Rawat promises soil health cards to farmers
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Chief Minister Harish Rawat has announced to provide soil health cards to farmers of the state. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating the Veer Shiromani Madho Singh Bhandari Kisan Bhawan on Ring Road, Mussoorie Bypass Jogiwala, Rawat said farmers would be provided soil health cards which would help them to assess the quality of soil in the agriculture field. He said mobile soil testing would also be introduced, if required.

He held that in order to strengthen agriculture in the state, it was important to identify new areas. Calling to preserve traditional ways of farming, the Chief Minister said saving agriculture was one of the greatest challenges before him.

He said his government was committed to providing all possible facilities for farming and redress problems being faced by the farmers. He said special attention would be paid to land consolidation.

Rawat said the state government had introduced a ‘Humara Pedh, Humara Dhan’ scheme and the bonus would be given on planting fodder yielding plants.

The Chief Minister directed the officials of the Agriculture Department to prepare a project report on such produces of the state which give a unique identity to Uttarakhand. More progress must be made in the field of off-season vegetables. He also spoke about possibilities in organic farming.

He said five herbal clusters would be developed in Garhwal and Kumaon districts. Similarly, vegetables cluster and farming cluster would also be developed. These clusters would be developed areawise so that farmers could get maximum benefit.

Referring to the problems of state Agriculture Department employees related to the structure of cadre, he said the concerns would be resolved at the earliest. He held that Krishi Mandis would be strengthened.

Kisan Bhawan which has been built on an expenditure of Rs 12 crore will provide all facilities to farmers under one roof. Farmers will be trained on regular intervals and there will be accommodation for about 100 farmers. The CM felicitated progressive farmers on the occasion.

Seed Certification chairman Tilak Raj Beharh and Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma were present on the occasion.

Indian Academy School students clean village
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Students of The Indian Academy School started a cleanliness drive in nearby Kidduwala village here today. The school has adopted the village for the purpose of making it clean. The students in school uniform, led by the school Head Mistress, reached the village in the morning and cleaned the area.

While going to the village, the students also staged a street play at three places in order to sensitize the people about the importance of maintaining cleanliness.

Through the street play, the students gave suggestions to the people for improving the situation and preventing the beautiful forested village from turning into a garbage dump. The students and the teachers interacted with the people and exchanged suggestions.

Head of Kidduwala village Ramesh Thapa and ward member Vinita Chhetri also took part in the drive. Thapa also sent a vehicle for the collection of garbage.

In the end, residents of Kidduwala village thanked the students and the staff members of The Indian Academy for their efforts to clean the village and make them aware about the importance of cleanliness.

Panel to probe into babies’ deaths
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
A committee has been formed to look into the reasons behind the death of four premature babies at Doon Women’s Hospital on Sunday. But those who know the situation at the hospital say due to a heavy rush of patients, proper fumigation of the newborn care unit may have been compromised giving rise to the possibility of the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) becoming a carrier of hospital infection.

The hospital doctors have emphasised on the fragile nature of the babies, who were already battling several diseases. “This incident should serve as an eyeopener for the hospital management, which is not only facing staff shortage, but also a heavy rush of patients. The 24-cubicle SNCU has to be fumigated properly after every 15 days. But it is rarely done due to usual rush of patients and small cubicles are never empty,” said a doctor wishing anonymity.

Significantly, while the SNCU has been proving a boon for premature babies suffering from acute infections and other diseases, in case proper procedures are not followed for keeping the atmosphere of the unit sterile, it could prove disastrous and unsafe for the patients.

“We will look into all aspects of the incident and present our report. The doctors on duty have been asked to give a report,” said Dr RS Aswal, officiating director of Doon Group of Hospitals.

Doon Hospital’s revenue rises by Rs 19.83 lakh
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Despite offering several free services to BPL card holders, the Doon Hospital has earned a revenue of Rs 1.24 crore from April to September during the current financial year. The revenue has increased by Rs 19.83 lakh in six months this year compared to the revenue in the corresponding period last year. The hospital had earned a revenue of Rs 1.5 crore in 12 months of the last financial year.

The increase in revenue is also indicative of the fact that many non-BPL category patients are availing of the medical facilites at the hospital by paying nominal charges.

“Of the total work done by the hospital, it offers around 50-60 per cent of the services free of cost. We have also attracted a sizeable chunk of the population which gets affordable services at the hospital,” said Dr RS Aswal, Principal Medical Superintendent, Doon Hospital, while addressing mediapersons here today.

Significantly, the increase in revenue has not altered the budgetary allocation for the hospital which is often less and released late. “The meeting of the hospital committee will be held on October 21 and we will again raise the issue,” said Dr Aswal.

Had the X-ray, MRI and other diagnostic machines been in working condition, the hospital earnings could have been higher. “Mechanics had to be called from outside Dehradun though these small glitches should be taken care at the level of the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare,” added Aswal.

The hospital will also offer the service of bone-marrow density measurement from November.

Two arrested for murder of private firm’s agent
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 14
The Haridwar police along with the special operations group arrested Shrikant, a resident of Rohalki in Bhagwanpur, and Sonu, a resident of Bhopa in Muzaffarnagar, from the Kota Macharhedi intersection here yesterday for the murder of a private firm’s collection agent, Sonu Ram. Their third accomplice Gyanendra is absconding.

Sonu Ram was shot dead by Shrikant, Sonu and Gyanendra, who were riding a motorcycle, on October 7 when he was coming from Muradnagar–Jassawala village to his Jwalapur office after collecting Rs 80,000 from Bharatiya Samridhi Finance Company customers.

A case was then registered at Bahadrabad police station. The SSP formed a special team under SP, City, Surjeet Singh Pawar and Circle Officer Rajesh Bhatt.

SSP Sweety Aggarwal told The Tribune that the police zeroed on the bike used by the trio in the crime.

She said according to eyewitnesses, the accused were riding newly launched Hero i Smart bike when they shot dead Sonu Ram. The investigating team collected information about the number of motorcycles sold in Haridwar, Dehradun and Saharanpur districts.

“Getting information from the Regional Transport Office (RTO), we questioned people who had purchased Hero i Smart motorcycle. We came to know that Shrikant, who lives in the vicinity of the area where Sonu Ram was murdered, had a similar bike. The special operations group monitored Shrikant’s movements and found out that his two accomplices Sonu and Gyanendra had been meeting him regularly at secluded places,” she added. Sonu and Shrikant were arrested and Rs 80,000 they looted from Sonu Ram was seized from their possession.

Shrikant and Sonu have confessed to their involvement in Sonu Ram’s murder and the robbing of financier Bheem Singh, a resident of Mathura.

DIG, Garhwal Range, Sanjay Gunjiyal, has announced a cash reward of Rs 5,000 for the team.

The SSP congratulated the team comprising SHO, Bahadrabad, Rajeev Rauthan, district in charge of the special operations group, Narendra Singh Bisht, Sub-Inspectors Pradeep Rawat, and Rajesh Kumar, and constables Sunder Lal, Prem, Vivek, Padam, Shashikant, Harveer, Ajay, Rajat and Vipendra.

Downpour due to cyclone Hudhud leaves Doon areas waterlogged
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Cyclone Hudhud, which played havoc in coastal areas of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, and moisture due to western disturbances caused unexpected rain in Uttarakhand in the wee hours today. Various areas remained waterlogged due to the downpour early morning.

The higher areas of Uttarakhand will continue to receive rain for the next 36 hours. Earlier, the State Meteorological Centre had announced withdrawal of the monsoon from the state.

The State Meteorological Centre has forecast partly cloudy sky in Dehradun, and thundershowers in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand. The areas above 4,000 metre could witness snowfall in the next 24 hours.

The rain started early morning and continued till the afternoon in Dehradun. The weather turned pleasant after rain and normal temperature was recorded two degree Celsius below normal. The maximum temperature was 30°C while minimum temperature was 18°C.

Speaking to The Tribune, Anand Sharma, Director, Dehradun Meteorological Centre, said the presence of moisture in the atmosphere due to western disturbances and withdrawing cyclone Hudhud were among the main reasons for unexpected rain in Uttarakhand.

He said the higher areas of Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Nainital, and Champawat would receive light to moderate rain tomorrow.

CM flags off AI Pantnagar-Delhi flight
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Chief Minister Harish Rawat flagged off the first direct flight by Air India (AI) from Pantnagar to New Delhi in Pantnagar today. The Chief Minister said the direct flight between Pantnagar and New Delhi would boost tourism in the state. Efforts were on to increase infrastructure at the Pantnagar airport, he added.

The Chief Minister said the flight would provide quick and convenient connection to government officials, business travellers, students and tourists. He added air services were also expected to start between Dehradun and Pantnagar.

Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh, Additional Chief Secretary Rakesh Sharma and Indian Airlines Station Manager BD Pokhriya were present on the occasion.

Expedite development works, officials told
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
District Magistrate Chandresh Yadav chaired a meeting with officials and directed them to expedite development works. He said strict departmental action would be taken against officials who fail to perform as per the desired standards.

He also instructed officials to spend the released amount against the sanctioned development works till the end of October.

He expressed concern that officials were not releasing funds for carrying development activities, despite funds were released by the Secretariat.

He instructed officials of the PWD, Peyjal Nigam and Jal Sansthan to release funds for development works.

Court rejects Cong candidate’s election as ZP chairperson

Pithoragarh, October 14
District and Sessions Judge of Bageshwar GK Sharma has turned down the result of the election of chairperson of the Bageshwar zila panchayat through a draw of lots on August 5. The court ruled that Govind Singh Danu, who was the runnerup and had lost to Congress candidate Harish Aithani, be declared winner and sworn in as the chairperson of the zila panchayat immediately.

“The result of the election declared through a draw of lots was illegal. All candidates had received 10 first priority votes each, but Govind Singh Danu had got one additional second priority vote. However, this fact was ignored and Harish Aithani was declared winner,” said the judge.

Sources said it was first such case when a court turned down the election of the zila panchayat chairperson on the ground of inappropriate counting of votes. “We have resorted to a draw of lots after consulting both candidates and the state election commission. We have informed the commission about the court decision and sought its opinion on organising the oath-taking ceremony,” said BS Manral, District Magistrate, Bageshwar. — OC

WII study points to presence of house sparrows in state
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Amid growing fears of the Indian house sparrow fast disappearing, a Wildlife Institute of India’s study has raised hopes on conservation and presence of house sparrows in Uttarakhand.

Popularly known as “gouriya” in Hindi, “guora” in Nepali, “chakli” in Gujarati, “chot charai” in Bengali, “angnadi kuruva” in Malayalam and “ge kurulla” in Sinhala, the number of house sparrow has been dwindling for the past many years.

Uttarakhand, where house sparrow was once a common sight, too has shown the same trend. Their sighting has reduced considerably. The bird is believed to be a victim of high-rise constructions, excessive usage of pesticides and climate change.

The Wildlife Institute of India, that carried out a detailed study to garner information on the ecology and current status of house sparrows in Uttarakhand, asserts that efforts to sensitise society towards the dwindling number of house sparrows has started revealing positive results with the bird registering a wide distribution in the areas surveyed.

The study looked into density and distribution of house sparrows in urban and rural areas of various districts of the state. While the WII team encountered maximum sightings in Rishikesh, the least number of sparrows were sighted in Rudraprayag district. In Rishikesh, the WII team came across a flock of 30 house sparrows.

VP Uniyal, a senior scientist, who led the survey, expressed happiness over the wide distribution of sparrow revealed in the survey. He said people’s attitude towards house sparrows was very positive and most of them were aware of the dwindling number of house sparrows.

Interestingly, while many perceived house sparrows to be common in their vicinity, a few could differentiate between house sparrows and russet sparrows.

The survey, in particular, covered Dehradun, Bageshwar, Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts to take the overall projection of house sparrow population in the state. A questionnaire was put before the people in order to assess presence and absence of house sparrows and the people’s attitude towards the bird.

The survey was conducted between December 2012 and May 2013.

Power cuts in Doon areas for maintenance works
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Several areas of Dehradun remained without electricity today due to maintenance works carried out by Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited (UPCL). UPCL officials said the department carried out maintenance works regularly to ensure regular supply of electricity to consumers.

Three to five hours of power cuts were imposed in Neshvilla Road, Bakralwala, Dangwal Marg, EC Road, Rajpur Road and other areas.

According to the maintenance roster prepared by the UPCL, the Rajeev Gandhi complex, Paltan Bazaar, Ghosi Gali, Dispensary road, Chakrata Road, and adjoining areas would face a four-hour power cut tomorrow while five-hour power cut would be imposed in Clock Tower, Rajpur Road, Paltan Bazaar, Kalidas Road, and Omkar Road areas on Thursday. A four-hour power cut was also imposed in rural areas of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

Madhusudan, spokesman for the UPCL, told The Tribune that technical faults were being removed and transmission lines were being repaired on a war footing ahead of Diwali to ensure unintterupted electricity supply to consumers. He said the department was continuously procuring electricity from neighbouring states to meet demand.

Madhusudan added the technical staff had been instructed to rectify technical snags within stipulated time to avoid inconvenience to the consumers.

Leopard beaten to death
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 14
A leopard was beaten to death by residents of Hanspur Khatta village in the Chorgalia area of Nainital district today. The leopard had strayed into a house to prey on a goat and seeing the villagers attacked them. According to forest officials, the 11-year-old leopard injured five persons before the villagers beat it to death.

According to sources, the leopard that was on the prowl to prey on a goat at the cattle shed at Ram Singh’s house in Hanspur Katta village entered the nearby house of Ghulam Nabi early morning. It saw Gopal Singh and Krishna Nand on the way and attacked them. “Ram Singh and his mother Dhanuli Devi chased away the leopard after it had attacked their cattle. The beast also attacked the mother and son duo and injured them,” said Bhagwat Prasad Pant, Hanspur Khatta Forest Range Officer.

They said when the leopard returned in the afternoon to prey on the goa, the villagers and the forest officer encircled it and beat it to death with sticks and rods. “Injured Ram Singh, Gopal Singh, Krishna Nand, Dhauli Devi and Gulam Nabi are being treated at a private hospital,” said Pant.

Welham Girls’ School lift TT titles
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Welham Girls’ School defeated Unison World School 3-0 and lifted the IPSC Inter-School Junior Table Tennis trophy played at The Heritage School here today. The Welham Girls’ School clinched the IPSC Inter-School Junior Table Tennis titles after defeating Unison World School 3-2.

In the individual junior category final match, Unison World School defeated Welham Girls’ School 3-1.

Hilton School lift basketball trophy

Dehradun, October 14
The Hilton School lifted the Inter-Council School Junior Boys Basketball Tournament after defeating The Heritage School 34-8 in the final match played at basketball court of The Heritage School here today.

Shashank Negi of The Heritage School was adjudged best player while Nihal Yadav of Hilton School was adjudged player of the tournament. — TNS

Volleyball tourney gets underway

Dehradun, October 14
The district-level 14th Junior Volleyball Tournament began on the campus of the Sardar Bhagwan Singh (PG) Institute of Biomedical Sciences and Research (SBSPGI) at Balawala here today.

Brig PPS Pahwa (retd), director of the institute, inaugurated the tournament. He welcomed all participants and officials of the State Volleyball Association. Over 150 volleyball players from 13 districts of the state are participating in the tournament.

Uttarakhand Volleyball Association vice-president Bharat Veer Singh, coordinator of the tournament Satyendra Singh Panwar, state secretary Kamlesh Kala and treasurer Lalit Gaud were present at the inaugural function. — TNS

Minister chairs meeting on volleyball tournament
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani chaired a meeting at the Legislative Assembly complex to review preparations of the forthcoming Under-17 National Volleyball Tournament to be held at Pavilion Ground in Dehradun from November 18.

As many as 1,200 volleyball players from across the country are expected to take part in the tournament being organised by the State Secondary Education Department.

During the meeting, the minister instructed the officials concerned to complete the preparations in advance and make sure that players and staff get healthy food and clean drinking water throughout the tournament.

Police officials, who also took part in the meeting, were instructed to keep a foolproof security of players and places where players would be staying.

He stressed on cleanliness and told the officials concerned to ensure that hostels and the playground remain absolutely clean during the tournament. The officials were asked to beautify the Lansdowne Chowk and the areas nearby to the Pavilion Ground.

Chandra Singh Gwyal informed the minister that the department had received Rs 30 lakh from the government for organising the Volleyball Tournament and no stone would be left unturned for making the tournament a success.

Notably, senior officials from all departments were present at the meeting.

Taiwan to help Uttarakhand in food processing
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Taiwan and Uttarakhand will work jointly in the field of food processing. Besides, cultural and education exchange programes will be conducted in the field of higher education.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat shared his government’s vision with the representatives of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Centre who met him at the Secretariat here today.

It was decided that Taiwan would work with Uttarakhand and Kumaon University as well as Graphic Era University in the field of higher education.

The Chief Minister said both could learn from each other’s experiences and students in both Taiwan and Uttarakhand would be benefited from the initiative. He welcomed the Taiwan delegates to Uttarakhand and said technical knowledge and investment was important for the state.

Chung Kwang Tien, who led the delegation, said there was a lot of scope to develop business relations between Taiwan and Uttarakhand. Taiwan could help the state in development of the food processing industry and provide technical assistance. Besides, raw material sourced from Uttarakhand could be used in the food processing units in Taiwan.

Taiwan and Uttarakhand can also work jointly in electronics. Chung Kwang Tien invited Harish Rawat to visit Taiwan. The latter expressed his gratitude and said other avenues where Taiwan and Uttarakhand could work together would be explored.

Principal Secretary Om Prakash, Graphic Era University Vice-Chancellor Prof VK Tiwari, Prof YP Kumar and Pradeep Nagrath and Taiwan delegates Isabel Lo, James Chang, Yita Chen and Derek Wu were present.

RMSA employees threaten to hold protest at Naithani’s house
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
The agitating contractual employees employed under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA) have threatened to protest at the Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani’s residence on Wednesday, if their demand of renewing their contract is not met by the government.

The protesters said a memorandum was submitted to the officials many times but the contracts of lab assistant and office assistants under the RMSA had not been renewed.

They lamented that the state government was yet to take effective steps to fulfil their year-long pending demands.

A protester said though the Chief Minister and the Education Minister had asssured them of renewing their contracts, which ended on March 31 this year, nothing had been done so far.

MLA corners XEN over erratic power supply
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 14
Ganesh Joshi, MLA, Mussoorie, irked at frequent power cuts in his Assembly segment cornered the Executive Engineer (Rural) at the latter’s office in Dehradun today and demanded immediate restoration of power supply and launch of new projects.

Joshi was accompanied by Deepak Pundir, president of the Gram Pradhan Sanghatan Ratan Singh Jawadi, Sarona village pradhan Sundar Singh Payal, Karligad village pradhan Kalam Singh Negi, Chalang village pradhan Sameer Pundir and other leaders who also expressed their resentment against the Power Department.

Joshi told the officials that the Khabadwala area was reeling under low voltage, causing inconvenience to the villagers. He said though Rs 11 lakh was sanctioned for the 2.5-km 11 KV line to resolve the problem of low voltage, nothing had been done so far.

He demanded new power substations for Chalang and Buraskhanda, near Dhanaulti, replacement of the 16 KV transformer with a 63 KV transformer to improve electricity supply. He directed the officials concerned to install 20 more electricity poles at Bhitarli village.

Cranes to be given to city patrols: DGP
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Director General of Police (DGP) BS Sidhu inspected cranes available with the Dehradun police at the police headquarters here yesterday. During the inspection, the Director General of Police instructed senior officers to get the cranes repaired in order to regulate city traffic.

The Director General of Police said the cranes would be attached with the city patrol unit for streamlining traffic in the city and towing away vehicles parked in ‘no parking’ zones. He told officers that he would again inspect the cranes on October 21.

Summer Valley School win overall trophy

Dehradun, October 14
Students of Summer Valley School clinched the trophy in the 2nd edition of Uprist Service Portal (USP) Survivor along with a reward of Rs 40,000. The USP is an entrepreneurial concept launched by youth of Dehradun offering integrated marketing and branding solutions.

It comprises nine rounds such as brand awareness, entrepreneurship, stress management and group discussion.

Notably, about 3,500 students from various colleges such as Graphic Era, DIT, UTI and schools such as St Joseph’s Academy, Brightlands, Doon International School, St Thomas College and others took part in the competition.Shreya Dimri of Summer Valley bagged the top position by winning the trophy and a cash prize of Rs 20,000. Kanjini Sharma and Kritika Dobhal from Summer Valley School were adjudged first and second runners up, respectively. The Summer Valley School was adjudged overall winning team. — TNS

Activists worried over rise in crime against women
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 14
Activists of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has expressed concern over increasing incidents of violence against women in the country. They said the government should take steps to prevent physical and mental harassment of women.

Addressing audience at a seminar on rights of women, Madhu Garg, national secretary, AIDWA, expressed concern over increase in incidents of crime against women in the country.

She said the government should strictly implement laws to prevent female foeticide in the country.

Indu Naudiyal, state president of the AIDWA, expressed concern over deteriorating sex ratio in the state.

She said more stringent laws should be made to prevent dowry cases.

Sunita Pandey, Vandana Gusain, Anita Negi, Jyoti Thakur, Chanda Mamgain, Kala Paswan, Shivani and Sharda were present in the seminar.