Divali: Drive planned to check adulteration of edible items
Dehradun, October 8
With the festival of Divali nearing, the Uttarakhand Food Safety Authority will launch a special statewide campaign against the sale and manufacturing of adulterated edible items, vegetable oils and ghee.

Director, National Rural Health Mission, Piyush Singh inaugurates a seminar in Dehradun on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

Vikasnagar Mass Suicide
Police team sent to Muzaffarnagar
Dehradun, October 8
The police has failed to make any headway in the case of alleged suicide by 10 members of a family. Nine of them, including six children, had plunged into the Shakti Canal in Vikasnagar to end their lives while a male member of the family allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at Telpura Tea Estate here.

Nurse commits suicide
Dehradun, October 8
A nurse allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree in the courtyard of her house at Navada, Nehru Colony, today. The deceased has been identified as Chandrani (35).

Academic block inaugurated
Dehradun, October 8 A new academic block was inaugurated yesterday at the Purkal Youth Development Society (PYDS) Learning Centre by Mohini Daljit Singh, Head, Max India Foundation.

Mussoorie, October 8
Students from Government Inter-college, Gorakhori, near Nainbagh in the Jaunpur block of Tehri Garhwal, who had been doing a research on climate change, biodiversity and the environment from the past 10 years and recently concluded their study tour at the Nag Tibba peak near Mussoorie, have revealed that due to anthropogenic activities like trekking, fodder collection and grazing of cattle for the past several decades, a sharp rise in the temperature has led to a drastic change in the micro-flora and biodiversity of the region.

The research was conducted by different batches of students under the aegis of Dr Uday Nand Gaud, a lecturer of biodiversity and a leader of the North Himalaya on Climate Change.

Dr Gaud said the Nag Tibba region was known for its dense forests where species such as oak, mauru and khasu were found in abundance. However, the study that was conducted along with students of the college and concluded recently, has revealed that no seedling or sampling of these plants was available on the ground level.

Dr Gaud further said these results had been achieved using the optical point quadrat sampling technique. He said the school, along with the staff, had been recording and registering changes in the region for the past 10 years.

Dr Gaud said if the region was neglected, the fragile environment could damage considerably.

Students, including Sheela, Pooja, Amita, Monika, Devendar Bisht, Nisha, Mukesh, Ankit, Anoop, Papendra and Subash Robin, also collected samples for the further study.

The research team also met DFO, Mussoorie, Ram Gopal Verma and shared its findings with him. Verma gave them an assurance that all necessary steps would be taken to preserve the biodiversity of the region.

Meanwhile, Dr Gaud has been awarded the best young scientist award by the an international organisation, Environmental Botanist. Govind Ballabh Pant university has also awarded him with the best teacher award.

Dehradun, October 8
With the festival of Divali nearing, the Uttarakhand Food Safety Authority will launch a special statewide campaign against the sale and manufacturing of adulterated edible items, vegetable oils and ghee.

Raids will be conducted to check the sale of adulterated ghee, milk and spurious drugs. “On the directives of the government, a drive will be launched across the state during which raids will be carried out against food adulteration,” said GC Kandwal, designated food safety officer.

During the festival, there are possibilities of the manufacturing, sale and distribution of adulterated edible items and oils. “An action plan that comprises the collection of samples, inspections and creating awareness among those into the business of food is underway,” Kandwal added.

Medical experts said sweets made of milk were bound to be adulterated as there was hardly any check on the supply of milk coming from the neighbouring towns of Saharanpur, Moradabad and Meerut, which were notorious for synthetic milk supply.

“Synthetic milk has cancerous properties. Urea and caustic soda are harmful to heart, liver and kidneys. Caustic soda, which contains sodium, acts as a slow poison for those suffering from hypertension and heart ailments. Caustic soda also deprives the body of utilising lysine, an essential amino acid in milk, which is required by babies in the womb making it dangerous for pregnant women. Alkali destroys proteins and body tissue,” said Dr Ajit Gairola, Joint Director (Health).

Dehradun, October 8
The police has failed to make any headway in the case of alleged suicide by 10 members of a family. Nine of them, including six children, had plunged into the Shakti Canal in Vikasnagar to end their lives while a male member of the family allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree at Telpura Tea Estate here.

The police has sent a team to Muzaffarnagar where Shokender, Rekha’s husband, resides. Rekha had died of an ailment. The last surviving member the family, Kailasho, who has been admitted to Government Doon Hospital, had accused Shokender of teasing her family.

However, the police has not come to any conclusion about Kailasho’s allegation. Though on the day of the incident the police had termed it a case of mass suicide, now it is not sure whether it is a case of suicide or there was foul play.

The cops yesterday got some some relief after the body of missing Hemant was found in the canal. Prior to that, the police suspected she might be alive and have a hand in the possible foul play.

Gopal Nath Goswami, SSP, said it would be premature to say anything about the case.

Dehradun, October 8
Welham Girls’ School and The Aryan School scored wins in their respective league matches in the fourth Tek Chand Memorial Basketball (Under-12) Tournament for Girls held at Doon Girls School here today.

In the first match, Welham Girls’ School outplayed hosts Doon Girls School-B 36-6. Star player Rinchen led from the front scoring 10 points while Diksha of Doon Girls scored four points.

In another match, The Aryan School also found an easy rival in Doon International School whom the former beat 12-4. Zarmit of the winning team scored six points while Akshra scored four points for Doon International School.

Tomorrow, two league matches will be played in the morning following which two semifinals will be held in the evening.

Dehradun, October 8
Winning their respective quarterfinals, Guru Nanak Academy and Summer Valley School entered the semifinals of the Shri Rohitash Singh Memorial Inter-school Boys’ Super 8s Cricket Tournament 2011 here today.

In the first quarterfinal, Summer Valley School surpassed Shivalik International School by 13 runs. Shivalik won the toss and invited their opponents to bat first. Summer Valley scored 30 runs for four wickets in the first innings.

In reply, Shivalik could score 26 runs for four wickets. In the second innings, Summer Valley made 27 runs, losing four wickets while their rivals could score only 17 runs before getting all out.

Yuvraj Cheema of the winning team was declared man of the match for scoring 17 runs to play an important role in the win.

In another quarterfinal, Guru Nanak Academy edged past St Thomas’ College by one run. In the first innings, the winning team scored 32/2 and St Thomas’ 28/6. GNA, in the second innings, got all out and scored 29 as the rival team was also bundled all out for 29.

Tomorrow, Summer Valley School will take on The Heritage School and The Aryan School will meet Guru Nanak Academy in the semifinals.

Dehradun, October 8
Children seeking information under the Right to Information Act about the number of schools sanctioned for their villages may come as a surprise to most but not so in Uttarakhand where a revolution of sorts is taking place. Schoolchildren are using the RTI Act to the hilt and have filed more than 500 RTI applications in the past one year. At times their crusade has even helped villages get electricity supply.

Helping these children learn the nity gritty of filing RTI application is Aditi P Kaur and her organisation Mountain Children’s Foundation (MCF).

“I think some kind of information about using the Right to Information Act should be provided in schools. It will benefit children a great deal, if they are armed with the information about the Act while still at school,” said Aditi.

While the government debates on the issue, the MCF is busy conducting workshops for children in different parts of the state. It has reached out to more than 4,000 children in the state and that’s not all, the organisation has recently set up a helpline for children.

Clearly this out-of-the-box thinking has helped Aditi and her MCF amass a strong brigade of the RTI crusaders. “At times, these kids have even been threatened and they were forced to give up their fight. Some have emerged stronger after such incidents and continue to file RTI applications,” said Aditi.

The Dehradun-based organisation was set up nine years ago with the purpose of providing a constructive platform for children and more than herself it is children and their rights that Aditi loves talking about.

“As I hail from the hills, I am aware the kind of life the children in the hills lead. The foundation was set up to address the issues of the children of the hill communities, as I felt most of these issues were not being addressed by society,” said Aditi.

To develop reading habit among children the MCF also publishes a news paper, the “PABAM”, that brings together around 10,000 children in Uttarakhand and Tripura. “Children by nature are curious and the “PABAM” is a friend and guide to them, providing information about the world and their home states,” added Aditi.

Dehradun, October 8
Minister of Agriculture, Dairy Development and Fisheries Trivendra Singh Rawat today launched a book, “Tinke”, written by Tapas Chakraborty.

Chakraborty is an officer of the Department of Revenue, Customs and Central Excise and is posted in Dehradun.

Based on 27 short stories, the book is written in Hindi and the theme has been taken from real life incidents. It has been published by Winsor Publications.

“The literary meaning of “Tinke” is small things. Just like a bird collects straws to make its nest, I have written stories and compiled it in a book, ” said Chakraborty. He said after the launch of his first book, he would write books based on children, humour and memoirs.

Chakraborty said he had started writing at the age of 12 and since then he had been contributing to various publications.

Chakraborty, also a photographer, said: “Writing is my passion and I cannot live without it.”

Those who were present on the occasion included Dr Jiten Thakur, Zahid Kaunchvi from Jhansi, Dheerendra Dheer and Ramesh Sharma “Chaman” from Gwalior and Dr DK Bisen, Assistant Commissioner (Customs and Central Excise) Dehradun.

Mussoorie, October 8
Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School celebrated its 42nd Founder’s Day on the Vincent Hill premises today. Brig Harjit Singh, a former Chairman of the Railways Recruitment Board, was the chief guest on the occasion. An inter-house march past was also held for girls and boys. Attari House (boys) and Ranjeet House (girls) won the first position.

A display by pipe bands of two schools (Vincent Hill and Shangri-La) held the audience spellbound. The bands marching to the tune of ‘London Bridge is falling’ mesmerised the audience. This was followed by a field display and a song and dance programme by Shangri-La girls.

An inter-house gurbani competition (solo and group) was also held at the school gurdwara. Damanpreet Singh from Ranjit House was declared the winner in the solo category. In girls’ solo, Sunisa Manchanda emerged as the winner.

In the group section, Ranjit House won the first position in the girls’ category while Attari House was declared the winner in the boys’ category.

The chief guest appreciated the school authorities for imparting quality education to the students. An exhibition was also held on the occasion, where various projects were put on display.

Dehradun, October 8
A new academic block was inaugurated yesterday at the Purkal Youth Development Society (PYDS) Learning Centre by Mohini Daljit Singh, Head, Max India Foundation.

“The new academic block and the library will further enhance the quality of education being imparted at the PYDS,” said Mohini while addressing the audience.

The two floors are dedicated to the late Sarla Tandan. The library commemorates the late Puskin Chandra. — TNS