Mussoorie, February 26
Chaotic scenes led to the cancellation of the monthly Municipal Council meeting here today.

When the meeting was about to start, ward members entered into a verbal duel with each other on various development issues. As a result, the meeting had to be cancelled. The Executive Officer, also the secretary of the council, failed to turn up at the meeting reportedly owing to illness.

Prior to the monthly meeting, a review meeting was also organised, where two ward members, Virendar Rawat and Ramesh Bhandari, took MC President OP Uniyal to task and questioned the justification of having the review of development works at the end of their tenure as public representatives of the town.

Virendar Rawat alleged the entire exercise was being carried out at the behest of some ward members to pressurise officials for various development works that were not possible and against the laws of the council.

On the other hand, some ward members were seen in favour of the review meeting and said as the Executive Officer had failed to deliver on the works approved during the previous meeting, it was important to set their accountability and initiate action against such officials.

Uniyal, also siding with these members, alleged that Executive Officer PS Rawat was not attending the meeting on some or other pretext which had resulted in the stalling of all development works in the town.

Another member, Ramesh Bhandari, counter alleged that Uniyal and his coterie of ward members were trying to pressurise the officers to approve the tenders despite the unavailability of budget for the work in the council.

On the issue of reinstating horse owners in the town, some members alleged that only those horse owners who were close to some members were being given the shops at the Camel's Back road while others were being left out.

Ramesh Bhandari and Virendar Rawat alleged that officials, at the behest of some ward members, were planning to usurp these shops too which would not be tolerated.

Ward members also met the Dehradun DM and filed a complaint against Executive Officer PS Rawat for indulging in petty politics and conspiring against the council.

Uniyal said PS Rawat had attended the MC office in Mussoorie for only 15 days in the whole year therefore he should be transferred elsewhere as development works were being affected.

Haridwar, February 26
Taking cognizance of a news item with regard to non-functioning CCTV cameras in Haridwar published in these columns two days ago, Superintendent of Police (city) KL Shah inspected all cameras and the control room from where footages are viewed. During the inspection, he found some of the CCTV cameras non-functional and gave directions to the officials concerned to get them repaired by the next festive bath of Mahashivratri.

SP (city) KL Shah inspects the CCTV cell control room at CCR Towers in Haridwar on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Of a total of 78 CCTV cameras at the CCR Towers-based CCTV cell, only 56 were found in working condition.

CCTV cell sub-in charge Netra Singh Sailal said the non-operational set-ups would become operational in the coming days as maintenance work was being done.

Showing the footages of prominent places like Brahamkund, Har-ki-Pauri, where nine CCTV cameras are installed, Sailal said they had ample recording cameras with higher resolution, zoom facility and storage to make up for the non-functional cameras.

He said in view of the paucity of funds, which was posing a hindrance to the police to monitor vital points of the city through CCTV cameras, a proposal was send to the police headquarters in this regard which had been cleared.

SP Shah said they had received a sanctioning letter from the police headquarters about the allocation of Rs 15 lakh for CCTVs equipment.

"From this fund, we will procure more CCTV cameras to be installed at vital points and on highway intersections," said SP Shah. The cameras are likely to be installed at Bhoopatwala, the Desh Rakshak intersection (Kankhal) and at NHs-58 and 72.

At present, CCTV cameras have been installed at Malviya Ghat, Subash Ghat, Mata Mansa Devi, Khad Khadi, Shankarcharya chowk, Chandracharya chowk, Bhagat Singh Chowk, Shiv Moorti Chowk, Tulsi Chowk, Chandi Ghat police booth, Singh Dwar, railway station, bus station, RTO chowk, Dudhadhari, Gujjarawal chowk and Valmiki chowk.

Mussoorie, February 26
The dilapidated Northern Railway out agency building on Mall Road that is used for ticket reservation tells a tale of neglect.

The historic building belonging to the Northern Railway is used as a reservation centre not only by residents but also tourists visiting Mussoorie.

However, it is in a poor condition due to negligence on the part of the authorities concerned and lack of maintenance. It has not been renovated for several decades.

The roof of the building has worn out at several places and could cave in any time, endangering the lives of the people. During the monsoon the reservation hall turns into a swimming pool, making it difficult for the people to book tickets. OP Uniyal, president of the Mussoorie Municipal Council, agreed that the building was in a shambles and nothing had been done despite several reminders to the railway authorities.

Uniyal said he too had been on the receiving end during the monsoon when the whole hall of the building got flooded.

The supervisor of the building, OPS Rawat, said the senior railway officials had been apprised of the situation but no action had been taken yet.

The SDM, Mussoorie, NS Dangi, said his office had received no complaint and hence he could not take any action. The residents believe that if the building is not renovated soon it could collapse any time and prove fatal. They said the Railways, which has a separate budget for such things, did not have time to repair its own building.

The railway out agency was built to cater to the British population in the 19th century when a plan to bring a railway line from Shenshai Ashram to Mussoorie was proposed.

The British had visualised a rail link in Mussoorie way back in 1896 and still the remains of broken tracks and old railway tunnels were visible near Rajpur.

According to historians, Dehradun-Mussoorie Electric Tramway Company was set up in 1921 with a share capital of Rs 36 lakh for undertaking railway construction, but the project was shelved due to political unrest and alleged misappropriation of funds by company officials. The Railways has not considered any new rail line to Mussoorie since then. 

Dehradun, February 26
Students from Tula’s Institute here today joined 10,000 of their peers across India to show their creativity in Microsoft Student AppFest, a unique coding event enabling students to develop their ‘dream app’ ideas using the latest Microsoft technologies.

Landing in 54 key hubs in 45 key cities across 18 states of India, the reverberations of the day-long coding fest were felt across the country with each state hosting a bustling hands-on workshop run by a total of 150 Microsoft Student Partners on-call to give students a first-hand app development experience. Around 400 students from Tula’s Institute contributed to the total number of 10,000 participating students. The tremendous response amounts to over 60,000 collective hours of coding. An estimated total number of 3,000 full apps were imagined and created during the one-day code-a-thon.

The goal of the event was to ignite the imagination of students from colleges representing the full spectra of Indian academia by offering the chance to design the perfect app with guidance from professional developers.

Young tech enthusiasts were given the freedom of casting their app-vision on the latest Windows 8 and Windows Phone platforms; building, designing and testing bespoke apps geared at phones and tablets while receiving guidance and support from Microsoft mentors, trainers and student partners to realise their creation.

Dehradun, February 26
In today’s scenario, the level of students, educational institutions and education in particular is going downwards as the courses being taught at various institutions of the country are totally a mismatch to the market demands.

This was stated by Prof. Pushpesh Pant, a renowned journalist and educationist while delivering a talk to students of Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Technology and Science (ITS) at the inauguration of the Fraternity Week of the institute here today.

“To be successful, one should understand the basic principles of success and should practise these in their own life and then success will come,” he said.

Prof Pushpesh Pant, after inaugurating the Fraternity week by lighting a traditional lamp, interacted with the students in his own well-known style and gave tips for success in life to the students.

Speaking on the topic, “Today’s Indian Education and Our Future”, he said all courses being taught at the colleges and institutions were useful but he further emphasised that the choice of subjects as per the interests of the student was a must.

He said it was very difficult for any institution to say with certainty that immediately upon the completion of a particular course, one would get a job, however, honest efforts put in by the student during the course.

While answering a question, he explained the usefulness of Hindi language in comparison to English’s needs, effects and importance. He also shared many significant experiences of his life with the students.

The Director of ITS Prof SP Thapliyal urged the students that they should adapt themselves as per the market demand. On the first day of the Freternity Week, quiz and athletic meets were organised.

Onr this occasion, ITS’s academic dean VD Pant, pharmacy department chief Dr Preeti Kothiyal, Dr Rama Sushil, Dr Ram Naresh and Bhuvan Naithani were present along with the faculty members and students of all departments.

Haridwar, February 26
The younger generation is fast getting affected with liver-related ailments, particularly liver cirrhosis, due to a poor lifestyle and consumption of alcohol.

General secretary of the Indian Medical Association Uttarakhand Dr Sanjay Shah said this at an awareness camp organised by the Ram Krishan Mission Sewa Ashram Chikitsalya in Haridwar today.

Dr Shah warned the youth against the use of tobacco and the consumption of alcohol and cited several cases where unhealthy food habits along with alcohol consumption led to serious liver-related problems.

He recommended preventive measures, healthy food habits and lifestyle, morning walk, yoga, consumption of fresh fruits and prohibition of alcohol. — TNS

Dehradun, February 26
The third day of the first Rajiv Gandhi Inter-University Youth Festival gave ample opportunity to students of universities of Uttarakhand to exhibit their talent in cultural and sports events.

The day began with the folk orchestra event which featured a team from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar. This was followed by the event where students sang their own compositions or played them on instruments. This was an important event of the day and several students sang a variety of compositions created by them.

The "Tantra" band from Graphic Era Deemed University was a special attraction. Gaurav Pathak and Sanjeev Chamoli, students from School of Communication, Doon University, sang and played the guitar. Other universities which took part in this were DSVV, HIHT, UTU, Graphic Era Hill University, FRI Deemed University and Kumaon University.

An on-the spot photography competition began in the morning too. Students with their cameras could be seen around the campus of Doon University looking for beautiful scenes to capture in their cameras. Among those who participated were Ashish Lad from FRI University, Deepak Singh from ICFAI, Manish Pandey from Kumaon University, Mohit Khanna from Doon University, Sakshi Semwal from HNBGU, Bhavesh Pandey from Graphic Era Deemed University, Tarun Patel from Patanjali, Promit De from DSVV, Akhilesh Maithani from Graphic Era Hill University, Shivangi Dimri from Uttarakhand University of Horticulture and Forestry, Sandeep Negi from the UOU and Samuel from the HIHT.

In the one-act play competition, 10 universities participated, Doon University, HIHT University, Himgiri Zee University, UTU, GB Pant University, Patanjali University, UOU, HNBGU, FRI and UPES.

Among the plays were "Viraat Desh" by HIHT University , "Partition" by Himgiri Zee University and "Aakhir Main hi kyon?" a play on the sinking of the old Tehri town by Doon University.

In the light vocal music event, 13 universities participated. Ravi Rauthan and Deepshikha Moyal of Doon University were among the competitors. The judge was Rupi Mahindroo, in charge of SPIC MACAY in Uttarakhand. In the women's table tennis final, Kumaon University beat HNBGU (3-1) and in the men's final too, Kumaon University beat HNBGU (3-0).

In the pre-quarterfinals of women (singles) match, Kumaon University beat Patanjali by 3-0, HNBGU beat Doon University 3-0, Kumaon University beat UTU 3-0, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya beat Kumaon University 3-1, GEHU beat GB Pant University 3-0, HNBGU beat GB Pant University 3-0 and Kumaon University beat UTU (3-0)

In the men's pre-quarter (singles), HNBGU beat GEHU 3-1, HNBGU beat ICFAI 3-2, GEDU beat UTU 3-0, Kumaon University beat GEHU 3-0, HNBGU beat GB Pant University 3-0, Kumaon University beat GEHU 3-0, Kumaon University beat UTU 3-1 and GEDU beat UTU 3-0.

In the athletics events, Vivek Kumar of HNBGU won the men's 200 metres while Jony Kumar of HNBGU and Rajesh Joshi of GBPU stood second and third.

In the 200 metres race for women, Deepa Mehta of Kumaon University stood first while Anju Rawat of Kumaon University and Babita Joshi of HNBGU stood second and third, respectively.

In the long jump for men, the first position was bagged by Ashish Pandey of UTU while Javed Akhtar of Kumaon University and Somnath Dev of FRI Deemed University were second and third, respectively.

Mamta Mehta of HNBGU bagged the first position in the long jump for women while Babita Joshi of HNBGU and Richa Tripathi of DSVV stood second and third, respectively. In the shot put event for men, KS Negi of HNBGU was first while Amit Chandra of GBPU and Priyank Wadhwa of UPES bagged the second and third positions. Bhagirathi of HNBGU and Neha Chaudhary of GEDU stood first and second in the shortput (for women) event.

In the semi-finals of badminton (women), Kumaon University beat UTU (2-0) and HNBGU beat GBPU (2-1). In the men's quarterfinals, Kumaon University beat DSVV (2-0), Doon University beat HIHT (3-0), UTU beat GEHU (3-0) and HNBGU beat GBPU (3-0). In cricket, HNBGU beat ICFAI by 90 runs and UTU beat Doon University .

In basketball (men's quarterfinals ), GBPU beat GEHU and Kumaon University beat UTU. Patanjali beat Doon University in kabaddi while Uttrakhand Sanskrit University beat Patanjali and Uttarakhand Sanskrit University also beat Doon 
University .

HNBGU won the men's chess while GBPU won the women's chess championship. Kumaon University and Doon University were second in men's chess while DSVV was second in women's chess. In football, GEDU beat UTU and GBPU beat Doon University.

Dehradun, February 26
Ordnance Factory, Dehradun, defeated Survey of India in the Inter-Central Government Institutions Volleyball Tournament being played at National Hydrographic Office here today.

The Ordnance Factory team beat the Survey of India team 25-19,20-25 and 15-13.

In the second match, the Postal Department team defeated the OLF team 25-17 and 25-14. In the third match, the OFD team beat MES 25-17, 25-23.