Dehradun, October 30
When it was established in 1901, the Dehradun Club Private Ltd was the exclusive preserve of the white man and had imposed prohibitive membership rules to keep the natives at bay.

Now firmly in the hands of Indians, the club office-bearers are practicing gender discrimination by denying full-fledged membership to daughters of members.

On the other hand, sons have it easy and are automatically assured membership after they graduate from the membership of dependents.

It also means that women using the services of the club do not have voting rights. No wonder then, the Dehradun Club will have to wait long to elect its first woman president.

The Dehradun Club Ltd still continues to be in freeze mode long after the curtains came down on the British Raj in 1947. The 108-year-old club, set up by the British in 1901, is a talking point for wannabes and a high point in the life of the moneyed class and influential persons who love to spend time socialising.

But no one had the courage to change the membership rules to make them in sync with the changing times.

Though the dress code of banning ‘kurta-pyjama’ is of recent origin, the improper attire clause was introduced only 10 years ago.

A stickler for proper dress and footwear code during the British Raj, the club had once turned away Kunwar Shamsher Bahadur Singh, who later became the chairman of the Dehradun Corporation. Later, he took the refuge of the court for gaining entry.

“Amendments have been made even to the Constitution of India in keeping with the demands of time, but the rules and regulations of Dehradun Club seem to fettered in bureaucratic formalities.

“As a member, I am aggrieved at the discrimination and will like to make my son and daughter the members of the club but the club rules prohibit it,” said Dr Alka Ahuja, who is a member of the club solely because of her spouse Dr Alok Ahuja.

“The matter has to be part of the agenda that is taken up either at the extra-ordinary general meeting (EGM) or annual general meeting (AGM) whenever it is called and then, it has to be passed by the House.

“I do agree that no presidents in the past took the step to frame new rules that would have allowed ladies full-fledged membership,” stressed Rohit Jain, former president of the club.

The club, which has a 11-year waiting list, allows the dependent son full-fledged membership in case he is using the services at the club by virtue of his father and if the son applies before turning 30.

“While considering their membership, they are given preferential treatment which ensures smooth entry as independent members,” added Jain.

Strangely in the past, several former presidents had daughters, but none of them took up the case of framing new rules making their daughters eligible.

However, the club allows membership to ladies who are either widows or divorcees. “There are more than 60 women members who fall in this category. They are made members on the recommendation of five committee members. The club has a membership fee of Rs 50,000 and may just bring in this much-needed change in the coming days,” said Dr MS Rathi, president, Dehradun Club, who brought in the suit-dress clause.

So, when the next general body meeting is convened in December, sparks may fly as women are demanding change in the rules.

Dehradun, October 30
From time to time, funds worth lakhs of rupees are spent by the Uttarakhand State Aids Control Society (USACS) on awareness-building exercises on HIV/AIDS control and prevention, but to this day it has remained clueless on the success or failure of these campaigns that are highlighted through the traditional media.

It has once again collected a jamboree of artistes who are about to unleash an awareness campaign in December.

The campaign is expected to start in five districts of Uttarakhand that have a large number of HIV positive cases.

The society is using puppetry, dancers and street-play actors in the campaign, ignoring the traditional folk media of Garhwal that could instinctively strike a chord with the people. If the campaign aims at taking a hit at the grass-roots level, then the traditional folk media should not have been ignored.

“The success of any campaign depends on the packaging and cultural standardisation. One has to take in the local elements to attract the attention of the people in the first place. Usually, in such campaigns the local elements are missing.

“These elements naturally manage to strike a jarring note. Puppet shows have not been a part of the Uttarakhand culture and to use them over and over again is pointless,” said Sunil Kainthola, a social activist.

For an ongoing workshop, the society has roped in master trainers hailing from Mumbai and who have been associated with John Hopkins University.

“We are giving training to the artistes on writing simple scripts so that they captivate the audience in the shortest-possible time,” said Narayan Gondal, the resource person.

Not sure if there had been any behavioural change in people as a consequence of previous campaigns, Narayan said for the first time, he would be incorporating a questionnaire, which the people who come to watch the performances would have to fill in.

They got to know the impact of the exercise. He also said they were not provided any information on the results of the previous campaigns.

The campaign’s part of “Zindagi Zindabad” will start in Nainital, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar, Pauri and Hairdwar.

“Two vans equipped with volunteers, artistes and information material will travel in different parts of the districts and would target the youth, women and men in the age group of 18-40 years. They would urge them to visit the nearest HIV/AIDS counselling centre and seek advise for a risky behaviour,” said Uma Prakash, Joint Director, USACS.

She said a budget of Rs 50 lakh had been allocated for the awareness-building exercise though the budget for Information Education and Communication (IEC) ran in several crores.

Dumanpuri, October 30
During the forthcoming Maha Kumbh, the old Balawaali bridge, which connects Uttarakhand with Uttar Pradesh, will be opened for heavy traffic.

A decision in this regard is said to have been taken by the authorities concerned. Uttar Pradesh Commissioner Ram Surat Dubey has recently surveyed the bridge to check its feasibility for road traffic during the mega fair.

After the survey, the senior officer said the bridge would be used to manage heavy traffic flow during the Maha Kumbh next year.

“It will be used as an optional route to ease pressure on the National Highway-58 (Delhi to Dehradun),” said Dubey, who was accompanied by senior functionaries of Bijnaur district, UP.

The over 100-year-old railway girder bridge, known as Balawali Pul, has been built across the Ganga at this last village on the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border and is about 50 km from Roorkee.

With the opening of the 900-m railway bridge for vehicular traffic, a distance of around 60 km will be shortened for the commuters visiting Haridwar from both states, claimed residents of the area.

The bridge had been discarded by the Railways four years ago after the construction of a new bridge. Being a shortcut to reach Bijnaur, it is being used, though illegally, by commuters of both states.

The feasibility of opening of the bridge for traffic was also checked by a team of the UP Public Works Department in March on the instructions of the Kumbh Mela Officer, Haridwar.

It has also been a long-pending demand of people of both states to open the bridge or construct a new one at the same place.

In fact, there is a proposal with the UP government to construct a permanent bridge here. An estimate has already been prepared, said the authorities concerned while maintaining that with the construction of the bridge, a direct road link between Punjab-Haryana and the Lucknow belt of UP would be set up.

“The report of survey will be sent to the higher authorities immediately,” said the officials at the site.

Pitthoragarh, October 30
Dr Kharak Singh Waldia, noted Himalayan geologist and former Vice-Chancellor of Kumaon University, said here today that the Himalayan region would always be prone to earthquakes due to the continuous moment of tectonic plates.

“The only solution to get rid of its impending consequences is to be prepared for earthquakes the way Japan, New Zealand and Indonesia did. As the Himalayas are still in the formation stage, tectonic activities are unavoidable,” said Dr Waldia.

The Indian plate struck the Asian plate 220 million years ago and, as a result, the Himalayas was formed 21 million years ago. The Indian plate is still pushing the Asian plate, said Dr Waldia.

He said that some six to nine million years ago when the Himalayas were growing in size, heavy climate changes occurred in the region.

“Later, during the ice age some 2.5 lakh years ago, the lesser Himalayan region witnessed the heaviest snowfall of the era changing the climate of the region to a large extent,” said Dr Waldia.

However, he was not worried about the minor tremors - 3, 4 and 5 on the Richter scale -occurring in the Himalayan region at regular intervals.

“These minor tremors release the tension in the tectonic plates and prevent the occurrence of big earthquakes,” said Dr Waldia.

Answering a question on the frequent landslides in the lesser Himalayan region, Dr Waldia said, “People constructed houses on the sandy soil brought down by landslides and started cultivation, thus blocking the landslide’s natural way,” said Dr Waldia.

The best way to avoid landslides on motor roads in the high Himalayan region was to change their alignment, he said.

“Some experts suggest construction of tunnels on these landslide-prone roads but tunnel construction will also create havoc as it will disturb the natural flow of springs beneath the land in the Himalayan region,” he added.

Dr Waldia was of the opinion that construction in the high Himalayan region should be based on geological studies. “If this process is not followed by Himalayan states and Andaman and Nicobar, which are also part of the greater Himalayas, the constructions there are bound to create havoc as these will disturb the formation process of the sensitive Himalayas,” said Dr Waldia.

Roorkee, October 30
‘Motomania’, the motorbike stunt event, proved a big hit among students on the second day of the ongoing state youth festival, Thomso 09, on the IIT premises here today.

A 20-member team of professional bikers consisting of MTV Roadies’ stars Javed and Saurabh Handa, Karan, Parminder, Nitin, Amandeep Singh and Bikram Singh enthralled the students and families of faculty in their 45-minute display.

Their daredevil stunts mesmerised the onlookers, who were gathered in thousands along the entrance road of the Mechanical Engineering Department.

“It’s always thrilling to display the skills in front of the youth, especially during such festivals,” said elated Javed, who managed to win much applause with his stunts this evening.

Though the stunt show drew a large crowd, the absence of arrangements in case of any emergency raised eyebrows of many onlookers.

“The organisers have not even put an ambulance at the spot. This is really daring efforts by the performers, but one should be ready for any eventuality”, said Preeti, a visitor.

Dehradun, October 30
The Uttarakhand Police team continued its winning spree after defeating Sarvodaya team by a 4-0 to make it to the semifinal of the 9th Gautam Gurung Memorial Football Tournament, here today.

In the last quarterfinal, the Uttarakhand Police made a strong start by pressing hard on the Sarvodaya team defence from the very beginning.

The team scored its first goal in the 29th minute of the match through a powerful kick of Vir Singh. After scoring the first goal the Police team struck again in the 33rd minute through Deepak Kandari, who skillfully dodged to defenders before placing the ball in the nets. Sarvodaya team couldn’t do much against the aggressive Police team and was defensive right from the beginning.

In the second half, the Police pumped in two more goals to further press hard on their opponent. Deepak scored his second goal in the 44th minute to make it 3-0 for his side. In last minute of the match, the Uttarakhand Police’s Saurabh came up with the fourth goal to help his team take an invincible lead in the match making it 4-0.

Dehradun, October 30
The 107th annual sports day of Convent of Jesus and Mary School was entirely a fun-filled occasion here today. While, the juniors were richly applauded in the morning session, the seniors from Class VI to XII also stole the limelight in the second half.

The event of the junior co-curricular activities commenced with the inaugural speech by the Chief Guest, Lt Gen TPS Rawat (retd), a former member of Lok Sabha while in the second session Indu Kumar Pande, chief secretary, Uttrakhand was the chief guest to felicitate the senior section.

Besides, the captivating and colourful drills by tiny tots and races by the senior girls, the march past and mass PT by 700 girls was the most captivating precision that was enjoyed by the guests as well as the parents. The trophy for the Best Athelete of the senior section went to Ishtha Kapoor who also bagged the Best Sports Girl Scholarship and the trophy for the Best Sports Girl in junior school went to Pragya Uppal. St Francis House lifted the cock trophy for the Best House in athletics.

Indu Kumar appreciated the diligent participants as well as their mentors, who guided and trained them to give the best performance with prowess.

He also encouraged the spirits of the non-participants while boosting up morale of the winners who presented their mettle on the field.

The guest of honour was Col DK Singh, commanding officer, 11 Guards. Other dignitaries like the principals of various schools also witnessed the mesmerising event.

Dehradun, October 30
Defending champion ONGC lifted the All-India Public Sector Sports Promotion Board Volleyball Tournament trophy for the second consecutive time. In the final, they beat the LIC team in straights.

The ONGC team took an early lead in the match making it 6-2 in the first 15 minute. Shubham Rao was the key player that helped his team take the early lead in the match hitting some hard smashes. He was supported well by Kamraj and Mukesh in the match.

ONGC won the first set by 25-17. The second set was no different as ONGC took it by 25-17 again. The third and final set ONGC won by 25-16. For LIC, Vikram worked hard to help his team give some resistance, but lose the match after fighting.

Chief guest Shashant Vats, chief EDER, ONGC, presented the prize of Rs 15,000 to the winner and Rs 10,000 to the runner up.

Dehradun, October 30
Welham Girls’ School lifted the Tek Chand Memorial Basketball Tournament here today. In the final, they defeated Doon Girls by a huge margin of 13 points.

Final proved to be a one-sided match as Welham Girls’ team dominated the proceeding right form the beginning. The team scored rapid baskets and unsettle their opponents from the beginning. In the first two quarters Doon Girls’ team took an important lead of seven points.

In the last two quarters Welham Girls’ accelerated the scoring rate and increased their lead by 13 points to make the final score 21-8.

Dehradun, October 30
SGRR Race Course to clash with SGRR Vasant Vihar in the final of Inter-School Girls Volleyball Tournament here tomorrow.

In the first semifinal match, the SGRR Race Course team beat the SGRR Bombay Baag team 21-6.

The Race Course team took an early lead in the match and maintained it till the end to register an easy victory over the SGRR Race Course team.

Meanwhile, in the second match SGRR Vasant Vihar outplayed SGRR Bindal 21-14.