Brilliant Babus Killing two birds with one stone is an art that has been perfected by some of the intelligent officers of the Himalayan State. A perfect example was witnessed recently in the State Cabinet’s decision of imposing a blanket ban on stone crushers within three kms of rivers. It is clear that the State Government was under pressure...
Symbolism galore The much hyped human chain event in Dehradun with a stated objective to spread awareness on the ill effects of single use polythene has again elicited focus on the TSR government’s obsession for symbolism. Educating people on the nuisance of polythene is one thing but organising a programme which creates public inconvenience in the name of creating...
Badrish University? The first university of the world was situated near the sacred Badrinath shrine of Uttarakhand and its chancellor was none other than Maharshi Ved Vyas, the legendary author of epic Mahabharata. One should accept this fact without any iota of doubt in mind as this was narrated by none other than a scholar minister holding responsibility of...
Ayush slush One feels sorry for the students of private Ayurveda colleges of the state who instead of getting engrossed in academics are forced to squat for days at the protest site near Parade Ground. It is shameful that their plight is being overlooked with a ruthless stoic indifference by political leadership and administrative machinery, the mandarin of...
Boon or bane? The presence of green canopy and rivers is usually considered nature’s blessing for any region but it appears that the abundance of forest cover—which is approximately 71 percent of total geographical area —and presence of holy rivers is proving to be more of a burden on the small Himalayan State of Uttarakhand. The environmental and forest...
Shameful slip The slide witnessed by Uttarakhand in the index of the education quality and health services released by an agency none other than the NITI Aayog which is the policy think tank of Government of India, puts egg on the face of State administration and its governance. In the recently released education quality index, the Aayog has placed...
Bolt from the blue Recent arrest of an inter-State gang involved in a heist in Dehradun and the subsequent disclosure made by the gang is causing sleepless nights for the officials of transport department. The burglars apart from admitting their involvement in the high profile dacoity at the residence of a prominent businessman involved in training the budding cricketers...
Hooch carnage Recent unfortunate death of six persons in the illicit liquor tragedy in heart of the provisional State Capital has again brought to fore the menace of the illicit liquor in the State and the ubiquitous network of bootleggers in the Himalayan State which takes a pride in calling itself a Dev Bhoomi. The unholy nexus of politicians,...
Roster distress Unnerved by the fervent opposition of the members belonging to SC, ST community, some public representatives and one senior cabinet minister, a hassled TSR government found it prudent to resort to the tried and trusted formula of constituting a committee to review the system of roster. In the changed system, the first five places in the roster...
Penalty Panic Even as many states bogged down by the fear of public backlash are showing weak knees to implement the recently amended version of Motor Vehicles Act in letter and spirit and are doing their best to dilute the stringent provisions for offences, the Uttarakhand government showed the nerve to implement the act in the state with some...