Strengthen your character, VC tells Gurukul students
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 14
Vice Chancellor of Uttarakhand Sanskrit Univeristy Mahavir Aggarwal, while speaking at the concluding session of the two-day 106th annual function of Gurukul Maha Vidyalya, Jwalapur, stressed on having good character-building traits among students rather than focusing more on their outward personal appearance.

The Sanskrit expert said that since ages in Indian mode of educational system moral based education has been given preference and Sanskrit scholars stood out due to this only.

Supporting this Gurukul Postgraduate College Principal Shiv Shankar Jaiswal said that despite odds one should never compromise on his moral values.

He cited Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, Swami Dayanand, Swami Darshananand as prime examples who always stood for truth, principles and character.

Gurukul Maha Vidyalaya (School) Principal Keshav Prasad Upahdyaya said that only by having high moral values one can ensure of a strong democracy.

At the occasion a debate for students was also organised in which Ankush Kumar (Patanjali Vishwavidyalya), Nikita Arya (Jamalpur Kalan) and Ankit Sharma (Devi Sampad Adhyatm Sanksrit Mahavidyalya, Rishikesh) emerged first three winners.

Students of Yoga Department displayed with dexterity their yoga asana skills, which were lauded by all and sundry.

Among others present were Hari Gopal Shastri, Principal of Gurukul Mahavidyalya, Chetra Pal Singh, Ajay Kaushik, Vijendra Chauhan, Mahesh Pratap Rana, Ramesh Chand Sharma, Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, Rajpal Singh, Yashwant Chauhan, Arunesh Parashar and Suresh Chandra Tyagi.

Tributes paid to Dr Ambedkar on his birthday
Tribune News Service

People pay floral tributes to the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar at Kadach, Jwalapur, in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, April 14
On the occasion of 122nd birth anniversary of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, who was the Chairman of Indian Constitution committee, first Law Minister of India and freedom fighter, various programmes were held to mark the occasion.

Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, who was born on this day in 1891 at Mhou, Madhya Pradesh, was paid floral tributes as people shed light on his contribution to the freedom movement, politics, society and uplift of lower strata of society.

At Valmiki ashram, Kankhal, a special function was organised where people paid tributes and remembered the pivotal role of Baba Saheb in the freedom struggle and uplift of Dalits.

The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal also paid homage to the legendary figure, terming him as a visionary who followed the Gandhian and Buddhism principles.

Valmiki samaj representative Nitin Teshwar pointed out that Baba Saheb always vowed for social equality paving the way for the suppressed society people to join the mainstream by guiding them towards education,social equality, reservation and self pride.

Lakshman Singh, block chief of the Congress,said the country could progress if all segments of the society mutually work together and bias of caste,religion and region doesn’t get surfaced.

Thr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Yuva Sanghathan also remembered the great leader. At a meeting held by BJP Scheduled Caste cell divisional chief Sanjay Trival, people were urged to follow mantra of the great leader, get educated, remain united and fight for one’s rights.

The Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Janmotsav Samaroh Samiti, Jwalapur, also organised a programme where life and teachings of Baba Ambedkar were discussed.

While Tej Prakash Sahu emphasised the need of following ideals of Dr Ambedkar pointing out that the recent decision of the apex court directing free education to all poor children was also in sync with the vision of Dr Ambedkar who wanted all to get educated.

Celebrations in Indian Institute of Petroleum
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Dehradun, celebrated the birth anniversary of Baba Saheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar today. The birth anniversary celebrations were held under the aegis of the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes Employees' Welfare Association. Various speakers recalled the role of Baba Ambedkar towards betterment of downtrodden and poor during the event.

Director, IIP,MO Garg, referred to various welfare schemes undertaken at the IIP for the welfare of the SC and ST employees. He laid importance on social justice for ensuring a class free society. He also spoke on the life and teachings of Ambedkar.

Earlier, Garg garlanded the portrait of Ambedkar. Surendra Kumar, Administrative Officer, IIP, coordinated the programme.

Congress remembers Babasaheb
Tribune News Service

Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya pays floral tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar at Congress Bhavan in Dehradun on Sunday.

Dehradun, April 14
The Uttarakhand Congress offered tributes to Dr BR Ambedkar on the occasion of his birth anniversary today. At a function held at the party headquarters here, president of the state unit of the party Yashpal Arya recalled the contribution of Dr Ambedkar towards the uplift of unprivileged sections of the community. He said the teachings of Dr Ambedkar were still relevant in society.

Civic bodies’ election in charge Ved Prakash said Dr Ambedkar gave a new direction to society by becoming the voice of downtrodden in the country. He said the Congress had always believed in equality.

Congress leaders, Vijay Saraswat, Shankar Chand Ramola, Rajeev Mahrishi, Lal Chand Sharma, Deen Mohammed and Sudha Shukla, were among prominent speakers.

Earlier, the portrait of Dr Ambedkar was garlanded at the state party headquarters.

Dehradun Diary
Civic bodies poll ‘referendum’ on CM’s performance

With the battle lines are drawn for the crucial civic poll in the state, both ruling Congress and main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have started campaigning earnestly to win these local elections.

Since these civic elections are held nearly a year before the next Lok Sabha elections scheduled in 2014, both parties will be making an all-out efforts to win the confidence of the urban population of the state. These poll is all the more important for the ruling Congress which has completed one year in office under the leadership of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna in the month of March.

It will be a kind of referendum on the performance of the state Congress government and particularly about the leadership of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. The performance of the state government due to a number of factors has remained lackluster and it was also reflected in the shock defeat of Saket Bahuguna, son of Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna in the Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha byelection.

It was more humiliating for the Chief Minister since he himself vacated the Tehri Garhwal seat after becoming the Chief Minister in March 2012. After winning the Sitarganj Assembly byelection in July 2013 by a record margin and within three months losing his own parliamentary seat where his own son was the party candidate was a personal political setback for the Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna. He would like to reverse the trend by doing better in the civic poll.

The Congress and Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna faces an uphill task not due to opposition parties but following intense infighting within the ruling Congress. The fissures within the faction-ridden ruling Congress have widened ahead of the civic poll.

Two of the main factions headed by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna-Congress Chief Yashpal Arya combine and the other headed by Union Minister of Water Resources Harish Rawat are at loggerheads.

The letter written by Harish Rawat to the Chief Minister complaining about the attitude of the state bureaucracy regarding the implementation of Central projects and rebuttal by the Chief Minister has created more bad blood between the two senior ministers.

The strained relations between them was also reflected in the selection of candidates of the civic body elections. Harish Rawat has made his annoyance public over the selection of candidates for the civic poll. Although, the party has given preference to his candidates in his own constituency of Haridwar but Harish Rawat has left on a foreign tour and will be unavailable to campaign till April 20.

It was believed in party circles that his group will stay aloof at places where they do not have enough political stakes. The group would like Bahuguna-Yashpal Arya duo to carry the burden of campaigning on their shoulders and also be responsible for the outcome of the poll.

The crucial electoral battle will be fought in the capital city of Dehradun where party has nominated Suryakant Dhasmana, party's vice-president for the post of Dehradun Mayor. The factionalism was visible at the nomination of Dhasmana, where only Yashpal Arya and Umesh Kumar, the lone Congress legislator, were present. All other party leaders and legislators, particularly from Dehradun, were absent clearly showing the internal dissentions that would have a bearing on the outcome of the poll.

The Congress has tried to put a semblance of unity by announcing a campaign coordination committee headed by State Planning and Sports Minister Dinesh Aggarwal, a close aide of Harish Rawat. It will be seen whether such a committee be effective for the outcome on the poll.

— SMA Kazmi

MAD organises eco-friendly activity
Distributes jute, paper bags
Tribune News service

Dehradun, April 14
Making A Difference, an association of city youngsters (primarily teenagers) working on various environmental and society related issues, organised a one-of-a-kind eco-friendly activity to distribute jute and paper bags in the MDDA colony, Sabji-Mundi area, in order to promote and appreciate the state government's move of banning polythene in all its forms from use in Dehradun.

''In the course of our scores of clean-up drives, we always noticed that polythene was the most common and the most dangerous pollutant in the valley. Not only was it present in abundance, but also it led to a slow excruciating death of cows and street dogs, which consumed polythene in search of food, as people always stuff biodegradable food inside polythene carrybags,'' explained Shardul Singh Rana, a core member of the team. The preparation for this activity was in full swing ever since the schools re-opened for the new session. Maddians wrote to their chapters in various schools requesting them to make paper bags/jute bags which could be distributed among the city vegetable/fruit vendors and shopkeepers. It is worth mentioning that Summer Valley School, Hopetown Girls School and The Doon School provided active assistance in this noble initiative.

''While we appreciate and applaud the step of the state government to effectuate this much-needed step of banning polythene, we cannot remain oblivious to ground realities. The ground reality is that the people don't have an alternative. By taking part in this activity I am doing my bit in actually being the difference. If all schools in the city actually put this activity into practice every month, we will be working substantially in removing the scourge of polythene,'' remarked a young Dosco, who was one of the 15 students from the school who attended this activity.

All the students first gathered at Astley Hall around 11 am and then proceeded for the drive together. As they distributed the bags in the area they got a mixed response. While some shopkeepers, busy as they were, mechanically accepted the same and went about with their business, a few more genial ones looked at the bags with curious expressions and were amazed at this novel initiative.

''Son, what you do is not very difficult, but no one wants to get into this (mess), not even we.'' Another remarked:''It is common sense to look for alternatives to polythene, but common sense is very uncommon,'' as MAD volunteers chuckled at this witty jibe at civil society.

A total of 30 students participated in this drive and all of them were very satisfied with this new found activity. ''We are going to do more of this, since it really makes a difference. We hope more of Doonites will be willing to spare two Sundays a month and join us in making a difference,''remarked Samarth Goel, MAD volunteer. Present in the activity were Shekhar Rathod, Aakash Bhatia, Anurag Chauhan, Parth Joshi, Sanat Verma, Rishabh Nautiyal, Samarth Goel and Shardul Rana among others.

50,000 devotees visit Rishikul grounds to hear Satpal Maharaj’s discourse
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, April 14
More than 50,000 devotees are visiting the Rishikul grounds on a daily basis to hear the discourse of spiritual guru-cum-politician Satpal Maharaj. It has been organised as part of the birthday celebrations of Satpal Maharaj. A three-day Sadhbhawna Sammelan also began at Prem Nagar ashram, near Chandracharya chowk, Ranipur, yesterday. Satpal Maharaj's wife Amrita Rawat is also accompanying him at the discourse.

A large number of devotees from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Sikkim, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are attending the discourse.

Addressing a gathering today, Satpal Maharaj urged people to practise meditation as this helped eject evil thoughts from the mind and pave the way for inner peace.

Satpal Maharaj said self-introspection could make one realise what wrong he was doing to himself, family, society and the country.

Amrita Rawat stressed the need of having a religious guru in one's life, as he was the bridge that connected a devotee with the almighty.

Elaborate security arrangements are in place at the venue. Senior police officials are personally monitoring the situation to ensure the smooth conduct of the programme.

Circle officer Rajesh Bhatt said besides traffic police personnel, help had also been sought from trained volunteers of the Manav Uthan Sewa Samiti.

Programme for below poverty line children

Dehradun, April 14
As part of voluntary project "Renaissance- the movement begins", Dazzle Key and Rock Garage jointly organised an interactive programme for the Below Poverty Line children of Dehradun. Dazzle Key is an event planning and management services organiation whereas Rock Garage is a technically advanced music institute of Dehradun.

Dist Magistrate holds meet for code enforcement
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Dehradun District Election Officer BVRC Purushottam yesterday convened a meeting of political parties, candidates and returning officers linked to implementation of the model code of conduct for civic bodies elections in the state.

Purushottam asked the candidates not to indulge in any activity that hurt religious sentiments of any community or religion. He even asserted that religious places should not be used for election publicity. He also held that no voter could be forced or coerced to vote in favour of a particular party.

Chief Development Officer, Dehradun, Sushil Kumar said the candidates would have to submit their detail of expenditures within 30 days of declaration of poll results. He reminded that the maximum expenditure limit for the post of Mayor had been kept at Rs 8 lakh. As of councillors, Rs 1 lakh limit had been kept for those contesting the post of councillors.

For Municipalities with 10 wards, the limit had been kept at Rs 2 lakh for the Municipal chairman. For those municipalities that comprise more than 10 wards, the Rs 3 lakh limit had been kept as limit for the Municipal chairman.

Election officer Bansidhar Tiwari said polythene and plastic material could not be used in canvassing. He said the name of printing press should be revealed in the pamphlets and other publicity stationery.

Sub-Divisional Magistrate, City, Ranjana Verma, Additional District Magistrate Harak Singh Rawat and representatives of the Congress, the BJP, the BSP, the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Peace Party attended the meeting.

Advanced treatment for heart disease
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
In view of the rising cases of heart diseases in the country, the Dehradun-based Max Superspeciality Hospital is now offering advanced treatment options for heart valve diseases.

Gaurav Rekhi, general manager, operations, Max Superspeciality Hospital, Dehradun, said the hospital was established with an aim to deliver tertiary level healthcare services to residents of Uttarakhand.

"We have always been ahead in adopting latest and advanced technology so that residents of Dehradun and the neighboring cities do not need to travel to metros to avail such superspecialised medical care. Guided by this objective, we were emerging as a leader in Uttarakhand when it came to comprehensive treatment of heart valve disease by using breakthrough technology to repair or replace damaged valves of the heart. We were hopeful that now with access to such technologies, heart valve diseases will no longer be an alarming verity for residents of Uttarakhand, maintained Rekhi.

Dr Akhilesh Pandey, senior consultant cardiac surgeon, Max Hospital, explained that it occurred if one or more heart valves didn't work well. The valve problems could be congenital (inborn) or acquired due to any other cause later in life. Many people had heart valve defects or disease which didn't show symptoms and could worsen the problem. If not treated, advanced heart valve disease could cause heart failure, stroke, blood clots, or death due to sudden cardiac arrest.

Visionary infused confidence among Dalits: Dhasmana
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Various organisations celebrated the birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Bhim Rao Ambedkar in Dehradun today. At a function organised by Ambedkar Navyuwak Sangh, DL Road, Congress candidate for Dehradun Mayor Suryakant Dhasmana said Ambedkar infused a sense of self-confidence among Dalits in the country. He stressed on efforts towards bringing Dalit youths towards mainstream of society.

Dhasmana also held that if elected he would ensure that caste certificates get prepared at the Dehradun Municipal Corporation. He also held that a large population of the state had benefited due to the state government's new domicile policy.

He later flagged off Ambedkar Shobhyata at Clock Tower. He said the real development can only come to Dehradun if the slums in the state are developed and organised.

Ravindra Kumar, Rakesh Kumar, Ambrish Kumar, Anil Rajouria, KP Singh, JP Jatav and Harish Chowdhary were prominent persons present on the occasion.

Hat festival opened
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh, April 14
The traditional annual agricultural Hat festival at Thal was inaugurated by Pithoragarh zila panchayat chairperson Sunita Devi today. Thal Mela, organised on the bank of the Ramganga at Thal town of Pithoragarh district and has traditionally been a market for local artisans who make agricultural equipment for local farmers, has also had a religious significance as people also came to worship at local temple of Lord Shiva.

The mela, which began with Kalash yatra and glimpses of Chaolkiya dance, will continue for three days.

According to sub-divisional administration of Didihat, police force has been deputed at the mela site to maintain order in the area. "As people from the Talla Johar (Lower Johar villages) area and nearby villages are expected in big numbers to reach the mela, we have banned vehicles plying to and from the river side and instructed vehicle owners to park their vehicles at distance from the market area", said PS Karki tehsiladar of the area.

Ajay Bhatt questions govt's intention on ordinance
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt has questioned the state government’s intentions towards bringing in an ordinance towards protecting a Cabinet Minister holding various offices of profit. In a statement issued today, Ajay Bhatt said the government had promulgated an ordinance to keep five corporations out of the office of profit which was basically meant to protect Agriculture Minister Harak Singh Rawat that has been holding various officers of profit.

“I have come to know that the Governor has given its consent to the ordinance for keeping five corporations out of the office-of-profit category”, Ajay Bhatt said, adding that he was yet to get the copy of the ordinance.

He also questioned the state government of bringing in an ordinance without trying to take consent of the state Assembly and taking the Opposition into confidence.

He said the government must clarify as to under what circumstances did it bring five corporations of the state outside the ambit of the offices of profit. “The BJP will now seek the refuge of court”, Bhatt observed.

Doon Tuskers win
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Doon Tuskers and Abhimanyu Cricket Academy won their respective matches in the 61st Dehradun District Cricket League played at Survey Stadium, here today.

In the first match, Doon Tuskers defeated Youth Sports by 14 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Tuskers were all out for 199 runs. Gurdeep scored 75 runs. Neeraj Chhetri and Rohan took two wickets each. In reply, Youth Sports was all out for 185 losing the match by 14 runs. Akash scored 40 runs. Kapil took three wickets for 29 runs.

In the second match Abhimanyu Cricket Academy defeated Rudra Cricket Club by 211 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Abhimanyu Academy scored 329 runs for a loss four wickets in 40 overs. Abhimanyu scored a brilliant 128 runs.

Protest over felling of trees in Doon
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, April 14
Expressing concern over the rampant felling of trees in Dehradun, Citizens for Green Doon today observed a fast near the statue of state agitationist Indermani Badoni. The volunteers of the Green Doon association gathered at the Clock Tower in downtown Dehradun and observed a fast just beneath the statue of Indermani Badoni.

They alleged that rampant felling of trees was taking place which will turn the city into a concrete jungle. They alleged the scenario could turn worse if the state government did not take adequate steps to safeguard the greenery of the city.

Ruchi Singh, Anjali Bhatia, Nidhi Bhandari, Himanshu Arora, Nidhi Aswal were prominent volunteers, who observed the fast.