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New Year: Tiwari SMSes do the rounds
Birders get set for avian feast
This all-women branch stands out in banking |
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Students spread awareness on a greener Doon
Artistes highlight human-interest issues
Cantt Blues, Doon Star in summit clash
Kusum takes CAU to 8-wkt win
Inter-state cricket tourney from tomorrow
Big win for New Star
U-17 Cricket League
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New Year: Tiwari SMSes do the rounds
Nainital, January 1 A whole range of New Year SMSes had the octogenerian’s name and were circulated en masse in the region. In some of them, he was equated with the ace golfer Tiger Woods, who too is in the docks over a series of alleged love affairs that have had a bearing on his marriage. One of these messages read, “May you remain as active as Tiger Woods and as fit as ND Tiwari in 2010.” Another SMS having multiple political overtones read “ND Tiwari without women, Mulayam teaching English, Mamata marrying a CPM member, Modi probing 2002 riots … and much more. Full of possibilities 2010. Happy New Year.” Tiwari’s name also kept cropping up in small-time chats at various parties that had been organised to usher in the New Year at Nainital and adjoining places. Meanwhile, Congress leaders and workers in the region are in a quandary on how to handle the issue before the media and the common public. They are neither in a position to deny the scandal outright nor are they in a position to defend Tiwari’s alleged involvement. Some leaders have been bold enough to come out in the public and state that Tiwari has been a victim of a conspiracy. But Tiwari’s past record of going out of his way to woo local-level party workers, especially if they happened to be women, and his distribution of freebies to many of them, including ranks, have made things difficult for Congress workers and leaders who have been associated with him. A senior Congress leader, on being confronted over the issue, tried her best to evade it but still said, “Everyone knows Tiwariji and the past. One cannot say more than this. He cannot be judged according to media reports. People having a tall stature in public domain rarely have a private life of their own.” Some of the local-level Congress workers have been confronting their senior leaders with questions like, “Is it a conspiracy or is it a case of ‘as you sow so shall you reap’?” There are some who are of the opinion that mere allegations need not have a bearing on Tiwari’s stature and abilities in the political domain. One of them even pointed out, “Even Bill Clinton had been in the news for the Monica Lewinsky affair. But he was not forced to give up office.” Some of the former Chief Minister’s supporters had gone on to create a scene at the recent functions held to mark the foundation day of the Indian National Congress when Tiwari’s name was not mentioned among the stalwarts of the party. What unfolds in the days to come is a matter of speculation, but as of now, in the chill of this winter, Tiwari continues to be at the centre of discussions in entire Kumaon.
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Birders get set for avian feast
Dehradun, January 1 The most-sought-after Mandkini Magpie Birdwatcher’s Camp in Mandkini valley in Rudraprayag district of the Garhwal hills in Uttarakhand is in the thick of activities
for those seeking to sight exotic bird species. This is all under the supervision of homegrown birdwatcher Yashpal Singh Negi. The Mandkini valley proves
to be a delight for birdwatchers during winters. A bird in the radar of birdwatchers is the
red-headed bull finch (pyrrhula crythrocephala). Normally spotted at a height of 12,000 ft during summers, the bird descends in winters to 5,000 ft to 6,000 ft and loves to feed on the seeds of Bichugaas.
Another coloured bird, the chestnut crowned laughing thrush (garrulax erythrocephalus) descends closer to the ground at a height of 2,000 ft to 3,000 ft from its usual summer height of 8,000 ft to 10,000 ft. Found in a flock of 10 to
12, these bird makes a whistling noise and can be found searching for insects that feed on cow dung. Another exotic bird, the spot winged girosbeak (mycrobas melanozanthos), flies as high as 13,000 ft during the summer season, but in winters, it can be located at just 2,000 ft to 3,000 ft above ground. It is usually found in a flock of 20 to 25 and feeds on celtis aurtralis seeds. In addition to these birds, the scarlet finch, spot wing, grosbeak, white browed, fulbetta and other winter birds are also flocking the region. Yashpal Singh Negi’s authority on birds comes by virtue of being born and brought up in hilly villages environs. He proves to be of immense value to birdwatchers who find the magpie camp a suitable place to satisfy their birding needs. Even the eco-tourism cell
in Uttarakhand has been seeking Negi’s guidance in the conduct of birdwatcher
training programmes. “Yashpal Singh Negi has been of great help to us in the conduct of training programmes for village youths as his knowledge on birds comes from regular observation rather than from books,” RL Arya, a forester at Eco Tourism cell, said. The magpie camp also
boosts of some commendable collection of bird nests. For the visitors’ delight, he also possesses a number of books linked to the identification of birds and other wildlife. Some renowned birdwatchers who frequent the camp include Nikhil Devasar of Delhi Bird Club, Rajnish from Bangalore Birds Club, Kiritam Mukherjee from Kolkata and Forest Research Institute scientist and avid bird watcher Dr Arun Pratap Singh of Dehradun. The camp also suits the likes of wildlife photographers like Rakesh Sahay.
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This all-women branch stands out in banking
Dehradun, January 1 Established in 2008, the net business of this particular bank branch is quite excellent than any other national banks in the town. The annual turnover of the bank is approximately Rs 8.5 crore. The UGB depository boasts of providing service to 2,000 customers out of which about 60 per cent to 72 per cent are women customers, only in cash as well as in advance format. The bank also provides loans to working and self-employed women. “Our branch in Indira Nagar was set up to facilitate women bank services with ease. Our branch aims at supplying our clients with detailed information and assistance, specially to women who hesitate to share their personal issues with others,” said Kusum Rana. Apart from banking facilities, all sorts of loans are provided at the bank. Women could also avail the loan from our bank to launch their own business such as setting up of boutiques, flower shops, beauty parlours, eating joints and many more. The bank would soon start the Core Banking Solutions (CBS) for its customers, she added. Like every coin, the UGB also has two faces. There is no guard at the entrance and nor are there any close circuit cameras (CCCc) installed at the bank.
This is the only negative aspect of this women predominant bank. Director of the UGB Thireesh Kapoor said: “It is the policy of the bank of not deploying guards at the entrance of any of the branches as women might get frightened by the guards but the request of mounting security aids like CCCs has been given approval by the board of the UGB and the procedures are under process.” Interestingly, the UGB is not only restricted to banking and loaning only. The branch also has a promotion corner for women and children to display and sell their crafts, homemade eatables, indigenous spices, decorative products and embroidered handkerchiefs free of cost.
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Students spread awareness on a greener Doon
Dehradun, January 1 Both the green groups of the academy - the Rangers and the Green Warriors, were represented by their team members who covered various issues ranging from ill-effects of using plastic bags to the problems we face due to cutting down of trees to the urgent need of having a proper solid waste management programme in the valley to name a few. Neha Chauhan from Green Warriors says, “The interaction with the general public at Virasat was really fruitful. We got a chance to meet people of all age groups and we were quite successful in convincing most of them to initiate a change in their lifestyle for a greener and cleaner tomorrow.” As part of the Green Virasat Programme, the students also informed the people about their upcoming green initiative “ABCD - A Beautiful Campaign for Dehradun”, which will basically involve all citizens of Dehradun who want to ensure that the Doon Valley remains beautiful and sustainable forever. “The kind of support we got from people all around was over-whelming; honestly I had not hoped we would be able to register close to 300 volunteers for our latest Green Initiatives ABCD,” says Naina Adhikari. Director of the academy Yudhister Singh said, “I would like to thank the organising committee of Virasat 2009 for giving the students a chance to showcase their green initiative and I certainly hope that with the support we have got from the people we would be able to restore the Doon Valley to its former beauty sooner than later.” Sneha Sharma from St Thomas College, who volunteered to be a part of the academies latest green initiative was thrilled to know about the Green Exchange Programme which is soon going to be launched in 2010. The Green Exchange Programme would basically involve various schools from Dehradun, Mussoorie and Rishikesh, who would get a chance to visit Dehradun Hills Academy and learn from the students about how to initiate similar green campaigns in their respective schools. The main motive of the GEP is to get the students community to be united in their effort for a greener future.
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Artistes highlight human-interest issues
Dehradun, January 1 For the past 15 years, the team of Dharatal has been focusing on social, financial, cultural problems faced by people, which, in spite of several attempts, remain unsolved. Starting from today, the Dharatal week will conclude on January 6. “Our main motto is to focus on day to day issues such as poverty, inflation, terrorism, corruption and to encourage people to think in a more positive and constructive way. The team of nukar natak idealises the morals and values of famous theatre artist Safdar Hashmi and today planned to showcase artistic skills on his death anniversary,” said Dr Atul Sharma, member of the organisation. Along with the play, in the following days on the birthday of famous theatre artist Vijay Tendulkar the group will organise poster exhibition, folk songs and many other such events. Rama Sharma, Pawan Narayan Rawat, Chetan Singh Karka, BK Joshi, Ranjan Shrama, Rekha Sharma, Arvind, Mukesh, Ranjan Shrama, Arvind, Mukesh, Bimal, Rajat, Subhash Bisht and members of the organisation participated in the programme.
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Cantt Blues, Doon Star in summit clash
Dehradun, January 1
Both teams matched fire with fire and did not miss out any opportunity to pressurise the opponents’ defence. The teams kept a close check on their opposing players. Despite making the best of efforts, no team managed to score a goal in the first half. It was only in the second half, the team penetrated the defense of their opponent and scored a goal. The Nehru Gram team had a huge fan following in the match. The team scored their first goal in the 62nd minute of the match. It was Sonu for the Nehru Gram team, who opened the account for their team to give them a lead. After scoring the first goal, the Nehru Gram team came close on scoring their second goal in the 67th minute, but failed to take advantage of the situation. The Cantt Blue team scored an equaliser in the 80th minute through Manish. After being locked at 1-1 draw in the match, the Cantt Blues team player outplayed the Nehru Gram team in tiebreaker. For the Cantt Blues team, Parvat, Manish, Chetan and Rohit converted their penalties, whereas for the Nehru Gram team, Ajju and Vicky converted their shots.
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Kusum takes CAU to 8-wkt win
Dehradun, January 1 Chasing 130 runs for a win, the CAU team reached the target with eight wickets in hand. Opener Kusum gave a good start to the team and scored 65 runs off 45 balls while Anita scored 16 runs off 27 balls. Bharti scored 13 runs off 11 balls and Manju scored eight runs. For LMCC, Reena took one wicket.
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Inter-state cricket tourney from tomorrow
Dehradun, January 1 He further revealed that the teams had been divided into four pools and the tournament would be organised in a league-cum-knockout bases. The Pool A consist of Bear Academy, Bharat Cricket Academy and Delhi team while Pool B has Uttarakhand, Sharda Eleven and Banaras. Pool C comprises Bihar Eleven, Amritsar and MP teams whiel in Pool D LMCC, Delhi-B and Allahabad have been placed. The tournament will be organised at two venues of Rangers College Ground and Maharana Pratap Sports College.
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Big win for New Star
Dehradun, January 1 In reply, DRCA was bundled out for 140 runs. Sanjeev scored 58 runs and Virender scored 23 runs. No other batsman contributed much to the team’s cause. For New Star, Aslam and Sanjay took three wickets each and Zunaid took two wickets.
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Diamond Club beat Amba XI
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, January 1 Opener Dheeraj scored freely and went on to score 56 runs. Another opener Naveen scored 10 runs. After Naveen, it was first down batsman Mandeep, who helped his team accelerate the run rate further. He played an important innings of 83 runs for the Diamond Club team. For the Amba XI team, Samarth and Shivam took two wickets each. Chasing the target of 206 runs, the Amba XI team was all-out for 114 runs. Shubham was the lead scorer for the team. He scored 43 runs, whereas Shubham made 25 runs. Apart from them, none other batsman scored any runs. For the Amba XI team, Dheeraj and Naveen took two wickets, whereas Karan and Rahul took one wicket each.
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Dehradun, January 1
Dehradun, January 1
Dehradun, January 1
Dehradun, January 1
Dehradun, January 1
