25 Dec 2009

With a local Telugu television channel “ABN Andhra Jyothy” telecasting the photographs of alleged sexual escapades of the octogenarian governor, women’s and other organisations and political parties have started demanding his head.

The Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad is finding itself mired in a slush with governor Narayan Dutt Tiwari’s name getting dragged in to a sex-scandal.

With a local Telugu television channel “ABN Andhra Jyothy” telecasting the photographs of alleged sexual escapades of the octogenarian governor on Friday morning, women’s and other organisations and political parties have started demanding his head.

The photos, showing an unidentified old man with three girls spread all over him on a bed, were allegedly provided to the channel by a woman Radhika in Uttaranchal, the state once ruled by ND Tiwari as the Chief Minister.

Though a division bench of Andhra Pradesh high court immediately issued an order restraining the channel from further screening of the photos, and the Raj Bhavan has also issued a denial describing the photos as “fabricated”, damage was already done.

The woman Radhika has reportedly told the channel while providing the photos that she had sent the women to Tiwari from Uttaranchal as he had promised to give them jobs.

Demonstrations by women’s groups

Several women’s organisations and other civil society groups came out demanding the sacking of Tiwari for sullying the constitutional office and Raj Bhavan. They held demonstrations in front of Raj Bhavan forcing the authorities to strengthen the security in and around the governor’s house.

There were also demonstrations in Vijaywada, Visakhapatanam, Warangal and other places condemning the alleged sexual escapades in Raj Bhavan.

The leader of the opposition, N. Chandrababu Naidu, strongly condemning the alleged unsavoury happenings in Raj Bhavan said, “the only option before Mr. Tiwari is to resign or the central government should immediately sack him”.

Naidu alleged that the involvement of a constitutional figure in such activities in Raj Bhavan had sullied the image of the constitutional office and degenerated the values and ethics in public life. “It is shocking for everybody. We have never seen such a thing in the past”, he said.

Though it was not clear from the photographs who the man was with the girls and whether it was taken in Raj Bhavan, the whole episode was being seen as highly damaging as Tiwari had already come under fire over a paternity suit filed by a young man from Uttar Pradesh in Supreme Court claiming to be son of Tiwari. He had alleged that Tiwari had relationship with his mother and he was born out of the relationship. But Tiwari had refused to undergo DNA test to prove or disprove that charge.

At the same time, the timing of the expose has also raised many an eyebrows. It came to light when the agitation for Telangana state is at its peak creating a major crisis in Andhra Pradesh. Motives are being attributed to the expose and it is being seen as an attempt to divert the attention from the fight for Telangana state, because the channel which carried the photos has the image of being against the Telangana demand.

Secondly, the allegations have come to light just a day after the intense speculations began that the central government was contemplating replacing Tiwari with comparatively younger person as Andhra Pradesh governor as precursor to the imposition of President’s rule in the state. The names of leaders like former Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandi and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh were doing rounds in the political circles here.

News Source: Gulfnews.com

Dehradun, 25 Dec 2009

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank today announced a total ban on the use of polythene bags in the state.

Nishank said his government is committed to make the hill state polythene-free and it would not hesitate to bring in a legislation if it becomes necessary.

The chief minister also sought cooperation from common people for making the state polythene-free stating that no social issue can be addressed without the active participation of society.

He also stressed the need for control on all kinds of pollutants in the state.

Nishank said this while addressing a gathering after laying foundation stone for widening and strengthening of 3.30 km-long Jogiwala-Badripur Majri road at a cost of Rs 2.71 crore here, an official release said.

News Source: PTI

Mussoorie, 25 Dec 2009

Hundreds of tourists thronged at Mussoorie, the hill resort in Uttarakhand, to view rare natural phenomenon known as ‘winter line’ on Thursday.

Incidentally, such a scene is witnessed in just two parts of the world, Mussoorie being one and Switzerland the other.

During the months of November and December, the ‘winter line’ starts forming. It appears when sun starts setting and the horizon gets lit up in different hues like red, orange, purples and mauve.

Tourists, children in particular, enjoyed the spectacular view with almost all of them startled to see the beauty of the sky during the formation of the winter line.

“It is really amazing; I have not seen anything like this before in my entire life,” said Sanjeev Kumar, a tourist.

The colours in the sky deepen as winter sets in.

Anand Sharma, Director of Metrological Department, said that the colder the winter, the darker is the winter line and this natural trend is a unique.

“There is the Aravali range and you can see a line which people call as ‘winter line.’ The reason behind this phenomenon is refraction. When the weather is subtle and there is no haze and visibility is clear, then one can see winter line,” Sharma said.

News Source: ANI

25 Dec 2009

Uttarakhand is experiencing another dry spell during this winter season with the last two months going almost dry.

After the prolonged dry spell that badly hit the agriculture sector, the government has again sounded an alarm by declaring 16 tehsils in three districts – Tehri, Almora and Dehradun – as dry, with power and agriculture scenario all set to take a beating in the wake of the falling discharge in most of the rivers by 30 to 40 per cent.

The falling discharge in the big rivers is likely to hit agriculture in the nearby states like Uttar Pradesh, which are heavily dependent on the canals of big rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries.

The current discharge in Yamuna at Vikasnagar is eight cumax, which is 50 per cent less as compared to last year.

News Source: Business Standard

22 Dec 2009

As climate change and its effects begin to dawn upon the world, clean development technologies has started finding more takers, and the small hill state of Uttarakhand is one of them.

With lakhs of hectares carpeted with shed pine needles, the Uttarakhand forest department is planning to employ these as biomass to set up gasifier-based energy production plants and briquettes (coal derived from pine needles) using dried pine needles.

Over one lakh hectares of forest land would be opened up to shed pine needles collection as part of the plan which has been inspired from similar strategies adopted by other developing nations like Jamaica and Brazil. The state forest department has invited bids to help set up systems to reduce the state’s carbon emissions and thereby earn carbon credits.

“For us there are manifold benefits in this proposal. One, it will prevent forest fires as shed pine needles laid across forest floors is like tinder. Also pine needles otherwise just lie unused — negligible amounts are used for household purposes, so this should not inconvenience anyone,” A R Sinha, Chief Conservator of Forest (Environment), Uttarakhand, told The Indian Express. “Since companies will be asked to engage local population in pine needle collection, it will also help provide employment for many —mainly those inhabiting remote forest patches. Most importantly, it could help us provide non-conventional clean energy systems and subsequently reduce the state’s carbon footprint.”

One lakh hectares of forest land stretching through the middle of the hill state will be opened up for the project. “Forest sections like Dhanaulti near Almora, Chakrata, areas near Nainital among others will be part of this project,” Sinha added.

With the government already having done a pilot project of sorts in Badrinath, Pithoragarh district and Pipalkoti as well as where small-scale gasifier-based energy production set-ups are functioning, the state forest department is rather optimistic about the plan.

“While we will not tell companies to choose to do gasifier energy production systems or work on clean briquettes, our only condition will be to ensure only environment friendly projects are permitted. That apart, the rural employment opportunity also must be adhered to. Companies could also undertake to just supply these collected pine needles to environment friendly industries. The Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation could be involved as a link between the rural folk engaged in collecting the pine needles and the users,” the official added.

While the state forest department had invited Expressions of Interest for the same project last year as well, some objections raised by the Ministry of Environment and Forests had stalled it then. With all clearances in hand, Uttarakhand is now raring to go the clean development way.

News Source: Indian Express

16 Dec 2009

RCI, part of Wyndham Exchange and Rentals, announced an affiliation with The Solluna Resort, situated in Jim Corbett National Park, in Uttarakhand. This new affiliation brings the total number of RCI affiliated resorts in sought-after destinations across India to more than 80.

The Solluna Resort is spread over 25 acres along the banks of the Ramganga River. The resort offers opportunities for adventure including river rafting, fishing, open-top jeep rides, elephant safaris, horseback riding, wildlife tours and cultural activities such as folk dances and evening bonfires.

Radhika Shastry, Managing Director, RCI (India) said, “We are pleased to welcome The Solluna Resort into the RCI network. This beautiful resort is an addition to the collection of top vacation destinations we offer to RCI Weeks members.”

Harish Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director, The Solluna Resort said, “RCI invented the exchange business 35 years ago and has been the innovator and leader ever since. Their diverse selection of luxury resorts the world over deliver the highest quality vacations to their members. Being associated with RCI was important to The Solluna Resort.”

News Source: HospitalityBizIndia