Pitthoragarh, July 8
An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale rocked entire Pitthoragarh district preceded by the arrival of monsoon in the calamity-prone district. The last night earthquake followed a 4.2 intensity tremor of July 3.

“Nearly 60 villages, which have been declared highly sensitive to cloud burst, flash floods and landslides, further panicked due to this earthquake which occurred at 12:45 am last night,” said BS Parihar, a resident from the Baram valley. The epicentre of the earthquake was on the Indo-Nepal border, according to Dr Anand Sharma, Director, Meteorological Department, Dehradun.

According to the information reaching in the district headquarters, the Tanakpur- Pitthoragarh highway has started sliding symptoms after the first monsoon spell. The Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims of the third batch, who were returning from Tibet, got trapped at Tintola for three hours as heavy landslides occurred there. “The batch was three hours late due to this blockage,” said BR Arya, in charge, Dharchula base camp.

BRO official maintaining the Pitthoragarh-Tanakpur highway have alerted the camps on this road as the reports of slides started pouring in from the Ghat, Belkhet and Chalthi areas on this road. “We are fully prepared to maintain this road, have deputed JCB machines at sensitive points so that we can immediately clear the debris in the event of a landslide during rain,” said an official from BRO 65 RCC based in Pitthoragarh.

Meanwhile, during the past 24 hours, one woman has died and more than 12 houses have developed cracks after the monsoon hit the district. “One woman died at Talla Dogra village, near Munsiyari, when she was buried under the debris near a hill,” said Jaswant Rathor, SDM of Munsiyari.

In Champawat district where the first spell of monsoon became a boon for farmers growing vegetables, some houses and motor roads suffered damage. “In the Barakot, Pati and Champawat areas of the district the local motor links got damaged at many places,” said Dinesh Pandey, a social worker from Lohaghat town.

“A school building in the Bhanskot area reportedly collapsed due to rain,” said NS Negi, District Magistrate, Pitthoragarh. “Pitthoragarh district administration has started preparing itself for the monsoon and has alerted all tehsil headquarters, local body heads and gram panchayats besides revenue officials to be prepared for any calamity,” said Negi.

Dehradun, July 8
Come August and Uttarakhand will have its first wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre and in all probability the country’s first such centre to deal with man-eater leopards. To come up at the expanse of 35 hectares in Chidiyapur, Haridwar, the centre includes 25 hectares of forests and another 10 hectares of land to be utilised for staff and other buildings.

The Uttarakhand Forest Authorities has been for the past couple of years working to come up with a rehabilitation centre, particularly to tackle the growing man-eater leopard menace. So far, the state wildlife officials find themselves in a fix to deal with man-eater leopards, as these leopards, once they come into confines after being captured, cannot be left in the wild. Thus, the need of a rehabilitation centre was being felt for quite a time.

Officiating Haridwar Divisional Forest Officer Meenakshi Joshi disclosed that the Chidiyapur wildlife rescue and rehabilitation shelter will be one of its kind and have night shelters apart from open enclosures for daytime usage, a dispensary and other enclosures. The centre has done its best to maintain the natural forest environs so as to ensure that the captured wild animals find itself at ease.

Meenakshi further said efforts were in progress to appoint a full-time veterinary officer. “We have requested for a full-time appointment of a veterinary officer for the Chidiyapur shelter,” she said. Further, the four handlers for the Chidiyapur shelter are also being trained under the guidance of Nainital Forest Division as the personnel at Nainital Zoo are best qualified to impart training in the handling of wild animals in the state.

Haridwar sub-divisional officer KS Rawat, who has been supervising the works at the Chidiyapur rehabilitation centre, said the centre was being constructed at a cost of Rs 1.50 crore. It would cater to the rehabilitation concerns of leopards and tigers declared man-eaters. So far leopards found injured or rescued from traps were treated and kept at the Malsi Deer Park in Dehradun or shifted to Pantnagar Veterinary Hospital. But most of these captured felines die due to want of adequate medical care.

As of today, the rehabilitation centre, despite its proposed opening in the first week of August, can even presently accommodate four leopards. When fully operationalised, the shelters can handle at a time as many as 16 wild animals, including a dozen leopards.

Fencing and other barricading measures have been done at the rehabilitation centre to ensure fool-proof security to the wild animals.

Haridwar, July 8
Contrary to the common perception, Hindus living in Pakistan are free to follow their religion and don’t have any problem being a minority community in a Muslim country.

This was revealed by a batch of pilgrims who are currently in Haridwar on a religious trip from Sindh district of Pakistan. Around 100 Pakistani citizens, having faith in Hindu religion, pointed out that not much difference was seen on the ground in both countries which were one prior to Partition.

Citing culture, tradition, smell of soil, landscape, languages, people’s behaviour and other similarities among citizens of both countries, these pilgrims felt at home in India. They said they felt blessed to be in the pilgrim city and when they would leave for their country, sweet memories of their stay here and love shown by city residents would remain etched forever in their memory.

Umanand Mishra, officer of the Jammu Yatri Bhawan, where the Pakistani pilgrims are staying, said the warmth and love generated among people of both countries was quite commendable. He said they were keen to mingle with local people having same religious faith and visited Har-ki-Pauri and other prominent temples of the city.

Mati Kala Board vice-chief Vinod Arya offered help to the Pakistani delegation while on visit to Uttarakhand’s other religious places.

Pitthoragarh, July 8
With the demand of local tribal population of the valleys of Niti and Mana in the Garhwal region to open up the ancient border barter trade with Tibet, the nature of this traditional trade has come into the limelight. The border trade that started from June 1 involves local tribal Bhotiya traders from the Lipulekh Pass of Pitthoragarah district.

The traders crossing over to Tibet are also demanding a total change in the list of goods that are permitted to be traded across the Himalayan pass. Most of the traders want that the trade be given a fresh look by adding new goods in the list.

“It reflects the total dependence of Himalayan people on western Tibet for trade and selling their surpluses for centuries,” said Lalit Pant, a researcher. In old times trade not only used to commence from five major passes in Uttarakhand, but also from other 12 passes spread from Jammu and Kashmir to the Nepal Himalayas. Even today, the old sheep-based economy of the Himalayan region demands clients from Tibet, who have not yet fully changed to new consumer society and seek traditional consumer items supplied by the Indian traders.

In old times, the valleys of Niti, Mana, Johar, Darma, Beans and Chaudans of Uttarakhand were trading communities before 1962 when Chinese action took place. These communities used to collect foodgrain from the lower valleys of Kumaon and Garhwal and traded these for Tibetan salt, wool, pashmina and borax at Tibetan marts. The trade, which was in practice for hundreds of years, was known to Europeans in 1624 when Antonio De Andrade, a Jesuit missionary, crossed into Tibet via Niti Pass and got acquainted with the trade which was in practice in that part of Tibet.

The Himalayan region has more than 50 villages of the Bhotiya tribal people, who totally depend on the cross-border trade, which has 2,000 years of background. Edwin T Atkinsion, a British administrator of these border districts during the second part 19th century, had traced its existence to the 3rd century BC, while Kumaon historian MP Joshi confirmed its existence in the 6th century AD. After the 1962 conflict, the entire economy of the Bhotiya tribal people was ruined due to discontinuance of the trade.

The Bhotiya people started descending downwards from the high Himalayan valleys only to adopt an unsuitable economy and culture and forget their prosperous past.

The Indo-Tibetan trade of this era was totally based on barter. The traders used to take jaggery and cotton from the Haldwani, Kashipur and Kotdwar markets and exchange these with Tibetan wool and livestocks which sometimes fetch them a profit more than 40 times the valleys of Byans. Chaudans used Taklakot mandi, Darma Valley used Chakra mandi, Johar Valley used Gyanima mandi, while Niti Valley had Daba and Shibchilam and Mana had Tsaprang marts in Tibet. The Bhotiya traders braved high Himalayan snow storms to cross into Tibet via more than 16,000-ft-high passes of Lipulekh, Darma, Limpia Dhura, Kungri-Bingri, Untadhura, Jayanti, Mana and Niti. The Tibetan trade not only used to generate local employment for the tribal people in transportation, sub-trading, but also sustained the economy of local agriculture, animal husbandry, wool-based cottage industries by the goods imported from Tibet.

The inclemency of climate and rugged terrains of high Himalayas gave local Bhotiya people monopoly over this business because it was impossible for an outsider to sustain in such tough terrains.

The method of this trade was also unique. Every Indian trader was having a middle man in Tibet called “mitra” (family friend). When the trade used to resume in April or May, one representative from the Governor of Ngari province of western Tibet used to cross the Himalayas to inform the Bhotia people that the trade season had come. After this information, Indian traders used to prepare to move towards Tibet with their herd of cattle laden with the goods collected by the traders during previous months. After reaching Tibet, the Indian trader would look for his “mitra” or family friend through whom he would trade in Tibet. This friendship happened to be so strong that after the death of either of the companions, their descendants used to continue their trade activities with the same Tibetan counterpart.

The trade was brisk during the British era after Col Francis Younghusband visited Tibet in June 1903 and obtained some facilities from the Tibetan government for the Indian traders, during the 1920s, the trade from the Kumaon region was nearly 70,000 pounds per annum which is worth Rs 100 crore in today’s value. The Tibetan administration used to charge taxes on crossing the pass, poll tax, 10 per cent tax on the goods exported by the Indian traders, besides other taxes collected by the Tibetan authorities at the mart.

Dehradun, July 8
Plucked away from school and forced to earn a living by scrounging in dustbins in the wee hours of the morning is a way of life for most slum children living in Uttarakhand.

When children of their age busy themselves in the activities of school life, these children become bread-winners for their families.

Now, an innovative programme conceptualised plans to give wings to these children’s dreams by bringing them back to school.

Aptly titled “Sapno Ki Udaan”, the state government programme will use the services of multi-purpose vehicles to be deployed in Kumaon and Garhwal, equipped with educators and innovative learning material. Donated by Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, the vans will act as mini moving schools, targeting slum areas and habitations of economically weaker sections.

“The Sapno Ki Udaan programme will not only track out-of-school children, but also encourage parents to send their children to school, as it is the only way to go forward in life,” said Radhika Jha, Additional Secretary, Higher and Basic Education.

Part of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), the programme will first organise sensitisation campaigns for parents in areas where children do not go to school, after a bridge course they will be given admission in neighbourhood schools.

“We have tied up with Butterflies, a Delhi-based non-government organisation (NGO) on public private partnership, it will be responsible for carrying out learning part of the programme. It will also be responsible for hiring educators and motivators.

The van will be equipped with LCDs and informative and lively learning material bearing the recurring cost of the programme,” added Jha.

The needs of special children too will be taken care by the educators who will be able to detect the disability in a child and suggest remedial measures. For the first time an authentic census of children who are out of school too will be conducted. The department has made a state-of-the-art software called Child Tracking Software.

Haridwar, July 8
In view of the admission process taking place in Shrawan Nath Math Jawaharlal Nehru College (SMJN), the Students Union, accompanied by other student outfits, today met the college management to put forth their problems and demands.

They have demanded a quota in self-financed courses so that the students belonging to the poor section of the society get admission considering the SMJN being the lone commerce college here.

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) city vice-president Sativinder Singh said the college union elections were being held for the past three years, yet the college management had not reserved seats under the union quota. He said as the admission process in the college was done on merit basis, the students, who came from far-flung rural areas, fell in 45-50 per cent bracket and were left with fewer options. The college management should allot union quota for these students so that they could also get the admission to the college.

Apprising of their demand to commerce HoD, Dr SK Batra, former college union chief Indresh Gaur said, “We have urged the authorities to allocate 10 per cent quota for the union so that students, who come to union members after failing to qualify on the account of low score and high fees in other colleges, can be given admission through this quota”.

A memorandum was handed over to Dr Batra to be forwarded to the college management stating their demand, while simultaneously warning of taking agitation route if positive action was not taken by the management.

Those who met the HoD included Utkarsh Valia, Ashish Sharma, Ankur Rawat, Ujjwal Valia, Vinit Valia, Varun Yadav, Harendra Chaudhari, Nitin Pandit, Harshit, Shyam, Lohit, Vaibhav, Mohit, Sajan Chaudhari, Siddharth, Akash, Deepak, Jay Dev and Ashish among others.

Dehradun, July 8
To announce the expansion plans for Uttrakhand units, Zee Learn organised a press conference here yesterday. Pradeep Pillai, Business Head Strategic Accquisitions and Nitya Ramaswami, Head Child Development and Academics, Zee Learn graced the event.

Zee Learn currently has 14 Kidzee centres and one ZICA centre in Uttarakhand. Kidzee has proudly touched the lives of 1,600 kids and helped them realise their unique potential through its unique education model illume.

Commenting on the occasion, Pradeep Pillai, Business Head, Strategic Acquisition, “The quality of education across primary, secondary and higher education will have to be raised to a much higher level. Zee Learn will be investing more than Rs 300 crore in the next five years in content development and curriculum. Zee Learn will come up with 2,000 Kidzee pre-schools and 400 Zee Schools in the next five years”.

Zee Learn aims at opening 19 Kidzee, seven Zee Schools and two ZICA centres in Dehradun by 2011 that will touch the lives of more than 15,000 kids with its methodology.

Nitya Ramaswami, Head, Child Development and Academic, Zee Learn, said, “The blueprint for the adulthood is laid during the school stage itself. However, our current education system doesn’t enable children to be thinkers. A child needs to apply all the information in new and diverse situations. Today what the education system requires is an enriching curriculum to provide academic competence along with character building and like skills. This will help to nurture the unique potential within every child”.

Zee Learns mission is to improve the Human Capital of India by providing quality education. Zee Learn strongly believes that if each student realises his/her unique potential, collectively India will realise its true potential of a super power.

Dehradun, July 8
Under the Green Campaign, a tree plantation programme was organised by Governor Margaret Alva on the Raj Bhawan premises here. Officials and employees of the Raj Bhawan participated in the drive.

On special instructions of the Governor, shade-giving, ornamental and fruit-giving tree saplings of different species were planted on the entire Raj Bhawan campus and its boundaries. The fruit-giving tree saplings that were planted include rose-scented species of litchi, mangoes of Amrapali, dussehari and langra varieties, kala kandhaari anar (pomegranate), different species of lemon as well as amla (Indian gooseberry), considered as a veritable storehouse of medicinal properties.

Among the ornamentals plants and trees, podocarpus, bougainvillea, ficus, franshisia, gardenia, magnolia fuscata, juniperus, ashokapendula, copperbrush and neem, which also possess vast medicinal properties, among other tree saplings, were planted on the occasion. Besides, special saplings of different species of beautiful, attractive and fast growing bamboo and various species of creepers were also planted. As per the plans, the ornamental plants would be made more attractive by imparting different shapes and forms to them.

The Governor said tree planting was the most humble manner of expressing one’s gratitude to nature. Terming tree planting as a highly important exercise for maintenance of environmental balance, she said trees and plants taught us to love nature.

Alva said enhancement in the beauty of the Raj Bhawan due to these plants and trees and the clean surrounding environment would definitely inspire the common people to associate with the Green Campaign.

Alva also said all workers of the Raj Bhawan, who had planted the saplings, would shoulder voluntary responsibility of looking after the development and protection of these saplings. The best conservationist would be given awards every year as an incentive.

She also said to provide organic compost nutrition to all plants on the Raj Bhawan premises, elaborate provision to use only the leaf litter had been made.

Dehradun, July 8
In the backdrop of the closure of government primary school at Akhandwani Bhilang, Raipur, due to the scarcity of teachers, the agitated members of the panchayat held a protest at the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan office here today.

Along with gram pradhan Prem Singh Pawar, a large number of protesters gathered to express their resentment against the administration. They shouted slogans pressing their demands on the administration for taking immediate action in the case.

The agitators have given a memorandum to Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in which they demanded the recruitment of at least two teachers for the 56 attending students at the school.

Pawar said, “The primary school doesn’t fulfil the teacher-student ratio, due to which it’s been closed since April 27. I have left no stone unturned. From the state Education Director to the secretary of the School Education Department and from the District Education Officer to the District Magistrate, everybody had assured of proceeding with an appropriate inquiry, but nothing has materialised yet”.

“Children of our village and nearby places are suffering due to the negligent attitude of the administration. If this is the situation of a government school located just 22 km away from the city, what will be the condition of schools situated in the interiors?” asked Pawar.

Dehradun, July 8
Adoiwala defeated Uttarakhand Club 2-1 in the Lala Nemi Dass District Football League played on the Pavilion Ground here today.

Adoiwala remained dominant in both halves and had greater possession than its opponent. It made good goal attempts in the first half but couldn’t get success, as its target goalpost area was full of mud due to rain, which slowed players’ pace.

However, rival team opened its account in the 10th minute when Shubham made a tough effort to net a goal.

In the second half, the players of Adoiwala pulled up their socks. It scored two quick goals through Mitesh (50th) and Abhishek (53rd).

Meanwhile, the second match played today ended in no result. Western Boys and DMK played a 1-1 draw. For the former Rahul Thapa scored in the 55th minute and for the latter Pritam netted a goal in the 44th minute.

Haridwar, July 8
The last day of the stationing of the Commonwealth Express at Haridwar railway station witnessed a massive crowd as it was day of respite from continuing rain today.

The Commonwealth Games info exhibition has immensely been successful in generating sporting awareness among people. The train will be remembered for the deep sporting knowledge it brought with it besides the hospitality shown by Northern Railway employees who have a sporting background. So from India’s golden age era of hockey under world’s greatest player Major Dhyan Chand to recent winning spree of sporting sensation Sania Mirza and Saina Nehwal, there was a wide array of information aided by photographs.

Indian hockey team’s photographs from 1928 Amsterdam Olympics to its last (eighth) gold medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 amazed spectators, many of whom had not seen the picture of Dhyan Chand.

Similarly, Uttarakhand’s first winner of the coveted Dronacharya Award, given for excellence in coaching, Jay Dev Bisht also attracted a lot of attention. Railway exhibitors proudly told people about Jay Dev’s achievements in boxing.

So was the info box of India’s participation in Commonwealth Games since its inception in 1930, like India didn’t play in 1962 and 1986 games. The reason being India was involved in a war with China in the first case while in 1986 India, along with other countries, boycotted the games to protest the apartheid policy prevalent in South Africa. While the medal tally showed that in the past two games, India has performed brilliantly in Melbourne (2006) and Manchester (2002).

Ajay Negi, Ishwar Singh, former national players, employed with the Northern Railway, informed The Tribune that youngsters showed tremendous interest in knowing about Indian sports history, achievements of players and sports stars.

Kajal and Neha, both MCom students of Lalit Mohan Sharma Degree College, who came from Rishikesh, after reading about the Commonwealth Express in The Tribune. “To be true we actually thought cricket is the sport where we excel internationally but now we know that hockey is the real game where we were world beaters winning record eight gold medals in Olympics,” stated the girls.

While the information technology exhibitors mostly from private firms failed to attract crowd and instead behaved rudely with visitors. Such was the difference between the two exhibitions carried out simultaneously on the same train that while the sporting exhibition coaches were jam-packed with crowd, the IT coaches were found getting a few visitors.

Now, the Commonwealth Express will leave to Lucknow, but not after leaving behind an indelible impression on the people.