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Doon centre gets ready to battle the seas
Doon’s eyesore being spruced up for R-Day parade
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Future of ropeway projects hangs in balance
Tribesmen protest obscene nautankis
Campus Notes
Officials in action mode as health of ‘Veeru’ deteriorates
UTU puts off BEd entrance exam
58th District Cricket League
Unity Cup Cricket
9 yrs on, disaster management still in infancy
Gorkha United to take part in Nepal tourney
Div Rlys Manager appalled by poor upkeep of property
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Doon centre gets ready to battle the seas
Dehradun, January 21 The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has entrusted the National Tidal Data Centre of the Survey of India, Dehradun, with this arduous task. Apart from gruelling manual surveys, it will require the help of satellite images and tidal data before the vulnerability line can finally take shape. The project that will take three to four years to complete will involve a study linked to contours all along the coast line that will be as minute as 0.5m of contour difference. This will be the first exercise of drawing the vulnerability line in the country and will involve extensive ground work. Data of the past 100 years linked to tides will be taken up for the study, apart from other factors linked to changes in the sea, in a particular stretch of the ocean. The past history of coastal erosion and other sea movements will also come for introspection. “The vulnerability line along the coast is aimed at safeguarding life and property along the coastal areas of the country from natural hazards arising out of the sea,” said Varun Kumar, office in charge of Maine Geodesy Wing of the National Tidal Data Centre of the Survey of India, Dehradun, and the man heading the project. “Under this pilot study initiated by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the vulnerability line will be demarcated taking into account the waves, tides, sea-level rise and shoreline change with the help of satellite images, tidal data and manual survey,” Varun Kumar added. The need of the vulnerability line was felt in the wake of the tsunami that struck the east coast of India in December 2006 leading to huge loss of life and property. However, very few persons know that the Ministry of Environment and Forests had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Prof MS Swaminathan in June 2004 to examine the issues relating to the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 1991. The committee submitted its report in February 2005 which had then come up with the concept of vulnerability line. Then, in the aftermath of the tsunami, the ministry constituted another committee under the chairmanship of Prof MS Swaminathan to examine the suggestions and objections received in the draft Coastal Management Zone Notification, 2008, in June 2009. The report of this committee was received on July 16, 2009. This committee too emphasised the need for demarcating a vulnerability line along the coast in order to safeguard life and property along coastal areas from natural hazards arising from the sea. Institutions like the Space Application Centre, Ahmedabad, Centre for Earth Science Studies, Trivandrum and Department of Ocean Development, Chennai, will also be assisting the National Tidal Data Centre, Survey of India, Dehradun.
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Doon’s eyesore being spruced up for R-Day parade
Dehradun, January 21
The ground being centrally located is one of the most popular grounds, but due to heaps of garbage, releasing awful stench at the periphery, it invites unwanted trouble for commoners. However, besides garbage, the ground is home to several beggars, nomads, mongrels and small-time shops. Surprisingly, the authority concerned also overlooks the lamentable condition and conducts exhibitions and shows here regularly. While the ground during such fairs looks attractive, the filth in the surroundings remains as it is. Commenting on the grave problem, Shailesh a resident, commented, “This area is a breeding ground for diseases
and pollution. On the one hand the government organises exhibitions and on the other no one is bothered to get it cleaned and relocate
these vagabonds to some other destination”. Beggary is another menace, which is causing endless trouble to the locals. After wandering for the whole day, a large number of beggars take shelter at the ground. “Whenever I cross the Parade Ground, I get scared to see hordes of beggars finding ways to trouble the public,” said Kavita, a local. Vegetables vendors, butcher shops and mini shops selling edible items is another prime reason why people flock to this area. Ashley Hall, Gandhi Park, Doon Club and other populous markets adjacent to the ground makes it all the more discomforting for passerby and businessmen. Ironically, while the whole year, maintenance of the ground is no one’s business, during August 15 and January 26 celebrations, suddenly maintenance and renovation works begin. “We are cleaning the ground for the Republic Day celebrations,” said one of the workers at the ground. District Sports Officer PS Lunthi said, “We are trying to maintain the ground and in fact for the Republic Day we are cleaning the ground. Poor people come and sleep here, but in near future the situation will
definitely improve”.
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Future of ropeway projects hangs in balance
Dehradun, January 21 The Horticulture Department had made a total allocation of Rs 64.30 lakh for these gravity-based ropeways which are to come up at Mandhol in Tyuni tehsil (1,149 metre), at Bulhad (1,315 metre), at Damta (1,542 metre) and at Silikhar (1,601 metre) . A gravity ropeway in this particular area would have benefited farmers whose produce of apples and other vegetables gets perished for want of transportation. A gravity ropeway uses about half the amount of power used in a tradition conveyor system. The efficiencies in terms of energy, pollution and low maintenance are not matched by other methods. The technology is based on the optimum use of gravitational force in the absence of any external power. The gravity ropeway consists of two trolleys that roll on support tracks. The Horticulture Department had assigned the task of constructing the ropeways to the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and
the allocations were also made to it. In between, the Horticulture Department authorities were apprised of existing road network in these areas, raising serious doubts about the utility
of ropeways at the location where connectivity was not a problem. “We have not started work on the projects as the Horticulture Department has informed us that the utility aspect is being looked at again. The funds are lying with us. In any case the feasibility studies needed to be carried and we can take the services of the IIT, Roorkee,” said Rajesh Naithani, GM Projects, GMVN. Sources say the projects were struck down after Agriculture Minister Trivender Singh Rawat, too, questioned the utility and the location of these gravity-based ropeways. “We are not against the construction of ropeways but these should serve the purpose. These ropeways can prove beneficial
to farmers for transporting apples and vegetables to the nearest road head, but for this proper feasibility studies need to be taken,” said the
Agriculture Minister. However, he refused to disclose the time frame in which the projects would kick off.
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Tribesmen protest obscene nautankis
Nainital, January 21 Handing over a memorandum specifying their demands, they said something must be
done to curtail the obscene performances. The protesters, which included a large number of women, said it was a tradition among the tribes to get nautanki artistes to perform at their wedding ceremonies and other celebrations. These performances were generally based on folklore.
But of late the performers had been dishing out bawdy dances on Bollywood tunes. This was not only having
an adverse impact on the Tharu culture, but was also leading to frequent skirmishes. They threatened to launch an agitation if nothing was done to stop such vulgar performances.
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IIT Roorkee Students showcase kite-flying skills Akash Ghai Tribune News Service
Roorkee, January 21 Kites and strings were made available to the students by SpicMacay. “Kite flying is an age-old tradition marking the festivals like Makar Sankranti, Basant Panchami, etc. The aim of organising the event here is to apprise the students of our age-old traditions, which were prime medium of our entertainment in earlier times,” said an organiser. On the other hand, the students, too, seemed enjoying the kite flying very much. “It reminds me of my childhood days,” said a BTech student. “It’s really fun, which we never experienced earlier,” commented a group of girl students. Simultaneously, another competition of collage making was held at Domes Hall on “celebrating festival”. Twelve teams, comprising three students each, took part in it. While most of the participants came out with impressive art work, the top honours were clinched by the team comprising Swapnil Aggarwal, Mayur Malwani and Mohit Joshi. Dr Khusi Lehri was the judge for the competition. Seminar organised
The MICA College of Ahmedabad was adjudged first while the Meerut Industry Institute of Technology got the second spot in the seminar, “Jigyasa 2010” held by the Department of Management Studies here this week. In this annual affair, a total of 12 papers were shortlisted from as many educational institutes for the presentation at the seminar. The subject on which the papers presented was “Government industry and academy”. “The winners pocketed Rs 40,000 cash award while the Meerut institute bagged Rs 20,000. For the third spot, KLE Law College was given an award of Rs 10,000,” said one of the organisers. The colleges making to the selection list for paper presentation included the IIM, Kozhikode, BIT Mesra, IRMA, PU, SIMS, MIT, RA Poddar Institute, IMT, MICA, NITIE, IIT, Kharagpur, and KLE Law College.
Workshop on advance
techniques
To make the faculty of various institutes with advancements in techniques in the field of education, a two-day workshop titled “Effective Pedagogy and Learner Profiles” was held here. Talking on the occasion, Prof SC Saxena, Director, IIT-R, said the teachers should be apprised of the advanced techniques in the field of education. The workshop was held at Continuing Education Centre in which as many as 55 teachers from the institutes of various statesparticipated.
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Officials in action mode as health of ‘Veeru’ deteriorates
Dehradun, January 21 The meeting followed a day-long gherao of the Vidhan Sabha by members of the association. SDA, Jharna Kamran, also visited the protesters and assured them that soon the state government would take action on their demands. A few protesters were arrested for creating ruckus near the Vidhan Sabha, but were later
let off. Khajan Singh, one of the protesters asserted: “Puran Singh has passed on a letter from the tower post complaining of chest pain and falling health. He is left with only half a bottle of water and stressed on taking action within a week’s time or else he would immolate himself atop the the Doordarshan tower.
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UTU puts off BEd entrance exam
Dehradun, January 21 As per the latest directions of the state government, the UTU can now only give affiliation to nascent BEd colleges. Around 10,000 forms have already been submitted, but due to a sudden exit of Dr Mritrunjha Mishra, former registrar of the UTU, the situation has come to a standstill. He was handling the admission process. “As per the previous Act, the UTU was given orders to affiliate professional colleges without the clause of old or new. Following those terms and conditions, a large number of students had purchased BEd application forms,” said Sunil Agarwal, Secretary, Private BEd Colleges. At present, the UTU has two private colleges under its umbrella. However, where the applications are so many,
seats are only 200, leading to a state of utter confusion. “Beehive College and Blue Mountain College are the two colleges under the UTU. Moreover, due to a sudden departure of Mishra, the matter has lost it’s seriousness,” added Agarwal. The ratio of seats and students is also a subject of concern. Keeping that aspect in mind, the university is considering the proposal to return application fees to
those who due to fear of less seats plan to withdraw from the examination.
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58th District Cricket League
Dehradun, January 21
Other batsmen also fell like a pack of cards before disciplined bowling attack of UPES team. Abhishek, Upender, Rohan and Hrushikesh took two wickets each. In reply the UPES
team openers smashed the ONGC team throughout the ground. Opener Deepak scored 47 runs off 42 balls, whereas Shobit
made 16 runs. They both contributed 37 runs for the first wicket partnership. First down opener Hrusikesh scored 17 runs. It was Imran’s
blazing innings that off 22 runs that helped the UPES team achieve the target. For the ONGC team Amit and Nadeem took one wicket each. Meanwhile, in the second match of the tournament played between the PCDA and Graphic Era teams was also a low scoring one. Batting first, the PCDA team was all-out for 70 runs. Lower order batsman SS Rawat was the highest scorer for the team with 15 runs. For the Graphic Era team, Achal took three wickets, whereas Mayank took two wickets. Chasing the victory
target of 71 runs, Graphic Era team reached the target with ease. They scored the winning runs in the 12.2 overs. Mandeep scored 22 runs off 15 balls whereas Anshul scored 20 runs. For PCDA team, Jaswant took two wickets, whereas Ajay and Gopal took one wicket each.
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Shrey steers Saharanpur Stadium to q-finals
Akash Ghai Tribune News Service
Roorkee, January 21 Displaying a deadly bowling, Shrey, who was declared the man of the match, claimed four wickets conceding 34 runs in his five-over spell while in batting he finished as the second highest scorer with 28-run knock. Earlier, after winning toss, NCA skipper Devender Bholu chose to bat first but his decision backfired as the team was restricted to 125 for 9 in the stipulated 25 overs. Only four batsmen of the team scored in double figure. Rohit was the highest scorer with 26 runs closely followed by Sunny, who was caught at 24 runs. Shrey wreaked havoc by claiming four wickets. The other successful bowler of the Saharanpur team was Arvind, who clinched three wickets conceding 23 runs. The Saharnpur team reached the target with ease in just 13 overs. Amar played a vital innings by scoring the highest 38 for the team, followed by Shrey (28), Sanjeev (26 not out) and Sachin (13). For the Roorkee team, Rajat, Kamal Chawla and Ashish bagged one wicket each. A total of 16 teams from different states have been participating in the tournament. The RBCA (Delhi) and Dehradun teams have already won their respective matches. The tournament will conclude on January 31, said organisers.
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9 yrs on, disaster management still in infancy
Pitthoragarh, January 21 According to Dr KS Waldiya, noted Himalayan geologist, the density of Himalayan earthquakes would not be as fatal as it was in Haiti as the tectonic situation in the Himalayas is different from that of Haiti. “We, the people in the Himalayas, should always be prepared to face earthquakes and welcome minor tremors in the region as these keep releasing the stress on the tectonic plates,” said Dr Waldiya over telephone from Varanasi. “We have completed the work of identifying calamity prone areas in the state as far as the earthquakes and landslides are concerned,” said Piyush Rautela, Executive Director of Disaster Mitigation
and Management Centre (DMMC) of the Uttarakhand government. Despite identifying the natural calamity prone areas, the centre is not equipped with modern equipment for early warning of calamities in the state. “Earthquakes cannot be predicted. We also lack modern equipment which could predict landslides. These equipment are installed by the Meteorological Department of the Government of India. We have been requesting them for years to install these equipment, but they are yet to be installed,” said Rautela adding that the equipment available in India did not meet the needs of Uttarakhand. Not only at the level of early warning, but also at the level of quick delivery of relief material at the time of disaster, the state is badly placed. “We have provided satellite phones at every district headquarters, but we mostly depend on the police wireless network as far as the information from calamity prone areas is concerned,” said Rautela. “Most of our calamity areas are at 4-5 hour distance from the district headquarters. It will take more than eight hours for rescue and relief teams to reach the spots,” added Rautela. The state government has already notified that the maximum height of houses should be 12 m, but there is no compliance. “There is little awareness,” said Rautela. At the time of a natural calamity, large quantities of relief material is required. The National Calamity Management Authority at Noida has dumped the material in their stores. “We do not have any other source except to pick up the relief material. As air support will be required to reach the spot, we neither have our air-drop facility nor the local stores of relief material,” he said.
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Gorkha United to take part in Nepal tourney
Dehradun, January 21 The tournament attracts teams from the UK, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries. Initially, the tournament used to be known as Caravan Gold Cup, but later its organisers, Sahara Football Club, decided to change it to Aaha Gold Cup. Till date, eight tournaments have been organised and all of them proved highly successful. This is the third time in succession that a Dehradun team will be participating
in the tournament. The tournament is expected to be a great learning experience for the Dehradun players, who will compete against some tough clubs of the world. Sameer, the organiser of the Gorkha United team, said: “The Dehradun team had participated in the tournament earlier. Though the team lost in the second round, it proved a great learning experience for its players. Now, after four years, the Dehradun team has yet again got an opportunity to participate in the tournament. The team is better prepared this time around to face its tough opponents,” added Sameer. It is mostly Nepal teams that dominate the tournament.
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Div Rlys Manager appalled by poor upkeep of property
Nainital, January 21 His visit precedes a scheduled visit of the General Manager on January 29. Nanda was appalled to see that the garbage had been dumped on the land belonging to the Railways. He ordered its immediate removal. He also ordered the seizure of construction material pertaining to the construction of a shopping mall that had been dumped on the Railways land. On being apprised of the breaking of pillars erected outside the Railways godown for security purposes by trucks, he asked officials to penalise such truck owners to the tune of Rs 5,000 in future.
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To safeguard coastal areas of the country from any disaster, particularly a tsunami, a vulnerability line is being drawn all along the coast that will cater to challenges and exigencies faced by inhabitants
along coasts on account of tides, sea-level rise and shoreline change.
Independence and Republic Days are the only two moments when the Parade Ground here attracts the mercy of the authorities to get it rid of heaps of garbage, filth, beggars and stray animals.
Dehradun, January 21
The UPES team scored a six-wicket victory over the ONGC team at the 58th District Cricket League underway Survey Stadium here today.
Batting first, the ONGC team scored 113 runs in their 30 overs. Openers Ajay and Sandeep began their team innings a strong note. Opening batsman Ajay scored 25 runs off 26 balls hitting five fours in his innings, another opener Sandeep scored 35 runs off 38 balls, smashing six fours. But after the openers returned to the pavilion, first down batsman Ankur was out for one
run.
With his all-round
performance, Shrey steered the Saharanpur Stadium team to quarterfinals of the ongoing Unity Cup Cricket Tournament 2010 at Nehru Cricket Stadium here today.
The team drubbed the local NCA (Blue) Roorkee team by five wickets as it achieved the victory target of 126 runs in just 13 overs at the loss of five wickets.
