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.

State HC reserves decision on Rishikesh housing case

Uttarakhand High Court today reserved its decision on a case related to alleged violation of environmental laws by the state government to give "undue" favour to a private firm in a Rishikesh-based housing project. After hearing the arguments from all the sides, a two-member bench of the court comprising Chief Justice Barin Ghosh and Justice V K Bist reserved its judgement, said Avtar Singh, the counsel for petitioners Uttarakhand Janta Sangharsh Morcha and others. The state government has filed an affidavit informing the court that it has already withdrawn all the concessions given to the private company Citurgia Biochemicals Limited for constructing a housing project in Rishikesh, Singh said.

The NGOs in their petition have claimed industry land cannot be accorded for a housing project along the river Ganga on environmental grounds. Mumbai-based Citurgia Biochemical limited was permitted to use 30 acres of its sick chemical plant in Rishikesh for a housing project.

The petitioners pleaded that the land should be returned to the government and a CBI investigate into the alleged corruption while giving a nod to the firm to proceed wiht the housing project. However, Citurgia Biochemicals opposed the petitioners' demand for returning land to the state, stating the company now wants to revive its unit. But, the court observed that revival of unit is not possible as it is red-category industry, Singh said.

In September, the High Court had issued notices to the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) and the state government in the case. Government's nod was given under a Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) revival scheme. The government has so far maintained in the court that it only followed the advice of the BIFR on the matter. The opposition parties led by Congress had accused Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank of giving undue favours to the private developer in gross violation of stringent environmental laws.

Will not contest polls anymore: N D Tiwari

After going through the rough and tumble of politics for decades, 85-year-old Congress leader N D Tiwari today said he will not contest elections anymore. "I am 85 now. How many more elections will I contest," Tiwari, who was a member of Parliament four times, said in an interview to PTI. The veteran leader, who has donned many hats as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand besides holding key ministries at the Centre, said he had played long innings in active politics since the Quit India movement. "Now I want to contribute to the politics of development," he said, pointing out that he often visits places where development works suffer and draws attention of the government. Tiwari, who was forced to quit from the post of Andhra Pradesh Governor last year following an alleged sex scandal in the Raj Bhavan, said he will not accept the post of either Governor or President in future.

On course of success

In the just concluded All India police water sports meet, BSF Bagged over all championship:

P.S. Chauhan

The 10th All India Police Water Sports Championship held on the Ganga canal near Roorkee, last week. After the creation of the state the Ganga Canal at Solanipuram, near Roorkee, with slow flow of water and calm environment, has developed into a preferred destination for water sports. The Bengal Engineering Group (BEG) and Centre Roorkee has contributed much to the development of the spot as a water sports destination. The All India Police Water Sports Championship was also held here in 2005. It is for the second time that the event has been organized here. The organizing secretary of the five-day event & DIG, PAC, Alok Sharma said that about 500 sports persons from 17 teams of the central para military forces and the police personnel from various states took part in the championship. Inaugurating the mega event, the director general of the state police, J.S. Pandey said that such events not only give a fillip to sports but also promote the spirit of comradeship among the athletes from different states. In all, 26 events were conducted in various categories of rowing, kayaking and canoeing.

The over -all championship was bagged by the BSF which won 9 gold, with final tally of 16 medals and an aggregate of 60 points, while Uttarakhand finished as a runner up, with 5 gold medals and final tally of 15 medals and an aggregate of 47 points.

The rowing trophy was clinched by the ITBP, while Uttarakhand trailed at the second position. In kayaking the BSF won the top laurel, with the second position going to Uttarakhand. In the canoeing events, BSF came out with flying colours, followed by SSB. The championship and medals to the winner teams and athletes were awarded by the state minister for tourism and urban development, Madan Kaushik. The minister said that the state govt. would like to further promote water sports as there was a lot of natural potential available which could bring in revenue and boost tourism too.

The minister informed that the state govt. is preparing an ambitious project to promote water sports in the state. Under this project a canoeing-kayaking circuit, equipped with international facilities, will be developed in Roorkee. The Sports Authority is conducting a survey on the same. "A two km. stretch on the Ganga canal at Ranipur also holds the possibility of being developed into another water sports circuit," revealed the minister.

Uttarakhand govt. fixes Sugarcane price at rupee 210-215

Uttarakhand government today fixed the state advised price (SAP) for sugarcane at Rs 210-215 per quintal for the current crushing season of 2010-11. Announcing this at a press conference, state sugarcane Minister Madan Kaushik said that this season, farmers of the state would get Rs 215 and Rs 210 per quintal for early and late variety of sugarcane, respectively. The SAP fixed for sugarcane in Uttarakhand are Rs 5 more per quintal than the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, which has fixed prices at Rs 205 and 210, he said. Last year, the Uttarakhand government had announced price for sugarcane at Rs 192-197 per quintal. Kaushik said eight sugar mills have already started crushing sugarcane, while the remaining two would also become functional shortly.

The minister said the government expected an increase of 10 per cent in the area under sugarcane cultivation this year. Uttarakhand’s neighbourhood state UP has also fixed the sugarcane price in the same price bracket, however various kisan units have been planning to launch protest as they feel that the quoted price is far less than that of last year.

Saving big cats

A transit rescue centre for leopards is being set up by the Uttarakhand government in Haridwar district of the state, where incidents of man-animal conflicts are common.

"Devbhumi transit rescue centre has been built with a cost of Rs one crore on an area of 35 acres and is now waiting for the final approval by the Central Zoo Authority," Forest Conservator J S Suhag said. A team of government officials are expected to visit the rescue centre next week, he said. The centre, at Chiriapur area of the district, is meant to capture man-eater leopards and provide treatment before releasing them.

It would also have a treatment chamber and control room and equipped with CCTV cameras so that activities of leopards can be regularly monitored. Suhag said plans are also afoot to connect the centre via internet so that wildlife lovers can watch the movements and behaviour of the animals online. Nearly 14,000 villages are located at the periphery of jungles in Uttarakhand and man-animal conflicts are quite common. During the past one decade, 203 out of total 312 people, who lost lives in attacks by wild animals, were killed by leopards alone. This has forced forest authorities to declare 89 leopards as man-eaters while 44 of them were shot dead, according to the official data.

An elephantine problem

Sustained efforts are needed prevent elephant-train collision on 18 km stretch, which passes through Rajaji National Park

P.S. Chauhan

A recent judgement of Dehradun district court awarding three years imprisonment, along with a fine of Rs. 10,000 to a train driver accused of killing three elephants has once again brought to the fore the issue of protecting the "national heritage animal" from being mowed down by the speeding trains. The train driver, Vijay Pal has been found guilty of killing a female elephant and two calves at Kansarao, near Haridwar, on September 28, 1998.

Indeed one of the main threats to the pachyderms in the world famous elephant project of Rajaji National Park emanates from their collision with the trains running on the 18 km. track passing through this park. Nearly two dozen trains run on the track every day. As per records of the forest department, the railway track has been the graveyard of as many as 22 jumbos since the creation of the park in 1983. The number of the jumbos which sustained injuries is still higher. In a major accident four elephants were run over by a killer train on April 2, 1992. However, there has been some respite in the killing spree of the trains after the creation of the state. The last accidental casualty on the track was reported on March 12, 2002 when an elephant calf was crushed to death by a train. However, one elephant sustained injuries at Haridwar-Kharkhari range as Doon Express hit him in April 2007.

Ritesh Joshi, the chief investigator of the central government sponsored Asian Elephants Behaviour Project in the Rajaji National Park says that two important facts stand out clearly in the accidental deaths of the tuskers in the Rajaji Park. First, most of these accidents have occurred during summer when due to scarcity of water in the park, the jumbos move from the western part to the eastern towards the Ganga in search of water and in the process cross the railway track. Secondly, it is mostly during night, when the elephants get mesmerized by the dazzling lights of the trains. Due to anthropogenic activities in these areas, with human interference in this forest route much more during the day, elephants avoid moving during the daytime and venture out mostly during night. Wildlife experts point out that elephants are highly social animals, mostly guided by herd instincts. In most of the accidents with trains a female elephant with her calf is involved. Even if other elephants have crossed the railway track but the calf is left behind, the female elephant turns back and gets hit by the train. Whenever an elephant gets killed on the track, the fellow elephants gather on the spot and conduct 'rail roko', throwing the railway traffic out of gear. On September 28, 1998 when three pachyderms were crushed to death, a huge herd of these mammals gathered on the spot, disrupting the entire schedule of the trains for many hours and the railways and the forest personnel had a tough time in clearing the track by driving away the mourning and infuriated jumbos.

After many jumbo casualties the government realized the gravity of the situation. The forest department, working in tandem with the railways, has now initiated a slew of measures to avert trains-elephants collisions. The station superintendent of Haridwar railway station, Samrendra Goswami says that the railway department has issued permanent "caution orders" to the train drivers to limit the speed of the trains below 50 km. per hour, with constant whistling, on the sensitive sections in Haridwar, Motichoor, Kansrao ranges so as to alert elephants and help them move away from the railway track. The joint teams of the forest department and the Wild Life Trust of India (WTI) have been set up for patrolling, from dusk to dawn, in the sections which are vulnerable to trains-elephants collisions.

children's rights protection panel in Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand cabinet has decided to set up a children's right protection commission, which will have judicial powers at par with district court. With an aim to make the commission more powerful to prosecute people violating children's right, the cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has decided to give judicial powers to the panel at par with district court, Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar told reporters here. In another significant decision, Kumar said the cabinet gave its nod to the gas-based power policy under which the state government will provide incentives to private developers and get electricity from them. The government has identified a potential of 2000 MW and expected a capital investment of Rs 10,000 cr in the sector, he added. The cabinet also decided to set up a Corbett Tiger Conservation foundation for carrying out development and other work in the famous Jim Corbett National park.

Huge tax evasions detected

Tax evasion to the tune of lakhs of rupees has been detected in seven concrete and cement mixture companies of Uttarakhand. Documents seized during raids at the premises of these companies yesterday are still being examined but they point to huge evasions running into lakhs, Commercial Tax department officials who conducted the raids, said.

GUV. meets Tiwari

State governor Margaret Alva met ailing Congress leader N D Tiwari at his residence and enquired about his health. Alva stayed with Tiwari for about 25 minutes and prayed for his good health, Tiwari's personal secretary Sanjay Joshi said here. Tiwari was admitted to Doon hospital on Saturday after he complained of nausea and restlessness. He was later discharged and asked to take rest by the doctors. Talking to reporters later, Tiwari said he was in better shape now and is thankful to all those who visited him.

Renovation on the cards

Uttarakhand landmark location, Rajpur Road, to get a facelift as architect Vicky Rawat has been roped in by MDDA to spruce up the main road of Dehradun::

Anjali Nauriyal

Equipped with a degree in Energy Conservation in Building Design from Arizona State University Tempe, USA, Vicky Rawat is happy to serve his home state and is upbeat about the great opportunity that has come his way to spruce up and beautify Rajpur Road. This professional architect who is a native Pauri Garhwal has already designed and executed several projects for the ministry of environment and forests, Government of India in Doon, including the Stadium-cum-Gym Complex for the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy, the Driver's Training Institute for Suzuki India and the state government and the ONGC Green Building.

It is now Vicky's turn to conceptualize and execute the beautification of Rajpur Road that is amongst the most daunting tasks and something he is really proud of.

But how does he feel about the transformation of Dehradun into a remorseless town of unrestrained construction and illegal encroachments? "It seems progress here has become synonymous with flouting norms," he quips unhappily adding, "But thankfully civic bodies such as MDDA, Nagar Nigam and PWD are now planning a recovery path. MDDA has now entrusted me with this daunting task and I have accepted this challenge as a loyal resident myself."

Vicky says that the Rajpur Road beautification project has at its core the idea of Green Doon Clean Doon. "This includes a facelift of the arterial road, running north from Clock Tower (the unofficial centre of the town) to old Rajpur Village, sprucing up various roundabouts, improving T-points, and smartening up intersections," he informs.

Vicky feels that the there is urgent need for the visual improvements. "It is essential that the city adornment is done in a pre-meditated manner such that infrastructure, greening initiatives and public amenities are bolstered without sacrificing the essential identity of the foothill township. Doon needs to regain its identity at the individual, community and organisational levels. Each town possesses its distinct personality in terms of local history, architecture, folklore and tradition. The idea is to link all these and match it to inevitable additions of progress in a manner that maintains yet enhances the town's uniqueness," he reveals.

For instance, Vicky plans to give Rajpur Road a uniform character by using colonial style roadside lamps, uniform colour on shops, using identical signages and planting hardy shrubs. "The aim is to create a look that is pleasing and uniform to the eye rather than a current state of confused randomness," he avers, adding, "I strongly feel that the new shops and buildings need to abide by stringent guidelines issued by the MDDA and old ones need frontal facade upgradation. The old and the new may be interestingly juxtaposed. Eventually every effort must add up to the depth, character, subtlety and uniformity to the city's setting."

In the pilot plan on Rajpur Road, he is taking care to include strategic planning of public amenities such as information and refreshment kiosks, solar-powered traffic posts and bus shelters and subways for commuters and pedestrians. For the convenience of the public, hygienic toilets and drinking water facilities will be ensured. "It is important that we maintain the existing plant covers and so go in for additional plantations of eco-friendly trees and shrubs along roadsides, T-junctions, crossing points, medians and central verges. We have already set up a fountain landscape at the Nehru Colony intersection that is being liked by the public."

In the months to come, Doonites can hope to see a tidy Doon filled with roadscapes like street furniture, benches, bollards, post boxes, phone booths, streetlight posts, information pillars, dustbins, etc. "To avoid parking snags, multistoried parking lots are also being planned," the architect informs. Handicap-friendly facilities will be provided at traffic intersections, sidewalks, curb slopes and bus shelters. An important part of the plan is to build small tourist shops, museums and other significant points providing books, brochures on the history of the city, with the active participation of the local people. Vicky strongly feels that progress is here to stay and so must be embraced and the best way to do it is through involvement of the people at the individual and community level. In western countries, local groups maintain individual neighbourhoods in conjunction with civic authorities. Similar partnerships need to be generated in Doon. For instance, the merchants of Rajpur Road with local residents can look after the upkeep of their areas. This would ignite the pride of the local people and they can come forward wholeheartedly in fighting the marauding of the city. So is anybody listening?

Smooth drive ahead: VAT exemption on vehicle purchased from canteens in Uttarkhand

The Uttarakhand government has decided to give VAT exemption on purchase of vehicles through CSD canteens. The state government was till now charging VAT at the rate of 12.5 per cent on the purchase of vehicles.

However, the cabinet made it clear, yesterday that the exemption would be given on purchase of a total of 500 vehicles-- 150 four-wheelers costing upto Rs 5 lakh and 350 two-wheelers with value upto Rs 70,000-- per year on the basis of first come-first serve. Meanwhile, a government agency for welfare of serving and retired army personnel, Sainik Kalyan Parishad today thanked Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank for the step. "Since Uttarakhand is home to scores of serving and retired army personnel and officials, this is a welcome decision taken by state cabinet decision," Col (retd) P D Kudiyal, Vice Chairman of Sainik Kalyan Parishad said in a statement here.

Jim Corbett National Park to celebrate platinum jubilee

The world famous Jim Corbett National Park, which is home to the endangered Royal Bengal tiger, will celebrate its platinum jubilee next month. As part of the celebrations, the forest department would conduct programmes to educate and involve the local population in conservation of wildlife, particularly tigers, Conservator (wildlife) S K Chandola said. The celebrations would begin in January and programmes and functions would be held in March, he added.

Nailing the corrupt: 4000 corrupt govt officials suspended, says Uttarakhand CM

Claiming that his government had a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has said that the state administration had taken action against nearly 4000 officials. "We have a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption. As many as 4000 officials have been suspended, 13 sent to jail and graft cases are going on against many others", Nishank told reporters.

He was addressing a press conference to highlight 10 years of existence of the state and its achievements. His statement on corruption comes just days after yoga guru Baba Ramdev claimed a state minister had demanded a bribe of Rs 2 crore to allow him to set up a new trust in the state. Highlighting other achievements of the state he said the industrial growth in 2000-1 was 1.9 per cent and 2010-11 it grew to 22 per cent. "Road connectivity has also been a major achievements in the state as we have constructed 21,886 km of road in 10 yrs. Wehnt eh state was formed there were only 84 bridges and now there are 742," Pokhriyal said.

Pointing out that 65 per cent of the land was under forest cover, he said the state had six national parks and six wildlife sanctuaries and that "in 2000 there were 40 tigers, now there are 200. This speaks about the importance we have given to protecting and national animal". He said the state was a leader in emergency services and that through the 108 emergency service as many as 1,841 children born in moving ambulances.

Highlighting the financial health of the state, the chief minister said in 2000 the state's revenue receipt was Rs 200 crores and in 2010-11 it touched Rs 11,342 crore. "In 2000, the per capita income was Rs 15000 per year and it is Rs 42,000 in 2010. A whopping 83,700 new jobs would be created within the next one year", Nishank said.

Thanking the Central government for giving Rs 1000 crore assistance to encourage development projects, he said 10 years back the development ratio was 2.9 per cent and now, in 2010, it went up to 9.4 per cent.

Chocolates made of jaggery developed

Pantnagar University of Agriculture and Technology scientists have developed chocolates made of jaggery in Uttarakhand's Pantnagar District. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, an apex organisation that promotes research of agriculture, has also approved this innovative chocolate. Apart from jaggery, other ingredients of the chocolate include cocoa powder, milk powder, butter, and flavouring agents. According to the scientists, coffee powder is also added to the mixture, which changes the taste of jaggery. "The chocolate can be used at a smaller rural level. The small traders, farmers and entrepreneurs can easily prepare this chocolate. The method of preparation is also quite simple," said P. K. More, a Senior Research officer at the university.

He further said the innovation is an attempt to promote and add value to jaggery as an ingredient to edible products. The chocolate also has high nutritional content.

"The most special element in the chocolate is that it has all the elements found in jaggery. Jaggery is rich in minerals. It contains one percent total mineral. It contains iron, calcium, and phosphorus. It is also rich in several vitamins - Riboflavin and folic acid," said J. K. Joshi, a Senior Technician at the University. Joshi said the research scholars have also developed basic equipment set-up for the preparation of the chocolate.

Young India

Dehradun-born Sarabjit Singh came first in Time Magazine's first Asian essay competition:

Three young Indians swept the Time Magazine's first Asian essay competition on the challenges that the continent face in the 21st century. Dehradun-born Sarabjit Singh came first in the continent-level essay competition, while the joint runners-up were Gemlyn George from Tamil Nadu, New Delhi's Rohit Pathak, and Su Hsing Loh of Singapore. The awards were announced and presented at a ceremony here. The "Asia's Challenge 2020' essay competition was organised jointly by the Hong Kong-based Asia Business Council (ABC), TIME Magazine and Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Singh, a permanent Singapore resident, wrote about the challenges of economic inequality in Asia and the need for inclusive development, citing the wealth and poverty in India.

An abridge version of Singh's essay is published in the Time magazine under "Thank you for sharing - Huge inequalities in wealth distribution must be addressed if Asia is to continue to develop". The 26-year old Singh runs Paper Terminal, which has 100,000 clients across 200 countries using its software to computerise business operations. "This award means a lot to me. It is a perfect reward for my efforts," said Singh, who is also a freelance writer on global affairs. George, 26, a graduate from the Christian Medical College in Vellore in Tamil Nadu, wrote about deficiencies in Asia's healthcare system, while his compatriot Rohit Pathak, 20, a graduate from New Delhi's Sanskriti School, focused on governance in Asia. Loh, a 31-year old Singaporean Phd student at the Fudan University in Shanghai, wrote an essay on Asia's decoupling from the West. The main purpose of the essay competition was to generate fresh ideas for tackling key challenges to Asia's continued competitiveness and development, as well as encourage young professionals to make an impact on public policy and business in Asia, said ABC's executive director Mark Clifford.

About 400 essays by Asian nationals under the age of 32 were submitted for the competition on questions: "What is the most important challenge facing Asia over the next decade? Why? What should be done about it?" Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of Education acknowledged the intellectual input by young Asians from 21 countries at the Singapore award ceremony today. He welcomed the suggestions that a book be compiled on all the essay entries, stressing that it should be an important read for all policy makers in the region.

Haridwar to be polythene free from Dec. 18

P.S. Chauhan

There is good news on the front of environment protection and sanitation. Haridwar is going to be one of the few cities in the state, which will be completely free from polythene menace. The district administration has pulled up its socks to create social awareness on the issue and ban the use of all sorts of polythene items. Various social organizations and all segments of society, including the sant community, the Ganga Sabha, the Vyapar Mandal, the industries association and the educational institutions, have responded positively to this initiative of the administration.

Various rallies have been organized in the city by different organizations to create public opinion against polythene. A huge rally, under the aegis of the press club, was organized. The rally, flagged off by Dr. Pranav Pandya, the chief of the Shanti Kunj and chancellor of the Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya and attended by thousands of citizens and students from various educational institutions, passed through the main streets of the city up to Har-Ki-Pauri. The participants in the rally, wearing white caps, carried banners and placards and shouted slogans such as "Polythene Hatao, Paryavaran Bachao". Addressing the rally, Ramanandacharya Swami Hansdevacharya said that Polythene was the major source of pollution in the city as it choked the drains and sewers and polluted the Ganga. Kailash Keshwani, the president of the district Vyapar Mandal exhorted the business community to eschew the use of polythene items to keep the city clean. Acharya Bal Krishan, the secretary general of the Patanjali Yog Peeth and vice chancellor of the Patanjali University of Yoga and Ayurveda said that polythene, which is an non biogradable substance and is a serious great threat to environment. Thousands of bags made from paper and cloth were distributed in the city on the occasion. Among others, the president of the Regional Industries Association (Garhwal region), Harendra Garg, the SSP, Sanjay Gunjyal, a senior official from the BHEL, Rajiv Bhatnagar and the president of the press club, Brijendra Harsh. participated in the huge rally. An oath was administered to the participants in the rally that they will not use polythene and will persuade others also for the same.

The city magistrate, Shree Dhar Babu, who is spearheading the drive against polythene, told Haridwar Plus that from December 8 to December 18, five teams, each consisting of a magistrate and public representatives, will take away the polythene items from those who are found using or selling these items and let them go with a warning. "After December 18, punishment, including fine, depending on the weight and number of the polythene items, will be imposed on the users and the sellers of these banned items," informed the city magistrate.

"Our main objective is to make the holy city an ideal city. The message which emanates from here will disseminate throughout the whole country," says Kamal Jora, the chairman of the Nagar Palika Parishad.

Bahaar Kaur has been crowned Miss Uttarakhand 2010

Anjali Nauriyal

The recently-crowned Miss Uttarakhand, Bahaar Kaur feels that bagging the title has thrown open a door of opportunities for her and fellow winners. The 20 year old winner says, "For me my winning will act as an impetus for joining the glamour industry. I am very keen on journalism as well and hope to juggle the two." Bahar is presently pursuing her final year of bachelor's degree in journalism from IMS, Dehradun.

For this alumnus of Convent of Jesus and Mary, getting in the limelight is fast becoming a habit. She recently was declared Miss IMA at the end of term Ball Party held at the Indian Military Academy. For this only child of businessman Narendra Singh Rattan and homemaker Durga Rattan, home is her real haven that provides all the security and encouragement that she needs to become her own person. Mixed parentage (her father is a sikh while her mom is a Nepali) has contributed to her imbibing the best from two cultures adding to her charm. She now truly wants to make her parents happy. She also wants to do her bit in social responsibility work for organizations such as PFA. Life has been on a song for first runner-up Swati Negi ever since she was adjudged the winner. But right now she would like to complete her B.A. from DAV PG College, where she is studying in the first year and Airport Diploma from Avalon Aviation Academy. Though she has emerged the winner after a tough competition, she had to face a lot of opposition at home from her father who is senior warrant officer with Assam Rifles.

"He totally turned around after my win and is today my strongest supporter. Now he says, 'Do what you want'. He also wants me to act on television and is ready to provide all the wherewithal. My mom Rekha though was always supportive from the beginning along with my Bua and that was very encouraging," recalls the beauty with a smile. The third runner-up Manpreet Kocchar passed out of Doon Cambridge and Graphic Era before enrolling for MCom at DAV. Daughter of Kawaljeet Kaur, who is a teacher with Guru Nanak Inter College, and Ravinder Singh, Administrative Officer at ONGC Polytechnic, Manpreet informs that she could easily identity her strengths and weaknesses during the entire preparation phase of the beauty pageant. "Now I want to work for women empowerment and for the prevention of female foeticide. I now feel that if each one of us can teach one child how much difference it can make in the progress of our country," she wonders aloud. Interestingly all the three winners are Doonites and wish to work for the betterment of the city in some way or the other. They have already participated in a cleanliness drive and would like to make the city a better place, not only for humans but animals as well.

The other participants at the contest included Arushi Gupta, Chitrashi Tiwari, Deepika Bisht, Khushboo Khan, Manisha Rana, Nitisha Rana, Poonam Kohli, Shikha Rawat (all from Dehradun) and Chetna Kaintura (Pauri Garhwal), Kavita Bhandari (Pithoragarh), Kiran Bala Negi (Chamoli), Manpreet Dhillon (Kotdwar), Rahel Rupama (Tankapur), Sandhya Bhadri (Tehri Garhwal), Sangeeta Borai (Nainital), Tarang Chauhan (Haridwar) and Vidushi Bhatnagar (Mussoorie). Rajeev Mittal, Dalip K Sindhi, Directors of Sinmit Communications, which organised the pageant, expressed elation that the pageant, which began humbly, is growing in stature and is inviting participants from other states and even countries such as Nepal.

Snowfall in higher Himalayas

Higher reaches of Himalayas in Uttarakhand have started to receive snowfall bringing cold conditions in lower parts of the hill state. Higher reaches of the Himalayas both in Garhwal and Kumaon including Badrinath, Kedarnath, Auli, Nanda Devi and Munsyari received snowfall while it was partly cloudy in lower hilly and plain areas. The temperature in the state capital was, however, recorded at 25.1 degree C (max) and 13 degree C (min), which is normal. Met department said most of the lower hilly and plain areas are likely to have an overcast sky for the next 24 hours with light rainfall expected in some areas.

Feature film on Garhwal region

Garhwal hills in Uttarakhand are again the focus of acclaimed short film-maker Ahsaan Baksh's lens after his documentary shot in the picturesque region got rave reviews in film circles worldwide. And again like the documentary 'Aakhiri Munadi - The Last Announcement', his next film, this time a full length feature, will rope in local folk artistes to tell the tale of the simple lives of Garhwali people. "My next film will be named 'Under the Sky' and it will be a sweet tale of love revolving round the lives of the Garhwali people, their simplicity and culture," the NSD (National School of Drama) graduate told PTI. Ahsaan (rpt Ahsaan) said he felt very close to the place hailing from there himself. The young director, who was in Kolkatta for the screening of the documentary at the prestigious Kalpanijhar short film festival at the Max Mueller Bhavan earlier this month, said. "My films are a vision which I feel I can better execute with people I can interact with and whose roles are closer to their lives," he said. That was the sole reason he would not settle for any established name while making his next film.

Rembering the martyrs

many Bereaved families of NSG men who made the supreme sacrifice during 26/11 have made Uttarakhand their home:

It's been two years since NSG commando Gajender Singh gave up his life fighting terrorists during the 26/11 attacks and now his family is trying to pick up the threads of their lives again. Singh, a specialist PARA commando of the NSG's 51 SAG assault unit, was awarded the Ashok Chakra posthumosuly for undertaking the daredevil 'heliborne' operation against terrorists in the Jewish residential complex Nariman House.

He is survived by his wife and two school-going children while his mother lives with his brother here. "It has been two years now that Gajender is not with us.

The family has moved on and life is usual again. His wife and my mother are well," Singh's brother Birendra Singh told PTI. "I have seen that solemn remembrances are being organised in Mumbai and other places which are essential to remember and keep alive the memory of martyrs and their contribution to the country. I am happy that my brother's children are getting their schooling at the Army school here and they have been supported well by all," he said. Singh's wife Vinita has moved to Dehradun from their village Ganeshpur after the incident to devote all her time to her children Gaurav (13) and Preeti (11). Singh, who was on deputation to National Security Guards (NSG) from the Army's 10 PARA (Special Forces) was considered a "specialist in heliborne operations" and was killed during the operation at Nariman House on November 28 in Mumbai.

Another NSG commando, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, laid down his life during the same operation at the Taj Hotel and his father reached Mubai today after he cycled from Delhi to the western metropolis in his memory.

The then NSG chief J K Dutt on November 30, 2008 had lauded Singh's valour and said the "terrorists opened fire on Havildar Gajendra when he was trying to get into the building to nab them. He could have easily come back but continued to advance.

"And because of his extremely gallant action, an opening was created and we came to know from where exactly the miscreants were hiding and firing from. The terrorists had also used hand grenades which exploded apart from the heavy firing and Gajendra laid down his life there," Dutt had said.

Environmentalist asks govt to set up institute for eco study

In a bid to save the Himalayas from further degradation, prominent environmentalist and Magsaysay award recipient Chandi Prasad Bhatt have asked the government to establish a multi-purpose institute to examine the changes in the glaciers, lakes, and forests in the region.

Bhatt, in a letter to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and others, said the region was under constant threat due to increased incidents of floods and landslide. "43 per cent the area of our country lies in the region of Ganga, Many rivers originate from it and these rivers contribute almost 63 per cent to the water resources," Bhatt said. According to the scientists, Himalayan glaciers are shrinking and rivers are changing their course due to which the frequency of floods and landslides is increasing, he said. "Every year during monsoon, millions of people are rendered homeless and property worth crores is destroyed due to floods and it also affects the economy of our country," he said, adding, the region also needs special attention because the entire Himalayan region lies in Zone IV and V, the most active seismic region, making it vulnerable to earthquakes. An 'Eco Task Force', set up by the Planning Commission in 1982 for development of Himalaya, had recommended an 'Eco Development Commission' chaired by Prime Minister but nothing has happened as of now and with the increase in temperature, glaciers are shrinking, and threat is looming large on the Eco system, he said.

Uttarakhand November 21-28 news update

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.

United for animals

PFA has launched its Uttarakhand unit with top names on board:

Anjali Nauriyal

A large number of luminaries, including writer Ruskin Bond, actor Victor Banerjee and Headmaster, The Doon School, Peter McLaughlin, IAS Vinita Kumar, IFS Jai Raj, and Principal, Welham Boys' School Dev Lahiri gathered at the formal launch of People for Animals (PFA) movement organised in the state recently.

Agriculture Minister Trivendra Rawat was the chief guest on the occasion. Maneka Gandhi, who could not be present personally, sent as message. Victor Banerjee asserts, "We live in a country where human life is cheap. The poor die of starvation, lack of medical aid, victims of political violence and natural calamities. We deprive our people by stealing from their coffers unashamedly and perpetuate slums and juggis to house vote banks. Under such circumstances, where you have scant respect for human beings, it is difficult to inspire people to worry about the welfare of animals. But for those of us who have the will to serve the people and can afford it because we don't worry where our next meal is coming from, I think it is time we sat up and looked out of the windows of our apartments and noticed how street dogs are stoned, live with painful and oozing sores all over their bodies, species of birds that disappear because the seed-bearing shrubs and trees they lived off have been cut down to build colonies for people flocking to populate our towns and cities. See how cattle and buffalos, frothing at the mouth, are whipped to carry unbelievable loads up gradients that would break our backs. We watch it all and simply drive on. So what should we do when we simply carry on doing nothing? That's where 'Safar ek rupye ka' comes in to make it easy for you to make a substantial difference. Not only does your institution match your peoples' contribution, but that single rupee slowly but surely creates an awareness that is an essential ingredient for every citizen's consciousness and also educates some callous minds."

Uttarakhand state in-charge Gauri Maulekhi informs, "In Uttarakhand, PFA has presence in Dehradun, Nainital, Roorkee and Kotabagh through its units managed by Manavi Bhatt, Anurag Barthwal, Kuldeep Suryavanshi and Rajiv Rastogi, respectively. Haridwar, Kotdwar, Rishikesh, Champawat and Chamoli pitches in through its helplines. Each unit and helpline is run by dedicated individuals but their capacity to take the animal rights movement to the next level or to interface with the government or to raise funds to sustain the work that they do may be insufficient. This is where a need was felt for an umbrella organisation to assist, strengthen and monitor all the units and help more shelters and clinics come up in even the far recesses of the hilly state."

For 10 years, PFA has run a shelter in Dehradun but few were aware of it and the cause could not become a community movement until a sudden spurt of activity during the past two years.

"All major schools, institutions, industries and corporates have been roped in and the support that the government has offered has been exemplary. Bureaucrats have even consented to join hands with PFA which goes a long way to show that the government is also determined to take constructive action to deal with crime against animals," adds Gauri.

Maneka Gandhi affirms, "The newly formed board will be instrumental in increasing the fund raising capacity of PFA, strengthening all the units and helping more units of PFA to come up in each district of Devbhoomi. It will interface with and motivate the Government so that PFA's mission of making a more humane society for all can be achieved." www.pfauttarakhand.org, a new website was also launched at the event.

The IMA way

The trek to Gangotri was undertaken to study the environmental state of the Bhagirathi river valley:

Ruchi Pradhan Datta

The most hotly debated issue throughout the world today is the state and scale of environmental degradation and measures to arrest if not reverse its apocalyptic effects. Forums are formed; conventions held; measures discussed and remedies announced, with precious little being accomplished on the ground. The reason probably is that the decision makers are far removed from the actual location of the effected areas and thus probably the severity of the damage cannot be truly fathomed.

Thus driven by an urge to experience things first hand and then take them up with the concerned authorities, an officer and two Gentlemen Cadets (GCs) of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, under the leadership of 70-year-old Col (Retd) K.S. Dhami, a Para Trooper and a member of United Services Institution of India (USI) recently trekked to Gaumukh, the source of the Ganga. The basic aim of this 'adventure-cum-study' environment initiative of the USI was to observe and fix the position of the snout and note the environmental state of the Bhagirathi river valley.

Describing their experiences on the five-day journey from Uttarkashi via Chirbasa and Bhojbasa to Gaumukh, the officers and GCs Vikas Sehoran and Brijesh Beniwal observed alarming deforestation along the route, especially the stretch between Gangotri and Gaumukh which at one time was covered by pristine forests of deodar, bluepine, Oaks and Bhojpatra. They were also left aghast by the extensive negative impact of 'storage dams and the run-of-the river hydel projects in forests.

"Trees are the only redeeming factor that can save the environment by acting as a huge sponge that can keep the rivers flowing even when there is no rain. To see them so brutally hacked in the name of development was really heart wrenching," remarks Capt Neeraj.

"Contrary to controversial views about the melting state of Himalayan glaciers, especially the Gangotri glacier, we saw large chunks of ice shearing and crumbling," states the team. Yet another pertinent observation that was made by the team was that in contrast to the original single source of water for the Bhagirathi (as the Ganga is known from its source to Devprayag), alternate feeding points have now sprung up, a clear indicator of the increase in melting rate of the glacier.

Col Dhami says, "I visited the snout of the glacier and noted the state of the ablation zone during the same time ten years ago, October 2000, to be precise and have no doubt now that the glacier is receding over 50 meters a year and shrinking fast. Unfortunately, other than the satellite images of the snout, no effort was made in the past to fix the snout position on the ground. Had this been done, we would have known the exact melting rate of the Gangotri Glacier. Also, these controversies could have been avoided if a ground check had been done and taken into account the 'International Geophysical Year 1956-57' programme during which a number of Himalayan glaciers were studied and their snout position fixed. Surprisingly, this information is not available with any government department!"

Capt Neeraj further adds, "We have taken the longitude and latitude reading of the snout; but to get the exact receding rate some old record is required. We are working on this."

While Col Dhami is a self-driven concerned individual, IMA involved its GCs in the expedition as a learning and sanitizing exercise for the cadets as well as to inculcate a sense of belonging towards Nature. Col Dhami is of the optimistic view that if corrective steps are adopted and executed on a war footing, "we can hope to delay the complete disappearance of the glacier, which is the womb of North India's lifeline." It is probably a telepathic coincidence that while the team is carrying out the practical groundwork, a theoretical solution, too, is on its way, with the Central Government declaring the 130 km stretch of the Ganga from Gaumukh to Uttarkashi as an Eco-Sensitive Zone. Also the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), under the Chairmanship of PM Dr. Manmohan Singh has ratified a decision to abandon three hydel power projects in Uttarakhand, so as to safeguard the fragile river ecology.

Avian thrill

With the onset of winter, migratory birds have been flocking to Haridwar for roosting:

P.S. Chauhan

Come winter and the Bhimgoda Barrage, along with the wetlands of Jhilmil Jheel near Laksar, Solani river near Roorkee and Pashulok Barrage near Rishikesh, presents a splendid spectacle, with a large number of migratory fowls chirping and frisking on water. Wintry sojourn of avifauna to these wetlands from short and long distances is a regular seasonal phenomenon.

At Bheemgoda barrage a number of migratory birds arrive each year for wintering from the cold Palaearctic regions of Europe and Siberia in search of food and shelter. These birds are native to cold overseas places and travel thousands of miles to the plains of South Asia including India. Bheemgoda barrage has a crucial significance for these migratory birds due to slow flow of water here, luxuriant growth of vegetation and plenty of food in the form of fish. The barrage, situated between the Neeldhara and other tributaries of the Ganga, adjacent to the Rajaji National Park in the backdrop of the Shivalik ranges of the Himalayas, is a virtual paradise for these winged guests.

These migratory birds start thronging Bheemgoda barrage in November every year and when the warmer days arrive in March, guided by their in-built biological clock and sure sense of direction, they depart to their native habitats. A noted ornithologist and professor in the department of zoology and environmental science in the Gurukula Kangri University, Haridwar, Dinesh Bhatt, who has done extensive research work on avian biology, has spotted about 35 migratory species dotting Bheemgoda this year. Hundreds of individuals of these species of migratory and resident birds such as ruddyshelduck, gull, mallard, northern shovler, eastern merganser, grey heron, cormorants, grebe, egrets and osprey can easily be sighted at the barrage, says Prof. Bhatt.

Birds migrate for many reasons that include the need to travel to areas where food resources are at their peak abundance, the climate is milder and there is less competition. The main environmental trigger for bird migration is the changing ratio of daylight and darkness, says Dr. Vinay Sethi, senior research associate in the Gurukula Kangri University. With the onset of winter, days get shorter reducing activity hours. This triggers the almost entirely instinctive phenomenon of bird migration, Dr. Sethi adds.

Human intervention in the form of rush of traffic on the nearby Haridwar-Dehradun national highway, unregulated number of visitors and bird poaching by the locals are posing a threat to the aquatic birds at Bheemgoda Barrage. As a result of these unexpected activities migratory birds have also selected a new site near Missarpur village in Haridwar. "At present Missarpur ghat is really a wonderful spot for birdwatchers and I am delighted to see these birds at a new location,” says Vikas Saini, a bird watcher. However, the lovers of avifauna are worried due to the depleting number and the changing patterns of migration of these winged guests. Ritesh Joshi, a bird expert says that same types of efforts are required for the protection of avifauna, both local and trans-Himalayan, as are being undertaken by the central and the state governments for the conservation of wild life. The demand is also increasing to declare Bheemgoda barrage a bird sanctuary. If this ideal birding destination is declared a bird sanctuary, it will help in regulating the movements of the visitors and curb the activities of the poachers, besides enhancing the aesthetic beauty of the reservoir.

Miss Uttarakhand 2010

Uttarakhand to launch attachment proceedings in alleged molestation:

Attachment proceedings will be initiated against two absconding persons who allegedly molested girl students from Rajasthan during a school trip near here, police said. The proceeding will be initiated against Kuldip and Sanjay who are among the six accused. Both are absconding since the incident occured on the night of November 15, police said. One of the accused, identified as Ajay Rautel, surrendered before the court and another remains to be identified. Kamal and Pradip Rana were arrested early this week. The incident took place near Rajpur when 70 students, including 30 girls, of HRP Senior Secondary School from Alwar were going to Mussoorie after visiting Sahastradhara. On their way, six car-borne persons intercepted their bus, thrashed the bus driver and molested girls in the bus, police said. Police had registered a case against the six accused under various sections of IPC.

Participants of the Miss Uttarakhand 2010 beauty pageant poased at a gym during the Miss Body Beautiful contest in Dehradun on Wednesday.

Pranab Mukherjee meets Margaret Alva

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva at Raj Bhavan here. "It was a private meeting," a Raj Bhavan spokeswoman said, adding she did not have the details. Mukherjee also met Alva's husband Niranjan Alva. Later, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank also met Mukherjee and discussed various matters related to the state. Earlier in the day, Mukherjee, visited the LBS Academy at Musssoorie where he met IAS probationers. However, Mukherjee did not talk to reporters both at Mussoorie and Dehradun.

Ganga conservation campaign

Uttar Pradesh Police have organized a campaign from Haridwar to Varanasi to create awareness among people to save the River Ganga. The campaign was initiated by the personnel of the Uttar Pradesh police in which personnel of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Border Security Force (BSF) were also included. "There is lack of awareness among people and Ganga is becoming more and more polluted. As it is a heritage possession of our elders, so we are trying to spread awareness among people to keep the river clean," said Deep Chand Yadav, PAC official.

"At a few places the river is clean but at few places it's very dirty. Polythene and dead animals are flowing in the river. So, at every bank, with the help of the locals, we tried our best to clean the river," said Maan Singh, a policeman. In recent years, non-stop inflow of untreated civic waste and industrial effluents has turned the Ganga into a polluted water body.

The Government has planned to end discharge of untreated waste into the Ganga by 2020.

Though the Union Government enacted Ganga Action Plan in 1985 to clean the river, much of the action seems to have confined to papers.

Curb Corruption

Ramdev calls for putting decisive check on the menace:

Yoga Guru Swami Ramdev called for putting a decisive check on corruption and earnest implementation of all the welfare schemes in order to control the Naxal menace.

"Lack of development is the main cause for growing Naxal and Maoist activities and a decisive control on corruption for earnest implementation of the welfare schemes was required for checking this menace", Ramdev told reporters here. Claiming that he had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi two years ago to demand concrete measures for checking corruption, Ramdev regretted that no step has so far been taken in this direction. The yoga guru claimed a minister in Uttarakhand asked for bribe but refused to divulge his name or the party, which was in power at that time.

"In case the present government failed to take any step in this direction, efforts would have to be made to change the government through democratic process", he said, adding that though he has no plan of entering politics or launching a party as of now, but a new political scene might emerge in the coming two years. "After this change, corruption would be fully controlled and the process of bringing crores of rupees stacked in foreign banks and the campaign against foreign companies harming the country's economy would begin", he said.

To a question, Ramdev said that he has earned the ire of the corrupt and foreign companies against whom he has started a campaign and faced a life to threat. He also claimed that almost 99 per cent ministers in the present government were corrupt. He also advocated framing a law awarding capital punishment to the corrupt.

Baba wants 'Z-plus' security

Yoga guru Baba Ramdev has requested the Uttarakhand government to provide him with 'Z-plus' security considering his vulnerability to attacks from his opponents. "Baba Ramdev has been exposing the intentions of MNCs in the field of health and beverages, launching a tirade against corruption and establishing Indian tradition and culture. So, he has become a target of his opponents," general secretary of Ramdev's Haridwar-based Patanjali Yogpeeth Acharya Balkrishna said. Since he also floated a political party 'Bharat Swabhiman Trust' and has announced to contest the next general elections, the number of opponents who may harm him have increased, he said. Balkrishna said he has recently sent a letter to the Uttarakhand government asking for providing 'Z-plus level' security to the yoga guru. Currently, Ramdev has been given 'Y-level' security.

School trip turns scary; girl students 'molested' in Uttarakhand

On a school trip to scenic Uttarakhand, 70 students from Rajasthan had a harrowing experience when a group of youths in car allegedly intercepted their bus, molested girls and broke windowpanes of the vehicle. The incident took place on Monday night near Rajpur here when the 70 students, including 30 girls, of a private school from Alwar were going to Mussoorie after visiting the famous tourist spot of Sahastradhara, police said. According to the police, six car-borne miscreants intercepted the bus and thrashed its driver. Some of them entered the bus and allegedly molested girl students.

They also threatened the students and teachers when resisted, and broke the windowpanes of the bus with rods and hockeys they were carrying. Principal of the HRP Senior Secondary School, Vinod Kumari, who was accompanying the students, later lodged a complaint at the Rajpur police station. A case has been registered against six persons under various sections of IPC including section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty).

Two of the accused -- Pradip Rana and Kamal, have been arrested and raids were being conducted to nab others, police said. Meanwhile, the students who came on a three-day visit to Dehradun and Mussoorie on November 15, left for Alwar.

Nano to stay

Tata has assured state’s CM that Pantnagar will continue to produce Nano:

State Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank said he has been assured by Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata that world's smallest car would continue to be manufactured at its Pantnagar plant, from where the first Nano was produced.

"During our meeting, I urged Ratan Tata that production of Nano should not be stopped at Pantnagar plant and he has assured me that it would continue to be manufactured from here," Nishank told a jam-packed house of prominent personalities of the hill state gathered for a lecture by Tata on 'India in 21st century: Opportunities and Challenges'.

Tata's assurance to Nishank has put on rest the rumours that Tata Motors is considering closing down production of Nano from its Pantnagar unit in a phased manner after its Sanand plant in Gujarat became fully operative. Tata is mainly producing Ace mini truck at Pantnagar plant.

Nishank said he had asked for two more things from Tata like guiding Uttarakhand as Management Guru and settling down in the hill state in future. "Seeing a smile on his face in response to my requests, I am assured that he would settle down in the state and his decision in this regard would give us immense pleasure," Nishank added.

Rajaji National Park reopens on Nov. 15

P.S. Chauhan

If you are a wildlife enthusiast and like to enjoy the pristine beauty of nature then Rajaji National Park situated in the foothills of the Shiwalik ranges of the Himalayas in the upper Gangetic plains, is a good destination for you. After remaining closed during the monsoon, the park is reopening for the tourists and the visitors on November 15. "This year the heavy rains caused heavy losses in the park and devastated all the tracks and the roads. After repairing them we are ready to welcome the visitors from November 15, with traditional hospitality and all the possible facilities at our disposal," says S.S. Rasailly, the director of the park.

The park, named after the first Governor General of the country, Rajgopalachari, lovingly called Rajaji, was carved in 1983 after amalgamating the Chilla, the Motichoor and the Rajaji wildlife sanctuaries, along with the adjoining forest areas, mainly as an Elephant Project. It spreads over 820.82 sq. kms. of Haridwar, Dehradun & Pauri districts of Uttarakhand and is home to about 50 species of mammals including leopard, wild boar, cheetal and sambhar, and more than 300 species of avifauna belonging to 57 bird families. The rich bio-diversity, including its large variety of flora, fauna and avifauna , makes it a preferred destination for eco-tourism.

The main charm of the park lies in its Asiatic elephants which are found here in "Gods plenty." Since the central government has recently accorded to the elephant, which is an integral part of our cultural traditions, the status of "the national heritage animal,” the park has acquired greater significance and attention. Out of the total population of about 22,000 elephants in the country, Uttarakhnad is home to about 1350. According to the last wildlife census carried out in 2008, there were 418 elephants in the park, making it the largest habitat for the pachyderms in the state. The best thing about the population profile of the pachyderms in the park is the male female ratio. Ritesh Joshi, a noted wildlife expert and chief investigator of the central government sponsored Elephant Behaviour Project, says that the male female ratio in the park is 1: 4.5. "It is the best male female ratio of elephants in the country," says Joshi.

Thousands of visitors come to the park every year. During 2007-2008, 18864 tour vists visited the park, which generated the revenue of Rs.18.19 lakh, while the number of visitors during 2008-2009 rose to 19288, with the earning of Rs. 19.56 lakh for the park. During the year 2009-2010, the number of tourists came down to 18882 with the revenue generation of Rs. 27.16 lakh. The Dy. Director of the park, Shravan Kumar attributes the decline in the number of visitors in the park last year to the various traffic constraints in the Kumbh held at Haridwar, though the revenue earning went up due to increase in the entry fee charged from the visitors.

The full potential of the park for eco-tourism remains to the tapped. At this time out of the nine ranges of the park only the Chilla range is the main hub for the tourists. The park authorities say that now to take off pressure form the Chilla range they are planning to develop some other eco-tourism zones, such as the Ranipur-Beriwala zone, Motichoor zone and Ramgarh zone. The park sources also say that they are initiating several other measures, such as providing training to the local villagers as guides, renovating rest houses and improving infrastructure, to lure more tourists. At this time the facility of elephant safari is also not available in the park. Arundhati, lovingly called the Queen of the park, which used to take the visitors round the park, died a few years ago. The park authorites have three female elephants under their custody, but they are not being used for safari due to some legal dispute.

The chief wildlife warden of the state, S.K. Chandola says that the visitors who genuinely come to enjoy the charm of nature and the sight of wildlife are most welcome, but the park should not be treated as a picnic spot. "We are all for regulated tourism. Our main objective is the conservation of bio-diversity. Tourism comes afterwards. There cane be no eco-tourism exercise at the cost of flora and fauna of the park," avers Chandola.

BEG celebrates 208th Foundation Day

The Bengal Engineering Group (BEG) & Centre, one of the oldest and the bravest army units of the country, celebrated its 208th foundation day. The vast sprawling cantonment area wore a festive look in keeping with the dignity of foundation day celebrations, which continued for four days, bringing alive the centuries old saga of valour and sacrifice.

The BEG and Centre, popularly known as Bengal Sappers, had its genesis in the Pioneers raised by Captain Wood in Nov., 1803 at Kanpur. The unit which passed through a chequered career, is a living legend of bravery and heroic sacrifices, with dozens of feathers in its cap, including the Victoria Crosses. The awards make up the highest number won by any single organization in the country. A large number of serving and retired officials and jawans of the unit gathered on the occasion. The culminating point of the celebrations reached on the last day with an highly impressive ceremonial parade. Army commander of the central command, Lt. General V.K. Ahluwalia took the salute of the parade which was commanded by Brigadier D.S. Ahuja, the commandant of the BEG and Centre Roorkee. The ceremonial parade comprised of 14 officers, 29 junior commissioned officers and 520 jawans.

The chief guest, Lt. General V.K. Ahluwalia recalled the laurels won by the Bengal Sappers during the last 208 years of its existence, ranging from the storming of the Kabul Gate of the Ghujnee fort in 1839 during the Afghan war to the heroic sacrifices of the martyrs, veterans and serving sappers in the wars of 1947-48, 1965, 1971 and the Kargil war. “The achievements of the BEG and Centre during times of peace are no less renowned than those during war. It won accolades by constructing the Upper Ganga Canal, building roads and bridges at high altitudes and difficult terrain and undertaking management of calamities and disasters in difficult periods,” said the Lt. General. He exhorted the officials and the jawans of the unit to uphold the glorious traditions set up so assiduously by their predecessors.

Rudraprayag wins overall championship

In State Schools Athletic & Cultural Meet the district stunned favourites:

P.S. Chauhan

Rudraprayag district team bagged the overall championship in the 10th state schools athletic and cultural meet held at the BHEL sports stadium at Haridwar. In the cultural events Udham Singh Nagar came out with flying colours, while in the P.T. Dehradun district won the laurels.

In the senior category (boys) of 200 meter race, Pawan Kumar of Pithoragarh finished first, while Gaurav of Sports College, Dehradun and Ankit of Pauri secured IInd and IIIrd positions, respectively. In javelin throw, Ashish Bisht of Dehradun scored the first rank, with Naveen Bhandari of Pauri and Tarun of Pithoragarh trailing at the next two positions. In the 200 meter race of the senior category (girls) Aarti of Rudraprayag clinched the top rank, followed by Monika of Almora and Laxmi of Rudraprayag at the IInd and the IIIrd slots, respectively. In javelin throw (women) Neha of Rudraprayag came first, with Kanchan Chaubey of Champawat at the IInd and Anita of Nainital at the IIIrd place. In 200 meter race of the Junior category (boys), Mukesh of Pithoragarh won the top laurel, with Mohit of the Sports College, Dehradun and Shalu Kumar, also from the same college, lagging behind at the IInd and the IIIrd ranks. In the girls category of the junior section, Gayatri of Almora stood first, with Neetu of Dehradun and Pooja of Rudraprayag at the IInd and the IIIrd positions.

Three-day event was inaugurated by Govind Singh Bisht, the state education minister. "The state government is trying its best to promote games and sports in the state," said the minister. The students enthralled the audience, as they took out impressive parade with their flags. The state minister for tourism and urban development, Madan Kaushik, who gave away trophy to the winner team and awards to the individual participants, said that though the students of the government schools did not have the facilities at par with those of the public schools, they had talents which they had demonstrated in the national and the international level meets. On the occasion the students from the different districts presented folk songs and dances of their districts to showcase the cultural traditions of their respective areas.

Members of UKD stage protest

Pressing on their demand to make Gairsain as the permanent capital of Uttarakhand, members of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal staged a dharna on the railway line to temporarily stop the train services here. Despite being an ally of the state government, UKD is protesting against the 'government's delay' to declare Gairsain as the permanent capital.

Since Uttarakhand was carved out of Uttar Pradesh as a separate state, the UKD, a key regional party, has vociferously raised the demand for making Gairsain its capital. Activists of UKD also organised a rally in Pauri and demanded restoring works on hydroelectricity projects in the state. The recent decision of the central government to stop works on hydroelectric projects on the rivers of Uttarakhand, an eco-sensitive zone is opposed by UKD.

Senior leader of UKD Kashi Singh Airy said the move to stop the work on hydroelectricity projects has made the youth unemployed as power production is the chief resource of the state.

Uttarakhand news for November 2010

Train mishap averted

A major train tragedy was averted due to timely detection of a fractured track on the Delhi-Ambala section, 16 kms from here, Northern Railway officials said. The incident occurred yesterday shortly before Ahmedabad-Haridwar mail was to pass through the broken track, they said, adding the fracture was detected during routine patrolling and movement of trains was disrupted on the route for an hour to repair the track.

Ratan Tata to deliver lecture

Tata Groups Chairman Ratan Tata would deliver a lecture on Nov 15 being organised on the ocassion of completion of first decade of formation of Uttarakhand. During the lecture on "India in 21st century: Opportunities and Challenges", Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank would also be present besides industrialists from the states, an official release said here. Uttarakhand power Secretary Umakant Panwar has been made President of the organising committee for formation day lecture, which is organised every year since 2002.

Tusker Terror

elephants are on a ramapge in Motichoor area

P.S. Chauhan

With three villagers falling causalities to the rage of roaming elephants near Khand village a few days ago, there is panic in the villages on the periphery of the Rajaji National Park.

The sources say that when Mahavir of Khand village, his daughter-in-law Munni Devi (45 yrs), her daughter Suman (6 yrs), Manju (4 yrs) and her son Anil (2 yrs) , were coming back from Haridwar, they were suddenly assaulted by a tusker near Motichoor Railway crossing. Mahavir and Manju saved their life by running away from the spot, but Munni Devi, Suman and Anil were trampled to death by the ferocious tusker. The forest and the police personnel, who reached the spot after getting information of the incident, had a tough time in driving away the tusker in the forest by firing gun shots in the air. The forest authorities have announced an exgratia of Rs.1 lakh to the family for each of the deceased.

The next day of the incident, when the director of the park, SS Rasailly, accompanied by other park officials, reached the village, he and his team were made hostage for hours by the infuriated village folk. The forest officials were released only after they gave an assurance that adequate safety measures for the villagers will soon be initiated by the forest department. The MLA from Rishikesh, Prem Chand Agarwal, who visited the village, also blamed the forest authorities for the increasing incidents of killing of the village folk by the elephants straying out of the Rajaji Park. It is to be mentioned here that a woman was also crushed to death by a rogue elephant on this track a fortnight ago.

120-year-old Kotdwara Railway Station to be revamped

Kotdwara railway station in Uttarakhand, built by the British government in the 1890s and one of the oldest in the country, is set to receive a new lease of life after the Northern Railway has decided to develop it as the ideal railway station.

"The Kotdwara station will be developed as a model railway station and will have better facilities for passengers coming from and going to the hills," Divisional Railway Manager Ramesh Chandra told reporters here today. "This will increase the tourist inflow to Uttarakhand and boost the economy in the region," he said. Kotdwara Railway Station was constructed by the British government in 1890s as a halt for goods trains. Timber was carried from the foothills of Himalayas to the mainland by the trains. Later in 1901, passenger coaches to Delhi and other places also started plying from Kotdwara. Vikky Sharma, a local hotelier, said revamping the station would attract tourists undertaking the "Chardham Yatra", a Hindu tour of four holy places -- Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.

SC directs govt to provide adequate relief for Tehri dam evacuees

SC directs govt to provide adequate relief for Tehri dam evacuees

The Supreme Court today directed Uttarakhand government and Tehri Development Corporation to take urgent steps to provide rehabilitation and succour to those displaced and affected by the construction of Tehri dam.

A Bench of Justices R V Ravindran and Justice A K Patnaik asked the state and the Corporation to provide funds for rehabilitation of 158 additional affected families in 26 villages who had been left out during the previous surveys for rehabilitation and compensation. The court ordered construction of three bridges within a year at Dobra, Ghonti and Chinyali Saur to facilitate connectivity to local people that has been disrupted due to the project.

Pending completion of the bridges, the people should be provided with ferry boat services on both sides of the lake on Bhagirathi and Bhilangana valley or alternatively ropeway facilities as the dam has created a reservoir of around 42 sq km. It asked the government to construct new roads connecting the affected areas. About 400 shopkeepers, whose businesses have been affected due to the displacement, should be rehabilitated and compensated adequately, the Bench said. The apex court ordered that public buildings or institutions that have been submerged or affected due to the dam should be reconstructed by the government.

It asked the authorities to complete within four months the three promised drinking water schemes--Koshiyar Tal pumping scheme, Sarjyula pumping scheme and Pratap nagar pumping scheme. Justice Raveendran, heading the Bench, asked the grievance redressal cell to expeditiously dispose of pending rehabiliation cases and ensure that no affected family goes without rehabilitation. It directed the matter to be listed for further hearing after six months.

Senior counsel Colin Gonzalves and counsel Anita Shenoy and Sanjay Parekh appeared for petitioners in the case who had complained about tardy rehabilitation measures.

Tiruchi unit bags Bhel crown

P.S. Chauhan

The Tiruchi unit of the BHEL bagged the over-all championship in the two-day inter units athletic meet held at the Haridwar unit of the BHEL. More than 100 athletes from 11 units of the BHEL in the country participated in the different events of the championship. Inaugurating the championship, the general manager (human resources) of the BHEL, Haridwar, Vimal Kumar said that the games and sports promote health and healthy employees are the back bone of any organization. The athletes held out an impressive march past carrying their flags, in the BHEL sports stadium.

In the shotput throw, Suraj of Jhansi clinched the gold, with Satya Prakash of Tiruchi and Dashrath Ram of Bhopal winning the silver and the bronze respectively. In the 800 meter race Mohit Rai of Jhansi, Kushveer Singh of Haridwar and Krishan of Tiruchi bagged the first, the second and the third ranks. In the high jump, K.S. Ram Murti of Tiruchi won the first place, whereas Hariharan, also of Tiruchi and K. Prakash of Bengaluru got the second position and the third position went to Doda of Bengaluru. In Javelin throw Harbhajan of Haridwar won the top laurel, with Vijay Rawat of Bhopal and Anil Saini trailing behind at the second and the third slots respectively.

In the 400 meter race, the first, the second and the third ranks went to Mohan Prakash of Tiruchi, Hari Haran also from Tiruchi and Raj Kamal of Haridwar respectively. In the 1500 meter race, Mohit Rai of Jhanshi came out with flying colours, followed by Devi Lal of Tiruchi and Shrawan Singh of Haridwar at the two next places. In the 5000 meter race, Mohit Rai of Jhansi won the top accolade, relegating K.K. Krishnan of Tiruchi and C. Vijay Kumar, both from Tiruchi, to the second and the third positions. On the basis of the final tally of the gold, silver and bronze medals, the coveted championship was awarded to Tiruchi unit, while on the basis of individual performance Mohan Kumar of Tiruchi and Mohit Rai of Jhansi were jointly awarded the top honour.

The executive director of the BHEL, Haridwar, D.K. Mody gave away trophy to the winner team and prizes to the individual players who had made their mark in different events. "All the athletes had tried their best to make to the top honours. Those who could not succeed should not feel disheartened," said Mody. On the last day of the championship the horse riders thrilled the spectators by their impressive feats and quest for more.

Me and my machine

Doon student creates robot having emotional intelligence

This robot may not have a Rajnikanth-like image, but the model created by a 17-year-old Doon School student possesses emotional intelligence and can even dish out answers for unexpected questions with the help of the internet. The 3-dimension Robo 'iTalk', an award winning working model, talks in English, lisps like a human and understands human moods of happiness and anger with the help of unique programmed algorithms and a 'software development kit' offered by the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US.

"The iTalk is a robot capable of communication in a manner similar to humans. Technically, his functional construct also emulates the basic blueprint of the human body. By interpreting data in the same manner we do, he is able to emulate human behavioural tendencies," Arjun, a class-12th student at the Doon School, said.

"He (the robot) is an intelligent module, able to take decisions on his own, learning from past experiences," he added. Once developed to an advanced stage, the Robo can be used for interface with children and humans for counselling and other purposes, he said.

The 'iTalk' Robo can distinguish between different humans with an accuracy of 97.68 per cent as it is enabled with a stereoscopic vision and face recognition software.

"The speech analysis software put inside it enables it to differentiate between different pitches and voice samples," Arjun, who displayed his creation during his school's 75th founders day celebrations recently, said. Arjun, who was assisted by his junior Sookrit Malik from class 10th in the project, now plans to take the Robo to international innovation forums and get a larger technical assistance from institutes like the MIT. The students have put an initial investment of Rs 70,000 in the project which was funded by the school.

The 'iTalk' although has no sci-fi movie connection but it bears resemblance to the 2008 Walt Disney produced science fiction film WALL-E, in which the computer is designed to clean up a waste covered Earth sometime in the future, Arjun said. "For each new person it meets, it creates a new profile, logging all information. This allows it to carry out various tasks such as having a conversation, and as soon as it is told something which is not already stored, it logs on to the internet and gets the information and also saves it," he said.

The 'iTalk' stands 2.5-feet tall, has two eyes as webcameras, a speaker for the mouth and a track system for legs.

On a bird's trail

The third Great Himalayan Bird Count was carried out in the state recently when Nut Cracker, a new species, was sighted:

Anjali Nauriyal

The third Great Himalayan Bird Count was carried out recently and already over 70 per cent of the participants have registered for the next count. The new species sighted this time was the Nut Cracker. Participants included those from abroad including from the USA, Singapore and Sri Lanka. Gentlemen Cadets from the Indian Military Academy registered their first entry and have now become permanent partakers. There was encouraging participation from the rural youth and schools from the valley, chiefly the Hope Town Girls' School. The participants, the maximum of whom came in from Mumbai, went on a bird trail to the different river valleys and came back ecstatic about the impact of the natural beauty of Uttarakhand. In other words, everything went off well with the effort, except that the Tourism Department that stands to gain the most from this expedition was conspicuous by its absence.

Their absence was amply made up by the participation of the Forest Department though that is ready to now get into an MOU with Action & Research for Conservation in Himalayas (ARCH) for perpetuity seeing the all round benefit the entire exercise would accrue for the state and its environment concerns. Indeed the efforts of ARCH are now beginning to bear fruit. Just into its third year and ARCH has created a niche for itself in environmental conservation through its impetus to this rare bird movement.

Prateek Panwar, the founder trustee of ARCH, says, "We are proud that ARCH is today a nationally-known organization, working in the field of wildlife conservation involving young minds from rural and urban." The PCCF, Dr. R.B.S. Rawat, who flagged off the bird count 2010, expressed elation at the fact that as many as 122 bird watchers and internationally known ornithologists participated in this initiative. He avers, "Since its very conception, people in great numbers have been travelling from very far off places like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Surat, Rajkot, Goa, Chennai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Punjab to join hands for this novel and unique cause. But with time this small initiative has grown in popularity so huge that this time bird scientists have come from foreign countries as well. This truly augurs well for this amazing movement."

This time the Count was planned on 36 most popular trekking trails situated in the river-valleys of Tons; Yamuna; Bhagirithi; Bhilingna; Ganga; Mandakini and Alaknanda in Garhwal Himalayas including Asan and Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserves in Dehradun and Haridwar districts, respectively. During the orientation and briefing seminar, the participants enjoyed interactive sessions with internationally-known bird watcher like Raju Kasambe, National Coordinator, Indian Birds Conservation Network, BNHS, Shyam Ghate, Anil Kunte, Anuj Jain from Singapore, Rima Dhillon and Sarabjeet Kaur who travelled all the way from Singapore.

Sudeep Jugran, who has taken time out from film assignment in Mumbai just to volunteer for this conservation cause, states, "What impresses me about this exercise is the simple fact that many people are coming for the third time, which is indeed unique."

Another highlight of this year's count was the maiden launch of Mobile Bird Recorder in association with ARCH, Dehradun, developed by Phanindra Sarma and Suman Kumar, where this free software application allows birders to record sightings and creates birding lists from field trips. It is a highly integrated platform offering host of user friendly features to birding enthusiasts in the country. It can also be downloaded free. The count involves four days of vigorous field activity including long trekking. The concluding session was presided over by the former chief secretary Dr. R.S. Tolia as the chief guest.

Uttarakhand Crime news November 2010

95 bottles of liquor seized

On Nov. 1, Police seized 95 bottles of liquour from an Uttarakhand transport bus and booked the driver and the conductor under the Excise Act. The bottles of XXX Rum, packed in two bags, were being smuggled to Himachal Pradesh, police said. The seizure was effected when police stopped the bus for routine checking at Paonta. The bags containing the bottles were kept under the seats close to back door of the bus which was on its way from Chandigarh to Haridwar, police said. The driver and the conductor were booked under the Excise Act.

Two held for possessing illegal drugs

Two persons were arrested under Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act here and 2200 drug capsules recovered from them, police said today. Gurprit Singh and Sunil Kumar, residents of Sevalankala area, were arrested when the police intercepted their car at Asharori police check-post last evening for routine search and recovered 2200 capsules of drugs from their possession. Investigations revealed that the accused bought the capsules from nearby Saharanpur town in Uttar Pradesh and sold it to college and school students, they said. Further investigations are on to find whether they are involved in a drug-peddling racket, they added.

Attentive always

That is what Mindfulness in Education initiative promises. Dehradun will host a four-day MIE workshop by Shantum Seth from November 15::

Ira Chauhan

You cannot transmit wisdom and insight to another person. The seed is already there. A good teacher touches the seed, allowing it to wake up, to sprout and to grow.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Shantum Seth is busy in his office in Noida. The phone buzzes. It is a call from California. One of his next batches of Buddhist pilgrims wants to ensure a paparazzi-free spiritual trip to India. Shantum doesn't say much as a calm assurance puts the Hollywood celebrity on the other end of the phone line at ease. The room overlooks a tiny terrace garden. The itinerary on the board shows he's living out of a suitcase but nothing in his countenance suggests stress.

Shantum is living proof of the magic of 'mindfulness'. He is passionately involved in the Mindfulness in Education (MIE) initiative in India. Inspired by Nobel Peace prize nominee Thich Nhat Hanh, he runs the Ahimsa Trust, a voluntary organization that aims to create peace and harmony within oneself, one's family and in the society.

"To bring about a shift in the consciousness of the society, one must start helping the youngsters find peace and happiness within, before looking outwards," states Shantum.

Very soon Dehradun will be a landmark for the Ahimsa Trust as the organization is developing a Mindfulness Practice Centre. The centre will be an educational, spiritual and socio-ecological centre at a beautiful four-acre site in Rajpur village.

But its Dehradun connection goes further as the Ahimsa Trust in collaboration with The Doon School will be holding a Mindfulness in Education Workshop/retreat in Dehradun from November 15 to 18. The workshop will focus on equipping educators with very simple and doable practices to handle everyday classroom situations and introduce their students to 'mindful' ways. The workshop will include practices, techniques and exercises to reduce stress, maintain good communication, relaxation, mindful consumption, talks, group discussions and question and answer sessions and guided meditations. Teachers from schools all over India will be attending the workshop.

The best of our schools today cater to the market of a consumerist world and churn out intellectual giants but moral and emotional pygmies. They focus on analytical processes; memorizing information and deduction. It appalls one to think that our academic system ruthlessly kills the soul of the child in the guise of learning! There is hardly any space left for original thought and creativity or even involvement in what they are learning. It is just about finishing off the syllabus in the prescribed time.

The role of the teacher is fast changing in today's world where all the information a student needs is available at the click of a mouse. While the Intelligence quotient (IQ) is very important, the teacher must assist with enhancing the Emotional quotient (EQ) or social emotional learning (SEL) of the pupil. The irony of modern day teaching is that students are asked to 'pay attention' but unfortunately no one tells them how!

The practice of mindfulness teaches students how to pay attention as it creates an environment where the students benefit academically, socially and emotionally and the teachers, too, thrive professionally and personally very much like their students!

Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is increasingly being seen as an essential educational tool. Though Mindfulness in Education (MIE) is based on the tenets of Buddhist interpretations of Thich Nhat Hanh, it is a spiritual practice not to be confused with religious or Buddhist practices. Years of scientific research and practice have proved mindfulness to be a potent and enduring instrument for optimizing one's academic, creative and physical potential, enriching social and emotional interaction, and increasing understanding, compassion and self-awareness.