Drone surveillance for Jim Corbett Park by January
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 29
The Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is set to come under drone surveillance by January next year. Drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle which will hover over the park, will be recording images and video which will be of immense assistance in conservation in the region. Talking to The Tribune in Dehradun today, tiger biologist K Ramesh, coordinator for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles programme of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), said that after successful completion of the pilot project of surveillance by drone at the Panna tiger reserve, they were now set to bring the Corbett National Park under UAV surveillance.

He said the proposal had been forwarded to the Union Defence Ministry and they are expecting a nod by January, following which, drone will be put to use for surveillance at Corbett. Ramesh said the biggest advantage of UAV is its ability of night surveillance upon being equipped with night vision cameras.

Corbett, that shares its borders with Uttar Pradesh, faces big threat from poachers. Its terrain makes it difficult for the state forest authorities to ensure regular patrolling. Apart from Ramganga, a number of seasonal rivers and streams that criss-cross Corbett’s undulated terrain make patrolling tough and drones will certainly overcome such hindrances.

Ramesh said the low-cost drone will cost a few lakhs and cover a big area within minutes due to its wide angle vision. He said it was easily operable and was greatly beneficial in areas which have undulating topography like hilly areas as drone can reach such areas which are otherwise inaccessible for the human patrolling team.

While it is still early days for use of drones for wildlife surveillance in India, countries like Australia have used this UAV technology even for wildlife census. Ramesh specifically refers to importance of drones for census of animal like swamp deer. He said the census, particularly in case of swamp deer, that keeps a habitat in marshes, has been very challenging as its habitat is not easily accessible and drones can spell a big advantage in this context.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority is assisting the Wildlife Institute of India Unmanned Aerial Vehicles programme.

Air-borne monitoring

• Drone, an unmanned aerial vehicle, will hover over the park and record images and videos and assist in conservation efforts in the region
• A proposal has been forwarded to the Union Defence Ministry and the approval is expected by January next year
• The biggest advantage of a UAV is its ability of night surveillance as it is equipped with night vision cameras

SFI to field candidates for students’ council elections
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 29
Vipin Joshi, chairman of district election organising committee of Student Federation of India (SFI), said that SFI had decided to field its candidates on different posts in DAV (PG), DBS, and SGRR (PG) Colleges in Dehradun. He claimed that federation candidates will emerge victorious in students’ elections.

Addressing media persons here today, Vipin Joshi said that Vikas Bhatt and Nitesh Khantwal will contest for post of general secretary in DAV and SGRR (PG) Colleges, respectively, while Vikas Kumar has been fielded for the post of university representative in DBS College.

He said that Pankaj Barathwal has been nominated as convener of election committee of DAV (PG) College, whereas Himanshu, Devendra and Pushpinder have been assigned responsibility of co-convener of the committee. He said that Atul Kant and Ravi Bhatt have been given responsibility of convener in SGRR (PG) College and DBS College, respectively.

Joshi said that federation members will work to improve the education system in the colleges in the state. He said that the federation will take action against those members who will be found guilty of hooliganism.

He said that special focus would be laid by the members to maintain teacher-student ratio in the colleges. Piyush Sharma, Suraj, Mahesh, Atul and Azeem were present.

Chaudhari elected president, Himani secy of students’ union

Haridwar: Himani Sharma was elected unopposed as secretary of Shravan Nath Jawahar Lal Nehru College Students Union ,while Om Prakash Chaudhari became president of the union in a closely fought contest ,the results of which were declared late yesterday.

As per Lyngdoh Commission norms, the SNJN College management decided to hold elections for class representatives and then opt for voting for executive working body from the elected CRs that comprise posts of president, vice president, secretary, sub secretary and treasurer.

Om Prakash Chaudhari defeated his nearest rival Divyansh by five votes’ margin while Salman won by four votes, defeating Akash Deep. Megha Mishra was also elected unopposed while Vishal Chauhan became treasurer winning against Krishna Kumar by a three-vote margin.

Members nominated for the working executive body were Deepak Kumar Kori, Deepak Chaturvedi, Nirmal Dhyani, Sumit Kumar, Ankush Kumar and Uday Singh.

College management secretary Mahant Ravindra Puri Maharaj, Principal AK

Ghildiyal, election officer SK Kulshreshtra, commerce department head Sunil Kumar Batra,Ashwani Kumar and SK Maheswari monitored the election procedure in the presence of heavy deployment of police personnel.

Congress meeting
Factions clash over ‘cash for campaign’ charges
Tribune News Service

Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s wife Renuka Rawat with other state Congress members in Haridwar on Friday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, August 29
Factionalism in Congress in Haridwar district came to the fore in presence of CM Harish Rawat’s wife Renuka Rawat at a city hotel today. She was holding a meeting to thank party workers for their support when she contested the Lok Sabha election from Haridwar constituency.

Haridwar Congress Sewa Dal president Rajesh Rastogi, in his address, stated that it was only Sewa Dal activists who didn’t take any money from the party to campaign for Renuka Rawat, who lost the election to current Haridwar BJP parliamentarian Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

As soon as Rastogi said this, party activists hailing from Youth Congress, NSUI, Women cell, Kisan Congress, City Congress, Mahanagar Congress and other leaders objected to this comment.

Congress city president OP Chauhan said it was a serious allegation as they had been working as dedicated party activists for decades and had campaigned for respective party candidates for various parliamentary, Assembly and civic body elections without taking a single paisa.

City unit spokesperson Manoj Khanna objected to Rastogi’s comment, saying not only Sewa Dal but also all other frontal party units worked for Renuka Rawat sincerely and there was no question of taking money for campaigning.

Kisan state Congress president Poonam Bhagat said such remarks did not augur well for a party that had a 125-year-old history and had what had been put forth in the allegations been the case, Renuka Rawat would have known it better as she was the party candidate from Haridwar.

Seeing party leaders exchanging verbal volleys, Renuka Rawat took the microphone and urged all present during the meeting to remain silent.

Renuka said every party worker worked during her poll campaign and if anyone had sought or taken money to campaign, disciplinary action would be taken by the party’s disciplinary committee.

As per party insiders, Rajesh Rastogi made the remarks as it is being rumoured he may be replaced by Murali Manohar, a close aide of former legislator Ambrish Kumar, who was re-inducted into the party during the Lok Sabha elections.

Both Ambrish and Rajesh are understood to be at loggerheads with each other and both rarely share the stage.

Earlier, Renuka Rawat thanked the party workers, activists, leaders and voters for entrusting faith in her as she bagged more than 4 lakh votes during the 16th Lok Sabha elections in May.

Renuka said that without love, affection and support of party workers and public of Haridwar district, her husband Harish Rawat would not have become Chief Minister of Uttarakhand as it was people of Haridwar who elected him by a record margin of 1.40 lakh votes during the 15th Lok Sabha elections in 2009.

Indian Public School log win in soccer
Tribune News Service

Players vie to take control of the ball during a match in the Colonel Shashi Memorial Football Tournament at Gorkha Military School in Dehradun on Friday. Tribune photo: Abhyudaya Kotnala

Dehradun, August 29
Indian Public School defeated Green Lawn Academy 2-1 in the ongoing 16th Colonel Shashi Memorial Inter-School Soccer Tournament being organised by the Cambrain Hall at Gorkha Military Inter College in Dehradun today.

In a close battle, Indian Public School scored the first goal of the match in the 19th minute. Rohit scored the first goal for his team. Krishna of Green Lawn Academy scored the lone goal for his team in the 23rd minute.

However, the winning goal for Indian Public School came in the 40th minute by Shanky.

Referees for the match were Sandeep Singh Tarewan, Naveen Thapa, Rahul Kanthola, Narenada Nanda, Jatin Uniyal and Shushant Badoni.

KV FRI win 1-0

Five matches were played in the ongoing under-19 football regional sports meet Dehradun region here on Friday.

In the first match, KV FRI defeated KV ONGC 1-0 while KV OFD emerge victorious by defeating KV Agustmuni 2-0. In another match, KV IMA defeated KV upper camp 4-1 while KV HBK Number: 1 defeated KV Banbasa 3-2. The match played between KV NTT, and KV Kashipur ended in a draw.

Vijay Cantt beat Boys club

Vijay Cantt defeated J.A. Boys Football Club 5-4 during the inaugural match of the 5th ONGC B.S. Negi Memorial Football Tournament at the Ambedkar Stadium here on Friday.

The first goal was scored by Depesh Thapa of Vijay Cantt during the 17th minute of the game. The score was equalised by Deepesh of J.A . Boys in the 55th minute. With both the teams standing equal, the result of the match was decided through a penalty shootout in which Vijay Cantt won 5 -4. The goal scorers from Vijay Cantt were Anand Chetri, Abhinav Basnet, Depesh Thapa and Arpit Rana. The match referees were Praveen Farasi, CM Bhatt, Pushkar Singh and Binder Singh. The tournament was inaugurated by Hira Singh Bist, MLA, Doiwala.

Carman School win 4-0

Carman School and Asian School won their matches in the thirteenth Om Prakash Memorial Football Tournament 2014 here today.

In the first match of the day, Carman School beat GRD World School 4-0 in a one sided match. Pradhyuman, Saurabh, Anish and Rajesh scored the goals for Carman. In the second match, Asian School beat St Joseph Academy 1-0. Ankit scored the solitary goal for Asian School.

Tributes paid to hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 29
Rich tributes were paid to hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand on the occasion of Sports Day organised at the Raipur-based Government Sports College here today. Addressing the gathering, Sports Minister Dinesh Aggarwal said that on the lines of Arjuna Award, the state government would be starting an award for outstanding sportspersons from Uttarakhand. The Rajya Khel Award would be given on the occasion of State Foundation Day celebrated on November 9 every year.

“A total of 15 players from different sports arenas would be selected for the award. An amount of Rs 1 lakh along with an appreciation certificate would be given to the award winners. Those players who bring home gold medal during the Asiad would be given promotions in their government jobs,” he added.

“The government is working on drafting a new sports policy in which 100 posts of coach are under consideration. The ration allowance for players in sports colleges would be increased from Rs 150 to Rs 225 per day. The players winning medals in the Olympics and other World Championships will be given double the cash amount. An international-level stadium will be constructed at Haldwani to boost the state’s sports industry. To motivate women players of the state, Sports College for Women would be constructed at Raipur,” he said.

Later, the minister awarded 18 players who have won medals in various championships held this year.

Centre committed to popularise Sanskrit, says Koshyari
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 29
Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Member of Parliament from the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar constituency, stressed on the need of learning Sanskrit along with Hindi and other regional languages. He was addressing a Sanskrit function organised by Dev Vani Paropkar Mission, Bhoopatwala, at Nirdhan Niketan here yesterday.

He said the BJP-led Centre was committed to popularise Sanskrit language in the country. Citing state BJP government’s move of giving status to Sanskrit as the second official language of Uttarakhand a few years back, Koshyari, a former Chief Minister, said we as Indians should give respect to Sanskrit then only can we think of restoring its ancient glory.

MLA Madan Kaushik assured Sanskrit students of raising their problems and issues at various platforms, including Chief Minister Harish Rawat.

Kaushik, a former state urban development minister, assured students of raising the demand of opening a national Sanskrit institute in the state.

Maha Mandaleshwar Prakhar Maharaj said Sanskrit students should work hard and study in such a manner that they become intellectuals. A Sanksrit literary and Vice-Chancellor of Sanskrit University also shed light on the importance of Sanskrit and steps taken by the university to popularise the language.

Program coordinator Ishwar Suyal read a nine-point demand letter related to issues of students. The demands included lack of teachers in Sanskrit colleges, providence of scholarship to poor students, special status to Sanskrit language, preference in appointments to traditional Sanskrit students, equipping with computer technology Sanskrit educational institutes and setting up of Sanskrit Education Board in Uttarakhand.

Pilgrim city celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi
Tribune News Service

Haridwar city legislator Madan Kaushik, Mayor Manoj Garg and Vikas Tiwari offer prayers to Lord Ganpati at a function organised by the Nirmal Ganpati Sangh in Haridwar Friday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, August 29
The 10-day pious “Ganesh Chaturthi” festival began with fervour and gaiety in the pilgrim city. The festival has gained a mass popularity among residents here. A number of pandals are being put up and devotees in large numbers throng temples and offer prayers to Lord Ganesha.

Today on the first day of the ten-day-long Ganesh Chaturthi festival, idols of Lord Ganesha were set up and unveiled at the various pandals across the district.

Under guidance of teerth purohits, rituals were performed prior to setting up and unveiling of Lord Ganesha idols at these pandals, which have been beautifully decorated and illuminated.

Temples are decked up and illuminated to observe Ganesh Chaturthi. At Nirmal Ganpati Sangh, Nirmala Saray Mayapur, near Shiv Moorti square, an idol of Lord Ganesha was unveiled with rituals. City legislator Madan Kaushik, Mayor Manoj Garg and divisional BJP leader Vikas Tiwari were present on the occasion.

Shantikunj is also celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi with spiritual ideologues. Dr Pranav Pandya and Shail Jiji have urged devotees to observe the festival in an environment-friendly way.

At Gayatri Vidyapeeth, a children-based programme was organised to apprise young students about the evolution, objective and importance of Ganesh Chaturthi.

AAP protests inadequate water supply
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 29
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists protested at Jal Sansthan office against shortage of potable water in the locality here today. The agitators threatened to intensify their agitation if the department does not take effective steps to overcome shortage of potable water in the colony.

The activists from Thakarpur protested at Jal Sansthan office today. They alleged that the department has charged Rs 3000 from every family against water charges without laying potable water pipelines in the locality.

They said that the department had not taken any effective steps to lay potable water pipelines in Thakarpur, Umedpur and adjoining villages under Sahaspur development block of Dehradun district.

They lamented that a memorandum highlighting the demand, which is inadequate supply of potable water, was given many times to officials but the department is yet to take effective steps to address their grievances.

The agitators demanded effective steps to overcome shortage of potable water in the locality. The agitators have threatened to intensify the agitation if the department did not take effective steps to supply potable water to affected colonies of the capital city. Somesh Budakoti, Rajendra Singh Negi, Mayank Naithani, Santosh Ghildiyal, Shyam Babu, Dinesh Negi, Mahesh, Kamal and others were present.

Govt planning to bring in guest doctors
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 29
To boost the availability of specialists in Uttarakhand, the Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare will seek the services of guest doctors who would be deployed in government health facilities for a period of 15 days to two weeks, where there is acute shortage of specialists.

The government is in talks with several private groups, including Thackeray of Gujarat, which has been instrumental in providing such a facility in Gujarat.

“The guest doctors would be asked to render services at a selected health facility for a period of 15 days to two weeks for which among other things they would be eligible for TA and DA. The proposal would be placed before the Cabinet for approval,” said a senior official.

In case the government manages to get a team of specialists comprising 100 doctors, it would be well worth the effort.

As it is Uttarakhand is facing shortage of specialists, which is increasing every year. It was due to this reason that the department opted for running of some of the community health centres under public private partnership. “The private players cater to the needs of the specialists by paying them handsome salaries far exceeding the capacity of the government. They can pay the paramedical staff less and keep the wages at a higher scale for specialists but we cannot do it. Our paramedical staff is receiving minimum salary of Rs 20,000 per month,” he added.

Development possible only through peace: CM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 29
Asserting that development was possible only through peace and talent, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said that Uttarakhand had always been a prime example of communal harmony.

The CM was addressing a gathering during a function organised by the Uttarakhand State Haj Samiti. “Irrespective the religions practised by them, the people of Uttarakhand have always maintained communal harmony. During the Kumbh mela a lot of Muslims are seen participating in the preparations. Similarly, the Hindus too participate whole-heartedly in the festivals of Muslims,” he added.

“The state government has always worked towards the welfare of minorities. A large number of madarsas have been recognised by the government. It is very important to save the graveyards in the villages and cities of the state. Along with constructing a boundary wall, other options to safeguard them are also being considered,” said the CM.

The CM also congratulated those who have been chosen to undergo the sacred Haj. The CM also released two books on the occasion.

Those present during the function included Furkan Ahmed, Haji Rao Sher Mohammed, Narenderjit Singh Bindra, Rajkumar, Mohammed Kasim, Maulana Mohammed Ahmed, Mufti Saleem Ahmed and Altaaf Hussain.

Slum Colonies in Haridwar
6 urban health centres to be opened
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, August 29
Under the National Urban Health Mission Scheme, six urban primary health centres will be opened for catering to people living in slum colonies in Haridwar city. All these six primary health centres will be located in or either near the slum colonies so as to provide health care to this segment of the society.

A meeting in this connection was presided over by District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan at CCR tower here. The meeting had officials of Municipal Corporation, Health and other departments concerned.

A committee has been formed to supervise this project, with DM D Senthyl Pendiyan as president, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Vipra Trivedi as vice president and Chief Medical Officer Dr Sushma Gupta as secretary.

DM Pendiyan stressed on provision of quality health care in slum areas under the National Urban Health Mission scheme.

Talking to officials concerned, he said within a span of one month, a Women Health Committee in major slum colonies should be formed, which would assist in proper implementation of this project.

“All departments involved in this project will be brought under one umbrella. Provision of pure water to slum colonies will be responsibility of the Pey Jal Nigam, but work will be monitored by the administrative committee on a regular basis,” said the DM.

The DM also suggested organising ‘’Weekly Health and Nutritious Day’’ camps at regular intervals at these slum colonies to generate awareness about health, quality of food intake and importance of a nutritious diet.

Move to demolish Valmiki temple in Pakistan resented
Tribune News Service

Dehrdaun, August 29
The Rashtriya Valmiki Krantikari Morcha yesterday submitted a memorandum, addressed to Prime Minister Narender Modi, to District Magistrate Chandresh Yadav seeking action over reports pertaining to a move to demolish a temple of Mahrishi Valimiki in Pakistan. They also burnt an effigy of Pakistan.

Bhagwat Prasad Makwana, national president of the morcha, said in the memorandum that there had been news reports pertaining to the demolition of a temple belonging to Mahrishi Valmiki in Rawalpindi. “The temple, also known as Balkansh Mandir, was built in 1935 and has a lot of significance for Mahrishi Valmiki’s devotees. The Valmiki community of the country condemns the move of the Pakistan government and army,” said Makwana.

“Pakistan has been involved in activities against India and by meeting separatists and terrorist organisations it is working against India’s interests. By continuously violating ceasefire in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan is grossly involved in human right violations,” he added.

UPNL staff agitation continues for fifth day

Dehradun, August 29
Agitated employees of Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Nigam Limited (UPNL) have threatened to protest in front of residences of three state cabinet ministers on September 2 in support of their year-long pending demands.

Notorious criminal arrested

Dehradun, August 29
The Special Task Force (STF) of Uttarakhand arrested an absconding criminal carrying a cash reward on his head, from Shyampur in the Rishikesh police station area here yesterday. Bhagwan Singh Bhandari was arrested after STF got information that he was hiding in Rishikesh, which happens to be his home town.