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Nainital celebrates its 170th anniversary
GB Pant varsity: Golden jubilee celebrations begin
Legal status for wildlife corridors hangs fire
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BFIT, SAI register easy victories
Aryan School, Welham Girls enter semis
State Athletics Meet concludes
Judo competition culminates
Youth throng Yuva Mahotsava
GRD Institute celebrates National Pharmacy Week
Quiz contest organised
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Nainital celebrates its 170th anniversary
Nainital, November 18 Cultural troupe Rangbhoomi presented a bouquet of skits to entertain the large gathering. Although the place has a mention in ancient texts, it was in 1839 that a Britisher P Barron stumbled upon a beautiful lake next to a temple of Naina Devi. Charmed by the sheer beauty of the place, he decided to develop a settlement here. Eminent historian and social activist Shekhar Pathak told The Tribune, “We cannot say that the place was discovered in 1839 as the locals had been coming here for ages, but still, it was a landmark event as it was decided to set up a proper settlement here.”
According to various mythological accounts, Nainital is referred to in the ‘Manas Khand’ of the ‘Skanda Purana’ as the Tri-Rishi-Sarovar, the lake of the three sages - Atri, Pulastya and Pulaha. They were reputed to have arrived here on a penitential pilgrimage and finding no water to quench their thirst, they dug a hole and siphoned water into it from Mansarovar, the sacred lake in Tibet. The second important mythological reference to Nainital is as one of the 64 ‘Shakti Peeths’. These centres were created wherever parts of the charred body of Goddess Sati fell when Lord Shiva was carrying her corpse around in grief. It is said that the left eye (nain) of Sati fell here and this gave rise to the patron deity of the town. It is said that the lake has the shape of an emerald eye. The Naina Devi temple is located at the northern end of the lake. Thus, the name of Nainital is derived from Naina and tal (lake).
British’s summer capital
The British occupied Kumaon and Garhwal in 1815 and E Gardiner was appointed as commissioner of Kumaon division on May 8, 1815. In 1817, the second commissioner of Kumaon GW
Traill conducted the second revenue settlement of Kumaon. It is believed that Traill was
the first European to become aware of Nainital but there are doubts that he actually visited the place. It was in 1839 that an English businessman from Rosa, P Barron, a sugar trader along with a hunter friend strayed into the hills. The Nainital Gazetteer stated that the locals were reluctant to lead him to Nainital fearing sacrilege of the temple of Naina Devi by the visit of an outsider on purely religious grounds. But the two stumbled upon the place. The Gazetteer stated that Nainital as a place
first appeared in the pages of the ‘Englishman’ that was published from Kolkata (then
Calcutta) in 1841. The publication had announced the discovery of a beautiful lake near Almora. The place went on to become a popular hill resort. It was on October 3, 1850, that the Nainital Municipal Board was formally constituted. It was the second municipal board of the North-Western Provinces. To catalyse the formation
of the town, the administration transferred land to the wealthy Sah community of Almora
on condition that they build houses on it. According to the information available, in 1862, Nainital became the summer seat of the North-Western Provinces. After it was made the summer capital, a remarkable expansion of the town occurred with the growth of magnificent bungalows all around and construction of facilities such as marketing areas, rest houses, recreation centres, clubs etc together with the secretariat and other administrative units. It also became an important centre of education for
the British who wanted to educate their children in better air and away from the discomforts of the plains. The place witnessed a devastating landslide in the monsoon of 1880 but has remained a popular destination throughout.
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GB Pant varsity: Golden jubilee celebrations begin
Nainital, November 18 The inaugural function was held in the Gandhi Hall. Speaking on the occasion, senior bureaucrat and former Vice-Chancellor of the university Anand Swaroop called upon scientists to work for energy conservation, water harvesting and resource conservation in hill agriculture. He observed that universities were neither made of bricks and mortar nor were known as architectural wonders. He said, “Universities like Oxford, Harvard and Cambridge are known for their precious human resource of student and faculties”. Swaroop was of the opinion that commitment and excellent work culture have given Pantnagar a different standing in the world. However, he warned that there is no room for complacency. “In the present age in which the socio-cultural and technical landscape of the country is fast changing, there is need for innovation in educational institutions,” he said. The former Vice-Chancellor advocated implementation of micro-planning approach for comprehensive development of hilly areas. Present Vice-Chancellor BS Bisht gave an account of achievements in teaching, research and extension services. He highlighted the research and development made
in development of insect and disease-resistant varieties of various crops. Dr Bisht counted the efforts being made for conservation of fragile ecosystems along with application and agriculture biotechnologies development projects that are going on at the university. He also recounted the contribution being made by the university extension services for training and extension in order to reduce the problems of women residing in the hills. Kripa Narain, Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh who was also a Vice-Chancellor at the university, asserted that Pantnagar had a glorious history. He said in the changing scenario of agriculture, a few important areas like global ecology, water management, agro-biotechnology and hydroponics need emphasis and university should try to address these. Another former Vice-Chancellor Dr SB Singh highlighted the importance of seeds for farmers and said that it was in Pantnagar where a seed corporation was first established in 1969 that helped in the production of seeds for farmers across the country. He wanted the university to give thrust to the exploitation of hybrid variety of crops, biotechnology, more ad hoc projects from different sources, strengthening of the college of fisheries and commercialisation of medicinal and aromatic plant.
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Legal status for wildlife corridors hangs fire
Dehradun, November 18 There had been much furore recently after a narrow patch of forest across the Gola river near Lalkuan in Nainital district of Uttarakhand, the only critical link for the movement of tigers and elephants between the Terai Central and Terai East forest divisions, was found to be completely blocked due to infrastructure development. As an immediate fallout, the Union Minister of Environment and Forests had to order a probe. With the destruction of this vital corridor, the entire Terai Arc Landscape, stretching from Yamuna near Saharanpur in the west to the Bagmati river near Chitwan National Park in Nepal in the east, has been divided into two halves causing much anxiety among conservationists nationwide. The state has nearly a dozen critical corridors that facilitate long-range wildlife movement and help in linking isolated wildlife populations. These corridors support a population of about 1,300 Asian elephants by linking up their habitats. But with changing times, these corridors in Uttarakhand too have come to bear human imprints. These disturbances occur in the form of human settlements, encroachments, infrastructure such as roads, railway tracks, mining, biotic pressure like cattle grazing, firewood extraction. These activities severely affect the movement of elephants, tigers and leopards. Securing these corridors, which are afflicted with various degrees of degradation, is vital for sustaining wildlife in the long term as this threatens to create genetically isolated populations and also aggravates human-animal conflict situations negatively impacting wildlife as well as humans. The state wildlife board in 2006 had suggested bringing these corridors under legal protection by according them legal status. But despite consensus, the move is still to see the light of the day. The Wildlife Trust of India, which is credited with accomplishing the mammoth task of identification of corridors in the country some time back, had backed punitive measures towards securing these corridors. An authority in corridor studies and Uttarakhand Coordinator for the WTI, Dr AK Singh, sees rendering legal status to wildlife corridors as most fool-proof mechanism towards securing wildlife corridors in the state. “Rendering legal status to corridors will come as a big relief to as many seven to eight corridors that today stand as ‘most vulnerable’ to human activity,” Dr AK Singh said. “While the region has been sincere to the cause of wildlife and had come up with the Shivalik Elephant Conservation Reserve long back, according legal status to wildlife corridors will set yet another example for other states to emulate,” added AK Singh. But Uttarakhand wildlife authorities seem to be doing little vis-à-vis providing legal status to corridors. Inclusion of any such arrangement has to be brought under the existing forest and wildlife laws and the state forest authorities are yet to come to a conclusion in this regard. However, the WTI, in the meantime, is contemplating putting up signages to ensure identification of corridors by the public. Through these signages, motorists are informed of the presence of a corridor, particularly in areas where these are criss-crossed by highways and roads. These will also check any developmental activity on these corridors. “These signages will act as a deterrent towards sale and purchase of land in and around these corridors,” said Dr AK Singh. A signage comprising a sketch of an elephant and a green background has already been released by WTI authorities some months earlier.
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BFIT, SAI register easy victories
Dehradun, November 18 Electing to bat first ITM failed to set a handsome target. The team was all out on a meager total of 89 runs in 12.3 overs. Sajad played a fast knock of 42 in 20-balls to help his team to post some respectable target for its rival. Amzad Khan (13) and Amit (10) were the only other batsmen to score double figure for the team. Prakash and Aftab claimed three wickets each for BFIT. Irfan, Manas and Sajad also took a wicket each. Batting second, BFIT achieved the target in 13 overs at the loss of two wickets. Suyal with 33 runs and Prakash with 27 were the main scorers for the team. Raman and Sajad got a wicket each for ITM. In the second match, SAI defeated ICA by 49 runs. The latter won the toss and invited SAI to bat first. SAI mounted a huge total of 136 runs in 20 overs. Batting first, SAI had fast knocks from its batsmen. Vikas (43), Vishal Yadav (19), Ajaz (16) and Abid (15) were the principal scorers for the team. They scored fast and mounted the pressure on its rival. As a result SAI scored a big total of 136 runs at the loss of eight in 20 overs. For ICA Naresh claimed three wickets while Neeraj, Harsvaredhan, Ashish and Ravindra pocketed one wicket each. Replying ICA couldn’t face the burnt of its rival bowling attack. None of the batsmen failed to click and went cheaply. Naresh (15), Navneet (14) and Ravindra (11) were the main scorers for the side. Vikash captured four wickets. Vishal Singh, Arvind and Fayaz took two wickets each to guide their team for an easy win.
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Aryan School, Welham Girls enter semis
Dehradun, November 18 While today Aryan School beat The Heritage School 14-13 in a tough encounter. Anita of the wining team scored ten points to emerge as the best shooter of
the match. In the second match, The Welham Girls easily beat Unison World School 28-8. Meru made the highest score with eight points for the winning side. In the last match of the day, The Heritage School defeated Summer Valley School 19-4. Anu of Heritage scored eight points to emerge as the best shooter.
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State Athletics Meet concludes
Dehradun, November 18 The names of 20 players who will be representing the state in the forthcoming National Athletics Meet to be held in Chennai this month were also announced. Dehradun and Haridwar players topped the chart as four players from both the districts were selected. While three players from both Pitthoragarh and Udam Singh Nagar were selected. Champawat also has two players in the competition. Nainital, Pauri, Almora and Bageshwar also have one player from each district. The players will leave for Chennai on November 19. Meanwhile, in the 1500m Rajesh of Dehradun got first position. Amandeep Kaur of Udam Singh Nagar claimed first position in 400m girls. Udam Singh Nagar also got first place in the 400X100m relay.
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Judo competition culminates
Dehradun, November 18 Kapil of SGN Doon Valley and Shivam of the same school got second and third place respectively in the same event. While in 30kg boys' event, Rishabh of Sri Guru Ram Rai School got the top honours. Dhruvdatt of Doon International School and Dami of Pestle Wood College got the second and third place respectively. Vyoni of Bright Land School got first place in the 35kg event. Shubham of SGN Doon Valley got the second position and Arjun of Sri Gurunanak Public School clamed third place. Abhishek of Gautam International bagged the first position in 45kg event. Vashudev of DAV Public School was behind him getting second position. Himanshu of Sapience School managed to get the third place in the same event. Meanwhile, the girls' matches also witnessed tough competition. Shikha of Drona international School claimed the first spot in the 25kg category. Manisha of Sapience School and Shivangi of Charm Wood School got second and third place respectively. While Nari Shilp College's Kajal got first position in 30kg event. Neha of SGN College claimed second spot and Kavita of Sri Gurunanak Public School got third position.
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Youth throng Yuva Mahotsava
Haridwar, November 18 From sports, music, dance, group events, essay writing, debates to cultural programmes, young girls and boys are taking part and showcasing their skills in the event.
Sheetal, Mrinalini, Anita, Jeva, Rahul, Rahul Chauhan, Shweta, Niti Jain, Varsha, Deepanshi Seth, Shivani and Ina Chandra were some of the winners of the event. Hari Singh Chauhan, Rajendra Singh, RP Singh, Shamsher Bahadur and SC Pundir were co-ordinators of the event. Meanwhile, in the science congress, ongoing at Jawahar Navodaya School, various programmes were held trying to make and generate awareness among students towards science and scientific aspects. Various sessions ranging from yoga, site visit, group discussion, lectures, group discussion, making of science models etc were organised in the science congress today. Students of more than 70 Navodaya Vidyalayas attended the Science Congress.
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GRD Institute celebrates National Pharmacy Week
Dehradun November 18 The seven-day event of National Pharmacy Week started on November 16. The college organised games, such as cricket, volleyball, football, badminton, chess, carom board etc for the students, and also educational trips like visit to different factories and herbal gardens. The theme of the week was “Make pharmacy your career”. Students will also pay a visit to Patanjali Peeth, Haridwar. The students will present cultural programmes like dances, songs and skits on the concluding day.
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Quiz contest organised
Dehradun, November 18
Bhartiya Vidhya Bhawan conducted an inter-school quiz competition in association with Welham Boys on the premises of the school. Students from different schools had gathered to participate in the competition.
Deputy General of Police Alok Bihari Lal was the chief guest of the event who inaugurated the quiz. The event was dedicated to Indira Gandhi and the questions asked in the quiz were based on her life. Principal of Welham Boys Indira Lahiri was the co-ordinator of the event.
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Nainital, November 18
Dehradun, November 18
Dehradun, November 18
Dehradun, November 18
