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Uttarakhand, UP at loggerheads over new ghats along Ganga
Hybrid veggies, a hit with farmers
NRI to aid poor meritorious students
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RIMC holds debate in Hindi
Dehradun, October 7 Kashi Naresh Vagvibhuti Narayan Singh, All-India Inter-School Hindi Debate for 2009, was organised by Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) here today.
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Uttarakhand, UP at loggerheads over new ghats along Ganga
Haridwar, October 7 The Uttar Pradesh government has taken a strong notice of Uttarakhand Irrigation Department carrying out the construction of new ghats from Mayapur to Singh Dwar in Haridwar. The department began to construct the new ghats alongside the Gang canal under funding for the upcoming Maha Kumbh. UP is citing non-permission and technical irregularities in the construction of these ghats as a major reason for its objection to the work. The UP Irrigation Department has shown strong reservations on this move. The department has written a letter in this regard to the Uttarakhand government telling it that it has not taken a written consent from it. UP’s executive engineer of operations on the Gang canal Sohanveer Singh, additional executive engineer Dharmendra Singh and KP Singh inspected the site where the new ghats are being constructed. Their on-the-site objection led to a verbal spat with Uttarakhand Irrigation Department Chief Engineer Sagar Chand and executive engineer DD Dalakoti. Later, a meeting was held between both sides, but the matter remained unresolved. Executive engineer of the Gang canal KP Singh says the area where the ghats are being constructed is not feasible technically and from a safety point of view. Owing to lower depth of the canal at these areas, it will be dangerous for the people to take a dip there. Now, the issue is being taken up at the governmental level, but the construction work is going on as there are less than 10 days left before the Ganga closure ends and water flow is resumed in the Gang canal and Har-ki-Pauri. Meanwhile, local people in the Lal Taura area have protested against the construction of a 70-metre-long ghat. They alleged that the area where the ghat is being constructed is used by the community of washer men and so it would pose a problem for them in their work. Yuva Dhobi Uthan Samiti’s general secretary Raj Kumar pointed out that the 70-metre-long ghat would make the area vulnerable during heavy rains. He demanded the work should be stopped immediately. A memorandum has also been sent to the Kumbh officer and Chief Minister in this regard.
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Hybrid veggies, a hit with farmers
Dehradun, October 7 With meagre land holdings under cereal crops, Uttarakhand has increased horticulture activities in the past few years and farmers are being encouraged to grow hybrid varieties of vegetables to get good returns in the shortest possible time. As part of the Horticulture Mission’s initiative, farmers were given top-quality hybrid seeds in six blocks of Dehradun district to tide over losses incurred due to erratic rain pattern. Earlier, farmers had limited exposure to hybrid vegetables and grew broccoli, okra and French beans and tomato in few pockets. Now, they will be growing cabbage, cauliflower, chillies (Hot Currant variety). “The beneficial feature of hybrid varieties is that they are disease-resistant and bear good quality of crop in very less time as compared to non-hybrid varieties. “Farmers too are assured of greater productivity even if they have less area under production,” said Dr Amar Singh, District Horticulture Officer. The department has distributed around 500 quintal of seeds to farmers. Rich and luscious hybrid (Himsona variety) of tomatoes is harder than the non-hybrid varieties grown in Dehradun district. These are already a hit with the farmers of Sahaspur and Vikasnagar blocks. “The hybrid variety is thick and has immense value due to the presence of pulp and can even hold up for a few days if there is a delay in transportation,” apprised DC Sharma, Horticulture Inspector. What has now caught the fancy of the farmers are the pungent chillies. The demand for seeds of the hybrid variety is much more than other vegetables. The hybrid varieties of chillies such as Pari Hot, Naina, Jyotika and NCH-10 gain exceptionally in size lessening the pungent taste. Besides, it is easier to maintain the saplings as these are hardy and seldom attacked by insects or other diseases. They are also easy to transport and do not get spoilt easily. An aid to the tune of Rs 13,000 per hectare per farmer was made available under the Horticulture Mission plan. In the six blocks comprising Vikas Nagar, Kalsi, Sahaspur, Raipur, Doiwala and some areas of Chakrata, the farmers have already planted cucumber (Amrita variety), tomato (Himsona), broccoli (Titanic), capsicum (Sweet Magic), cabbage (Varun) and cauliflower (Maneka). Before long, they will be ready to pick the fruits of their labour.
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NRI to aid poor meritorious students
Dehradun, October 7 Khanduri has already submitted a proposal to the Chief Minister under which the government will identify bright students living below the poverty line and provide need-based assistance to them. “We will be providing assistance that will go towards paying the tuition fee, books, boarding and lodging. The selected students will have to clear the qualifying examination. Students who have
passed class X will be eligible for scholarship,” said Khanduri. The programme will be started by 2010 and in the beginning it will be for 100 students. The announcement is expected to be made by this year-end. “Several people who hail from Uttarakhand and now live in Canada and the USA are keen to contribute. We will be putting in place a system with the members of the Uttaranchal Association of North America (UANA) and government of Uttarakhand to ensure that the deserving students are selected,” added Khanduri. Reminiscing about his village near Rudraprayag, Khanduri said, “It seems like yesterday when I left my village to pursue higher studies. Several decades have gone by, but the village still has no roads, no hospitals and no schools. There has been no improvement till this day,” rued Khanduri. As a first step, the target group will be students who have passed class X. In order to ensure that the benefits of scholarship are distributed equally among rural and urban students, half the seats will be reserved for children hailing from rural areas. The other half will go to students from urban areas. “In order to bridge the urban-rural divide, we may also start bridge courses for students studying in class VIII, so that they are able to take the qualifying examination on reaching class X,” he added.
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RIMC holds debate in Hindi
Dehradun, October 7 The Scindia School, Gwalior, Military School, Ajmer, Scholars’ Home, Dehradun, St Joseph’s Academy, Dehradun, and Commandant’s Team
and Cadet Captain’s Team of RIMC were the main participants. The competition was held in two rounds. For the first round the topic for St Joseph’s Academy vs RIMC Cadet Captain’s Team was ‘Bharat-Pak pradhanmantriyon ke dwara jari sajha vaktavya mein Baluchistan ka ullekh hamari kootniti ki vifalta hai’. The topic for The Scindia School vs Scholars’ Home was, ‘Apradhiyon ko faansi ki saja manav adhikaron ka hanan hai’. The topic for Military School vs RIMC Commandant’s Team was ‘Mahan itihaas ka bhavishya sandhigdh hai’. After lot of heated arguments, the four selected teams for the final were Military School, Scholars’ Home, St Joseph’s Academy, and RIMC Cadet
Captain’s Team. For the final and the most grilling round, all four teams enthusiastically participated and spoke on the topic ‘Chinee khatre se nipatne ke liye Bharat ko purna shastrikarana ke niti ka palan karma parega. Defeating the rest three the top position was scored by Scholars’ Home, RIMC Cadet Captain’s Team came second, while St Joseph’s Academy got third position and last by Military School. Along with teachers and students of RIMC, the judges for the occasion were Subhash Pant, novelist and story writer, Om Prakash Valmiki, renowned novelist and story writer and Dr Ram Vinay, eminent poet. Dr Nirmala Jain, a Hindi literature writer whose books were also showcased during the programme was also present on the occasion.
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Haridwar observes high-tech Karva Chauth
Haridwar, October 7 Specially at the tree of ‘Vat’, women revolved around the tree and performed rituals in the evening. Many couples, who were not together for various reasons, were seen utilising the technology to gap the distances. Through webcam many spouses observed the procedure of Karwa Chauth and broke the fast after seeing on-line live face of their husbands. “My husband is in Bahrain in Gulf for past two years so, we opted for Internet and I went to one of cyber café in Ranipur Mod. Though it may not look natural, I broke my fast after seeing my husband on webcam and after this my fast was completed,” said Monika Chandola, a resident of Ranipur. She said its the feeling which matters and it’s the right usage of the technology. “Last year only one woman came here, but this time a number of women, whose husbands were away, used web cam to observe the proceedings of the fast. This is certainly an example of changing of time and how technology can be used to bridge the gaps,” said Arun Ohri, owner of Unique Cyber Café at Ranipur Mod. Earlier in the day, the markets were abuzz with Karwa Chauth frenzy.
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Once again differences between Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh have come to the fore. Now, the cause is developmental works under way during the current Ganga closure period.
Dehradun, October 7
Born in a small village in Uttarakhand, but now a telecom engineer in New Jersey, Rakesh Khanduri has come armed with a plan to pay for the education of meritorious boys and girls of the state.
Khanduri has already submitted a proposal to the Chief Minister under which the government will identify bright students living below the poverty line and provide need-based assistance to them.
