Dehradun, April 10
Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal today said along with a medical college in Srinagar new homoeopathic hospitals would be set up under the National Rural Health Mission.

“We are taking all steps to promote the spread of homoeopathy in a big way. It means we are strengthening the existing infrastructure and building a new medical college government at Srinagar which will be ready by early next year,” he said.

The Chief Minister was speaking at a function organised to celebrate the birth anniversary of Dr Hahnemann, the father of homoeopathy.

He said a Unani medical college had already been announced and the government hoped to give equal prominence to the alternative systems of medicine. “These systems should not remain under the shadow of allopathy. The Uttarakhand government is taking all steps to promote the alternative systems of medicine, be it ayurveda, Unani, siddha and homeopathy,” he said. He said along with the medical college, 32 new homoeopathic hospitals would be set up in the state.

While Dr BC Lakhera, Director, Homoeopathy, said homoeopathy should not be seen as a last resort, but an independent system and, in some cases, even as the first line of treatment. “What we are doing has even found acceptance by several scientists who say that the nano-particles similar to the pellets used by us are very effective in treating patients,” he said.

The birth anniversary of Dr Hahnemann is observed as World Homoeopathy Day all over the world.

Dehradun, April 10
A charge sheet by the Crime Branch of the state Crime Investigation Department (CID) has reportedly been filed under various Sections of the IPC against the Chairman of the Nagar Palika Parsihad (NPP), Roorkee, his wife and two other persons in connection with their alleged attempt to attain educational qualifications by fraudulent means.

“The Crime Branch of the CID has filed the charge sheet in the court and not the local police,” confirmed Roshan Lal Sharma, SP (Rural), Roorkee.

Earlier, the police, on a complaint of late Vinay Bhatiya, conducted a raid on Roorkee Degree College in 2008 and found various irregularities in admission to professional degree courses of BEd, LLB, etc. A charge sheet was filed by the local Civil Lines Kotwali on March 26, 2011, in the court of the Judicial Magistrate here in this case.

The case was later transferred to the CID. During the investigation, led by Inspector Vinod Chouhan of the CID, it was found that Pradeep Batra, Chairman of the NPP, and his wife Manisha allegedly took admission to an LLB course by using fake educational certificates. They had also taken help of imposters to take examinations in their place and even resorted to copying during certain examinations.

The local police, at the behest of the CID, has filed a charge sheet in the court with the names of Pradeep Batra, Manisha Batra, Anu Chowdhary and Vikas Tyagi (son of Om Tyagi, president of the RDC), all residents of the town, in the case under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471, 472, 473, 474 and 120 (B) of the IPC.

During the investigation, the CID did try to arrest all the accused but the local police did not show courage to arrest them. In its final reply to the CID on March 22, 2011, the local police expressed its inability to arrest the accused since their arrest could create problems in the city.

On being asked about the issue, Pardeep said he and his wife had applied for the admission to an LLB course in that institute but later they changed their mind and never went to the institute for the purpose.

“Since I am a political figure, it was a handiwork of my rivals to implicate me in this matter and to ruin my political career. But, I and my wife are innocent and we will duly prove it in the court too,” said Batra.

Dehradun, April 10
“Music is changing with time. It is getting loud. Sufi music alone is holding to its roots. But many are now trying to spoil it,” feels famous folk and Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans. He was in the city for a private function on Saturday. The Padma Shri winner also celebrated his 45th birthday with his fans.

Hans Raj Hans, who has won the hearts of his audience with songs such as “Dil tote tote ho gaya”, “Dil le gai chorni,” “Sili sili aundi hai hawa,” “Tumba tumba,” etc, is unhappy with the changing genre. “The problem is with the people who are trying to remix classical and Sufi music. Sufi music is our God, and youngsters should understand this. If they cannot promote it, at least they should not spoil it,” he said expressing his emotion for his first love.

The singer, who has also lent his voice in many Hindi films, will soon be releasing the album titled, “Ek Ishara.” “The album is a mixture of Hindi, Punjabi as well as Urdu religions,” Hans said.

Explaining about the difference between today’s music and the earlier one, he said, “The music today is not melodious any more. People still reminisice the songs sung by Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi. But now they forget the track the second day itself. Remix has taken over. It is not music, just a technique that disturbs the soul and mind. Music should give relief to the mind as well as ears,” he said.

For youngsters who want to join this field, Hans said, “One should not take music lightly, as one has to devote oneself to it fully. Lots of riaaz (practice) is required on a daily basis. No one should enter this field thinking it to be just glamorous.”

He, along with his son Navraj Hans, is directing music for Punjabi film “Tere Ishq Nachaya”.

“Both Navraj and Yugraj will be seen in Hindi and Punjabi film, respectively. They will be acting as well as directing the music,” said the proud father.

“If you respect success, it will follow you, but if you don’t, it will leave you,” the singer signed off.

Dehradun, April 10
The proposed prohibition on protests at the Gandhi Park and burning of effigies at the Clock Tower by different associations and political parties will bring a respite to the city’s traffic woes and ruckus on roads in a big way. However, there is a long way to go for the plan, as proposals like this one in the past couldn’t be implemented.

Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ganesh Singh Martolia had given the presentation of this new traffic plan to state Director General of Police (DGP) Jyoti Swaroop Pandey in the police meeting of all districts last week at the police headquarters.

As per the plan, rather than the Gandhi Park, protests should be held in a part of the Parade Ground and effigies also should not be burnt at the heart of the city, ie the Clock Tower, which is at a stone’s throw away from the park. Rallies also should not taken be out in the midst of the city. A different route should be followed for that.

It may be mentioned here that such protests at the Gandhi Park and the Clock Tower obliterate the city’s image and have become a pain for commuters. Haphazardly parked vehicles on the main roads, near the protest site, and the presence of a big crowd there are a nuisance for the general public.

“It will take some time to implement this plan. We will talk to political parties and associations in this regard and will gradually prohibit the protests at the heart of the city,” the SSP told The Tribune. “It will make the traffic of the city smooth. Despite directions by the administration, vehicles are parked in the no-parking zone and memorandums are pasted at the Gandhi Park which damage the beauty of the park,” Uma Thapa, a housewife said.

Dehradun, April 10
Though the pattern of the competitive examination for IIT-JEE, Roorkee zone, was slightly lengthy this time, the aspirants appearing in the common test seemed to be happy and satisfied while leaving the examination hall here today.

“The paper contained both objective and subjective questions, but were quite easy to the students. The paper was quite lengthy. The students were given only three hours to solve 69 questions in total,” said Brijesh Rohil from Dutt and Verma Coaching Classes.

“Mathematics being the subject of everybody’s concern was the easiest of all. It will be pre-mature to say that which students from our institute did the best in the examination, but we are content with the performance of our students today,” asserted Atul Verma, faculty member of Dutt and Verma.

The candidates, who have appeared in the examination, are also very enthusiastic and looking forward to positive results.

“As per my students, the papers were quite simple and easier than last year. Our students were properly prepared for the competitive examination and underwent meticulous pattern of revisions for all the subjects (maths-physics and chemistry). I am still cross checking with my students to make out how they have done in the examination,” informed DK Mishra, academic head of Akash Institute.

There were eight centres for the examination in Dehradun. As many as 61,208 students appeared from the Roorkee zone. The overall number of students who appeared in the IIT-JEE examination was 4,85,262. Last year there were about 130 centres for the examination, which were increased by two this year making it to a total of 132 in the zone. The examination were held in the two lots. The first started from 9 am to 12 pm, while the second went from 2 pm to 5 pm. Graphic Era University, Carman School, Scholar’s Home, Doon International School, Dehradun Institute of Technology, Asian School, St Joseph’s Academy and Kendriya Vidhyalaya, ONGC, were the eight centres of the examination.

There was a lot of confusion and misunderstanding among various government agencies leading to the brutal lathi charge on fans celebrating the victory of the Indian cricket team in the World Cup 2011 on the night of April 2. A large number of cricket fans, including women and children, were subjected to the brutal lathi charge when they converged at the Gandhi Park to celebrate the World Cup win of the country after 28 years. There has been a lot of condemnation and criticism of the lathi charge and political parties have also started a campaign to demand action against the erring policemen. Bowing to the public pressure, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank ordered an inquiry into the episode and the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Kotwali Police Station, who led the police force in the lathi charge, was sent to the Police Lines for a “correctional course”.

Interestingly, none in the administration has cared to go into the background of the unsavoury episode. The situation that led to the lathi charge had its genesis in the earlier similar incident on March 30 when India beat archrival Pakistan in the semi-finals of the tournament. Thousands of cricket fans, a large number of them in an inebriated state, had converged at the Clock Tower to participate in the celebrations. It was reported that a large number of them, mostly youngsters, who were drunk, created ruckus on the roads by smashing windowpanes of cars and motorcycles. They started stopping the cars and forced the passengers to raise slogans in favour of the Indian cricket team. Some of the elements in the crowd, giving the celebrations an unfortunate communal turn, were targeting people with beards. They forced them to raise slogans and there was even a clash at the communally sensitive Inamullah building area. Keeping in view the situation arising out of the incidents of the semi-final match between India and Pakistan, it was decided by the administration to impose Section 144 of the IPC, prohibiting the assembly of five or more persons in the city. While the police force was briefed about it and instructed to carry out the orders, the general public was not made aware of the orders. The orders were not given wide publicity so that the general public should have known about the ban in advance.

Dehradun, April 10
Graphic Era University (A) outplayed Secretariat by 119 runs to enter the final of the 59th District Cricket League underway at the Survey of India Stadium, here today.

In the grand final, Graphic Era will battle it out with Institute of Management and Technology (ITM) tomorrow.

In the second semifinal on Sunday, Graphic Era won the toss and chose to bat first. Graphic Era accumulated 262 runs in the quota of their 40 overs for six wickets.

Opener batsman played a beautiful knock of 110* runs guiding the side to set up a big total. Ahmed (56), Mandeep (38) and Jishan (30) also contributed valuable scores for their team. Rakesh Joshi of Secretariat was successful in taking three wickets.

Dehradun, April 10
Satish Kulashree was elected referee chairman of the District Referee (Football) Association in the elections that were held on the Pavilion Ground here today.

As per the press statement issued by the District Football Associaton (DFA), DS Negi has been declared Vice-Chairman of the association. Three working committee members have also been elected.

The three are Kailash Joshi, Jairam and Rajender Rawat. The meeting was attended by HC Bajaj, election officer, Joginder Pundir, president of the DFA, and all other members of the association.

Meanwhile, another meeting of the DFA will be held on Tuesday at 5 pm.

Mussoorie, April 10
The hosts Woodstock School defeated Modern School, Delhi, to win the 11th Win Mumby Memorial All-India Basketball Tournament yesterday.

It was a neck-and-neck fight in the first quarter in which the hosts finished with a one-point lead. However, the tides turned against Modern School when they faltered in defence and could not take advantage of takeovers in the second quarter and lost it 9-13. Buoyed with the lead, the Woodstock boys outplayed the visitors in the third quarter and won it 15-7. The Modern School team tried to recover some ground by scoring a few three-pointers but could not catch up with the lead and lost the fourth quarter 7-9, thus losing the title match 35-46.

Atif from Woodstock, who scored 14 points, was declared the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Gaurav (9) points, Yu Sung Hyeok (9), Mathew, Saichet and Mila contributed to the win of the Woodstock School team.

Meanwhile, in the girls’ final, Welham School from Dehradun clinched the title by defeating Modern School, Delhi, 51-35. Aishwarya Nandini from Welham Girls’ School was declared the Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

The referee for the matches were Joginder Singh, Balwinder Singh and Saket. The chief guest on the occasion was Principal of Woodstock School David Laurenson, who presented the winning trophy and citations to the winners. The tournament was organised by Ajay Mark.

The other teams that participated in the tournament were St George’s College, Wynberg-Allen, Welham Boys’ School, Yadavindra Public School, Sherwood College (Nainital), The Lawrence School (Sanawar), The Shri Ram School (Gurgaon), Hopetown Girls and The Doon School.