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RSS ex-chief for stronger ties between India, Nepal
From left: RSS chief KS Sudarshan, Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Shankaracharya RR Rajeshwaram
at the Nepali Cultural Convention in Haridwar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaud
Making populus popular for profits
Rules given go by to award tender to Carl Zeiss
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Vision wise
A diwan held to commemorate the martyrdom of the sons of 10th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh at Gurdwara Patel Nagar in Dehradun on Sunday.
Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir
Camp to spark creativity in kids
Participants at a camp oragnised by Nanhi Duniya School in Dehradun
on Sunday. A Tribune photograph
Core of Signals, BEG-Roorkee, Sikandarabad enter semis
Navada XI defeat Khukri Club in tiebreaker
Abhimanyu Cricket Academy lift Beehive Challenger trophy
Strong batting leads Bharat XI to victory
Himalayan Cricket Academy win
Saharanpur declared overall winner with 13 gold
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RSS ex-chief for stronger ties between India, Nepal
Haridwar December 27 These were the words of KS Sudarshan the fifth Sar Sangh Sanchalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at the inauguration day of the 2nd Inter-National Nepali Cultural Convention being held at BHEL, Haridwar. Sudarshan is one of the prominent RSS figures though he resigned from the RSS chief post this year handing the reins to Mohan Bhagwat. But he didn’t mention directly the recent turmoil in Nepal over the Pashupatinath temple priest issue and the opposition to the Hindi language. He also refrained from commenting on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership change too, but wished that the new regime would certainly bring positive changes. State Cabinet Minister Madan Kaushik highlighted the brotherhood and harmony prevalent among local people and the Nepali community across the entire Uttarakhand. He said, “People of Nepal origin feel being in India is their home, the same way we too feel that they are our brothers and sisters”. He stressed on having more such forums wherein both communities come to know each other better and foster more harmony and cooperation. The convention is being attended by delegates from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Japan, Australia, America, England and other nations where Nepali origin people reside. Around 500 such delegates will take part at the two-day convention. The delegation includes politicians, diplomats, social activists, religious leaders, poets, artists, academicians and other eminent personalities from distinguished fields. The objectives of the convention is to dwell on national, international, economic, religious, cultural issues to social harmony, eradication of corruption, discrimination and to have work on better coordination and brotherhood among the people. Chief conveyor of the Inter-Nepali Cultural Convention Indresh Kumar stressed on the need of tackling the menace of terror infecting India in three forms of jehad, Naxalism and Maoist extremism. “Terrorism needs to be dealt with harshly and the Indian government should take stringent actions against terrorists otherwise this will continue to pose problems,” remarked Indresh. He informed that the first such convention was held in Delhi in 2006 and this one was being organised so that delegates could also know the significance of Maha Kumbh which Haridwar was going to host. Those who spoke included Narayan Sharma (Assam), Dr PP Sharma (Sikkim), Thaneshwar Pandey (Delhi), Hark Bahadur Swanr (MP), Vishnu Giri (Nepal), Dr Padam Guzurel (Arunachal Pradesh), Roshni Chetri (Bengal), Col SK Kunwar (Rajasthan), Tek Bahadur Thapa (Maharashtra), Tejnath Pauryal (UP), Pandit Jagannath Shastri, Gobind Bhattarai and Gobind Aryal from Uttarakhand among others.
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Making populus popular for profits
Haldwani, December 27 Populus experts from Uttarakhand are also helping other states with ideal conditions for growing the plants to follow suit with a revenue model based around populus. A retired forestry expert, CB Chhimwal, is currently engaged in a project for developing populus plantations in Vaishali district of Bihar that has a rich loamy soil, which is ideal for its growth. He said the Bihar government planned to extend the programme being run by the Planning Commission of India to nine other districts following a detailed analysis of the outcome at Vaishali. Talking about the merits of populus, Chhimwal told The Tribune, “It has a very high commercial viability. It is considered as an agro-forestry plant and no permission is required for its cutting. It is the fastest growing tree that can attain a height of 28 to 30 metre and a breadth of 1 metre within six to eight years of its plantation. One tree has a commercial value of Rs 3,500 to Rs 4,500”. He further said the populus wood had multiple usage. It could be used for making plywood, pulp for paper mills, match boxes, furniture, fuel and packaging boxes. The trees are leafless from December to March and, hence, winter crops can be easily grown along with it. Even summer crops, barring maize and paddy that require stagnant water, can be grown along with populus. Hence, it does not disturb the traditional farming activity while presenting an additional opportunity to the farmer to make some extra money,” Chhimwal said. Uttarakhand has been the pioneer in developing the commercial varieties of populus and growing it for the benefit of farmers. The work on the tree in India has been going on since 1961 and the Forest Department continues to add 250 hectares under its cultivation every year. “New clones of the plant continue to be developed at Lal Kuan and it takes a period of 10 years for finalising every clone of the plant,” he explained. This was the only plant for which there was a world-level commission that had been set up with its headquarters in Paris.
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Rules given go by to award tender to Carl Zeiss
Dehradun, December 27 Despite suspension orders passed against former Joint Director DP Singh of the CMSD by then Health Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who is now the Chief Minister, corrupt practices continue to flourish at the depot and the present Joint Director is believed to have taken the art of circumventing rules to favour a particular company to a new level. Take the case of procurement of surgical microscope for neuro surgery. The Health Department had invited tenders for the same in 2008 in which four companies, including Toshbro (New Delhi), Carl Zeiss India Private Ltd (New Delhi), Surgical Equipment Co, Bhiwani (Haryana), Labindia Instruments Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon (Haryana), had participated . All companies had to submit tenders by January 28, 2008. Finally, among the three companies, M/s Carl Zeiss India Private Ltd (New Delhi) that quoted rates at Rs 48.37,558 lakh bagged the tender in 2008. As per procedures, the company that quotes minimum rates is selected. However, documents in the possession of The Tribune reveal that the claims of other companies were deliberately bypassed to allegedly favour Carl Zeiss and the officials concerned used their positions to profit the company. In this particular case, the rules were bent, broken and at times twisted to suit the company many times. All companies had included the cost of the digital camera, while quoting the total cost of the equipment in the tender. According to sources, Carl Zeiss deliberately excluded the cost of the camera, implying that it was an additional accessory costing Rs 5 lakh, in the total cost of the equipment that was quoted in the tender. So, the total rate of the company for the equipment actually comes to Rs 53.37,558 lakh. Clearly, the total amount quoted by the company at Rs 53.37,558 lakh is higher than the amount quoted by M/s Labindia instruments Pvt Ltd Gurgaon (Haryana). Labindia had quoted an amount of Rs 51.85,868 lakh exclusive of the cost of the camera. In addition, the warranty mentioned by Carl Zeiss in para 2 of page 2 of terms and conditions clearly states that during the warranty period, if the equipment gets damaged then it would be sole responsibility of the buyer to import the part. Technical experts say the complexities inherent in procuring equipment from Carl Zeiss that had unsuitable warranty conditions could not even pass the muster in the first place. Complying by the guidelines, the three selected companies (tenders) were first invited for demonstration of the equipment in March, 2008. Only one company, Toshbro turned up to demonstrate the surgical microscope on the appointed day. It was rejected on technical grounds while the remaining three companies failed to turn up on the appointed day. Clearly, the tenders of companies that failed to turn up for demonstration should have been outrightly rejected, but that was not done. That’s not all, the conditions in the tender called by the Health Department had mentioned that in addition to one year warranty period, a three-year AMC was also a must for the company bagging the order but as per the documents in possession of The Tribune, Carl Zeiss only offered two-year warranty and that too without spare parts. The explicit ignorance of the general guidelines issued by the department gave enough room to the authorities to strike down the tender but that was not the case. Intriguingly, how the tender procedure sailed through the financial, medical and technical experts committee of the Health Department and the Uttarakhand government remains a mystery. On being contacted, Dr KL Arya, Director Budget, Plan and CMSD, denied any knowledge of the matter, saying that he joined the office only later and was unaware of the entire episode.
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Vision wise
Forced to give up pudding is not the worst thing about diabetes. In 15 years, diabetes can cause blindness; approximately two per cent diabetics turn blind, while about 10 per cent develop severe visual handicaps. While patients with diabetes are likely to develop eye problems such as cataracts and glaucoma, it is the disease’s effect on the retina that is the main threat to vision.
The effect of diabetes on the eye is called diabetic retinopathy. Dr Harinderjit Singh, a Retina, Macula & Vitreous Specialist, and heads a state of the art eye care hospital Augusta Ratina Laser Surgicare at Augusta, USA, was available in the city for performing Pars Plana Vitrectomy
(PPV) surgeries to cure diabetic retinopathy patients. Diabetic Retinopathy usually affects both eyes. In the early stages, it may cause blurred vision, or there may be no visual symptoms at all. As the disease progresses, you may notice cloudiness of vision and blind spots or floaters. Everybody with diabetes — both Type 1 and 2 — is at risk of diabetic retinopathy, says Dr Singh. Diabetic retinopathy is a disease which affects most people with diabetes mellitus. Loss of vision caused by this complication is preventable provided it is detected and treated in time What is diabetic retinopathy ? Retinopathy means that abnormal processes are happening in the retina. Diabetic retinopathy occurs in nearly 50 per cent of diabetics after a period of 10 years and in 80 per cent of diabetics after 15 years. Diabetes damages the blood vessels of the retina and because of this they may leak fluid, proteins and fats; or they may rupture and cause hemorrhages (bleeding); or they may be blocked. In more severe cases, proliferative retinopathy occurs. As more blood vessels are blocked, the subsequent lack of nutrition and oxygen to the retina promotes the growth that is, proliferation of new, fragile, abnormal blood vessels — on the optic disc or elsewhere, which easily ruptures and causes large hemorrhages and severe visual loss or blindness. In
Maculopathy, there is a severe involvement of the macula which is the most sensitive central part of the retina. “Clinically significant macular edema” or CSME is a condition in which the centre of the macula is under threat of getting involved. This condition demands early treatment in order to prevent severe visual loss. Pars Plana Vitrectomy
(PPV) PPV is performed to cure Diabetic Retinopathy - a complication of Diabetes where blood vessels in retina bleed; Retinal Detachment - a blinding condition where the lining of the eye peels loose and floats freely within the interior of the eye; Macular Pucker - a patch of unhealthy tissue in the central retina (the macula) distorting vision; Macular Holes - normal shrinking of the vitreous with aging which tears the central retina causing a macular hole with a blind spot blocking sight; and Vitreous Hemorrhage - bleeding in the eye from injuries, retinal tears or blocked blood vessels. Detection and prevention of vision loss The problem with diabetic retinopathy is that there are no symptoms in the early stages. During the time when retinopathy is most easily treated, the diabetic will not even notice visual changes. In fact, more then 50 per cent of patients with proliferative retinopathy may have good vision for five years or more. When visual symptoms start, it is often too late. Therefore, periodic detailed eye examinations are vital for diabetics . The eyes should be examined by an ophthalmologist who has expertise in the management of diabetic eye problems. Some steps which diabetics can take to protect themselves from vision loss: Routine eye examinations: Early detection and treatment can prevent visual impairment. Remember, retinopathy often has no symptoms. Eyes should be checked yearly for the first 10 years and then every six months. More frequent check-ups may be required in severely affected patients. Diabetes control: Good diabetes control helps to prevent or may postpone the occurrence of retinopathy . However, retinopathy may be present in spite of good control. The poorer the control, the more the risk of having retinopathy and the greater the severity of retinopathy . Control of blood pressure: Routine checks of blood pressure are important and if it is high, it must be treated and controlled. High blood pressure accelerates the development and severity of retinopathy and increases the chances of large hemorrhages in the eye. Stop smoking and drinking alcohol: Those who smoke, or drink alcohol increase their risk of developing retinopathy.
anujaj@tribunemail.com
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Martyrdom week ends
Dehradun, December 27 Sahibzada Zorawar Singh (7) and Fateh Singh (9) were buried alive in a wall by a Mughal emperor while Sahibzada Ajit Singh and Jughar Singh died fighting enemies at Chamkaur Ki Gadi at the age of 14 and 16, respectively. This one-week programme concluded today with a kirtan darbar that started early in the morning and ended at 2 pm. A langar was also held.
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Camp to spark creativity in kids
Dehradun, December 27 The 15-day-long camp is being conducted by Alok Ulfat and his team of skilled co-workers from India and abroad. Ulfat completed teachers training in the UK and has been closely associated with the National School of Drama, Film and Television Institute of India and is presently developing alternative curriculum for schools. However, the two-hour camp is for 8-16 years age group and aims to hone the creative and intellectual abilities of students through music, creative writing, story telling, colours, speech and various other interesting activities. Discussing the main idea, Ulfat said, “We aim at reconnecting force that drives humanity and sow the seeds of alternative ideas so that they get inspired and are imaginative, self-motivated and have self-confidence. The camp will help children to understand themselves and environment around in a new way and will automatically strengthen their personality and self-expression”. The team of teachers include famous Shaimak Davar trained dancer Satvika Goyal, actors Raman and Sachin, guitarist Florian, teacher Veronica, Linnya and acting coach Mansi. Children, along with parents, looked excited to be a part of such innovative camp, which will finally conclude on January 10.
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Core of Signals, BEG-Roorkee, Sikandarabad enter semis
Haridwar, December 27 Core of Signals scored lead goal in the 58th minute when K Bharadwaj netted a beautiful field goal getting pass from the midfield players added to this solitary goal in next seven minutes when Rahul also scored a field goal outwitting the Shahajanpur defence and goalkeeper. Thus, COS cruised into the semifinal stage of the tournament. While BEG Roorkee gave the upset of the tournament when it outwitted host and title favourites Gurukul Kangri University team by a huge margin of 4-1. Righ from the beginning, BEG players were in complete control of the game and took advantage of the lackluster play of the Gurukul players. The coordination and fitness level of the Gurukul players seems to be in question as they somehow couldn’t match their Roorkee counterparts and for the first time in the whole tournament were out of rhythm throughout the first phase of the match. Pradeep scored in the 6th minute while using two penalty corners to maximum gain Prabodh scored in 26th and 54th minute and Mohinder too added to the score line in the 30th minute. The solitary goal came from Gurukul side from Manish Pandey who scored in the 45th minute but this goal too didn’t motivated the team and finally BEG won comprehensively by 4-1. Last year titleholders PNB too suffered the second setback of the day when Sikandrabad team outplayed them in the last quarterfinal of the day with a 1-0 win. Such was the lackluster play from the titleholders that they couldn’t utilise 10 penalty corners to net a single goal. While Sikandrabad too failed in penalty conversion but as it was only one that they got so that didn’t mattered in the end as from their side Sanjay Ikka had scored a field goal in 7th minute itself and the team maintained the lead in full 70 minutes of the match. Tomorrow 11 am onwards semifinal matches will be staged between FCI-Delhi, Core of Signals-Jalandhar and Sikandrabad-BEG Roorkee teams.
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Navada XI defeat Khukri Club in tiebreaker
Dehradun, December 27 Both teams were locked at 1-1 draw in the scheduled time. The first half was a fruitless one with none of the team managing to score. The Khukri Club created many good moves in the first half, but it failed to get a desired result. Meanwhile, in the second half the Khukri Club opened its account in the 58th minute. Tushar scored the first goal through a powerful kick, but the Khukri team could not hold on to the lead. Just a minute later the Navada XI team struck an equaliser in the match. It was Jitendra for the team who made a goal through a powerful kick. In the tiebreaker, Sagar, Sumit, Mukesh and Amit scored for the Navada XI team. While for the Khukri Club, Kiran, Rahul and Tushar scored the goals. Meanwhile, in the second match Doon Star registered a thumping 3-0 victory over Doon United team. Doon Star was well-composed and displayed good coordination and teamwork throughout
the match. Doon Star came close on scoring a goal in the 5th minute of the match. It was Rajesh Chauhan for Doon Star who tried a long range shot at Doon United goal, against which the goalkeeper made a good save. The team scored its first goal in the 16th minute through Rajendra Rawat who scored off the corner kick. Doon Star came hard on Doon United in the second half and scored another two goals in the match. It was Yuten for Doon Star who scored in the 60th minute of the match. Four minutes later Rajesh scored its second goal through Rajesh to end the match 3-0.
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Abhimanyu Cricket Academy lift Beehive Challenger trophy
Dehradun, December 27 Vaibhav scored 73 runs and took three wickets. Kamal of YMCA was given Man of the Series award, whereas Vaibhav moved away with Man of the Match award. Abhimanyu Cricket team began the match on a strong start. The teams opener scored 64 runs in 53 balls hitting six fours and two sixes in his innings. Another opener Paritosh failed to stay on the crease for long and was out for 6 runs in 8 balls. It was first down batsman Vaibhav, who accelerated the run rate at a right time. He smashed 73 runs in 55 balls. YMCA team bowlers failed to perform. Narender was the only bowler who took two wickets in the match. Chasing the victory target of 183 runs, the YMCA team began on strong note. Opening pair of Sanjeev and Tarun gave a good start to the team. Sanjeev scored 33 runs in 31 balls hitting four fours and two sixes in his innings. While Tarun scored 22 runs in 20 balls hitting four fours in his innings. Middle order batsman scored 16 runs. But after these none of the batsmen scored runs and the team could only manage to score 104 runs. For Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Vaibhav took three wickets in his two over spell, whereas Nipun took two wickets in his four overs spell. The chief guest on the occasion was Assembly speaker, Harbans Kapoor.
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Strong batting leads Bharat XI to victory
Dehradun, December 27 Batting first, the IEL team scored 81 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Rohit scored 21 runs in 19 balls. Another opener scored 13 runs in 10 balls. After both openers returned to pavilion, none other batsman showed the caliber to occupy the crease for a long and the team was all out for 81 runs. Prashant and Sharad of IEL team devastated the batting line up of IEL team. They shared eight wickets among themselves. Prashant and Sharad picked up four wickets each. Chasing the victory target of 82 runs, the Bharat XI team reached the target with seven wickets in hand. Opener Shobhit scored 10 runs in 10 balls and Prashant scored 42 runs in 23 balls. In his innings he smashed four fours and two sixes. It was the brilliant batting display by Prashant that paved the way for his team victory. For the IEL team, Vipin and Rotela took one wicket each.
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Himalayan Cricket Academy win
Dehradun, December 27 The Rao Cricket Academy bowlers gave away to many runs in the form of extras and failed to hold on to a tight line and length in the match thus allowing the Himalayan Cricket Academy batsmen score runs with ease. The Himalayan Academy opener Paras got out for just eight runs, another opener Sandeep was sent back to the pavillion at the score of 22 runs. Prabhat accelerated the run rate and scored 69 runs in 64 balls. Ajay got out for 22 runs. The team scored 209 runs in total. For Rao Academy Rahul and Asimpal took two wickets each. The Rao Cricket Academy was all out for 118 runs. Pradeep was the highest scorer with 23 runs, whereas Manish made 20 runs. For Himalayan Academy Mehra, Ajay, Paras and Kuldeep took two wickets each. Meanwhile, in the second match SMI team won by 67 runs against Vidhan Sabha team. Batting first, Vidhan Sabha team scored 244 runs in 30 overs. In the third match Little Master Cricket Club won the match by 107 runs against Amab XI.
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Saharanpur declared overall winner with 13 gold
Dehradun, December 27 Saharanpur team won 13 gold, five silver and five bronze at the tournament. Zahir was given the best performer award for his demonstration in Katha. In Tae-kwon-do, the Rajasthan team won gold, whereas Hariyana team had to settle for silver and Bareilly team was placed at the third spot with bronze. In Kickboxing Haryana team clinch gold while Saharanpur team was at the second spot with silver.
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India and Nepal not only share their borders, but also have much in common.
Having pioneered the skill of commercial plantation of populus, the state continues to add large tracts of land under its plantation with farmers in Terai raking in large amounts of money from the venture without disturbing their traditional agriculture.
Dehradun, December 27
