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Govt to tap hydro power potential of Yamuna
50 years on, Khampa Buddhists struggle for survival
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Snow halts Indo-Tibet border trade
Statisticians visit Forest Research Institute
Forest officials sacked for dereliction of duty
Cricket: St Montford, St Gabriel’s to clash in final
National games delayed, U’khand gets chance to hold state games
City tiffin business mushrooming Dehradun
Depressing fact
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Govt to tap hydro power potential of Yamuna
Dehradun, October 19 The state government has asked its own Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (UJVNL) to prepare Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of 420-MW Lakhwar-Vyasi and 600-MW Kishau projects. The management of the UJVNL at its board meeting held recently sought money for preparing DPRs for these two projects. While the UJVNL will spend Rs 5 crore on the DPR of Kishau project, Rs 3 crore has been earmarked for the Lakhwar-Vyasi project. The multi-purpose Lakhwar-Vyasi project, which was allotted to the UJVNL last year, is likely to produce 852 million units of power besides irrigating 40,000 hectares through east Yamuna canal. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi will be the beneficiary states. Besides, the project will help in generating 75 million units of extra power from the downstream projects like Kulhal, Dhalipur and Dhakrani during the lean period by virtue of its vast reservoirs. Another multi-purpose Kishau project is proposed on river Tons, a tributary of the Yamuna, near here. The cost of the project is being estimated at Rs 10,000 crore and the height of the dam will be 236 metres. The Kishau project, too, will irrigate land in many neighbouring states. “We would be trying to make Uttarakhand truly a ‘power state’ by exploring the hydro-electric potential of its rivers and water bodies,” said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. According to an estimate, though the UJVNL is trying to complete both projects in three-four years, experts say it will take at least five to six years for these to complete. The Lakhwar Vyasi project was earlier allotted to the National Hydro-electric Power Corporation (NHPC), which was in the process of preparing a detailed project report when the Uttarakhand government had to put on hold two of its key projects namely Pala Maneri and Bhairon Ghati projects coming up on the Bhagirathi following protests by the Hindu right wing groups. The state government then decided to take over the Lakhwar Vyasi project and ask its own Uttarakhand Jal
Vidyut Nigam to prepare the project report. Now, the NHPC is claiming nearly Rs 75 crore as liabilities of its work on the 420-MW Lakhwar-Vyasi multipurpose hydel project on the
Yamuna near Dakpathar, 50 km from here. The state government is prepared to pay a sum of Rs 43 crore and has sought the intervention of the central government in the matter. In the 1970s, the dam’s cost was estimated at around Rs 141 crore. It has now zoomed up to Rs 4,000 crore with the state government awarding the project to the Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (UJVNL) last year. According to the new annual report (2008-09) of the state Irrigation Department, an amount of Rs 247.64 crore has been spent on the project, which is still to see the light of the day.
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50 years on, Khampa Buddhists struggle for survival
Pitthoragarh, October 19 “The Nainital and Almora administrations have allotted special quota of shops for our people but despite being our home district, the district administration of Pitthoragarh has done nothing in this directions,” said Neema Khampa, the man leading the protest. These people are Khampas of Khimling village, the last village in the Darma valley which suffered total displacement after the Sino-India war (1962) in Pitthoragarah district. “The other villagers of the valley partially survived as they had some crops to cultivate. But, situated at a height of 14,000 feet, there was no land in our village and our whole survival depended on the trade with Tibet,” said Chandra Singh Khampa, a retried LIC official and senior member of the Khampa society. While all 15 villages of the valley as well as the people of other valleys of high Himalayas were having their herd of sheep, the Khampas were mainly transporters of the goods collected by other Bhotias to be sent to Tibet. “Our people had mules and Tibetan horses and yaks through which we used to transport the goods collected by the other shepherds to Tibetan markets,” said Chandra Singh Khampa. The Khampa of Khimling not only suffered economically as after closure of the trade they had no economic activity like other villagers of these high Himalayan valleys, but also culturally as they were the followers of Buddhism. “Being only Buddhist village in all three valleys of Johar, Darma and Vyas, we were discriminated against and were branded as Tibetan and our land at Khimling village was subjected to a conspiracy of other villages who wanted to capture the precious land. After we produced relevant documents before the minority commission in 1985, we had a sigh a relief,” said Pan Singh Khampa, a veteran of the society. Today, 50 Khampa families have become 100 families and are residing in Pitthoragarh, Almora, Bhawali, Nainital, Dehradun, Shimla, Sarahan and Haldwani. “We have now erected a gompa near Pitthoragarh town with the help of high-placed sacred lamas of Kagyu sect. Tibetan Buddhism came into existence in 1050 and is headed by Karmapa, Rinpoche (Karmapa lama),” said Pan Singh Khampa, a regular devotee of the gompa constructed in 1990. Their ancestral village has been declared as a non-habitat village by the administration. “Out of two non-habitat villages in high Himalayan valleys of this subdivision, the Khimling is one of them. It will be difficult for villagers to get back to their ancestral land as it has been declared government land by default,” said Navneet Pandey, SDM, Dharchula. The Khampa community today has a completely deserted village at Khimling, about 20 km behind the Limpia Dhura, the pass to Tibet from the Darma valley. Not only the elders, but also new generation of the society wants to re-habitat their village. Situated at a height of 14,000 feet, even potato and other high Himalayan crops do not grow there and in the absence of any crops no survival is possible in the village. “Despite all these hardships, our people want to re-habitat the village. We want to grow the precious herbs of high Himalayas which are in abundance naturally in our area. If the government can provide motorable road, electricity and financial support to us, we can go back to our village,” said Chandra Singh Khampa. The Darma valley is still to be linked with a road from Dar onward to Khimling. In the absence of a motorable road, there is no electricity. “The villagers have started visiting the gompa in the village every year since then. This shows the will of the Khampa society to revive their ancestral village,” Chandra Singh Khampa added.
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Snow halts Indo-Tibet border trade
The Indo-Tibet border trade across the Lipulekh Pass in Pitthoragarh district is unlikely to get further extension for the next one month this year as heavy snowfall is reported at the pass, Navneet Pandey, trade officer and Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Dharchula said today.
The border trade was extended for a month on the request of Indian traders who had demanded extension of the facility in the past few years. “Owing to continuous rain in the first week of October, the 15-km area across the Lipulekh pass witnessed a heavy snowfall before the actual start of winter season. Even today, three or four feet of snow is spread on 9 km territory from Nabhidhang to Lipulekh and 6 km of Chinese territory from Lipulekh to Pala, making it difficult for the Indian traders to make frequent trips from Gunji in India to Taklakot market in Tibet,”’ said Pandey. “This year more then 100 traders have gone to Tibet for this trade out of which 30 traders have returned. Some of them are also trapped in this snow en route,” he added.
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Virasat to begin on Nov 7
Dehradun, October 19 After receiving positive signals from the state government, the Rural Entrepreneurship in Art Culture and Heritage (REACH) is also banking on the ONGC for support. It was the ONGC that had first extended support to the festival and had played a big role in helping the festival carve a distinct identity for it. “We are hopeful that the ONGC would provide stability to Virasat by providing long-term financial assistance. As part of corporate social responsibility, the organisation had sustained us in the past. We are hopeful that in difficult times the organisation would once again chip in,” said Dr DR Purohit, a trustee of REACH. To that end, REACH has begun preparations for the festival that would bring in the traditional dances of Uttarakhand and folk artistes like Basanti Bisht, Preetam Barthwan. Ancient folk theatre will also be staged during the festival to be held at Ambedkar Stadium (Kaulagarh). Sharmila Bhartaria will be presenting a ballet on water conservation along with classical artistes from Uttarakhand, to be coordinated by Tom Alter.
A life sketch on Jim Corbett will also be among the key highlights. “Talks are also on with Gulzar for a poetry recital and Hema Malini for a ballet performance, but much depends on their availability. The rescheduling of dates has put paid to our efforts of bringing in a large number of performers from different parts of the country. But, violin player N Rajam, Raghu and his folk band from Karnataka would be performing this year,” said RK Singh, secretary of REACH. The festival will also bring in top painters from India, so also a retrospective of filmmakers like Shyam Benegal and Shekhar Kapur. Evolved on the lines of the Theban celebrations of ancient Greece, the festival aims at creating a perfect ambience for the flow of knowledge and the application of the ennobling effect of true art. The effort is to develop a genuine concern in the inquisitive minds of the precarious materialism our society finds itself in the midst of. It encapsulates the vital arts and crafts of India with their relating legends, rituals, myths and philosophy. Virasat attracts participation from more than 8 lakh people who come to enjoy the rhythm of folk life. As many as 50,000 impressionable students get acquainted with their roots over 15 days. The festival is expected to end on November 21. Last year, with their nimble footwork and grace, famous Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan, Odissi exponent Kiran Sehgal and Bharati Shivaji of Mohini Attam presented a breathtaking performance. Depiction of Geet Govind by Bharati Shivaji was the highlight of the evening. Kiran Sehgal presented Krishan Leela in Odissi style. A dialogue between Radha and Krishan was effortlessly rendered by her. Each performer gave her best while retaining their distinct identity. This year, too, famous danseuse Sonal Mansingh, Birju Maharaj are expected to give a scintillating performance.
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Statisticians visit Forest Research Institute
Dehradun, October 19 Participants from the countries of Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Zambia and Seychelles are on 10 months training period in India. After initial eight months training at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, this was
followed by six-week interactive sessions at the National Statistical Academy. Course coordinator RPS Rathore said the team members who work for different statistical departments in their respective countries have a one-week stay in Dehradun, which includes visits to the FRI, Forest Survey of India and National Sample Survey Organisation. He said the visit to these institutes had been planned taking into account their importance of their contribution to country statistical programme. The visit has been held under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. India is among the leading countries as far as statistical training in concerned and the visit of Asian-Pacific countries are aimed to encash upon country’s this very expertise. The statistics department both at the FRI and the FSI are credited with coming with some of most reliable estimate linked to forestry. The FRI scientists had some weeks back had even come up with carbon sink estimation in terms of monetary value by the standing forests in the country. Similarly, the Forest Survey of India (FSI) had been engaged with the task of coming up with bi-annual report regarding forest cover in the country. The statisticians at the FSI had been actively contributing towards pursuing of the mandate of the
FSI.
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Forest officials sacked for dereliction of duty
Kotdwar (Pauri Garhwal), October 19 A departmental inquiry found gross negligence on the part of officials in this matter. A red alert has also been sounded in the range to nab the poachers responsible for cutting and taking away the tusk of the dead elephant. Lansdowne Forest Division DFO Nishant Varma has ordered the suspension to forest ranger of the Dugadda Range Om Praksah Madhwal, forester Lalita Prasad Juyal and forest guard Dalveer Chauhan, as they were found guilty of dereliction of duty. According to Varma, due to the gross negligence of these officials, poachers could be able to take off the tusk of dead elephant.
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After nine years, still no state-level football league in sight
Dehradun, October 19 Officials pointed out lack of resources as the reason behind their failure to organise a state-level league all these years. As Dehradun is buzzing with football activity, players and fans wish to have a state-level football league. The Dehradun team’s recent performance at Sikkim Governor’s Gold Cup Football Tournament is still fresh in people’s mind and now all they want is a state-level league for the promotion of football and players throughout
the state. The team’s performance at the league can not be forgotten. The team gave a dashing performance at the tournament after which the people here wish to see more football action in the state. They feel that if an effort is made by the state, it can produce a good team that can give a good performance at national-level tournaments. The team performance not only delighted the crowd in Sikkim, but also in Dehradun with its scintillating 6-2 victory over the D’Zongri Club in the tournament. Although they went down fighting in their next match against the Goa team, the win has produced a ray of hope that the state stands a chance of doing well at the national level if the game is given
due promotion. Secretary of the Uttarakhand Football Association Akhatar Ali said before the state was carved, inter-district tournaments were a regular feature here. But now the association failed to hold these tournaments because of lack
of resources. He accepted the fact that there was not much football activities in the state as was required for the promotion of the game. He said despite limited resources, the association was slowly and steadily making all efforts to increase its football activities in the state. On the other hand, secretary of the Dehradun District Football Association Divendar Bisht too accepted the fact that there was a fund crunch. But despite this, the association was coping up with the situation and looking forward to hold more football tournaments in the future. “We started institutional league last year with the aim to promote football and produce talented players in the state. In the near future, we will organise football tournament at junior and sub-junior levels as well and will also start the football tournament for the first time for girls,” said the secretary of the association
Bisht.
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Kho-kho players gear up for national contest
Dehradun, October 19 The training camp for boys is being held at Sanatan Dharam Inter-College (Bannu) and the girl’s camp at Guru Nanak Girls Inter-College Race Course. The camp is participated by 24 players selected from throughout the state that includes 12 boys and 12 girls. Because the players were away from their home on Diwali, the Education Department left no stone unturned to make the student feel at home. The department made arrangements for players to celebrate Diwali with firecrackers at the school camp here itself. The players lit lamps pledging to give their best performance at the national competition. Director, Education, Pushpa Manas and Joint Director Anil Kumar extended their greetings to the players at the camp. Other games officers also congratulated the players on
Diwali.
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Cricket: St Montford, St Gabriel’s to clash in final
Roorkee, October 19 St Gabriel’s Academy team drubbed St John’s team in the semifinal match by 60 runs in the T-20 game. The winners restricted their rivals on 115 all out
in reply. Batting first, the host team piled up 175 runs in 20 overs against St John’s team. Vishav Pant was the highlight by his powerful knock. Vishal Chauhan, another batsman, supported him well on the crease with his 42 runs knock. The team lost only three batsmen in the course. In reply, St John’s team managed to score 115 runs, losing all its batmen. Dipanshu finished as the highest scorer for the team with 30 runs, while Abhishek Chaudhary and Aman made 22 and 27 runs, respectively. In the second semifinal match of the day, Haridwar Inter-School XI team lost to St Montford XI by 35 runs. St Montford team batted first and gave target of 126 runs to the rivals. They made 125 at the loss of six wickets in 20 overs with the help of superb innings of Rohan Chaudhary’s in which he made 30 runs and Aman Dhiman who made 25 runs in his innings. Priya Vratt claimed three wickets for 14 runs to become the highest wicket taker for the Haridwar XI team. In reply, the deadly bowling spell by Gandharav Nayar (3 for 13) and Rohan Chaudhary (2 for 22) restricted the Haridwar on a total of 90 runs. Priya Vratt also performed well with bat as he emerged the highest scorer for his team with 35 runs. But his efforts went in vain as the team lost by 35 runs. Now, the final will take place tomorrow between St Montford and St Gabriel’s Academy. Basketball: St Gabriel’s beat Sarvagya 17-8 In the Inter-District Basketball (U-14) Tournament, the host St Gabriel’s Acedemy team will face St Montford School team in the final tomorrow at the St Gabriel’s Acedemy’s court. In semifinal matches, where St Montford team trailed St Gabriel’s Academy’s ‘B’ team by 20-10 points, the main St Gabriel’s team beat Sarvagya Public School team by 9 points. The final score was 17-8. The sports meet is being held under the aegis of the District Sports Department. The concluding ceremony of the meet will take place at St Gabriel’s School
tomorrow evening.
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MIS celebrates sports day
Dehradun, October 19 Senior girls, who had represented the school in various events during the academic year and had brought laurels to the school, ran with a torch in their hands. Thereafter, House captains and sports captains formally took oath declaring to follow the decorum and fair-play during the sports meet in a true spirit. After the torch run, there were track and field events, followed by a spectacular display of karate by primary and middle school students. The students demonstrated various self-demonstrative methods in karate. It was followed by colourful yoga displayed by the students of middle school. Earlier, chief guest, IGP, ITBP, VK Dandona declared the meet open. In his address Dandona said, “Sports fosters friendship, unity and discipline among the youth besides physical fitness”. Director of MIS M Singh in his address complimented the school on its excellent performance and expressed immense happiness over the proceedings and discipline maintained by the
schoolchildren.
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National games delayed, U’khand gets chance to hold state games
Dehradun, October 19 The National Games in Jharkhand were postponed due the upcoming elections in the state and it is expected that now these game would be organised next year. The development has brought golden opportunity for the state Olympic Association to restart its preparation for the state games. Earlier the association had prepared budget proposals in the month of August in this regard to hold
state games. But the association did not find favourable response from the government because of the election code of conduct enforced during that time. Later, the association decided to hold the games in the month of October, which failed to materialise as well. If the games are organised talented players of the state may now get ample exposure to prepare for the
national games. The association is expected to organise the games in four districts that are Dehradun, Haridwar, Kashipur and Haldwani. This year, the association has introduced horse riding, roller skating and rowing in the games list. Till date, Uttarakhand has just witnessed three state games since its formation in the year 2000. The first games were organised in the year 2000 and the last one was organised in the year 2005.
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City tiffin business mushrooming Dehradun
Dehradun, October 19 But the problem is a thing of the past now as many paying guest (PG) accommodations and tiffin services are available at economical prices here. One can
have delicious homemade food at Rs 20. Not only students, but professionals also are opting for the tiffin service giving a miss to the hotel and dhaba food. “I used to have food at a dhaba nearby. Though it was okay, one cannot have it daily,” said Rohit Bisht, a resident of Roorkee, staying here in a PG. “My work hours are such that I cannot move out for having meals, and that way this tiffin service suits me best. Besides being home cooked, it is also served hot and fresh,” said Yograj Singh, a doctor staying city for work. With the passage of time many educational institutes and employment centres have come up in the city. Owing to this, the number of paying guests and
rented accommodations has also increased. Meanwhile, this has turned out to be a great business for many. Kaushalya and her husband who have been running this business from more than eight years said, “When we came to the city we had no source of income. But since we have started this business, we are earning good money.” The couple has now taken two houses on rent and is running these as PGs. “There are at least 40 to 50 children who take tiffin from us and stay as PGs,” said Kaushalya. This simple and scrumptious tiffin food is available at the cost ranging from Rs 20 to 30. “We offer hygienic food at a cost of Rs 30 and we have good response,” she added.
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Eating Out
Dehradun, October 19 “I originally belong to Delhi and since childhood was fond of eating and cooking something or the other. However, with this idea initially when I opened the shop in Doon, it had only a few items, such as tandoori chicken, malai tikka and a few others. But over the years getting a good response, I have expanded the menu giving many more options to my customers,” informed Malik. Starting with nine mouth-watering varieties in tikkas, Chicken Point is famous for its butter chicken, kadai chicken, rara chicken, mutton kimma and kathi roll, made out of shredded variety of chicken with aromatic spices. Not only Doonites, after 6 pm, drive down to get their favourite meal packed, even customers from Nainital, Rishikesh and Haridwar visit it often. “Till now I have a very good response and, along with locals, have customers coming all the way from nearby cities. Moreover, ours is a mini shop, basically famous for take out and, with time, I have not only expanded the menu, but also the space so that my cooks and I get ample place to experiment and give customers the taste as well as the quality there are looking for,” said Malik. Over so many years, this mini shop situated on the busy Rajpur road area, has gained recognition for maintaining quality and cooking in hygienic conditions. Since early morning, the cooks, along with the owner, get together and start the preparations for the evening. Along with fresh vegetables and meat, spices of MDH brand are used to provide the authentic flavour. However, along with a wide choice of snacks and curry items for non-vegetarians, there are also some of the most likeable items for the veggies. Where a plate of eight-piece non-veg tikka cost Rs 120, vegetarians can try out kadai paneer, dal makhni, paneer or mushroom tikkas costing between Rs 40 to Rs 100. The future holds bright for Malik as well foodies as he plans to come out with more of such joints, offering an endless variety to choose from. “ I am very content with the love and affection of people I have received over so many years. However, as I am fond of cooking and strongly believe in serving rich food to customers, in the near future I have plans to come out with such another destination, but with a different touch and taste,” added an elated Malik.
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Nortriptyline, a popular antidepressant, causes a ten-fold increase in suicidal thoughts in men when compared to its competitor escitalopram, a new study has found. Published in the open access journal BMC Medicine, the research was carried out by Dr. Nader Perroud from the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London, who headed up GENDEP, an international team. Perroud said: "Suicidal thoughts and behaviours during antidepressant treatment have prompted warnings by regulatory bodies". He continued: "the aim of our study was to investigate the emergence and worsening of suicidal thoughts during treatment with two different types of antidepressant." Both escitalopram and nortriptyline have their effect through the mood modulating neurotransmitter systems. The former is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), preventing serotonin from re-entering the cell and thereby prolonging its effect on nerve synapses. The latter is a tricyclic antidepressant that inhibits the reuptake of noradrenaline, and to a lesser extent, that of serotonin. The study was carried out on 811 individuals with moderate to severe unipolar depression. "The study also refutes the idea that newer antidepressants such as the SSRIs are worse than older medications in terms of increasing suicidal thoughts." — ANI
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