Dehradun, December 25
Churches across the city reverberated with prayers and joyous celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas today. Worshippers lined up on Tuesday at St Francis Catholic Church, St John Methodist Church and CNI church to participate in the Christmas prayers.

A girl kisses the feet of Baby Christ at a prayer meeting at St Francis Church on Christmas in Dehradun on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

At St Francis Catholic Church, Chief Priest Father Bernard Daniel prayed for lasting peace in the country. “On this Christmas day, let us rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ and how God became man for the upliftment of mankind,” he said.

The interiors of St Francis Church built in 1910 were decorated with flowers and stars. The exterior of the church was decorated with light that came alive with the sunset.

The mass prayer started at 11 pm yesterday at St Francis Church in which Governor Aziz Quereshi also participated. The grotto of St Francis Church was beautifully decoratred with the Nativity scene, where worshippers lit candles and also offered prayers.

“Along with celebrations, we do not forget to donate warm clothings and food for the poor,” said Mark, a 14-year-old student.

Hindi carol songs singing team, led by Tajwar Mani and his team members, sang hymns heralding the birth of Jesus Christ.

“Christmas is a truly magical season, bringing families and friends together,” said Rebecca, a visitor from New York. The prayers were also held at St John Methodist Church, which were led by Parish Priest JP Singh. All churches in the city were lit up with lights. The yuelitide spirit was clearly visible across the city with shops decorated with Christmas trees and stars. Santa Claus was also seen distributing sweets at Astley Hall and Rajpur Road. Bakery shops saw a sudden increase in the sale of plum cakes, Christmas cakes and black forest pasteries.

MUSSOORIE: Holy hymns and carols reverberated at churches on the occasion of Christmas here today. The churches across the town were decorated with flowers and lights. Various stalls of eatables and decorative items were also put up outside the churches. Christmas trees decorated with ornamental lights and laden with gifts were added attraction in the churches here.

People of different communities also joined in the festivities and offered prayers on the occasion.

The main prayer was offered at 8.30 am, which was followed by the second prayer at 10 am. The Pastors and Bishops delivered sermons in various cathedrals and churches of different Christian denominations in the town.

Pastor Nand Kishore presided over the midnight Christmas mass at Central Methodist Church and prayed for peace and harmony among all communities. He read out verses from the Bible. In his sermon, he appealed to the people to uphold the ideals of universal love and brotherhood.

The Christmas cake was also cut along with carol singing, which witnessed participation of a large number of tourists.

The cake was also cut at Jay Pee Residency Hotel and gifted to Bill Aitken, Tom Alter and other writers of repute to mark the occasion. Leaders of various political parties also greeted the people on Christmas.

American families at Woodstock School also celebrated Christmas with enthusiasm. Special eateries such as apple pies, cookies baked in the shape of Christmas trees and hot ginger cider were served on the occasion. Carol singing remained the hallmark of the day.

HARIDWAR: Christmas was celebrated with fervour and gaiety here today.

Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, people gathered at churches and attended midnight mass and offered prayers.

Contrary to the normal perception with Haridwar being a Hindu pilgrim city, the festival of Christmas was celebrated with enthusiasm across the city with much enthusiasm.

It is a rare sight as just next to a temple or ashram one finds a Church and pundits, maulvis, bishops performing their respective religious rituals with equal freedom.

City’s oldest church Reformed Presbyterian Church was founded in 1904. It is situated at Dev Pura, which is one of the most visited churches in the district.

Father Johnson James, Wilson James of BHEL church and Pastor Williams of Devpura Church read the Bible, giving an insight into life and teachings of Jesus and Mother Mary.

They also urged the people to follow ideals of non violence, love, peace, brotherhood and communal peace to make world a better place.

Rohan Rawat, a class IX student of Ann Mary School, Dehradun, said it was the first time he had visited a church in the state and felt nice while offering prayer and lighting the candles.

PITHORAGARH: Mass prayers were held, carols were sung and cultural programmes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem were staged in Methodist churches across the Kumaon region as the Christmas was celebrated with enthusiasm and revere in the region.

In Nainital, a large number of tourists along with the locals reached at morning prayer at two main churches of the tourist town. “More than 1,500 Christians of the Nainital town attended prayers at Methodist Church, built in 1858 and one of the oldest in Asia,” said Ashutosh Dani, pastor of the Methodist Church. Prayers were also held in the lone Catholic church of Nainital, which was built in 1907. “The Methodist believers are more in number in the town than Catholic followers,” said Dani.

In Almora, more than 500 Christian devotees along with believers of other religions, including a large number of Hindus, gathered for prayer at Methodist Church near Pokhar Khali and took part in prayers and carol singing in the morning hours. “We also staged programmes on the birth of Jesus Christ and staged several programmes on the incidents that followed the birth of Christ,” said Rajendra Lal, pastor of Methodist Church at Almora. Christmas was celebrated in Pithoragarh with prayers held at the main Methodist Church near the town, followed by several cultural programmes based on the birth of Jesus Christ. “The Christmas programmes in Pithoragarh began from December 12 and will continue till the last date of the year,” said Habil Singh, member of the management committee of the Methodist Church at Pithoragarh.

Prayers were also held at Victory Church at Sandhura in Berinag and Abbot Mount at Lohaghat in Champawat district along with several churches in Ranikhet and Tanakpur. “The church constructed by Miss Merry Reed in 1891 at Chandak in Pithoragarh wore a deserted look even today as no member of the Christian community reached here to pray. The campus has been deserted ever since it was left by the leprosy mission, which owned the campus, in 1996,” said Shankar Ram, a resident of Chandak town.

Haridwar, December 25
Matra Sadan head Swami Shivanand, who is in a ‘tapasya’ mode of agitation against lodging of a suicide attempt case against his disciple Swami Poornanand Saraswati, is fearing danger to the life of his disciple from quarrying mafia and hospital staff.

Saints of the ashram based in Jagjeetpur village, 5 km from Haridwar city, have also alleged they are not being allowed to have direct contact with the Swami Poornanand Saraswati at the hospital.

Swami Poornanand Saraswati is currently undergoing medical treatment at Jolly Grant Hospital, Rishikesh, where the martyr-saint, Swami Nigmanand, was also put up by the administration for medical treatment.

In view of Swami Nigmanand dying during medical treatment at the same hospital, Matra Sadan ashram followers fear that the 'nexus' between quarrying mafia and hospital staff could lead to wrong treatment of Swami Poornanand.

Swami Shivanand’s close aide and social activist Vijay Verma, citing medical facts, said that they would be moving the National Consumer Forum for filing Rs 100 crore suit against Jolly Grant Hospital management for wrong medical treatment given to Swami Nigmanand a year ago.

Notably, Swami Nigmanand was on a 108-day-hunger strike against quarrying on the Ganga river bed in Haridwar. Later, he was forcibly taken to Haridwar district hospital for forced feeding, and later referred to Jolly Grant Hospital when his health condition got deteriorated.

Meanwhile, Poornanand Saraswati has made it clear that he will not give up the agitation till the three-point charter of demand, for which he is on agitation, is accepted by the state government and the district administration.

Citing an order dated 05/12/2011, which banned mining and crushing till the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment report on quarrying in the Bishanpur-Bhogpur area, Brahamachari Dayanand, disciple of Swami Shivanand, sought an explanation from the state government and the district administration on flouting of the order by granting quarrying in this lot.

He alleged a conspiracy was being hatched by pro-quarrying forces to negate the movement of Matra Sadan carried on for the cause of the holy Ganga.

Swami Shivanand and his disciples have also decided to skip the Allahabad Maha Kumbh in view of the ongoing anti-quarrying agitation.

He said the cuts would be blocked with signboards on which traffic rules would be boldly highlighted along with contact numbers of Senior Citizens' Cell as well Anti-Women Harassment Cell. The left turns are being rendered free on the roads.

The road cuts on Adat Bazaar, Hanuman Crossing from Clock Tower to Bindal Pul, Jogi Wala and Vasant Vihar have been successfully blocked, leaving few in between.

On other side of Prem Nagar, the said a toll barrier, wine shop, three-wheeler stand and a slope created traffic bottlenecks.

To clear the hindrances, he said the toll barrier was being shifted 200 metres backward from its present position, while the three-wheeler stand was oved ahead. The area had been demarcated for the wine shop within which it had to operate. Kewal Khurana said the slope too would be sorted out simultaneously. With these four factors taken care of on this route, he said, the traffic will proceed smoothly. Zebra crossings are also being boldly marked and those offending the rules would be fined, he said.

The SSP also said that those who were found talking on cell-phones while driving either on two-wheelers or four-wheelers would not only be issued challans but FIRs would be registered against them in the related police stations.

He said those who conversed over phone while driving put the lives of others in danger as well.

Hence, the offence commanded a stricter punishment.

Dehradun, December 25
In protest against the death of a 16-year-old boy, who was admitted to Coronation Hospital in a serious condition a day ago, a group of people hailing from his area, Azad Colony, today gatecrashed into the hospital and thrashed emergency officer Dr Padam Singh, who had allegedly refused to attend to the patient after his condition worsened. The Chief Medical Officer has recommended his termination.

The patient suffering from severe lung infection was admitted to the hospital yesterday and was undergoing treatment under Dr SS Chauhan. However, his condition deteriorated in the morning and emergency medical officer Padam Singh, who was on duty, allegedly refused to attend to the patient. Later, the patient died. Following this, members of the deceased's family, along with neighbours from Azad Colony, started gathering outside the hospital and raised slogans. At 8 am, when Dr Padam Singh was leaving the hospital, a horde of angry people pounced upon him and started thrashing him. They also closed the main gate.

According to eyewitnesses, the protesters also broke the window pane of his car. Later, the police rescued the doctor and locked him inside the Emergency. But angry residents reached the emergency room and and broke the window pane. Director, Health, KL Arya, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr RP Bhatt, Dr BC Pathak, Director, Doon Group of Hospitals, and Dr AS Aswal, CMS, Coronation Hospital, arrived at the scene and pacified the crowd.

"We have recommended the termination of the doctor with immediate effect. Such incidents of negligence on the part of the doctor cannot be tolerated. Though the doctor is on contract, it's his duty to abide by the rules and regulations of government hospitals," said Dr RP Bhatt. The doctors' contract will end in February next year.

Meanwhile, after the deceased's family refused for his post-mortem, they were allowed to take the body. Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma, who also arrived at the hospital, requested the hospital authorities to allow his family to take away the body. On the other hand, staff members of the hospital said the patient was brought to the hospital in a critical condition and should have been referred to Doon Hospital as there were no ventilators at Coronation Hospital .

Dehradun, December 25
Doon Warrior beat the Khalsa (B) team by 1 wicket in a close-finish match during the 61st District Cricket League 2012-13 being played at Col Brown School here today.

Batting first, the Khalsa (B) team piled up a total of 165 runs losing all its wickets in the process. Waqar of Doon Warrior took 3 wickets.

The Doon Warrior team reached the target score in the very last over of their inning with just one wicket to spare, ensuring itself 1 wicket win. Rishab scored the highest runs (39) for Doon Warrior. Varun took 3 wickets for Khalsa (B) team.

Dehradun, December 25
The City Youngs team today beat Doon Challenge 4-0 in a match during the 7th Abhishek Dabral Memorial Football Tournament under way at Survey Ground Dehradun.

Rakesh scored all 4 goals for City Youngs. The first goal came in the 32nd minute followed by the second, third and fourth goals in the 40th, 55th and 64th minutes, respectively.

Akranta will take on Rising Star in tomorrow’s match.