Haridwar, January 30
Apart from the holy royal baths of the Maha Kumbh, the other aspect that draws major worldwide attention is the royal religious processions called Jamat-Peshwayis of saints of various akhadas. These have a pivotal role in the Kumbh proceedings.

Today, with the first procession of the century’s maiden Maha Kumbh, it seemed the spectacle of Kumbh had cast a spell on all and sundry who watched the procession and even on those who heard descriptions of it from those who saw it.

From early morning, persons were seen heading towards Jwalapur and those areas which lay on the procession route. Juna Akhada Ramte Panch and Agni Akhada saints formed today’s peshwayi and it lived up to the euphoria it had generated.

Around 12.30 in the afternoon, the royal procession started to move after performing the rituals. Mela Officer Anand Vardhan and Mela Deputy Inspector General Alok Sharma moved in front of the procession and tried to clear the congested route.

Such was the mammoth crowd that all buildings, shops, roof-tops, roadsides and lanes were full of people anxious to get a glimpse of the royal twin akhada procession.

In front of the procession were Lord Anand-Bhairav and the akhada symbol. These were followed by Lord Dattatreya’s palki and chariots of Acharya Mahamandeleshwar, Pilot Baba, Swami Avdeshanand Giri, Brahmswaroop Brahmachari on elephant, Soyam Baba and other prominent saints of both akhadas.

Then bare Naga sadhus on horses galloped on the Jwalapur interior roads followed by hundreds of akhada saints.

There was a different spectacle every minute and it gave ample proof of the aura surrounded with the Peshwayis. At one point, a sadhu was showcasing skills with a stick while others were carrying swords.

Several foreigners were also seen clad in saffron-white attires holding “trishuls” and with vermilion on their foreheads. Many foreign women were also seen sitting in various chariots in the procession.

The procession which began at Jwalapur Pandeywala went through Neel Khudana, Junior Inter-College, Pavdhoi, Chowk Bazaar, Kathaira Bazaar, Gurdwara Road, Saraf Bazaar, railway crossing, Arya Nagar, Shankar Ashram Chowk, Singh Dwar, Kankhal, Desh Rakshak Tiraha, Jhanda Chowk, Shankaracharya Chowk, Damkoti, Tulsi Chowk, Shiv Moorti Tiraha, Valmiki Chowk, Upper Road and reached Maya Devi Mandir late in the evening.

People, irrespective of the religion they practice, welcomed the royal procession. At various intersections, rangolis were made on the procession route and tables with water and garlands were set up at several parts on the route. An adequate traffic and security plan was put up to ensure that the procession passes unhindered and also causes minimum problem to the local population.

The entry of heavy vehicles was prohibited in the city inner roads. At every nook and corner from where the royal procession was to pass, mela police personnel were deployed. Heavily armed riot control personnel were also moving with the procession.

In addition to these, a commando unit, bomb disposal squad and fire tenders were put on alert. Horse squad police also patrolled the congested roads of Jwalapur area where it wasn’t to ply police patrol vehicles.

Haridwar, January 30
India is called a land of diversified cultures and traditions where multi-religious and multi-lingual people live in harmony and brotherhood. This aspect of India’s unity in diversity is witnessed during the proceedings of the Maha Kumbh, which holds a special religious significance for the Hindus, with the participation of the Muslim community defying the caste issue.

A unique thing during today’s royal Peshwayi was that most of the several dozens bands, which added glitter to the Peshwayi, were comprising members of the Muslim community. And it was no surprise that most of these bands have been taking part in the Kumbhs and Ardh-Kumbhs’ proceedings for decades.

When the local bands failed to cater to the demand of Peshwayi tradition, additional ones were called from nearby cities and areas of Dehradun, Roorkee, Manglore and Bahadrabad.

Noor Hasaan of “Janata Band” of Roorkee was too elated to inform The Tribune that it was his second Maha Kumbh in addition to one Ardh-Kumbh.

“We share a unique bond with the Kumbh proceedings, specially relating to Peshwayis, and feel blessed to be a part of this global religious fair,” said Hasan.

Similarly, Manglore-based Shahjad who owns “Shahjad Band” felt this was a rare conglomeration of religious harmony where in a traditional Hindu fest Muslims, too, play a pivotal role.

He said if political parties and staunch religious activists take a leaf out of the Maha Kumbh Peshwayis, then India would be an ideal example of communal harmony.

“Haridwar’s Maha Kumbh has set an ideal example and others should follow the suit and understand that if saints don’t have problem with caste then why do politicians and the common man have one? questioned Shahjad.

Recognising the religious significance of the tradition, the band owners don’t charge exorbitantly and leaves it to the akhadas. So the band charges range from Rs 31,000 to Rs 51,000 as per the generosity of the saints. But, no bargaining from band owners as Hasan says: “This is service for a religious purpose and how can we bargain or demand from our Hindu brethren”.

Apart from this, members of the Muslim community shower flowers on saints who are part of the Peshwayis and this was the one image that will remain in memories of all those who were witness to this spectacle.

Muslim communities also arranged free water and juice service on the Peshwayi route and women clad in burqas came out of their homes to get a glimpse of the holy procession.

While for many, including children and teenagers, this was a first-time experience, the craze and excitement among them was much higher.

Haridwar, January 30
On the auspicious occasion of Magh Poornima, devotees thronged Ganga ghats, specially the Har-ki-Pauri area, to take a holy dip. The festive occasion assumed more importance as it is falling in the tenure of the Maha Kumbh.

However, like on the Makar Sankranti festive bath, this time too the devotee influx was not as huge as it was expected. Devotees took holy bath amid a bright sun.

Elaborate security arrangements were in place with policemen and jawans of other forces deployed at every intersection and busy places in the city.

In view of terror threats and the arrest of a Pakistani spy, Border Security Force (BSF) sharpshooter commandos were positioned at sensitive Har-ki-Pauri mela zone and equipped with tranquiliser guns.

Haridwar, January 30
Apart from terror threat, the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar is quite sensitive in terms the management of big crowds and any possible disaster. Keeping this in mind, the mela administration has sought assistance from Centre’s National Disaster Management team to tackle any eventuality during the mega fair.

The Centre has sent three teams of National Disaster Management, which have taken charge in the Kumbh mela region. These three teams are well-equipped with the state-of-the-art equipment to provide rescue operations during any disaster.

Two teams are positioned between Haridwar and Jwalapur areas and will carry out rescue operations between these two places, while the third one is stationed at Rishikesh.

As Rishikesh too falls in the mela area and a major influx of pilgrims and tourists also throng the holy city keeping this in mind a single team has been placed in Rishikesh.

Apart from this, to carry out rescue efforts in the river Ganga especially during festive bathes, two companies of Jal Police have taken charge in the area.

Two ‘E’ companies of 40th and 31st Provincial Armed Constabulary have been deployed in mela area, equipped fully with rescue equipments and accessories.

Both these companies comprise 10 aluminum boats, seven motor boats, 15 engines, dozens of life saving jackets, life buoys, water suits, water proof shoes, radio sets, night vision search lights, fishing nets, scuba diving apparel for deep diving and other life saving equipments.

Both the Jal Police companies will be deployed at 22 sensitive points earmarked by the mela police.

DIG mela Alok Sharma has briefed the respective companies of the arduous task during the Mahakumbh and motivated them to give their best in saving the lives.

Dehradun, January 30
The four-day long workshop organised by the Shri Guru Ram Rai (SGRR) Education Mission in collaboration with I Create and National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), New York, successfully concluded here today.

I Create, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to create entrepreneurs in India as a solution to the pervasive unemployment that exist in every part of the country. Around 38 participants from Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttarakhand and other states of India belonging to educational institutions, NGOs, vocational centres etc participated. Keynote speakers, Harsh Bhargava, President I Create, Dr Aruna Bhargava, Director, programme development and Erik Dauwen, Director NFTE meticulously guided the members.

“The excitement of participants to learn entrepreneurial skills was worth appreciating.

Moreover, this kind of initiative is the first of its kind and in future we also plan to organise a refresher course for participants. Social Welfare Minister Matbar Singh Kandari and former Chief Minister BC Khanduri also supported our endeavours and said it would encourage a large number of small scale entrepreneurs and youth to expand their business and participate in more of such activities,” said Dr Atul Kumar Gupta, Director, I Create, Uttarakhand chapter.

However, while in initial days of the workshop, members were well versed with the fundamentals and guidelines of entrepreneurial skills and characteristic, sources of business opportunities, business plans, interview skills, guest lectures and other related topics. The chief guest for the closing ceremony was former Chief Minister BC Khanduri.

Business plans were carried out by the respective teams at the workshop. Giving a tough competition to the participants, the first position was bagged by Burangi Group led by Sangita Kullar, the second by Dinglu Group led by Dr Vijay Singh Rawat and the third by Parivartan led by Dr Sandeep Negi.

Kuresh Muchala, a participant from Mumbai, said, “I had a very good learning experience at this workshop. Without the support of any books or written material, the key speakers with lot of ease guided us about the nitty-gritty of etrepreneurship.

After detail analysis of the presentations, Khanduri commented, “ The efforts and zeal of the organisers as well the participants are commendable. This sort of workshop is one of its kind and is certainly going to encourage and change the mindset of the youth towards plethora of opportunities in the field of entrepreneurship”.

Dehradun, January 30
Do not get disheartened, if your child does not score well in examination as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has bestowed its students with respite by introducing a Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme in their schools.

As per the guidelines of the CBSE, New Delhi, there will be no board examination for Class X, whereas students have begun with a new scheme of the CCE for Class IX from the current session of 2009-10 that will also be implemented for Class X too from the next session of 2010-2011.

The new guideline will follow a Certificate of School-based Assessment of student on the grounds of extra-curricular activities and co-scholastic areas.

The assessment is divided into three parts. The first is on the basis of scholastic areas where the academic performances of Classes IX and X will be evaluated through grades and percentile rank. Two terms have been proposed during one academic session that will be from April to September and October to March, each consisting of two assessments-formative and summative.

The second part will consists of co-scholastic areas in which a student will be evaluated out of a five-point grading scale in life skills and three-point grading scale in attitudes and values. While the third part will comprise assessments on the participation of students in literary, scientific, aesthetic and club activities that include health or physical education on the three-point grading scale.

“The CCE is a system of school-based assessment that covers every aspect of students’ development. This transition will definitely prove to be a boon to those students who are non-scholastic and less studious. The CCE will help students in reducing peer pressure, encourage them to learn while having fun, enhance their abilities, make them focused, boost their confidence and develop the student as an individual,” said RPS Negi, Principal of Sri Guru Ram Rai School, EC Road.

“Recognising the specific aptitude of students who can not excel in academics, but can do well in curricular activities is the main focus of these guidelines. The CBSE aims at making studies more of an interesting game for its students rather than a burden,” he added.

Parents are happy to see the transition in the recent academic structure that earlier had problems due to the scoring system of their examinations. Sarla Bisht, mother of a Class IX student asserted that in spite of thorough revisions my child goofs up while writing in his examination. He couldn’t mug up lessons like others due to which he repeated his class VIII but now parents like me can take sigh of relief as the recent CCE scheme emphasises more on oral tests, projects and presentation instead of academic examinations.

Dehradun, January 30
Under the aegis of Sai Media Solution, a charity show for specially abled children, Janani Ritej, was organised at Survey Auditorium here today. Artistes and volunteers of the organisation presented cultural and musical performances on the occasion.

The chief guest for the function was Chairman of the state Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribe Commission Suresh Rathore.

The cultural programme included dances, songs and music. The highlight of the function was a fashion show presented by 18 models from New Looks-The Model Maker and Event Management. Ankur Verma and Ravi Rawat choreographed the fashion show.

Students from government schools also participated in the function.

Moreover, Likayat Ali and Rauhid Ahmed mesmerised the audience with their velvety melodious voices by singing songs of legendary Kishore Kumar and other new singers. Nisha Dhar, president of Janani Ritej, announced the aim and purpose of the organisation. She encouraged others to join the noble cause of providing better lives to less privileged kids through her organisation.

Dehradun, January 30
Dipender and Imran rattled through the batting line of Little Star to help the Doon Champs win a match at the 58th District Cricket League. Vishal was the only batsman who showed some resistance and scored some runs for Little Star.

He played a fine knock of 38 runs in 41 balls. His innings include five fours and one six. Apart from him, opener Ankit played well but failed to continue as he got out at 16 runs off 18 balls on Dipender’s bowling. Lower order batsman Arvind came up with a useful knock of 19 runs.

Dipender’s spell of five overs devastated the batting line up of Little Star. He ripped through the top batting line up to claim the first four wickets of Little Star’s batting order.

Another bowler Imran did the same by claiming three wickets. Little Start team was all out for 109 runs in his 22.5 overs. The Doon Champs team failed to have a flying start to the match. The team got its first jolt on the very first ball of the first over.

But opener Naeem occupied the crease from one end and went on to make 38 off 35 balls. Vijay supported him well on the other end and scored 31 runs. Dipender made 12 runs. Arvind took three wickets in six overs for Little Star, whereas Anil and Ankit took two wickets each.

Dehradun, January 30
DAV College lifted the trophy of Inter-College Baseball Competition in girls’ category here today after defeating the DBS College. While the boys’ semifinal matches will be played tomorrow.

It proved to be a one-sided final as the DAV team gave a dominating performance to register a comprehensive victory over DBS team. The DAV stickers scored 14 runs. In reply, the DBS team failed to put up any score and the team was all out for zero runs.

Earlier two league matches were played. In the first league match the DAV team defeated SGRR by 10-0, while in the second match, the DBS team defeated the SGRR team by 10-0.

Meanwhile in boys, Government (PG) College defeated Birla Campus by 13-3, while DBS defeated SGRR team by 10-0. The DAV team and Government (PG) College played a draw. In the last league match, the DAV team defeated Birla Campus 16-6.

Dehradun, January 30
Malik Sports, Delhi, will take on Uttarakhand Police in the title clash of the Unity Cup Cricket Tournament at Nehru Stadium here tomorrow.

In the second semifinal of the tournament, Malik Sports trounced Azabgarh Youngs, Dehradun, by three wickets here today.

Azam Khan’s 92 runs helped the team to reach the target of 219 runs in 30 overs. Earlier, batting first, the Dehradun team made 218 for 8 in 30 overs.

Chader Pal hit half-century (50 off 57 balls) while Vivek ripped apart the Doon team’s batting lineup with his deadly spell, in which he claimed four wickets for 31 runs in six overs. Kartar and Amit Dhaiya had to satisfy with two wickets each.

In reply, opening batsman Azam Khan exposed all bowlers of the rival team with his top-class batting. However, he was deprived from ton by eight runs. He made 92 in 84 balls. The other main contributor was Dinesh, who remained unbeaten at 35 off 22 balls.

For the Doon team, Arvind and Ajit Chandola took two wickets each while Chander Pal and Udit Mohan took one each. The final will start at 10 am tomorrow.

Dehradun, January 30
Cole House won by six wickets against Burn House at the St Thomas College Inter-house Cricket Match underway at Rangers Ground here today.

Akshay of Burn House played an excellent knock of 43 runs. Middle order batsman Sumit scored 13 runs while Shivan contributed 4 runs. The team managed to score 103 runs off 20 overs.

For Cole team Shriyansh was the lead wicket taker with four wickets, whereas Akshat and Sudhir took two wickets each.

Chasing the victory target of 104 runs, Cole team won the match with ease. Pushkar was the highest scorer for the team with 22 runs, Sudhir made 14 and Aditya scored 11 runs. For Burn team Shivam and Pratush took two wickets each.

Meanwhile in the second match, Degruyther House team beat Fraser team by 92 runs. Deepak was the star performer for Degruyther House.

Deepak made 54 runs and Sanchit made 25 runs. For Fraser House, Vansh took four wickets. Chasing 146 runs, Fraser was all out for 55 runs losing the match by 92 runs.

Dehradun, January 30
A resident of Saharanpur, who took distributorship of Idea Cellular Limited, allegedly cheated the company of over Rs 6 lakh by giving fake bank drafts to them as payment earned from prepaid connections and recharges.

According to the police, Arun Kumar, Assistant Manager of an NCR New Cantt Road Idea Zonal Office, alleged in his complaint that Salim Khan had taken the distributorship of Idea Prepaid this month for Uttar Pradesh.

At the time of payment he gave two drafts in the name of Karnataka Bank in Haridwar. But when Idea employees went to encash the payment, they got to know from the bank that the drafts were fake. The accused had forged his signature as well, the Manager added in his compliant.

Khan had allegedly issued two drafts each of Rs 4,78,450 and 1,90,000. A case under Sections 420, 468 and 471 has been registered in the Kotwali police station.

Dehradun, January 30
The newly formed Uttarakhand chapter of the Human Rights Emergency Helpline Association, a Non-Government Organisation (NGO), today vowed that it would bring to light cases of human rights violation in the state.

Addressing a press conference, the newly appointed president Mahavir Singh Saini said the NGO would try to first address the problem at the NGO level and then bring it to the notice of the government.