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For Tibetans, home away from home
Strawberry, the fruit of his efforts
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Study: Police image improving, but...
Stars steal the show
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For Tibetans, home away from home
Mussoorie, April 5
He stayed here for over a year where he was provided residence at Birla House (owned by the Birla family) in Happy Valley. He stayed here along with his mother Tendzin Choegyal. On his arrival in town, the then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, visited Mussoorie on April 24 and held a long meeting with the Tibetan leader. Nehru advised the spiritual leader on the future course of action to be taken by the Tibetans. Nehru also assured him and his 1,00,000 followers a safe asylum. The Dalai Lama established the Tibetan government-in-exile at Mussoorie (now relocated in Dharamsala in HP). During his stay in
Mussoorie, the Dalai Lama remained busy with the
Herculean task of resettling the 80,000-odd Tibetan refugees who had crossed over to India.
Whereas his followers in Mussoorie adjusted well to the cool clime, others residing in Missamari and Buxa Duar in West Bengal suffered much in the warm, humid weather. The Dalai Lama, therefore, went to Delhi and visited Nehru and requested him that the camps be shifted to higher altitudes. On June 20, 1959, he also held a press conference in Mussoorie. It is reported that 130 mediapersons from all across the world gathered in the town to attend the press conference in which the Dalai Lama spoke about the atrocities being committed on the Tibetans by the Chinese rulers. Mussoorie remained the home of the Dalai Lama for almost a year and during his stay in Mussoorie the Tibetan leader took several important steps to ameliorate the plight of the Tibetan refugees. He established the first school for Tibetan refugees in town under the name of Central School for Tibetans (CST) on March 3, 1960. Today, over 650 children (including about 100 Indians) are studying at CST. “The CST established by his Holiness has been providing the best possible education to Tibetan children,” says Tangpa, a staff member. On the Tibetan children in the school, VK Singh, principal, said he was most impressed by the high moral values practised by these children. “The Tibetan children are highly obedient and truthful,” he said. The Dalai Lama was also concerned about those orphaned and the destitute. He established the Tibetan Homes Foundation in Mussoorie in November, 1962. However, on the request of the Indian Government, he had to leave Mussoorie “We have received the warmest hospitality and generosity from the Indian people and the Government of India,” said Tashi Phuntsok, general secretary of the Tibetan Homes Foundation. In an interview, Tashi, who was born in Tibet and had arrived in India along with her parents when she was barely 5, has faint memories of the harrowing journey. “I travelled partly on foot and partly rode on the back of my grandmother. There was a lot of uncertainty about our future and the fear of the Chinese,” he said. He said his family first came to Nepal and stayed briefly in Kathmandu before proceeding to India. Tashi was all praise for the Indians and said: “No other country in the world has done so much for the Tibetans as India and we express our heartfelt gratitude to the people and the government of the country.”
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Strawberry, the fruit of his efforts
Dehradun, April 5 Rampal Singh was not sure if the suckers he had procured from Himachal Pradesh would also bloom in Doon’s temperate
climate. His efforts were rewarded. In the March and April his strawberries are sold in the local market that fetch him Though strawberries from neighbouring Paonta Sahib have begun flooding the market,
Rampal Singh has managed to hold his own, concentrating on clients who are mainly from schools and the urban rich. “I supply my fruit to schools near Hope Town. Also, several families visit my farm to for selective
orders. The rest of the produce is sold on highways. I manage to earn around Rs 50,000- Rs 3,50,000
yearly.” Rampal Singh says within the farming community, there are hardly any takers for the fruit, despite the conducive climatic conditions in Dehradun. Currently the market rate for the fruit varies between Rs 60-Rs 80 a kg, going upto Rs 125-150 kg for the better varieties. He grows the chandler and camarossa varieties.The suckers hived from the mother plant are planted in January and February.
They can also be grown in pots. The fruit is rich in Vitamin C and has a flavour that finds favour with patients
having a low blood count and are looking for natural sources for increasing the blood count. In
Uttarakhand, strawberries are being extensively grown in Haldwani and Nainital areas of Kumaon and in Dehradun mainly around Bhauwala area of Selaqui. What is coming in the way of the fruit’s popularity is that it has to be consumed on the same day. “The fruit is not long-lasting. That is why we are focusing on developing pockets which are visited by tourists so that the farmers can sell their fruit the same day,” said district horticulture officer Amar
Singh. Strawberries thrive best in temperate climate. Stawberries are in great demand by ice cream and juice industries. “As delicate strawberries cannot be subjected to long-distance transport, readymade markets have to be created within cities.
The food processing industry is coming up in the state; it may turn the tide in favour of our farmers,” said Bhagwat Singh Bisht, assistant development officer
(Sahsapur).
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Study: Police image improving, but...
Dehradun, April 5 This is the finding of a latest study regarding the community’s response to the police in the state. The police can earn the confidence of the public by modifying its attitude and conduct further, adds the study. In order to assess the community response to the Uttarakhand Police Department, its varied activities and personnel, a survey was conducted in January-February. It was part of the border research study by the UGC Academic Staff College, Kumaon University, Nainital. “The study was in continuum with the efforts by the police department to involve the community in policing activities and to fulfil its motto of being ‘mitra’ police. People are the touchstone to reforms in the police department. Taking this as the basic assumption, Kumaon University got filled 7,056 questionnaires from various districts of the state,” said Uttarakhand DGP Subhash Joshi. According to the preliminary analysis of the data, people feel that the role of the police should be neutral during inspection of the crime and the investigating staff should be separated from rest of the police. They should not be given such duties which can prejudice the public against them. “In the case of crime against children, females and senior citizens, the police can play a powerful role with the active involvement of community, NGOs etc. The community is not interested in informing the police in case of murder, road accident and other mishaps/crime because of the fear of unnecessary questioning and harassment,” reveals the study. Another important finding is that respondents felt that training should be a continuous process for the police personnel with effective communication skills, stress management, yoga, politeness and patience as the main components of the training programme. It also came to light that the community in general and, especially the rural population, are not aware of the reforms and programmes initiated by the police department. “Ladies usually do not complain of misconduct with them because of the long procedures and fear of questioning by the police personnel. In case of missing persons, the print media can also act as an effective tool in their search,” reads the study report, a copy of which is with The Tribune. Commenting on the study, DGP Subhash Joshi asserted that police department is making earnest efforts to streamline the functioning of the department. “With a view to have a better police-public interface and also to effectively deal with crime, we recently introduced the beat system in the police administration in some districts of Uttarakhand,” said Joshi. He added that steps would be taken to ensure that recommendations of the study should be implemented.
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Stars steal the show at Yogpeeth
Haridwar, April 5 Hema Malini was the cynosure of all eyes and garnered attention from every corner of the venue. The actress was the chief guest at the function and essayed that role too with clinical precision and mass adulation. But people were disappointed as there was no dance performance. None seemed to complain, as this was a rare opportunity to witness the dream girl of the yesteryear who is still giving a run to younger actresses with her magical personality. It was a double treat fro the audience here as the flute maestro Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia began to resound in the auditorium. The noted instrumentalist who paired with Shiv Kumar Sharma and churned mega musicals for Yash Chopra directorials like ‘Silsila’, ‘Lamhe’, ‘Sahibaan’, ‘Chandni’, ‘Darr’ said on the occasion that Swami Ramdev’s mission is commendable. Hema Malini too applauded the service provided by Patanjali Yogpeeth to the society. Hema Malini lighted the lamp in presence of Governor B L Joshi. Others present at the venue included noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, Satish Kaushik, music director Aadesh Shrivastava, noted tabla artist Surendra, film actor Chunkey Pandey and several other artistes from the film industry.
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Rampal Singh Rawat grows strawberries on a smalll piece of land at Selaqui in Sahaspur and sells these in the local market
