Virasat heritage fest from Oct 27
Dehradun, October 11
The Rural Entrepreneurship for Art and Cultural Heritage (REACH) has announced its annual art and craft extravaganza, Virasat ’12, starting October 27 to November 10 here.

Employees seek higher salaries, better perks
Haridwar, October 11
At the concluding day of the two-day national seminar organised by the Educational Employees Union, both Central and respective state governments were urged to bridge the gap that existed between the employees pay, perks and facilities.

Boy with brain tumour operated
Dehradun, October 11
A 12-year-old boy with brain tumour (IV ventricle) was operated successfully at Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) at Jolly Grant here today.

Haridwar, October 11
Mass resentment is pouring in against the proposal of the Uttar Pradesh Department of Irrigation for seeking permission from the UP government for Ganga canal closure in the upcoming festive season in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.

The Ganga canal starting from Haridwar is operated by the UP Irrigation Department despite Uttarakhand being a separate state. There are several problems of disputed properties between both the neighbouring states. Every year in the autumn season Ganga canal is closed for almost a fortnight for cleaning and maintenance.

This year the Ganga closure permission is being sought from October 22 till November 11, during which the festivals of Navratras, Dasehra and Deepawali fall.

As lakhs of devotees, pilgrims and tourists throng the pilgrim city of Haridwar during this festive season, there is a growing demand against Ganga closure during this tenure.

Be it Ganga Sabha, which operates the affairs of Brahm Kund/Har-ki-Pauri, teerth purohits, saints, traders, social, religious organisations or local people, the opposition to Ganga canal closure during the festive season is unanimous.

Maha Nirmani Akhada secretary Mahant Ravindra Puri Maharaj termed the act as anti-Hindu as Har-ki-Pauri/Brahm Kund is the sanctum sanctorum, where immense religious/spiritual faith of people will get affected when the holy Ganga river water will not be available at the sanctorum for religious rituals.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad district chief Virendra Kirti Pal said that if the holy flow of Ganga water was stopped, then the UP government -run Irrigation Department would have to face serious repercussions in this regard.

Ganga Sabha working general secretary Shri Kant Vasisht said that any act to stop the holy Ganga flow at Har-ki-Pauri would not be tolerated, and Ganga activists would stage an agitation in this regard.

Ganga Sabha ghat secretary Sidharth Chakrapani said thousands of teerth purohits and pandas residing at Haridwar on Ganga ghats would get affected due to water closure of Ganga canal.

Ganga activist Sanjeev Chaudhari has staged an agitation in view of the plan to stop the flow of the Ganga. Support is coming from several quarters, he added.

Teerth Maryada Raksha Samiti today took out a protest march from Alak Nanda ghat opposing the UP Irrigation Department's move.

Chief of the Teerth Maryada Raksha Samiti Sanjay Chopra said that from Bhagirathi Bindu till Mayapur Check Dam, at least five-foot water should be released during the Ganga closure so as to ensure that minimum water was available at Brahm Kund/Har-Ki-Pauri and adjacent ghats of VIPs, Malviya, Nai Setu, Gau, Birla, Alaknanda etc for religious rituals to be performed by pilgrims.

BJP workers led by MLA Shahdev Pundir argue with the police. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, October 11
The Dehradun police today resorted to a lathi charge on VHP and Bajrang Dal workers after they forcibly tried to take possession of a house in Race Course locality of Dehradun.

According to police sources, Ravi Mittal and Mahendree Devi had a house at G 11 Race Course. Both Ravi Mittal and Mahendree Devi passed away some time back. Today, Subash Mittal, brother of deceased Ravi Mittal, who is a Deputy Director with the CBI, Delhi, reached Race Course in order to take the possession of the house. He was aghast to find a Bajrang Dal board at the house. The Bajrang Dal workers even manhandled Subhash Mittal and damaged his car, HR 26 BF 7200. Subhash Mittal reported the matter to the police.

SP, Dehradun City, Dilip Singh Kunwar, accompanied by a police force reached Race Course and tried to calm down things. But BJP MLAs Ganesh Joshi and Sahdev Pundir tried to argue from Bajrang Dal's side, whereas Congress MLA Rajkumar accompanied by other Congress workers came to Subhash Mittal's rescue.

The verbal duel between BJP and Congress workers turned into a full-scale scuffle, forcing the police to go for a lathi charge, resulting in minor injuries to a few persons.

Deputy Director, CBI, Delhi, Subash Mittal, said the Race Course house belongs to him and it was his paternal property. He also claimed possessing the papers of the property. On other side, VHP workers claimed that the deceased Ravi Mittal had donated the property to VHP.

Meanwhile, the district administration has sealed the property till further action.

Dehradun, October 11
The erstwhile BJP government's ambitious Atal Foodgrain Programme for families in the BPL and APL categories has begun to encounter problems since the shift of power from the BJP to the Congress.

Since coming to power, the Congress government has been not keen to continue the scheme that was expected to provide relief to families reeling under price rise .

Under the scheme the BPL families were to receive wheat at Rs 2 per kg and rice at Rs 3 per kg, while those in the APL category were to receive wheat at Rs 4 per kg and rice at Rs 6 per kg from the fair price shops.

Despite protest by the BJP, the government has been unable to raise adequate foodgrains for the implementation of the scheme. As such there has been inadequate supply of foodgrains under the scheme.

Officials say in view of the rising inflation, the government may be forced to revive the scheme with a new name but it all depends on the availability of funds to buy additional foodgrains for implementing the scheme.

Dehradun, October 11
The Rural Entrepreneurship for Art and Cultural Heritage (REACH) has announced its annual art and craft extravaganza, Virasat ’12, starting October 27 to November 10 here.

It was nearly two decades ago that a few young people dreamt of the idea of an arts and heritage festival at the gateway to the Himalayas at Dehradun.

This festival has become a part of the festival season of Dehradun. The fortnight-long festival will see music and dance performances of renowned artistes from across the country as well as the participation of award-winning artisans who will display their crafts for sale.

It has been a tradition with the Virasat festival to bring together arts and artistes firmly rooted in the soil.

However, the festival is not averse to experiments and support artistes and art groups that play around with their medium without diluting its intrinsic purity.

The festival boasts of a line-up of purists like Prof M. Venkateshkumar from Dharwad, Rita Ganguly, singer of semi-classical music, Shaukat Ali Matoi from Maler Kotla, singer, traditional Punjabi sufi music and the Warsi Brothers of Rampur Sahaswan quawwali singer.

The festival will feature two individuals who are redefining Bollywood music, Piyush Mishra and Swanand Kirkire.

Avant garde music is represented by the Carnatic saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath and Bollywood hearthrob Manoj Tiwari, singing traditional Bhojpuri songs.

There will also be an evening of purist Urdu poetry with participation of greats like Nida Fazli, Sheen Kaaf Nizam.

Virasat will present a host of performances by groups from countries across the globe. The evenings will feature a Persian Ensemble from Iran and artistes from Morocco, Hungary, Burundi, Austria, Belgium and Canada.

With craft workshops for young people and more than 300 artisans, food stalls featuring traditional delicacies, a literary festival, a workshop of painters and sculptors with Jatin Das and several other fringe events, the festival promises to tickle the senses this festive season.

Dehradun , October 11
A hat-trick by Gajendra Singh helped Doon Star Club to win the match against Nehru Gram in Lala Nemi Dass Memorial Football Tournament played at Survey Stadium here today. Gajendra Singh scored in the 5th,10th and 69th minutes while Harpeet scored in the 20th minute.

Akranta Club defeated Gorkha Rangers 2-0. Becham scored the first goal of the match in the 42nd minute. Ankit Negi scored the second goal in the 68th minute.

The Welham Girls’ School team that won the Tek Chand Memorial Basketball Tournament in Dehradun on Thursday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, October 11
Welham Girls won the 5th Tek Chand Memorial Under-12 Girls' Basketball Tournament being played here today.

In the final match, Welham Girls beat Doon Girls 22-13.

Welham Girls managed to lead in all four quarters of the match.

Shreya scored six points for Welham while Dritika contributed six points to the Doon Girls’ team score.

Dehradun, October 11
A team of 22 cadets from Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) won 32 medals, including nine gold medals, in the Uttarakhand State Shooting Opens tournament held recently. It took part in the junior men, youth men and men’s categories.

Cadets Atul Tiwari, Mohammad Salman and Shashank Shekhar won individual gold for the team in their respective events. It also bagged the Best Shooting Team trophy which was instituted this year. The competition was held at the Jaspal Rana Shooting Range at Paudha in Dehradun.

Dehradun, October 11
Eight teams reached the super league of the Dehradun District Football League played at Sports College ground here. Uttarakhand Police, 3/1 Gorkha Rifles, Vijay Cantt, Blue Cantt, Sports Hostel, Garhwal Sporting, Doon Eagles and Wills Youth Club reached the Super League stage of the tournament.

In today's matches, Sports Hostel and Bajrang Club won their respective matches in the tournament played today. Sports Hostel team defeated Yankees Club by 2-0. Khem Raj scored the first goal in the 12th minute while Manoj scored the second goal in the 55th minute. The second match between Garhwal Sporting and Sarvodaya Club ended in a goal-less draw.

Dehradun, October 11
In the 5th Rohitash Singh Memorial Inter-School Boys Super 8 a side Cricket Tournament, two matches were played today at The Heritage School, Dehradun.

The first match was played between Constancia School and Guru Nanak Academy. In the first innings, Guru Nanak Academy scored 26 runs at loss of 6 wickets. In reply, Constancia scored 32 runs at a loss of 4 wickets. In the second innings, Guru Nanak Academy scored 26 runs at a loss of 6 wickets while Constancia scored 22 runs losing one wicket in the process. Thus, Constancia won the match by 7 wickets.

The second match was played between St Thomas School and The Aryan School. In the first innings, Aryan School scored 31 runs at a loss of 5 wickets whereas in reply St Thomas College scored 21 runs at a loss of 5 wickets.

In the second innings, The Aryan School scored 35 runs at loss of 2 wickets. St Thomas scored 28 runs at a loss of 4 wickets. Thus, Aryan School won the match by 17 runs.