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Lashkar Threat
A home away from home |
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Chhaliya Mahotsav flagged off
Sufiana start to Autumn Festival
IIT-Roorkee Campus Notes
MAAC students to participate in movie-making contest
It’s celebration time at St Joseph Academy
Fabulous PT display by RIMC cadets
All-India chess tourney begins at BHEL
Prem Babu wins chess tourney
Ram Bahadur bags 2 gold medals in yuva sports contest
Welham Boys School emerge winner
2,700 take part in athletics meet
IRD Dehradun defeat DFEEF Delhi 2-0
KV PL Meerut lift cricket trophy
Pathak appointed VC of open varsity
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Lashkar Threat
Dehradun, November 5 The police has made elaborate security arrangements at Doon School and Woodstock School, Mussoorie. Though the police refused to comment on the number of the persons deployed in the schools, but it maintained that sufficient security arrangements have been made to tackle any untoward incidents. Sources in the police said that besides the already stationed police personnel, the number of cops deployed there had been increased. Quick Reaction Teams and policemen in plain clothes have also been stationed on the school campuses. Sources added that though the main attention of the police was on the two schools, but it cannot be ruled out that defence institutions of national importance including the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) could also be at risk. The police is keeping an eye on these institutes as well, informed sources. The Senior Superintendent of Police Abhinav Kumar said, “We are reviewing the security and have deployed force in Doon School and Woodstock School, Mussoorie.” Interestingly, Abhinav Kumar, Dehradun SSP is an alumni of Doon School. The SSP refused to divulge information on the number of police personnel deployed on the campuses of these schools. He maintained that the police didn’t receive any direct threat from any group and it has beefed up the security on the basis of the intelligence report from the central government. “We are following a locked-gate policy from today that means there will be no outings as a precautionary measure and all visitors will be screened,” said Ben Lal, Finance Director of Woodstock School. On the curtailment of outings for boarders, Piyush Malviya, Dean, Public Affairs, The Doon School, said, “Outings are out of the question. From next week, we will be having house examinations.” A couple of years back, the Woodstock School had a near brush with a terrorist who had applied for a teacher’s job but before he could begin his teaching stint, he was nailed by the police and a diary seized from his possession spilt the beans. “It was several years earlier when the Daniel Pearl murder took place, but at that time too, the application of the terrorist was only considered,” said Lal.
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A home away from home
Dehradun, November 5 This scheme, which has been named as Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Rural Home Stays Scheme, will be
formally launched on November 9, the foundation day of the state. CUnder the scheme, accommodation is provided in a private home consisting of not more than eight rooms available for guests run by the homeowner. It is one among many other steps, which the government intends to take to boost tourism in the state. Kaushik said: “The state government is quite keen on promoting tourism in the state. We expect to cover half of the rural pocket in coming few years in this direction. For this, we are inviting people who want to start their own hotel or chain of hotels and give hospitality services in any particular area or projects like these. We will also use the pedestal of Maha Kumbh, to be held in Haridwar, to promote state tourism”. He said by forging an alliance with the Mahindra group, his government is gaining marketing expertise and inputs to upgrade infrastructure facilities to establish quality tourism. Kaushik also said the government was getting positive response from people as five villages, including Chhoti Haldwani, Jhala Agora and Basru, have been shortlisted where rural home stays have been planned, and residents of 36 villages have also sent their applications to this effect. Since the project is in its inception, there is a lot to work out as the minister said he was yet to finalise the modalities to provide subsidy/loans or the portion of the revenue generated. No time frame has been set for the implementation or completion of the scheme. The concept of home stays will strengthen local economy by generating local employment. Utpal Kumar Singh, Secretary, Tourism, said: “Without potent marketing, tourists will not get to know about the project of rural home stays running in these tiny pockets. This vacuum will be filled up with the cooperation of professional group, Mahindra. With this, people will also get to see newer locations. For us, it will be taking a step forward from Chader Singh Garhwali Yozana, which provided funds to entrepreneurs”. After signing up MoUs with Kerala and Rajasthan, the Mahindra group is upbeat about doing the same in Uttarakhand, especially when they have already set up close to 200 homes spread across 37 locations in 13 states in India. Ramesh Ramanathan, Managing Director of the group, said: “We have already selected 30 locations where we would employ local people, generate direct and indirect employment. Our top priority will be to train locals to maintain hygiene at home and ensure safety and comforts to tourists. We will keep a tab on the quality of the services by taking a regular feedback from the tourists whom we send. The comfort and sensitivity of the owner of the house will also be taken care of as it is they who will decide to allow liquor, non-vegetarian food, pet, etc, in their homes. They can also block their names or inform about their absence on our websites, whenever they want to take break”. The language will not pose any problem, as people would be trained in sign language as well as basic English. HC Joshi, who has retired from pharma unit, has built eight cottages in his sprawling accommodation situated at Dhanpur Gosai for the purpose. Beaming with joy, he said: “Though I had been running home stays for many years, I had limited reach for the lack of marketing skills. Now, I am happy. I would have far more number of tourists with the help of bigwigs like Mahindra”. Suman Anand, who had been renting out three rooms of her famous accommodation, where Corbett spent many years of his life, at Kaladhungi to tourist is equally excited about the profitable future prospect. It is also novices like Jyoti Singh, homemaker from Ajabkalan, who are ready to dabble in the business and augment their family income. “It was my aunt who introduced me to this scheme, and I readily agreed to provide first floor of my house for this wonderful scheme of ‘Rural Homestays’.”
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Chhaliya Mahotsav flagged off
Pitthoragarh, November 5 “The five-day mahotsav, aimed at promoting the martial dance of the same name in Kumaon region, has been organised annually since 2001,” said Hemraj Bisht, chairman of the organising committee. “The Chhaliya dance, basically performed during marriages, is a martial dance of ancient Kumaon royalty. It is performed to the tune of dhol and damau aided by other local musical instruments like trumpets and bagpipes,” said Bisht. This year, dancers from Nepal, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have been invited to perform in addition to artistes from various regions of Kumaon and Garhwal. “The Chhaliya dance originated in the 7th century at the time of advent of Chand kings in Kumaon. The dance was performed when a Chand king escorted by soldiers successfully wed a local bride,” said Dr Ram Singh, a cultural historian of the region. “After that, soldiers used to dance to celebrate their victories,” said Dr Singh. “We want to preserve this Kumaoni tradition and that is why we have been organising this festival since 2001,” said Hemraj Bisht.
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Sufiana start to Autumn Festival
Nainital, November 5 The six-day festival was formally inaugurated by state education minister Gobind Singh Bisht amid a colourful display of fireworks at the Flats Grounds here. A souvenir was also released on the occasion. The audience turned up in thousands bracing the November chill and enjoyed the presentations up to almost 11 pm. The evening began with a dance presentation by a troupe from Delhi and a performance by television star Sugandha Mishra who presented mimicry and parodies of Bollywood songs that were enjoyed by the audience. Mishra set the mood for an evening of songs from Kher, who made his entry on stage singing the popular number “Subhan Allah” from the film “Fanaa”. Thereafter, he presented several numbers that have been hits over the past several years. These included “O Sikander” from the film “Corporate” and Sufi songs written by Amir Khusrau such as “Piya ke sang rang dini oadhni” and the Sufi number “Kinna sohna tainu Rab ne banaya”. He also presented the soulful song “Saiyyan” from one of his albums and went on to sing the popular “Bam Bhole” in his popular high-pitch voice. He finished his presentation with the song from the film “Khosla ka Ghosla” “Chak de phatte”. Besides local artistes from Kumaon, several artistes from Bollywood and television will be performing at the six-day festival. The festival started on a traditional note with a shobha yatra from Tallital that traversed various places in the city. This was followed by presentations by cultural troupes from Haldwani, Khatima and Nainital.
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Protect ecology, Ravi Shankar tells CM
Dehradun, November 5 Ravi Shankar appreciated the steps taken by the state government to host the Maha Kumbh in 2010 and various other measures in developing the state as a model state. He said that people living in remote inaccessible areas have remained poor due to lack of communication and transport facilities. He exhorted the state government to work for greater participation of such downtrodden people in developmental activities. He also called upon the people of the state to protect the environment. Meanwhile, Shahnawaz Rana, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator from Bijnore, Uttar Pradesh, also called upon the Chief Minister Nishank here today.
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IIT-Roorkee Campus Notes
Roorkee, November 5 All roads on the IIT premises, which were flooded with students last week, now wear a deserted look. Even the Hobbies Club, which was hub of fun games during the festival, sans students of late. “The festival has rejuvenated us. Now, we are again on the old track, which has about 10-hour long class schedule,” said Divya Gandhi, a BTech student of the IIT. Another student Rachit said all students were busy preparing for the forthcoming exams starting from November 5. After that, the campus would be deserted with the starting of one-month holidays in December. House full at puppet theatre
For engineering students, it was an evening with a difference as they got a chance to be a part of nature through the medium of a modern puppet theatre. OP Jain Hall, where the one-hour puppet show, “Padmagatha”, was organised, was full to its capacity. Though the dramatisation of the contents was done by non-verbal means, precise movements of puppets amid colourful lights and soft sound effects, it elicited much appreciation from the spectators. Frequent big applause proved the fact. The music, sound and mainly the light system just mesmerised the audience. Elated over the response, young director Sudip Gupta from Delhi said this form of dolls theatre had been earning appreciation across the world these days. About the show, he said the synopsis of the play was taming of the wild which consisted four episodes, namely “The World Within”, “Floral Tributes”, “Movement in Wilderness” and “Call of the Wild”. “The storyline is dedicated to Indian epic characters, Shakuntla and Dushyanta,” said Gupta, adding that applying new techniques in the contemporary puppetry world, his presentations always carry a new idea, a creation of medium to reach and relate the mankind and nature.
Preparations on for
annual convocation
Preparations are being done for the 9th annual convocation of the IIT-R to be held on November 14 here. Around 1,200 students will receive their degrees in various disciplines of science and technology at the convocation, which would be graced by an Indian technocrat, Dr E Sreedharan, who is well-known for completing both the Konkan Railway and Delhi Metro projects ahead of schedule within the stipulated budget, as the chief guest. While Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-R, Ashok Bhatnagar will preside over the function, Director SC Saxena will present the annual progress report. Apart from this, former chairman of Board of Governors and the famous industrialist JP Gaur and other distinguished alumni of the institute will be bestowed with Distinguished Alumni Award at this convocation.
Contest for budding entrepreneurs
In an effort to give a chance to budding social entrepreneurs of showcasing their ideas, the Entrepreneurship Development Cell (EDC) of the IIT-Roorkee is organising a social entrepreneurship B-plan contest, “Samadhan”, on November 8. According to organisers, the event reaches out to more than 500 colleges as the best minds of the country come on one platform for a contest. “Samadhan’ is built on the idea that national growth can be achieved only if we take a balanced approach towards economic and social uplift,” said Astha Agarwal, a member of team-EDC, IIT, Roorkee. She added considering that the country had the second largest population in the world and over 40 per cent of this number comprised the youth, the theme for “Samadhan 09” is “Youth Empowerment”. A total of around 200 entries have been shortlisted for the event. “The event will be attended by Binoy Job, Senior Editor, NDTV, convener of youth parliaments in Delhi Manoj Sharma and veteran social entrepreneur MK Bhagwani,” said Astha.
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MAAC students to participate in movie-making contest
Dehradun, November 5 The competition is a part of the 24th FPS Animation Awards, where students of animation schools like CG Tantra, N-Vedia, Animation Express, MEL and MAAC will show their skill. Two teams - Rudraksha and Animators - from MAAC, Dehradun, are ready to prove their mettle through their movies - Symbol of Love and Tree of Love, respectively. “The animation movie has already been uploaded on U Tube and the winners will be awarded with the prize ranging between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 8 lakh,” said Ravi, mentor and faculty member of MAAC Institute.
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It’s celebration time at St Joseph Academy
Dehradun, November 5 The event started with a beautiful rangoli presentation by students from standard VI to XII, representing all four houses. Images of peacock, Radha-Krishna and goddess Durga were appreciated. Following the rangoli contest was the inauguration ceremony conducted by principal AJ George, who lit the lamp, and a speech by head boy Nishant Singh on the history of the school. St Joseph Academy, which came into existence in 1934, has proved its merit in the fields of academics, sports and extra-curricular activities. In dance performances, students depicted amalgamation of India’s deep-rooted culture. While in the junior sections, students from Bergin House, Donavan House, Duffy House and Dooley House, dressed in colourful clothes, performed Garhwali folk and Rajasthani dance, senior sections performed bhangra, Gujarati-cum-puppetry dance and Rajasthani dance. However, to make the entire presentation more colourful and lively, students from all four houses presented four captivating dramas. While Dolley House presented a story of a man devoid of emotions in “Man who Wanted to Fly”, Bergin House talked about hallucination in “Bang-Bang”. Donavan House’s wonderfully emoted greed in “Dear Departed” and Duffy House’s “The Pink Panther” made everybody laugh. The event concluded with the chief guest appreciating the efforts of students and teachers in putting up a grand show. In the rangoli competition, the first position was bagged by Bergin House, second by Donavan, third by Duffy and the fourth by Dolley House. The positions were same in the Indian folk dance (juniors) and Indian dance (seniors). However, in the drama competition, the first position was bagged by Duffy House, second by Bergin House, third by Dolley House and the fourth by Donavan House.
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Fabulous PT display by RIMC cadets
Dehradun, November 5 PT instructors from Indian Military Academy (IMA) were the judges. They were Hav Vijay Kumar, Hav Ashok Kundurji, CHM Lal Singh, CHM Arjun Thapa and CHM Vikram Singh. In the seniors category, PT apparatus were upper circle with two pull-ups, cartwheel followed by dive roll, horse astride vault (Class II), forward roll followed by head spring and ropes (Class II). The best leader in the juniors category was Cdt Avnish Singh of Ranjit Section and in seniors category Cdt Sub NCO Astitva Tyagi of Ranjit Section. The chief guest for the competition was Brig Sukesh Rakshit, BGS (Trg), IMA, Dehradun. He said the standard of the competition was outstanding and that this physical training would surely help cadets as and when they joined the forces. Col H Dharmarajan, SM, Commandant, RIMC, presentedthe vote of thanks and encouraged the cadets to raise the bar.
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All-India chess tourney begins at BHEL
Haridwar, November 5 Today, BHEL outclassed Bengaluru by 4-0 margin with winners K Murugan, M Manoharan, CR Sudarshan and M Dharmalingam, in their respective matches. In another match, the BHEL Haridwar team lived up to the audience expectations and defeated the Jhansi team by 2.5-1.5 points. Victory was achieved by MB Biswas and Satish Kumar for the host team. In another group match, title contender Delhi defeated Cheanni by a margin of 3-1. While the Trichi team got a bye in the next round as the Jagdishpur team failed to show up in time. The tournament is being played in five rounds under the Swiss system and the teams scoring maximum points will be declared winner. Earlier inaugurating the tournament, executive director of BHEL DK Modi laid stress on mental fitness in this age of competition. The opening ceremony was given a magnificent touch with the Central Industrial Security Force’s musical band playing melodious tunes while schoolchildren sang songs.
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Prem Babu wins chess tourney
Dehradun, November 5 Ishwar Dayal of Kanpur occupied the second spot while MK Arora of OPF, Kanpur, was placed at the third spot. Today, Prem Babu and MK Arora played a draw. The second match between Ishwar Dayal and Anoop of OLF also ended in a draw. The third match between Pradep Sharma of OFD outplayed Vijay Gaur of OFD. The point tally at the end of the match was: Prema Babu and Ishwar secured five points, whereas MK Arora, RS Negi and Sant Prakash scored four and half points, Pradeep secured four points and Nagesh Kukriti of OLF, Dehradun, got four points.
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Ram Bahadur bags 2 gold medals in yuva sports contest
Dehradun, November 5 Results: In 800m Boys: Ram Bahadur of Banjarawala won gold, Amit Bisht of Nehru Colony settled for silver and Chanchal Chaudhari Banjarawala bagged bronze. In 1500m Boys: Deepak of Ladpur won
gold, Gopal of Ladpur got silver and Sumit Tomar of Banjarawala bagged bronze. In 3000m Boys: Ram Bahadur of
Banjarawala won his second gold of the championship, Kapil Rawat of Navodya Vidyalya was placed second with silver
and Praveen Arya of Navodya Vidyalya won bronze. In 800 m Girls: Shivaji of Banjarawala
won gold, Vineeta Nunukhera won silver and Megha got bronze.
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Welham Boys School emerge winner
Dehradun, November 5 The first quarters saw both sides go all-out in the match to get an upper hand. The Welham Boys team began the match on an aggressive note as they scored eight points against Hilton School’s four. The tall height of the Welham Boys School players provided them an extra advantage in the match. In the second quarter, Arpit taking the charge for Hilton School to help them score 13 points against Welham Boys School, who scored 16 points. Hilton School failed to match the skilful play of the Welham Boys team as in the third quarter Welham Boys pressed hard on Hilton School. They scored 22 points against Hilton. In the last quarter, Welham Boys further increased their score to eight points making the final score 54-26. Ravi was the highest scorer for the Welham Boys team with 18 points, whereas Arpit scored 18 points for Hilton School. Meanwhile, in the girls’ category it proved to be a bad day for Convent of Jesus and Mary School (CJM) as they lost their match to Welham Girls by 31-3. Welham Girls strikers looked out of place from the first quarter with Welham Girls taking a 16-0 lead. In the third quarter they further increased their score to 28 point against CJM, who failed to open their account. It was only in the last quarter that they scored three points. The final score at was 31-3.
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2,700 take part in athletics meet
Dehradun, November 5 In the three-day meet, 2,700 athletes are participating from 217 districts of the country. The best part of the meet is that the districts from all over the country directly participates in the national championship. At the championship, athletes in the age group of under 14 and under 16 are allowed to participate. Expert committee of the AFI identifies the talented athletes from the championship and further grooming them for various other champions. Doordarshan will give a live coverage to the tournament on DD Sports. Today there were six finals. In the girls u-16 category javelin throw event, Anupama of Guatam Budh Nagar, UP, created the new national record giving a performance of 40.17m and won the gold medal. Followed by Navdeep Kaur of Sirsa, Haryana, with 31.12m and Nirmala Kumari of Bhiwani, Haryana, with 30.12m. In the shot put event, Paramjit Singh of Chandigarh created a new meet record with a performance of 14.35m to win a gold, the previous record was in the name of Vijay Singh of Delhi with 14.00m created in 2007. Jagmeet Singh of Sirsa, Haryana, bagged silver medal with a performance of 13.88m followed by Monu Singh of Bhiwani, Haryana, with 13.78m. In the 800m event of under 16 years boys, Rajinder Singh of New Delhi won gold by finished the race in 2:02.14 sec ahead of Kamaldeep Matyani of Dehradun by 2:02.65 sec. S Gowtham of Rangareddy, Andhra Pradesh, won the bronze medal with a performance of 2:03.60 sec. In the same event of boys u-14 category, Vinod Rawat of Dehradun won gold with a timing of 2:08.57 sec followed by Sushant Lakra of Sundergarh, Orissa, by 2:09.59 sec and Nikhil Kumar of Dehradunby 2:10.32 sec, who won silver and bronze, respectively. In the girls u-14 category, Shiva Shakya of Lucknow, UP, won gold of 800m event (2:27.32 sec) followed by Rishu Singh of Nasik, Maharashtra, by (2:27.86 sec) and Pooja of Rudraprayag, Uttrakhand, (2:28.62 sec). In the girls u-16 category, Sushma of Azamgarh, UP, won Gold in 800m (2:23.75s) followed by Kishori Mundu of Sundergarh, Orissa, (2:26.76sec) and Kojagiri Bachha of Nasik, Maharashtra, (2:27.25 sec).
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IRD Dehradun defeat DFEEF Delhi 2-0
Dehradun, November 5 The Dehradun team scored the first goal in the 20th minute through Virender Bhandari, who took a powerful shot at the goal, helping his team take a lead in the match. The second goal for the Dehradun team came in the 38th minute of the match through Pramod In the second match, LAFTEE Delhi and DLJ Jotpur played a goalless draw. Meanwhile, in the third league match DFEEF Delhi defeated RND Headquarters 5-0. Madan scored the first goal in the 10th minute of the match for the DFEEF Delhi team. Thereafter, Surender scored a brace in the 15th and 18th minute to make it 3-0 for his side. Devindra scored the fourth goal in the 22nd minute and Vishal in the 38th minute to end the match 5-0 for DFEEF Delhi.
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KV PL Meerut lift cricket trophy
Dehradun, November 5 Batting first, the KV PL Meerut team had a strong start with its opening batsman Bhagat went playing a scintillating knock of 50 runs. He was supported well on the other end by Puneet, who made 15 runs on 16 balls. In the middle order it was Sandeep who made an important contribution of 30 runs on just 21 balls. They piled a mammoth total of 122 runs. For Kendriya Vidayalay SL Meerut, Sunil was the only bowler who clinched a wicket. Meanwhile chasing the target of 123 runs, the KV Meerut team was all-out for mere 68 runs. The SL Meerut batsmen failed to show any resistance against the PL Meerut bowlers, who bowled in a tight line and length. Ankur was the only batsman who showed some resistance against and made 30 runs. Rajat tried to support him on the other end but could manage to score only 11 runs. It was outstanding bowling by the PL Meerut bowlers, Puneet picked up three wickets in their
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Taking stock of the intelligence report that claimed that two leading boarding schools in two prominent hill stations in a north Indian state are among the targets of
Lashkar-e-Tayyeba.
Tourists tired of routine experience of hotel stay will now be able to enjoy traditional hospitality, relish local cuisine and know untapped rural culture, that too with a unique personal
touch.
Pitthoragarh, November 5
Dehradun, November 5
Dehradun, November 5
