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Cold wave sweeps state; mercury may drop further
Normal life thrown out of gear in Haridwar
Doonite Abhijay Negi corners glory for state
Out-of-school girls’ count increases
5 hurt as vehicle overturns on Dhanaulti road
Govt vows to fulfil poll promises: Maikhuri
Tigress found dead in Corbett Tiger Reserve
Awareness rally by students
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Heavy snow, rain in Mussoorie, surrounding areas
Mussoorie, January 18 The continuous rain and hail accompanied by strong winds for the last 36 hours led to damage of tin roofs, advertising hoardings and trees, as branches were seen strewn all over Mall Road. A fresh spell of snow and hail lead to erratic power supply in Mussoorie, which was rectified by late evening today. Farmers from villages adjacent to Mussoorie heaved a sigh of relief due to the heavy rain in some areas, which they considered would be beneficial for the crops this winter. However, the farmers in certain areas look worried due to heavy hailstorm accompanied by rain and snow that could damage the standing crops, much to their disgust. The upper reaches of the mountains such as Nag Tibba, Lal Tibba, Dhanaulti and Kanatal experienced 8-12 inches of snow, forcing tourists to rush towards Dhanaulti around noon, but they had to return due to road blocks at several places near Buraskhanda. Some residents had a horrid time due to the strong overnight winds, which resulted in uprooting trees and tin roofs yesterday night at Jay Pee Residency bend near Duglous Deal Estate. The tomb of Sai Temple in Mussoorie was damaged with a gaping hole as lightning struck it late at night. No human casualties have been reported so far. Many trees on Mall Road were uprooted and some branches were hanging precariously on the trees near Vasu cinema due to the strong winds yesterday. The roads leading to Uttarkashi, Moriana Top, Dhanaulti and others areas of Garhwal remained closed due to heavy snow and hailstorm. When contacted, PWD Executive Engineer CP Singh said that efforts were on to open all roads for vehicular movement. Meanwhile, tourists were seen enjoying themselves in snow in Mussoorie. Inder Deep Singh, a tourist from Ludhiana, who arrived at a hotel in Mussoorie along with his family, woke up to a pleasant surprise on seeing the town covered with white snow flakes and hailstones. Enjoying the snow by throwing snowballs at each other, Inder Deep Singh said that the snow was unexpected and they were enjoying every moment here. He also said that they had extended their stay, expecting more snow. According to the Met Department, more rain and snow are forecast in the night and the weather could clear by late afternoon tomorrow in Mussoorie.
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Tourists make beeline for hill town; traders happy
Mussoorie, January 18 The business in Mussoorie has been badly affected due to inflation and normalisation of the situation in Jammu and Kashmir as tourists preferred going to Kashmir instead of Mussoorie. However, due to fresh snowfall today tourists from the plains arrived in Mussoorie to enjoy the cold weather and play in snow. Traffic jams were witnessed at many places on Mall Road due to a sudden rush of incoming vehicles, making the task difficult for the police. The owner of Lovely Omelet shop, Quereshi, in Mussoorie said the inflow of tourists had been bare minimum this winter but with the fresh snow today he was doing a brisk business. Sandeep Sahni, a spokesperson for the Mussoorie Hotel Association, said the hoteliers were facing a financial crisis due to global recession and domestic tourists preferring Kashmir over Mussoorie. However, due the fresh snow they expected their business to pick up in a day or two. “Many tourists have extended their stay here expecting more snowfall and if the present weather conditions continue, more people will visit the town. This will bring relief to the hard-up traders,” added Sahni. Other traders were of the view that the administration should also gear up to ensure free flow of traffic to the town by deploying JCB machines to clear snow. However, senior residents of the town were worried at the decrease in the days of snowfall in Mussoorie. They attributed the situation to rampant construction and felling of trees in the town. They believed that if local people wanted an uninterrupted flow of tourists to Mussoorie, awareness about planting more trees should be created. More photos on P2
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Cold wave sweeps state; mercury may drop further
Dehradun, January 18 Normal life was thrown out of gear. However, the Dehradun Meteorological Centre has predicted an improved weather conditions by tomorrow afternoon. As the Dehradun Meteorological Centre, the capital received 62.4 mm of rain whereas Mukteshwar 48.4 mm, Tehri 43 mm Pithoragarh 29.4 mm, Nainital 27.2 mm and Pantnagar received 15.4mm of rain whereas the snowfall continued in the most of the hill areas of the state. Dehradun Meteorological Centre Director Dr Anand Sharma said the weather conditions would improve by tomorrow. He, however, said the minimum temperature of Dehradun could fall by 2 to 4 degree Celsius in the days to come. Meanwhile, cold wave prevailed in the capital. Heavy rain lashed the region with major roads of the city witnessing flooding. Most of the residents remained indoors and the city roads gave a desolate look.
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Normal life thrown out of gear in Haridwar
Haridwar, January 18 Power supply, too, was affected with several colonies had been in dark for hours. Electricity Department officials claimed that the power supply was restored in the evening. The colonies of Shiv Lok, the Shiv Moorti area, Mayapur, Devpura, Khanna Nagar, Jwalapur, Shivolik, Vivek Vihar and Awas Vikas were badly affected due to waterlogging. Many vehicles got stuck in the dugged up portions of roads where sewer laying work is being carried out by the Ganga Pollution Control Board. Commuters at the bus station had to face problems owing to waterlogging due to choked drains on the station premises. On several stretches of the national highway, broken trees disrupted the flow of traffic. Due to rain and the cold climatic condition, the minimum temperature touched 4 degrees. People mostly remained confined to indoors, while it was a busy day for tea and coffee vendors as people opted for these in order to keep themselves warm on this rainy day.
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Doonite Abhijay Negi corners glory for state
Dehradun , January 18 Held as a part of the Samagra Ataljee Project launched by the BJP, the essay contest invited participants to write about the contributions of former Prime Minister and veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Indian politics in 1000 words. There were separate categories for Hindi and English. The contest attracted more than 3000 essays from across the nation, out of which Abhijay’s entry was shortlisted amongst the top 15 in the English category. The shortlisted candidates were invited to the function at Delhi. During the final ceremony, Negi’s essay was awarded consolation prize by the jury. Negi’s entry beat those of university professors and academicians to reach at this level, and making him stand in the big league. On this occasion Abhijay along with Saryu Vaasan got an opportunity to interact with senior BJP leaders regarding the efforts of their youth brigade called “Making a Difference - By being the difference (MAD),” who later assured them of supporting their work at the national level. It is noteworthy that this is Abhijay Negi’s fourth national award in a row. Abhijay recently won the 2nd runnerup prize in the nationwide contest, Nano Student of the Year, organised by Tata Motors in October 2012. He is the recipient of the 2nd prize in the NDTV Greenathon 2012 Teens for green contest. Abhijay’s entry in this competition was on behalf of his youth association MAD. Abhijay had won the Damodarshree National Award for Academic Excellence on the basis of writing an essay on ‘Education and Nation Building’ in October 2011. His entry was adjudged the best among 175 entries received from all over the country. Very recently his team MAD was felicitated with Uttarakhand Srijan Samman at the Governor House, Dehradun, on Janurary 10, 2013, in a function organised by Tarun Vijay, member of Rajya Sabha. Aziz Qureshi, Governor of Uttarakhand, felicitated team MAD for their contribution to society. Abhijay, a former school captain (Head Boy) of Brightlands School, Dehradun, is the son of Alka Negi and Anil Negi, Dy. General Manager (Geophysics), presently posted at the ONGC, Dehradun.
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Out-of-school girls’ count increases
Dehradun, January 18 The annual ASER report prepared by Pratham (NGO) was released today by VC of Doon University VK Jain. According to the report, about 9 per cent children in the 15-16 age group in Uttarakhand were still out of school, The higher proportion of out-of-school girls highlights the vulnerability of girls. Similarly, the learning levels in arithmetic are very low and cause of serious concern. The proportion of children in standard V who could solve simple three-digits by 1 digit division problem has increased from 33.9 per cent in 2011 to 35 per cent in 2012. As many as 65 children or two out of every three children in standard V could not solve a 3-digit by 1-digit division sum in 2012. The figure has decreased by 28 per cent points since 2006. Further, the report says the school infrastructure has improved but schools’ lack adequate number of teachers. The proportion of schools without any drinking water supply has increased from 19.3 per cent in 2011 to 21.7 per cent in 2012. The infrastructure consisting of usable toilets has improved in the state. Approximately 65 percentage of all schools had a usable toilet available. The proportion of schools without toilets has reduced from 4.9 percent in 2011 to 2.9 percent in 2012. However, many schools do not have separate facilities for girls. On the other hand, 16 per cent of all schools did not have a separate provision for girls’ toilets. Out of the schools that possessed separate provision, the facility was usable in 52.9 percent of schools.
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5 hurt as vehicle overturns on Dhanaulti road
Mussoorie, January 18 According to the Mussoorie police, they received an information that one vehicle had turned turtle around 10.30 at night. A police team immediately rushed to the spot but could not head further due to the heavy snow. It had to tread on foot for around four kilometres and rescued the injured. The injured were discharged after first aid. SSP Kewal Khurana had offered Rs 2,500 to the police team which showed immense courage in rescuing the injured at night. According to the injured persons, the vehicle overturned when the driver lost control on the brakes of the vehicle.
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Govt vows to fulfil poll promises: Maikhuri
Dehradun, January 18 Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, Anusuiya Prasad Maikhuri said the state Congress government was committed to fulfil all its poll promises and asserted that laying of a foundation stone for Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly building at Gairsain was one such promise on way to fulfilment. Maikhuri reminded that Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj had been repeatedly seeking holding Assembly session at Gairsain and the new Assembly building was meant for the very purpose. He disclosed that 498 acres of land was already earmarked for the Assembly building at Gairsain. He said there was ample space for the Assembly building, MLA hostel and other infrastructure. He said Gairsain also kept much importance from both religious and tourism points of view. He said Assembly building at Gairsain will also lead to increase in employment opportunities in the region.
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Tigress found dead in Corbett Tiger Reserve
Dehradun, January 18 According to Uttarakhand Wildlife Department sources, the body of the tigress looked a few days old. The exact reason behind the death will, however, only be known after the postmortem report. Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat, too, said the reason behind the death of the tigress will only be revealed through the postmortem report. He, however, held that natural death could also be not ruled out. Significantly, Amangarh range that falls in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh is infamous for presence of poachers. Earlier this week a joint team of Corbett and Uttar Pradesh Forest Department personnel had discovered a steel trap and other items used in wildlife crimes from the region.
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Awareness rally by students
Dehradun, January 18 Mridula Sarin, progamme officer of NSS of the college, said that more than 200 girls participated in the awareness rally.
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Dehradun, January 18
Haridwar, January 18
A young Doonite, Abhijay Negi, a fourth semester student pursuing
B.P.Sc. LLB (Hons.) at National Law University, Jodhpur (NLU-J), has brought more laurels to Uttarakhand in the recently-concluded essay writing competition organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) for participants of over18 years of age.
Dehradun, January 18
