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Riverbeds yet to be cleared
of dumped garbage
Despite Act, utilisation of funds for
SCs' welfare ‘very low’
Govt signs MoU with PTC, DCS
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Doon lawyers urge CM to transfer Haridwar SSP
Lawyers demonstrate outside the DM office in Dehradun on Thursday. Tribune photo: Abhyudaya Kotnala
RTO staff strike work for second day
Assembly session
Cabinet meetings when Assembly in session breach of rules: Bhatt
Youngsters make a beeline for registration at Employment Office
Police commissionerate in Haridwar needed: CM
Chief Minister Harish Rawat gives a patient hearing to the issues of the people at the Bijapur guest house in Dehradun
on Thursday. A Tribune photograph
Special team combs forests to trace poachers
Shiksha mitras hold protest
Husbands spearhead panchayat poll campaign for women candidates
DM inspects inner roads, directs officials to improve condition
Youth Congress gears up for Rahul Gandhi’s Doon rally
Chief Minister Harish Rawat inspects the preparations at the Parade Ground for Rahul Gandhi’s upcoming rally, in Dehradun on Thursday. Tribune photo: Abhyudaya Kotnala
AAP holds 'jhadu yatra' to sweep away corruption
Cabinet minister's effigy burnt
Fatal fall
Akhil Infra Allahabad win in a nail-biting contest, enter semis
Three ivory smugglers booked
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Riverbeds yet to be cleared
of dumped garbage
Dehradun, February 20 Under the project called ''Clean rivers,'' a brainchild of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and backed by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), the dry riverbeds of three prominent seasonal rivers, Rispana, Bindaal and Choti Bindaal, were to be cleared of the garbage dumped by the occupants around the area. The move had drawn a lot of flak, especially from the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, who had termed the project as wastage of public funds as the riverbeds get cleaned twice a year during the rains. Ten days after the project was launched, amidst a lot of pomp and show by the MDDA and Cabinet ministers, a visit to the site presents a grim picture. Even bigger piles of garbage are back on the riverbed that was cleaned 10 days ago by a group of six-seven daily wagers. Admitting that the situation would not change despite every possible step, MDDA secretary Banshidhar Tiwari said that until and unless the public is made aware of the danger dumping of garbage, nothing much is going to change. ''We are aware that garbage has accumulated at all the places that were cleared by us a few days back. We are helpless and unless some permanent measure is adopted to stop the dumping, the situation would continue to linger on. We have spent around Rs 2 lakh till now, which includes the wages paid to the workers and the equipment used for the garbage,'' he added. ''Now we have decided to release tenders for the mining in the rivers so that there is some solution to the problem. The tenders would be opened on February 24,'' he said. Meanwhile, terming the entire operation to be a way for bungling the funds, DMC Mayor Vinod Chamoli said that the entire project was launched with the sole aim of bungling funds and paving way for a mass level corruption. ''In the first place the decision of the CM was immature. When the rivers get cleaned on their own twice every year, what was the need of launching the project? Also, until a permanent plan is devised and methodology adopted, just by hand-picking the garbage, rivers will not get cleaned,'' he added.
The project * The project aimed at cleaning dry riverbeds of prominent seasonal rivers Rispana, Bindaal and Choti Bindaal *
Even after spending an approximate Rs 2 lakh on cleaning the dry rivedbed of Rispana in the last 10 days, the scenario remains the same *
The project was the brainchild of Chief Minister Harish Rawat and was backed by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority
(MDDA)
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Despite Act, utilisation of funds for
SCs' welfare ‘very low’
Dehradun, February 20 Most of the funds sanctioned under the SC subcomponent plan go towards building infrastructure in SC population-dominated villages. Under the Act brought during the rule of erstwhile Bahuguna government, there is provision for criminal action on officials found guilty of diversion of funds or failure of utilisation of funds. But as things stand today, the Act has not proved a deterrent. With no schemes to boost, the allocation of funds under special component plan for the members of SC and ST communities in the hill districts has remained low in the last couple of years. Interestingly, in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 identical sanctions of Rs 500 lakh were made for all the 13 districts. In 2011-2012 Rs 500 lakh was sanctioned out of which the different districts were able to spend Rs 38.47 lakh each. In 2012-2013 zero sanctions were made for the districts of Pauri, Chamoli, Rudraprayag and Nainital. Though in district of Pauri the population of SC members stands at 1,22,361, in Chamoli the total population of SC members is 79,317 and in Rudraprayag the total population of SC members is 47,679. A sum of Rs 2999.70 lakh was sanctioned under the plan for 2012-2013. Highest sanctions in the range of Rs 1709.38 lakh were made for the district of Haridwar, followed by Rs 488.33 lakh for Udham Singh Nagar district. There are 13 districts for which Rs 5035.44 lakh was sanctioned in 2007-2008, Rs 1555.79 lakh was sanctioned in 2008-2009, Rs 444.21 lakh was sanctioned in 2009-2010, Rs 500 lakh in 2010-2011, Rs 500 lakh in 2011-2012 and Rs 2999.70 lakh in 2012-2013. |
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Dehradun, February 20 Engineering colleges at Dwarhaat, Pauri, Pant Nagar and Pitthoragarh besides polytechnics of Kaladhungi and Haridwar will be developed as centre of excellence under the agreement. "There is a need to train the youth according to the need of the market. The state government has also started taking steps in the direction. We hope that the students of these selected institutes will benefit from the agreement and would secure better placements,"he said.Shailesh Bagoli said under the corporate social responsibility, the companies would invest Rs 800 crore to develop the engineering colleges and polytechnics as centres of excellence. — TNS |
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Doon lawyers urge CM to transfer Haridwar SSP
Dehradun, February 20 On February 7, over 100 villagers reached the district courts in Haridwar and allegedly assaulted and injured lawyers sitting there. The villagers were angry over a road accident involving a lawyer and a fellow villager. Meanwhile, the police registered cases against the villagers, who had created a ruckus on the court premises, and a counter FIR against the lawyers, angering the latter. The lawyers are demanding the transfer of the SSP, Haridwar, and quashing of the FIR against their colleagues. They blame the Haridwar police for registering false cases against them . |
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RTO staff strike work for second day
Dehradun, February 20 The agitated employees gathered at the RTO campus in the morning today where they resorted to sloganeering against the state government. The protesters alleged that despite several assurances from the state government their long standing demand for better promotional opportunities had not been addressed. They alleged that RTO employees were facing stagnation due to lack of promotional opportunities. .— TNS |
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Assembly session
Dehradun, February 20 The remaining business of the House was conducted amid commotion and eventually the House was adjourned sine die. As soon as the proceedings for the day began, leader of the Opposition in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly Ajay Bhatt raised the demand of allowing discussion under Rule 310, on the issue. Bhatt said, “The issue pertains to the Minister and ‘conflict of interest,’ ministers should be above board and should not be moved by self-interest. But in this case the Minister who was heading an important portfolio of the Horticulture department indulged in corrupt practises. We demand a CBI enquiry into the episode and till the time the enquiry is on, the cabinet minister should tender her resignation,” said Bhatt. But the Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal did not concede to the Opposition’s demand and instead said he would allow discussion only under Rule 58, which incensed the Opposition MLAs who trooped inside the Well of the House carrying placards. Soon the House erupted with members sloganeering and a few paper balls were hurled by the MLAs forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House thrice. Finally, when the House convened at 12.45pm, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hridayesh tabled the Finance Accounts (2012-2013) of the Uttarakhand government prepared by the Comptroller Auditor General. Three bills comprising Uttarakhand Ayurvedic University (amendment) Bill, 2014; Uttarakhand Contingency Fund (amendment) Bill, 2014; Uttarkhand Municipal Board (amendment) Bill, 2014 and Uttarakhand Municipal Corporation (amendment) Bill 2014 were tabled during the session. CAG report points to improper budgetary control by govt Dehradun: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India while compiling the financial accounts of the Uttarakhand Government for March 2013 has once again pointed towards the deliberate delay in submitting abstract contingency bills and utilization certificates, revealing inadequate budgetary control. The CAG in its report "Finance Accounts (2012-2013)", which was tabled on today, pointed out that by March 2013, the office of the Principal Accountant General (A and E) had not received 269 detailed contingency bills amounting to Rs 30.43 crore. It said the drawing and disbursing officers were authorised to draw money by preparing abstract contingency bills by debiting service heads and were required to present detailed contingency bills (vouchers in support of final expenditure) within 30 days. Similarly, delay has also occurred while issuing utilisation certificates. In the absence of the utilisation certificates, it is unclear whether the grant-in aid was utilised for the intended purposes. — TNS
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Cabinet meetings when Assembly in session breach of rules: Bhatt
Dehradun, February 20 Bhatt said the government should not have held the Cabinet meetings when the House was in session and then leaked its decisions through the media. “I have submitted the Opposition’s objection to the government decision under rule 299 to hold the Cabinet meetings and then leak the information through the media,” added Bhatt. He said since the Budget session was on it was the privilege of the House to be party to all important government decisions. These should have been announced in the House. “But the Chief Minister did not follow the rules and went about making announcements through the media,” he added. Bhatt said that the announcements neither figured in the Budget nor in the speech of the Governor. |
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Youngsters make a beeline for registration at Employment Office
Haridwar, February 20 From early in the morning, applicants can be seen lined up in queues with requisite certificates. As the applicants who fail get their names registered at the office will be barred from taking recruitment exams in future, unemployed youths don't want to miss this opportunity. Meanwhile, the staff
at the Employment Office is finding it tough to deal with the influx of youngsters. Today, due to some fault in the computer system, the registration process was stopped for an hour, which generated resentment among the applicants. Meenakshi and Alka Verma, who came to get themselves registered at the office, said due to slow working of computers and inadequate staff at the office, they had to wait for long in queues in cold. Meenakshi added that due to laxity on the part of employees and slow working of computers, the applicants were finding
it tough to get them-selves registered. However, the staff at the office blamed poor Internet connectivity and the old computer system for the inconvenience. Meanwhile an official said, “Now, when the registration has been made imperative for various job categories in the state, youngsters are applying for the registration. Why they didn't do the requisite on passing their high school, intermediate or college level examinations. How can we can deal with hundreds of applicants at a time.” |
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Police commissionerate in Haridwar needed: CM
Dehradun, February 20 The Home Department has been entrusted with the task of preparing the proposal with the help of the Police Department. The aim of the move is to establish a ‘mela district’ by merging some areas of adjacent districts with Haridwar district. Once the mela district comes into existence it will be headed by a police commissioner of the rank of IG or DIG. Accordingly, all magisterial and licensing powers will go to the police from the civil district administration. Interestingly, a similar proposal was made a month ago on the directions of former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna for three districts, namely Dehradun, Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar. But senior IAS officers out rightly rejected the proposal that senior police officers had drafted after studying a number of police commissionerate systems in the country. The Tribune has learnt that the proposal was dumped due to apprehensions among the IAS officers that all substantial powers will be transferred to the police officers in case the police commissionerate system comes into force in the three major districts of the state. Under the police commissionerate system, all magisterial powers given under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and power to issue licences rests with the police commissioner and his subordinate police officers, leaving the civil administration officers with only revenue powers. A senior police officer, who was familiar with the proposal, told The Tribune, “The proposal was rejected mainly due to the fact that the police commissionerate system would have usurped most of the powers of the IAS officers functioning in the area and the balance of power would have tilted towards police officers.” It is worth recalling that the proposal was drafted after studying the police commissionerate system in Jodhpur and Jaipur in Rajasthan, Ambala and Gurgaon in Haryana, and Jalandhar and Amritsar in Punjab. “We did study the police commissionerate system functioning in a number of places before preparing the outlines of the proposal to be implemented in the three districts of the state. But unfortunately the proposal was rejected in the first stage,” said a senior police officer. He added that the new proposal for creating a police commissionerate in Haridwar was also on the similar lines. Meanwhile, police officers are keeping their fingers crossed this time and hoping that the bureaucracy does not create obstacles, as it did last time.
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Rawat listens to people’s issues
Dehradun, February 20 The Chief Minister said the government belonged to the people and it was his responsibility to listen to their problems. The majority of the people raised issues regarding drinking water, electricity and other problems. Harish Rawat was to leave for the Vidhan Sabha at 11 am but got delayed due to a large number of people waiting to meet him. He met everyone individually to avoid chaos and assured them of solutions to their problems. Contractual employees of government departments also met the Chief Minister and requested him to regularize their jobs. He assured them that their jobs would be made permanent. He said due to a busy schedule he won’t be able to meet people from February 21 to 23. |
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Special team combs forests to trace poachers
Pithoragarh, February 20 According to the team coordinator, poachers from across the border were seen by some the villagers who reported about it to the Forest Department. “The department responded by forming teams of forest and police officials and decided to survey the area,” said Kiran Singh Kafatiya, a forest officer. According to the officials, they had advised the villagers to inform the department if any such activity was seen in the forests of the border area. “We have also explained to them the modus operandi of poachers and timber smugglers. The villagers have promised to cooperate with us,” said a forest officer.
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Shiksha mitras hold protest
Dehradun, February 20 State president of the organisation Lalit Diwedi said as the state government was recruiting teachers against vacant posts under the state Education Department across the state ,an equal opportunity should also be provided to the shiksha mitras. Later, the agitators submitted a memorandum to Cabinet minister Mantri Prasad
Naithani. |
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Husbands spearhead panchayat poll campaign for women candidates
Pithoragarh, February 20 Citing the example of Udham Singh Nagar, Rajput says in the district where 391 gram pradhans, 280 block development committee members and 42 zila panchayat members are to be elected, the campaigning in the constituencies reserved for women is being done by either their husbands or sons. “The patriarchal way of thinking has not changed in the district. Even during the tenure of the last panchayat bodies, male candidates were seen calling the shots in the name of women executives,” said Rajput. According to sources, the NGOs which boast of empowering women are not making sincere efforts to strengthen them politically. However, Rita Gahtoli, a resident of Lohaghat who was recently awarded the Tilu Rauteli Award for working for women empowerment, said, “Some NGOs working towards women empowerment have stepped in and encouraged women to take part in the political process." “In rural areas, we have come across posters depicting names of women candidates’ husbands prominently. The actual empowerment is of their husbands,” said Jagdish Kumar. |
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DM inspects inner roads, directs officials to improve condition
Haridwar, February 20 On finding the complaints right, the DM strictly directed the related department executive engineers and officials to carry out instant repairs. Nidhi Pandey paid impromptu visits to the city’s busiest commercial hub square Ranipur Mod (Chandracharya square), Rishikul square, Devpura-Maharaja Agrasen square, state guest house Damkoti road, Singh Dwar intersection and Anand Mayi Ashram road near Kankhal. On finding dilapidated condition of roads, numerous potholes, dug road sides, electric wires hanging on poles, roads, commercial complexes and heaps of garbage lying undisposed, Nidhi directed on-the-spot executive engineers of Public Work Department, Municipal Corporation, Jal Sansthan, Pey Jal Nigam and Power Corporation to get rid of these lapses in a short span of time. The DM also warned these officials that if in the coming days, patch work, recarpeting of roads, safe installation of electric wires was not done, she will be forced to take strict action against the concerned department officials. SDM Veer Singh Budhiyal also warned officials that lackadaisical attitude will not be tolerated and they need to be accountable to the public. Social political organisations like Aam Aadmi Party, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (Progressive) and Rashtriya Krantikari Manch have
welcomed the initiative taken by District Magistrate Nidhi Pandey. District coordinator of AAP JP Baduni said that they had been repeatedly raising the issue of poor condition of city roads, while UKD leader Uday Ram Semwal said that many accidents had occurred due to bad roads. “This is a good initiative taken by the DM. Government department officials remain indifferent to public woes and complaints. But now with this surprise inspection and scolding, we hope that their working will drastically improve,” said Aman Garg, ward councillor and Rashtriya Krantikari Manch leader.
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Youth Congress gears up for Rahul Gandhi’s Doon rally
Mussoorie, February 20 A meeting chaired by the Mussoorie Youth Congress president Anuj Gupta was held at a hotel in Mussoorie where he appealed to all Congress workers, especially youth, to reach the venue in large numbers to strengthen the hands of Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Anuj Gupta speaking further said that Rahul Gandhi was the first choice as the prime ministerial candidate and the Youth Congress workers will leave no stone unturned in bringing the Congress back to power in the Centre. Youth Congress workers Ishant Kshetri, Wasim Akram, Danish Ahmed, Devendar Panwar, Viren Negi, Gambhir Singh, Anit Kumar, Manuj Agrawal, Ritesh Singh, Suresh Panwar and others were present on the occasion.
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AAP holds 'jhadu yatra' to sweep away corruption
Dehradun, February 20 The workers started the yatra from Raipur and passed through a number places such as Ishwar Vihar, Nalapani, Ladpur and the ordinance factory colony. The second phase of the yatra,known as the clean-up drive against corruption, started from the main gate of the ITBP in Seema Dwar and passed through Indra Nagar, Anurag Chowk and Vasant Vihar. On Friday, the AAP is planning to cover Chakrata Road, Ballupur Road, Transport Nagar, Kargi Chowk and a number of other places under the "jhadu chalao
yatra". |
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Cabinet minister's effigy burnt
Dehradun, February 20 Lambasting the state government, particularly the minister, general secretary of the organisation, Manoj Khairwal said the function, which was organised for distributing pensions among widows, handicaps and elderly was an eyewash. "Even the basic facilities like drinking water and washrooms were not provided. People were forced to sit at their places from the morning till the evening without any food or water," he said. Those who were part of the demonstration included Yamin Ahmed, Vinod Nahar, Aadesh Gupta and Sandeep
Tiwari.
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Fatal fall
Dehradun, February 20 BN Saxena, a retired bank official, fell from the roof of his house when his feet got entangled in a cable wire near the staircase. He was injured seriously and taken to Doon Hospital where he later died.
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Akhil Infra Allahabad win in a nail-biting contest, enter semis
Dehradun, February 20 After loosing the toss and being put to bat first, TJCA Noida gave a brilliant batting performance with opener Abhishek Rai scoring blistering 104 and Sarul Kanwar contributing 78 runs. The team ended up scoring 319 runs. For Akhil Infra Allahabad, Sandeep Yadav took 5 wickets. In reply, Akhil Infra Allahabad got off to a good start with its openers Subodh Shrivastav and Nitin Shrivastav striking a century partnership and scoring 90 and 63 runs respectively. Almas Shaukat scored brilliant 72 runs off 48 balls and took his team close to the victory. Though the middle order failed totally, Sandeep Yadav’s 22 runs came handy and the team won the match by a wicket. Meanwhile, Haryana Eleven also entered the semifinal stage after defeating UNIDO Delhi by 4 wickets. Batting first, UNIDO Delhi performed dismally and managed to score mere 90 runs with Gopal Nain scoring highest 25 runs. In reply, Haryana Eleven easily chased the total with 4 wickets still in hand. Akash scored 29 runs and Rahul Yadav contributed 14 runs. Six-wicket victory for Uttarakhand Lions Uttarakhand Lions registered a 6-wicket win over Earth Con team in the ongoing HN Bahuguna Memorial Glocal Dehradun Premier League (DPL) played at Global School here on Thursday. Batting first, Earth Con made 109 runs in the innings with Ajay Joshi making highest 37 runs. Uttarakhand Lions comfortably achieved the target with the help of Harsh Negi's brilliant 49 runs inning and Chandan Patwal's unbeaten 21 runs. In the second match, Doon Campus defeated Raipur cricket team by 10 runs. Batting first, Raipur team made 91 runs with Siddharth making highest 24 runs. In reply, Doon Campus team got bowled out after scoring 82 runs and lost the match. St. Joseph Academy win by 93 runs
The St. Joseph Academy defeated the Raja Rammohan Roy Academy by 93 runs in a quarterfinal match of the ongoing Sub Junior Inter School Cricket Tournament played at St. Jude’s School here today. The St. Joseph Academy won the toss and elected to bat first. It made 128 runs for the loss of five wickets. Ishagra scored the highest 59 runs while Prajwal scored 14 runs. In reply, the batsmen of the Raja Rammohan Roy Academy were bowled out for just 35 runs. For the St. Joseph Academy Ayush and Sagar took three wickets each. In the second quarterfinal match, host St. Jude’s School defeated The Heritage School by eight wickets. Batting first, The Heritage School made 67 runs with Jatin scoring 14 runs. In reply, St. Jude’s School easily chased the score for the loss of two wickets. Jatin and Aditya scored 18 and 16 runs, respectively.
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Three ivory smugglers booked
Dehradun, February 19 SSP, Ajay Rautela said, we were getting information about attempt being made by the smugglers to sell ivory tusks. A team under the leadership of inspector Pradeep Chauhan arrested Sachiv Kumar, Ram Prasad and Ravi near Dena Bank on GMS road when they were trying to sell the ivory tusk. They have been booked under Section 3/39/51 of Wildlife Protection Act. |
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The Bar Association of Dehradun has written a letter to the Chief Minister demanding action against the
SSP, Haridwar, and other police officials for their alleged failure to act against the villagers who assaulted lawyers on the district courts premises on February 7. It has also demanded a judicial probe into the incident.
The Mussoorie Youth Congress workers have begun the exercise to make the proposed rally of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to be held in Dehradun on February 23.
A meeting chaired by the Mussoorie Youth Congress president Anuj Gupta was held at a hotel in Mussoorie where he appealed to all Congress workers, especially youth, to reach the venue in large numbers to strengthen the hands of Congress and Rahul Gandhi.
