Dehradun, May 19
Making a Difference (MAD), an association of 800 youngsters in Dehradun, has taken up the cleaning of dwindling streams which have been choked due to excessive pollution and gross neglect by people as well as the government.

Many of the erstwhile perennial streams are now beyond any scope of revival. It is certain that the streams flowing below the Bindal bridge and below the Rispina bridge are dead with all their biodiversity.

From east canal to west canal, Dehradun has no canals. MAD has now resolved that it would not allow those few streams to meet the same fate. Last year in May, they had zeroed in on the Tamsa stream which comes from the Bijapur dam to Dakra and is filled with the filth on the Tapkeshwar temple premises. It is the only stream which is the source of water supply for the town. Concerned over this, MAD volunteers held a mega clean-up drive and an awareness campaign on the premises of the Tapkeshwar temple on May 13 last and collected over 15 quintals of assorted garbage.

On hearing that people continue to pollute the stream, a team of 40 MAD volunteers were back in action yet again today. These included students from Summer Valley School, Brightlands, Doon University, the Dehradun Institute of Technology and Graphic Era University.

The Mahant of the Tapkeshwar temple extended full cooperation and support for this drive and provided them with some spades and also organised tea for young volunteers.

Wearing gloves, gumboots and masks, the youngsters started their work to clean the dried-up stream full of polythene and other pollutants.

Polythene had been almost embedded in the river basin. Other pollutants included puja samagri such as coconuts, lemon, fruits and leaves, which are biodegradable.

The volunteers collected a number of garbage bags. Later, interacting with the volunteers, the Mahant pointed out as to how devotees dump all this waste in the belief that anything dumped in flowing water takes one to divinity.

He said it was this value system that had led to pollution in so many Indian rivers. Later, volunteers organised an awareness drive.

However, volunteers were disappointment at unresponsive and insensitive attitude of Doon Valley Waste Management Pvt Ltd. MAD volunteers had intimated both project manager BS Negi and CEO Siddharth Jain about the drive a day in advance and had requested him for assistance in the campaign. The association had been ensured support by the top officials. However, on Sunday, the officials did not send any vehicle and hungry and exhausted students kept waiting for over three hours.

On contacting top officials, MAD volunteers were told that “We are doing you a favour” and “You are no one to command me”.

Dehradun, May 19
A workshop on stress-busting techniques was organised at the Police Lines here today. Two social workers from Delhi, Dr Ashutosh and Dr Rolly Khanna, advised police personal to adhere to a holistic lifestyle and how to beat the stress causing due to prolonged working hours and faulty lifestyle. Dr Ashutosh asked them to avoid oily, starchy, sweet or over salty food at odd hours. He informed them about an ideal food chart comprising sprouts and calorie-rich breakfast, slightly lighter lunch and very light dinner.

He said people who work for many hours usually take heavy dinner, which was quite detrimental to health. Dr Rolly suggested them a number of ways to reduce stress level which included warm hair oil massage, exercise, yoga and meditation, spending time with their families or friends, reading or gardening. Meanwhile, a volleyball match was held for police personal in the SSP office ground today. Eight teams were constituted, each representing one circle of the district. The winning team was given Rs 5,000 and a felicitation certificate. DIG, Dehradun, Amit Sinha and SSP Kewal Khurana were also present.

Dehradun, May 19
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna today visited the home of India ISCE topper Bhuvanya Vijay, a student of St Joseph’s Academy and gave her Rs 50,000 as a mark of appreciation.

Bahuguna congratulated Bhuvanya Vijay and her parents and said she had done Uttarakhand proud. He said she was an inspiration for all students. He said the state government had introduced the Mukhyamantri Balika Shiksha Protsahan Yojna to encourage girls to study and do well.

Later in the day, the St Joseph’s Academy Alumni Association also honoured Bhuvanya Vijay for making St Josephites proud. Secretary Praveen Chandhok said St Joseph’s Academy had a history of imparting quality education. “Josephites have outshined and excelled once again as it has now become their habit,” he said.

Praveen Chandhok congratulated Bhuvanya Vijay, all-India topper who scored an astounding 99 per cent marks. He said she was not only the pride of Dehradun but the entire Uttarakhand and had made the alumni proud. Other St Josephites -- Yah Kukreti, who scored 98.5 per cent marks in science, Sanchar Saran (98 per cent science), Devika Tolia (98 per cent commerce), Shreya Rawat (95.5 per cent commerce) and Utsav Gupta (94.75 per cent commerce) were also honoured on the occasion.

The Vice-Principal of the SJA, brother Dennis Joseph, said Bhuvanya Vijay not only excelled in her studies but was also outstanding in extracurricular activities.

Dr Sandeep Ahuja the topper of 1982 batch was also present and congratulated the student for their hard work and excellence. President of the alumni association Randhir Arora, and other alumni, including Surinder Batra (vice-president), Vineet Vishnoi, Vijay Vachani, Harshit Gupta, Siddharth Jain, Ambhuj Oberoi and Vikas Dewan, were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, May 19
To enhance dramatic skills of the students, an inter-house dramatic competition was organised yesterday at Unison World School, Dehradun. The judges for the competition were Satish Dholakhandi, Cultural Director, Kala Jatha Movement, Anslem Fernandes, a renowned theatre artist and Anjali Saxena, Dean of Academics, Unison World School.

Four mesmerising and hilarious plays were enacted by the students namely- The Exchange, The Big Switch, Parivartan and The story of Lakhan Patwari. The judges appreciated the performances and encouraged the students participating in the competition. They commended the confidence and creativity of the students for putting up the meaningful acts.

The winning drama was "The story of Lakhan Patwari". The play depicted the shrewd behaviour of Lakhan Patwari who is a miser but a witty fellow. Lakhan Patwari plays a trick and saves his life. He creates a chaos in Yam Lok and the matter is reported to Lord Vishnu. The story reveals how Lord Vishnu resolves the matter.

The house positions were as follows:- First prize-Tulip House, Second prize-Jasmine House, Third prize- Daffodil House and Fourth- Orchid House. 

Mussoorie, May 19
Musician members of Alumnus Patrician Schools in north India captivated the imagination of the audience during the “Patrician Alumni Rockfest” event organised at St George’s College in Mussoorie yesterday.

The event is being organised to bring the alumni of the patrician schools together so that they can interact with old friends, make new acquaintance with the Patrician fraternity and share their experience of studying in the patrician school.

Members from rock band “EKKA” stole the show with their scintillating performance that included several western and Bollywood numbers much to the appreciation of the gathered audience. All the band members also happen to be ex-students of the St George’s College, Mussoorie.

Rock bands from other schools such as Mussoorie Public School, Atul from Canada and the hosts St George's College band enthralled the audience through their mesmerising musical performance on the occasion.

This was followed by a Patrician alumni meet in which the members resolved to work towards the mission set up by the association.

The Principal of the host school, Brother Christopher, said the objective of the association was to form a pan India alumni for schools under Patrician Brothers’ umbrella and to uphold the welfare of the alumnus.

He said the association would assist in social development initiatives and promote overall physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing of students.

The association has also envisaged a plan to support the schools, run by Patrician brothers, by assisting any infrastructure development.

The scholarships programs, organising competitions, promoting sports activities through tournaments, career counselling, lectures and talks would also be undertaken by the association, added Brother Christopher.

The association would also render sincere and efficient service by providing medical facilities for the benefit of the public and help the needy students of all communities for their studies.

Mussoorie, May 19
The joy doubled for the students of Nirmala Inter College (NIC) in Mussoorie as they won the Bro Thomas Inter School Football and Diamond Jubilee Inter-School Throw Ball competitions at Nirmala school grounds in Mussoorie yesterday.

The two events were a part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the school in which around seven schools participated in Bro Thomas Memorial Inter-school Football Tournament and four teams in the Diamond Jubilee Inter-School Throw Ball Tournament.

In the final of the football tournament, NIC played against GGIC and defeated the latter by 2-0. In the finals of throw ball, NIC 'Á' team were declared winners defeating NIC 'B' team convincingly.

Br Dominic Jacob, manager, NIC, who was the chief guest, applauded the teams and appreciated the hardwork of the students and staff of the NIC.

NIC Principal Bro KJ Antony thanked all participants and said the tournament would help many more young players to come up in the future years to represent at the national level.

Miss India South -2012 Shamata Anchan

Haridwar, May 19
Beauty pageants are a genuine platform to enter into the glamour world, be it modelling or bollywood. With a tough competition these days, getting noticed and performing excellently in beauty pageants, surely adds to one’s career quotient.

This was opined by Femina Miss India South -2012 Shamata Anchan, who was recently in the district to inaugurate a fashion designing institute.

Shamata Anchan said earlier, it was only metropolitan cities like Bombay, New Delhi, Bangalore that used to churn out beauty queens, but now small cities and towns like Bareilly, Meerut, Dehradun, Roorkee, Bhopal and Shimla, too, were producing achievers in the glamour world.

This according to her was more to do so with the exposure, penetration of satellite television, media and girls moving from their homes to bigger cities to make a mark.

“Girls from sub-urban towns and small cities are quite high in confidence and have determination to succeed and prove themselves that they are no less in comparison to the metro girls,” remarked Anchan, who is a postgraduate from Mithibai College, Mumbai.

Urging parents to allow girls to opt for fashion designing, modelling and beauty pageants, Shamata said the time had changed and girls were emerging winner in almost every field.

Citing fashion designing as a lucrative career, she said trends change almost every week. “People want to look good, want change in their dressing style and due to fashion craze, demand of fashion designing and models have only raised in the past decade,” Shamata said.

Anchan is all praise for Uttarakhand, for its natural, scenic, pilgrimage and spiritual aspects and wants to come here again, to personally feel every aspect of this hilly state.

“Uttarakhand is known as abode of Gods so it is quite natural that I get spiritually elevated when I come to this part of the country," she said.

Dehradun, May 19
Member of the state committee of the Communist Party of India (ML) Jagat Singh Martolia here today raised the issue of the alleged manhandling of people of the Buksa tribal community by Congress leader Bhillan Singh Chauhan on May 1.

He alleged that Chauhan also misbehaved with women members. He flayed the police and administrative officials for not taking any action.

He has asked the Chief Minister to order a magisterial probe into the matter.