At A Glance: July 25, 2010

No more VIP puja

Badrinath Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC), which overlooks the maintenance of the two temples, has scrapped the provisions of special VIP puja inside the centuries-old shrines. The decision to the effect was taken by the board of the temple committee at New Tehri. "Now VIPs would also have to stand in queues for having darshans of both Badrinath and Kedarnath temples," Anusuiya Prasad Bhatt, Chairman of the BKTC, said. The two temples, among the most revered pilgrimage centres, in Uttarakhand's Garhwal region receive thousands of pilgrims every year.

State to fill 12000 govt posts

The Uttarakhand government has decided to fill nearly 12000 posts of class-III employees lying vacant at various departments besides recruiting 490 instructors in ITIs for starting market-driven courses. A decision to this effect was taken during a cabinet meeting presided by chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, chief secretary N.S. Napalchayal told reporters. The government made it mandatory for candidates to be registered with local employment exchanges for applying to the class-III posts. The candidates would be asked questions related to local customs, culture and geographical conditions to give preference to locals. It also decided to introduce eight market-oriented courses in the ITIs. A total of 490 instructors would soon be recruited for this purpose, Napalchayal said.

Sentenced for 10 years

A district and sessions court on Monday sentenced five youth to 10-year rigorous imprisonment for raping a teenaged girl in Dehra Dun last year. Justice U.C. Dhayani also slapped a fine of Rs 5000 each on the five convicts -- Himanshu Shahi, Deepak Saklani, Ashish Sharma, Vikas Rawat and Mitai Mohan. The five, aged between 17 and 20 years, had abducted a 15-year-old girl, a student of class ten, and gangraped her in Raipur area. They also thrashed her boyfriend who ran away from the scene, according to the charge-sheet filed in the case. The five were convicted on the basis of the reports of forensic tests.