Haridwar, July 4
The issue of giving a national monument status to Gurukul Kangri University has become a bone of contention between various governing bodies of the varsity.

While the idea was floated by Gurukul Kangri University Vice Chancellor Professor Swatantra Kumar, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Survey of India experts opined that "Poonya Bhoomi" be accorded national monument status; a decision which has not got down well with the representative bodies of the university.

After the Arya (Pratinidhi) Representative Sabha Panjab, the two other major governing bodies - Arya Representative Sabha Haryana and Arya Representative Sabha Delhi - have come out openly against the handing of land for conservation purpose to the government.

Chief of Arya Sabha Delhi Brahmachari Raj Singh Acharya alleged that Chancellor Sudarshan Kumar, Vice Chancellor Swatantra Kumar and Panjab Sabha members are adamant on giving the property to the government as it will pave the way for keeping real bodies like us from having control of the "Poonya Bhoomi".

"Swami Shraddhanand had Vedic education system in mind while forming Gurukul. We cannot let the same land slip into hands which do not know anything about its heritage," said Delhi Sabha chief Raj Singh.

Challenging the decision, both sabha chiefs said that they would maintain the building better than any other archaeological or museum body. "We will make the campus on the lines of Vedic centre and people will come to see it like they come at Yog Guru Swami Ramdev's Patanjali Peeth," said Dr Surendra, spokesperson of Arya Representative Sabha Haryana.

Both these bodies also said they would not allow it to happen and the nefarious designs of those who have no concern with the Arya Samaj and Gurukul would not be allowed to have their way.

Notably, there are 45 members in the governing body that controls the Gurukul Kangri University. Therefore, it is important that there is consensus among these bodies regarding any decision related to the varsity.

Meanwhile, Swami Ramdev's Guru Acharya Baldev ji has also supported the two bodies of Haryana and Delhi, along with Swami Satyanand of Haryana Sabha.

Mussoorie, July 4
President Pratibha Devisingh Patil has stressed upon the need for civil servants to play a more dynamic and creative role in a bid to do more for the people of the country.

She was addressing officers at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), as part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the Academy, here today.

The President said in view of the fact that the government was committed to creating growth opportunities and bringing about positive changes in the lives of people, it was imperative that the civil servants played a more dynamic role.

“IAS officers could be the harbingers of change. You are the implementers of schemes and in constant contact with the people. Your work, therefore, should be development-centric and your attitudes people-friendly,” she said.

“Training of civil servants is a continuous and regular process. A strategic, need-based, outcome-based and competency-based approach to training directly related to the development needs of the country, is important. Since its inception, the Academy has played a stellar role in providing high quality training to administrative officers of the country. I would like to convey my appreciation for the work done by the Academy and encourage it to continue the same,” she said.

The President also said people are expecting good governance and stressed that civil servants should be accountable to the public. “It requires the civil servants to be accountable and to make people feel that the raison d’etre of the administration is to work for them. Do not let power and facilities that come with your posts, make you inaccessible to the people or make people feel you are not accessible,” said the President.

“The Government has set forth a vision of an inclusive society, an inclusive economy and an inclusive growth process that is equitable, socially as well as regionally. It seeks to achieve this through policies and programmes that promote the welfare of its citizens and that spur economic growth,” she added.

She felt happy that the Academy received the largest percentage of women officers last year.

“Empowerment of women is important for bringing about comprehensive development of our country. They need to be given education and imparted skills that would enable them to work and be financially secure. To achieve this, administration must have a gender-sensitive approach,” said Patil.

She concluded her speech by urging the officers to make IAS the “Indian Admirable Service.”

“In this way you will have earned the gratitude and good wishes of millions of our people who place so much hope upon you,” the President said.

Uttarakhand Governor BL Joshi, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union minister of state for Communications Gurudas Kamath, Union minister of state for Science and Technology and Personnel Prithvi Raj Chauhan were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, the President also recalled her association with the academy. She said she was here in 1962 for one-month training as a newly elected legislator for almost month. The President said she was happy to be at the beautiful and famous hill station again. The President said it was even a greater delight to be at the academy at the launch of the golden jubilee celebrations.

Patil also released a commemorative postage stamp to mark the Golden jubilee celebrations of the Academy.

Dehradun: President Pratibha Patil visited an exhibition of flower, fruits and vegetables put up by the Uttarakhand horticulture department at the Raj Bhawan today. Governor BL Joshi and his wife Santosh Joshi accompanied her.

According to horticulture department officials, the exhibition was put up to showcase different flowers, fruits and food processing industry products of Uttarakhand. Gladiolus, Carnations and Zerbera flowers were put on display, along with fruits such as apple and peach and other vegetable products.

Dehradun, July 4
With everyday increase in the population of every major town and city of Uttarakhand, the efforts to streamline the wastewater disposal system may not be enough. At present, only 60 per cent part of the state is partially covered under the sewage system. In most of the places, waste continues to be dumped in rivers or strewn on hill slopes.

Cities such as Nainital, Haldwani, Dehradun, Kashipur and Mussoorie that are receiving generous dose of assistance for sewage system expansion and augmentation to be carried under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and other agencies may only serve the purpose for 15 years only.

Similarly, at Badrinath, Srinagar, Uttarkashi and Haridwar where maximum expansion is underway under the Ganga Action Plan for the last 10 years, the system may only last for as many as 10 or 15 years. In order to tackle the problem compulsory installation of sewage treatment plan is being mandatory for new constructions that are being undertaken especially in Doon.

“None of the cities can hope to possess a complete sewage system as the population would continue to expand. In Dehrdaun and Mussoorie the population is expected to grow manifold. We can only plan for a 10 or a 15-year period but the installations of treatment plants are expected to solve the problem of large scale dumping. These are modern software controlled systems capable of automatically handling waste. The technology is conventional but enhanced through a software that allows the status of the plants operating in the state known within seconds,” said Prabhat Raj, Xen Peyjal Nigam.

For the Rispana catchment area treatment plan in Doon, the Uttarakhand Peyjal Sansthan Evam Nirman Nigam has selected two sites for construction of treatment plant at the junction of Rispana and Bindal and near Doon University, for the Rispana catchment area. The land is yet to be allotted to the Peyjal Nigam.

Once functional, the biological treatment of the waste at the sewage treatment plants would open up the possibility of utilising recycled water for flushing, gardening and construction purpose.

“In countries where there is shortage of water, enhanced technology is being used to purify water even for drinking, as we have adequate supply at the moment it is not required. The technology too proves to be quite costly,” said Devender Singh, superintendent engineer, mechanical circle, Uttarakhand.

Dehradun, July 4
After gunning down a man-eater in Birpur area on the outskirts of Dehradun on Wednesday, the city is yet to overcome the leopard’s fear, although Dehradun forest department has laid traps in Chandmari area yesterday.

The locals had observed movement of leopards a day back, which has put the forest officials on an alert.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and have put traps to nab any possible leopard venturing out in Chandmari area,” said BK Gangte, divisional forest officer Dehradun.

On Wednesday, a leopard went on an attacking spree and injured twelve people in Premnagar area during early morning hours. It was only in late evening the forest official zeroed in on the leopard in Birpur area and shot him down subsequently. — TNS

Haridwar, July 4
A six-day yoga camp ‘Yog Vigyan-Swasthaya-Sanskar Shivir’ organised by Patanjali Yog Peeth in association with BHEL started here today.

Thousands of people have enrolled in the camp. Only people aged above 12 years are allowed to participate in the camp. Apart from several yoga teachers, Yog Guru Swami Ramdev, Acharya Bala Krishan taught yoga ‘asans’ to the participants.

After taking yoga lessons from the yoga Guru Ramdev, the enthused participants felt that yoga is one of the best art to maintain physical and mental health.

Dehradun, July 4
The state transport appellate authority has ordered the cancellation of 15 bus permits on Doon-Kalsi route. As a result, the commuters may have to bear the inconvenience till permits are awarded afresh.

The regional transport authority (RTA) had issued the permits last month.

In his appeal before the appellate authority, a private bus operator Gurbaksh Singh has alleged that permits were issued in violation of various provisions of Motors Vehicles Act, 1988.

Hearing the appeal, the authority ordered the cancellation of 15 permits with immediate effect. But five permit holders were allowed to continue as their applications and process of awarding permits to them was found in order. The RTA had awarded total 20 permits on this route

The RTA had taken up 88 applications for permits to ply on this route in its meeting held in December 2008 out of which only 20 permits were issued up to March 31, 2009. But this was challenged on the grounds of violation of rules.

This is not the instance of this kind. The authority had cancelled 46 permits issued by the RTA on Doiwala-Dehradun route also.

The order has put a question mark over the functioning of the RTA related to process of issuing permits because it had happened in 2005 as well. At that time, 15 permits were issued by it but the authority had cancelled all of them.

Dehradun, July 4
The vice-chief of Indian Army Lt Gen Noble Thamburaj released two books at Natraj Bookshop here today.

He formally launched two new releases published by Natraj - “Path to Leadership” by FM Lord Montgomery and “On Moral Courage” by well-known British writer Compton Mackenzie.

Gen Thamburaj praised both books and expressed a need for good leadership and the importance of strong morale among army officers.

“Path to leadership” is a military classic that looks at leaders in the past 200 years who have left an indelible mark on world history.

Natraj specialises in publishing books on defence for over 40 years. They have more then 800 military titles to their credit. The bookshop has one of the largest display of books on defence matters in the country. Readers from across the country order books from them.

Dehradun, July 4
A two-day conference organised by the IMA Blood Bank in association with Uttarakhand State Aids Control Society (USAC) and Voluntary Blood Donor Organisation of India (VBDOI) began here today. The conference would focus on building awareness about blood donations.

Prof Debabrata Ray member of the Association of Voluntary Blood Donors, West Bengal, said 62 per cent of blood requirement in the country could be met through voluntary donations.

In order to encourage voluntary blood donations and retain donors they need to be honoured so that they continue the cycle. “From the age of 18-60 years, blood donations can be made 168 times in ones life. The motivators have a challenging task at hand to convert the apathy of donors into interest and ignorance into knowledge,” Prof Debabrata said.

Prof Ray stressed that there were several myths in the minds of prospective donors that have to be addressed, “Unless we resolutely allay their doubts they would never be encouraged to join the camps. The principles of donation are education, motivation and recognition. It was in 1964 that the country started blood donations on independence day and Netaji Subash Chander Bose’s birthday,” said Prof Ray.

Niti Sarin member of Blood Bank Society, Chandigarh, said the donor mentality of ‘don’t get, won’t give’ needs to be bridged. “It is because most blood banks continue with the practice of replacement donors, with the onus of replacing blood resting on the patients, the entire practice of procuring blood becomes problematic,” said Sarin. 

Dehradun, July 4
The DAV (PG) College Teacher Association has started an agitation against the alleged hooliganism by students at the college for the past one week.

The teachers have decided not to carry out admission in the college unless the students’ protest comes to an end.

The college will open on July 10 and admissions for various streams will get under way at the premises from July 22.

The secretary of the teacher association, Devendra Tyagi, said that situation in the college has gone from bad to worse.

Expressing concern over the issue, this association has decided not to carry out admission for the new session leaving the students in the lurch.

Tyagi added that the present strength of the college is much beyond the university limit.

“Every year, the college administration admits 6000 to 7000 students as per the prescribed norms of the university.

“But the student leaders force the college authorities to admit more students thereby making the students’ strength four times than what is actually prescribed. This violation is a cause of concern for teachers,” said Tyagi.

A few days back, ABVP activists had launched a protest against the secretary of the DAV management Jogendra Swarup who was on a visit to DBS (PG) College for the inauguration of the geography department. The activists had organised a gherao at DBS (PG) College. 

Dehradun, July 4
Khukri Club hammered Little Star 4-0 while Cantt Blues registered a 5-0 win against Rishikesh team at the District Football League at Pavilion Ground here today.

In the first match, Khukri Club was outstanding on the field and give their opponents no chance to get a foothold in the match.

Khukri Club created many good moves in the initial minutes but failed to open their account.

In the 26th minute, Khukri Club scored their first goal through Dipesh. Little Star made repeated attempts to find the equaliser.

But their moves died halfway to the Khukri Club goalpost. At the end of the first half, Khukri Club led 1-0.

In the second half, Khukri Club increased their tally by three goals. It was Sagar for Khukri Club who scored a hat-trick.

Sagar scored his first goal in the fifth minute of the second half 2-0.

In the 19th minute, he scored again to make it 3-0. Sagar’s hat-trick came in the 27th minute completing the team’s 4-0 tally.

In the second match, Cantt Blues registered a convincing 5-0 victory over Rishikesh team.

In the first half, Cantt Blues led 1-0 as Suraj scored in the 15th minute of the match. Suraj scored again in the 56th minute to make it 2-0.

Thereafter, Manish scored three goals in the span of eight minutes to complete his hat-trick.

He scored goals in the 61st, 65th and 69th minutes. 

Dehradun, July 4
Abhimanyu Cricket Academy lifted the Krishna Devi Garg Memorial Cricket Trophy here today. In the final, they defeated Garhwal Sports Academy by a huge margin of 209 runs.