Vikas Diwas sees flood of development projects
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
The state government today laid the foundation stones of 450 development projects worth Rs 1,600 crore while 150 projects worth Rs 203 crore were inaugurated across the state on the occasion of Vikas Diwas.

The stone-laying and inauguration ceremonies were presided over by various ministers.

Before leaving for Uttarkashi to lay the foundation stones of development projects, Chief Minister Harish Rawat told mediapersons here today that the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) and public representatives would monitor these projects.

He said in a move to decentralise the development process in the state, all SDMs had been empowered to initiate works up to Rs 1 crore in their areas in consultation with public representatives.

Eight areas falling in different flood-hit districts had been identified as special zones and the stretch from Rambara to Kedarnath had been declared a very special zone for the rehabilitation and reconstruction works.

Rawat said an official of the rank of Additional District Magistrate or Chief Development Officer would be deployed in each special zone with power to spend up to Rs 5 crore for taking up the rehabilitation and reconstruction works.

"We are hopeful that by May 5 the pedestrian path to the Kedarnath shrine will be ready," said Rawat. He added a blueprint for the reconstruction of a road between Rambara and Gaurikund had been drawn up and work on it would start soon depending on the weather conditions.

Rawat announced two incentive schemes for the meritorious students in the state. He said in the hill areas the schemes would be known as the Khushi Ram scheme while in the plains it would be called as the Sant Ravi Dass scheme.

He said all departments had been asked to provide the details of vacant posts by February 10. "I will be personally monitoring the situation," he said.

Rawat also announced to give 15 per cent weightage to Asha workers while filing the posts of nurse.

He said to provide better civic amenities to towns with a population of 500 in the hill areas and 5,000 in the plains, the authorities would be given money for better drainage, roads and infrastructure.

A sum of Rs 25 crore had already been earmarked as labour charges from the MNREGA scheme while the state government would contribute Rs 25 crore for the scheme.

POLITICAL DIARY
CM tries to unite factions in Cong ahead of LS poll
SMA Kazmi
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
New Chief Minister Harish Rawat is spreading a message of unity by involving leaders of all factions in the state Congress. After a bitter struggle for more than a decade, Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat was finally made the Chief Minister of the state on February 3. The compulsions of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections may have probably forced the party high command to change guard in Uttarakhand.

It was felt that former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna had failed to provide succour to the victims of the natural disaster that struck the state in June 2013 and it could have proved disastrous for the Congress in the parliamentary elections.

The party leadership felt that Harish Rawat, a mass-based political leader having support across the state, could turn the fortunes of the party in all five seats in the state.

The party had won all five Lok Sabha seats in 2009 but lost the Tehri Garhwal seat in the byelection in October 2012. The Tehri Garhwal seat had fallen vacant following resignation by Vijay Bahuguna after he was appointed the Chief Minister of the state.

Bahuguna's son Saket Bahuguna, who contested from the seat, lost to BJP candidate Maharani Raj Laxmi Shah of the erstwhile Tehri royal family.

Harish Rawat started earnestly knowing fully well the enormous task of good performance in the Lok Sabha elections. After taking over as Chief Minister, his first move was to mend the fences with his rivals.

He moved fast to placate Yashpal Arya. Arya had resigned as the state Congress chief two months ago but was asked to continue till a new president was announced. However, Rawat has reportedly made efforts to ensure that Arya continues as Congress president till the parliamentary elections. Being a shrewd politician, Harish Rawat wants to give a positive message to the Dalits, who form more than 20 per cent of the state population, by retaining Arya, a Dalit leader, till the elections.

Rawat has also been able to bring around other senior leaders, including Indira Hridayesh and Pritam Singh, who were also in the race for the post of Chief Minister. He has given due weightage to Hridayesh for her seniority and experience.

If the Congress under his leadership puts up a respectable show, he would not only strengthen his position in the state but would also decimate his political rivals within the party led by former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and Pauri Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj.

Twin sisters ready to scale Mount Puncak Jaya in Indonesia
Parwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
Twin sisters Tashi and Nungshi have their eyes firmly set on Puncak Jaya, the highest summit (4,884 metres) of Mount Carstensz Pyramid in the Sudirman range in the western central highlands of Papua province, Indonesia. With this aim they are now gearing up for the fifth expedition of their project Mission 247.

The 22-year-old twins believe that nothing can stop them from marking their names on the seven highest summits of the world. They have returned home after successfully scaling the arduous Mt Aconcagua in South America, which is also christened as ‘Death Mountain’ owing to its difficult terrain and extreme climatic conditions.

“We can’t wait to start our journey for the next summit, Mount Carstensz Pyramid. We intend to start for it on March 7 provided we get the sponsors. We have lost a lot of weight climbing the four summits and hence regaining weight and strength is our topmost priority at the moment,” said a visibly-excited Nungshi.

Speaking about the climb, Tashi said: “The climb is difficult as it is a steep vertical mountain. We have never undertaken rock climbing and hence we are expecting a lot of challenges and difficulties. However, the experience we gained from Mt Aconcagua will certainly help us in Indonesia.”

Daughters of an Army officer, they faced a lot of resistance from their mother in pursuing their cherished dream. “Just like any other mother, our mom too was reluctant to allow us to proceed on our journey. There was a showdown in our house when we expressed our desire to scale Mount Everest. But we pacified her. Now, she has full confidence in us and does not stop us any more,” said Nungshi.

The sisters said scaling Mt Aconcagua was indeed the most difficult of all summits attempted by them. “The journey from day one was difficult. In fact upon landing there we heard about the death of two mountaineers and it was quite shocking. However, it did not affect our frame of mind and after battling a lot of adversities, we managed to reach the summit and return safely,” they said. They now intend to climb the remaining two summits: Mount McKinley or Denali, the highest mountain peak in North America, and Vinson Massif, the highest mountain of Antarctica, by the end of this year.

Poor connectivity between forests threatens plant diversity: Scientists
Hinders movement of birds and animals; prevents dispersal of seeds
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
Poor connectivity between forest patches that hinders the movement of birds and animals is leading to disruption of the seed dispersal process in the forest areas around Dehradun and the Rajaji National Park. Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and the Nature Science Initiative (NSI), Dehradun, made this observation.

Studying the seed dispersal process in Dehradun and the Rajaji National Park, the research team found that a few plant seeds crossed over to villages and cities, which might have serious ramifications for the region. They fear that the breakdown of the seed dispersal process can significantly reduce the plant diversity in future.

Birds play an important role in pollination and the dispersal of plant species. Plants remain at a place for their lifetime and cannot move when environmental conditions become unsuitable. To motivate birds to transport seeds to other places where conditions are more conducive for their growth, plants have evolved a nutrition-rich fruit which attracts birds. Birds such as hornbills, bulbuls, barbets and mynas mostly eat the fruit and are responsible for the regeneration of many plants. However, poor connectivity between forest patches disrupts this seed dispersal process since the movement of small and large birds between forests gets disrupted. Dr Soumya Prasad, who led the IISc-NSI team, suggests to make cities, towns and villages more hospitable to birds by increasing green coven so that a variety of small and medium-sized birds such as hornbills, barbets and bulbuls could fulfil their food needs.

“As the environment conditions are likely to change in future, the movement of plants to other suitable areas is dependent on animals and birds. As the natural dispersal process is under threat, particularly in the ecologically sensitive Himalayan region, we need to actively propagate plant species across the Himalayas," Soumya Prasad said.

How does pollination take place?

Birds play an important role in pollination and the dispersal of plant species. Plants remain at a place for their lifetime and cannot move when environmental conditions become unsuitable. To motivate birds to transport seeds to other places where conditions are more conducive for their growth, plants have evolved a nutrition-rich fruit which attracts birds. Birds such as hornbills, bulbuls, barbets and mynas mostly eat the fruit and are responsible for the regeneration of many plants.

Ringside view
Harish Rawat makes a good start, allocates big funds for disaster-hit

The recent case of a senior Chief Minister Harish Rawat started on a good note by presenting a tax free and development-oriented Budget in the state Assembly and allocating a substantial amount for the disaster affected areas. Interestingly, former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna was conspicuous by his absence during the Assembly session.

Bahuguna was nowhere to be seen as he had left for the National Capital after Harish Rawat was sworn in as Chief Minister.

While all legislators are present in Dehradun due to the ongoing Budget session till February 21, Bahuguna has been missing. On February 8, Bahuguna visited his Sitarganj Assembly segment where a handful of his supporters welcomed him. Harish Rawat has reportedly won over even ministers considered to be close to Bahuguna.

Bahuguna, a former Bombay High Court judge, is considered to be an elitist and not a great political organiser unlike his late father Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna, who was one of the tallest Congress leaders of Uttar Pradesh.

With changed political equations, Harish Rawat has been making all out efforts to win over the supporters of his political rivals in the Uttarakhand Congress. It is true that there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics.

Banners eulogising Bahuguna go missing

It is a change that has changed the ways of Congress legislators and the party rank and file. A day before Harish Rawat took over as the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, all banners and posters that could earlier be seen eulogising Vijay Bahuguna went missing. Not a single banner or billboard that hada portrait of Vijay Bahuguna was left in capital Dehradun. Moreover, within few days there were billboards and banners all over the city praising Harish Rawat. Every possible space available was taken up by Congress leaders, who had put up posters trying to show their proximity to the new Chief Minister. Even those MLAs who were considered close to Vijay Bahuguna thought it better to desert him and express solidarity with Harish Rawat.

Interestingly, during his last few days in power, Vijay Bahuguna had handed over various posts that guaranteed pay and perks to Congress leaders. Even these leaders failed to openly express their gratitude to the outgoing Chief Minister and instead sang paeans in praise of Harish Rawat.

DGP gives up use of red light atop his car

Till now, the DGP used a red light atop his car. But after the recent government notification regarding the use of red and blue lights by select high dignitaries on their vehicles, the DGP had removed the red light from his vehicle. He, however, now uses a blue three-star board on his official car. Interestingly, after the DGP removed the red light from his vehicle, a police officer was sent to the Uttar Pradesh police headquarters in Lucknow to check the system being followed there for the vehicle of the DGP. It was reported that in Uttar Pradesh, the DGP’s car supports a blue three-star board after the use of the red light was given up there recently. Immediately, a suave three-star board was ordered and was placed atop of the DGP’s car in place of the red light. It is to be noted that the DGP’ car has three-star boards on both front and rear sides.

(Contributed by SMA Kazmi, Jotirmay Thapliyal and Gaurav Talwar)

Slum-dwellers protest stalling of housing project
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, February 9
The decision of the Mussoorie Municipal Council (MC) to stall a housing project being implemented under the Integrated Housing and Slums Development Programme has invited the wrath of slum-dwellers of the town. The MC has also cancelled the list of beneficiaries after a survey conducted under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) last year. Ninety-six flats were to be constructed near the Civil Hospital.

Slum-dwellers, led by trade union leader and former ward member Kedar Singh Chauhan, gathered at Picture Palace here today and burnt an effigy of MC president Manmohan Singh Mall as a mark of protest. The protesters accused Mall of indulging in corrupt practices and stalling the project due to vested interests.

Chauhan alleged that a proposal to construct 96 flats near the Civil Hospital was sanctioned during the tenure of the previous Municipal Council. However, the executing agency, UP Nirman Nigam, built only 25 flats and stopped further construction citing paucity of funds.

He said the cost of the project was shared by both state and Centre. The major amount was to be footed by the Centre, which had already released its share. However, the remaining share from the state was yet to be received. He accused the council president of embezzling funds. He alleged that the MC was planning to stall the existing project and begin another one in its place.

Chauhan has written a letter to the Central government and Congress national vice-president Rahul Gandhi demanding a thorough investigation in the matter as the lives of slum-dwellers were at stake.

On the other hand, Mall said the site chosen by the previous MC was not suitable for the construction of 96 flats. Hence, they were forced to shift the project elsewhere.

Mall said the MC would construct only 40 flats near the Civil Hospital and after receiving funds from the state, the remaining flats would be constructed in accordance with the Paudi Model, wherein slum-dwellers would be given money to build flats.

He admitted that the council had cancelled the list of beneficiaries of the project and given directions to prepare a fresh list.

Former MC president OP Uniyal, however, said the entire project was envisaged under JNNURM in association with the UP Nirman Nigam and the MC had no role in it.

Communal forces gained under Cong rule, says SP
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
Samajwadi Party spokesman and Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister Rajendra Chaudhary here today accused the Congress of strengthening the communal forces in the country. Addressing a press conference at the state Samajwadi Party office in Dehradun, Chaudhary held the Congress responsible for strengthening the communal forces in the country.

He alleged that the policies and programmes of the Congress had only strengthened the communal forces like Narendra Modi. He added the Centre was neck deep in corruption and inflation was at an all-time high leaving the country in disarray.

Chaudhary hoped the SP would win the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. He asserted that the people of Uttar Pradesh had time and again rejected communal politics.

He alleged that the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, was getting foreign funding for the Lok Sabha elections. He added the SP was seriously considering contesting the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand and was eager to represent the state in the Lok Sabha.

He added, “The SP considers Uttarakhand as a young brother and assures its assistance to the state in the relief and rehabilitation works for the Kedarnath disaster victims.” Chaudhary said Uttarakhand had failed to serve the purpose for which it was carved out. The fruits of development were still to reach the people in far-flung areas.

Another UP minister Rajpal Singh, Uttarakhand Samajawadi Party leaders Vinod Barthwal and SN Sachan were also present at the conference.

‘ONGC to augment oil exploration activities’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
After a recent setback in Sudan due to the closure of its operations, ONGC Limited is now looking forward to augment its oil and gas exploration activities in the country and overseas to cater to the growing energy needs of the country.

ONGC’s Exploration Director NK Verma told mediapersons at Tel Bhawan in Dehradun yesterday that ONGC was augmenting its exploration activities and had planned to identity 50 new blocks of shale gas in next six months.

Verma said, “With the fast pace of development, the requirement of energy has grown manifold in the country. In the eighties, we used to fulfil 80 per cent of the oil and gas requirement for the country, but today we cater to just 25 per cent of the oil and gas requirement.” He added exploring additional reserves was the need of the hour. He also said so far ONGC had made 13 hydrocarbon discoveries in various basins during 2013-14.

Verma said, “At ONGC we plan to take oil and gas production to 130 million metric tonnes (MMT) annually by 2030.” Referring to the closure of ONGC’s operations in Sudan, he added the internal strife and unrest at Sudan led to the closure of ONGC’s operations as the safety and security of its employees was threatened. About 1 MMT of annual oil and gas production had been lost due to the closure of operations. Verma said ONGC had made efforts to dig oil wells in Mohand and Kathgodam in Uttarakhand but got little success. ONGC’s Basin Manager DN Singh was also present at the conference.

Khyati confident of making a mark in Miss India contest
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, February 9
On a brief visit to Haridwar, Miss Uttarakhand Khyati Sharma said today, “Despite Uttarakhand lagging behind in infrastructure and other facilities, girls from the state are making a name for themselves in various fields like the civil and defence services, corporate sector, social causes, sports, adventure, politics or the field of glamour, owing to their determination, confidence, willpower to excel and talent.”

As she prepares for the upcoming Miss India beauty pageant scheduled to be held in March-April, Khyati told The Tribune she was confident about making it to the finalists, for which she had been preparing for the last six months.

A medical graduate, Khyati wants to take one step at a time. She is concentrating on modelling assignments and working on her personality skills to excel in the Miss India beauty pageant.

“By God’s grace, guidance of my parents, teachers, friends and people’s love, I hope to replicate my success as Miss Uttarakhand in the Miss India finals too,” said a confident Khyati.

Khyati said ace model-cum-celebrity Gauhar Khan was her role model in the glamour world and she felt great when young girls come to her for guidance. She added this made her more responsible to live up to the expectations of her fans and the celebrity status.

Determined towards charity and social work in the flash flood-affected regions of the hill state, Khyati urged the people to join hands and contribute as much as possible to the relief and rehabilitation works.

Rising crime against women
BJP women workers gherao police station
Tribune News Service

Haridwar February 9
Members of the BJP women cell today gheraoed Jwalapur police station in protest against the rise in crime against women in the city and demanded the arrest of culprits involved in the rape, murder and molestation cases in the recent past. Protesters also questioned the inability of the police to solve most of the cases of crime against women. Led by president of the district women unit Sanjana Sharma, the protesters forwarded a memorandum to the Circle Officer, City.

Sanjana referred the murder of a housewife by her husband at Lal Mandir, Jwalapur Colony, three days ago and said despite a clear proof of husband’s involvement the police had failed to arrest him.

Poonam Chauhan, district secretary of the cell, said the rape and murder of a class VII schoolgirl from Pherupur village, rape of a specially-abled teenager at Labour Colony, BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals), and recent eve teasing cases outside SIDCUL and educational institutes showed that the crime against women was on the rise.

Senior Sub Inspector Anuj Singh assured the protesters that the police would arrest the accused husband in a day or two as some vital clues had been obtained about his location.

Meanwhile, the district police have started a verification drive for tenants and employees working in industrial firms based at the Integrated Industrial Estate at SIDCUL.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Haridwar, Rajeev Swarup have made Station House Officers of various police stations in charge of the verification drive.

Sports
Sunbury club beat Agriculture Eleven
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
Sunbury Cricket Club defeated Agriculture Eleven by 143 runs in a match during the 62nd Dehradun District Cricket League here today. Sunbury Cricket Club won the toss and elected to bat first. The team displayed a brilliant batting performance and scored 201 runs. Opener Ankit remained the highest scorer with 54 runs, while Sidhanth scored 43 runs.

In reply, Agriculture Eleven was bowled out at 62 runs. Vipin and Rana scored 10 runs with no other player even reaching the double digit mark.

ITM trounce Doon Champs by 9 wickets In a one-sided encounter, Institute of Technology Management (ITM) defeated Doon Champs by 9 wickets in the ongoing HN Bahuguna Memorial Glocal Dehradun Premier League (DPL), played at Global school here today.

After being put into bat first, Doon Champs scored 130 runs with Rahul scoring highest 53 runs. For ITM, Kanhama Prasad took 4 wickets and Chetan Vats took 2 wickets. Chasing the target, ITM batsmen achieved the target at the loss of 1 wicket. Sahzad Ahmed remained the highest scorer with 79 runs and Amit Chandel scored 39 runs.

In the second match, Doon Warriors beat The Emperors by 10 runs. Batting first, Doon Warriors scored 110 runs with Vibhanshu scoring 28 runs and Sourabh 18 runs. In reply, The Emperors, started the innings well but lost the plot in the middle overs as the whole middle order got out cheaply and lost the match by 10 runs. Only Aaas and Sohail showed some resistance and scored 21 and 19 runs respectively.

In other matches, The Lethal defeated Blue Star by 7 wickets whereas Uttarakhand Lions won its match against Khalsa cricket club by 4 wickets. Tanush Cricket Academy defeated UIT by 119 runs.

Solving murder cases new SSP’s priority
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
Within 48 hours of taking over as the new SSP of Dehradun, Ajay Rautela has started making efforts to solve the pending murder cases. Sources said Rautela held a series of meetings with the officials of the Homicide Cell, the Special Operation Group (SOG) and police stations concerned to discuss the intricacies of the unsolved murder cases.

Reportedly, the police are still clueless about the Neeru Saini, Rajesh Kumar, Devesh Kamboj and Sanjay Nagar murder cases. These murders took place in Dehradun in the last six months and Rautela had sought details of the investigations done in such cases.

The new SSP is known for solving complex cases and his rich experience of working in places like Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit and many other crime-prone districts of Uttar Pradesh will surely come handy in solving the murder cases here.

Rautela has also sought information about the noted criminals active in the city and how many of them have been arrested. According to police sources, the SSP also gave important tips to officials about crime investigation and how a small evidence could prove helpful in solving a case.

Women exhorted to contest panchayat polls

Dehradun, February 9
State Election Commissioner Suverdhan yesterday exhorted prospective women candidates to make their presence felt in the coming panchayat elections, where 50 per cent of the seats had been reserved for them.

Suverdhan was speaking at a consultative interactive meet organised by the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK). He said, “The hill women work harder than men and are the backbone of Uttarakhand’s economy. They should take active part in the panchayat elections and contest from both reserved and general seats.”

He said the concept of ‘pati pradhan’ should be discouraged and husbands should allow their wives, once they don the role of a pradhan, to actively participate in decision making.

More than 116 prospective women candidates from the Raipur, Doiwala and Sahaspur blocks of Dehradun district and the Jaunpur (Thatyur) block of Tehri district attended the one-day meet . — TNS

Ganesh Joshi lays foundation stone of Bailey bridge
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, February 9
Ganesh Joshi, MLA, Mussoorie, laid the foundation stone of the Bailey bridge to be constructed in the Karligad-Shastradhara area today. The bridge was damaged due to the natural disaster last year. Local residents had been demanding the reconstruction of the bridge for the past eight months as they were finding it difficult to travel from one side to another.

Joshi broke the ceremonial coconut and said he had been struggling for the past several months to get funds allocated for the bridge and his struggle had paid off as Rs 82 lakh had been sanctioned for the bridge.

He added the officials had assured him that the work would be completed in two months.

Joshi said a government order had also been issued for the construction of a bridge on the Kali-Rau river, near Shastradhara, as announced by the former state Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna last month.

The members of the gram panchayat thanked Joshi and the state government for fulfilling their long-standing demand of a bridge.

Cong extended working committee to meet on Feb 15
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, February 9
Suryakant Dhasmana, vice-president of the Uttarakhand Congress, told mediapersons at Congress Bhawan here yesterday that on the direction of State Congress president Yashpal Arya the meeting of the extended working committee of the Uttarakhand Congress would be held in Dehradun on February 15. He added that the proposals linked to the forthcoming panchayat and Lok Sabha elections would be taken up for discussion at the meeting.

Dhasmana said proposals for the membership drive and the constitution of booth-level committees would also be discussed. He added Yashpal Arya, Chief Minister Harish Rawat and former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, all legislators and district unit presidents, all Congress candidates of the 2012 Assembly elections would attend the meeting. Dhasmana welcomed the Budget saying that Congress-led government had ensured that no new taxes were levied on the people. The Budget had efficiently tried to narrow down the widening gap between plan and non-plan expenditures, he added.