|
|
|
|
|
Swachh Bharat campaign has no impact in Doon
CM orders registration of construction workers
|
|
|
|
Tea gardens should be linked to tourism: Guv
Govt fails to make use of Finance Commission funds
UKD (P) resents pension for state agitators
Preserve land, forests: BJP leader
Banking services affected across state
Heavy rush at ATMs in Haridwar
Villagers start agitation for road in Almora
Polytechnic without teachers in Speaker’s home segment
Nagar panchayat status for Munsiyari opposed
Secretariat staff continue strike
4-day science festival begins
Chronic staff shortage paralyses working of govt hospital
Tiger safari likely in Corbett buffer zone
Anganwadi workers to protest tomorrow
Academy donates woollens
500 kids take part in sarv shiksha rally
Annual Student Union Week kicks off
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Swachh Bharat campaign has no impact in Doon
Dehradun, November 12 Though the state government had sacked a Mukhya Nagar Adhikari over poor garbage management in the city, the serious action appeared to have no impact on DMC officials. Piles of uncleared garbage are lying in the open in almost every nook and corner of the city. Requests by area residents and protests by different groups against deteriorating garbage management in the city appear to have yielded no results. What has further added to the problem is that the DMC officials express inability to control the situation or do anything concrete to improve it. Instead they blame people for the deteriorating cleanliness condition. “We are short of manpower and machinery to handle 60 municipal wards of the city. Due to paucity of funds we are unable to purchase dustbins, vehicles or other machinery required for maintaining the sanitation of the city,” said Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Harak Singh Rawat. “We have placed an order for 30 additional dustbins and 10 mini-trucks for removing garbage dumps. Once the Cabinet approves the structural reorganisation of the DMC, we will be go ahead with the recruitment of sanitation staff,” he added. Rawat blamed the people saying, “Instead of giving garbage to the collection van that visits their areas, city residents regularly, they in order to save a few rupees throw it in the open. We cannot expect the sanitation workers to keep on cleaning the city roads throughout the day.” “We are in the process of having a plan in place to resolve the crisis permanently and it will be implemented soon,” he added. Remove garbage dump! Residents of areas around the trenching ground at Shashtradhara are demanding the removal of the garbage dump. They say the smell emanating from rotting garbage is not only making it impossible to live but also posing
several health hazards. |
||
|
CM orders registration of construction workers
Dehradun, November 12 Rawat emphasised on proper attention to insurance schemes meant for construction workers. The CM expressed disenchantment over the fact that the insurance scheme has been used very little. He said Uttarakhand must learn from Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He further said his government was working to provide temporary ration cards to construction workers. Rawat said Rs 10 crore will have to be allotted as revolving fund for welfare of labourers. He asked department officials to frame a scheme according to which the women labourers will be given financial assistance until they are fit enough to work after delivery. Mobile aanganwadi centres will have to be set up where the mothers and children must be provided nutritious food, he added. Labour Minister Harish Chandra Durgapal announced welfare schemes, stating that in case of death in accident at work, the labourer will be paid Rs 1 lakh. Dehradun Cantt MLA Harbans Kapoor was present on the occasion.
|
||
|
Tea gardens should be linked to tourism: Guv
Dehradun, November 12 Tea is being produced at this garden, that has been developed by Uttarakhand Tea Development Board on land leased by Sainik School, Ghodakhal. While he was inspecting the tea processing unit and the selling centre, the Governor said wherever possible in the state, tea cultivation should be promoted as a source of income. He said the state government would be given directions regarding production of tea to reach the level of Darjeeling tea and setting up of modern processing units. He said by producing tea and linking the tea gardens with tourism, these gardens would benefit the state doubly. The Governor gave directions for preparing an effective plan of action in this regard to Dr Nidhi Pandey, Secretary, Agriculture, Tea Board Director KR Joshi and manager NC Pandey, who were present.
|
||
|
Govt fails to make use of Finance Commission funds
Dehradun, November 12 Soon after coming to power, in its first budget speech in 2012, the Congress government had reiterated its commitment to utilise fully the funds allocated by the UPA government under the 13th Finance Commission and had blamed the previous BJP government for its inability to utilise these. Two years have passed and the story under the Congress government is no different. The Congress government has failed to fully utilise funds earmarked for initiating development activities for urban local bodies and panchayats. “The 13th Finance Commission had allocated funds under the general and special component (incentive-based) plan for strengthening of urban local bodies. These are funds that are offered on a platter and which the state governments eagerly seek. But bereft of plans and utilisation certificates, we were unable to access funds for 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. We could utilise only Rs 55.46 crore against sanctioned grant of Rs 124 crore,” said a senior officer in the Department of Finance. Significantly, for strengthening and maintenance of roads and bridges, an aid of Rs 329 crore was granted. But after the PWD failed to achieve targets, funds were not sanctioned for the periods 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. In the area of flood area management, a grant of Rs 76 crore was earmarked for the state, but the Irrigation Department failed to fulfil the condition of raising irrigation rates at the rate of 5.30 per cent every three years. The grant has remained unutilised. Significantly, funds to the tune of Rs 36 crore for conferring unique identities (UID) for people living below the poverty line too have remained
unutilised. More the change, more the sameness
|
||
|
CM for wool bank in state
Dehradun, November 12 The Chief Minister also sought financial assistance for promotion of sericulture in the state. He said there was weaver community in the state which was engaged in weaving business and need to be adequately encouraged. The Chief Minister said the Centre’s textile policy must protect the interests of states like Uttarakhand. Reacting to Chief Minister’s concerns, Union Minister of Textiles Santosh Gangwar informed the Chief Minster that the Centre was planning to open a big textile park in Jaspur and a mini textile park in Munishiyari. He apprised that the Munshiyari mini textile park in particular would focus on production of woollen garments. SD Sharma, Uttarakhand’s resident commissioner in Delhi, was also present on the occasion.
|
||
|
UKD (P) resents pension for state agitators
Dehradun, November 12 Negi said a large number of people, who were not even associated with separate state agitation, were now trying to seek benefits trying to identify themselves as state agitators. “Thus, I strongly believe there is no point demanding compensation for sacrifices done during separate state agitation,” Negi said. He said it was more important that Uttarakhand was taken on roads of development and the dreams of martyrs of state agitation must be realised under all circumstances. He also reminded that states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand was created alongwith Uttarakhand, but no state agitators either in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand got any pension. — TNS
|
||
|
UKD unification efforts on
Dehradun, November 12 Addressing a press conference at UKD (Airy) office here today, officiating UKD (Airy) president Harish Chandra Pathak said efforts were on to come up with a united UKD in order to pose a stiff challenge to the BJP and Congress. He said it was important for regional forces to unite as national parities like BJP and Congress were only befooling people.
|
||
|
Preserve land, forests: BJP leader
Pithoragarh, November 12 The government should construct resorts and other infrastructure and hand these to some state nodal agency to run till the time the loans taken for the properties are repaid. These businesses should then be handed over to the people on whose lands these were built to be run on the pattern set by the nodal agency. “This step will not only create jobs for youths but also prohibit the mafia from grabbing land and put it to unproductive uses,”
said Joshi. The BJP leader said in the letter that while the British had developed several tourist spots in Uttarakhand hills, the respective state governments after Uttarakhand came into being could not develop these places further to create multiple jobs in the tourism sector. “Even after 14 years of the formation of the state, the government is still not clear about its tourism policy,” he said. The BJP leader warned that if unscientific exploitation of land, forest and minerals continued, the future generations would not forgive the present leaders for their failure to save the basic assets for them. “The need of the hour is to create the basic infrastructure for future development of the state. This could only be possible by developing tourism infrastructure by saving land, forest and culture for future generations,” said Joshi in the letter.
|
||
|
Banking services affected across state
Dehradun, November 12 The banking services were affected in nearly 1,500 branches of nationalised banks across the state. Banking transactions worth Rs 1,000 crore could not take place due to the agitation by bank employees. The agitators say they would restart the agitation if the Centre does not accede to their year-long pending demands. However, employees of private banks did not participate in the strike. The agitating bank employees, under the banner of United Forum of Bank Unions, gathered at Parade Ground here today in order to register their protest against the Centre. They held a protest rally that commenced from Parade Ground and passed through Ashley Hall, Gandhi Park and Clock Tower. Jagmohan Mehandiratta, patron, United Forum of Bank Unions, said a memorandum highlighting their demand, which is implementation of the 10th Pay Commission for bank employees, was submitted many times to public representatives, but the Centre was yet to take steps to address their grievances. He said the pay scales of bank employees are less than of government teachers. He demanded immediate intervention of the Centre to address their grievances. They would go on another one-day strike in December. Mehandiratta threatened to start an indefinite strike if the Centre did not fulfil their demands in the given time frame. Hariom Narang, PR Kukreti, Suresh Upadhayay, VK Joshi, RP Sharma, RK Gairola, JS Chauhan, Anil Jain, Kamal Tomar, DN Uniyal, Rajesh Singhal, LM Bhatt, Umesh Chettri, and S Kukreja took part in the strike.
|
||
|
Heavy rush at ATMs in Haridwar
Haridwar, November 12 A huge rush was witnessed at Automated Teller Machines with many running out of cash by yesterday evening itself. By afternoon most of the ATMs in residential areas got empty with customers were seen moving towards distant and suburban region ATMs to take out the cash. Under the aegis of Uttaranchal Bank Employees Union, district Haridwar bank sector employees gathered on Oriental Bank of Commerce premises near Chandracharya square, Ranipur and held a protest. Union district head SB Dhur said on a daily average basis worth Rs 200 crore transaction is done through public and private sector banks in the district was affected. District coordinator of the joint union of nine banks, United Forum of Banks, Raj Kumar Saxena, said that banking employees had to take the extreme step of strike owing to neglect by government of their long pending demands. Saxena said the bank employees give their best in a competitive environment but instead of looking into their demands the government is taking measures that is affecting their morale. KR Nautiyal, NB Kapur, SK Aggarwal, Har Dayal Singh, SK Yadav and DN Juyal took part in the strike.
|
||
|
Villagers start agitation for road in Almora
Pithoragarh, November 12 “We have chosen the place for the dharna to make the officers, who could come to meet us from the district or sub-divisional headquarters, realise that the villagers are facing such hardships due to lack of a motorable road to the village,” said Jeet Singh, organiser of the dharna. The village is one of the remote villages of Dwarahat Assembly constituency and could be reached after a steep 13-km trek from Kheera on the Almora-Chaukhutia Road. According to the villagers in Khaujurani, while the bureaucrats and leaders of the state are observing statehood day, the village is still at a 13-km distance from the main road, where the villagers reach their homes after crossing a 13-km-long steep terrain. “We have decided to convert this dharna into a hunger strike after November 17 if the government does not approve a motorable road to the village by then,” said the organisers. The villagers have said that for the road to the village, the department has undertaken survey work almost thrice till date. According to PWD engineers in charge of PMGSY, the road could not be taken up for construction as there are forest patches on the route. “We have now returned the files after completing the forest formalities and hope to take up the road for construction in future,” said OP Goswami, an engineer with the department.
|
||
|
Polytechnic without teachers in Speaker’s home segment
Pithoragarh, November 12 According to the local residents, there are no teachers to teach civil engineering to second year students for the past four months. According to the delegation of students, that met the Speaker in this connection during the latter’s recent visit to the area, no teacher has been appointed by the Education Department to teach civil engineering in the college. “Even the order given by the Speaker to appoint teachers has been flouted by the officers,” said Vinay Lal, a student leader from the college. “The polytechnic college, that began in 2013, has contractual teachers only to teach first year students while the second year courses are without teaching staff,” said the student leader. According to the residents, who met the Speaker last week, the Director of Technical Education in the state has promised to send teachers by the first week of November, but no teacher has reached the college despite the first week of November having passed.
|
||
|
Nagar panchayat status for Munsiyari opposed
Pithoragarh, November 12 Residents from villages surrounding the town have opposed the move, saying they would not be in a position to bear the expenses as most Munsiyari residents around the area assigned for the urban body are daily wage earners and too poverty-stricken to bear the taxes which would be imposed on them by the proposed urban body. “We may not be able to pay the taxes. Besides, in such a scenario, we stand to be deposed from the development schemes being run via blocks for the villages demarcated for the proposed town body,” said Munni Devi, gram pradhan from Talla Ghorpatta. The gram pradhans from the villages surrounding Munsiyari town, including those from Malla Ghorpatta, Talla Ghorpatta, Jainti, Sarmoli and Bunga, have written to the state’s Chief Minister to rescind the move. “Before the announcement, no one from among the elected representatives has been taken into confidence by the government representatives,” said Indra Singh, gram pradhan from Sarmoli village of
Munsiyari.
|
||
|
Secretariat staff continue strike
Dehradun, November 12 Meanwhile, a delegation led by president of the Uttarakhand Secretariat Federation met NP Raturi to hold talks on the issue but the step failed to break the impasse. “The CS has expressed his inability to take back the decision as the Cabinet has already decided on the issue. However he has assured us of a meeting with the Chief Minister,” said Raturi. The government says the step has been taken to bring the working of the secretariat in line with the state offices that are open on all Saturdays, expect second Saturday. The secretariat staff are angry that the government deferred the Cabinet decision to create 16 departments.
|
||
|
Dharendra thanks CM for proposing Gairsain as summer capital
Haridwar, November 12 Dhirendra took a dip in the Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri. He said Gairsain was the pivotal centre of the statehood agitation and statehood fighters wanted it to be the capital of the state. “Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali in 1952 had suggested to the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to make Gairsain as the ideal summer capital of India. People of Uttarakhand had envisioned Gairsain in Chamoli district as the state capital. Statehood agitators are quite happy over the seriousness and shown by previous Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and incumbent Chief Minister Harish Rawat in giving Gairsain its due status,” said Dhirendra, who is one of the major faces of the statehood movement. He added the recent Cabinet decisions to provide 10 per cent reservation in government jobs, putting up portraits of statehood activists, who lost their lives for the cause of a separate state of Uttarakhand, and Rs 10 crore budget for helping them would cater to thousands of statehood agitators and their families. Dhirendra acknowledged discrepancies in the process for identifying statehood agitators and said he himself had brought the anomalies to the notice of the state government and the officials concerned. He said he was trying that the identification procedure was made transparent so that only eligible statehood agitators were benefited. Founder of the Uttarakhand Rajya Andolankari Manch JP Pandey, Meera Raturi, Mahesh Gaur, Dr Amar Singh Ahtiyan, Vijay Bhandari, PL Kapil, CP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Jai Pal Singh, Balakrishan, and Rajesh Sharma met Dhirendra in the city.
|
||
|
4-day science festival begins
Pithoragarh, November 12 Kharkwal said the festival would help young scientists to come forward with their inventive curiosity and create something new for the coming generations. “The state government has decided to help budding scientists in the state by facilitating such festivals in future,” he said. Dr RD Sharma, deputy director, SCERT, said the purpose of organising such festivals was to give information to budding scientists about interrelation between society and science and technology. According to the organisers, models made by student scientists were displayed on the first day. The session was attended by over 650 student scientists and their 158 guides who reached the festival from across the state.
|
||
|
Aryan School beat Carmen School 42-28 in basketball
Dehradun, November 12 In the first match of the day, host The Aryan School defeated Carmen School Dalanwala 42-28. Vanlalrinchhani of The Aryan School was the top scorer in the match with 18 points. In a one-sided encounter, Welham Girls’ School defeated St. Thomas College 64-28. Ridhima scored the maximum 10 points in the match for Welhams Girls’ School. During the matches on Wednesday, school Principal B. Dasgupta, human resource head Mridula, honourary secretary of the District Basketball Association Dehradun Vinod Vachani, and dean admission Praveen Kamboj were also present.
|
||
|
Winterline visible only in Switzerland, Mussoorie
Mussoorie, November 12 This meteorological wonder called ‘Winterline,’ which makes its presence felt gradually on the imaginary horizon overlooking the Doon valley, is drawing tourists in hoards towards Mussoorie. The residents claim that this grey and mauve line visible from Mussoorie, referred to as the Winterline, is unique to Mussoorie and a certain place in Switzerland only. “We have never seen such a beautiful horizon in her life,” said Sushma, a tourist from Delhi. A local resident Amit Gupta informs that from mid-October till January, with the setting sun, the western horizon becomes replete with myriad shades of yellow, red, orange, purple and mauve. The sun drops behind what is essentially a false horizon, a grey and mauve coloured strip, and there is a bright line of yellow and orange colours at the upper end of this strip. The colours are so spectacular that onlookers are left spellbound until the sun finally sets and the whole phenomenon is known as Winterline. The popularity of Winterline phenomenon is such that a carnival has been named after it that is held in the month of December every year called Winterline carnival, said member, tourism development board,Sandeep Sahni. However, according to the environmentalists, most of the residents know little about the actual facts behind the imaginary crimson line separating the two layers of air, which is falsely believed to be witnessed only at two places, one in Switzerland and the other in Mussoorie. The environmentalists are of the view that this line is formed due to the pollutants suspended in the atmosphere over the valley. Winterline occurs due to the temperature inversion that stops atmospheric convection leading to the air becoming stiller and murky from the collection of dust and pollutants that can no longer be lifted from the surface. The refraction of sunlight at a particular angle, when looking at the valley from the mountain, gives rise to what is called the crimson-coloured line over the horizon, said environmentalists. Eminent environmentalist and president of the Winterline Nature Trust Shantanu Sarkar is of the view that Winterline, as it may look beautiful to the naked eye from Mussoorie, is nothing to be proud of as it is a direct result of the human induced pollution suspended in the atmosphere above the valley. He further said due to the saucer shape of the Doon valley, with only two opening traps available at the far eastern and western sides, the heavy polluted air within the valley remains suspended for a longer time. Hence, it is clearly visible during the winters and not in the monsoons, when the strong winds scatter the suspended pollutant particles in the atmosphere quickly. Sarkar further opined that 10 years from now, with the increase in the number of vehicles in the Doon Valley, the smoke exhaust will also increase in the same proportion and Winterline might look even much more beautiful. However, it should be no reason to cheer. Instead, one should work towards reducing the pollutant to the levels that Winterline is less visible. Meanwhile, for the tourists and residents, Winterline remains a major tourist attraction that should be promoted vigorously in
Mussoorie.
|
||
|
Chronic staff shortage paralyses working of govt hospital
Mussoorie, November 12 Residents are irked over the fact that staff shortage has continued in the government-managed St Mary’s Hospital for the past several years without any increase in the number of medical employees despite inspection of various state and Central-level ministers in the recent past. Former Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had visited the government hospital a few months back and had taken note of the staff crunch. He had directed officials to fill up the vacancies without any delay but no action has been taken so far. As of now, one post each of urologist, pathologist and general duty medical officer (GDMO) is vacant and this has remained so for the past several months. A radiologist who was supposed to join in Mussoorie has been attached with the Doon Hospital Dehradun. According to the St Mary’s Hospital Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS), the X-ray and ultrasound machines have been out of order for one year and have not been repaired despite all this being brought to the knowledge of senior officials. Dehradun CMO SP Agarwal said filling of vacant posts depends totally on the government and as soon as he receives orders for filling of the posts, it would be done without any delay. As for the medical equipment needing repairs, he said he would look into the matter and try to set things right soon.
|
||
|
Tiger safari likely in Corbett buffer zone
Dehradun, November 12 He said this would give a tremendous boost to tourism to Kotdwar region of Corbett National Park. It has been a long-standing refrain of Kotdwar inhabitants that they are not benefiting from tourism activity in Corbett National Park. Aggarwal said the state Forest Department
will shortly set up a panchkarma centre at Thano in Dehradun. He said the state Forest Department was working to upgrade facilities at Rajaji National Park. He said it was a matter of pride for Uttarakhand that as many as 15 tigers were thriving in the park.
|
||
|
Anganwadi workers to protest tomorrow
Dehradun, November 12 She said a memorandum highlighting their demands, including pay anomaly, increase in perks and allowance, were submitted to officials concerned several times, but the state government was yet to take effective steps to address their grievances. Lekhraj, district general secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, said anganwadi workers would participate in a joint coordination trade union meeting slated to take place on November 16. Krishan Guniyal, Janki Chauhan, Kamla Rawat, Meena Verma, Seema Singh, Parvati Rawat and others were present on the occasion.
|
||
|
Academy donates woollens
Dehradun, November 12 The students met residents, mostly elderly persons, of the YWCA and interacted with them, and also listened to their problems and needs. The delegation led by school Principal distributed essential items to 70 residents of the YWCA centre. S Srivastava, Principal, Subhash Chandra Bose Academy, said the main purpose was to make the children aware of the situations of elderly and to enlighten their minds with the thoughts and feelings to help others. — TNS
|
||
|
500 kids take part in sarv shiksha rally
Dehradun, November 12 The highlight of the concluding day included sarv shiksha rally, which had participation of 500 schoolchildren. The rallyists holding placards criss-crossed the Mehalchauri market and also raised slogans in favour of sarv shiksha abhiyan. Later addressing the gathering, sarv shiksha coordinator from Mehalchauri Satyendra Chaudhari dwelt at length on the importance of SSA. He apprised that under the programme all children in the age group of 6-14 years are provided free education and a child once admitted to school is ensured promotion to the next higher class. The first prize was bagged by State Medical, Health and Family Welfare Department followed by Nabard, Chamoli, while the third went to a Rudraprayag based voluntary organisation, Appropriate Technology India.
|
||
|
NSUI members begin hunger strike
Dehradun, November 12 The NSUI members said they would not end
their hunger strike till equal seats were allotted in both morning and evening classes. The members claimed most of the students were deprived of higher education due to lesser seats in evening classes.
|
||
|
Annual Student Union Week kicks off
Dehradun, November 12 During the Union Week, numerous competitions, including drawing, debate and writing competition, will be organised. Cultural events and dance performances by famous dance troupes will be held on the college campus.
— TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Classified | E-mail | |
