Dehradun, March 18
The fear that chemicals in colours used on Holi can damage the skin and lead to serious ailments has taken the fun out of the festival of colours.SPECS (Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists) has come up with some interesting observations about the preparation of regular and organic colours sold in the market.

Dr Brij Mohan Sharma, Secretary, SPECS, also held the Heath Department of the state government responsible for not checking the use of chemicals in the colours. He opined that the makers should be instructed to print the ingredients on the packet.

Dr Sharma, on testing 50 samples of various colours collected from different localities in the city, found liberal amounts of chemicals in these - for example, the presence of mercury sulphite in red colour, copper sulphate in green, chromium iodide in purple, aluminium bromide in silver and lead oxide in black.

These toxic variants could lead to diseases like skin cancer, eye allergy or temporary blindness, bronchial asthmatic allergies, renal failure, learning disability and even cancer.

“Most colours in the market are metal oxides or industrial dyes. When washed away, these can pollute soil and water systems,” he said.

Even the so-called organic colours are not devoid of toxic chemical content. “All the organic products that we tested also contained chemicals. Only the base has a natural composition. Chemicals are added to make organic colours look brighter,” Dr BM Sharma said.

Dehradun, March 18
A Holi milan programme was held at the residence of Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Harak Singh Rawat here today.A large number of the Mahila Congress members had gathered to celebrate the festival and painted the occasion with different colours. The Congress workers applied colours to each other and dances to the tune of drum beats. Harak Singh Rawat greeted the party workers and wished them and their family members.

Another Holi milan programme was held by senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana, in which a large number of the party workers participated and applied colours on each other.

Dhasmana, greeting the party workers and leaders, said the festival of colours symbolises the message of love, brotherhood and unity. The party workers danced to the tunes of an orchestra and played with the colours. He also congratulated the residents of Dehradun.

Dehradun, March 18
Members of the International Movement of Children and Their Friends celebrated Holi Utsav on the Nanhi Dunya school premises here today.A warm welcome was given to the guests and students made colourful rangolis, decorated with colourful earthen pots. Children and the guests painted a collage with colourful hand prints.

Holi celebrations began a week ago at the school. Children made craft items and presented a fusion of colours and music in which teachers and parents also took part.

Volunteers from Russia, France, Germany and Sweden applied colour on each other.

Dehradun, March 18
For about four years, the Valley of Flowers in Chamoli became his pet obsession. Never bothering about the torturous weather conditions, Keshava Murthy scanned the length and breadth of the valley and came up with a book that documents 287 plant species.

“I want to rekindle interest in plant taxonomy, there is a very little interest in this branch. I am afraid this branch may soon die. The problem is at several levels. There are very few teachers and those who are there have failed to raise the level of teaching. What do you say of the students, who are, too, lazy? The point I will like to make is they are not ready to tolerate adverse conditions, for them a rather comfortable scenario will be watching nature programmes on television,” said Murthy.

He lamented at the lack of research in this field saying that biotechnology and emerging newer fields of studies have replaced botany, “Though taxonomy is the basic science, there are very few takers for this branch. The British had laid a sound base for undertaking research. Even in ancient India, research was carried out in taxonomy, but it is no longer the same. Most institutions in the country lack proper herbariums,” said Murthy.

A stickler for following all the rules laid in the book for carrying out the research, Murthy has painstakingly preserved all the specimens of plants that he encountered at the valley of flowers, “Those reading my book will like to verify about the details of the plants and the specimens that I have and it can be of big help even for those who undertake studies in the valley,” stressed Keshava.

Though on and off different sources have said the valley of flowers possesses around 560 plant species, including trees, Murthy has documented around 287 plant species. “I must say the people of the Bhyundar valley (Chamoli) need to be complimented for keeping the valley clean. A 35-member team had even visited Bengaluru and they were felicitated by the Pollution Control Board over there,” said Murthy.

Murthy first visited the valley in 1997. “But I began looking at the valley with different eyes after 2007 and it took me four years to write the book,” said Murthy.

Governor Margaret Alva formally released his book ‘Floral Gallery of Himalayan Valley of Flowers and Adjacent Areas’ here today.

Dehradun, March 18
A pregnant leopard was beaten to death by villagers in the Ramnagar Forest Division of the state. According to Ramnagar Forest Division sources, a two-year-female leopard with three unborn cubs got stuck in a snare following which some people used sticks to beat the wild cat to death.

Forest authorities have started probing the matter while the persons accused of killing the leopard are stated to be absconding.

According to veterinarian Dr RK Pathak, the leopard had three mature cubs in her womb. The Ramnagar Forest division that is also a territorial division of the Corbett National Park has witnessed frequent man-animal conflicts. While tiger-man conflicts were very common, leopard man conflicts have also become quite frequent.

Nainital, March 18
The Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar has got a new analytical laboratory. The building of the Central Analytical Laboratory was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor, Dr BS Bisht, on the premises of the College of Agriculture of the university on Thursday. The Vice-Chancellor also inaugurated the Geological Information System (GIS) facility housed in the laboratory.

According to a university spokesperson, “The main objective of this laboratory is to facilitate the students and researchers for carrying out target specific analyses across the colleges of the university and to organise specialised training programs in quality analyses, handling equipments, GIS, geographical positioning and remote sensing. Presently, the laboratory is equipped with various equipments like GIS, GPS, ICP-MS, Rapid N cube analyser, equipments for soil quality and soil microbiology studies etc”.

On the occasion, Dr Bisht said this central facility would facilitate students and researchers for carrying out specific targeted analyses. He also added that the laboratory should focus on the development and application of widely accepted quality protocols for various analyses.

Dean Agriculture Dr SK Saini explained the objectives and purpose of the laboratory at a central level. He said the establishment and functioning of this laboratory will avoid duplication of costly equipments in various units of the university.

The officer-in-charge of the Central Analytical Laboratory Dr KP Raverkar, In-charge GIS facility Dr Navneet Pareek and Head Soil Science Department Dr Ramesh Chandra, gave their input for further strengthening the facilities in the laboratory.

Dehradun, March 18
To select a duo from Dehradun as a wild-card entry for the next season of Dance India Dance (DID) Doubles, a talent-hunt show, Zee Television held an inter-college dance competition here today on the premises of the Institute of Technology and Management at 
Chakrata Road.

Around 130 enthusiasts from different colleges and institutes participated in the competition and presented various dance styles - freestyle, Indian classical, contemporary, hip hop, locking and popping - in front of the judges. “Getting into DID Doubles will be a dream come true for me. After watching so many episodes of DID, I’ve learnt different dancing styles,” said Tushar who aspires to win this contest and pursue a career in choreography.

A unit member of Zee TV said, “These dancers will be divided into groups and will get professional training under our choreographers. Out of the 10 couples selected today, only one will get the chance to go to Mumbai as a wild card entry in the next season of DID Doubles.”

“All the participants were assessed on the basis of rhythm, performance, expression, choreography, synchronisation and versatility,” said Dev Pathik, choreographer and owner of ‘Naach’, a dance academy. Shalini Dua, choreographer, was also present. The competition was divided into two sessions from which 10 pairs were selected for the next round of auditions that is scheduled for March 22. 

Mussoorie, March 18
Padam Shri actor, sports writer and novelist Tom Alter received the distinguished alumnus award of Woodstock School in a formal ceremony at the Parker Hall here yesterday.

He is the third member from the family to receive the coveted award. Woodstock School students presented a rendition of a Garhwali song ‘bed pako barah masa’ on the occasion, which forced Tom, along with local MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, to tap their foot on the number.

President of the board Thomas Chandy presented the award to Tom in presence of the school principal David Laurenson, employees and students of the school.

John Alter, Tom Alter’s brother, also reminisced the days in the school and congratulated Tom on receiving the award. Teacher Saroj Kapadia congratulating the actor. Saroj said Tom was excellent in acting and sports since childhood. She further said that Tom Alter did not look back since his school days.

A close friend, Ajay Mark said Tom was the first person who interviewed Sachin Tendulkar in 1998 when the ace cricketer was barely 15 years of age.

Tom Alter thanked the school for the award and said this award was close to his heart. He dedicated the award to his drama teachers. “I owe my career to them,” said Tom Alter.

Tom passed out in 1968 from the school. In a career spanning about three decades, actor, sports writer and novelist Tom Alter has played a variety of characters both in real life and reel life.

Dehradun, March 18
ONGC (Green) beat KDMIP (Finance) 25-18, 26-24 on the second day of the Inter-Departmental Volleyball Tournament on the ONGC complex in Dehradun yesterday.In another match, Frontier Basin (B) defeated Logistic 25-17, 25-21. Communication was beaten by ONGC Union 25-16, 25-16.

CLG got a walkover against GOP. There was no match today due to Holi celebrations.