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Staff nurses go on strike, patients left in the lurch
Tourists throng Mussoorie for New Year bash
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2013 Review Mussoorie
2013 Review In the lurch
Almora MP asks Sonia for quick release of hill-state funds
BJP demands restoration of scrapped Zila Parishad seat
Skill development programme ends
Ajay Bhatt submits memo on Thukral to Bahuguna
Residents seek home delivery of LPG gas cylinders
Pratap terms BJP dharna as ‘a drama’
Man dies after being attacked by wild dogs
football tournament
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Staff nurses go on strike, patients left in the lurch
Dehradun, December 31 Giving details of the meeting held here today, Laxmi Punetha, Vice-President, UNCA, said after listening to the demands, Principal Secretary Om Prakash assured the agitating nurses of fulfilling their demands by January 31. Puneth said, “The Principal Secretary has said a proposal will be sent to the finance department for approval. Even though he requested us to resume the services and call off the strike, we have decided to go ahead with the strike until a government order is issued accepting our demands.” Around 1,400 nurses across the state have boycotted work at the state-run hospitals, leaving the patients in lurch. The association has set a deadline of January 6 for the acceptance of their demands else they will proceed on an indefinite strike. The demands raised by the nurses include the payment of arrears under the Sixth Pay Commission from January 2008 onwards, the appointment of nurses at Doon Hospital in accordance with the norms laid down by the Indian Nursing Council, payment of conveyance allowance at Rs 500 per month and formation of a directorate for the nurses. Meanwhile, on the second day of the strike, a lot of inconvenience was caused to the patients as well as the doctors at the Doon Hospital. Requesting anonymity, a senior doctor, said, “We are facing lots of problems in the absence of our regular staff nurses. Though additional staff has been called from the adjoining areas of Dehradun, it is becoming difficult to tell them about each and every aspect of the hospital’s working and requirement of the patients admitted in various wards.” The Women Hospital was the worst-affected as relatives were seen looking after the patients admitted. One such family member of a patient admitted for delivery, Kaisar Jahan, said, “Though my family is doing their best, but certain things and procedures can be done only by a trained nurse. It is becoming difficult for the general ward patients in the absence of these nurses. The ones admitted to the VIP wards and private rooms are well taken care of by the temporary nurses called in by the hospital staff.” |
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Tourists throng Mussoorie for New Year bash
Mussoorie, December 31 The hoteliers who have suffered economically due to the mid-June disaster also welcomed tourists with open arms and offered various packages, including dinning and partying at nominal costs resulting in full house at Mussoorie. The mad rush at Mussoorie forced several tourists to head for another tourist destination 21 km away from Mussoorie where they enjoyed the New Year playing with the snow by making snowballs and throwing them at each other. Balloons and decorative masks were also in demand as people wore them in order to greet each other on New Year. Eminent authors of the town, namely Ruskin Bond, Ganesh Saili and Stephen Alter, celebrated New Year close doors with their
family members. Celebrities such as eminent Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi, who is here with his family, celebrated New Year remaining indoors due to the foggy and cold weather. Ruskin Bond and Ganesh Shaili extending New Year greetings resolved to keep working and writing more books for his fans in 2014. Ruskin Bond said that he was looking forward to New Year as a number of his books were set to be released in the first half of 2014. The administration also was fully prepared for the mad rush of tourists to Mussoorie, who began arriving in hoards since morning in the “Queen of hills” to celebrate the New Year here. The police has already increased vigil at all vantage points in the town to avoid any untoward incident today. Two platoons of the PAC were deployed along with several traffic sub-inspectors to manage the traffic. The vehicular movement would remain prohibited till tomorrow at Mall Road, said the police. The dip in temperature brought cheers on the faces of liquor vendors as they did brisk business the whole day with large number of revellers stocking large amounts of liquor. |
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Roller-coaster year ends with positive note
Ajay Ramola Tribune News Service
Mussoorie, December 31 The year started with fresh spell of snow and hail bringing delight on the faces of the tourists and the residents alike in the month of January, which was followed Mussoorie Municipal Council, which was facing a financial crunch, receiving a boost with the arrival of state government grant worth Rs 2.69 crore for the development of the town much to the delight of the president and the ward members in month of January. However, the euphoria was short-lived with Vigilance enquiry being set up against the incumbent Municipal Council headed OP Uniyal, MC president then. The state government directed the Vigilance Department to conduct an inquiry against the Municipal Council of Mussoorie in the wake of the reports being received by the government about rampant irregularities committed in the works such as increasing the ticket prices at Company Garden illegally, illegal construction of food court, shops at Company Garden owned by the Municipal Council, the irregularities in tender processes, etc. February also witnessed several tragic incidents such as a tourist falling from the gorge at Mussoorie-Dehradun road resulting in his death along with several vehicle collision cases which resulted in a dip in the morale of the people. Education also suffered at Municipal Postgraduate College as 10 posts lying vacant since past several decades remained vacant despite several reminders whole year. The month also saw the expansion of BJP local unit executive panel where Mohan Petwal and Khem Bhadur were elected for the post of vice-president respectively. The announcement of the reconstruction of the clock tower and the town hall in the month of March also did not materialise the whole year. The year also witnessed protests against the announcement of eco-sensitive zone around the Mussoorie wildlife park, also known as Benog mountain quail sanctuary, that resulted in large scale protest by the affected residents here. The status of the eco sensitive was relaxed later in the year due to the massive protest by the department. The year also saw the change in guard at Municipal Council with people voting out the incumbent OP Uniyal from BJP and bringing in Manmohan Singh Mall from Congress as the new MC President. Mussoorie suffered after the local tourism industry was crippled due to the mid-June flash flood incidents that resulted in loss of life at Kedarnath and other areas and the image of the state dipping to the lowest ebb. The Independence Day incident witnessed a brawl between the local BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi and Congress MC president Manmohan Singh over the hoisting of the National Flag at Gandhi Chowk and was publicised widely in the world wide media. It brought discredit to the town forcing the duo to apologise for the act publicly. The year saw the new local unit Congress president Satish Dhaundiyal being elected for the post after 17 years. However, the year ended on positive note due to the out of box efforts of the DM, Dehradun, BVRC Purshotam, by organising Winterline Carnival from 27th Decemebr to boost tourism and restore confidence among the tourists who had been staying away after the mid-June disaster this year. The carnival saw the celebrities like eminent Bollywood singer Shivani kashyap, bobby Cash, Arijit Singh of Ashiqi 2 fame, Country musician Bobby Cash, Shaiv Mani the renowned drummer and actors such as Vivek Oberoi, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Jimmy Shergil performing at the carnival venue resulting in the increase in number of the tourists much to the delight of the local business community which had gob nein slumber due to the failing economy. The hoteliers, administration, traders and the local residents buoyed with the success of the Winterline Carnival hoped that the New Year would bring prosperity and joy.
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The Himalayan tragedy hit Haridwar in a big way
Floating bodies in Ganga created panic among people Sandeep Rawat Tribune News Service
Haridwar, December 31 Floating bodies in the Ganga coming from higher reaches of Himalaya post flash floods created panic as local people and pilgrims hesitated in drinking and offering rituals at holy Ganga river due to these bodies. For the rescued pilgrims, devotees and local people, the government as well as social-religious foundations put up free lodging and food facilities in Haridwar and Rishikesh. Dozens of ashrams accommodated thousands of these rescued pilgrims from Kedarnath valley, Shri Badrinath Dham, Shri Hemkund Sahib and other parts of Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pauri Garwhal and Tehri Garhwal districts. As pilgrims stuck in Garhwal hills from almost every state, chief ministers, Cabinet minister and political leaders arrived in Haridwar to extend help and know about the condition of the pilgrims. Apart from Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna,Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde,Gujarat CM Narendra Modi,ex-CM, Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot, Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hudda,Union Minister Ambika Soni ,ex Madhya Pradesh CM Uma Bharati, Union Minister Oscar Fernandes,a large number of other CMs, Cabinet ministers from the affected states arrived in Haridwar to review the post flash floods situation and relief camps. Meanwhile, a mega tribute paying rites titled ''Maha Shraddhanjali,'' was organised by Shri Badrinath and Kedarnath Temple Committee in support of Ganga Sabha, Haridwar, to pray for the souls of the deceased who died in the flash floods in Uttarakhand. People from different walks of life participated in the havan-yagna to pay tributes to the deceased and pray for the speedy recovery of the affected people, along side the holy Ganga river. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, Pauri Garhwal parliamentarian Satpal Maharaj, Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat along with Shri Badri-Kedarnath Temple committee members offered rituals at Braham Kund,Har-ki-Pauri. Shantikunj also held a special ritual for the deceased as per Shantikunj officials. More than 1 crore Shantikunj volunteers, activists, students, followers and enrolled members took part in this mass special prayer nationwide. Haridwar gets National Disaster Response Force battalion
For past three years Haridwar has been facing flood threat as a result of which establishing of National Disaster Response Force battalion at Sarai v illage in the district has evoked hopes of quick rescue and relief operations during floods. Also this battalion will be quite useful in natural disasters in the hill state, particularly in hill districts keeping in mind the lack of it during the June flash flood. First ever girls’
union election
For the first time in the history of Gurukul Kangri University, Women college elections for the Girls union were held. Girl students were
given maiden rights to cast vote in its five decade history. Girl students had carried out agitation against University management for past two years to
allow them to vote during student elections.Neha Kumari became the first girl’s student union president
of the Kanya Mahavidyalya, Gurukul. City gets first mayor after elevation to MC
Haridwar Municipal Committee got elevated to status of Municipal Corporation this year, with Manoj Garg getting the honour of becoming first Mayor of the corporation. On May 5th the maiden Municipal Corporation came into existence, with Mayor and 30 councilors taking oath. On May 20, 2011 state government had elevated the civic body to Corporation, but the matter hanged in High court for exactly two years. Haridwar gets first woman District Magistrate
BHEL gets industrial estate status
Nav Ratna recipient public sector major undertaking Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited,Ranipur, got elevated to coveted Maha Ratna status. Also the BHEL got the industrial estate status from the Union government which made the civil administrative intervention in
BHEL township ceased and BHEL administration getting all rights of administrative management in BHEL,which was set up in 60’s. City girl wins bronze in hockey International fame was brought to Haridwar by Vandana Kataria, who scored a hat trick in the Women Junior World Cup Hockey held at
Monchen Gladbac, Germany.Kataria, who lives in Haridwar honed her skills in local play grounds and also became the third highest goal scorer of the World Cup tournament. Since Vandana’s rise ,hockey has got a major boost in the district, with this week only Gurukul Kangri University boys team winning the coveted 82nd All India
Swami Shraddhanand Hockey National Tournament for the first time in the 82 year history of this prestigious hockey tournament-which is the second oldest hockey tournament in the country. |
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Over 600 displaced families face a bleak future
BD Kasniyal Our Correspondent
Pithoragarh, December 31 According to sources close to the villagers, nearly 560 families of disaster victims from highly affected areas of Sobla, Khet Darma valley, Jauljibi and Baram valley are still living either in rented houses or in tent colonies or government houses provided by the administration. ''Some more families are to be introduced in the list as they have not been identified as disaster victims by the authorities due to negligent attitude,'' said Aan Singh Rokaya, a political worker in Dharchula areas. Rokaya said that the victims have no hope of permanent settlement in the year 2014 as even the land has not been identified for their settlement yet. ''We have six teams of geologists working to identify land suitable to make permanent houses for the victims. After this exercise, the allotment will be made to the victims,'' said Pramod Kumar, SDM of Dharchula. Most of the victims were having agriculture, animal husbandry and sheep rearing as their occupation, which had been affected by the rain fury of June 2013. Thousands of pet animals had perished, fertile lands had been swept away by flash floods and pastures had become inaccessible due to broken routes in the higher regions of the area. ''Our traditional occupation of sheep rearing, animal husbandry and cultivation of cash crops like potato, and rajma (a local bean) and other vegetables which we used to sell in the local market has been completely destroyed after the disaster,'' said Kishen Singh Phirmal, a resident of Darma valley, who now lives in a rented house in Dharchula after the disaster in June 2013. The administrative sources have said that at present only 30 families are living in tented accommodations. In Dharchula, rest of the victim families are being given a monthly rent of Rs 3000 per family till they get permanent residentship. ''At present, we are surveying the land for permanent construction, which will follow construction of permanent houses for the victims,'' said Parmod Kumar, SDM of Dharchula. According to the victims, the New Year has come with a tough struggle for them as they will have to fight for existence.The government has announced free house rent for all victims only up to March 2014. ''What will happen to us after that is not known as our houses are not likely to be constructed till then,'' said Kishan Singh Phirmal.
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Almora MP asks Sonia for quick release of hill-state funds
Pithoragarh, December 31 In a letter written to the UPA chairperson last week, Tamta requested Sonia Gandhi to take an initiative so that the reports were presented at the Prime Minister’s Office, and further put before the Cabinet for a final nod to release the required amount for the hill states, as recommended by the committee. In his letter, Tamta said, “This move will benefit the Congress as most of these states are being run by the party.” He added, “The parliamentary committee, in its report, has recommended that besides compensating the hill states of the country for their environmental services to the nation, relaxation in forest laws should also be granted on the lines of relaxation given to Naxal-infested states of India. This can increase the pace of development in the fields of infrastructure, livelihood and human development index, in all such states.” Citing the parliamentary committee report, Tamta said an annual transfer of 2% of gross budgetary support to the hill states by the Centre, would amount to Rs 10,000 crore for the balance of 12th plan period. This would be a huge boost for the hill states of the country, which would help create the required infrastructure for livelihood and human development index, ensuring speedy development of the hill states of India.” |
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BJP demands restoration of scrapped Zila Parishad seat
Pithoragarh, December 31 Kishen Singh Bhandari, president of the Pithoragarh unit of BJP, said, “Administrative machinery has done a great
damage to the causes of Dalit women, by scrapping a Zila Panchayat seat, reserved for Dalit women in earlier dispensation of Panchayat seats in the district.” According to district administrative sources, the district witnessed reduction of five block panchayat seats and one district panchayat seat after the relocation. District Panchayati Raj officer BS Dukatal, said, “The district, which
had 34 Zila Panchayat seats before relocation will now have 33 Zila Panchayat seats, 694
Gram Pradhan seats, and 294 block development committee seats, after relocation.” In Champawat district an increase of four seats was witnessed for
block development committees while the Zila Panchayat seats remained untouched at 15. District magistrate of Champawat Deprendra Kumar Chuddar, said, “We have invited objections from the people till
today. After this the final declaration of seats will be made on January 2, 2014.” |
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State-level Sanskrit competition from Jan 2
Haridwar, December 31 Various events will be held in 22 categories. The winners will be directly eligible for the National Sanskrit Championship to be held at Bhopal based campus of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan. Jha said intimation-cum-entry invitation was send to all Sanskrit Universities and Colleges based in Uttarakhand three months in prior, so that they could prepare for the event in time. He said the winners of all the events at the national competition will be accorded with a cash prize of Rs 10,000, Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. Revered guru 1008 Swami Shyam Sunder Das Maharaj of Garibdasiya ashram will preside over the function. Jagad
Guru Shankarachaya Shri Raj Rajeshwaram Maharaj of Jagadguru Peethadeeshwar will be the chief guest on the occasion along with Ved Prakash Shastri, vice-chancellor of Gurukul Kangri University and
Dr Suresh Charan Bahuguna, secretary of Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy. Pankaj Upreti, student’s union representative, said accommodation, eatery and other facilities will be provided to the
participating students. |
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Skill development programme ends
Mussoorie, December 31 Secretary of the Garhwal Vikas Kendra, speaking on the occasion said the organisation by imparting training to visually challenged persons would continue to work towards their empowerment and sustainable development in future too. During the training programme, participants were told about the National Employment Guarantee Scheme, and were also informed about the procedure to get special passes for travelling in buses and trains. The workshop was aimed at educating visually challenged persons to be independent and self-employed. |
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Science exhibition at DAV School draws huge crowd
Haridwar, December 31 SP Surjeet Singh Pawar and ADM Jeevan Singh Nangiyal, who visited
the school yesterday, were all praise for the efforts put in by the participating students. They said such events helped students showing their hidden talent
and creativity. Principal PC Purohit said more than 200 models were on display. They had been prepared by students from classes I till XII. Namrata, a mathematics teacher, said students had prepared models on theorems and formulae. Shruti Shukla, a class VIII student, who has prepared a model on a pythagoras theorem,
said via such presentations, any difficult |subject could be made interesting. During a regional competition held at Bengaluru recetly, the DAV, Haridwar, team had won the best presentation and best team work awards. |
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Falling temperatures set cash registers ringing
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 31 Suresh Kumar, a stall owner from Chamoli district in Uttarakhand, said, “Though we saw a regular stream of customers to our stall ever since the expo opened, but the footfall almost tripled in the last two days following a sudden dip in temperature.” Handmade sweaters, socks, caps and coats along with jackets made out of the famous tweed fabric, are raking in the moolah thanks to the sharp fall in temperature. Apart from the stall housing winter clothing, the expo has stalls from states including Assam, West Bengal, Orissa, Karnataka, Bihar and Kashmir.
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Ajay Bhatt submits memo on Thukral to Bahuguna
Dehradun, December 31 Bhatt alleged that Rajkumar Thukral had been falsely implicated in the murder case during Rudrapur riots in October 2010. Rajkumar Thukral has been absconding and the court has ordered attachment of his property, which was done a few days ago. Ajay Bhatt further said that there were two contradictory reports of murder of one Zaki Ahmed, and Rajkumar Thukral has been implicated in the case due to political vendetta. He urged Chief Minister Bahuguna to either withdraw the case against him or hand over the case to the CBI for further probe. He threatened that Uttarakhand BJP would wait for a week before embarking on an agitation if the state Congress government failed to withdraw the case against the BJP legislator. |
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Residents seek home delivery of LPG gas cylinders
Dehradun, December 31 Threatening to intensify their agitation, the protesters gave a two weeks ultimatum to the District Supplies Officer of fulfilling their demands. The protesters said that despite repeated requests the DSO had failed to listen to their demand, as a result of which the villagers are displeased. Demanding an additional government ration shop, the protesters said that the population of the village has increased by manifold and it is becoming difficult to manage with only one shop. Those who were present in the demonstration included NK Gusain, Mohan Singh Rawat, Inder Singh Negi, Rani Bahuguna, Hira Singh and Shamshad Ali along with several others. |
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Pratap terms BJP dharna as ‘a drama’
Dehradun, December 31 He said the law was taking its own course in the case involving the BJP legislator, so the BJP should not raise fingers against the law. “The state BJP leaders are putting illegal pressure on the government and the law enforcing agencies, which shows its character,” he added.
— TNS |
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Man dies after being attacked by wild dogs
Mussoorie, December 31 The Mussoorie police rushed to the spot and found the mutilated body. The police have identified the deceased as Lakhwinder Singh, a resident of Kishan Nagar, Delhi, and sent his body for post mortem. The police sources said Lakhwinder Singh was a driver by profession with a local building contractor. While climbing down the stairs of his room, he slipped and fell on the ground below. The wild dogs of the area attacked him and gouged his body. They have demanded immediate action to safeguard them from the frequent attack by dogs in the near future.
— TNS |
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Adhoiwala, Tapowan enter next round
Dehradun, December 31 The sole goal of the match was scored by Akash for Adhoiwala team. In the second match, with zero score the match was decided as a tie breaker. Tapovan thus beat Raipur with a score of 5-4 in its favour. — TNS
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In 13 years of state formation Haridwar district got its first woman DM in Nidhi Pandey on May 22. Prior to her in erstwhile Uttar Pradesh district Haridwar had Aradhna Shukla as woman DM. Nidhi Pandey after
taking charge has initiated a green plantation drive to make Haridwar greener, holding
regular junta durbar and due to her honest working style has put the administrative system in
right gear. 