Uttarakhand News December 2010

Insurance employee booked for embezzlement of funds

An employee of an insurance company has been booked on charges of embezzling Rs 45 lakh from customers in Haridwar, police said. The case has been registered on a complaint filed by Divisional Manager of New India Insurance Company, Titampar Pamria, they said. The accused, identified as senior accountant Shyam Sunder Lal, issued several bank drafts worth Rs 45 lakh in the fake names of policy claimants and later encashed them. The irregularities came to light in a verification done by the company when he was on leave, the police said. A manhunt has been launched to nab him and further investigations are on, they said.

Nishank asks officials to create awareness on HIV/AIDS

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has asked government officials to make a comprehensive action plan for creating awareness among the people against spreading of HIV/AIDS. Asserting prevention is the only cure for AIDS, Nishank said spreading of HIV can be checked by creating awareness among the people. In a statement on the eve of World AIDS Day, Nishank also asked the officials to involve voluntary organisations to spread the message.

Mayawati aims to build BSP base in Uttarakhand

Aiming to build the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) base in Uttarakhand, party supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has blamed the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the backwardness in the hill state. "Uttarakhand has been either under a BJP or a Congress rule since its inception in 2000, therefore, if the state has failed to show any signs of growth in these 10 years, none else could be blamed," Mayawati said in a statement issued here. Earlier in the day, she met party members from Uttarakhand here on the issue of strengthening the party in the hill state. Mayawati asked partymen to spread the word across Uttarakhand about the BSP's contribution to the creation of that state. "You must remind the people of Uttarakhand that it the BSP government which passed the first resolution in the Uttar Pradesh assembly for the creation of an independent hill state of Uttarakhand in 1995," she told the gathering. " The districts of Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat, Bageshwar and Rudra Prayag were created by my government," Mayawati asserted. It would be interesting to see that how do the sensible people of Uttarakhand respond to Mayawati new campaign, considering the fact that under her leadership, situation in Uttar Pradesh has gone from bad to worse and there has been hardly any development in the latter.

Disaster training unit in the state

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has announced to set up a disaster training unit in the state with a cost of Rs one crore. Speaking at a function held to inaugurate the building of Indian Red Cross Committee, Nishank said the training unit would be equipped with modern technologies and equipment, and it would help in speedy relief work during disasters, an official release said here. Earlier, Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva inaugurated the Red Cross building, which has been constructed on one acre with a cost of Rs 2 crore. She said the Red Cross this year trained nearly 3,500 volunteers for carrying out relief work in disaster-hit areas despite tough geographical conditions in the hill state.

‘List all festivals where animals are sacrificed’

Uttarakhand High Court has asked the Pauri Garhwal district administration to give it a list all such festivals where animals are sacrificed and also to identify individuals who perform the ritual killings. The instruction of the High Court came while hearing a PIL, filed by an NGO People For Animals and some other religious organisations, seeking a ban on animal sacrifices, claiming that festivals celebrated in the state have no such ritual necessity, District Magistrate Dilip Jawalkar told PTI. The district administration is gathering the data and listing such festivals, he said, adding that the authorities are trying to prevent such sacrifices. Activists are demanding a ban on animal killings during the Bunkhal festival, to be organised on December 11 at Kalika temple in the district. It is expected that many goats and male buffaloes would be sacrificed on the occasion. Meanwhile, the district magistrate has allotted Rs 15 lakh for Bunkhal festival to give it a facelift.

SAF Winter Games to have two ceremonies

The first South Asian Winter Games, scheduled to be held in Auli and Dehra Dun early next year, will have two inaugural and closing ceremonies. The inauguration and closing in the hill town of Auli will be held on January 7 and 10 respectively, while here the event will start on January 14 and closing will be performed on the 17th, Brig (retd) S S Patwal, president of Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI) told reporters here. The decision to organise two opening and two closing ceremonies has been taken considering the distance between the two towns. "Auli and Dehra Dun are 320km apart from each other and it takes more than 10 hours to reach from one place to another," Patwal added. While Auli will host skiing events, Dehra Dun will organise Ice Skating. Prior to the winter games, WGFI has also decided to organise coaching camps at Auli from December 13 to 23 and at Dehra Dun from December 7 to 19, during which coaches from India and abroad would train the participants. Patwal said participating countries can also join the coaching camps at Auli and Dehra Dun.

Man held for making obscene MMS

A 38-year-old man was today arrested for allegedly making an obscene MMS of a girl at Dalanwala area here, police said. Sarvjit Singh, an architect, was arrested from his residence at Race Course locality following a complaint by the victim in this regard, they said. In her complaint, the girl said that Singh was also threatening to circulate the MMS. The police said it was further investigating the case.

Tiger found injured

An injured tiger was found in the forests of Jaspur area in Udham Singh Nagar district, a forest official said. The three-year-old male tiger was groaning in pain when it was noticed by forest guards yesterday during a routine patrol near Ramnagar, Divisional Forest Officer (Ramnagar) Nishant Verma said. Senior forest officials were rushed to the spot and veterinary doctors also called for starting its treatment, he said. The tiger was today shifted to Pantnagar veterinary hospital where doctors are conducting tests to ascertain the cause of injury, Verma said. Preliminary examination of the tiger and the spot where it was found suggested that it might have suffered some spinal injury or fractured a bone in the lower portion of the body during its fight with a wild boar, the DFO said. Some hair of a boar was noticed at the place where the striped cat was found lying, he added. Detailed reports are still awaited.