|
|
|
|
|
Focus now on Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra beginning from Aug 17
Writings, films of Ahmad Abbas are immortal: Qureshi
|
|
|
Voting percentage of women higher than men
Counting for LS poll to be held at 14 places
UPCL head wants UERC to announce power tariff hike
Govt failed to implement panel suggestions: IFFCO
Geo symposium of Himalayan Geographical Society
CM for water policy
Fake RTI activists resorting to blackmail: SIC
Canadian singer roped in for leopard conservation
Upgraded Almora schools fall short of teachers
Officials given training at ONGC hall
Bird sanctuary mooted for Nainital
Welham girls reach hockey final
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Focus now on Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra beginning from Aug 17
Dehradun, May 12 Addressing a meeting of the officials called to review the progress, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that all repair and developments works related to the yatra must be complete by end of June. Terming the yatra as ''Kumbh of Himalayas,'' the CM said the major yatra routes would be connected with this yatra. At present 25 spots have been earmarked for the yatra. ''Provision of clean drinking water and hygienic toilets should be made on the entire stretch of the yatra route. Sulabh would be constructing 621 toilets. The NGOs would be involved in making the provision for food while different government departments would be making provisions for electricity, water and basic amenities,'' said the CM. Instructing the officials from the Forest Department, Rawat said that the routes usually taken by the pilgrims travelling by foot should be prepared in time. These paths should be covered with small stones so that the rains do not spoil the route. Just like the Char Dham Yatra, a medical cover would be given to the pilgrims of Nanda Devi Raj Jat Yatra by the Health Department. Provisions for emergency treatments, medicines would be made on the route. It was also told in the meeting that during the three-month-long yatra, ending on September 3, an amount of Rs 91.60 crore was expected to be spent for the successful conduct of the yatra, out of which Rs 68.48 crore has been given to the PWD and Rs 24 crore to the Tourism Department. Those present in the meeting included Amrita Rawat, Ajay Bhatt, Anusuya Prasad Maikhuri, Subhash Kumar and Rakesh Sharma along with several others. |
|
|
Writings, films of Ahmad Abbas are immortal: Qureshi
Dehradun, May 12 In the closing ceremony, Governor Aziz Qureshi said that Abbas had continuously raised his voice, through his works, against the political and social system which was insensitive towards human
feelings and which promoted inequality. He said all his writings and films were together an immortal voice which was relevant today and would always be so. Several important points about his success as a writer and film-maker emerged during the two-day discussions. Iffat Fatima said Abbas was a rebellious Sufi who had challenged the existing system and had fought against it.
He showed in his films that there could be no progress if exploitation existed. Prof Pramod Lal said that Abbas wrote and showed what he felt.
He believed that cinema was the most powerful vehicle for social change. Rashmi Doraiswami said that Abbas had a unique personality. She spoke about several films of Abbas which portray the exploiter and the exploited in the social and political contexts. She said there could be no other person who could be as successful as him in the various fields he worked in. Yusuf Syed and Subodh Lal said that in each of his works, there was a story of struggle, between corruption and honesty, between the poor and the rich. Aloke B.Lal, the coordinator of the event, thanked all speakers and guests. Present at the the concluding session were Dr Syeda Hameed, Zakia Zaheer, Atul Tiwari, Ali Javed, Prof. Pramod Lal, Dr. Chhaya Shukla
and secretary to the Governor Arun Dhaundiyal, besides several eminent persons. |
|
|
Voting percentage of women higher than men
Dehradun, May 12 Significantly, the percentage of female voters in Tehri, Pauri and Almora, the constituencies that comprise hill areas, was on the higher side. In the Tehri parliamentary constituency, the female voting percentage stood at 58.27, male at 56.82. In the Pauri Garhwal parliamentary constituency the female voting percentage was 58.94 and 51.25 was male. Similarly, in Almora parliamentary constituency the female voting percentage stood at 55.98, male at 50.54. In Nainital Udham Singh Nagar parliamentary constituency the male voting percentage stood at 69.30 and female 68.1,and in Haridwar the male voting percentage stood at 72.05 and female at 71.5. The chief electoral office put the overall percentage of voting in the state at 62.15. ''We had tentatively put
the percentage at 62.75 on the day of the voting; now it has been revised to 62.15
percentage,'' said Radha Raturi, Chief Electoral Officer, Uttarakhand. — TNS |
|
Counting for LS poll to be held at 14 places
Dehradun, May 12 Barring Hardiwar, where counting of votes will be held at the Collectorate and the Vikas Bhavan, the counting would be held at a single venue in all districts. In Dehradun, the counting of votes will be held at Sports College, Raipur. In Haldwani, the counting will be held at Degree College, while Government Hotel Management Institute is the venue in Almora. In Uttarkashi and New Tehri, the counting will be held at Kirti Inter-College at ITI, respectively. The counting will be held at GIC in Pauri. Around 10,000 employees will oversee the entire process. They will be watched over by 17 micro-observers.
— TNS |
|
Mussoorie couple develops site to attract tourists to the hill town
Mussoorie, May 12 The new and beautiful tourist attraction Kashi Devasthanam strategically located in the midst of oak and deodar forest, around 3 km from Gandhi Chowk (Library Bazaar) and 1km from Picture Palace, built to suit the interests of young and old, students and professionals, tourists and art lovers alike, is the brainchild of Sameer Shukl and Kavita Shukl. The duo has been working on bringing together the cultural treasures of the Himalayas (in particular Uttarakhand) under one roof since the past 16 years. The site built under the aegis of Soham Heritage & Art Centre displays the Himalayan culture and tradition through paintings, murals and sculptures and other art forms. The artist couple has displayed all aspects of Himalayan lifestyle and culture. Every nook and corner at Kashi Devsthanam displays some art form depicting the various rituals, religious ceremonies and
festivals of the hills and the history of the region and so on. In addition to this, the place is decorated in a way that gives a regional look to the place. An attempt has been made to restore all that is on the verge of extinction, viz. woodcraft, agricultural implements, musical instruments, jewellery, utensils, etc, providing a very ''mountain-like'' feel to the centre. The doctor couple has also built a Sri Chamunda Peeth Temple incorporating the hilly architecture where all the prime deities revered by people from Himalayan region have been given due place at Kashi Devasthanam. Apart from religion, the temple also reflects the cultural aspect of the mountains, since the Himalayas are considered to be the abode of Shiva-Shakti, and also the place of meditation for numerous saints and sages across time immemorial. ''We have spent a lot of time to create a place that is worth a visit for any person in order to get a glimpse of Himalayas, which carry innumerable bounties of nature and history, and that too in an extremely beautiful and interesting fashion,'' said Sameer Shukl. He also said that of late there has not been any addition to the list of tourist attractions in the region, and this new place could be freely seen as the only such heritage and art centre in the entire state of Uttarakhand. |
|
Unregulated parking cripples vehicular movement
Dehradun, May 12 Besides traffic snarls, the safety of students is a big concern. Ignoring of all traffic regulations, parents park their vehicles in no parking zones and show indiscipline while crossing the road. Numerous attempts by the Dehradun police to solve the problem have failed. Traffic police constables have been deployed near many schools in the city to streamline the traffic during peak hours but the problem persists. "The DGP had held a special meeting with principals of major city schools to discuss the ways to solve the problem. City schools were asked to induct more school buses and open their school grounds for the parking of vehicles so that parents could park their vehicles there and the congestion on roads could be reduced," said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Rautela. |
|
UPCL head wants UERC to announce power tariff hike
Dehradun, May 12 He claimed that UPCL had become profit-generating company as the department took concrete steps to curtail outstanding amount in the state. Addressing media persons here today, Yadav claimed that the department will ensure 22-hour of compulsory power supply to urban and rural areas of the state. He said that instructions were given to department officials to replace obsolete electro-mechanical-meters with electronic meters, and to ensure 100 per cent meter-reading in the state. Yadav said that department had been procuring electricity in order to bridge gap between demand and supply of electricity in the state. He claimed that 53 substations would be installed, especially in remote areas, in order to overcome the problem of low-voltage in the state. According to Yadav, more number of transformers, having high load capacity, would be replaced with obsolete transformers to ensure disruption-free electricity to consumers. The department has been working extensively to improve relations with consumers, and billing centres would be equipped with latest facilities. He appealed to residents to report power-pilferage in order to lower down aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C ) losses, which are nearly 20.5 per cent in the state. Yadav informed that the department was continuously procuring electricity from the open market to ensure round the clock power supply to rural and urban areas of state. UPCL head speak
|
|
|
Govt failed to implement panel suggestions: IFFCO
Dehradun, May 12 He said the state government was utilising education-fund for other purposes, instead of spending funds for improving standards of cooperative banks in the state. While addressing mediapersons here today, Pramod said the employees of the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) had contributed one-day salary for the welfare of the disaster-hit victims. He said Rs six crore would be spent for the rehabilitation of the disaster-hit victims. Pramod said various schemes were launched for the welfare of the farmers in the state. “We have been organising free medical check-up camps for cattle and disseminating hybrid seeds to farmers to improve productivity,” he added. He said the state government was trying to control cooperative societies despite the fact that the state government does not have financial share in the cooperative societies. He said a post of OSD had been created by the state government as the federation does not enroll such posts. After ruling-out that any part of the state was facing shortage of food-grains, he claimed that they had been organising seminars for the farmers of the state on various issues like latest technology, hybrid seeds, different types of fertilisers etc. |
|
Dalit leader Vidhya Gautam breaks fast
Haridwar, May 12 Fire brand Vidhya,who is fast emerging as a Dalit leader in Haridwar and neighbouring western Uttar Pradesh districts, sipped juice from the hands of Bahujan Samaj Party Uttarakhand state president Megh Raj
Zaravare at Shri Kabir Ashram. A mini Dalit maha panchayat was held at Kabir Dharamshala,where major Dalit leaders citing apex court directives, urged Vidhya to break the fast for meantime. Dalit representatives from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and other states also requested Vidhya to break her indefinite fast till Supreme court’s two-month duration. Citing the eight-week stay on arrest of Swami Ramdev by the apex court regarding his controversial comments on night stay of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi at a Dalit house a few days ago,Vidhya said that after the court’s deadline she will reconsider her decision. Vidhya said that if the yog guru is not arrested even after passing of this two-month tenure,then she will mobilise major Dalit leaders and representatives to once again stage an agitation ,which will be bigger on scale. “For this eight-week time I will be visiting villages, where I will generate awareness among Dalit people about their rights and self respect. Targeting Dalits, using them as meagre vote bank or casting such derogatory remarks will not be tolerated. For this we need to get united,'' stated Vidhya. Bahujan Samaj Party state president Megh Raj Zaravare lashed out at the yog guru for his controversial remarks, pointing out that Swami Ramdev is a public figure known for his yoga and ayurvedic skills worldwide. As he has followers in large scale ,he should keep restraint and apologise for his comments on Dalit community. Former Haridwar parliamentarian Harpal Sathi has also extended support to Vidhya's agitation, saying that the need of
the hour is to reunite the Dalit community. |
|
Nishank claims he will win Haridwar seat by 1 lakh votes
Haridwar, May 12 Holding several feedback meetings in the constituency to thank party leaders, office bearers, party activists and campaign organisers, Nishank also met party legislators Swami Yatishwaranand, Aadesh Chauhan, Sanjay Gupta and Chandrasekhar Bhattewala, who briefed him about the polling trend. All four legislators, citing the record polling in the 11 Assembly segments of Haridwar, credited the Modi wave and the development works done by legislators in their respective Assembly segments, besides the political stature of BJP candidate Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Later, speaking to media persons, Nishank claimed that he would win by a record 1 lakh votes during his maiden election from Haridwar Lok Sabha seat. He added he had been a five-time legislator, but contesting during this election had been a different experience. He said people responded encouragingly during his canvassing and had hinted that this time there was a BJP-wave in the entire constituency. Nishank added that apart from the Haridwar constituency, the electoral results of the other four seats: Pauri Garhwal, Tehri Garhwal, Almora-Pitthoragarh and Nainitial-Uddham Singh Nagar, would also be in the favour of the BJP. Expressing satisfaction over the hard work, sincere efforts and enthusiastic support of Haridwar district party unit, Nishank said he had been associated with the pilgrim city for years, which also proved vital during campaigning. Refuting victory claims made by Chief Minister Harish Rawat of Congress’ sweep victory, Nishank said in hindsight Harish Rawat was not worried about the Lok Sabha result, but more so of keeping his post as a CM intact, as post May 16 when BJP comes to power, the Congress-led coalition state government would get toppled. |
|
Geo symposium of Himalayan Geographical Society
Dehradun, May 12 Anand Sharma, Director, Meteorological Centre, Dehradun, was the chief guest on the occasion. S.S. Khaira, president of the society, gave a brief about how the society was created last year and has been gaining good momentum. He informed that the society which started with 18 members has now 40 registered members. The society is an association of geography teachers which is mainly formed to promote the subject geography and to bring geography teachers on the common platform. Dayita Datta, Vice-Principal, Welham Girls' School, spoke on the significance and the need of such association to upgrade geography teachers and contribute innovative teaching to young generation to take steps for conservation of environment and save earth from degradation. M. Dhoundial expressed her thoughts on how geography can be made interesting in the classrooms. Jyotsna Brar, Principal, Welham Girls' School, enlightened wonderfully the significance of geography. She stressed upon the dynamism of geography that applies to everyone’s life, irrespective to any aspect or sphere of society. In today’s world geography teachers need their pupils to rotate to the real world through each and every topic of geography, she said. |
|
U’khand girl given gold medal by US varsity
Haridwar, May 12 University of Arkansas, College of Engineering and Information Technology, bestowed gave Shraddha gold medal for being the best Ph.D graduate for 2013-14 academic session.Shraddha was also adjudged as the student of the year of the college for her academic and co-curricular performances. As per Shantikunj official Kirtan Desai, Shraddha has attributed her success to the academic-spiritual upbringing of Shantikunj, thanking in particular Shantikunj spiritual ideologue Shail Jiji and Chancellor Dev Sanskriti University Pranav Panday. In an email reply, Shraddha, who recently lost her mother to cancer, said research work was ably supported by her guide K I Varghese and Seshar M Kampadre. Shraddha also wants to visit her alma mater,as she misses India and the student life she lived in Haridwar. |
|
|
CM for water policy
Dehradun, May 12 At a meeting today, the Chief Minister asked officials to repair all tubewells within two days. Addressing the meeting, Rawat said that the water supply should not remain disrupted for more than two hours in the state. “Water tankers will be made available and if possible, mules will be used to supply water in the rural areas,” he added. “Besides repairing the tubewells, a provision for regular power supply at lift-pumping stations will be made for which separate transformers will be set up. Funds will be made at the earliest for the repair and proper functioning of tubewells,” said the CM. |
|
|
Filth smears Haridwar's image
Haridwar, May 12 Foul smell emanates from the filth, causing inconvenience to the residents. The threat of contagious diseases looms large while swine flu and dengue cases have already been reported in the district. However, no additional step has been taken for the city's cleanliness. Heaps of garbage can be seen at Har-Ki-Pauri, Ganga ghats, inner roads, colonies like Kankhal, Gobind Puri, Moti Bazaar, Ranipur and at Jwalapur. Even the railway station, bus station, City Control Room Tower, women hospital, Municipal Corporation Office area and other important places lack cleanliness. MC trucks dump garbage at Bhimgoda, Pant Deep Open Land and burn it. Meanwhile, Mayor Manoj Garg said after the lifting of the election code on May 16, a meeting of the civic body would be held to discuss the issue. The Mayor added that he had decided to visit two city wards every day. Former MC Dinesh Joshi said filth at the entry point of the city smeared its image. "Despite the upgrade in the status of the civic body to the municipal corporation a year ago, nothing has been done as far as the civic facilities and cleanliness is concerned," he said. |
|
|
Fake RTI activists resorting to blackmail: SIC
Pithoragarh, May 12 This was stated by State Information Commissioner (SIC) Rajendra Kothiyal at Nainital today. Every person, who sought information under the RTI, could not be termed as an RTI activist as over five per cent of them were seeking information for the purpose of blackmailing, he said. “ A majority of fake RTI activists are from the plain areas of the state,” Said Kothoyal.The Information Commissioner said the proposal for freeing gram pradhans from the responsibility of public information officers had been sent to the Central Information Commissioner. A training session for public information officers would be organised after the panchayat elections are over in the state, he said. Kothiyal said due to the non-publicity of the law, RTI activism was not popular in the state. “We have suggested the CIC that the fine collected from defaulters should be spent on the publicity of the law in the state,” said
Kothiyal. |
|
|
IIM interns remove posters from murals
Dehradun, May 12 Led by Jodie Underhill, CEO of Waste Warriors, an NGO, washed off the advertising posters of the RAD training and consultancy. Jodie said Amit Tomar, director of the RAD had ago pledged not to put up posters around the city, a year ago. “Despite being an offence under the Uttaranchal Prevention of Defacement of Public Property Act, 2003, thousands of posters have been pasted across the city. The property act invites one year imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine,” she added. “When we contacted the RAD office, the management said they had given a contract for pasting the posters and had no idea that the city would be flooded with their posters. |
|
|
Canadian singer roped in for leopard conservation
Dehradun, May 12 Uttarakhand is likely to benefit with the development as the state faces worst form of man-leopard conflict in the country with leopard conservation being most neglected in the state. Twain intends to use her global platform to make the connection between the cat’s renowned beauty and its plight in the wild. Leopards are threatened by the relentless destruction of habitat, and are being killed in thousands by livestock herders, unsustainable trophy-hunting and poaching for their skins and body parts. According to Dr. Luke Hunter, Panthera’s president and one of the world’s authority on leopards, said the animal has been largely ignored by conservationists. “We are delighted and honoured that Shania will help put the leopard onto the conservation radar,” Hunter said. |
|
|
Upgraded Almora schools fall short of teachers
Pithoragarh, May 12 According to villagers, former Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri had announced upgrade of seven high schools and two girls high schools to intermediate colleges but did not grant financial sanction for the appointment of teachers. "As the posts of teacher have not been sanctioned, teachers of high schools and junior high schools are taking classes in the upgraded educational institutions," said Ashok Kumar Jukaria, District Education Officer, Almora. Govind Singh Kunjwal, local MLA and the Speaker of the Assembly, said Govind Singh Kunjwal, local MLA and the Speaker of the Assembly, said the BJP-led Khanduri government made a mistake that it upgraded these institutions without sanctioning posts of teacher. "Chief Minister Harish Rawat has now sanctioned funds for these upgraded institutions and teachers will be posted there there soon," he added. Lacking teachers
The upgraded high schools, which lacked proper teaching staff, were Government High School, Nahchulakhal, Bjitakotkhal in the Salt block, Government High Schools at Aara and Salpad in the Dhaula Devi block, Basantput in the Lamgara block, Nail and Chintoli in Syaldey block, Government Girls School at Tarikhet and
Danya. |
|
|
Officials given training at ONGC hall
Dehradun, May 12 “Of the total 190 counting supervisors, three remained absent and 10 did not report for training. We have issued show-cause notices to those who did not report for the training today. In case they fail to reply within 24 hours, strict action will be taken ,” he
added. The officials were given detailed information about the process. |
|
|
Bird sanctuary mooted for Nainital
Pithoragarh, May 12 The proposed bird conservation reserve, which is being promoted for eco-tourism and bird conservation in and around tourism town of Nainital, will include the Kilbari, Pangut and Vinayak forest areas as these are treasure of bio-diversity which needs to be reserved,” said Dr Tajeswini Patil, an officer related with the project. According to sources, the proposed forest area to be included in the reserve is at a height of 300 to 3,000 metres. Besides, 350 species of birds are found there, Siberian migratory birds also come there in big
numbers. — OC |
|
|
Soccer match ends in draw
Dehradun, May 12 In the second match of the day, Chandrbani Football Club defeated Garhwal Boys 3-0 score with Sagar, Shikhar and Siddharth scoring one goal each. |
|
|
Welham girls reach hockey final
Dehradun, May 12 In the first semifinal match, Welham Girls' School ‘Blue’ defeated Moravian Institute 3-1 with Ishrat scoring two goals and Prerna scoring one for Welhams. Anjali scored the only goal for Moravian. IDPL, Rishikesh, won its semifinal encounter with Government Girls' Inter College by 1-0 score. Monika scored the winning goal at the 46th minute.
— TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
