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ADB sets unrealistic deadline for repair of dug-up roads
A road in the Dalanwala area in a poor shape in Dehradun. A Tribune photograph
Local lad shines in karate meet
Craft bazar has something for everyone
An artisan with his products at Crafts Bazar at the Parade Ground in
Dehradun. |
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Nari Shilp Mandir beat KV FRI
Players in action in a match in the District-Level Basketball Tournament in Dehradun on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
Unison World girls lift roller skating trophy
A roller hockey match under way in the Inter-school Roller Skating Competition in Dehradun on Sunday.
Councillor’s proposals fall on deaf ears
A broken culvert in Defence Colony in Dehradun. A Tribune photograph
BJP, a party with difference(s)
Dance workshop by Shaimak Davar's troupe concludes
Students give a performance at the concluding day of a
dance workshop at All Saints’ College in Nainital
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ADB sets unrealistic deadline for repair of dug-up roads
Dehradun, October 16 The deadline for the restitution work on the roads in the Dalanwala area, which was the first to be taken up for laying water pipes, is October 27. The reality is that only a couple of roads like Tegh Bahadur Road and stretches of Luxmi Road and Balbir Road have been repaired till now. The roads in the entire Dalanwala are yet to be repaired. The pace at which work is progressing in the area, it may take four or six months to complete it. The blame game has already begun in the wake of the panic button pressed by the state government machinery and the local politicians to complete the work before the Assembly elections. The District Magistrate, Dehradun, held a meeting with the officials of the ADB and others late in the evening and monitored the progress of the repair work till 12 at night a couple of days ago. Deputy Project Director, ADB, SK Aggarwal said the deadline had deliberately been set much early to the logical period of completion of work in order to build pressure on the contractors to pull up their socks and speed up the pace of the work. He admitted an inordinate delay had happened in the execution of the project. He said: “We have to deal with two government bodies, the Urban Development and the Jal Nigam, and two bureaucracies related to them, instead of usual one Urban Development body in the other states. Most of the time, they had difference of opinion and made it hard to progress concurrently. Though we had applied for the project in August last year, we got the permission for digging up road in February this year.” “Thereupon, the Executive Engineer of the Urban Development Ministry, who was supervising the entire project, remain inefficient throughout and was replaced with two Executive Engineers a week ago,” he said. In the face of anger among the public over the poor shape of the roads, Congress MLA Dinesh Aggarwal has warned the officials of the ADB to complete the repair work in next two months. He said: “Public blames MLAs and MPs for poor infrastructure and question them for a poor shape of roads making their lives miserable. If the ADB fails to complete the repair work by December this year, we will lock its office in the city”. Executive Engineer KK Rastogi said they would proceed further with the digging work only when they had completed repairs of the dug-up roads.
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Local lad shines in karate meet
Dehradun, October 16
“I focused mainly on my practice sessions and it has helped me. Other than this, I think I am good in defence, which has been my forte,” a happy Kandwal told The Tribune after returning here. “From Uttarakhand, Sagir Hussain and I were the two players who represented India at the competition. Though he missed a chance to secure some position, I could get the third place,” 19-year-old ace karate player added. “Karate is my hobby and enjoy the sport. Though I have not yet given it a thought to make it a long-term career, if I get good support I will continue with the game,” said Kandwal, who is a BA II second year (private) student, stated. In 2009, he had secured the sixth position in the 75 kg category at his first international meet at the Turkey Open Karate Championship. “Turkey was altogether a different experience since it was a world championship while the recent one in Goa was not that difficult,” he said. He has credited his success to his coach Sanjeev Kumar Jangra. “The credit of my success goes to my coach. It’s him under whose guidance I have been practising. Other than this, my parents and friends have also supported me a lot,” Kandwal said.
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Craft bazar has something for everyone
Dehradun October 16 The handicraft items displayed in the exhibition are grabbing the attention of Doonites during pre-Deepawali shopping these days. Amid myriad collections of woollen, pottery, from readymade garments to decorative items, a large number of visitors are thronging to purchase these. Informing about the Craft Bazaar, assistant director Shaily Dabral said the basic idea of the exhibition was to promote small-scale entrepreneurs of rural India, artisans and self-help groups and provide them a platform so that they could learn market-centric promotional skills. “As, there’s so much competition, it’s essential that these small-time entrepreneurs get an opportunity and a medium to showcase their talent and in return boost our economy. All exhibitors are provided facility of stalls at the venue,” asserted Dabral. Besides, handicrafts, eateries are another attraction of the expo. Stalls of sumptuous delicacies of Rajasthan and Garhwal are nursing the platters of the visitors. The cultural dance and folk songs are also entertaining visitors as well as adding spark to the fair. The fair will continue till October 24.
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Nari Shilp Mandir beat KV FRI
Dehradun, October 16 NSM won the first quarter 5-2 while it drew the second quarter 2-2. Striking back, KV FRI scored four points against three of NSM in the next quarter. However, the latter got back control in the game again registering a 6-2 win in the fourth quarter. Winning team’s star player Aastha topscored with 14 points while Ankita Negi of KV FRI chipped in with six points. In the boys’ U-14 match, Stadium Trainees beat Race Course Boys 29-20. Trainees won the quarters 5-4, 2-6, 14-4, 8-6. Kuldeep (16 points) and Manish (eight point) were the principal scorers for the winning team. Shubham and Anshul scored ten points each for Race Course. In another boys’ under-14 match, Race Course Boys edged past Indian Cambridge School 18-16. The quarters remained 4-2, 2-4, 6-4, 6-6 at the end of the match in the favour of Race Course. Yash Patel scored six points for Cambridge while Anshul of the winning team scored all 18 points during the match. In the under-17 girls match, KV Club thrashed KV FRI 29-6. Kiran (12 points) and Ankita (four points) were the main scorers for KV Club and KV FRI, respectively
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Unison World girls lift roller skating trophy
Dehradun, October 16 Waverly Convent Of Jesus & Mary and Doon Girls got second and third place, respectively, in the girls’ section. Whereas St George's College, Mussoorie, settled for the second position in the boys category. In the adjustable section, Sai Baba International School got first place. Doon International School and Jaswant Modern School stood second and third, respectively. Meanwhile in the roller hockey finals today, Welham Boys’ School beat St. George's College, Mussoorie 3-1 and Youth Club, Mussoorie 4-2 in the senior and junior boys’ final, respectively. In the girls’ roller hockey final, Unison World School defeated Pestle Weed 4-2.
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Councillor’s proposals fall on deaf ears
Dehradun, October 16 Though area councillor from BJP Rajender Rawat is satisfied with the work done in his ward, he is annoyed with the working system that moves at a snail’s pace. “I have spent Rs 1 crore on the construction of roads in the ward so far. Besides this, community halls are also being constructed. While work on five of them is over, three are still under-construction,” he added. He said work on laying a sewer system in the area was near completion and later, work would start in other areas. He further said: “Funds for the construction of a tourist cell near the Kedarpuram bus stand have already been released by the Tourism Department to the Rural Engineering Services. However, work on it is yet to begun.” The councillor said he wanted to get a mini-stadium constructed in his ward and had even sent a proposal to the Sports Department in this regard. However, the department did not give its nod. The councillor further said: “We had also submitted a proposal to the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority for the construction of a wedding point, but the project never saw the light of day.” Expressing concern over poor condition of roads, he said: “I approached various departments for the construction of roads but nothing has been done so far.” On the other hand, residents have their own grievances to share. Akhilesh said: “Streetlights in the area are most of the time non-functional. Bulbs used are of poor quality and fuse immediately after they are changed.” Another resident, Laxmi Negi, said: “Drains remain choked. Sanitation employees hardly clean them. Our area virtually turns into a pond during the monsoon.” Anuj said: “Roads are lying in a bad shape for a long lime. The councillor never bothers to get them repaired.” Kishen, however, expressed satisfaction over the works carried out by the councillor. “The councillor is instrumental in getting many works done in the area. No other councillor could have done this much.”
Representative’s View
I approached various departments for the construction of roads but nothing has been done so far — Rajender Rawat
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nainital Diary
The festival of Dasehra saw the much-anticipated visit of Chief Minister Bhuvan Chand Khanduri to Nainital. His visit was expected given his faith in the local deity at the Pashan Devi temple and his treating the town as his “sasural” or the place where his wife Aruna Khanduri comes from. Observers say that he was come to Nainital the very next day after becoming the Chief Minister but the beginning of the Shraadh a day after he was sworn in delayed his arrival to the town. But his visit to “sasural” after a long gap and that too after being reinstated at the helm of affairs was not to his liking. After his long puja at the Pashan Devi temple, he went to the Nainital Club where there was a ruckus among the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers over the issue of garlanding him. This Then he came to address a press conference. Not aware that he was being taken to a media conference and being under the impression that he was in for another round of chaos, Khanduri initially declined to enter the hall. It was only when he was told that there were mediapersons inside and no party worker that he came and addressed the press. Height of sycophancy
Although it is now more than a month that the state witnessed a change of guard at the level of the Chief Minister, the people continue to watch the developments with a pinch of salt. Since Khanduri visited the place on Dasehra, a festival that signifies the victory of good over evil, the people could be heard joking around the town. “Can we say the same thing about the state of affairs in the BJP in Uttarakhand?” The people are also angry at the role being played by some of the mediapersons when it comes to acting as mere sychophants of those in power. These elements were singings paeans in praise of Dr Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank when he was the Chief Minister and have immediately started doing the same for Khanduri. The people still remember how reports of Nishank having “won over the hearts of people in two minutes” had appeared when he had not even bothered to talk to a single citizen at a time when the region had been hit by rain-related disaster last year. Now the same mediapersons wrote how Pashan Devi had appeared in Khanduri’s dream and it was succeeded with an image of lotus flower that led to his joining the BJP. Smirking at such reporting, a very interesting comment was heard at a tea stall. “What if he had seen an image of an elephant after that?” Would he have joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)?”Such reports have further depleted the image of the media in the eyes of common people.
Steve Jobs’ state link
Kumaon happens to be a region that has links to several major happenings in the national and international spheres. This time it was the death of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Apple Inc Steve Jobs. It was only after a few days of his death that it became common knowledge that just before having co-founded Apple Inc, Jobs had visited this part of the world on a spiritual journey. He had come visiting Kainchi Dham at a distance of about 18 kilometres from Nainital to meet Baba Neem Karori Maharaj in 1974. Kainchi Dham is a prominent spiritual centre of this region that is frequented by several high-profile visitors from across the world. Those aware of Jobs’ visit relate that at that time he was a commoner who had come to meet and seek the blessings of the maharaj. But he had been highly disappointed on having come to know that the maharaj had left the world a year back in 1973. It is also learnt that Jobs had also shown interest in another spiritual centre of Baba Haida Khan near Haldwani. Some of the followers of Kainchi Dham are of the opinion that it is possible that Jobs opted to keep the insignia of his firm after being influenced by the maharaj since the latter was known to distribute apples among his devotees. It was only after his return to the USA that he had co-founded Apple Inc and emerged as an all-time great in the world of entrepreneurship.
PCC formation draws flak
The much-delayed and sought after Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) was eventually announced by the Congress last week. As expected, the announcement has failed to make everyone happy and those whom the party has failed to make happy have resorted to a campaign against the party. This time the tool being effectively used by the disgruntled elements of the party is e-mail. The e-mails being circulated by the disgruntled elements within the Congress have pointed out that the PCC has scores of shortcomings. It is being alleged that people having old links with the party and a greater mass base have been sidelined while those who have not made any contribution towards the growth of the party have been made office-bearers. It is also being alleged that the Brahmin lobby is dominating the PCC with 15 out of 31 members being from this category. It is further alleged that the Punjabi lobby representing a community that has a sizeable population in the state has been sidelined. Similarly, the detractors have pointed out that the Scheduled Castes and farming communities have not been given proper representation. The concept of one-man one-post has also been allegedly flouted. (By Rajeev Khanna)
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Dance workshop by Shaimak Davar's troupe concludes
Nainital, October 16 More than 400 girls who had received training during the workshop entertained the audience with various dance compositions set to popular English and Hindi music. The also danced to remixes of old English chart busters and new Bollywood numbers. The performance was a mix of jazz, funk, Bollywood, hip-hop, Indo-jazz and bhangra. The teachers of the school danced to the tune of "Aao huzoor tumko ...." The evening ended with a performance by the school band, “Revelations”. The members sang a couple of popular Hindi and English numbers, including Bryan Adam’s "Summer of 69..."
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Officials of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have set an unrealistic deadline for the completion of the restoration work on the dug-up roads in the city.
Dehradun, October 16
Dehradun, October 16
Dehradun, October 16
The 10-day dance workshop being conducted by the team members of leading Bollywood choreographer and dance master Shiamak Davar's troupe at the All Saints’ College in Nainital concluded with a scintillating performance on the premises of the school last evening.
More than 400 girls who had received training during the workshop
