Dehradun, March 30
After the police acted against the seven persons responsible for burning a leopard to death some days ago, senior Congress leader Dhirendra Pratap today came to the rescue of the suspects.

He served a 100-hour ultimatum to the Uttarakhand Government demanding the immediate release of all the seven arrested villagers who have been sent to Pauri Jail on the charge of burning a leopard to death at Dhamdhar in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.

Addressing public meetings in Nainedanda, Beerokhal and Rikhnikhal blocks of Pauri Garhwal, Dhirendra Pratap announced that he would begin an indefinite fast outside the Lansdowne tehsil headquarters from April 3, if the state government didn’t take steps to release the seven villagers.

He pointed out that the leopard had attacked three villagers as a result of the complacent attitude of Forest Department officials of that area.

He charged the government of leaving the residents of the state at the mercy of wild animals. He claimed that local hill people had stopped growing crops due to the attack of beasts.

He said many persons had been attacked by wild animals in the past few days in Rikhikhal, Rudraprayag and Nainedanda, but no one was taking any initiative to save human lives.

The Congress leader acceded to the need for a strong wildlife protection Act, but held that affected villagers should be dealt with leniently.

Dehradun, March 30
Climbing every mountain peak to test his endurance level could be the calling card of Sonam Paljor, a Ladakhi mountaineer now settled in Dehradun. You name them and Paljor has climbed most of them from Mount Everest in Nepal to Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand and Saser Kangri peak in Ladakh.

But it is the way mountain expeditions have been reduced to tourism packages that has Paljor all worked up, especially the manner in which Mount Everest is being promoted these days. “I dislike the tendency that has got hold of the authorities in Nepal. They have reduced expeditions to luxury camp halts where the formalities of climbing are fulfilled by hook or crook. I think some time soon we may even have a ropeway to the Everest,” said Paljor, who did a solo climb of the Everest without oxygen in 1984.

A former Commandant with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), Paljor said there was no fun if mountaineering activity became a mere formality. “An expedition is an expedition. Mountains of different heights are a challenge. I gained experience while climbing the lowest to the highest peak. They tested my endurance level and how I evolved as an individual while facing trying times,” emphasised Paljor.

He still believed that the Nanda Devi mountain posed a tough challenge and the climb was more difficult than Mount Everest. “During the Nanda Devi Summit climb, we climbed for 26 hours without taking a halt. The Rishi Ganga gorge is a difficult trek. It tested our skills and fitness levels. While going back to the summit we were left with a piece of rope that was only 10 feet long and in the darkness I slipped almost 300 feet down,” recalled Paljor, who is a practising Buddhist.

Worried about the garbage gathering at these mountain peaks, Paljor said it was difficult to remove the years of junk that had got accumulated. “When the snow melts, the garbage surfaces, only to get buried once again in the snow. Expeditions and tourist inflow should be regulated to contain the garbage problem. The South Col area at Mount Everest has become very dirty,” he stressed.

Paljor was also worried about the impact of climate change, especially the melting and receding of glaciers in Ladakh. “In future we may have to face acute water shortage. Already villagers in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu Kashmir have to trek several kilometres to fetch water because old springs fed by the glaciers have dried up,” stated Paljor.

Dehradun, March 30
DN Tsarong, though in his 90s, still remembers the Tibet that he was forced to leave in the wake of the 1959 Uprising. Some of the photographs that he took between 1914 and 1957 were put on display at the Songtsen Library here today.

The black-and-white photographs vividly show the old Tibet, its people and their culture. “I started photography as a hobby when I was 13 years old in Lhasa where I worked at my studio,” said Tsarong, a former official with the Tibetan government in exile.

The exhibition titled “Tibet - The Roof of the World” has pictures of families, monasteries and Tibetans participating in the cham dance, of life that was carefree before the Chinese Government took over.

The photographs would have remained in family albums and away from public view, but for the efforts of Namgyal L Taklha, who on the advice of a friend, decided to preserve these and also hold an exhibition so that people could compare the free Tibet and the “Chinese” Tibet.

“We divided the photographs into two sections. The period between 1914-1957 is represented by my father and Alexander David-Neel, a French explorer. The period after 1979 includes photos from the Lobsang S Takhla collection, the Dalai Lama’s elder brother and my husband,” said Namgyal L Taklha.

Lobsang S Taklha was part of the first delegation that visited Tibet in 1979 after the uprising. “There is a distinct change in Tibet as photographed by my father and later by my husband. The seeds of oppression and cultural subjugation of Tibetan people were sown during that period,” stressed Namgyal.

A writer and a social activist in her own right, Namgyal has penned two books - “Women of Tibet” and “Wheel of Life” (a memoir). She is now working on a book titled “Tibetan Costumes” that will hit the stands soon.

Jane Moore, a former photo editor and now a freelancer from the United Kindom, and Kusho Chowsang assisted Namgyal.

Haridwar, March 30
Though most denizens of Uttarakhand might not have heard about the martial sport of Wushu, yet the players of the state are doing well at the ongoing 32nd National Wushu Championship being held at the mega auditorium of the Prem Nagar Ashram here.

In the 52 kg weight category, Ashish Negi won his bout defeating Sarjeet from Kerala. Irshad Ali too followed suit in the 48 kg category defeating Manoj Kumar.

In the girls section, Ratna Devi, Deweshwari Devi and L Chandu won their bouts in the taijekwan event.

The championship, which began on March 27, will end tomorrow. Over 12 teams are participating in the meet.

Expressing happiness over the performance of the players and the facilities being provided by the Uttarakhand Wushu Association, Manish Kakkad of the Indian Wushu Association said that the championship would go a long way in making this martial art sport popular in the state.

PS Gill, general secretary, Uttarakhand Wushu Association, said that as infrastructure for outdoor sports is limited in the state, a game like wushu, which can be played indoors, is a good option for the younger generation.

Ratna Devi, a gold medallist, said that wushu is an exhibition-cum-full contact sport that has been derived from Chinese traditional marital arts. This sport was displayed at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

On the facilities and talent available in the state, expert trainer Arti Sahwni opined that with exposure, the raw talent in the state would evolve into national-level players.

Dehradun, March 30
The president of the Garhwal Bhartri Mandal Sansthan, Col HM Barthwal (retd), has expressed gratitude to the state government for granting approval to establish Graphic Era Hill University.

He said, “I would like to thank Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank for initiating a positive approach for youngsters of the hilly region and starting its own private university offering technical as well as management courses”.

“Now, children from the hill region will not have to leave their native places to attain vocational trainings at Haridwar, Dehradun and elsewhere. The opening of the university will also bring job avenues for many residing in Pauri and nearby areas,” he added.

Dehradun, March 30
The two-day national seminar on “New Invention in Paracytological Research”, along with the felicitation symposium on an eminent scientist, Prof SS Lal, was held at DAV PG College here yesterday.

The seminar began with the welcoming of the chief guest, Prof VP Sharma, former Director, Malaria Research, Delhi, who lit the ceremonial lamp.

A large number of students, research scholars, teachers and scientists participated in the seminar and shared their views on the topic.

Following it was the oration ceremony where the Dr VP Sharma Oration Award went to Dr BK Tyagi, Director, Centre of Research and Medical Entomology; the Dr PS Chauhan Oration Award to Dr AM Saxena and the Prof G P Aggarwal Oration Award to Prof CJ Hiware, Marathwada University, Aurangabad.

There was a Young Scientist Oration Award session wherein about 11 research scholars from all over India participated.

Present on the occasion were Dr S Farooq, philanthropist, GP Aggarwal, former Head of the Department, Banaras Hindu University, Dr PT Bhutia, Additional Director, Zoological Survey of India, BL Nautiyal, Principal DAV PG College and others.

Dehradun, March 30
The Badminton Welfare Association, Almora, honoured veteran badminton player Ramakant Sharma with a shawl and commendation certificate for his performance at the international competitions for veterans.

A gathering of about 300 people applauded Sharma when his name was announced for the honour. The DGM of the State Bank of India was the chief guest on the occasion.

In 2009, Ramakant Sharma had given a good performance in World Veterans Championship in Spain.

A retired executive engineer from the PWD, he plays in 60+ category. He had also participated in the World Veterans Championship in Taiwan and is now preparing for the 2011 World Championship in Canada.

“I gave a good performance in the last world championship for which I was felicitated. In the forthcoming meet, I will get a wild card entry in the singles, but for doubles, I need to play qualifying matches,” said Ramakant Sharma.

Dehradun, March 30
Doon Star and Akranta have reserved semifinal berths in the Bir Singh Thakur Memorial Tournament by winning their quarterfinal matches today at the OFD Ground here.

In the hard-fought first quarterfinal, Doon Star got past Bajrang Club 4-2 in the tiebreaker.

Despite some good efforts, no goal came in the two halves of the match. So, a tiebreaker was taken to break the deadlock.

In the penalty shootout, Doon Star beat Bajrang 4-2. For the winning side, Rajender Singh Rawat, Balvinder, Vijay and Rajesh Chauhan scored a goal each. For Bajrang, Henry and Rahul were the only players to find the target.

In the second quarterfinal, Ankit Negi took Akranta to a 1-0 victory over XI Star. Negi scored the goal in the eighth minute. The rival team failed to find the equaliser.

Balaji will lock horns with Adhoiwala tomorrow at 4 pm in the last quarterfinal of the competition. The semifinals will be played on Saturday.