Dehradun, October 8
A researcher from India will be representing the Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park, both World Heritage sites, as young ambassador at the International Youth Forum, Go4BioDiv, to be held at Mt Fuji and Nagoya, Japan, from October 16 to 29.

With an aim to get involved in the international environmental decision-making process and present their experience in the protection of biodiversity, Shazia Quasin, senior research fellow at the Wildlife Institute of India, will represent Nanda Devi National Park and Valley of Flowers National Park World Heritage Site and will be deliberating with other young conservationists from the natural world heritage sites all over the globe at the famous youth forum convention. The forum is held in parallel to the Convention for Biological Diversity’s 10th Conference of Parties in Japan, organised by the German Technical Corporation GTZ, along with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and Tsukuba University (Japan).

The participation of Shazia has been made possible through the support of her organisation Wildlife Institute of India, Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve forest Department and the organisers of the Youth forum, GTZ, IUCN, UNESCO World Heritage Centre and Tsukuba University.

The host International Youth Forum 2010 offers young participants the opportunity to exchange their views and creatively engage with natural world heritage sites as the emblematic and visible flagships of nature conservation, and the effects climate change has on these sites. Shazia, together with all other participants, will present her message in the form of a joint declaration and through side events, discussions with politicians and other stakeholders as well as colourful stage performances. Before the conference, the participants, who represent sites as diverse as the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), the Great Barrier Reef (Australia), Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), Sagarmatha (Nepal) or the Wadden Sea (Germany), Nanda Devi National Park (India), submitted pictures, cartoons and video clips they made about their sites and interviews they conducted with park rangers or village elders. These contributions will be shown in an exhibition and published in a booklet distributed at the COP10.

According to Shazia, Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers World Heritage Site are one of the richest biogeographic zones of India. The location, climate and topography have made it one of the important protected areas in Western Himalayas. They enjoy a very distinctive climate, which helps in harbouring a rich floral and fauna diversity. These sites support over 1,000 species of plants, including bryophytes, fungi and lichens and about 520 species of fauna. These two national parks are the only PA in the entire Himalayan range that have not been subjected to livestock grazing since 1983 and allows regulated eco-tourism to small portions of the world heritage sites. Both the parks are well protected.

The concept of world heritage and different management practices are just one of the many topics. Protected areas governance, biodiversity, new species and ecosystems, tourism and effects of climate change on specific sites will be discussed with the group as many participants encounter species loss and climate change at their sites first hand. The young ambassadors will therefore unite in a call for more action on the ground and effective biodiversity conservation worldwide.

Mussoorie, October 8
The demolition of the historic Clock Tower is fast becoming a bane of the Nagar Palika as the inquiry set up by the administration on a complaint of Ajay Uniyal, resident of Landour Bazar, clearly indicts the Nagar Palika of rampant irregularities and financial embezzlement in the whole process.

The inquiry conducted by SDM Manoj Kumar has found gross violations of the standard procedures and states that the whole exercise of demolition was done to benefit a few individuals. The inquiry is clear that the procurement rules-2008 were not followed during the demolition and in awarding the construction work to a private businessman.

The SDM, in his report sent to the administration, also clearly identifies the areas where the Palika has faltered. In his seven-page report, he has stated that the renovation and construction of the tower was done without adopting any legal procedures. The report goes on to say that the Nagar Palika had floated a tender in 2008 for the maintenance of the tower and its beautification from outside. But, no further steps were taken after that. In 2009, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Sanjay Narang, owner of Clock Tower Café and Nagar Palika President OP Uniyal after passing a proposal unanimously in the board meeting which stated that Sanjay would maintain the Clock Tower and beautification works on his own cost. However, no proofs of such a memorandum were available with the Palika as they failed to produce them in front of the SDM.

The Nagar Palika again passed a proposal in the meeting stating that instead of repairing the tower, it would be completely demolished and a new Clock Tower built. The reasons cited were a technical report by the Technical Consultancy Services that mentioned the need for demolishing the Clock Tower as it was in a dilapidated condition and would collapse at any given moment.

The Palika then prepared a budget of Rs 3,86,452 for the demolition and renovation of the Clock Tower. The SDM reports that the Palika was unable to explain who prepared such a budget and who assigned the Technical Consultancy Services for such a report.

Another interesting point in the report is the Nagar Palika claims that it had decided to give the contract to Mumbai-based businessman Sanjay Narang for the demolition and renovation of the tower after seeking legal opinion from their advocate, but no such record was present in the Palika.

The SDM report also suggests that the Palika made an agreement between the Executive Officer and Sanjay for the demolition of the tower which said the Quality Construction would demolish the tower as it had ample experience in such works and Rs 19 lakh would be paid for demolition and the rest amount spent by Sanjay for the beautification of the tower similar to Big Ben of London.

SDM Manoj Kumar’s report clearly concludes that severe irregularities had surfaced in the whole process and it was a clear case of financial embezzlement in which the Nagar Palika was solely responsible. The report has been sent ot the administration for further action.

On the other hand, the Palika President said no irregularities had been committed by the Palika in this case and he was ready for any inquiry in the matter. He also said SDM Manoj Kumar was prejudiced against him due to the dog biting case where he, Uniyal, had carried a tirade to remove him from the post, but failed.

Uniyal further said if Sanjay failed to construct the Clock Tower, the Nagar Palika was capable of completing the job on its own expense.

Dehradun, October 8
The rafting community has expressed its anguish at the alleged delay caused by the Forest Department in not permitting them to pitch their camps on the pretext of new rules and regulations despite the government order which gave them clearance while maintaining status quo.

Despite the declaration of status quo, forest officials have imposed two new conditions on rafting entrepreneurs

Deepak Bhatt, President of the Sahsik Paryatan Sangharsh Samiti, said that forest officials of the Bhagirathi circle intervened when they sought permit from them to pitch their camps.

The officials asked them to fill a new form which required the entrepreneurs to have training from a recognised institute and an experience of eight years.

“We were not supposed to fill any new form, given the mutual decision taken during the meeting headed by the Chief Secretary on September 5. It had then been decided to maintain status quo as far as declaring the new rafting policy was concerned.

“Despite that clearance, forest officials tried to distort the language of the decision to seek out their own interest. We had to seek help from a local MLA, Om Gopal, who then roped in the Chief Minister to send another government order to allow rafters to begin camping at the site,” said Deepak Bhatt.

He added that it was illogical to expect them to be trained from a recognised institute as no such institute existed in the country. “Almost all of us are self-trained,” Bhatt said.

He also pointed out that newcomers in the business could not be denied their bread and butter on the condition of minimum experience of eight years.

It requires a period of 15-20 days to set up camping paraphernalia. The rafters rued that they had lost precious time and were just setting up the infrastructure when they actually should be undertaking rafting activity.

“We are unable to reap a golden harvest from the numerous booking demands from Delhites and foreigners who are the country for the Commonwealth Games,” Bhatt said.

Pratha Pratim Saha, a rafting entrepreneur, said, “I have got queries from weightlifters and shooters from Scotland and Kazakhstan who have come for the CWG in Delhi, but I am not yet fully ready to begin the rafting season.

“We have already lost time due to the extended monsoon and now this unnecessary high-headedness of forest officials has made matter worse.”

Yusuf Zaheer, one of the founder rafters, said that once things settle down as a result of the intervention of the CM and local MLA, the rafting entrepreneurs would be able to make up for the lost time by mid-October.

Dehradun, October 8
Beginning October 21, as The Doon School observes the 75th anniversary, a galaxy of political leaders, industrialists and writers are expected to turn up for the celebrations.

Leading the pack are President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil, King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal who will be presiding over the functions spread over four days.

“The President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil will be the chief guest on October 23 and King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck will be special guest on the same day.

“While on October 22, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal will deliver the inaugural address, and additional guest speakers will be Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, and Sanjeev Chopra, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School,” said Dr Peter McLaughlin, Headmaster of the Doon School, while interacting with media persons on the school premises today.

On October 21, a commemorative dinner for the students from classes of 1949, 1950 and 1960 will be held at the headmaster’s residence.

“The batchmates of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi will be joining us for the celebrations and as is the habit with his son Rahul Gandhi, we never know he too might just spring a surprise and join us,” averred Dr Peter.

During the events, there will be an official launch of a commemorative stamp marking 75 years. The premier of a short film on the lives of the Doon School made by Oscar-nominee Ashvin Kumar is slated for October 23. On the same day, along with the Founder’s Day speeches, in-house debates too will be held.

The school has lined up two powerful plays, William Shakespeare’s comedy, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Dharamveer Bharti’s “Andha Yug” directed by Dr Hammad Farooqui.

A time capsule would be buried on October 22 to be retrieved after 25 years during the centenary celebrations of the school, besides there will be a host of other activities such as rock climbing, exhibition and inauguration of new Art and Media School on October 23.

The celebrations will close on October 24 with the much awaited cricket match played between the old boys and the school team.

Nainital, October 8
The 88th Agro-industrial Exhibition-cum-Farmers Fair, popularly known as Kisan Mela or Krishi Kumbh, began at the Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar on Friday morning.

The four-day event is expected to attract a large number of farmers from the other states as well as neighbouring countries like Afghanistan.

The Kisan Mela was inaugurated by Arun Kumar Bhakku, a progressive farmer of the region and an illustrious alumnus of the Pantnagar University.

Members of university’s board of management - Dr RL Arora, Dr JC Belwal and Rajesh Shukla - were also present on the occasion.

Recalling his association with the university, Arun Kumar said that he owed his success as a farmer to the values inculcated during his stay at Pantnagar.

Later, the Vice-Chancellor of the university Dr BS Bisht, while addressing the gathering of guests, delegates and farmers, expressed his gratitude to the farming community for their keen interest in the event.

Dr Bisht said, “This gives us inspiration and encourages us to move forward in all our endeavours. During the last year, 10 varieties of different crops developed by the scientists of the university have been released.”

“Pantnagar varieties and seeds command a lot of respect and confidence among farmers as we guarantee about 95 per cent success rate.

“The success of ‘brand Pantnagar’ is also reflected at the national level as in the two competitive examinations conducted last year by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), the success rate of Pantnagar students was eight per cent in Agriculture Research Service (ARS) and 42 per cent in the National Entrance Examination (NET) respectively. This is the highest achievement among all state agriculture universities,” he added.

In the past, farmers from Bhutan and Nepal have visited the Kisan Mela and this year, a small contingent of farmers from Afghanistan is also expected.

A large number of agro-industrial and agribusiness firms have put up imaginative and decorative displays showcasing the latest and best in agriculture technology.

A unique and very popular feature of the Kisan Mela is the Farmer-Scientists Meet (Kisan Goshthi) wherein visiting farmers can seek customised solutions to their specific problems from the experts and subject matter specialists.

In addition, visiting farmers are also given an opportunity to have a firsthand exposure to modern agriculture technology on display at various research centres and experimental farms of the university.

The power of Pantnagar seeds, a reputed brand name among the farming community, is on full display as farmers wait in the long queues for their turn to purchase the seeds of their choice.

Director Extension Education Dr YPS Dabas said that this year, more than 201 large agro-industrial and agribusiness firms, 251 small and medium firms are participating in the fair in which more than 500 small stalls have been put up.

Dehradun, October 8
In the memory of Frank Anthony, national finals of the Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-School Debate Competition-2010 was conducted at St Joseph’s Academy (SJA) here today. The mega event was followed by a prize-distribution function for the winners of the Albert Barrow Memorial All-India Inter-School Creative Writing Competition-2010.

The chief guest for the occasion was Dr DS Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor, Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU). Accompanying him were CS Mehta, registrar, UTU, Lancelot J Fuller, Deputy Secretary from the council, Brother AJ George, Principal, SJA, Brother Antony, Vice-Principal, and Brother Sebastian, Principal of BEd College, as other eminent guests.

Best speakers from six schools locked horns for top honours. After an hour of strenuous efforts and hard work, the contestants presented inspiring oratory and fiery rebuttals. The participants presented their heated arguments with conviction and eloquence while making the audiences spellbound.

After a hard-fought battle, Harshvardhan Mehta of St James’ School, Kolkata, was adjudged the best speaker while Addway Bandopadhyay of St James’ School, Kolkata, and Shourya Dasgupta of St Xavier’s Collegiate were the first and second runners-up respectively. St James’ School, Kolkata, bagged the rolling shield of the champions, St Xavier’s Collegiate, Kolkata, stood second and Clarance High School, Bangalore, secured the third position.

Results of creative writing competition are as follows: Nikita Sharma of Villa Theresa bagged gold medal and a cash award of Rs 5,000, Shrishti Mukherjee of Our Lady Queen of Mission, Kolkata, stood second and received a cash prize of Rs 3,000 while the cash prize of Rs 2,000 for the third position went to Kushagra Yadav of Mother Teresa Mission Higher Secondary School.

The judges for the competition were Sanjaya Singh Mishra, Anurag Sangal and Aashima Chandna while Brig KG Behl, president of the All-India Consumer Council of Uttarakhand, was the chairperson of the event.

St Thomas College conducted the finals of the Frank Anthony Memorial All-India Inter-School Debate 2010 here today. The competition was held on the premises of St Jude’s School.

Among the participants were The Doon School, Dehradun, Seth MR Jaipuria School, Lucknow, St Paul’s English School, Bengaluru, Christ Church School, Mumbai, St Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata, Don Bosco School, Kolkata, and Welham Girls School, Dehradun.

The event saw fierce national-level debating. The topic was ‘Dialogue is the best means to resolve all problems’ and the participants were given only 45 minutes before the start of the competition.

The judges had a hard time deciding the winners. The participants spoke with enthusiasm and put forth their views confidently.

The second runner-up team was St Paul’s English School, Bangalore. The Doon School, Dehradun, emerged first runner-up while the Cock Shield was raised up by Don Bosco School, Kolkata.

The award for best speaker was bagged by Francisco Mendez of Don Bosco School, Kolkata, while Vivek Santayana of The Doon School, Dehradun, and Varun Baliga of St Paul’s English School, Bangalore, were adjudged first and second runner-up best speakers, respectively.

Eminent philanthropist and social worker Dr S Farooq, President of The Himalayan Drug Company was the chief guest.

Dehradun, October 8
A two-day annual convention for 2011-12 of the Association of the ISC Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, began here today.

Harbans Kapoor, Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha, was the chief guest on the occasion. The meeting started with the lighting of lamp by the chief guest and a prayer by Father Mathew.

Kapoor also presented his views regarding the necessity of education in the development of the country and said it should be tension free. John Mason, who was the key speaker of the meeting, spoke about “stress-free education”.

Ashish Rajpal gave suggestions for better education. Vineeta Kamran, Principal of City Montessori School and Degree College, said soft skills played important role in the development of a child. Dr Jose Aikara spoke about regaining of hassle-free education in the state as well as the country.

The meeting will continue tomorrow as well. The Principals of Uttarakhand as well as Uttar Pradesh schools are taking part in the conference.

The students from various schools also presented a cultural programme.

Dehradun, October 8
On the concluding day of the 8th Inter-District Police Athletics Meet held at the Police Lines, Dehradun stood first in the men’s category by scoring the highest points while 31 PAC scored highest in the women’s section. SK Bhagat, Additional DGP (Crime/Law and Order) was the chief guest at the closing ceremony.

The results: Marathon (men’s): Prem Singh (IRB) stood first, Umesh Joshi (Champawat) stood second while Vijay Karki (Uddhamsingh Nagar) bagged the third position.

Decathlon (men’s): Naresh Nath (Nainital) stood first, Brijesh (Champawat) stood second and Ganesh Prasad (Pithoragarh) secured the third position.

200m race (Men’s): Srikant Ghildiyal (31 PAC) was first, Bhupesh Bora (40 PAC) was second and Kalachand (Nainital) was declared third.

100m race (Men’s): Suraj Singh (40 PAC) was first, Pradeep (Dehradun) was second and Srikant Ghildiyal (31 PAC) was declared third.

100m race (women’s): Sangita (Dehradun) was first, Bhavna (Nainital) was second Nutan (Haridwar) came third.

4X100m race (men’s): Suraj Singh, Ravindra Rautaila, Bhupesh Bora and Yashpal Kandari of 40 PAC stood first; Lalit, Sandeep, Kala Chand and Rajkumar of Naintal were declared second and Dinesh, Pradeep, Vivek and Nitin remained in the third position.

4X100m race (women’s): Luxmi Tiwari, Sonika, Saroj Joshi and Sunita Negi of 31 PAC stood first; Rekha, Poonam, Renu and Nootan of Haridwar were declared second and Meenu, Sarita, Sharmila and Hema were declared third.

Dehradun, October 8
Welham School excelled in the girls and boys categories at the XIth Inter School Frank Anthony Basketball Tournament.

At the finals today, Welham Boys beat Hilton School in the boys category while Welham Girls beat St Thomas in the girls section. Chief Guest J Brar handed over the trophies to the winners.

Manisha Singh of St Thomas College and Sidhima Nigam of Welham Girls were declared as best players in the girls section. Among boys, Arpit Bachchan of Hilton School and Kishlaya Jha of Welham Boys were declared best players.

Principal Hilton School David Hilton expressed gratitude to all participating schools. A total of 19 teams in boys and 12 teams in girls took part in the tournament.

Dehradun, October 8
On the sixth day of the third Shri Rohitash Singh Memorial Inter-School Boys’ Super 8s Cricket Tournament, the first match in pool A was played between Constancia School and Carman School (Dalanwala). Constancia School won the toss and chose to bat first.

A batsman defends a delivery at the Inter-School Boys’ Super 8s Cricket Tournament in Dehradun on Friday. A Tribune photograph

In the first innings, Constancia School scored 27 runs at the loss of 4 wickets and Carman school scored 22 runs at the loss of 6 wickets. In the second innings, Carman School scored 23 runs at the loss of 6 wickets taking their total to 45 runs.

Constancia School won the match scoring 34 runs making a total of 61 runs. Prashant Singh of Constancia School was adjudged the Best Striker with a score of 30 runs.

However, in pool B, Bala Hissar Academy played against Summer Valley School. Bala Hissar Academy won the toss and elected to bat first. In the first innings Bala Hissar scored 24 runs at the loss of 3 wickets. Summer Valley scored 35 runs at the loss of 1 wicket while in the second innings, Bala Hissar academy scored 30 runs taking their total to 54 runs.

Finally, Summer Valley School won the match scoring 20 runs and raising their total to 55 runs. Debojit Kalita of Summer Valley School was adjudged best striker with a total score of 24 runs.

Tomorrow’s fixtures: In pool D, the match will be played between Doon Cambridge School and Guru Ram Daas Academy (Rajpur) while in pool C the match would be between The Aryan School and St Thomas’ College.

Dehradun, October 8
The Inter-Council Schools’ Senior Girls Table Tennis Tournament-2010 was conducted at The Heritage School here today. B Gill, Prinipal of The Heritage School, declared the meet open.

The Aryan School, Doon Blossom School, Welham Girls’ High School, Unison World School and The Heritage School are participating in the meet.

The first match was played between Welham Girls and The Aryan School, which was won by Welham Girls. The second match was played between Doon Blossom and the Unison World School. Doon Blossom won the match 3-0.