Minister’s assurance to slum dwellers
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Perturbed over the orders of Dehradun Municipal Corporation instructing to vacate the slums areas in Brahmpuri, a number of slum dwellers met the Forest and Sports Minister Dinesh Aggarwal here today.

The residents rued that despite repeated requests, the DMC has sent them notices to evacuate their houses in which they have been staying for nearly 25 years now. “The DMC officials are forcing us to shift in one room accommodations that have been constructed by them. The area is very small for some families that have large number of members,” said the protesters.

Assuring the slum dwellers of necessary action, Aggarwal said that the state government has decided to regularise the slums due to which they would not be removed from their dwellings. “A committee has been formed and no action would be taken until a report is submitted to the state government regarding the regularisation of slums,” he added.

The minister also passed orders to the DMC officials in which they were instructed not to take any step to evacuate the slums. “Strict action would be taken against the officials who flout the orders. The state government is making an elaborate plan to rehabilitate the slum dwellers in a planned manner,” he added.

It’s Anglo-Gorkha war bicentenary today
Ajay Ramola
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 30
The bicentennial of any kind is rare in Uttarakhand, since there was little written history of the hill region was during the pre-British times. The word of mouth was the primary form of passing history lessons to the young, before the British arrived and brought their habit of meticulously writing the history of the areas they conquered, written strictly from their own views.

It was on this day exactly 200 years ago, on October 31, 1814, that the Battle of Nalapani Hill began, heralding the Anglo-Gorkha war. According to the Nepali calendar, the battle began on 17th Karthik, 1871.

The Gorkhas’ famous Khalanga Fort on Nalapani Hill was in the present-day Raipur Reserved Forest, north-east of Dehradun city. The 31-day siege of the Gorkha Fort by the army of the East India Company would end in a victory for the British on November 30, 1814. The cost in terms of both British and Gorkha lives was high, with some 740 casualties on the British side and 530 on the Gorkha side. The battle had begun after the British commander, Major-General Robert Rollo Gillespie sent a messenger to the Gorkha commander, General Balbhadra Singh Kunwar, demanding an unconditional, immediate surrender. Since Thapa had only 600 men and the British had 3,500, Gillespie expected a prompt surrender. He was quite wrong. The Gorkhas were ready to fight to the bitter end. That the Gorkhas, though surrounded from all sides, chose to fight on fearlessly with the now-legendary Gorkha ferocity shocked the British.

Gillespie, though astonished by the Gorkhas’ refusal to surrender, did not suffer for long himself. He personally led the first attack on October 31, but was dead in an hour. A Gorkha sharpshooter killed him with a precise long-range rifle shot. There were over 100 British casualties within the first few days of the siege, including dozens of deaths and many more grave injuries. The Gorkhas took losses too, but fewer. Reinforcements were rushed from Saharanpur, then the major British garrison in the region and still a key cantonment for the Indian Army.

Historians agree that the Anglo-Gorkha War that continued until a peace treaty was finally signed by the East India Company and Nepal in late 1815 in Sugauli in Bihar was inevitable. For decades, both the

The British and the Gorkhas had been on aggressive, bloody expansionist paths. The Gorkhas, rampaging westwards from Nepal, had overrun all of present-day Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. They had also conquered Sikkim and parts of Bhutan to the east, and much of the Terai regions of present-day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Shantanu Sarkar, a Mussoorie-based environmentalist and history buff, explained: “Britain’s hunger for new territory clashed with the marauding Gorkhas’ expansionism. Tensions had been building up for two decades despite some diplomatic discussions. Both sides were preparing for war on a 1,500-km front from Himachal to Sikkim. War was certain to break out somewhere. Indeed, it broke out right here in the Doon.”

The British prevailed over the Gorkhas after three bloody artillery-supported attacks when the Gorkha water supply finally ran out on November 29. The Gorkha survivors surrendered the next day. Baldhadra Singh Kunwar had escaped at night with his surviving fighters, and eventually joined the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh as a commander.

Sarkar says, “The most momentous result of the war were that the British were finally able to conquer much of the Himalayas, having been earlier confined to the plains, and feared Gorkha Regiments were created and absorbed into the British Indian Army — So impressed had the British been with the ferocity and courage of the Gorkha soldiers at Nalapani Hill.”

On a mission to educate and empower slum children
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 30
Social activist Dr Manu Shivpuri, along with principal of Girls Government School Vimla Rawat, Kankhal, has been working for the cause of education for the girl child in slum areas of the city for the past few years.

Due to their dedication, now, 200-odd girls, mostly hailing from economically weaker strata of the society including slum areas, are now studying in this school.

For the girls whose parents don’t have enough money for their books, the school principal does the needful so that the children don’t suffer owing to financial crunch.

Dr Manu Shivpuri has been holding Child Skill Development and Multi-Skill camps on the school premises for these girls on a regular basis.

Shivpuri told The Tribune their motive was to inculcate moral values and skill-based education in those girl students who don’t get an environment conducive to such education at their homes or in the neighbourhood.

Named ‘Mood Fresh Classes’, Manu Shivpuri’s classes draw students in full strength. With innovative ideas, presentation and interactive skills, she motivates girls and engages them with creative aspects of the education.

“Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has referred to Child Skill Development during his October 2 speech on All India Radio. The same is my theme, as just curricular education is not enough for children. They need to be given additional skill-based creative education too,” said Dr Shivpur.

Shivpuri first educates children about the negatives of polythene bags and then, on a monthly basis, holds a competition, wherein girl students gather polythene from the surroundings.

They then show this to traders and locals who used them, apprising them about the long-term impact this material on the local ecology.

Today, five girls had individually collected 1,400 polythene bags, which were displayed at the school. The girls are trained in using dumped material in creative artefacts so that these can be reused in daily life.

Principal Vimla Rawat said since the Mood Fresh classes began, the girls’ inclination towards studies, sports and cultural-creative aspects has increased, which suggests that children need to be educated in an interesting manner rather than using the conventional mode of education.

Social activist Sunil Dutt Pandey said such creative and skill-oriented classes and approach needs to be followed and replicated by other government schools, as that would bridge the gap between the skill sets of government and public school students.

Alumni from 1964 batch to take part in Welham Girls’ School founder’s day
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Welham Girls’ School will celebrate its 57th founder’s day on October 31 and November 1. The special invitees are the batch of 1964 and 1989 which will celebrate their golden and silver jubilees, respectively.

Anu Aga, a Padmashree awardee, who is the former chairperson of Thermax India Ltd and chairperson of the Teach for India programme and a Rajya Sabha member since 2012, will be the chief guest.

According to the schedule released by the school management, the first day will witness annual athletics meet, career counselling sessions, parent-teacher meeting and senior school drama production along with other activities.

However, the second and the concluding day will have exhibition in the first half of the day. The exhibitions will be blend of academic and co-curricular activities put up by students. These will include science, mathematics, history, geography, art, craft and photography exhibitions.

The programme will focus on speeches and prizes followed by an audio-visual presentation supported by live performances by students and teachers.

Sports events, play mark Cambrian School’s diamond jubilee
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Cambrian Hall School witnessed an extravaganza of fun filled mirth and joy after it celebrated its Diamond Jubilee Celebrations here today. The inaugural day of the two-day celebrations saw many different events.

The highlight of the programme was more than 1,000 ex-students holding high positions in the country as well as abroad attended the functions with their families. Cricket, basketball and football matches were played between alumni’s and students of the school.

The alumni’s dominated the sports events with winning all the three main events. In the cricket match, alumni’s team won the match by six wickets while in the football match, alumni’s team won the match 3-0. They also won the basketball match 8-4.

The mega play ‘Pani aaya gaon mein’ was staged for the students and their parents in the evening. The parents were much enthralled to watch the play written and directed by Alok Ulfat, a multifaceted personality in the field of theatre.

Alok Ulfat is an eminent theatre artiste with more than twenty years of experience.

Oak Grove students excel on 1st day of inter-school athletics meet
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 30
Oak Grove School excelled on the first day of the inter-school athletics meet held in Mussoorie today. Former Municipal Council president OP Uniyal inaugurated it. The results of various events were as follows.

800-metre race: In the girls junior division, Manisha from Oak Grove School first; Bharti from Oak Grove School, second; and Chanirat from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, third. In the girls senior division, Surbhi from Oak Grove School, first; Riya from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School (GNFC), second; and Komal from Oak Grove School, third.

In the boys senior division, Saurav from Oak Grove School, first; Sagar from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, second; and Abhishek from Manav Bharti International School, third. In the boys junior division, Ashutosh from Oak Grove School, first; Deepak from Oak Grove School, second; and Ramesh from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, third.

High jump: In the boys senior division, Rohan Kumar from Oak Grove School, first; Saurav from Oak Grove School, second; and Amit from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, third. In the girls senior division, Komal from Oak Grove School, first; Meenakshi from Oak Grove School, second; and Kalsang from Mussoorie International School, third.

In the boys junior division, Shubham from Oak Grove School, first; Vivek from Oak Grove School, second; and Sachin from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, third. In the girls senior division, Sania from Oak Grove, first; Anu from Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School, second; and Suhana from Oak Grove School, third.The preliminary rounds of other events namely shotput were also held on the occasion.

However, the absence of schools, namely St. Georges, Woodstock School and Wynberg Allen, was also felt during the meet. These schools do not participate in the events held at Oak Grove School and have formed their sports bodies.

Khalsa Academy defeat Doon Defence by seven wickets
Tribune News Service

Congress MLA Hira Singh Bisht, president of the Uttrakhand Cricket Association, addresses mediapersons. Tribune photo: Abhyudaya Kotnala, Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, October 30
The Khalsa Cricket Academy (KCA) defeated the Doon Defence Academy (DDA) by 7 wickets in the first match of the day in the ongoing Nazar Khan Memorial 3rd Youth Cup Cricket Tournament played at Rangers College ground here today.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Doon Defence Academy performed dismally and made a mere 92 runs with Eklavya scoring the highest 29 runs while Aryan made 22 runs. For the Khalsa Cricket Academy, Ajit took 3 wickets in the innings. In reply, Khalsa Cricket Academy easily chased down the target at the loss of just 3-wickets. Praveen remained the top scorer with 56 runs whereas Arva Sethi contributed 18 runs.

In the second match of the day, the All Star Club team defeated the Himalayan Academy team by 37 runs.

Batting first, All Star Club made 151 runs with Rinku scoring the highest 47 runs and Shivam made 34 runs.

In reply, the Himalayan Academy was bowled out at 114 runs with Aryan scoring the highest 36 runs followed by Digar who made 22 runs for Himalayan Academy. On other hand, Hunny took three wickets for the All Star Club team.

Vijay Merchant Trophy match from today

For the first time, a three-day match of prestigious Vijay Merchant Trophy will be played from October 31 to November 2 at Abhimanyu Cricket Academy. The tournament is being played in the under-16 category and Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association has allotted a match between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to Cricket Association of Uttarakhand to organise it in Dehradun for the first time. While addressing a press conference on the issue, Hira Singh Bist, president of the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand, said it was a proud moment for the whole state to organise a match of such a prestigious BCCI-organised tournament in Dehradun.

Hydro projects impacting local ecology
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 30
Large scale hydro power projects being built on the Ganga and its sub-tributaries such as Bhagirathi, Alaknanda, Dhaulli Ganga, Kanchan Ganga, Pindar, Mandakini and Nandakini are major factors affecting the local ecology.

These hydro projects, that have mushroomed in the sensitive seismic zone of Uttarakhand in the past decade, are having a negative impact on the sanctity and purity of the water of the Ganga.

This was suggested by Rashtriya Himalaya Niti Abhiyan members here today after covering the first phase of the 2,523-km long mission, which would pass through important towns, cities and villages through which the Ganga passes in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Environmentalists, social activists, academicians and some local residents of Uttarakhand are part of this mission that commenced on October 11 at Gangotri.

Passing through Uttarkashi, New Tehri Garhwal, Srinagar, Deo Prayag and Rishikesh, members of this expedition reached Haridwar today. Holding discussion forums, debates, distributing pamphlets and calling for support of locals in ensuring maintenance of sanctity and purity of the Ganga as well as safeguarding the local ecology in the Himalayan belt, the mission members have been getting good support from all the places till date.

Coordinator of this mission Suresh Bhai said over the past six years, they have been generating awareness about sensitivity of the fragile Himalayan belt, which has, of late, been witness to natural disasters. Members of this mission are generating awareness about a separate ‘Himalayan’ policy and impact of numerous hydro power projects in Garhwal Himalayas.

Shashi Prabha Rawat, social activist from Pauri Garhwal, blamed lack of seriousness on the part of Union and state governments towards the cause of the Ganga and local inhabitants in the Himalayan region.

Emphasising on conservation of Himalayan resources, Rawat said they had submitted a Himalayan Policy draft to the Prime Minister and the Water Resource Minister after taking inputs and studying varied factors that had led to the Himalayas becoming fragile and prone to flash floods, landslides and earthquakes.

Landslides have emerged as a regular feature, be it in Uttarakhand, Jammu Kashmir, Himachal or North Eastern Himalayan belt, it was further stated.

Thousands have been affected while an equal number have been displaced in these states. The need of the hour is to have a specific Himalayan policy, stated Dev Nath Verma, founder member of the mission.

Chief coordinator Suresh Bhai said this expedition would now enter its second phase which would begin from December. It will covering Gad Mukteshwar till Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and further down. It will enter its third phase by December end and reach Gazipur, Bodh Gaya, Mugdh Vaishali, Buxar, Patna, Son Pur Gaon, Nalanda, Raj Grah, Mokmehghat, Bhagalpur, Gaur, Murshidabad, Nadia, Krishna Nagar, Hoogli, Kolkata, Sunder Van and finally culminate at Ganga Sagar.

Expedition members include Man Singh Rawat (Kotdwar Pauri Garhwal), Prof Veerendra Painuli (Dehradun), Praveen Kumar Bhatt (Pithoragarh), Arany Ranjan, Devki Devi, Kuwar Sajwan (Tehri Garhwal), Prem Pancholi, Shivam Bhatt, Kushphal (Uttarkashi), Islam Hussain (Kathgodham), Mohan Singh (Rishikesh), Sushila Bhandari (Rudraprayag), Arun Kamboj, Vinod Singh (Udham Singh Nagar), Ranjeet Jakhi (Srinagar Garhwal), Sarla Sharma and Swami Anantanand (Sarvodaya, Haridwar).

‘Make Tripathi panel report public’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Dr SP Sachan, state president of the Samajwadi Party (SP), has asked the Congress-led state government to make public the Tripathi commission report on the alleged corruption in Maha Kumbh.

He said the state government should take a stringent action against those government officials and public representatives, who were found guilty of corruption during the Maha Kumbh held in Haridwar in 2010.

Addressing mediapersons, Sachan said the state government should call on a meeting of agitating employees to address their grievances.

He said a conclave of party activists was slated to take place on November 14 here. The activists will have discussion on corruption, unemployment, and development-related issues in the conclave.

He said the state government should take effective steps to rebuild damaged infrastructure in the disaster-hit areas of the state.

He said steps were awaited by the Congress-led state government to address grievances of farmers of the state.

Dr Sachan demanded from the state government to introduce more beneficiary policies for the uplift of weaker sections of society.

Prepare report for river bank beautification: CM
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Chief Minister Harish Rawat has asked Urban Development officials to prepare a project report for beautification of the Bindal and Rispana river banks.

Presiding a review meeting linked to the Bindal and Rispana river bank beautification at the Bijapur Guest house in Dehradun, Chief Minister Harish Rawat gave orders to Urban Development officials to prepare a planned project report for the beautification of the Bindal and Rispana river bank.

The Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) has been entrusted with the beautification work. The MDDA has been asked to prepare a detailed DPR. The Chief Minister stated that the state government envisions making a strong project for beautification of the Bindal and Rispana river banks.

He asked the Dehradun DM to ensure there was no land encroachment on the banks of the Bindal and Rispana rivers. All factors must be kept in mind while preparing the project report. He said a survey of these banks must be conducted by some special agency.

A presentation on personal rapid transit in Dehradun was presented before Rawat by representatives of Ultra Fairwood Company. The CM said the problem of traffic was mounting.

Labourers’ exploitation unchecked in industrial estate
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, October 30
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) has raised the issue of labourers’ exploitation and violation of labour laws in the Integrated Industrial Estate of Haridwar, set up at Roshanabad by State Industrial Development Corporation Uttarakhand Limited (SIDCUL).

A memorandum has been submitted to City Magistrate KK Mishra by the DYFI district committee office-bearers in this regard.

District committee secretary Chand Singh Rawat said thousands of pay roll, contractual and daily wage workers in more than 100 factories in Roshanabad were denied minimum salary or wages. Forget the working condition and annual bonus, thousands of labourers are being exploited, as there is no agency to monitor these firms in SIDCUL.

District president PD Baloni said labourers were forced to work extra hours and denied minimum wages. He added that firms were also violating the 70 per cent reservation clause for local youths in SIDCUL, while people from other than Uttarakhand were given preference, which was blatant violation of the agreement between Uttarakhand government and companies.

Labour laws are also being violated in these factories, with many labourers who raised their voice against this violation have been removed from their jobs by respective factory owners, without prior notice.

Communist leader RP Jakhmola has also questioned the credibility of SIDCUL authority and the Labour Commissioner as both have not taken any punitive action against the violating factories or firms.

Rishikesh school students meet Governor

Dehradun, October 30
A team of students from Rishikesh Public School met Uttarakhand Governor Dr Aziz Qureshi at the Raj Bhavan today. The students spoke to the Governor about conservation of Kedarnath and Ganga. They presented to him a model in this connection.

Low visibility affects operations at Pantnagar airport
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 30
Low visibility has affected operations of the Pantnagar-New Delhi flight at Pantnagar airport in Uttarakhand. Low visibility is coming in the way of landing of aircraft and thus, no New Delhi-Pantnagar flight has landed at the airport for the last two days.

Sources said the passengers had to wait for hours on both the days to board the aircraft for New Delhi, and were compelled to take to other means of transport to reach their destination, said the sources.

According to sources at Pantnagar airport, the aircraft took off from New Delhi, but could not land at the airport in the last two days as the visibility over the airport was not enough. “As the aircraft need clear visibility up to the distance of 7,000 metres from the sky, the airport was visible up to 1,500 to 2,500 metres on the last two days, making the aircraft return to New Delhi without landing at the airport,” said PS Brizwal, an airport authority officer at the airport.

According to the airport authority sources, the air service, that was inaugurated on October 14, could have only 10 flights land successfully; rest of the two flights could not land owing to low visibility at the airport. “We will have to introduce instrumental landing system if we need continuance of flights during winter. The winter months are marked by fog in the belt where this airport is situated,” said the AAI officer.

The 38-seater aircraft flies between New Delhi and Pantnagar on alternative days — Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. “We apparently need nearly 25 seats occupied per flight in our 38-seater aircraft to make it economically viable. Anything below that and the flight runs into losses,” said an officer.

Bankers demand implementation of 10th pay commission
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Bank employees staged a protest in support of their demands here today. The employees have threatened to intensify the agitation if the government does not accede to their demands.

The agitating bank employees under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions protested on the State Bank of India campus at Rajpur Road.

They said the memorandum highlighting their demand which includes implementation of the 10th pay commission of bank employees was submitted to public representatives several times, but the Centre was yet to take steps to address their grievances.

According to them, the pay scale of bank employees is low than government teachers. The agitators demanded immediate intervention of the Union Government to address their grievances.

Jagmohan Mehandiratta, PR Kukretti, VK Joshi, Hari Om Narang, Anil Jain, RP Sharma, Kamal Tomar, RK Gairola and others were present on the occasion.

Cong to burn Uma Bharti’s effigy today
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Dheerandra Pratap, senior Congress leader, has said that Congress activists will burn an effigy of Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti tomorrow (October 31) at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

He said that Bharti’s recent statement of banning immersion of ashes into river Ganga after performing last rites would not be tolerated as it it was an ancient Hindu custom.

Pratap said that Union Government should take effective steps towards Ganga cleaning project.

He said that Congress activists will continue with their protest till the government lifts the ban on immersing ashes into river Ganga.

UKD factions come up with action plans
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, October 30
Both the factions of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, a regional party that spearheaded the statehood agitation for a separate state of Uttarakhand, have come up with their own action plans in the state.

While UKD (Airy) launched an ‘’Uttarakhand Bachao, Uttarakhand Basao’’ campaign for Kumaon region in Champawat district, UKD (Panwar) has revealed that it would contest the election of 2017 in the state on its own as people are expressing confidence in it.

“We have decided to contest the 2017 Assembly elections in the state as people have started expressing faith in our leadership,” said Trivendra Singh Panwar, president of UKD (P) at Pantnagar, where he had come to address a conclave of his party workers.

“We have decided to launch a long-term agitation to fill the 1,000 vacant posts in Pantnagar University by giving priority to local youths from the state,” said Panwar.

Meanwhile, another faction of the party, UKD (A), remained active in the region as its president Kashi Singh Airy has launched its campaign, that aims to save and rehabilitate the regions of the state which do not have many residents due to lack of basic facilities.

“We have identified three factors of non-availability of livelihood, absence of basic facilities and man-animal conflict as causes of migration from hill villages. Our campaign is aimed at fulfilling these requirements of villagers of hill regions for the people could live in their village,” said Kashi Singh Airy, president of UKD (A) at Champawat district, where he launched the campaign for Kumaon region.

“We have launched the campaign for Garhwal region in Pauri last week,” added Airy.

The local leaders who spoke at the function said the Congress and BJP had deceived the basic spirit behind the statehood agitation and did not care for the people who live on the border in the hill state.

“Becoming aware of the reality behind the politics of these mainstream parties, the people have now started looking for a third alternative in the state,” said Chandra Shekhar Kapri, a senior leader of the party.

Fervour marks Urs of Bulle Shah
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, October 30
Fervour marked the Urs of Baba Bulle Shah, a Punjabi mystic poet, at Bala Hisar in Mussoorie today. Members of the Bulle Shah Committee and devotees offered a chaddar on his tomb and sought his blessings.

A qawwali presented by Saajan Babu Ghungroowale in Sufi style enthralled the devotees.

The Qawwali team rendered verses of Baba Bulle Shah and other Sufi saints. Through music, they conveyed the message of unity and spiritual oneness, the mainstay of Sufi teachings.

Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, MLA Rajpur Ganesh Joshi, former Mandi Parishad president Upendar Thapli and Mussoorie Municipal Council president Manmohan Singh Mall were also present.

Member of the committee Harbhajan Thakral said Baba Bulle Shah’s poetry reflected his rejection of a nexus between the clergy and rulers and all trappings of a formal religion that created a gulf between a man and his creator. The common theme of his poetry was the pursuit of self-knowledge that was essential for mystical union with the beloved.

A Rab, president of the committee, said the teachings of Baba Bulle Shah were relevant to the present situation, where communal strife was the order of the day.

He said the symbolic tomb of Baba Bulle Shah here had played an important role in preserving the secular culture of the town and in maintaining a bonhomie among believers of different sects and religions.

A langar was organised on the occasion.

MDDA holds draw for shops’ allotment
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Amid allegations of irregularities, the draw for allotment of shops in Transport Nagar was organised by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority here today. Out of the 315 registered auto mechanics, 135 were allotted the shops.

Alleging lack of transparency, the shopkeepers said preference was given to those who had links with senior MDDA officials. “Some of those who were allotted the shops have never been seen before in the Transport Nagar area. The entire process was very confusing and lacked credibility on the part of the MDDA,” said Guddu, an auto mechanic.

Terming the allegations as baseless, MDDA secretary Banshidar Tiwari said proper rules and regulations were followed during the process. “The applications received for the draw were properly scrutinised before being cleared for the allotment process,” he added.

“Complaints can be registered with the MDDA office within a week,” he said.

Agitating diploma pharmacists arrested
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, October 30
Agitating unemployed pharmacists were arrested by the city police today. The agitators have threatened to intensify the agitation if the state government does not take effective steps to address their grievances.

The agitating unemployed pharmacists, under the banner of Unemployed Diploma Pharmacists (Allopathy) Association, gathered at the Raipur bus stand here today. The agitators shouted anti-state government slogans during the protest.

The agitators said a memorandum highlighting their demands had been submitted many times to government officials and public representatives, but the state government was yet to address their grievances.

Manoj Tripathi of Unemployed Diploma Pharmacists (Allopathy) Association has said that pharmacists are playing a pivotal role in providing medical and health care facilities to villagers living in rural areas of the state.

He said the state government should appoint unemployed diploma allopathy pharmacists in sub-centres and revision of pay scale are demands of the association.

Third member of chain snatchers’ gang held

Dehradun, October 30
The Dehradun police arrested the third member of a chain snatchers’ gang from the outskirts of the city on Wednesday evening. The other two gang members, Daanish and Raji, were already arrested on October 27 from Dehradun railway station.

MLA inaugurates repair of damaged roads

Dehradun, October 30
Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi inaugurated the renovation and reconstruction of damaged roads at Kalidas road under the state planned fund here today. The damaged roads and other development activities will be done at an estimated cost of Rs 37 lakh.

Joshi gave stern instructions to officials of the Public Works Department to complete the construction of 300 m road within two days.

He told strict action would be taken against officials if they were found guilty of using sub-standard material for constructing the road. BJP leaders Satendra Nath, Kanchan Thakur, Rajeev Gurung, Manish Negi and others were present. — TNS

Devotees take holy dip in Tamsa river

Dehradun, October 30
Chatth puja was celebrated with religious fervour with a large number of devotees taking a dip in the pious water of Tamsa river and offering prayers at Tapkeshwar temple here today.

A sea of devotees, particularly women, thronged the banks of various water bodies in and around the state capital on the last day of Chatth puja. The fast during this festival is the longest as men and women abstain from water for 36 hours. Devotees were seen offering deep-fried sweet rolls of stone ground wheat flour, grapefruit, coconuts, bananas and grains of lentils in small, semi-circular pans woven out of bamboo strips. Later in the evening the devotees offered water to the sun. — TNS

Bhagvad Gita recitation from Nov 3

Dehradun, October 30
A week-long recitation of Bhagvad Gita is slated to begin from November 3 here. Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal will inaugurate the programme as the chief guest.

Acharya Mukesh Chander Balodi said devotees from different walks of life would attend the week-long programme. He said BJP state president Tirath Singh Rawat had consented to be the special guest on the concluding day. He said astrological advice would be given free of cost to devotees. — TNS