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State plans to reap benefits of walnut plantation
This year’s Diwali quieter than before
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State varsity in Garhwal on anvil
Raising Cut-off Percentage
State board students will be at a loss
Govt blamed for delayed BEd session
Sports activities at mini stadium stuck in red tape
Soccer association plans to hold national-level tourney in city
Cricket: St Gabriel’s Academy lift trophy
Candlelight drama
Stars don’t twitter!
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State plans to reap benefits of walnut plantation
Dehradun, October 20 The state government is taking a series of measures to exploit weather and soil conditions of the region that are congenial
for growing walnuts in abundance. It can be a major source of revenue generation for those employed in the farm sector, particularly the marginal farmers who have less chunks of land in higher reaches. “There is an ample scope for the growth of walnuts in the state. In fact, the opportunity available is greater than what it is for apple cultivation. We are aiming at taking long strides in this direction,” says Horticulture Director BP Nautiyal. The thought behind promoting walnut production in the state is that if the state of Jammu and Kashmir can earn an annual revenue of Rs 200 crore by growing walnut, with a little effort walnut can also be made a prime cash fruit of Uttarakhand also. At present, walnut is being grown across more than 10,000 hectares in the state. But, the problem is that it is not being grown in a systematic manner. Now, the emphasis is being laid on developing walnut orchards across the hill tracts of Garhwal and Kumaon that are congenial for its growth. “We are set to bring at least 1,000 hectares
under walnut cultivation every year in the state,” said Nautiyal. As a part of the initiative to promote walnut cultivation in the state, the government procured 4,500 plants of the best variety of walnut from France some time back. This is a variety in which walnuts grows in the form of a bunch and the tree is also not very tall. These plants are pretty expensive and cost between 10 euros and 12 euros per plant. These plants were kept in Ranikhet for giving them quarantine treatment for making them disease free. While 500 of these saplings have now been planted in Soni Gardens of Almora, another 500 have been planted in Chaubatia gardens in Ranikhet. The
rest are being taken care of in government poly homes in Ranikhet. The government is now aiming at distributing these plants to farmers across the state in the districts of Uttarkashi, Tehri, Pauri and Pitthoragarh. Officials say these plants will be ready to bear fruit in a little more than one year and each tree has the potential to give at least 50 kg per annum. Fruit of these walnut trees have a potential to fetch a market price of Rs 100 per kg and thus can be a good revenue earner. Walnut growing is also being promoted through seedlings and once the plant takes shape it is grafted and more plants are grown. A new technique has also been developed whereby a 15-year-old plant can be replaced by a fresh one. An advantage for promoting walnut production lies in the fact that there is no problem in marketing the produce. “We have an efficient central marketing structure. The Fruit Federation Organisation in Haldwani is also a very efficient mode of marketing the horticultural produce,” Nautiyal added.
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This year’s Diwali quieter than before
Either there were less of cracker-burning due to increased sensitisation among the masses and concentrated efforts towards the promotion of eco-friendly Diwali or the rising cracker prices which limited their sale. The pollution control officials are busy piecing together the data for more findings. “Prima facie, air and noise pollution have been lesser this year compared to last year,” said Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board sources who are yet to come out with the final figures. “People are taking the prevailing recession in the country as a reason for burning less crackers. They did not to spend too much on crackers as it was last on their list of priorities,” said Abrar Hussain, a cracker seller in the city. There have been efforts in recent times to celebrate eco-Diwali. Voluntary organisations like Mission Biotechnology had issued appeals to Doonites to celebrate crackerless Diwali in the interest of humans and animals of the city. While air-pollution levels were observed at three ambient air stations in Dehradun - Clock Tower, Nehru Colony and Raipur Road- mobile vans fixed with sound-level meters recorded the noise levels at different locations of the city. These included Nehru Colony as a residential area, Doon Hospital and Combined Medical Institute as silence zone, Clock Tower as commercial area. This year, the suspended particular matter (SPM) recorded at Clock Tower on Diwali was 329 µg/m³ while it was 306 µg/m³ in Nehru Colony and 264 µg/m³ at Raipur Road. Last Diwali, the SPM levels were 444 µg/m³, 475 µg/m³ and 411 µg/m³ in Clock Tower, Nehru Colony and Raipur Road, respectively. According to noise pollution figures, it was 71 decibels at Clock Tower, 68 decibels at Doon Hospital, 77 decibels at Prince Chowk, 77 decibels at Combined Medical Institute and 68 decibels at Race Course. The noise levels were comparatively higher last year. The Uttaranchal Environment Protection and Pollution Control Board teams worked the full day to monitor the air and noise pollution levels on Diwali day.
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State varsity in Garhwal on anvil
Dehradun, October 20 Announcing this today at a press conference, Chief Secretary Indu Kumar Pandey said the ordinance would enable new colleges to apply for affiliation and old colleges that want to get disaffiliation from the central university can also apply. It took 10 months for the state government to take the crucial step, removing clouds of uncertainty that hung over the future of several colleges that had become ineligible once the central university status was accorded to HNB University. The state was forced to take the decision after the HRD ministry said the status quo regarding affiliations could not be maintained any longer. “Though we were told that the Central University (HNB) would continue to give affiliation to colleges till such time alternative arrangements were made, but midway it began refusing to do so,” said Pandey. He said the university would be set up in the Garhwal region. The state had already permitted the technical university to accord affiliation to colleges running pharmacy, B Ed and physical education courses besides other technical courses. The character of the university will be similar to that of Meerut, Avadh and Kanpur universities. Besides, the state government has to address the problem of affiliation of 189 colleges that were previously affiliated to HNB Garhwal University. No wonder then, a demand was gaining ground for establishing another state university at one of the HNB Garhwal University campuses. “As the modalities of the central university are still being worked out, the colleges will continue to be affiliated with the erstwhile HNB Garhwal University. On January 2009, we had constituted a committee to look into the issue and the government has also been made aware of it, but the affiliation of colleges is a temporary arrangement. “Sooner than later, the colleges will have to come with their requests for disaffiliations or we will have to come out with some shortcomings to disaffiliate them,” apprised Prof SK Singh, VC, HNB Garhwal University. Among the host of alternatives being deliberated upon for the new university is the conversion of the Swami Tirath campus at Badshahi Thaul (Tehri) of HNB Garhwal University into a state university. The future of the university campuses, especially at Tehri, is also uncertain. As per the norms, the central university can have campuses in the range of 30 km. While the Birla campus and Pauri campus fulfil the criteria, the Swami Ram Tirath campus at Tehri is at a distance of 100 km from the university. “In all probability, the campus’ location is not as per central university norms. It should be converted into a state university,” said Rakesh Rayal, lecturer, Mass Communication. “The campus has been conducting self-financed courses among a host of courses. The BEd, B Pharma courses will be done away with once the central university starts functioning. “A movement is gaining ground that in order to protect the future of scores of students undertaking these courses, the campus should be converted into a full-fledged university as it is centrally located and has the required infrastructure,” opined Rakesh Rayal. However, the VC of HNB Garhwal University said the three campuses would continue to remain part of the university and there was no rule that stated that the central university could not have a campus that is at a distance of 100 km from the main campus. Meanwhile, Shatrughan Singh, Secretary, Higher Education, said the matter regarding housing the university would be discussed as soon as the ordinance was issued.
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Raising Cut-off Percentage
Roorkee, October 20 Dr HK Verma, Deputy Director, IIT-Roorkee, says: “In my viewpoint, instead of increasing the cut-off percentage from 60 per cent to 80-85 per cent, which may disqualify many good students appearing in JET for IITs, a better option could be adopted. Certainly, weightage should be given to the percentage obtained by a candidate in plus two examinations. A figure like 50 per cent weightage to plus two examinations and 50 per cent to entrance exam can be deliberated upon. I think this will bring in the desired seriousness among students for the studies and examinations of the plus two standard”. Dr Vinod Kumar, Head, Electrical Engineering Department, opines: “I term the increase in the cut-off percentage an excellent step. Students spend best time of the day in schools. So, whatever they learn during that time, should be given due importance. If the weightage to the high school and plus two examinations are given then the pressure on the students will be less. With the step, the illegal practice of coaching, wherein the students do not attend the classes for the sake of coaching, will definitely be curtailed. This would certainly be good for students and their parents as well”. “Certainly, increasing the cut-off percentage for entrance can not be termed a right step. I don’t think that with this the mushrooming of coaching centres could be tamed. Instead, the burden on students will definitely increase. If the step is taken, the pressure on students will be increased manifold. Undoubtedly! In my viewpoint, they should introduce the aptitude in the IIT entrance and it will be an effective step to judge the sharpness of the brain of an aspirant,” says Shubhangi Harsha, an engineering student. “Entrance exams are to be taken so that the students, who fail to get good marks for any reason, can not lose the opportunity to get admission in premier institutes. So, increasing cut-off percentage from 60 per cent to 80-85 per cent can not be termed a right step at any cost. Many a time, many top class students can not get good marks for some reasons. For such exceptional cases, the step will prove very harsh in every sense. So, I am not in favour of increasing the cut-off percentage,” adds Megha Agarwal, a PHD student, IIT-Roorkee. Arpit Ruia, B Tech Ist year student, IIT-Roorkee, says: “I think the step is not going to serve any purpose towards the motive our HRD Minister Kapil Sibal has been talking about. I fail to understand how they can arrest the mushrooming of coaching centres all around by increasing the cut-off percentage. In fact, more centres will come up for the preparation of plus two examinations. Apart from that, the step will also cause a tremendous pressure on students, who are aiming to study in top engineering institutes”. Bhawesh, B Tech, Ist year, IIT-Roorkee: “The raise in the cut-off percentage will be called reasonable if the examinations, conducted by the state boards and the CBSE, were made equivalent in standards. It’s a known fact that the CBSE students are able to secure more marks compared to those appearing for the state board examinations as these are considered
tougher”.
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State board students will be at a loss
Dehradun, October 20 However, after his earlier efforts to do away with class X boards in CBSE schools and introducing the grade system, these are his latest proposals with a view to ensure that students, who take the class XII board exams, should concentrate on these instead of focusing on the curriculum of the coaching institutes. This will also curb the growth of numerous coaching centres mushrooming in every nook and corner of cities. Discussing the issue at length, The Tribune spoke to educationists in Dehradun, a city famous for being the hub of schools and has produced many academic achievers who are doing well in their respective fields. Capt SK Singh, Director, Lakshya, a medical and IIT-JEE coaching institute, said, “It seems that Kapil Sibal is only concerned about CBSE and ISC boards. What about the students who appear in state board exams? “It is almost impossible for them to score such high percentage. This will reduce the chances of these students for India’s most difficult and known entrance exam. “Already, the student is under pressure to crack these entrance tests and such changes in the education system will only double his worries and lead to failure or confusion,” he said. The HRD minister had made the comments while chairing a meeting of IIT councils and even appointed a committee of IIT directors to suggest the revised entrance system under which marks obtained in class XII will be given importance along with the entrance exam’s marks. Aakash Coaching Institute, a premier coaching institute for medical and IIT-JEE aspirants that opened its centre a year ago in the city, has been producing excellent results. Akhilesh Singh, deputy regional coordinator at the Dehradun centre commented, “Rather than pinpointing on the existence and mushrooming of coaching centres, the HRD ministry should first try to provide quality education so that children don’t run to coaching centres. “After all, it is the lack of knowledge of the teachers as well the administration that children go to professional institutes where they get good returns for their money. “Nowadays, many schools are hiring good tutors from coaching institutes to impart end-moment tips to aspirants.” However, while coaching institutes have a very negative viewpoint towards this debatable proposal, renowned schools teachers of Doon hold a different opinion. Renu Sareen, a senior English teacher at St Joseph Academy, said, “Over the years, it has been noticed that in spite of good schools focusing on quality education and overall development of students, they somehow get confused and focus more on coaching institutes. “Science subjects get more attention at these centres, leading to poor performance in subjects like English, Hindi and economics. This badly affects their overall percentage in board exams.” Purnima Mishra, a senior English teacher at Scholars Home, a known CBSE school of the city, said, “I believe that coaching institutes are mushrooming and this affects class XII board results. This is a very big issue and needs a joint effort before anything gets finalised. “At the same time, the ministry should not forget the aspirants belonging to state board for whom achieving such high percentage is almost impractical.” Commenting on this proposal, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal said, “This sort of idea is totally negative for the students of Uttarakhand and will only lead to confusion and unnecessary pressure”.
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Govt blamed for delayed BEd session
Dehradun, October 20 Addressing a press conference today, Sunil Agarwal, Secretary, Association of Self-Financed Institutes said there were chances that the 2009-10 session would be declared a zero academic year. “Earlier, only the academic session of self-financed B Ed courses were delayed, but now even government colleges have not announced the academic calendar, affecting the careers of B Ed aspirants in the state who are now moving out to neighbouring states,” said Agarwal. He said in the interest of scores of students, the government should immediately declare the new session. “Poor students are finding it difficult to arrange for their boarding and lodging as B Ed education is costly in Haryana,” said
Agarwal.
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Indian soccer clubs need to be more professional, says expert
Dehradun, October 20 Carlton was in the city under a talent selection programme of the Royal Rangers Club. He is serving as a coach in this club. He has served at the Tata Football Academy for more than two decades. Carlton criticised the unprofessional approach of the national clubs. He said, “Indian clubs need to be more professional in their approach. They should maintain grounds and other requisite facilities in order to bring more professional approach to the game”. He said although academy culture was growing in the city, there was need for more Indian players playing from the clubs. For this clubs should undertake more talent-hunt programmes throughout the country. Carlton asserted, “India has abundance of budding footballers in the age-group of u-16 and u-19, who just need the right direction and exposure. “And coaching plays an important role in the whole process. One could take the example of Japan that has made rapid strides in the games and improved its football
standard manifold”. He emphasised on improving the infrastructure throughout the country for raising the standard of the games. He said India needed to provide basic infrastructure for the footballers and efforts should be made to tap talent from villages as well. Carlton was in the city on a two-day visit to the Information Technology Institute for Tribes of India (ITITI) and the Tibetan National Team to spot young talented players. He was willing to organise two-day training camp for Dehradun children to give them a better exposure. He also gifted some training instruments to tribal children of
the institute.
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Sports activities at mini stadium stuck in red tape
Dehradun, October 20 The Youth Welfare Department of the state government has refused
to take possession of the mini stadium on the plea that it has not been completed. However, the officials of the Rural Engineering Services (RES), that was responsible for building the mini stadium, claim that the stadium is ready for handover. It was in 2003-04 that a budget of Rs 40 lakh was sanctioned for the stadium at Pajitilani to provide sports infrastructure for the children of tribal areas of Jaunsar and Bawar region of Dehradun district. Interestingly, fingers were raised at the quality of work done in the construction of the stadium. The stadium was inaugurated by former Uttarakhand Chief Minister ND Tiwari even before it was completed. A regional sports meet was also held in the stadium at that point of time but no sports activity could be held after that due to the quarrel between the two government
departments. BS Rawat, assistant engineer of Rural Engineering Services, claim that the stadium was completed and the entire budget of Rs 40 lakh was spent on it. He claimed that over the years there had been wear and tear of
the stadium. On the other hand, officials of the Youth Welfare Department said the construction agency has been asked to do the repair works and hand over the stadium by
December 2009.
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Soccer association plans to hold national-level tourney in city
Dehradun, October 20 The tournament will see involvement of local clubs in a big way for making the game a grand success. Dehradun had organised national-level tournaments earlier but slowly and steadily all of them came to an end due to lack of funds. Now, te association is trying to revive the national tournaments again in the city. The tournaments are expected improve the standard of Dehradun football that has deteriorated over the years. Football as a game has come to Dehradun almost a century before Independence. It has just grown in popularity thereafter and still holds top priority among the city people because of the undying charm of the game. The people here do not get tired of talking of great players that the city has produced and the place Dehradun team enjoyed at the national level, when Gorkha brigade team played for the city back
in 1980s. The national football tournament will be a great motivational factor for young footballers
of the city. There are other football tournaments coming up in the city soon, which include Gautam Gurung Memorial Football Tournament, Inter-Institution Football Tournament
and BS Negi Football Tournament. In addition to this if national tournament is organised here it would be a great delight for football lovers here. Nigam is expected to play a big role in reviving these national-level tournaments in Doon. The city Mayor, Vinod Chamoli had earlier announced that Nigam was willing to bring back those glorious days of football back to Dehradun, for which he was willing to organise
a big national tournament soon.
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Cricket: St Gabriel’s Academy lift trophy
Roorkee, October 20 Batting first, St Montford mustered 105 runs at the loss of eight wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Gandharav Nayar emerged as the highest scorer for the team with 37 runs. He was followed by Rohan Chaudhary (20) and Aman (17). For the hosts, Mannawar Ali, Hemant and Mayank Pal snatched two wickets each. In reply, the Gabriel’s team overhauled the target of 106 runs in just 16 overs, at the loss of single wicket in the course. Vishav Pantt, who was later declared as the man of the series, went back to pavilion after playing a fine knock of 55 runs. The other contributors in the victory were Vishal Chauhan (28) and Manish Gaud (17). Both the batsmen
remained unbeaten. The winning team got the trophy from chief guest Surender Kumar Adwal, District Sports Officer and school Principal Bro Chrcky in a prize distribution function.
St Gabriel’s girls win basketball championship
With the fine performance by Ishdeep Kaur, the St Gabriel’s girls’ team emerged champion in the under-14 district basketball championship that concluded at St Gabriel’s court here today. Ishdeep played a vital role in the Gabriel’s win by scoring eight points. The team drubbed St Montford’s team by 20-4 in the final match. The other scorers for the winning team were Tanya Maheshwari and Kriti Singh. Both players scored six points each. In boys’ category, Adarsh Bal Niketan School beat St Montford team by 40-15 to lift the trophy. Sooraj Negi stole the show with his terrific performance. He scored 29 points alone. Later, he was declared best player of the tourney.
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Candlelight drama
As enshrined in celestial thespian Bharat Muni’s Natyashatra, a complete Drama is an imitation or representation of the inner psychological conditions, external manifestations of these mental states, and situations to which human beings react psychologically and physically. These features and more are embellished in yet another new and boisterous theatrical spectacle Brief Candle in English, being brought to the city by the Durga Das Foundation, is all set to illumine the aesthetic vision of art aficionados on October 27 at Tagore theatre.
The Tribune group of newspapers, HDFC Home Loans and others are the co sponsors of the much awaited event. An exalted English drama by celebrated playwright Mahesh Dattani finds absolute thematic expression under the directorial elegance of acclaimed actor Lillete Dubey. The stellar cast of accomplished actors Amar Talwar, Suchitra Pillai, Joy Sengupta, Zafar Karachiwala, Satchit Puranik and Manasi Parekh augments the production level. A 90-minute production, it is a dark-comedy about love, life and death. A farce which has some light humour, Brief Candle is set in a hospital for cancer patients and those terminally ill. Through a play that the inmates put up for the hospital’s cultural event, they find the dead playwright’s presence steering the rehearsals and comic situations developing, as issues related to life and death get reflected upon. A poignant and humorous play, it leaves you misty eyed at the end because you somehow connect with the characters and their dilemmas. A completely executed script by Dattani comes alive in the proficient handling of theatre veteran Lillete Dubey who is acclaimed for her nuanced portrayal of different characters on celluloid too. Besides the stellar cast of accomplished actors Amar Talwar, Suchitra Pillai, Joy Sengupta, Zafar Karachiwala, Satchit Puranik and Manasi Parekh augments the production level.Watch them live at the Tagore Theatre on October 27 at the Tagore theatre but be in your seat before 7.00 pm and the entry is strictly through invitation only, according to Atul Khanna, director, Durga Das
Foundation.
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Movie bosses are reportedly prohibiting stars from leaking film information on popular social network sites such as Twitter. Studios were said to be including the ban as part of the clauses in their contracts, believing the "tweets" were damaging showbiz. Affected celebrities allegedly include Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers, who will both feature in a Shrek follow-up next year, reports the Sun. The story comes after singer Paula Abdul dramatically resigned from the post of American Idol judge this year on Twitter. — ANI
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The Horticulture Department in the hill state of Uttarakhand is taking steps to promote plantation
of walnuts in the state in a big way. The state government is taking a series of measures to exploit weather and soil conditions of the region that are congenial
for growing walnuts in abundance.
For Dehradun, this Diwali was certainly quieter than earlier ones. Going by Uttarakhand Pollution Control Board observations made on the Diwali night, air and noise pollution were lesser on the Festival of Lights this year.
Dehradun, October 20
