|
|
|
|
|
CS: Community-based water project benefits 7536 villages
People still buy earthen pots to drink healthy cool water
Meeting called to assess progress of anti-encroachment drive
|
|
|
AAP activists takes out cleanliness drive
Heritage school presents cheque for Rs 1 lakh to twin mountaineers
Kumaon villagers without roads boycott elections
Power firms’ move to increase tariff rejected
CM to face heat after poll results: Satpal
Poll has brought Kanchan closer to people, their issues
Primary school with one teacher
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas centenary celebrations begin today
Chairman, vice-chairman of safai karamchari aayog felicitated
Ranjit Section wins quiz trophy
Youth’s body fished out
Teenage girl ends life
Liquor shop owner penalised
Zonal cricket tourney begins
Sports fest at Rishikesh
|
|
CS: Community-based water project benefits 7536 villages
Dehradun, May 9 While chairing the 14th meeting of the Uttarakhand Rural Drinking Water Supply & Sanitation Project at the Secretariat here, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar said that the community-based project had provided drinking water to 7536 villages. “Uttarakhand was the leading state in the country to develop drinking water projects proposed by the villagers, implemented and run by them. We are aiming to achieve total sanitation by 2022,” he said. So far 91,084 private toilets have been set up. A total of 525 village panchayats have been awarded nirmal gram awards. This year also a proposal has been sent for awarding 144 village panchayats. Uttarakhand government is about to introduce the Swajal Swachata Gaurav awards for the gram panchayats . Under this, the first, second and third winners will be awarded Rs 20,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively. For the purpose of testing water quality, the state government has distributed 6502 field test kits, tested 21,077 water samples and purchased 5827 new kits. |
||
|
People still buy earthen pots to drink healthy cool water
Haridwar, May 9 Earthen pots, commonly known as ‘ghade’ and ‘surayi,’ are a major means of getting respite from the hot summer for a majority of the people. These vessels very quality of keeping the temperature of water much cooler inside than outside increases these earthen pots’ demand in the summer. But with the changing time and advent of the latest refrigeration-cooling technology, cold storage wares have almost made them a thing of the past. The number of people involved in this earthen vessel trade is fast declining, as earlier a majority of the people used to rely on these earthen pots for natural cold water. Traders associated with earthen pots reveal that since the last decade as prices of refrigerators came down, and availability of chilled cold mineral water and soft drink bottles became easily available even in rural areas, sales of earthen pots got directly affected. Except for the months of May-June, the sales figures are not exciting round the year. People associated with earthen pots are also now looking to other avenues to earn their livelihood. Usha Devi ,an earthen pot seller, at suburban Jwalapur, told TNS that even these days due to high temperature, maximum 10 pots get sold. She added that almost a decade back the sale of at least four to five dozen pots in this summer season was common. “But now earning a two-time meal is also not possible if we rely just on this trade. I don’t want my children to pursue this. It is better they work in a factory as at least a fixed amount they will get at the end of the month,'' said Usha. Paan Singh, another earthen pot maker, hoped that by June there will be a sharp rise in the earthen vessels' demand as these days every now and then light showers do occur in the region. He also pointed that as compared to a few decades back, now people have varied options to quench their thirst. “Be it fridge or availability of cold drinks, lemon water and other soft drinks at every nook and corner, all are in plastic or glass bottles,” said Singh, while showing this hand-made pots to potential buyers. Local trader at Ranipur,Uday Ram Semwal, linked this with a change in societal thinking ,as now earthen pots are deemed as the poor man’s option to quench his thirst. Citing immense health benefits of drinking water from earthen pots, Semwal said that despite this, people still go for MNC beverage brands and even mineral water available at a price in which one can easily get a small earthen pot or ‘surayi’. Normally these earthen pots come in the range of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 200, depending on size and quality. But still many people on finding the quality and health benefits of these pots are seen going in for them. In recent times with change in lifestyle, various ailments have cropped up and chilled fridge water does not suit everyone. |
||
|
Meeting called to assess progress of anti-encroachment drive
Dehradun, May 9 Sharma, appointed as Court Commissioner by the Nainital High Court to check the status of encroachments and steps taken by the local bodies, has been undertaking the rounds of various areas in the city to assess the extent of encroachments. Speaking to The Tribune, Sharma said that he had called a meeting of the officials on Monday. “I have personally visited several areas of the city, including Hanuman Chowk, Tilak Road, Kanwali Road, Saharanpur Chowk. I have prepared a report and clicked the picture to support the report. However, we will be making a plan of visiting the areas along with officials from MDDA, DMC and PWD,” he added. “Unfortunately the local bodies have done nothing in safeguarding the state capital from being encroached mercilessly by the shopkeepers, house owners and industrial units. In the past too we had conducted checks in the areas declared free from encroachments by DMC. There too several encroachments were found,” said Sharma,
who is also the president of the Dehradun District Bar Association. It may be recalled that after getting a rap from the Nainital High Court, officiating Mukhya Nagar Adhikari-cum-District Magistrate BVRC Purushottam had launched anti-encroachment drive in the first week of April. After
partially removing encroachments from Paltan Bazaar, Clock Tower, Chakrata Road and part of Rajpur road, the drive
was stalled due to elections. In a notification, Purushottam had said that the drive
would resume after the nominations for the General Election. With nominations and elections getting over, there is still no sign of the drive being re-launched again. Additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Banshidhar Tiwari said: “Most likely the drive would be re-launched after the counting process gets over on May 16. We are yet to finalise the date, but it would be re-launched soon. The entire police force and officials were busy in election duties.'' |
||
|
AAP activists takes out cleanliness drive
Dehradun, May 9 The party workers along with, Tehri parliamentary candidate, Anoop Nautiyal, removed posters, banners and other publicity materials at Prem Nagar, Dakra, Garhi Cantt and other adjoining areas. He said various beneficiary schemes and projects would be introduced for the uplift of the
weaker sections of society, if he was voted to power in the parliamentary elections. He also showed concerned over the
poor condition of roads in higher areas of Tehri parliamentary constituency. He said the Congress-led state government was yet to take effective measures for redressing grievances of the villagers,
who faced the brunt of the last year’s mid-June natural disaster. He also thanked the party workers for their contribution during the campaign. He said the contesting candidates from different political parties should also come forward in the drive. |
||
|
Heritage school presents cheque for Rs 1 lakh to twin mountaineers
Dehradun, May 9 Tashi and Nungshi, popularly known as ‘wonder twins’, have set a world record for being the first twin sisters to scale Mt Aconcagua, Mt Carstenz Pyramid and Mt Everest. Now they are all set to scale Mt Mckinley in Alaska. “Situated at a height of 20,320 ft, Mt McKinley is a serious mountaineering challenge for any climber. It is a huge snowy mass flanked by five giant glaciers and countless ice falls. Due to its sudden altitude gain, which is more than Mt Everest, Mt McKinley dominates the horizon from as far as 200 miles away. It is also prone to earthquakes. Though many records have been set on this ‘big’ mountain, in over 100 years since the first successful ascent in 1913, no twin sisters have ever stepped together on its summit,” said Tashi. Beaming with enthusiasm, they describe their two-fold vision for aiming the highest peaks in all continents “to promote mountaineering as a sport, especially in India, and to encourage the girl child to dream and achieve”. “Many parents in our areas still prefer boys. The girl child is caught in a vicious cycle of foeticide and infanticide, denial, exclusion, malnutrition, lack of education, domestic work and eventual economic dependence on the male," said Nungshi. The twins are all set to start their expedition on May 16. They hope to reach the summit by the end of May. |
||
|
Dancer of South strikes chord with the audience of North
Dehradun, May 9 To that end, Ragini Chandrashekhar has continued with the tradition. ''Though art has no boundaries, it helps if one is able to reach out to the audience through the language that it is conversant with. My dance recitals based on Meerabai's songs help me in making connection with the North Indian audience,'' said Ragini, while speaking with The Tribune. She was here in Dehradun at the invitation of SpicMacay and performed at St Joseph Academy and Summer
Valley School. Again, while she first learnt Bharatnatyam under the guidance of her mother, no way did it diminish the mother-daughter relationship.''I was always at ease with my mother when she donned the role of a guru. Her commands had to be followed. In a way, it was her decision that as far as possible, I expand my horizon by learning
under different gurus,'' stressed Ragini. Constantly on the move, Ragini leads a hectic life performing throughout the year in India and abroad. But it is her association with SpicMacay that she cherishes the most. ''It is indeed a challenge to engage the young audience. But once you are able to ignite a spark, it may even lead to a life-long interest in the performing arts,'' emphasised Ragini. While tours keep her busy, her dance school Kalangan Centre for Classical Arts, too, keeps her occupied. ''When I am not touring or teaching, I concentrate on enhancing my dancing skills. An artiste can never rest back on his laurels. One has to constantly learn and improve. These days, I am pre-occupied with the adaptation of Upanishads that I would be undertaking for my dance recital to be held in August in Chennai,'' averred Ragini. For that matter, the opportunity to first undertake research and then present a show for an appreciative and learned audience is a challenge enough for
the dancer. |
||
|
Kumaon villagers without roads boycott elections
Pithoragarh, May 9 "We will boycott the panchayat elections as well if 20,000 people living in our our are not provided with roads soon,"? said Laxman Singh Rawal, chairman of the Chamachasura Sangharsh Samiti in the Gangolihat Assembly
segment. Rawal said only one person cast his vote in the polling station in their area and he was a booth-level election official. "None of the 775 voters from the villages in the area came out to vote as we had given a call for poll boycott in support of our demand for the construction of a road to our villages,"? he added. Some of the booths witnessed less than 10 per cent polling due to election boycott by the villagers. ?Only 43 of the total 613 voters cast their votes at the Jauldhunga polling booth in the Dharchula Assembly segment of Pithoragarh district while 8 of the 299 voters in Basnidhar village cast their votes. Only 22 of the total 450 voters cast their votes at the Sumdung polling booth in the Dharchula Assembly segment, election office sources said. "All villages are devoid of roads and the villagers have to travel at least 10 km to reach the nearby road,?" said Govind Singh Kafalia, a CPI ( ML) worker in the district. In Champawat district, while only three persons, including an election official, cast their votes at the Badoli polling booth, only one voter exercised his right to franchise and pressed the NOTA button at the Nauliagaon polling booth. Only 33 of the total 710 voters cast their votes at Danda village in Champawat district in protest against the non-construction of a road. "We have tried to draw the attention of the government and the local administration by boycotting the parliamentary elections this time. We will continue to boycott elections in future as well till a road is not constructed in our village," said Ramesh Chandra Thawal, a resident of Badoli village in Champawat district. |
||
|
Power firms’ move to increase tariff rejected
Mussoorie, May 9 The Uttarakhand Electricity Regulatory Commission (UERC) stepping aside all the reasons
to increase the electricity tariff made by the Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited
(UPCL) Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam (UJVNL) and Power Corporation Transmission (PITCUL) has said that no increase in electricity tariff should be made in the
current year. The regulatory authority president had stated on Thursday that the tariff will not be changed at any cost and it has advised the UPCL to look into the policy of giving free electricity to its employees and pensioners in order to reduce the revenue loss being faced
by them. President of Uttarakhand Hotel and Restaurant Association Sandeep Sahni welcoming the move thanked the Chief Minister for a people friendly decision. He further said the state government understood the present financial condition of the business community that was struggling to stand on its own feet post natural disaster that struck in the state last year. He also said the state government should also work towards addressing the problem of potable water scarcity in the Mussoorie town, as it would aggravate during
summers. “The state government should also consider a project drawing drinking water from the Yamuna or any other river to satiate the water need of Mussoorie residents,” said Sandeep Sahni. |
||
|
CM to face heat after poll results: Satpal
Dehradun, May 9 In a press note issued here, Maharaj, who left the Congress to join the BJP, said Harish Rawat, who had replaced Vijay Bahuguna as Chief Minister, had not been able to repair the routes of the Char Dham yatra. “Pilgrims arriving in the state are facing a lot of inconvenience due to the poor condition of the Char Dham Yatra routes that have not been repaired following the last year's natural disaster.” “The people are aware of the tactics adopted by Harish Rawat to fool them and that is why they have voted heavily in favour of the BJP candidates in all five constituencies of the state. Several villages in the state are still reeling under darkness as the power supply has not been restored,” he added.
|
||
|
Poll has brought Kanchan closer to people, their issues
Haridwar, May 9 Kanchan while speaking to The Tribune at her election office at the Inder Kutir guest house yesterday said she was quite unhappy at the divisive tactics deployed by political parties during the elections for garnering votes. She said, "In the 21st century while we are talking about the Moon-Mars mission, when it comes to contesting elections a majority of political parties and leaders resort to mudslinging, squabbling, caste and religion-based politics. They even misuse the state machinery. She referred to several shocking tactics used by the rival political parties and said this had made her more determined to carry on with her political journey. "The political system needs to be cleansed. Clean and honest people are needed, otherwise, politics will get more rotten. The Aam Aadmi Party has certainly brought a change in the Indian political system and with the support of like-minded people we will carry this torch of change further," said Kanchan. Kanchan, who is hopeful of the voter?s' response to AAP, said good and honest candidates needed to be given a chance irrespective of their political background or experience in politics. "There is hope as members of all communities, including Dalits, came to assist me in my election campaign. Many of them thanked me for standing and contesting against big politicians. This happened in almost all Assembly segments of the Haridwar parliamentary constituency. This is also a kind of victory for me," said Kanchan as she sips cold coffee with a Delhi-based law student and volunteer. |
||
|
Primary school with one teacher
Dehradun, May 9 Angry at the whimsical ways of the teacher, the aggrieved parents approached the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) with their complaint forcing the chairman of the commission to intervene. “I think I am the first official to visit the school and hold a jan sunvayi to sort out the problem. On inspecting the school, I discovered that only a single teacher had been appointed in the school since 2008, who prefers to stay at home rather than teach. This had led to loss of precious study time for the school children,” said Ajay Seti, chairman of SCPCR. After the jan sunvayi, the chairman has given directions to the District Education Officer (Basic) to depute one more teacher after the election modal code of conduct is withdrawn. The chairman visited the school and jan sunvayi the directions have been given to the DEO to instruct the teacher not to miss the classes and also depute a second teacher, who must join before the annual vacation starts. |
||
|
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas centenary celebrations begin today
Dehradun, May 9 The inauguration will be held on May 10 at 4 pm. On the second day (May 11), two sessions will be held. The morning session will be devoted to Abbas, and will feature a seminar on the subject “Nayi Dharti Naye Insaan : Abbas the Writer.” In the afternoon session, a seminar “Jagte Raho: Abbas and Cinema” will be held to discuss his contribution to the world of cinema. A number of eminent scholars, theatre and cinema personalities will participate in the two-day programme. These include Dr Syeda Hamid, Member, Planning Commission, Ashok Vajpei, a well-known authority on art and culture, DP Tripathi, Member of Parliament, Dr Pramod Lal, Dr Rashmi Doraiswami, Mr Subodh Lal, Dr Yousuf Saeed and Dr Hemendra Chandolia. Khwaja Ahmad Abbas was born on June 7, 1914. He was a multi-dimensional personality - a well-known film director, a novelist, a screenplay writer and a journalist in the Urdu, Hindi and
English languages. He made important films like Saat Hindustani and Do Boond Pani, both of which won the national film award for the best feature film on the national integration. He was very famous as a journalist too. His column ‘Last Page’, holds the distinction of being one of the longest-running column in the history of Indian journalism. Abbas was a prolific writer, and wrote more
than 73 books in English, Hindi and Urdu. Abbas was considered a leading light of the Urdu short story. His best known fictional work remains 'Inquilab', which made
him a household name in Indian literature.
|
||
|
Chairman, vice-chairman of safai karamchari aayog felicitated
Dehradun, May 9 Vinod Chamoli, Mayor, Dehradun Municipal Corporation, appreciated the outgoing chairman. He said Makwana worked a lot for the betterment of sanitation workers. “Makwana is a hardworking and a helpful individual. He has always resolved the problems faced by the sanitary staff,” he added. Expressing gratitude towards the former Chief Minister, Major Gen BC Khanduri (Retd), for constituting the commission, Makwana said the
commission had come a long way over the years and had played a prominent role towards the
provision of various benefits such as pension, gratuity, grade pay, increment in salaries for the sanitation workers. “We have submitted a report containing the demands raised by the sanitation workers to the state government. However, nothing has been done so far. The issue was raised during one of the meetings held with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. We will continue with our fight until our demands
are met,” he added. Vinod Chamoli, Harak Singh Rawat, OP Sisodia, BC Chowdhary, Vipin Chancal, Sunil Rajauria and Jaipal Valmiki
were also present on the occasion. |
||
|
Ranjit Section wins quiz trophy
Dehradun, May 9 Ranjit Section took a big lead early to pave the way for victory. But as they say, nothing is certain in life and the second phase saw a stiff competition between Ranjit Section and Chandragupta Section. Ranjit Section held onto its nerves to lift the trophy. The final scores were as follows: Ranjit Section (90 Points)--1, Chandragupta Section (85 Points)--II, Shivaji Section (60 Points)--III, and Pratap Section (35 Points)--IV. Col HS Bainsla, Commandant, RIMC, was the chief guest for the evening. He praised
the cadets on the standard of quizzing and told them about the importance of being aware. — TNS |
||
|
Youth’s body fished out
Pithoragarh, May 9 Ashutosh Pant, who had come to his village to cast vote on May 7, had gone to take a bath in the river. “We learnt from the district administration that local police and ITBP jawans are not able to trace the body. We knew it will come up when it gets swollen. Today, the body surfaced and a rafter, who was training village youths in the Ramganaga, saw it and retrieved it with the help of KMVN swimmers. He handed the body over to the police,” said DC Gururani, head of the KMVN Adventure Sports Cell, Pithoragarh. The district administration has taken cognisance of the incident and cautioned people against going to the river these days as its water level is rising due to melting of Himalayan glaciers. |
||
|
Teenage girl ends life
Dehradun, May 9 No suicide note was found from the spot. The body
has been sent for a post-mortem examination.
|
||
|
Liquor shop owner penalised
Mussoorie, May 9 The team also inspected various bars in the town and checked their stock registers. Excise Inspector Alok Shah said they had been receiving complaints about liquor vends charging more than the prescribed rate. He said such raids would be conducted in the near future also. — TNS
|
||
|
Doon beat Pithoragarh in basketball
Dehradun, May 9 A total of five matches were played in the girls’ category. In the first match Dehradun defeated Tehri 38-2. The Haldwani team defeated Haridwar district team by a margin of 25-17. In another match played between Haridwar and Tehri, Haridwar team won by 6-3 and Dehradun beat Almora 52-11. In the last match, Mussoorie defeated Pithoragarh 12-4. |
||
|
Zonal cricket tourney begins
Dehradun, May 9 In today’s match, Kumaon Zone beat Urja Bhawan. Kumaon zone players scored 189 runs in 20 overs match. For Urja Bhawan, SS Yadav took two-wickets, but the team got all out soon. Director (Operation) GK Sharma, Director (Finance) Anil Mittal, RS Barfal, Satish Shah, RK Govil and Sushil Sharma were also present.
|
||
|
Sports fest at Rishikesh
Haridwar, May 9 The event includes water rafting race, mountain bike relay race, quaterathon, rope pulling, obstacle course and a paintaball competition. Chief Minister Harish Rawat and badminton player Jwalla Gutta are scheduled to attend the event. — TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Classified | E-mail | |
Dehradun, May 9
Welham Girls School win
