At A Glance: August 22, 2010

HC dismisses woman's petition

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition by a woman who had alleged she had lost her government job after she refused to be dictated by chief minister Pokhriyal Nishank. Justice B.S. Verma dismissed the petition by Ruchi Kheshtri saying she had tried to misuse the Court by filing such petitions. The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 5,000 on her, Advocate General S.N. Babulkar told reporters in Nainital.

Kheshtri, in her petition, had alleged that for getting a job in the cultural department in 1999, she was told to go by the advice of Nishank who was the then culture minister of undivided Uttar Pradesh. After getting the job, she said she refused to be dictated by Nishank, following which her salary was stopped in March 2004. In her petition, Kheshtri pleaded that she be allowed to continue her service in the cultural department. Ruling BJP welcomed the HC judgement and alleged the petition was filed at the behest of some opposition parties to destabilise the state government.

Basmati rice export norms relaxed

The government on Tuesday relaxed the export parameters for basmati rice, which will help farmers in Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. "Grain of rice to be exported shall be more than 6.61 mm of length and ratio of length-to-breadth of the grain shall be more than 3.5 mm," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification.

Earlier, only basmati rice of more than 7 mm-length and a length-to-breadth ratio of more than 3.6 mm was permitted to be exported. "The relaxation on dimension of the grain will help growers of Ranbir and Basmati-370 varieties of the rice that is primarily grown in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand," All -India Rice Exporters Association President Vijay Sethia said. Production of these two varieties is estimated at 50,000 tonnes annually.

While India does not export non-basmati rice, it annually dispatches about three million tonnes of the aromatic variety of the grain.

Roads along Indo-Nepal border under consideration

The central government is contemplating a proposal suggesting construction of border roads along the Indo-Nepal border in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Minister of state for home affairs Mullappally Ramachandran in written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha said: "A comprehensive proposal for construction of border roads along the Indo-Nepal border in the states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar is under the consideration of the government. 564 Km. of road falls in the state of Bihar." "This proposal includes the construction of Inarwa to Susta road via Harnatand. Bank of Triveni and Daund Canal passes within 2.0 Km of Harnatand," he further stated.

10 killed in road accident

Ten people were killed and eight others injured when a mini bus in which they were travelling fell into a gorge at Koofi area of hilly Almora district, a police official said on Wednesday. The incident occurred when the bus, carrying a total of 18 passengers, was going to Gaulikhal from Ramnagar town in Nainital district on Tuesday night. The bus skidded off the road nad fell into the 450-feet-deep gorge, deputy superintendent of Police R.S. Jayant said. While eight persons died on the spot, two others succumbed to their injuries, he said. The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Ramnagar, he said, adding two critically wounded have been referred to a hospital in Haldwani.

Rs.1 lakh for roof

collapse victims

Prime minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday expressed grief at the demise of 18 children in a roof collapse in Uttarakhand and sanctioned Rs.1 lakh each for the kin of the victims. "The Prime Minister is grieved to learn of the unfortunate demise of 18 children of a primary school in Uttarakhand's Bageshwar district," a PMO statement said.

It said the Prime Minister has sanctioned ex-gratia assistance of Rs 1 lakh each for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each in case of seriously injured from the PM's National Relief Fund. Over 30 students were feared to be buried in a collapsed school building in a massive landslide that occurred at Somgarh village of district Bagesvar in Uttarakhand's Kumaun region. The school--Saraswati Shisu Mandir--was situated near the hill where this land slide occured on Wednesday morning. The Commissioner of Kumaun asked for ITBP search and rescue teams. Integrated Search and Rescue Teams of ITBP immediately rushed to the site from sector Head Quarters Almora. The team that also included five specially trained medics, comprises three platoons is equipped with all advance equipment required for search and rescue at this disaster site.

This team is also having all emergency medicines, oxygen cylinders, stretchers and other medical equipments. The road between Tapkote and Somgarh is damaged at several places. No vehicle can move beyond 8 km point from Tapkote because of broken roads and bridges. ITBP teams walked 8 km on foot to reach the site.

Job quota for statehood activists

Chief minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank on Sunday announced 10 per cent reservation in government jobs for Uttarakhand statehood agitationists. After unfurling the national flag at the historic Parade Ground in Dehradun on the occasion of Independence Day, he also said a pension of Rs 10,000 per month will given to the activists who became disabled during the statehood movement of 1990s. Besides, he announced that Siddowala Polytechnic will be converted to the first technology college for women in the state. He said a women's university will be set up in the hill state. On the occasion of Independence Day, Nishank honoured 37 officials and employees for successful conduct of the Mahakumbh Mela in Haridwar earlier this year.

Pleas to curb tourism

in Corbett

The Uttarakhand government has been asked to curb tourism in the popular Corbett Tiger Reserve, parliament was informed on Wednesday. "The state has been advised for regulating tourism related commercial activities in the area, besides declaring the surroundings of Corbett Tiger Reserve as ecologically sensitive under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, in the interest of wildlife conservation," minister of state for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. He noted that similar advisories had also been given to other states that had tiger sanctuaries.

Army to construct houses in Dehradun

The Army is constructing low cost houses for serving and retired Personnel Below Officer Ranks (PBOR) and the widows of jawans. Under the scheme, houses have been constructed in Jaipur, Pune and Allahabad and now planning for construction of houses has been taken up at Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Belgaum (Karnataka), Bhatinda (Punjab) and Secunderabad (Andhra Pradesh), the Lok Sabha was informed by defence minister A.K. Antony.

Replying to another query, the minister said that of the Rs 43,799 crores allocated to the defence forces for acquisition of weapon systems, only Rs 7,550 crores had been spent by the three services till July 31. The Air Force has been given the highest allocation of Rs 23,482.43 crores of which Rs 4,062 crores has been spent. A number of big ticket deals including contracts for 12 VVIP helicopters, six C-130 J Hercules aircraft have been signed by the force. Indian armed forces are undergoing large-scale modernisation and are expected to spend over USD 80 billion in the next decade for making purchases of weapon systems and defence equipment. After not being able to utilise the procurement funds in last three-four years, the defence ministry overspent by four per cent in the last fiscal. In 2009-10, the ministry was allocated Rs 40,367.72 crores for capital acquisitions but later on the figure was revised to Rs 35,146.88 crores. However, at the end of the last fiscal, it had spent Rs 38,427 crores.