Dehradun, October 23
With festive offers of lower rates of interest on EMIs, better financing schemes, extended warranty and free maintenance on electrical appliances and vehicles, the city markets, including Paltan Bazar, Rajpur Road, Moti Bazar, Jhanda Bazar and Rama Market, witnessed huge crowds on Sunday today.

Festival enthusiasm, that has gripped the city for the past few weeks, has now reached its climax. The prime shopping centres have worn a festive look while a large number of people thronged the markets for shopping.

From petty decorative items to exquisite gifts, from lights and lamps to sweets, people are all set to welcome Divali. "It is considered auspicious to buy goods on Divali and we can also avail ourselves of the discounts offered by various companies,” said Neeta Sarin, a house maker.

Many people prefer to buy vehicles during Divali as the companies manufacturing them offer lucrative finance schemes during the festive season.

The assistant manager (sales and sourcing) DD Motors, Nikhil Rajvanshi, told The Tribune that according to the bookings with their company, around 1,000 new vehicles were expected to hit the city roads this Divali festival.

“People buy new vehicles during the festive season when many companies come out with attractive offers,” he added.

Besides, many shops in the markets are decked up with an array of steel utensils and other cookware on the eve of Dhanteras today. Dhanteras, also known as Dhanvantri Jayanti, is considered auspicious for metal purchase. In fact, an equal enthusiasm can be seen among jewellers on Dhanteras as purchasing gold and silver coins on Dhanvantri Jayanti is also considered auspicious.

Apart from this, decorative wall-hangings, sparking Chinese lights, traditional handmade chandeliers, lampshades and earthen diyas are attracting visitors. “We have all types of electrical lights, scented candles, floating candles, twinkling diyas, magic candles, flowers, paper hangings and “footprints” of Lakshmi, which are bought for Lakshmi puja on Divali,” said Shivshanker, a shopkeeper.

Dehradun, October 23
The Forest Development Corporation of Uttarakhand has fixed October 31 as the last date for registration of vehicles involved in quarrying activity on the Song riverbed in the city but surprisingly only one aspirant has come forward till now. The officials also do not seem ruffled at such a weak response to the corporation move.

General Manager, Production, FDCU, Vinod Kumar said: “The deadline has been set up to check the veracity of drivers’ documents and their credentials, background, etc, before permitting them to undertake quarrying. But it does not mean that they will not be able to apply afterwards. The process of cross-checking will continue as well.”

Even in worst-case scenario, the department could also hire tractor drivers from the nearby villages. He said: “There is no hard and fast rules that we can only hire trucks or tractor-trailers. The concrete material collected from riverbeds can also be transported in tractor-trailers as well and there is no dearth of these vehicles in villages as well.”

The problem of labourers will also be taken care by the drivers as well. The department would not need to make any separate arrangement for labourers as it is drivers who will be bringing labourers on their own, he said.

Santosh Rawat, president of the Employees Association of the FDCU, said: “In case of Haldwani where quarrying has been taking place quite regularly on a good scale, the competition among drivers is intense. Much before the registration process starts every season they can been seen queued up for registration. But in case of Dehradun, drivers know that they will get permission even if they apply on the date of the launch of quarrying activities for the sheer reason of the lack of competition here. Moreover, the quarrying had not been taking place here for the past many years. Since it has begun now, the situation may improve in the near future.”

Dehradun, October 23
Brothers Club and Sports Trainees were crowned champions in boys’ and girls’ categories, respectively, in the senior District Volleyball Championship, which was organised by the District Volleyball Association at ONGC ground, here today.

In the boys’ final, Brothers Club got the better of Doiwala Club 25-19, 25-21, 25-19. Abhinav Bhatnagar of the winning team performed exceptionally well to help his team win.

In the girls’ final, Sports Trainees defeated Doon Club 25-15, 25-12. Pooja and Anjali Chaudhary were the best performers for Sports Trainees.

Deputy General Manager (HR) of the ONGC, who was the chief guest on the occasion, gave away prizes to the winners. 

Dehradun, October 23
KV Club had to fight hard to register a narrow 10-9 win against SLV Inter-College here today in the District-level Handball Tournament held at Parade Ground.

Amit struck six goals in the match for the winning team while Sachin contributed with four decisive goals. Putting up a stiff competition, Arun and Furkan netted five and four goals, respectively, for the opponent team.

KV Club’s close contest continued in its next match as well in which it drew 12-12 against KV ITBP Club. Sachi and Sanjay struck six goals each for KV Club. Anoop, Arjun and Gaurav contributed with six, four and two goals, respectively, for ITBP.

In another match, SGRR Nehru Gram defeated SGRR, Patelnagar 14-7. Suraj and Sohan were the principal scorers for the winning squad while Yaswinder and Aman netted three and two goals, respectively, for the losing side.

In last two matches of the day, KV ITBP Club thrashed KV Hathibarkala number 1 by 20-6 and KV Club surpassed KV OFD by 25-10. Meanwhile, Deepa Kandari, Hema, Sushila Rana, Gopal and Nitin Uniyal were the match officials. 

Dehradun, October 23
Former World Cup and English Premier League star Terrance Terry Phelan visited Dehradun to scout for young football talent in the city as well as to obtain a first-hand knowledge about local football. Phelan, a former member of Chelsea and Ireland World Cup football team (1994), is the the biggest-ever football star to have visited Dehradun.

Nicknamed “the scuttler”, Phelan played as a left-back for a number of clubs, including Chelsea, Leeds United, Swansea City, Wimbledon, Manchester City, Everton and Fulham. He also made 42 appearances for the Ireland national team, whom he represented at the 1994 FIFA World Cup.

Phelan is chief mentor of the Goa-based SESA Football Academy. During his visit to Dehradun, he visited Maharana Pratap Sports College. He witnessed a friendly match between Sunderwala Boys and Wills Youth Club.

Interacting with the students of Sports College, Phelan shared his childhood memories. “I grew up playing football on the streets of Manchester. I had no formal training in football. I don’t have a great height either. Despite this I made it to the big league. You need to have attitude to excel.

“The sports college boys were thrilled to find a former English Premier League footballer in their campus. They took autograph from the former Chelsea left back.

Phelan’s tour was organised by reputed football management company Libero Sports. A few months back, Managing Director of the company Sukhwinder Singh, accompanied by Manager (Player Representation) Randeep Baruah, visited the city and found the city footballers promising.

Arvind S Narayan (Partner and FIFA licensing agent) and Sweekar Kapoor (Manager Projects and Marketing), both from Libero Sports, accompanied Phelan. They visited the sports college and inspected the hostels and other infrastructures. Libero Sports has been involved in inviting Barcelona FC to India for scouting football talent.

The visit has evoked warm response among the football fraternity in the valley. Secretary of Dehradun Football Association Devendra Bisht says: “It is a great feeling that people from outside Uttarakhand are showing interest in Dehradun football. We are thrilled with the response”.

The visitors were amazed by the indoor ice-skating rink at the Sports College. On watching the indoor rink Phelan suggested: “It is a perfect location to host Futsal (indoor five a side football)”. 

Dehradun, October 23
A majority of residents of Ward No. 33, which is the smallest ward and comprises some parts of Nehru Colony up to the Rispana bridge, seems to be annoyed at the working of the area councillor, Beena Uniyal.

During my tenure of three years, I have got all chambers and manholes in my wards cleaned— Beena Uniyal

Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli also lives in the locality, which is part of the Assembly seat represented by minister Trivender Singh Rawat.

The councillor said: “During my tenure of three years, I have got all chambers and manholes in my wards cleaned. Rispana Nagar, which is a slum area, did not have any concrete lane. I got all of them constructed except for one for which we are awaiting the process of tenders to be completed before the code of conduct comes into force.”

She also thanked Rawat for sanctioning Rs 2.53 lakh for the improvement of civic amenities in the ward.

The councillor said small drains outside houses had been constructed under the district plan and a three-phase power line had also been provided to H Block. Besides, an embankment had also been constructed in Rispana Nagar.

A well-maintained park in Ward No. 33, Dehradun.

She said: “There is a proposal to improve the sewerage in this stretch next year.” She said the door-to door garbage collection system was also receiving a good response.

The councillor expressed hope that the facility of the hi-tech garbage collection system introduced under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission in the first 15 wards of the city would soon reach her ward also.

On the other hand, residents have their own grievances to air. Chander Mohan Nautiyal complained of non-functional streetlights in the area. He said: “Whenever a streetlight goes out of order, the authorities take a long time to rectify it. Commuters have to face a lot of problems at night.”

Savita Maurya, another resident, though appreciated the councillor for getting small drains constructed in the area, she also complained that they were yet to be covered. She said: “Though small drains constructed on the main roads have been covered, those inside the locality are yet to be covered.”

Sunita Devi: “Drains often overflow during the monsoon. It is a nightmare for us to come out of our houses.”

Kamla Joshi said: “The garbage of the locality collected in big bins must be disposed of on time.”

With battle lines being drawn for the coming Assembly elections in the state, both ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress has started fine tuning their respective strategies to fight the elections and to woo the voters. While the ruling BJP has changed horses midstream by bringing in BC Khanduri as the new Chief Minister by dumping Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank last month with an aim to come back again to power in the state, the opposition Congress has also decided to go all out to dislodge the ruling BJP.

After the ruling BJP brought in Khanduri as its trump card to beat allegations of corruption, nepotism and inefficiency and also to counter the anti-incumbency factor, the Congress has decided to start with consolidating its hold over its traditional vote bank. It was in this direction that the Congress decided to first concentrate on its Dalit-Muslim combination which gave it unexpected return in the Lok Sabha elections of 2009.

The party won all five Lok Sabha seats after decades with an active support of the Dalits and Muslims, particularly in the Terai region which account for majority of the voters in the state.

The state Congress headed by Yashpal Arya, himself a Dalit leader, decided to hold “Dalit sammelans” in both Garhwal as well as Kumoan regions. The first Dalit sammelan for the Garhwal region was held at Dehradun on October 15. It was a grand success personally for Yashpal Arya, who belongs to the Kumoan region, but as a Dalit leader, he was able to draw a large number of people particular from the Haridwar and Garhwal hills.

The next Dalit sammelan was held at Haldwani on October 20 where a large number of Dalits from the entire Kumaon region gathered to extend their support to the Congress and particularly for Yashpal Arya.

Perturbed by the success of these Dalit sammelans by the Congress in both regions of the state, the state ruling BJP has also decided to hold Dalit conferences in all districts of the state. The Congress has also started wooing the Muslim community by bringing in Justice Irshad Hussain, a retired judge of the high court who was also earlier head of the state consumer forum as a member of the state election committee.

The party also plans to give at least four tickets to Muslim candidates in Terai regions of Kumaon, Haridwar and Dehradun districts. It was noticed in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections that the consolidated votes of the Dalits and Muslims paved for a landslide victory for the party.

Interestingly, it was in 2009 Lok Sabha elections that the Muslim community of the state overwhelmingly voted for the Congress after the Babri Masjid demolition of 1992. Even after the formation of Uttarakhand, the Muslim-majority areas of Haridwar and pockets of Kumaon had preferred voting for Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The BSP got seven seats in the first-ever elections in 2002 and improved its tally by one seat by securing eight seats in 2007 Aassembly poll.

The Lok Sabha elections in 2009 was a watershed when Muslims in the entire state, particularly in Haridwar, voted for the Congress. However, the issues in a national elections are different than a state Assembly elections but still Muslims of the state felt left out in the state after voting for the BSP.

There was a feeling that in the changed scenerio, the community should support the Congress. It was this feeling that the Congress want to encash in the coming Aassembly elections. The Muslim community hopes that if a Congress government comes back to power in the state, one of the Muslim legislators could become the first-ever Muslim minister of the state.

But the BSP chief Mayawati is not oblivious of the fact and infact was the first to declare its candidates on majority of the seats, many of them Muslims in Haridwar and Terai of the Kumoan region.

Dehradun, October 23
With autumn gradually unfolding in the valley, it was a perfect setting for Jaskiran Chopra’s book “Autumn Raga”, released today by famous author Ruskin Bond.

“I have deep admiration for Ruskin Bond and having him release my book is a dream come true for me. I always dreamt if I were to write a book one day, surely it would be released by him,” said Jaskiran Chopra, the author of the book.

“Autumn Raga” seems to have autobiographical strands as the author’s chronology is a bitter-sweet tale of Sunaina (protagonist) while simultaneously bringing across minute observations about Dehradun, the city she knows so well.

While complimenting the author for finding a publisher for her book, Ruskin Bond said, “It is not easy writing a book these days. There is a lot of heartbreak involved. Equally difficult is getting publishers because most of the time one lands up with vanity publishers and the entire effort may be self-defeating,”said Bond.

As an after though, he added, “Second book is more difficult to write than the first one and equally third book is also difficult to write than the first one.”

Author Ganesh Salili of the “Glorious Garhwal” fame said he was happy as another member had joined the growing tribe of authors.

“In Mussoorie, most of us live under the banyan tree that is Ruskin Bond,” he said jocularly.

Narrating his impressions about the book, Dr BK Joshi of Doon Research and Library said the book was able to evoke nostalgia and convey a deep sense of loss.

“It may strike a chord with the older generation, who are troubled by the manner in which cities are changing,” he said.

While author of the book, “A political History of Delhi,” Sidharth Mishra said it was indeed refreshing to find somebody still unable to punch the keys of the keyboard.

“In this age and time, Chopra is still happy penning her thoughts with the help of pen and the paper,” he said.