Dehradun, September 1
Members of the Uttarakhand Andolankari Sanyukt Manch paid tributes to the martyrs of Khatima firing with the slogan ‘Karo ya maro’ here today.

Representatives from various andolankari (statehood agitators) organisations participated to mark the 16th anniversary of the Khatima firing incident.

Delegates from different social organisations, while remembering the martyrs, said the government was yet to fulfil its promises made to the statehood agitators which include providing employment and registration of all statehood agitators.

Sunil Juyal, spokesperson of the manch, said the people have forgotten the sacrifices made by the martyrs. He mentioned that they were against the construction of dams, but these were being built on the regular basis in the state.

Nainital, September 1
The town of Haldwani witnessed violence on Tuesday night when groups of students clashed after student union elections were declared at the MB Post Graduate College on the Nainital Road.

The police had to resort to a mild cane charge to disperse the clashing groups of students who had resorted to stone pelting.

Later, there were minor skirmishes among the supporters of candidates and the police on the issue of taking out a procession on the Nainital Road.

While the administration had disallowed taking out of the procession following a clash that had taken place a couple of days earlier, the supporters of the winning candidates, who were from the student wing of the Congress, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), were adamant on taking out the procession.

Earlier, activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) had allegedly clashed with NSUI workers.

It is learnt that 12 students were injured in the incidents that continued till late Tuesday night. Petrol pumps, restaurants and liquor vends in the area had been closed as a precautionary measure.

Dehradun, September 1
Gone are the days when girls were only associated with glamour or household work. In contrast, girls were seen participating in the college Students Union election at DAV PG College with great fervour and gusto, leaving all inhibitions behind. They were shouting slogans, raising banners and leading rallies in support of their party for the elections.

Priya Tyagi, second-year student, was no where looking less than a cheer leader with colourful balloons in her hands while appealing to students to cast their votes in favour of her party. "We are supporting the NSUI since last year as they have always worked in favour of the students. We are taking part in canvassing within and outside the college," said Priya.

However, on the second day of fillng the nominations of the contesting candidates for the forthcoming college elections, girls were seen taking an equal part in creating a ruckus and chaos on the roads. From singing to dancing or playing drums on the roads, girls were not lagging behind boys.

The girls were seen leading rallies and violating the time limit of canvassing which was alloted to them. It was also learnt that many girls participating in the canvassing and rallies were from other colleges.

The college administration and the police kept mum instead of keeping a check on them. Even the police deployed within the campus was seen escorting the rallies and not making way for other commuters on vehicles. The scene is likely to prevail till the day of polling and the results are out.

Dehradun, September 1
On the closing ceremony of the two-day job fair, the Madhuban Academy of Hospitality Management and Research (MAHAR) informed about the placement of its students at a press conference here today. The Clarks Inn Group of Hotels has participated in the recruitment of freshers in culinary art.

While addressing mediapersons, Hemant Koccher, Director of MAHAR, said the placement programmes would be conducted during the practice of students. He added that students might also be selected on the basis of the job fair organised at Hotel Clarks Inn.

Vinod Srivastava, Regional Manager of Clarks Inn, said it was the first time when the hotel had organised a job fair in Dehradun. "Just having a look at the success of the job fair, in future such programmes would be given more advancement,” he said.

Examining the progressive qualities of students, Srivastava said the students would be provided with placement opportunities during practice.

He said Clarks Inn was going to be developed at an advanced level. They needed the employees in masses so as to run hotels. As the budding students of Uttarakhand were showing a keen interest in hotel work, efforts were made to select more and more students.

Commercial Head of Clarks Inn Rishiraj Kalra, Operation and Placement Coordinator Sunil Phillips and Amit Anand, KK Chopra, Principal Nitin Sharma, Susha Seema Kapoor, Suraj Kumar and Sandeep Panthri were also present in the conference.

Haridwar, September 1
Various functions will mark the centenary celebrations of the birth anniversary of the founder of the Gayatri family which comprises world renowned institutions of Shanti Kunj and Dev Sanskriti University in Haridwar.

Millions of followers as well as volunteers of Gayatri Parivar spread worldwide will be participating and remembering the great saint, seer and visionary who was born in Agra on September 20 in 1911.

Spiritual and creative programmes will be the highlight of the celebrations that will begin from February 6, 2011, till November 2012.

A historic Gayatri Maha Kumbh will also be held as part of the celebration on the lines of Maha Kumbh. The Gayatri Maha Kumbh will be held in the city from November 1-7 in 2012 which will see participants from varied parts of the world and will conclude the year-long centenary celebrations.

A three-day volunteer training camp is being held at Shanti Kunj aimed at giving an in-depth training to the volunteers so that the centenary programmes are successfully organised.

About 2,000 odd Gayatri family volunteers from different states will take part in this camp.

Giving training to the volunteers Dr Pranav Pandya head of the Gayatri family urged them to make sure like the religious Maha Kumbh they have to make sure Gayatri Maha Kumbh too is successfully organised.

Add to this a huge volunteer conference aimed at delivering the message of the spiritual awakening and spiritual rebuilding of the nation will be conducted in Delhi. These volunteers are part of the 4,000 Gayatri Shakti Peeths, Pragya Peeths and Gayatri Chetna Kendras spread in various parts of the country and abroad.

Dehradun, September 1
Host Carman School, Premnagar, managed to beat Col Brown 8-7 via sudden death to win the Om Prakash Memorial Football Tournament here today.

Not even a single goal could come in the stipulated time. Both sides played an action-packed match but in neither of the halves any goal could be scored. However, a tie-breaker round was played after a goalless game.

The tie-breaker also ended on 4-4 and the result was decided through sudden death. For Col Brown Surashek, Deepak, Akashdeep, Zia, Naveen, Aishwarya and Navneet scored a goal each. While Siddharth, Tushar, New, Mic, Sameer, Siddhant, Navi and Muntazir scored a goal each for the winning team.

Bikansochaitom of ITITI was given away the award of best goalkeeper, best scorer was New of Carman and Ryan Kumar of Carman was declared the best player.

Dehradun, September 1
At the tender age of 21 this young lad from Kathmandu has travelled across 21 countries on his bicycle covering 50,000 km of distance.

With a noble message to save the environment, Saurabh Dahal is on a mission to travel 150 countries of the world on his bicycle till 2020. He today reached Dehradun and will leave for Pakistan from here.

This globetrotter started his tour with Rs 25 in his pocket at the young age of 14 from Kathmandu in Feburary 2002.

"I was studying in Class IX when a German cyclist came to our school on a drug orientation class and I got enthused by him and decided to go on this mission. I have travelled a distance of 50,000 km during my tour in 21 countries and will travel 3,20,000 km in completing my mission of touring 150 nations," he says.

Though he has opted for such an arduous and challenging mission, he has not left his studies. Dahal carries with himself his academic books and studies these whenever he gets time. "After two years of my journey, I took some gap and came back to Kathmandu to appear in the class X examination. I usually study about a month before my examination," said Dahal who is currently in Class XII (Commerce).

To accomplish his mission Dahal did not mind spending nights in jungles or living on an empty stomach in some parks during his journey. "During my journey I learnt a lot, but had some bad experiences as well. My cycle was snatched twice, in West Bengal and Indonesia, however, some good people bought me a new one. People in Pakistan teased me for coming to a Muslim country from a Hindu country," he told The Tribune.

The 21 countries he has travelled include China, Burma, Pakistan, Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, India and Indonesia.

The globetrotter will leave for Pakistan again from here and latter head to European countries. I don’t have any sponsor. I started with Rs 25 in my pocket and people helped me on my way," said Dahal who has travelled 94 times on air during his mission with his cycle.

What is the message he has got for people?

“Travel short distance on cycle and long distance on gaddi,” quips Dahal who covers 100 km per day on his cycle.

Dehradun, September 1
MKP trainees thrashed Welham Girls' School (Red) 7-1 in the final to claim the Dhyan Chand Hockey Tournament title here today on the Welham School ground.

Kavita Bisht (ninth and 19th), Pooja Bhatt (14th), Sushma Jakhwal (25th), Neena Badola (37th), Ashu Bisht (41st) and Varsha Rawat (46th) scored for the winning team. Radhika (27th) was the only scorer for the Welham.

MKP trainees dominated the match. They played an aggressive game and kept the score board busy. Welham had no answer to the technical game of the trainees of MKP.

Meanwhile, during the prize distribution ceremony the winning and runner-up team was given prizes. Anita of MKP trainees and Shreya Gupta of Welham Girls School were given away the award of best promising players.