Haridwar, February 12
Beyond words and beyond imagination is the only way one can describe the spectacle at Haridwar. The holy city today witnessed the first Shahi Snan (royal bath) of the Maha Kumbh.

(From left) A procession of saints moves towards the Ganga for a dip; a sadhu dries his long hair; and saints take their deity for a dip during Maha Kumbh’s first Shahi Snan in Haridwar on Friday. Tribune photos: Vinod Pundir and Rameshwar Gaur

It seemed that the city of Haridwar was in another world - a world where religion and spirituality rules, where the importance of the Ganga attains new heights, and where one gets to witness a Maha Kumbh, the biggest spectacle and conglomeration of persons on the Earth.

Millions of people thronged the city. Till late in the evening, the influx of devotees and tourists was on. More than three million persons had taken a holy dip till late afternoon.

A sadhu prays on the banks of the Ganga;Tribune photos: Vinod Pundir and Rameshwar Gaur

But the major attraction was the holy dip by the seven akhadas namely Juna, Agni, Aahwaan, Niranjani, Anand, Mahanirmani and Atal Akhada.

In fact, akharas have the right to take the holy dip first at the Shahi Snan and so the auspicious time from 10 am to 4.30 pm at Har-ki-Pauri Brahamkund ghat was allotted only to these seven akhadas.

The royal processions of the akhadas were magnificent and their members adhered to the schedule of reaching the Har-ki-Pauri and the half an hour alloted to take the bath.

To prevent any untoward incident, a police cordon was on both sides of the royal processions.

Juna, Agni and Aahwaan Akhadas took the dip first. Their Shahi Snan cavalcade started at 10 am and reached Har-ki-Pauri via Upper Bazaar at 11 am and took the royal bath in the stipulated 30 minutes.

All those present on the route were spellbound by the processions and felt blessed to have witnessed these processions.

Naga sanyasis in saffron outfits and ‘bhasm’ (ash) smeared on their bodies added to the religious aura of the mega fair.

As soon as they neared Har-ki-Pauri, the excitement at the place exceeded all boundaries. Everyone was waiting for this spectacle that comes once in 12 years.

Everyone’s eyes - whether they were mela administrators, police personnel, media personnel - were glued to the Brahamkund area and at the akhada saints.

The next to take the holy dip were the Niranjani and Anand Akhadas. Their royal procession through the Lal Taura area was as enchanting as the previous one.

The bathing spectacle was revisited when Niranjani and Anand saints reached the Brahmkund ghat. The last dip of the akhadas was taken at 4 pm by the Mahanirmani and Atal Akhada saints and continued till 4.30pm. Then, they began their retreat in grand style after having taken their dip for salvation.

The Mahanirmani and Atal Akhadas return procession was different from the Juna, Agni, Aahwaan Akhada procession and the Niranjani, Anand Akhadas trip as this one went to the ancient Daksheshwar Mahadev temple of Lord Shiva and performed rituals by offering water to the Shivling.

Naga sadhus and devotees on their way to the Ganga ghats; Niranjani Akhada sadhus offer prayers to the Ganga during Maha Kumbh’s first Shahi Snan in Haridwar on Friday. Tribune photos: Vinod Pundir and Rameshwar Gaur

After this, the Ganga Sabha and mela administration carried out the cleaning of the ghats. Only then were the ghats opened for common pilgrims who were waiting to take a dip in Brahamkund. The rush at the Har-ki-Pauri ghats swelled as soon the baths by the akhadas were over. The inflow of people into the city continued till late in the evening.

While the akhadas were taking a dip in Har-ki-Pauri, the entry and dips for common people were allowed at all other ghats near and around Har-ki-Pauri as well as in other ghats of the city falling in the mela zone.

According to pundits and astrologers, the auspicious period of taking a dip in the Ganga would continue till 12 noon on February 13. So, for those who missed the dip today, there is still time to achieve salvation.

Haridwar, February 12
The elaborate and strict security arrangements for the first royal bath of the Maha Kumbh here made visitors feel a little uneasy.

Most pilgrims that thronged the holy city early in the morning found themselves embroiled in security check-ups and stuck in traffic bottlenecks.

As the day passed, traffic stoppages seemed to get longer and longer. The changes in traffic restrictions every few hours complicated the situation. Initially, two-wheeler stoppages were planned at Shiv Moorti Chowk for vehicles coming from Ranipur, late last night, traffic was stopped at Devpura crossing. In the morning today, people coming from Ranipur-Jwalapur found traffic personnel stopping their vehicles at the Ranipur Chowk.

Finding no alternative, locals had to be content with either backtracking to their homes or were seen arguing and pleading with the police personnel.

Dr SK Batra, a localite and Professor at the SMJN College, was furious over the traffic arrangements. He said that due to immense traffic restrictions, he could not bathe early morning at the Birla ghat and had to travel several kms further to Gobindpuri ghat by foot.

“The mela administration should have chalked out a commuter-friendly traffic plan. What is the use if the fair passes off peacefully, but the pilgrims face immense inconvenience? This will not speak well of the administration,” said Dr Batra.

Similarly, pilgrims from other states too bore the brunt of the security plan. Their vehicles were made to park several kms away and they had to walk a long distance to take the holy dip.

A Rajasthani troupe of 60 members was disappointed and felt that better management was needed. Pawan Marar, an MBA graduate in the troupe, said that they were forced to stop far away and when they pleaded with the policemen, they were directed on a route which eventually led them further away from the city.

“A better traffic management plan is needed otherwise the Kumbh in Haridwar will only be a bad memory for pilgrims like us. It is shameful there were no traffic sign boards in place,” said Pawan.

Foreign tourists too were struck in traffic. Elina and Anastasia Vladisova from Russia were seen sitting on the roadside as they got no local transport to take them to the Dhirawali temporary parking where heavy vehicles was parked.

“We were told that city buses were being plied, but for 40 minutes, not a single one has passed by. We didn’t know that traffic was being stopped on all sides otherwise, we would have come a bit early,” said Vladisova.

Meanwhile, Traffic ASP Ajay Joshi said that people’s inconvenience was regrettable but with millions in the city, it was necessary to implement the traffic plan strictly.

Traffic personnel too felt the heat as they, throughout the day, had to manage the huge amount of traffic and deal with persons wanting to take their vehicles where their entry was prohibited.

Roorkee, February 12
Faculty and students of IIT-R experienced a melodious evening on Monday. The programme titled ‘Swaranjali 2010’ gave many IITians an opportunity to showcase their singing skills in the presence of a large audience at Dikshant Bhawan here.The students too lived up to expectations as they presented ghazals, Punjabi pop, Hindi classical and new album numbers. Many of them matched the qualities of professional singers.

Songs like “Jab Se Tere Naina” by Gaurav Kinra, “Phoolon Ke Rang Se” by Rakesh, “Baahon Ke Darmiyan” by Abhinoor and “Dil To Hai Dil” by Prachi Aggarwal won the hearts of the audience.

Earlier, the programme, organised by the Cultural Council and Section, was inaugurated by the institute’s Director SC Saxena.

He called upon the students to participate in such programmes in large numbers for their overall personality development.

Play staged

IITians gave a solid performance while enacting a play “An Inspector Call” by renowned British writer JB Prinsle at OP Jain auditorium on Friday evening.

The play presented a story of exploitation of the main character Eva and her family. Though the play was set up in the British era, the actors and the set were outstanding.

The role of Berling, father of Eva, was played by Harshit Gupta (BTech IV) while Prashant Jain (BTech IV) enacted the role of an inspector.

The names of other actors were Urvashi, Rahul Kukreti, Arpita Chaudhary, Shubham Gupta and Ankita Singh. It was directed by Prashant Jain.

Course on hydro-power plants

“To harness water resources in any hilly state, the best option is small hydro-power plants (SHP),” said experts in an international training course on small hydro-power development at IIT-R here.

These plants are not only environment-friendly, but also costs very less, said the experts.

The course was organised by the Alternative Hydro Energy Centre.

“In the SHPs, we should always use standardised equipment and machinery for better performance and deliverance,” said Professor AK Tyagi who also provided information about the machinery being used in the plants.

Dr RP Saini, coordinator of the course, on the other hand was of the view that such SHPs could bring more prosperity to Uttarkhand that has a large number of water resources.

“We are not able to harness our resources in the state at the moment. The problem of power generation can be alleviated by harnessing these resources by erecting SHPs,” said Saini.

Conference

The Department of Electrical Engineering is all set to organise the fourth international conference, CERA-09, on computer applications in electrical engineering’s recent advances from February 19 to 21.

The conference will aim at providing a platform to bring together teachers, researchers, professionals, managers and policy makers not only to discuss recent advances in offline and online computer application techniques, but also discuss the absorption of these areas in academic curriculum and industrial practices.

The other objective will be to deliberate on the future course of R&D and training in this vital area.

“We will also welcome application-oriented papers, particularly related to industry, as well as papers highlighting applied problems for which appropriate solutions are being currently searched,” said Dr Vino Kumar, head of the host department.

The themes identified for the conference include all techniques and applications, bio-signal processing and instrumentation, computer networking, security and communication and digital signal and image processing. The present conference is the fourth in the series.

e-Learning vehicles

Taking a step forward in the pilot project “Mobile e-Learning Terminals (MeLT)”, IIT-Roorkee has prepared 12 vehicles equipped with advance technical paraphernalia to provide e-learning facilities to students at remote and tough areas.

Dr HK Verma, the project leader, said that the first of its kind vehicle was ready for flag off. “The vehicles, 12 in number, are equipped with 20 laptops, content servers, wi-fi router/ethernet switch, VSat antenna and ODU, DTH antenna and LNB, LCD monitor, GPS, UPS alternator and cordless microphone. We have identified a total of eight institutes to which these vehicles will be provided under the project,” said Dr Verma.

The institutes include University Institute of Engineering and Technology and Punjab Engineering College (Chandigarh), HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar, Uttarakhand, National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Birla Institute of Applied Sciences, Bhimtal, Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology, Longowal, Punjab, Rajasthan Technical University, Kota and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Jammu.

The IIT-R has signed an MoU with NIT, Jalandhar, in this regard and with the other institutes, the MoU would be signed soon, said Dr Verma.

Meanwhile, a one-day workshop of the MeLT project is slated to be held on February 13 at the Central Library to review the progress of the project, summary of need assessment survey carried out by the eight national-level institutes in approximately 500 schools and colleges, live demonstration of van-type MeLT and live demonstration of e-learning systems/modes enabled by MeLT.

Notably, the MeLT project is being funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to equip schools with latest technology. 

Dehradun, February 12
To spread awareness about the Vishwa Jan Jagriti Mission campaign for energy and environment conservation, its chief Acharya Ashish Semwal announced to hold a day-long seminar tomorrow on “Climate change: Its impact and solution”.

Addressing the media, he said: “The climatic changes, pollution and environmental degradation are affecting the planet adversely. It is our endeavour to draw attention of individuals and governments alike to address the problems and contribute towards a viable and sustainable solution.”

“Therefore, we have organised a seminar where such leading luminaries will come together on one platform to enlighten the common person and share their concern on climate changes and genetically modified food,” he added.

The main speakers will be Rajender Singh, Magsaysay Award recipient, Dr Vandana Shiva, Sunderlal Bahuguna, Swami Agnivesh and Prof SP Singh, former VC of Garhwal University.

Dehradun, February 12
To provide employment opportunities to students, Dolphin (PG) Institute of Bio Medical and Natural Sciences will be organising a job fair on February 14.

More then 30 companies from the field of life sciences, health care, pharma foods and other related fields will be participating to recruit students through campus placement.

“This year we are organising an alumni meet also so that passed out students and freshers can discuss pertinent matters and improve networking skills,” said president and managing director of the institute Arvindra Gupta. — TNS

Dehradun, February 12
President of the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) and vice-chairman of the International Cooperative Alliance-Asia Pacific Regional Board Ghanshyambhai H Amin today blamed the government for its step-motherly treatment with cooperative societies in India.

“Neither the Central nor state government are doing anything to promote the cooperatives in India, but are fully promoting private sectors.

“The new private sector is being offered land, finance and tax exemption, while we aren’t given the tax exemption. In this kind of situation the government wants us to compete with the private sector that has much more resources than us,” said Amin, who was in Dehradun yesterday for laying the foundation stone of a conference hall and girls hostel at the Institute of Co-Cooperative Management in Rajpur.

“Due to this, people of the nation will suffer in the long run. Today we have about five lakh cooperatives with 23 crore members and if the government is not supporting them, then what is the use?” asked the NCUI president.

However, he said the cooperative was doing every bit at its end and had also achieved growth.

“We are trying to modernise our system and have opened management schools so that we can get more and more talented professionals.

Even at the time of global meltdown, when companies in the Europe and the USA got shut down, our cooperative giants like IFFCO, Amul and KRIBHCO have shown increase in profit from 25 per cent to 35 per cent,”
he added.

Amin is in favour of freeing the cooperative sector from politics and making it an independent body. “For the past 15 years the political interference in the cooperative has increased. Whichever government comes to power removes the present personnel from his post even if his tenure is not over. The NCUI should be made free from any political interference,” said Amin.

The NCUI has high hopes on the proposed amendments, which got passed on October 29 and is now in Parliament.

“This will unite the cooperative societies and make these free from any political pressure. At present, the rules in different states are not similar, but with this amendment everything will be in system and we will be more organised to perform the job better,” Amin said while calling the amendment a historical decision for the cooperative movement.

The amendment proposes that a tenure of five years be fixed for the cooperative societies, which can not be altered by any government, a separate independent election body set up in all states to conduct free and fair elections instead of electing members by some government and an independent auditors panel for detecting financial shortcomings.