News from Uttarakhand: June 2011

Controversy over land allotment to Patanjali Trust

A Dehra Dun-based NGO on Thursday asked Uttarakhand government to disclose the rate and type of land allotted to Yoga guru Baba Ramdev and said it would file a contempt of court case if it fails to provide information within three months. Chairperson of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), Avdhash Kaushal, claimed that the current BJP and previous Congress government, both allotted 261.468 hectare of irrigated agriculture land for non-agriculture use at throwaway prices to Baba Ramdev and his Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust between 2005 to 2010.

The land allotted to Baba Ramdev also includes the Gram Sabha land of Aurangabad, Shivdaspur, Teriwala, Shantarshah, Bahadrapur and Mustafabad in Haridwar district, he claimed. Uttarakhand government should disclose facts in this regard like at what rate the land was provided to him and his trust, whether the land was irrigated agriculture land and whether the land belonged to Gram Sabha, he told reporters.

Kaushal said if the government does not furnish information within three months, his NGO would move the apex court and file a contempt of court case. He also criticised Yoga Guru's announcement of raising a force for self-defence. "Yoga Guru should be immediately detained under National Security Act as he is posing threat for national security and communal harmony," he said.

Did Balkrishna provide forged documents for passport?

The Centre is likely to ask the Uttarakhand government to order an inquiry into the allegation that Acharya Balkrishna, a key aide of yoga guru Ramdev, is a Nepali citizen and that he procured Indian passport after providing forged documents related to his place of birth. Government sources said it was necessary to find out whether Balkrishna was actully born in India or not and whether he procured his Indian passport by submitting forged documents about the his place of birth.

"Since such an inquiry has to be conducted by the local police, we may ask the Uttarakhand government to order a probe into it," an official said. Balkrishna has claimed that he was born in Haridwar and was an Indian citizen though his parents were from Nepal. He also claimed that he had completed his education in the temple town. The yoga guru's aide got his passport from the Bareilly passport office. The Centre also may ask the state government whether Balkrishna was indeed given arms licences to procure guns and if so on what basis. Balkrishna has allegedly procured a licenced gun for his personal protection.

Army engineers scale Mount Kamet

A team of engineers from Army has successfully scaled the 7,756-metre Mount Kamet in Uttarakhand as part of an adventure expedition. Major Vishal Ahlawat and his team comprising one JCO, 10 other ranks from the Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and four sherpas successfully scaled Mt Kamet on Tuesday. The team will now commence the second leg of the multi- dimensional expedition on June 10 by cycling the "treacherous" Garhwal mountains from Niti village to Rudraprayag, covering 238 km, followed by whitewater rafting over a 158-km stretch from Rudraprayag to Rishikesh. The expedition was flagged off in April this year.

Insect threat to sugarcane crop

Sugarcane crop in major producing regions of northern India has come under attack of a dreaded insect and if insecticide is not administered timely, it could substantially damage the crop. "The sugarcane crop in subtropical regions of northern India has come under attack of dreaded top borer insect," Bakshi Ram Yadav, head of Sugarcane Breeding Institute Regional Centre (SBIRC), Karnal told PTI. The institute is an arm of ICAR (Indian Council of Agriculture Research). Prevalence of the insecticide has been noticed in the sugarcane crop in main producing regions of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Northeastern states, the scientist said.

The insect eats up the apex body of the stem thus preventing its further growth and development, he said. It (insect) could also result in loss of yield, he added. Yadav suggested administration of insecticide "Furadon" by the end of June and July's first week to stem the damage. "The insecticide must be used at the base of sugarcane plant along the line between last week of June and first week of July to protect the crop from the damage," he added.

The plant scientist advised administration of 13 kg of furadon insecticide per acre.

Sugarcane is an annual crop. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana accounts for over 60 per cent of the acreage of the crop in the country.

Tigress found dead in Corbett

A tigress was on Tuesday found dead in Kalagharh range of Corbett National Park in Nainital district of Uttarakhand. "A five-year-old tigress was found dead in Kalagharh range and injury marks were visible on the body of the animal," a forest official said. The body has been sent for post-mortem, he said.

120 schools to be tobacco-free

Aiming at restricting youth's access to tobacco products, Uttarakhand directorate of school has asked officials of 6 districts of the hill state to identify a total of 120 schools to be declared as "tobacco- free" zones. In a letter to district education officers of Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Nainital, Udhamsingh Nagar, Haridwar and Pithoragarh, Director of school Education C S Gwal has directed them to identify 20 schools per district for the purpose so that they can be declared as "tobacco free" zones. The government has issued directions on the initiative of Health Related Information Dissemination Among Youths (HRIDAY), a vouluntary organisation engaged in advocacy, awareness, education and research related to tobacco control and Academy of Management Studies (AMS), a management consulting company. Earlier, the two bodies had urged the school directorate to declare schools in Uttarakhand as tobacco-free zones and comply with the Central Board of Secondary Education guidelines which mandates that all schools and should be notified as tobacco-free.

Rishikesh-Badrinath road blocked

Rishikesh-Badrinath national highway was blocked on Tuesday for traffic after a landslide near Sirobgarh in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. Rocks, stones and soil in large quantities came down to the road this morning due to rainfall in the region, official sources said. Nearly 700 vehicles carrying nearly thousands of tourists were stranded on both sides of the highway, they said. Border Roads Organisation is trying to clear the landslide, they said.

Board results for 10th and 12th class

Uttarakhand School Education Board on Monday declared the results for Class 12th and 10th students. While 75.80 per cent students cleared the board exams of class 12th, 68.14 per cent students were declared pass in class 10th, officials said. A total of 3,00,081 students had taken the exams for Uttarakhand board this year. Nishant Kaushik, a student of Saraswati School of Kashipur topped the 10th class with 94.60 per cent marks, while Neelam Bist of Vivekanand Inter College in Almora was declared topper among girls with 94.40 per cent marks. In 12th class, Kanchak Kumar Kandpal of Bharti Shahid Sainik Nainital topped the board exams with 95.20 per cent marks, while Ankita Bora of Saraswati Vidya Mandir of Kotdwar remained topper among girls.

BABA RE BABA!

P.S. Chauhan

Though there was an upsurge of instant and spontaneous support for Anna Hajare's India Against Corruption and his demand for a comprehensive and effective Lokpal Bill, the Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev has not elicited such warm response to his satyagrah against corruption and black money in his home district. People in general and the younger generation in particular find it difficult to connect with the movement launched by the saffron clad Baba from the holy city.

After staging a big show in the Ramlila Grounds in Delhi, from where he and his followers were evicted in a police action, the Baba started his fast unto death at his own home turf in the Patanjali Yoga Peeth Bahadrabad on the Haridwar- Delhi National Highway. On the very first day of his fast on June 4, the Baba made a dramatic appearance before the media and his followers, dressed in a woman's salwar, kurta and chunni.

"I do not approve of a sanyasi escaping stealthily in woman's clothes, leaving behind his followers at the mercy of the police. A true sanyasi does not give up saffron clothes in his life time and a true satyagrahi will court arrest rather than run away from the police", says Gaurav Sharma, a B.Com student and president of the students' union in SMJN College, the biggest college in the district.

From day one the Baba's crusade against black money and other issues got mired in controversies due to his past background. "Baba Ramdev talked about his political aspirations in the past and formed Bharat Swabhiman Trust with a view to raising a huge brigade of volunteers believing in aggressive nationalism. I somehow smell a rat in his on-going movement which seems to be politically motivated", remarks Purshottam Sharma Gandhiwadi of Shivpura Kankhal.

Says Anurag Gupta of Ranipur crossing, "I find it difficult to connect with the Baba's demand to discontinue the notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 denominations and direct election of the Prime Minister by the public. The outcry against black money by a person who owns trusts with vast fortunes also does not carry conviction".

Baba's agitation against black money stashed in the foreign banks and other issues has started losing steam here. Hardly a thousand people, and these too mostly from his commercial establishments here, are seen at the spot of Baba Ramdev's fast, though the big guns of the BJP and the VHP, like the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, the state chief minister, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the VHP supremo Ashok Singhal and Uma Bharti, have come here to meet him and lend support to his mission. The movement which could have been a public movement against corruption has been vitiated by political implications, with the result that the common people have stayed away from it.

Says Ambrish Kumar, the president of the Krantikari Manch and a former MLA from Haridwar city, "Every movement , whether against corruption or any other issue should start from one's own home. The state government has been in the dock on many issues and the CAG has pointed out the misuse of Rs. 216 crores in the last Kumbh in Haridwar. However, the Baba did not utter a single word against it. I am also against corruption. But we should be impartial while talking about such vital issues and should not adopt partisan attitude".

However, Mahant Rajendra Das, a prominent sant of Haridwar fully supports the Baba. "Yog guru Ramdev has brought about Yoga revolution in the country. Now he is carrying on a relentless crusade against corruption. We are solidly with him in this great mission", says the mahant.

The fast of the Baba may or may not yield the desired result, but he has definitely given an opportunity to his detractors to target him with allegations regarding his assets and many other issues, including those about his close associates, all under scanner these days.

(At the time of filing this report, he was shifted to Jolly Grant Himalayan Institute, on account of his falling health)