Dehradun, September 30
Pilgrimage to the famous Himalayan shrines of Badrinath and Kedarnath, suspended since the mid-June disaster, will resume on October 5, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna announced this here today.

Before the announcement, the Chief Minister held consultations with the office- bearers of the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee, officials of the Archaeological Survey of India, the Geological Survey of India and the Meteorology Department.

“The Meteorology Department has forecast heavy rain on October 1 and October 2. After this, the weather is likely to be clear. This is the reason that the date for the resumption of the yatra has been advanced to October 5, which is the first day of Navratras,” said Bahuguna.

However, the yatra on foot and on mules to Kedarnath will be limited to 200-odd pilgrims with halting camps set up at Bhembali and Linchori. On the Badrinath route, the movement of small vehicles will be allowed as it is not yet ready for the plying of buses.

“With the resumption of the Char Dham Yatra, normalcy will return to the flood- ravaged areas as people will be able earn their livelihood once again,” said Bahuguna.

The government, along with the district administration, will also make arrangements for ferrying pilgrims through helicopters. Two helicopters will be stationed in Dehradun and two at Guptkashi in Rudraprayag.

“However, considering weather conditions, prior permission will have to be taken to allow flights from Guptkashi to Kedarnath. Similarly, the Civil Aviation will look into the requirements of pilgrims keen on flying through a helicopter to Badrinath,” said Bahuguna.

The pilgrims using the helicopter service will have to return the same day as arrangements for night halt in Kedarnath is being made for only 100 pilgrims.

All pilgrims will also have to undergo a compulsory medical check-up and registration at the assigned places.

At Guptkashi, Bhembali and Linchori, doctors will do health check-ups, which is free.

Dehradun, September 30
Eight Hartley Davidson bikers boomed through the roads of Kotdwara on way to Lansdowne here today. They are riding from Delhi to Lansdowne via Kotdwara on an adventure ride with an aim to raise funds for the natural disaster victims.

They were flagged off by MLA of Lansdowne Dilip Mahant on the Kotdwar-Lansdowne stretch.

The people of Kotdwara and Lansdowne were amazed to see eight mean machine romping on their towns.

The members of the Iron Men Motorcycle Club of Delhi are on an adventure trip to create awareness about the disaster in Uttarakhand and motivate people to help the victims.The club members have so far raised a fund of Rs 9 lakh on the various adventures trips, said P.K. Bansal, owner of P.K.Motors that hosted the stopover of the riders at Kotdwara.

Manish Goel, a member of the team, said the Iron Men Motercycle Club has formed a group of Harley Davidson motorcycle owners who frequently organise the adventure trips. This year, they have dedicated their activity to help disaster victims and raise money to help them.

"Each member of our group , donate Rs 25 for every km we travel as our contribution," he informed.

The team members said that whatever money the club raises would be given to the Admatics Foundation of Delhi, which is doing relief work for Uttarakhand disaster victims.

The team members include Manish Goel, Amit Semore, Nishant Mishra, Rakesh Sharma, Gaurav Sharma, Virendra Singh, S.Krishn Kumar and Vikky Arora.

P.K. Bansal said adventure biking in Uttarakhand can be as popular as it is on the Leh- Manali route if proper advertisement was done and infrastructure built. This could help the tourism industry here as Uttarakhand provides scenic beauty and adrenalin-raising routes for bikers. 

Dehradun, September 30
Birindar Singh Sidhu, a 1979-batch IPS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre, today took over as the new Director General of Police (DGP) of the state.

Sidhu (57) was earlier holding the charge of Director General, Rules and Manuals/Prosecution in the state.

Satyavrat Bansal, who retired as the DGP today, was given a farewell party this morning.

There was a lot of guess work going on in the police department over who would take over as the DGP.

BS Sidhu and SK Bhagat, who is posted as Director Vigilance, were said to be the front-runners for the post.

Sidhu, a vastly experience officer, has served as the Superintendent of Police in sensitive cities of the country such as Moradabad, Varanasi and Agra. He has also served as the Senior Superintendent of Police of Saharanpur, Jhansi, Baanda and Meerut.

He carries a passion for shooting and has won medals in shooting competitions. During his training at the police academy at Hyderabad, he was also awarded Prime Minister’s Baton and Revolver for being the best all-round trainee of the 1979 batch of the IPS. He has also served as Chief Security Commissioner in the Railways. 

Mussoorie, September 30
Students of Doon School found a novel way to spend their mid-term break this year. They extended a helping hand in relief work to residents of Uttarkashi district, which was affected by floods this year.

The team from the school, comprising 84 students, ten teachers and four other staff members, conducted a survey of the damage and lent support in various restoration activities in the district from September 25 to 29.

The team focused on four sites - Ganeshpur, a village along the road to Gangotri; Uttarkashi city; Saraswati Vidya Mandir, which caters to children from the "low-income" group in the area; and Sangam Chatti, where the market was destroyed due to the disaster.

Students said during the five-day trip, the team encountered landslides, roads which were in a deplorable condition, vacant and padlocked hotels and met residents of areas cut off by floods.

At Ganeshpur, the team helped in building a wall to protect a woman's self help centre, The Vinayak Group.

The team members brought sand and stones from the riverbed in the vicinity to the site.

During a separate event, the team met the district's Chief Development Officer who told them that the season's apple and potato produce remained high in the hills because the roads were not secure for heavy transportation. The team also met a social worker from Kerala, who has been working with youth on various relief-work projects.

In Uttarkashi, the Doon team met flood-relief volunteers at the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, where its principal Colonel Ajay Kothiyal told them anecdotes of intitute's brave young men. Students said Sangam Chatti was no longer accessible by a road, so to reach the site, they had trekked past a destroyed hydro-electric project and several dilapidated bridges. Teachers in the team said it was a great learning experience for students, who had resolved to help Vidya Mandir School in construction of toilets, which were washed away during the flash floods. The school had helped them set up a laboratory after last year's flash floods.

Dehradun, September 30
The Employees' Association of Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) boycotted work today in protest against alleged pressure built up by some BJP councillors on secretary Vivek Saxena to withdraw his complaint against them.

Meanwhile, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (MNA) Ashok Kumar, too, has complained to the IAS Officers' Association of the state as well as Principal Secretary, Urban Development, and Chief Secretary about the alleged misbehavior of BJP councillors with him in the board meeting.

BJP councillors met DIG Amit Sinha demanding their complaint to be registered against MNA.

The employees' association which had resumed work on September 27, a day after the ruckus in the premises, announced the boycott today.

President of the association Nam Bahadur said: ''The way BJP councillors influenced the secretary of the association and made him to withdraw his complaint against them is galling. They also threatened the employees of dire consequences and damage the property of the corporation. This high-handedness is completely intolerable; hence, we have decided to boycott the work unless these councillors are arrested by the police.''

Secretary of the association Vivek Saxena said: ''BJP councillors Neeraj Sethi, Sushil Kumar and Bhupender Singh Kathait came to my house late at night yesterday and compelled me to revoke my complaint against them. They made me sign an affidavit to endorse this.

However, I again filed an FIR against them in the morning today.''

Neeraj Sethi, on the other hand, said that Saxena himself called them at his house and gave them the signed affidavit purging them of all the allegations.

Sethi said Saxena admitted that it was MNA who made him to file the FIR against them.

Meanwhile, MNA Ashok Kumar appeared miffed with the police saying that despite lodging an FIR against Neeraj Sethi and Amita Singh for behaving indecently with him on September 26 in the board meeting, the police had not taken any action against them.

He said he had complained against these councillors before the IAS association lobby of the state as well as Principal Secretary, Urban Development, and Chief Secretary.

Mussoorie, September 30
Singer Lucky Ali will mesmerise the audience with his performance during the alumni sports day meet at St George's College beginning from October 4. Lucky Ali is also an alumni of St George's College and has visited his alma mater on a number of occasions in the past.

The alumni sports and general meeting will begin in the morning with a registration exercise. It will be followed by the alumni sports event under which various activities for Manorites, their spouse and children will be organised.

In the second session, the annual general meeting of the alumni will begin at the school auditorium. The vice-president of the Alumni Association and school Principal, Bro Christopher, will welcome the guests while the association president, Maj HPS Ahluwalia (retd), will deliver a welcome address.

An audio-visual show titled, "St George's --- then and now", created by alumni Bharat Baweja will be presented on the occasion. The association will also honour old faculty members, distinguished Manorites and the achievers of the 2013.

The programmes scheduled for October 5 included a tug of war, an invitational relay race, the inauguration of "Hall of Fame", a panoramic light and sound show by alumni Jaspal Jubbal and honouring of the golden jubilee batch of 1963 by the senior most Manorite present on the occasion.

On October 6, the Manorite Alumni Car Rally-2013" will be flagged off.

A live audio and visual show will be the highlight on the occasion.

Dehradun, September 30
As part of the 81st Raising Day celebrations of the Indian Military Academy, a polo exhibition match was played between the IMA team and a team consisting of national players to popularise the ‘game of kings’ amongst Gentlemen Cadets, cadets of RIMC and children of various schools of Dehradun.

This event provided the spectators the opportunity to witness national players in action. A gripping commentary was given by renowned polo commentator Sharad Saxena. He kept the crowd enthralled by his unique style and wit.

The teams were represented by the following players --Guest Team: Brigadier SS Kashyap, IHQ of MoD (national team), Jai Shergill (national team), Naveen (national team), Colonel TS Mundi, Commandant, President's bodyguard, New Delhi, Lieutenant-Colonel Rajesh Pattu, IHQ of MoD, national level (Arjuna awardee) and Jai Rathore.

Host Team: Lieutenant-Colonel Rakesh Sharma, Academy Equitation Officer, Risaldar Major Ramesh Singh, Dafadar Suresh Singh, Dafadar Kan Singh, GC Anant Rajpurohit, GC RS Pachar, GC Ramsukh Dukiya, GC Roshan, Dr Purshottam, DM, Dehradun and Sayed Haroon Ahmed.

Polo is one of the oldest and most exciting games where the ball travels up to 110 miles per hour. Man and horse work in sync to get the ball through the goal posts, using every strategy to prevent the opposing side from doing so in a ground measuring 300 x 160 yards. What happens in that quest is both brutish and beautiful. Polo is a game of passion, adventure, skill, thrill, danger and speed.

The game originated in India and found patronage around the world. In the British Army, the Cavalry regiments adopted this game in the 1860s and it was passed on to the Indian Army, which has been a major custodian and promoter of the game.

Uttarakhand Governor Aziz Qureshi was the chief guest. He gave away prizes to the players. 

Dehradun September 30
Seven Oaks School won the 15th Colonel Shashi Memorial Under-19 Boys football tournament after defeating Doon Valley School in the final match played at Gorkha Military Ground here today.

Both teams stepped into the field with an offensive strategy and Doon Valley’s Harish scored the first goal of the match at the 22nd minute. Soon, Vaibhav of Seven Oaks equalised the score at the 32nd minute. The score remained 1-1 in the normal allotted time and match entered into extra time.

Even in the extra time, no team could score any goal and the match was decided through a tiebreaker.

The Seven Oaks School won the tiebreaker by 5-3 score and won the tournament. 

Dehradun, September 30
City Young Football Club defeated Sarvodaya Football Club by 2-0 score in the ongoing Drona College 70th Nemidas Memorial District Football League here today. Showing individual brilliance, Jigma scored both the goals in the 22nd and 58th minute.

In the second match, Garhwal Star Football Club trounced Eleven Star by 1-0 with Rahul scoring the lone goal of the match. Eleven Star players tried their best to equalise the tally and made many moves as well but could not convert them into goal.

Meanwhile, match between Dehra Eleven and Doon Star during the Drona College 70th Nemidas Memorial District Football League ended in a 2-2 draw here yesterday.

In the second match of the day, Doon Valley defeated UK Boys 3-0 with Rahul, Tushar and Nikunj scoring the goals for their team.

In another match, Doon Star thrashed DMK Football Club 6-0 with Kailash scoring four goals in the match. Prakash Thapa scored two goals for Doon Star.

The fourth match of the day between Tapovan and Gypsy Football Club was abandoned due to rain.

Dehradun, September 30
DAV PG College, Dehradun, entered the finals of the HNB Garhwal University Inter-Collegiate 20-20 cricket tournament after defeating PG College, Rishikesh, by a margin of 119 runs here today.

After electing to bat first, DAV PG College, Dehradun, made 194 runs in 20 overs at the loss of two wickets. Ravindra Rawat made 115 runs and remained the top scorer of the innings.

The innings of PG College, Rishikesh, derailed from the beginning as the wickets fell at regular intervals and the team got bowled out after making 75 runs.