the one hand, Modi accused us of failing to curb corruption while on the other hand he was defending yoga guru Ramdev on whom the government has served 81 revenue notices for occupying gram sabha land, changing land use and indulging in benami land transaction. Such doublespeak on corruption will not do,” said Bahuguna. Rebutting claims made by Modi yesterday that the state government had not done enough in the areas of generating power, Bahuguna said the BJP had itself failed to take steps for harnessing power during its five-year rule. “During the BJP rule, an average of 7,990 MU of power was generated, whereas in the past two years, since the Congress came to power, an average of 8,593 MU have been generated,” said Bahuguna.

He said his government had carried out an environmental impact assessment of 56 small power projects for undertaking a transparent bidding. A rehabilitation policy had also been framed for those affected by the construction of dams.

UKD plans to follow in footsteps of AAP
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 16
Accepting the vision, development-oriented and specific manifestos for each Assembly segment succesfuly implemented by anti-corruption party Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi Assembly elections, major regional outfit of the state, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, too, has decided to take a leaf out of the AAP methodology.

Uttarakhand Kranti Dal,which played pivotal role in generating separate Uttarakhand hill state movement since 80s ,is impressed with the Arvind Kejriwal-founded AAP and wants to outwit both Congress and BJP to emerge as the best option for voters of Uttarakhand.

On this, talking to TNS, central president of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal Trivendra Singh Pawar said that Delhi elections had shown that one need not cast vote turn by turn for Congress and BJP only, but regional parties can be voted to power for catering to local issues and development.

Pawar said that UKD will emerge as a major force in the next Assembly elections and will try to spread its base in all the 13 districts of the state.

He added that youths will be targeted as has been done by AAP as they are the future of the country and particularly in Uttarakhand, due lack of employment opportunities, youths in large numbers are leaving their homes to search for job avenues in other states.

Lashing out at BJP for spending crores of rupees for Narendra Modi rally, Pawar said that this huge amount could have been spent for disaster relief and rehabilitation works.

“Modi stated that not much has been done in Uttarakhand despite a decade of its inception. I ask him six years have been under the rule of BJP with three CMs being at the helm of affairs, are they not accountable for this,” said Pawar,who had contested from Tehri Lok Sabha seat in 2012 by election.

Meanwhile, attending a labour meeting at SIDCUL, Shivalik Nagar, Trivendra Singh Pawar demanded strict adherence of 70 per cent of reservation for inhabitants of Uttarakhand in the industries set up post- creation of Uttarakhand.

He said that without separate statehood agitation by UKD, SIDCUL industrial estate could not have come up but both Congress and BJP governments have failed to provide employment opportunities for local people.

Organisational secretary Anil Pokhriyal, Lok Sabha, Haridwar, candidate Verma, central secretary Uday Ram Semwal,district president Bal Singh Saini among others were also present at the labour meeting.

Polykids hold audience spellbound
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
The Polykids celebrated their 8th annual day at Survey auditorium today. The tiny tots regaled the audience with their mesmerising performances. Nearly, 300 students from seven branches of the school participated in the function that showcased acting, singing and dancing talent of the kids. Encouraged by the response from the audience the children performed on the famous songs including ‘Lungi dance’, ‘Mashaalla’, ‘Gangnam Style’, ‘Brazil’, ‘Indo-western dance’, ‘mowgli dance’ and ‘bhangra’.

Addressing the gathering, Harbans Kapoor, MLA and former speaker of the state Assembly said the preparatory schools had a bigger role to play in shaping the future of the children.

“The preparatory schools help in building the strong foundation of a child so that he is well prepared to face bigger opportunities in the future. The role of teachers is very important in shaping the children,” he added.

Mukul Mahendru, Ranjana Mahendru, Nandita Singh, Sandeep Singh and Poonam Nigam were also present on the occasion.

Guv: Lord Jesus gave message of peace
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
The Himalayan Torch Bearers in the city organised a Christman function here today. Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi was the chief guest on the occasion. He said Lord Jesus Christ had given the message of love, peace and compassion to the world and had suffered for the welfare of humanity.

Qureshi gave Christmas greetings to everyone present at the function and wished them a happy and a prosperous future.

Citing several similarities between Islam and Christianity, he said all religions teach lessons of love, peace and humanity.

He appreciated the Himalayan Torch Bearers for the work it was doing for educating the underprivileged children. Students of Moravian Institute School (Rajpur) sang Christmas carols on the occasion. Dr Satish John, director of the Himalayan Torch Bearers, presented the Governor with a memento and thanked him for his presence.

Dr Mathew Prasad, Vice-Chancellor of Uttarakhand Horticulture and Forestry University, was the special guest at the function.

Police distribute reflectors to motorists
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, December 16
Due to poor visibility owing to foggy condition in the city the police have started distributing and pasting reflectors on the auto-vikrams rickshaws. A social organisation has also come forward in the initiative taken by the police to help the personnel in distributing the reflectors. Till today, the reflectors were installed in more than 200 vehicles.

Superintendent of City Police Surjeet Singh Pawar along with Circle Officer Sadar Rajesh Bhatt were also present while distributing the reflectors.

City police Chief SS Pawar urged all auto-vikram rickshaws; trucks and private vehicle owners to ensure installation of the reflectors on their vehicles to make sure vehicles get spotted in foggy winter weather.

He cited a number of accident cases that occurred during the last year foggy winter season.

CO Rajesh Bhatt said the speed of the vehicles also needed to be restricted during the foggy weather. Rotary Club president Anshul Jain, project manager Pankaj Pandey, secretary Himanshu said the club had provided 200 odd reflectors to the police for Ranipur and Kankhal area auto-vikram rickhshaws.

DM: Ensure clean and peaceful conduct of panchayat poll
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Instructing the officials to ensure a clean and peaceful conduct of forthcoming panchayat elections in the state, District Election Officer and District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam asked the officials to complete the preparations at the earliest.

During a meeting at the collectorate hall here today, the DM sought the information on the district-level preparation for the polls.

The DM also discussed the restructuring of the panchyats based on the 2011 population census, and the effects pf the same.

The Chief Development Officer was asked to give requirement for the ballot boxes that would be utilised during the elections. The DM also asked to prepare the list of sensitive and ultra-sensitive polling booths, the list of the voters to be put up at each polling booth,route chart for the polling booths and the list of the booths that might get effected due to snowfall in January, February and March. 

Sensitisation programme on human rights for cops
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
A two-day state-level human rights sensitisation programme for police officers is going to be held in Dehradun on December 20 and 21. Supreme Court Judge Gyan Sudha Mishra will be the keynote speaker during the programme.

A number of senior Supreme Court advocates will also address the participating police officers in the programme and will speak on various issues related to human rights. Issues such as human rights of prisoners and undertrials, sexual harassment in workplace and rights of children will be discussed in detail during the programme. Reportedly, around 300 police officers are going to take part in the two-day sensitisation programme.

Tel Bhawan teams to vie for top slot
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, December 16
Tel Bhawan (Red) and Tel Bhawan (Green) entered the finals of ongoing ONGC inter-departmental football tournament after winning their respective semifinal matches played at Ambedkar football stadium here today.

Tel Bhawan (Red) trounced Security in the first semifinal by 3-2. For Tel Bhawan (Red), Kamal scored two goals whereas Sanjay Bhatt contributed one goal. On the other hand, Suresh Kumar and Balwant Singh netted one goal each for the Security football team.

In the second semifinal match, Tel Bhawan (Green) defeated Frontier Basin by 4-1. Sushil Badola scored two goals whereas Kishan Kumar and Manmohan Negi contributed a goal each for Tel Bhawan. For Frontier Basin Devendra Bist scored the lone goal.