Dehradun, August 2
The mystery behind the ongoing agitation in Uttrakhand’s biggest DAV PG College is now unravelled.

According to the Vice-Chancellor of HNB Garhwal University S K Singh, none of the 2,500 odd-students, whose results had not been declared, “do not exist” in the university records.

Professor Singh mentioned that the university office had not received application forms of such students even after the examinations had started in the fourth week of March this year.

“We have outsourced the distribution of roll numbers and admit cards which were distributed to all legitimate students on the university’s record,” he added.

The VC of the university believed that DAV College had issued roll numbers to such students and even allowed them to sit in the examination in violation of their regulations.

“The university as such has no record whatsoever about these ‘odd students’. The college administration, on the contrary, had cleverly mixed up the answer books of such students with those of the regular students. And the university had to deploy 20 people to segregate the answer books of these students from those of the legitimate students, which consumed a lot of university’s time,” he said.

“A DAV College professor told me that a big racket is being run by some ex-student leaders who charged hefty amounts mostly from outstation students and promised them admission and even of a good result. These ex-students then try to submit by hook or by crook their admission applications to the university office in Srinagar”, he added.

He also said some junior staff in the university office were too involved in such deals. Thus this is the reason of the ongoing agitation as the 2500 students, who had paid these student leaders, are now demanding that the promises made to them must be fulfilled.

The university authorities have already informed the state government and its departments concerned, including the Department of Higher Education, about the situation. However, the government has failed to issue any specific instructions in writing. It would like the university to settle the matter amicably.

Denying the version of Professor Singh, B L Nautiyal, principal of DAV PG College, said, “Of course, those 2,500 students are the students of DAV College. They had taken admission and submitted the fees for their respective courses.”

“The rejection of their examination form is just the matter of late submission of forms to the university for which we have written to the VC, requesting to check their answersheets and announce their results,” he added.

Nautiyal in his press conference earlier, had said, “Our college and students are alone not responsible for this trouble. The VC should first check the coordination system between the college and the university for sending us late message of the last date of the examination form submission in the February.”

“It is impossible of a degree college like DAV with the student population of over 10,000 to wrap up the selling, filling and submission of examination forms of students in a day or two,” he added.

Meanwhile, Professor Singh expressed deep concern over the unhindered and unregulated admission of thousands of students in DAV College in violation of all university norms and had questioned that how 30,000-odd students could be accommodated in a college which had infrastructure only for about 8,000 students.

Another college professor voiced his anguish about the worsening state of DAV College.

The professor, who is an alumnus of this college, said the open admission policy being forced upon the college would one day lead to its collapse. Yet, it went to the credit of a large number of serious students who, despite regular disruption in classes, still did well in their examinations and were able to find appropriate placements.

Dehradun, August 2
Kavalam Narayan Panikkar, often referred to as the grand old man of theatre, rues that Natya Shastra, an Indian traditional treatise on music and dance, is not taught in schools in the country.

“Instead of reading about our traditional dance drama, we are teaching ‘absurd theatre’ as a matter of routine. Our adherence to the western culture has somehow pushed our centuries old tradition out of the realms of our children. I have no objection to the western ideas, but when it comes to the theatre, we should recognise the concepts laid down by our ancient masters,” said Panikkar, theatre director and the founder of Sopanam.

Engaged in reviving the glory of the Indian theatre, Panikkar has never shied away from using the multilingual medium to convey the convictions that his characters so avowedly uphold.

“I believe that the theatre has a language of its own and by itself it is a strong communication tool. It has a life of its own. It is our responsibility to use this tool sincerely and efficiently. Going back to the traditional theatre, the concepts of Kerala and Kudiyattam use multiple langugages. For instance, Sanskrit for heroes, Prakrit for heroines and vernacular language for Vidushaka or the Court Jester. I had also staged Kalidasa’s ‘Malvika Agnimitram’ in Hindi and Sanskrit,” said the veteran theatre director.

Mussoorie, August 2
The Manav Bharti International School administration and students, after receiving no response to their repeated complaints to the Chief Minister, Uttarakhand, the Peyjal Nigam, the MC and the Public Works Department (PWD), seeking the repair on the dug-up road near the school that has endangered the life of students, started filling up the dug-up roads through voluntary service today.

More than 100 students of Manav Bharti International School gathered at the school gate and started filling up the road, dug up by the Peyjal Nigam, to lay sewer line under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission Scheme (JNNURM) that had been left incomplete since March. While the students were filling up the road, the contractor’s men rushed to the spot and stopped them from filling up the dug-up road.

School director Shanti Sharma made them leave the place asking them to send department officials at the site.

She informed the media that several letters in this regard had been written stating that several students had been injured by falling in the dug-up road during monsoon. But no action was taken so the school students were forced to fill up the road themselves.

Municipal Council President OP Uniyal said the Peyjal Nigam had ruined the roads of Mussoorie at several places and he had apprised Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank about the situation and asked him to stop the work completely until the dug-up roads were not repaired.

PWD Assistant Engineer AS Rana said the Peyjal Nigam had not completed the work yet and the leveling of road would only begin after the rains are over. Peyjal Nigam officials were not available for comment.

Haridwar, August 2
The railway traffic was restored on the Dehradun-Haridwar route today as the track was hit by heavy landslides near Mansa Devi hills.

After working continuously, railway employees cleared the track at various places, particularly near the railway tunnel, at 9:30 am and after getting clearance from the railway superintendent, the track was opened to trains.

Station superintendent Samarendra Goswami said the railway track had been blocked by debris owing to heavy rain.

Mussoorie Express reached on time, while 6 Dehradun-bound trains had been stopped at the Haridwar railway station since last night when the heavy mudslide occurred on the track.

Passengers heaved a sigh of relief as many, who were opting for bus route to Dehradun, again preferred the Railways with a huge rush visible at the station since the track was declared open.

Notably last year too, the railway track was blocked for more than 24 hrs at the same site.

Working in ITC-SIDCUL Haridwar, Umesh Dimri, a regular commuter who got stranded at Raiwala station, said a long-term plan needed to be envisaged at the track route otherwise whenever heavy rain occured, the track would get affected, owing to its proximity with the hilly terrain.

Dehradun, August 2
Gaurav Sharma scored seven goals in the 9-1 win of Garhwal Sporting over Dehra XI in the ongoing 60th Lala Nemi Dass Memorial Dehradun Football League played on the Pavilion ground here today.

Sharma scored all the goals in a quick succession to show the rival team the exit door.

He struck in the 24th, 26th, 28th, 35th, 40th, 47th and 50th minutes to outplay Dehra XI. Madan (14th) and Neeraj (43rd) also chipped in for the winning team whereas Dehra XI had to face a big embarrassment as it could score a single goal, through Gaurav (sixth minute).

In another match played today, Hostel Boys got the better of DMK 2-1. Aman (50th) and Bobby (60th) scored for Hostel Boys while Sumit (35th) netted a goal for DMK in a tough battle.

Tomorrow, Doon United will meet Chandramani and Sunderwala will play against Hostel Boys.

Dehradun, August 2
Women in Dehradun celebrated Hariyali Teej by observing a one-day fast and organising cultural functions to mark the occasion.

They offered prayers to Lord Shiva and sought the blessings of Parvati in the form of Teej Mata for the well-being of their husbands.

In Doon Valley, various women’s clubs organised cultural programmes and contests for its members. “People from other communities also enjoyed the occasion. The traditional food, songs and dance performed by children as well elders was enjoyed by all,” said Vishakha Singh.

HARIDWAR: On the occasion of Hariyali Teej, various functions were organised in the city today. A beauty contest was organised by the Bharat Vikas Parishad, where women walked the ramp in traditional attires. Most of the women were 40 plus.

Sanjana Sharma was declared the Teej Queen-2011 while Meenakshi was adjudged a runner-up. In the mehendi competition, again Meenakshi showed her talent by winning the first prize followed by Deepit and Shalini. Women also observed a one-day fast.

Dehradun, August 2
The local unit of the D&D Global Sports Promoters opened office in a city hotel today. The office-bearers of the association said they would promote the state’s talented players who faced financial problems. The association will sponsor such players and will also give them scholarships.

To start off, the association has chosen five sports disciplines of lawn tennis, badminton, golf, shooting and table tennis. The ranking of players from these games will be taken into consideration while awarding them scholarships and sponsorship, said the convener of the association, Dr Vimal Nautiyal.

The association, at a press conference, honoured tennis player Dhruv Pal for his performance at various state and natiaonal-level championships. Dhruv trains at Shanti Tennis Academy and is a known name in the sport. He was presented with a check for Rs 21,000 at the press conference. — TNS