At A Glance: October 10, 2010

Woman pradhan files an FIR against husband

A woman pradhan of gram panchayat has filed an FIR against her husband accusing him of forgery in the district, police said on Thursday. Mamta, the pradhan of Sindhor in Block Kalsi approached the police and filed an FIR against her husband Mahavir Singh, alleging him of illegally procuring a duplicate rubber stamp of Pradhan and forging her signature.

Mamta has also written a letter to the District Magistrate (DM), Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Dehradun informing them about the same. Appreciating the move, Avadhash Kaushal Chairperson of RLEK, a Dehradun-based NGO working in the Panchayati Raj system said, "This exhibits Mamta's exemplary act of leadership and courage in valiantly exposing her husband's illegal interference in the discharge of her constitutional duties."

Snow and Glaciers Authority soon

With an aim to conserve Himalayan glaciers which are receding at a fast rate, the Uttarakhand government has decided to set up a Snow and Glaciers Authority, a first of its kind in the world. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank. Later, chief secretary Subhash Kumar told reporters that the authority would be set up under the Science and Technology department. "Science and Technology Minister and the Chief Secretary will be the ex-officio chairman and vice-chairman of the authority, which will have 21 members from various fields including four from Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)," Kumar said.

He said the representatives of central government would also be members of the authority. "The modalities of the authority are being worked out. It will study the impact of climate change on 10 big and nearly 1400 small glaciers in the hill state," a senior official said.

Dehradun breaks its rain record

The monsoon rainfall this year has broken a 37-year-old record in Dehradun and is headed to break the 39-year-old record as well, officials said. The city has so far received 2678 mm of rainfall since June 1 and is just short of 85 mm from the 1971's record when 2763 mm of rainfall was received by the Doon valley from June 1 to September 30.

"Still a fortnight of September is left and monsoon is active, the possibility of breaking the 39-year-old record seems very high," said Anand Sharma, Director of Met department here. Significantly Dehradun is among the top cities of India which receive maximum rainfall during the monsoon season. Nine of the total 13 districts of Uttarakhand have so far received excess rainfall this monsoon season. Chamoli district received the maximum 92 per cent more rainfall than the average followed by Champawat (56 per cent), Bageshwar (49 per cent), Dehradun, Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttarkashi and Nainital (37 per cent), Almora 21 per cent and Tehri 20 per cent, Met office said. Heavy rains this season have already claimed more than 110 lives and rendered thousands homeless in the state.