News from Uttarakhand: Feb. 2011

39 smuggled tortoises rescued in Nainital

Uttarakhand forest officials rescued 39 smuggled tortoises and arrested four smugglers in Nainital. Acting on a tip off, the forest officials recently carried out a raid and arrested two smugglers, who had kept 37 live tortoises hidden in water tubs and jute bags. Officials also recovered two more tortoises from two men, who kept it inside a gunny bag for sale. "We got information that in nearby market tortoises are being sold. Acting on the information, we found that two people were selling the tortoises while two others were buying it. We rescued 37 live tortoises from them," said Jagdish Pant, Section Officer, East Forest Division, Terai. "Some of the tortoises were kept in a tub and the rest were kept inside a jute bag. The other two people, the buyers, had a jute bag with them having two more tortoises," he added.

Motorcycle thieves arrested

A tailor and a motorcycle mechanic were arrested allegedly with 36 motorcycles they had stolen from various states in north India, police said. Rizwan (21) and Iqram (23) were arrested recently from East Delhi, I.B. Rani, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East), said. Rizwan, the tailor, hails from Muzaffarnagar in UP while Iqram, the mechanic, belongs to Hardwar in Uttarakhand. "They operated in Delhi, UP, Uttarakhand and Haryana. At their instance, 36 stolen motorcycles were recovered," Rani said. The first to be arrested was Rizwan on January 31 from Gandhi Nagar area during a vehicle checking. During interrogation, he told police that he had stolen many motorcycles from different areas in east Delhi. On the same day, two motorcycles were recovered at his instance, which were found stolen from Jagatpuri.

TV channels launched

Media and Entertainment major Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network (SABTNL) have announced launch of two new Hindi channels. The company announced launch of two Hindi channels namely Dabangg and Dhamaal. While Dabangg will cater to audience of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand, Dhamaal has been launched to cater audience of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, SABTN said in a statement. The company is shortly going to launch third channel in the name of Dhamakaa for audiences in Gujarat. SABTNL has been produces multi-lingual, multi-genre content. It already has an established regional presence in various Indian languages.

Badrinath shrine to don a new look soon

A new town will come up near the Badrinath temple, as part of a special plan by the Uttarakhand goverment to beautify the shrine area in Chamoli district. The plan entails vacating the area falling within 50 km radius of the shrine which is being occupied by bungalows, Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee chairman Anusuya Prasad told PTI. The owners of the bungalows will be asked to to re-locate to the Nar mountain range, Bhatt added. A committee to execute the plan has been formed under the leadership of a former MP Manohar Kant Dhyani, she said. Bhatt said this plan will help in better managment of traffic as the shrine is visited by approximately 5 lakh devotees every year.