Harmonium player weaves magic at Virasat
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 3
The cultural festival Virasat 2012 saw a harmonium recital by Pt Ashok K Jha, a senior harmonium player and vocalist from Varanasi. His speciality was Purabiya Bhojpuri songs. He has accompanied by some of the best musicians of the country.

Though harmonium is mostly seen as an accompaniment to a main instrument or a vocal recital, Jha has given it the status of a stand-alone instrument, one that has an identity of its own and does not need any other instrument to enhance it. He wove his magic last evening at Virasat last night.

The second performance of the evening was that of Kumud Diwan, a semi-classical vocalist, who is an exponent of the Poorab-Ang Thumri.

Kumud’s performance left a hypnotic effect on the seasoned as well as newly converted listeners of classical music present on the occasion. She was accompanied by Shri Ashok Jha on the harmonium and Shri Jaishankar Mishra on tabla, who is originally from Dehradun.

Handicrafts exhibition from November 10
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 3
The Mahila Kalyan Udyog Kendra, in association with Welham Girls’ School, will hold its annual exhibition-cum-sale, "Kar kamal", of exclusive handcrafted articles made by village artisans and craftswomen on November 10 and 11 on the school premises.

The MKUK is a city-based voluntary organisation of enterprising and public-spirited women. It was founded in 1964 by Madhuri Mathur to train refugee women to earn a living through tailoring and knitting. Madhuri retired as Welham Girls’ Vice-Principal and later went on to become Founder Principal of Hopetown School.

The MKUK has expanded its activities over the past five years. At present, there are 25 women employees at its sewing centre, where they make school uniforms and clothes for garment shops. It also focuses on the welfare and education of poor girls. It also sponsors education of deserving girls by providing them with tuition fee, textbooks and uniforms. These girls are also later encouraged to join different vocational training courses to make them financially independent.

The MKUK also started a coaching scheme two years ago to help schoolgirls from slum areas to do their homework. “Now girl students from local bastis around Jakhan are receiving regular coaching three days a week,” said Mathur

Many girls, after leaving schools, have opted for vocational training courses in established institutions, which trains them as computer operators, beauticians, in English conversation, tailoring etc. “We are trying to attract donations to provide loans to these girls as initial capital towards starting their own independent business. The Lady Irwin College Alumnae Association has been helpful and eight of our girls have completed an informal two-month basic training course in paper craft and are already earning money by fabricating paper bags, paper table mats, waste baskets etc.

Anushka of Oak Grove wins in spelling contest
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, November 3
The Late Col AC Chapman Memorial English Spelling Bee Contest organised by Oak Grove School, Mussoorie, to commemorate the 125th year of its existence concluded here recently.

Anushka Trivedi from Oak Grove School lifted the coveted trophy in the junior division while Bright Land School and St. Georges College emerged winners in the sub-junior division and the senior division, respectively.

In the sub-junior division, Brightlands School, Dehradun, won the first, second and third positions. Oak Grove School won the first consolation prize while the second consolation prize went to St. George’s College, Mussoorie. Neelu Raut and Kiran Mehta from the faculty of English, DBS Postgraduate College, Dehradun, and the chief guests for the day gave away the prizes.

In the junior division, Anushka Trivedi of Oak Grove School secured the first position while the second and third places went to Brightlands School, Dehradun. Pestleweed College won the first consolation prize while the second consolation prize went to Oak Grove School. Seema Trivedi, Headmistress of Col Brown School, Dehradun, gave away the prizes.

In the senior division, Dhruv Bansal and Sumeet Narang of St George’s College, Mussoorie, won the first and second positions, respectively, in a close contest. The third position went to Udtyona Kumar of Oak Grove School.

Shubham Mamgain of Oak Grove School was awarded the first consolation prize. The second consolation prize went to Shena Saraf of Mussoorie International School. Pratyush Vatsala, Associate Professor and Head of English Department of DBS Postgraduate College, Dehradun, gave away the prizes.

CIA wanted to plant device at Nanda Devi to monitor China missiles: Capt Kohli
Ajay Ramola

Mussoorie, November 3
Stark revelations by authors like Capt MS Kohli and Dr Shekhar Pathak marked the third day of the Writers’ Festival titled ‘Experience the Himalaya: A Mountain Festival' today.

Capt Kohli, who led an expedition to the Nanda Devi peak in an Indo-American venture that was set up by the Research and Analytical Wing (RAW) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), divulged several secrets about the expedition by reading out the excerpts from his book titled ‘Spies in Himalaya’.

He said on October 16, 1964, China tested a nuclear weapon in Xinjiang. The USA and India, which had just fought a border war with its northern neighbour, were both justifiably concerned. The CIA knew it needed more information on China’s growing nuclear capability but had few ways of peeking behind the bamboo curtain. Because of the extreme remoteness of Chinese testing grounds, conventional surveillance in this pre-satellite era was next to impossible. The solution to this intelligence dilemma was a joint American-Indian effort to plant a nuclear-powered sensing device on high Himalayan peak of Nanda Devi in order to monitor the launch of Chinese missiles. It was not a job that could be carried out by professional spies. It required special skills which could be possessed only by accomplished mountaineers. For this mission, cloaks and daggers were to be replaced by crampons and ice axes.

The first attempt to place such a device on the Nanda Devi peak under the cover of a mountaineering expedition organised to place a permanent electronic intelligence (Elint) device powered by a nuclear fuel cell, a device that could detect and report data on future nuclear tests. The first attempt failed as the team had to retreat in the face of adverse conditions. When another expedition again led by Kohli led returned the following year to recover the device, it was missing. The mission to place the nuclear propelled sensors on the peak was shelved thereafter.

In another session, Parthak from Nainital shed light on the life of Pt Nain Singh Rawat, a famous Indian explorer, surveyor, and cartographer, who dedicated a large part of his life to the field of exploration and cartography and has now been lost in oblivion.

Dr Pathak further stated that on April 10, 1802, the Great Trigonometrical Survey (GST) was started by the Royal Geographical Society, London. The Royal Geographical Society stated that the GST was the most important milestone in the development of science in 19th century. This 1,600 mile-long geographical survey took around 50 years to get completed. The survey played a great role in the mapping of not only the Indian sub-continent but also the parts of Central Asia beyond the Great Himalayas. Many people worked for the successful completion of the Great Trigonometrical Survey but the one who is mainly responsible for it was Rawat.

He said Rawat was born in Milam village of Munsyari in Pithoragarh district of the state on October 21, 1830, and he helped his father in their traditional trans-border trade between India and Tibet. During the trade, he visited several trade centres in Tibet with his father, learnt the Tibetan language, customs and manners and became familiar with the Tibetan people. This knowledge of Tibetan language, local customs, and protocols helped Pt Rawat in his future survey missions.

On January 12, 1863, he and his cousin Mani Singh Rawat were sent to the Great Trigonometrical Survey office at Dehradun, where they underwent training for two years.

Pt Rawat recorded the distances by an ingenious method using a rosary. This rosary, unlike a Hindu or Buddhist one, which has 108 beads, had just 100 beads. At every 100 steps, Pt Rawat would slip one bead. So a rosary represented 10,000 steps. It was easy to calculate the distance as each step was 31½ inches and a mile was calculated to be around 2,000 steps. He was the first to determine the exact location and altitude of Lhasa town. He measured 31 latitudes and 33 altitudes of different places during the survey. He travelled the length of 800 km of Tsang Po river in Tibet and was the first person to find that the Tsang Po and Brahmaputra rivers were one. He successfully completed his expeditions in the disguise of a lama as the entry of foreigners in Tibet was forbidden by the Chinese, added Dr Pathak. The other speakers, namely Ishita Khanna, Steve Swenson and Harish elaborated on the environment-friendly ways of mountaineering.

Dr Charles Clarke talked about Tibetan medicines in his lecture on ‘Jewels of Tibetan medicine. The book edited by Stephen Alter, ‘Writing Outdoors: A Natural Reader’ was also released on by Capt Kohli.

First attempt failed

The first attempt to place a permanent electronic intelligence (Elint) device powered by a nuclear fuel cell on the Nanda Devi peak under the cover of a mountaineering expedition was made. The device could detect and report data on future nuclear tests. The attempt, however, failed as the team had to retreat in the face of adverse weather conditions. Another expedition to the Nand Devi peak led by Capt Kohli the following year to recover the device, it was missing. The mission to place the nuclear propelled sensors on the peak was shelved thereafter.

Flood control projects for 200 villages
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, November 3
The Irrigation Department has prepared comprehensive flood-control projects to check flooding in 200 villages and three towns of the state. The projects will be implemented after they are approved by the Ganga Flood Control Commission, Government of India.

Irrigation Minister Yashpal Arya said, “Projects worth Rs 2.27 crore will check flooding in Kashipur, Bazpur and Jaspur towns situated near the Dhela, Pheka and Lebra rivers, besides saving 200 other villages in the hill region of the state.”

He said of the eight projects prepared by the department, two belong to Udham Singh Nagar, four to Nainital, one Pithoragarh and one Almora. “Under the project meant for Almora district, a protection wall will be built on the Ramganga river between Ganai village in Chaukhutia and the Uralikhan area while the project meant for Pithoragarh focuses on the protection of areas near the Kali river,” said the minister. Arya said Union Water Resource Minister Harish Rawat had assured them of the approval of the schemes soon.

Over 50 to run Mussoorie half marathon today
Our Correspondent

Mussoorie, November 3
Fitness freaks from around the globe are geared up for the first-ever half marathon on November 4, covering 21 km. The race is being organised jointly by La Ultra High organisation and Hanifl Centre for Outdoor and Environmental Study at Woodstock School as part of Writers’ Festival.

The registration for the marathon was completed today with more than 50 participants receiving their participating kit that included a bottle of honey from the organisers. Dr Rajat Chauhan, who specialises in sports medicine is one of the organisers. He organises and manages La Ultra, known as the most difficult race in the world. It is a 222-km ultra-marathon organised in Ladakh on the average altitude of 14,000 ft.

Chauhan told mediapersons that the half-marathon was part of Mountain Festival 2012, a literary festival organised by Mussoorie Writers, an outreach affiliate of Woodstock School.

Indian judo players can be world beaters, says Neil Adams
Sandeep Rawat
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 3
Former Olympic medallist Neil Adams is in the city these days for a four-day training camp for judo coaches of the country. Neil has also been a world champion and five-time European champion in judo. Talking to TNS, Neil said he was here to tap the potential of judo players in the country and share his experiences with budding judo players.

Silver medallist of the Moscow Olympics 1980 and the Los Angeles Olympics 1984, besides being the 1981 Maastricht World Championship winner, Neil is excited about training Indian coaches in the art he excels in.

He said when he got the offer to train judo coaches in India, he was imparting training to the Belgium national team. But he accepted the offer.

“Judo is being played in more than 180 countries and this shows its popularity. I am hopeful for judo players in India as they have skills, talent, physical fitness, agility, sharp tactical acumen and right physique to dominate the world judo scene. Emphasis on technique is vital in judo and I will be stressing on this aspect during the training period,” asserted Neil.

Governor releases Uttarakhand Nature Handbook
Tribune News service

Dehradun, November 3
Governor Aziz Qureshi today released Uttarakhand Nature Handbook, a guide for naturalists, eco-tourists and students.

Speaking on the occasion, the Governor said there was a need to enhance awareness among people towards conserving environment and ecosytems.

He said the book should be translated into Hindi and made a part of the school syllabus in the state. He added it would be of great use to nature guides in explaining biodiversity of the state to tourists.

The Forest Department in association with publishers Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun, has published Uttarakhand Nature Handbook primarily to meet the needs of the nature tourism industry.

Sanjay and Anchal Sondhi from the Titli Trust, a nature conservation non-profit organisation, have edited each and every chapter written by various authors. The innovative graphic design work is by Archi, platform by Dutch designer and architect Anne Feenstra, while the artwork for the book cover is by Shabnam Saifi.

Raj Babbar immerses his father's ashes in Ganga
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, November 3
Actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar immersed the ashes of his father Kushal Kumar Babbar in the Ganga here today. Raj Babbar was accompanied by his relatives, brother Kisan Babbar and son Aryan Babbar. The bereaved family reached Haridwar from New Delhi in the morning, Workers of the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and Raj Babbar's fans were also present on the occasion.

After performing the rituals, Raj Babbar said he was shocked at the state of the Ganga, which was getting polluted day by day.

"The Ganga is not an ordinary river. The government should take steps to protect it from getting polluted," said Raj Babbar, who had acted in blockbuster films like "Nikaah", "Umrao Jaan", "Insaaf Ka Tarazu", "Mirch Masala" "Fashion", "Bodyguard" etc.

BJP protests re-imposition of VAT on petrol
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 3
The Uttarakhand BJP today held dharnas at all district headquarters in protest against the state government decision to re-impose VAT on petrol. It had withdrawn VAT on petrol before the Tehri byelection.

In Dehradun, the BJP leaders burnt an effigy of the Congress government and later held a token sit-in at the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Park. Uttarakhand BJP chief BS Chuphal along with party MLA from Mussoorie Ganesh Joshi and president of the city unit Puneet Mittal participated in the sit-in. Similar sit-ins were organised at all district headquarters.