Haridwar, January 12
On the 150th birth anniversary of revered philosopher and thinker Swami Vivekananda, various functions were held here today in Haridwar.

A grand royal procession was carried out in the city by Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh through city lanes with much fanfare.

Commencing from Rishikul ground, the procession had varied displays depicting the life, struggle, journey and achievements of the revered thinker, who was born on this day in 1863 at Calcutta.

The procession went on till Brahma Kund, Har-ki-Pauri, drawing attention of the local people, devotees and tourists.

Haridwar city legislator Madan Kaushik on the occasion said that from the life of Swami Vivekananda everyone should take inspiration.

"He made us proud worldwide via his spiritual philosophy and teachings," added Kaushik. At Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Shantikunj, a special function in the main auditorium was held to remember the teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

Vice Chancellor of DSV Pranav Pandya said that Swami Vivekananda had tremendous impact on "our lives and the youth needs to take inspiration from the philosopher's life, who changed the way world thought of India."

Special remembrance was made of the epic 1893 Chicago speech, delivered by Swami Vivekananda at the parliament of world religions given in the United States.

Dehradun, January 12
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna unveiled a statue of Swami Vivekananda on his 150th birth anniversary at the Rama Krishan Mission Ashram at Rajpur Road at a function held here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Bahuguna announced that the ashram where Swami Vivekananda stayed during his visit to Dehradun would be conserved as Swami Vivekananda heritage site. He also announced to name Mussoorie diversion as Swami Vivekananda Chowk.

He said that Swami Vivekananda gave a name to vedant and yoga in the entire world but still he was an epitome of secular values.

He called for imbibing the ideals and teachings of Swami Vivekananda.

He said that Swami Vivekananda spent many days in Dehradun and Uttarakhand and his memories would be preserved. He called upon the citizens to work for the state as well as the country.

Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Amrita Rawat announced that the Culture Department of the state government would hold several programmes to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda throughout the year. BJP Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay, Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli, BJP MLA Ganesh Joshi and Swami Nirvakalapnand were also present. 

Haridwar, January 12
The Haridwar police has found the involvement of Satish Tiwari, manager of Micro Finance Pvt Ltd, Jagjeetpur, Kankhal, in a robbery in the company on December 31. He has been arrested by the police.

On December 31, four masked armed men robbed a finance company of Rs 10, 55,000. They locked the office staff inside a room and broke open the locker.

The robbers also stole the motor cycle of branch manager Satish Tiwari, whose contradictory statements created suspicion during the initial police investigation.

Keeping this in mind, the police followed Tiwari’s movements and came to know of his liaison with people with criminal backgrounds.

Tiwari was friends with Ajeet Pratap Singh of Uttar Pradesh, who has a dubious criminal record and has several cases registered against him under the Arms Act, Goonda Act and murder also.

When interrogated, Tiwari accepted his involvement with Ajeet Pratap Singh in carrying out the robbery. Both of them planned the robbery. Tiwari as the branch manager knew about the arrival of the cash meant for loan purpose.

Briefing mediapersons at the Kankhal police station, Haridwar SSP Arun Mohan Joshi said yesterday the police arrested Dhananjay Singh, one of the six accused in the robbery case, when he was coming to deliver the share of the cash and the motor cycle to Tiwari from the Jagjeetpur village near Gurukul Kangri University.

“We are looking out for the remaining absconding accomplices - Ajeet Pratap, Adarsh, Sandeep and Dharmendra and two others who were hired by Ajeet. Till date, cash of Rs 74,000, one pistol, along with the motor cycle have been recovered,” said Joshi.

City SP Kiran Lal Shah said a police team had been sent to Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh, to arrest the remaining accused from their hideouts. The Haridwar police was also in touch with the UP police to make sure the accomplice were arrested.

The police team that busted the gang of robbers on the New Year’s eve included SO Pradeep Bisht, Narendra Bisht, Pradeep Rawat, Rajeev Chauhan, Lokendra Bahuguna, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Ajay Kumar, Lalit, Sunil Rana, Satendra Sharma and Brij Pal Singh.

Haridwar, January 12
Widespread outrage is being witnessed in Haridwar at the brutal killing of two Indian Army soldiers by Pakistan troopers in the Pooch area of Jammu Kashmir.

Social outfits, political parties and student organisations have condemned the inhuman treatment meted out to the Indian soldiers by the Pakistan army.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad staged a protest at Chandracharya Chowk and demanded strict action against the Pakistani army personnel infiltrating through the Line of Control (LoC).

Another protest was held at Jwalapur where representatives of the Muslim community condemned the action of the Pakistan army. They urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to stop all cultural, sports and economic ties with Pakistan.

Tanveer Ali, a social activist, said every Indian’s heart was burning with the feeling of revenge at the Pakistan action. No religion taught such barbarism, he added.

The BJP also staged a protest and demanded an apology from Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar for his statement that the Pakistan government was not involved in the incident.

BJP leaders criticised the UPA government for its failure to take instant action against Pakistan and raise the issue at international forums.

“The Indian government should take ceasefire violations and infiltration seriously. The Army should be given more powers to deal with infiltrators at the international border. The Congress has failed to give a strong message and response to the incident. In the past we had given a rousing welcome to Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and the Pakistan cricket team but what we got is that our jawans were beheaded,” said Vikas Tiwari, BJP divisional city chief.

Dehradun, January 12
Dehradun Ex-Services League (DESL) has expressed deep concern over the brutal killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. They have also decided to stage a march in Dehradun tomorrow as mark of protest.

Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Ex-Services League's president Brig KG Behl (retd) said the ex-servicemen community in Dehradun was deeply distressed over the barbaric killing of 13 Rajputana Rifles jawans in Mendar region of Jammu and Kashmir. "Taking away head of one of the jawans is barbaric and violates all norms of international law and conduct," Brig Behl (retd) said.

DESL president said Pakistan had always resorted to border violations and was hand-in-glove with the intruders and needed to be taught a suitable lesson. Asking the Union Government for severing all relations with Pakistan, Brig Behl (retd) said India must expose Pakistan to the world community and break all relations with that country.

He said it was surprising that Pakistan authorities had stopped Indian trucks from entering Pakistan, which had led to a big loss to Indian traders. He disclosed that ex-servicemen will be staging a march tomorrow starting from Gandhi Park, Dehradun. " The march will begin after holding a condolence meeting at Gandhi Park in memory of the two martyrs," he said, while appealing to ex-servicemen to join the march in large numbers.

Col BM Thapa (retd), Col US Thakur (retd), Capt RVS Negi(retd) and BM Sharma were present at the press conference.

Mussoorie, January 12
A portion of the private forest area of Jain Estate near Jbar Khet in Mussoorie was gutted in a fire leading to damage to a few trees and the grass surrounding the area.

The forest officials headed by Gajendar Gaud, the forest beat officer, rushed to the spot and doused the fire in the nick of time by creating a fire line, avoiding damage to the adjacent reserve forest area here.

However, many in Mussoorie are surprised at the fire incident in the private forest area under the immense cold conditions prevailing here, and are suspicious of the whole incident. DFO, Mussoorie, Dheeraj Pandey, when contacted said that it is really surprising that the fire incident had occurred this time of the year. Normally such incidents are witnessed in the summer season. He also informed The Tribune that the directions had been given to the officials to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident and if it was found that the private estate owners themselves were involved in it, strict action would be initiated. 

Dehradun, January 12
The winner of the Pond's Femina Miss India title Anukriti Gusain said today she was neither interested in Bollywood nor modelling.

Talking to mediapersons at Kotdwar today, while on her way to her native town of Lansdowne in Pauri Garhwal, she said it was a proud moment for her to represent the North India in the Miss India contest and she was proud to be an Uttarakhandi, as she was a small-town girl from the hill state who made her way to win the prestigious contest.

She said the credit for her achievement goes to her parents, who believed in her and encouraged her. Her teachers and friends supported her a lot, she said. She specifically said she did not aspire for Bollywood or modelling assignments as her priority was to become an engineer for which she was studying in Dehradun.

"My dream is to become Miss World but my priority is to become an engineer, as it is my mother’s dream," said Anukriti.

”I dreamt of becoming Miss India in my childhood. But later my parents told me to concentrate on studies. I did so and passed my examination with good marks. But when I was chosen the best dressed girl in a contest organised by Lion's Club at Kotdwara, my childhood dreams resurfaced,” she said.

The journey so far for a small-town girl was very hard and she promised to work even harder for the Miss India title.

Her father Uttam Singh, a businessman at Lansdowne, said, “When people are involved in female infanticide and not preferring girls, my daughter has given me recognition and I am proud of her. Not only me, she has made the entire state proud,” he said.

Dehradun, January 12
Four persons died and 10 others were injured in a road mishap in Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand.

According to police sources, a Maxi cab on way to Pauri from Deoprayag fell into a gorge, just a few kilometres ahead of Deoprayag from where it had started during early morning hours today.

The incident happened after the driver lost control over the steering. District administration authorities rushed to the site and started relief and rescue operations. —TNS

Mussoorie, January 12
The Punjabi community gathered to celebrate the auspicious festival of Lohri with fervour and gaiety in Mussoorie today.

The celebrations started with the Lohri pooja. The community members worshipped and went around the huge bonfire and offered groundnuts and sweets to each other to mark the occasion.

A cultural programme was also organised under the aegis of Punjabi Mahasabha, Mussoorie, amid the beating of traditional drums at a hotel near Picture Palace here.

Students from various schools presented 'boliyan,' folk songs, Lohri songs, jokes and poems. Gidda and bhangra presentation added colour to the event.

Ravi Musical Group from Dehradun mesmerised the audience with the melodious Punjabi numbers in the late evening.

The chief guest on the occasion, Sports Minister Dinesh Agarwal, inaugurating the function, extended greetings to the community members and the people of the state. In his speech he outlined the importance of the festival and said that it symbolised sharing and goodwill towards others. Dula Bhatti story was also narrated by the anchor on the occasion.

The president of the Punjabi Mahasabha, Mussoorie, MPS Khurana, speaking on the occasion announced steps to take up social causes, which needed attention in the town on the occasion.

Dehradun, January 12
The Dehradun police arrested two vehicle lifters from the Raipur area of the city today and recovered six two-wheelers from their possession.

According to the police, during a checking, two persons on a motorcycle tried to run away but they slipped and were nabbed. They did not have any papers of the vehicle. On interrogation, they confessed to have stolen the motorcycle and other two-wheelers from various parts of the city. They had hid the vehicles in forests.

The police recovered five motorcycles and a scooter from the Ladpur forest area. The arrested persons have been identified as Iklaq and Sajid, both residents of Mangalore, near Roorkee. Earlier, the police had busted another gang of thieves and recovered 33 two-wheelers. 

Dehradun, January 12
Street vendors under the aegis of the Small Traders Association recently staged a demonstration at the Urban Development Directorate, Dehradun.

Led by state president of the association Sanjay Chopra, the vendors gathered at old Dharampur vegetable market and marched towards the Urban Development Directorate, Mata Mandir Road, Dehradun, where they staged a demonstration.

Addressing protesters, Sanjay Chopra said the vendors policy 2011 had been announced in the state nearly one year back but the vendors were still to be benefited from it.

Chopra announced that the vendors would be staging a demonstration outside the Secretariat on January 21 if the Urban Development Directorate did not bring a change in its work culture.

Small Traders Association Uttarakhand’s Bhupendra Rajput, Radhey Shyam Kashyap, Rameshwar Prasad Bhatt and a large number of street vendors took part in the demonstration. 

Dehradun, January 12
Som Institute defeated DT Eleven by two wickets in a match in the 61st Dehradun District Cricket League tournament played at the Survey Stadium here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, the DT Eleven team scored 83 runs in 17.5 overs.

Akshay was the top scorer with 23 runs.

Sanjay took four wickets for 22 runs for DT Eleven.

In reply, the Som Institute team scored 84 runs for eight wickets to win the match by two wickets. Mukul remained unbeaten on 33 runs. Maddy and Akshay Gupta took two wickets each for

DT Eleven.