Haridwar, June 17
In the national convention of the Bharatiya Kissan Union (BKU) (Tikhait group), leaders of the farmers from across the country are dwelling on issues related to the farmers’ community and are expressing their opinions on various issues. Hundreds of women, too, are participating in the convention discussing on varied issues related to their community.

The national farmers’ convention, popularly known as the Kisan Maha Kumbh, is witnessing thousands of farmers from the entire country and hundreds of farmer leaders attending the convention in Haridwar. The inflation seems to be taking its toll on the farmers, too, thus the shadow of price rise is being seen in the convention.

Union executive leaders have demanded raising agriculture subsidy, being given by the government, citing inflation that has upped all agricultural product rates too, along with availability of electricity at minimum rates, nullifying the penalty on electricity bills, grant on fertilisers and agro-equipment, waving off pending cases against farmers affixed on them during various peasant agitations. Besides, the demands such as instant payment of sugarcane purchase, formation of a monitoring committee on misuse of the governmental schemes meant for farmers were also put up in the agenda.

Farmer leaders also took a firm objection to Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar for being insensitive towards the farmer community. Pawar came in for a strong condemnation from the farmer leaders. They termed the cabinet minister as a weak Agriculture Minister, who has only cricket and money on his mind, but not the woes of poor-hardworking peasants.

“Farmers are not getting their dues right with the Centre’s releasing funds. These do not reach the farmers at the grass-root level owing to the corruption prevailing in the system. It’s up to the government to bring the culprits to book and see that farmers get the maximum benefit of such schemes,” said Rakesh Tikhait, spokesperson for the BKU.

Meanwhile, the pilgrim city these days is bearing a farmer-oriented look with farmers from Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and other states thronging Haridwar to attend the convention. On the concluding day various proposals and stance of the union will be chalked out.

Haridwar, June 17
In this fast-paced life when years seem to be quite a long distant past it is quite surprising that a century-old university honours one of its former students who had taken admission in the university approximately 100 years ago.

Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi Vedalankar (113) had taken admission in a graduate course of Gurukul Kangri University in 1912 and studied in this university founded by Swami Shraddhanand till 1919. And now in 2010, exactly full 98 years after coming to Haridwar as a 15-year-old young student, he visited the university again.

Pandit Sudhakar Chaturvedi, a resident of Bengaluru, visited the education centre that was in the initial stages of construction during pre-Independence days but now has become a world-renowned university with a mastery over yoga and morality-based education. To make his visit a memorable one, his alma mater Gurukul Kangri University decided to felicitate their most senior former student.

Pt Sudhakar Chaturvedi took education in Gurukul under Swami Shraddhanand and was quite impressed with the Gurukul-based education format which was put up by Swami Shraddhanand to counter the Mackaulay western-based education system.

Notably, Pandit Chaturvedi had the rare opportunity to see and listen to Mahatma Gandhi at the university in April, 1915, when Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi was accorded the title of Mahatma by Swami Shraddhanand. With confidence, Pandit Chaturvedi said at that historic moment he was present as a scholar.

Now, the university management is thinking of honouring Pandit Chaturvedi at the next annual convocation ceremony with the university’s highest degree, Vidyamartand.

“We are honoured to have such a senior student who is a living example of the glorious traditions, history and pre-Independence movement association of Gurukul Kangri University,” said Vice-Chancellor Swatantra Kumar.

Dehradun, June 17
The Uttar Pradesh police’s disclosure that three poachers who were nabbed with 60 tortoises in Allahabad on Tuesday had their operations in Uttarakhand reveals the magnitude of illegal wildlife trade involving turtles and tortoises in the country.

Turtles are supposed to bring good fortune in feng shui, an ancient Chinese system of spirit influences for good and evil. Its believers in particular prefer purchasing pet turtles for their houses thus promoting the illegal turtle trade in a big way. The presence of turtles is supposed to be career enhancer and business multiplier making it most sought-after thing amongst feng shui items.

The India government has banned the trade of turtles and tortoises under the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act, but a huge premium and lax laws lure poachers to the trade. Tortoises are also mercilessly killed for their meat and also used in preparation of some medicines, particularly in China.

A dealer of feng shui items having a showroom on Rajpur Road, Dehradun, admitted providing pet turtles to customers in special cases. He, however, on the condition of anonymity admitted that the entire trade was an underhand dealing.

A turtle scientist with the Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Karthikeyan Vasudevan calls for effectively dealing to check illegal turtle trade. “Asian freshwater turtles in particular are facing increasingly severe threats that need to be dealt with effectively. Nearly 100 per cent of Asian freshwater turtles and tortoises are affected by illegal wildlife trade,” he points out. “Two main types of trade in turtles occur in Asia. One is a high-volume, commodity-type trade in turtles or turtle parts for consumption and the other is the pet trade,” says Karthikeyan.

Reports of hunting and trade in turtle species show that the illegal hunting takes place in almost all water bodies such as irrigation canals, rivers and ponds. The three preferred species are the Gangetic softshell turtle, the Indian flapshell turtle and the peacock softshell turtle and importantly all three species are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Hunting for sustenance may still have a lesser impact, but the growing demand for turtle parts in China for making gelatin has upped hunting to an unsustainable level. The high income from turtle parts has attracted other communities to this trade also.

Karthikeyan said while illegal wildlife trade linked to turtles ran into a big sum of money. “While efforts to check illegal wildlife trade linked to bigger charismatic species like tigers and leopards have certainly been made, curbing the trade in turtle has so far found little importance in the scheme of things,” Karthikeyan observed. He said sensitising society was certainly an important tool to protect the Asian freshwater turtle and tortoise species that are endangered as per the IUCN criteria.

Mussoorie, June 17
Rais Khan is a street vendor doing business on the Mall Road. Khan, who earlier used to sell electronic goods, decided to sell artificial sparrow nests for Rs 40 each this summer.

“Do not get it wrong. These sparrows are not real ones,” says Khan. On the reasons of switching from electronic goods to these sparrows, Rais says sparrows have always fascinated me because these act as cleaners at their old house at Landour Bazar. These peck insects early morning.

Within a span of five years the number of sparrows has declined in Mussoorie due to reasons beyond his comprehension and their chirruping is no more the same. One day while he was looking for electronics items in Delhi he came across these beautiful nests with a pair of sparrows displayed at a shop. He immediately decided to change his business altogether. He bought 50 pieces of the nests but due to an increase in demand he has ordered more this season.

Explaining the intricacies of the nests he says the sparrows are made of hen feather but resemble a lot to real ones. Tourists like the idea immensely, especially children from urban areas where birds are rarely seen. Savitri Singh from Chandigarh says she has bought two nests, one for her son and the other for her niece to increase their affinity towards the sparrows. “At least children will be interested in getting a real nest through this act,” she added.

Khan says from the next year he would like to sell real sparrow nests so that they once again enliven the town with their chirruping sound. The sparrow’s population is diminishing day by day due to a lack of food and excessive use of pesticides. While experts look for measures to increase sparrow population in urban areas, Khan unknowingly is creating awareness towards the small brown plump bird that is on the verge of extinction. However, the sparrows of Khan will remain forever.

Pantnagar, June 17
The Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology here is being spruced up for the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to be here on Saturday as the chief guest for the annual convocation of the university. As many as 999 students will be given their degrees on this occasion. Another 44 students will be awarded with various medals. A special tent with air-conditioning facilities has been pitched on the university ground.

Proper security arrangements are also being made for the Prime Minister’s visit. The local administration and the police claim to be taking all measures on the security front. A verification drive of residents on the university premises has already been conducted and random search operations, too, are being carried out at nearby hotels and resorts.

According to sources, the Prime Minister is expected to release the “Nainital Declaration on Hill Agriculture-2010” on the occasion.

The said declaration is a booklet on the outcome of the two-day workshop on “Transformation of Agriculture in Uttarakhand” that was held by the Pantnagar University at the Raj Bhawan in Nainital last month at the initiative of Governor Margaret Alva.

The Governor had expressed hope that the recommendations made by the participants would help in preparing both long and short-term plans that would lead to improvement of the backward areas. The

participants at the workshop included environmentalists, scientists, policy makers and administrators in the fields of agriculture and allied subjects.

The declaration would be referred to an expert group led by agriculture expert MS Swaminathan. The team would then frame the path for agricultural development. The report of this expert committee would then be handed over to the state government to formulate and implement a relevant policy.

During the two days, the Governor raised the issue of malnutrition and discussed on what could be done to improve the situation, among women and children in particular. She also expressed concern over the high infant mortality rate in the state.

One of the main purposes of the workshop was to initiate some changes in the agriculture policy in order to check emigration of the youth from rural areas. The experts underlined the need for state-level agriculture police and consolidation of holdings in the hilly regions.

The biggest challenge was that of unbridled sale of agricultural land for industrial and other purposes.

Dehradun, June 17
The state government has decided to set up a cow research and technology institute at Rishikesh and an ayush research institute at Kotdwar.

Both institutes will be of international standards. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank 
here yesterday.

It was one of the poll promises of the BJP in the 2007 Assembly elections to set up a cow research institute to do extensive research on the medicinal qualities of cow urine and cow dung. NS Napchalyal, Chief Secretary, said it would be the first institute of its kind in the country and set up in the public-private partnership mode at Pashulok in Rishikesh. The state government would also provide 20 acres for the institute.

He further said the institute when developed would have a capacity to produce 10,000 litres of cow urine concentrate per day. Farmers in the state would also be encouraged to sell cow urine to the institute. All ayurvedic companies manufacturing medicines needed cow urine for their use in medicines.

The state cabinet also decided to set up an ayush research institute at Kotdwar where advanced research in ayurveda, unani, homoeopathy and naturopathy would be conducted and a panchkarma institute would also be set up in Dehradun by the Ayush Department of the state government.

The government also decided to bring the tent houses in the state under the tax umbrella. It was decided that tent house owners having goods worth more than Rs 5 lakh would be brought under the tax regime. There are only 162 registered tent houses in the state which pay a tax of nearly Rs 29 lakh per annum.

Nainital, June 17
District Magistrate Shailesh Bagauli has ordered immediate removal of construction material and other waste that has been accumulated by residents in the catchment area of the Naini Lake.

In an order issued by him on yesterday, Bagauli has stated that those not adhering to the order would be liable to be fined Rs 5,000 and the expenses on the removal of the material would also be charged from them.

The orders follow the revelation of the fact by the Nagar Palika and the Lake Development Authority that a large amount of construction material and other waste have been dumped by the residents in the catchment area of the lake. The order also attains significance on account of the lake being the major source of potable water for the town.

A massive desilting and cleaning drive is already on in the lake following a large amount of silt and sewerage found its way into the lake in a spell of heavy rain last week. More than 250 trucks of silt have reportedly been removed from the lake till now.

Following criticism from various quarters at the fallout of the rain last week, the administration has swung into action to put things on track. An hour-long spell of heavy rain accompanied by sleet last Thursday had resulted in tones of muck finding its way into the lake. The much-publicised claims of the administration vanished in the thin air as sewerage flowed on the Mall Road gushing towards the lake. As soon as the rain had stopped, plastic bags, gutkha covers and other trash could be seen floating on the surface of the lake.

Appalled at the laxity of officials responsible for maintaining cleanliness, Kumaon Commissioner Kunal Sharma and Bagauli had taken the officials to task and issued fresh instructions to various departments.

A special cleanliness drive was undertaken on Friday morning at the lake under the leadership of Bagauli. Sharma came out with orders that officers of the Jal Nigam and the Jal Sansthan immediately get the sewer lines cleaned and water drained from waterlogged areas. He also ordered that the flow of water in rain water drains and the sewer lines be segregated at the earliest.

Dehradun, June 17
Taking cognisance of reports of its academic books being “full of errors”, besides being of “low quality”, the Uttarakhand Education Directorate has constituted a committee to probe into the matter.

Officials said the committee would find out the errors in the books and these would then be rectified. Discrepancies were found in the books of Classes VII and VIII. Even the size of the text is so small that it puts strain on the reader’s eyes.

Radha (name changed), teacher of a government school located near Raipur, said, “The books were delivered late to our centres, and during distribution it was found that these were full of errors. The pictograph in the book of social science for Class VI is very blurred with overlapping text. The syllabus of Class VI was printed in the textbook of Class VIII and vice versa.

“The classes will begin soon and before that the rectifications ought to be carried out”.

Even the paper and binding material used are of poor quality. District Education Officer Geeta Nautiyal said, “So far, we have not detected any fault in the books being distributed by the administration, but on the basis of the complaints, the directorate has set up a committee to identify the errors”.

“It is early to comment on the matter now. We need to identify the mistakes and only then will the procedure of rectification be carried out,” she said.

Mussoorie, June 17
Officials have been instructed to shift equipment from the Civil Hospital to St Mary’s within a month so that the hospital building could be renovated.

District Magistrate (DM), Dehradun, D Senthial Pandian made this announcement while inspecting the ongoing work at St Mary’s. He also held a meeting with the Health Management Committee in which he approved the annual budget for the task.

A sum of Rs 3.5 crore has been allocated for the demolition and re-construction of the Civil Hospital, of which Rs 1.5 crore has been released to UP Nirman Nigam, the authority concerned.

The DM directed health officials to cater to the needs of BPL families, so that they get the maximum benefit under the health insurance scheme.

Rural areas will also be covered under this scheme, and the DM, Tehri, will be apprised of the situation as many patients from the district visit hospitals in Mussoorie.

The BDO and district managers will also be incorporated in this promotion exercise.

The DM said a monitoring committee of the SDM, VDO and medical officials would be constituted and it would submit its report within a month.

Speaking on the vacant doctors’ posts, he said he would write to the government to fill the posts on urgent basis.

In a separate meeting, he expressed discontent over the unhygienic status of public lavatories. He directed the SDM, Mussoorie, to make a list of such toilets and submit weekly report.

The DM directed officials to work for removing plastic waste from the town on a scientific basis and to find a new dumping ground instead of Gaddi Khana.

He said the afforestation programme under the Harit Doon scheme would be initiated in the Mussoorie reserve forest in association with Eco-Task Force.

The DM, taking a cognisance of reports on illegal construction in mining and reserve forest area, directed the committee consisting of the SDM, Mussoorie; Forest SDO, and Assistant Executive, Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), to complete a survey and provide the list of such activities soon. It is important to note that Eco-Task Force had carried out a forestation programme, but many resorts have cropped up in connivance with the MDDA and Forest Department. Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, Palika president OP Uniyal, CMO Baunthiyal and SDM, Mussoorie, Manoj Kumar were present on the occasion. 

Dehradun, June 17
The state government’s decision to establish a separate panchkarma cell at the Directorate of Ayurvedic and Unani Services will give boost to panchkarma treatment in the state.

The cell will not only oversee the expansion of the services by upgrading the existing infrastructure in the districts, but also promote the right procedure for it’s practise.

As of now, a few of the panchkarma centres are running from private dilapidated buildings with understaffed technicians and doctors.

“The cell will be broadly responsible for promotion of the panchkarma treatment as recognised in ayurveda which is a medium for getting rid of diseases and also rejuvenate the soul and body. Initially, we will be upgrading the existing panchkarma units at Pauri and Tehri followed by other centres,” said Dr Pooja Bhardwaj, Director of Ayurvedic and Unani Services.

Presently, the panchkarma units are functioning at Dehradun and Uttarkashi. A 25-bed hospital at Uttarkashi is attracting considerable patients. Equally, there will be demand for technicians also.

With an eye on expansion of panchkarma, the Directorate has already started providing training to the doctors. Last year, around 24 doctors had undergone at Vaidya Ratan Centre in Kerala. “It was a Centre-funded project which has helped doctors familiarise with the Kerala panchkarma treatment. Ayurvedic College at Rishikul, too, is offering training in panchkarma,” said Dr Bhardwaj.

Dehradun, June 17
Two girls of Uttarakhand have been named for the under-17 Football National Camp to be held at Gandhinagar in Gujarat from June 20.

Raksha Panwar and Anita Rawat will undergo about a month-long practice camp at Gandhinagar. According to the performance of the girls, final team of the under-17 girls football will be selected.

Both girls have participated in various national-level championships to bring laurels to the state. Raksha has participated as a skipper in the wining team of the Asia Cup earlier.

Raksha Panwar (left) and Anita Rawat from Dehradun who have been selected for an under-17 camp to be held in Ahmedabad. A Tribune photograph

Dehradun, June 17
Akranta rained goals over the Roshni Club to win the match 5-0 in the Lala Nemi Das District Football League underway on the Pavilion Ground, here today.

The Roshni Club failed to retaliate to the fierce attack of its rival team. While the former displayed a good football and made the full use of the opportunities it got during the match.

Bhupender in the 12th and 25th minutes while Ajit Negi in the 55th and Pradip in the 60th and 65th minutes contributed for the winning team. They ripped apart the defense of the Roshni Club to score the goals.

Aktanta dominated the match right from the word go till the last minute of the match to humble its opponent team. It’s goalkeeper Bhuri gave a fine performance and made several stops to foil the goal attempts of the Roshni Club.

The losing side had made several attempts in the second half, however, Bhuri didn’t let even a single shot to achieve success.

Tomorrow, the Bajrang Club and Doon Challenger are slated to meet. 

Nainital, June 17
The Central Command of the Army lifted the prestigious Army Commanders Sailing Regatta (Surya Sailing Regatta) by defeating the Nainital Yatch Club here today.

The Army Commanders Sailing Regatta is a prestigious annual event that

was started in 1990 on the initiative and under the patronage of late

Lt Gen FN Bilimoria (retd). It is the only sailing event of its kind in the state organised under the aegis of the Central Command and the yatch club.

While presenting the prizes Lt Gen VK Ahluwalia said a sailing node similar to the ones in Mumbai and Secunderabad wold be established in Nainital. He said the Army would do its best to promote the game in the North.

The teams of Central Command and the yatch club were down in the lake for sailing three rounds, but the competetion ended when the Central Command registered a straight win in the two rounds by 10 points.

The yatch club was formed in 1891 and is the oldest sailing club in India located on the highest sailable lake in the world. This fact makes the competition more prestigious. The yatch club also has the privilege of sponsoring events of the Yatching Association of India.

Dehradun, June 17
The Tanush Cricket Academy (TCA) got the better of Doon Indian by 69 runs in the ongoing Uttarakhand Challenger Cup in the OFD stadium, here today.

The TCA scored 183 runs in 40 overs. Varun (61) and Vijay (26) were main scorers. Samagra took three wickets. Ashish, Lucky and Mayank took two wickets for Doon Indian.

While retaliating, Doon Indian’s Chintu (20) and Samagra (20) mainly scored for the side, but the innings were of no help. For the TCA, Manish emerged as the best bowler claiming five wickets while Varun took three wickets.