Dehradun, January 2
Cold wave conditions prevailed in Uttarakhand today with a fall in temperatures recorded all over in the state. 

According to Dr Anand Sharma, Director, Dehradun Meteorological Department, Dehradun, while fog was expected to wane, it could be snow in the higher reaches and rain in other areas of the state after Sunday afternoon for another 36 hours. He, however, held that it would remain cloudy in Dehradun on Sunday. The minimum temperatures are expected to rise. 

Meanwhile, people in the hill resorts of Mussoorie, Nainital and Almora chose to remain indoors on the first day of New Year due to intense cold. Dehradun registered a minimum of 4 degree Celsius, which is two degree below normal, Sharma said.

Haridwar, January 2
With no sunshine for the past two days, denizens of Haridwar are facing a severe cold wave. Normal life has been affected.

Due to these weather conditions, the enormous highway traffic that one sees on weekends and occasions like Christmas and New Year have witnessed a sharp decline.

Vehicles have had to use lights and indicators even during broad daylight as a result of the dense fog. Meanwhile, the municipal committee has made arrangements to provide fuel and wood to people at various places across the city.

The palika has provided fuel at railway stations, bus stations, Ranipur, Jwalapur, Kathaira Bazaar, Vikram stands and other places where the rush of pilgrims is more. Many persons were seen utilising these to get some warmth.

The weather department of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, has informed that there are no signs of rain for the next few days and the cold wave will continue. 

Agriculture scientists pointed that if this foggy weather condition continued, it would have a negative effect on crops like wheat, but it would be good for vegetables like potatoes, onions and tomatoes.

The foggy weather had also cast its shadow on bus and railway services. Various buses reached the city bus station late and hence, the schedule of buses was affected.

Assistant Regional Manager Hari Mohan Dabral informed that the weather has affected the collection from bus tickets.The same was the case with the railway schedules with many trains running many hours late.

Dehradun, January 2
Visitors are getting to see the exquisite art of weaving which is different in each state of the country at National Handloom Expo being held at Parade Ground these days. The myriad bonanza of prints, embroidery and colour amalgamation, which lure customers, hides the travails of the artisans who put their sweat and blood into it to make it look classy.

These exhibitions have revived the traditional art to some extent but it certainly is not attracting the youth in this business of weaving.

There are other factors too which are not letting the handloom flourish properly. It is still struggling for its survival.

Baldev Singh Kampa, artisan from Pitthoragarh said, “Youngsters do not want to join us in this work of weaving and knitting. They prefer to join army or police. It is only the young girls and older people who do this family business.”

It is becoming difficult day by day to get proficient artisans, as their number is dwindling. Manoj Kumar, artisan from West Bengal, said, “The youngsters are not willing to do physical hard work in handloom sector which needs loads of patience. The money comes, but after a long time when the product gets ready. The youth also thinks that it is the job of uneducated people. So they feel ashamed of doing it. That is the reason, as per demand, we don’t get good artisans to meet the supply.”

The China silk too has given a big jolt to the weavers. Mobla Ansari, artisan from Benaras, mentioned, “The Benarasi raw silk comes at Rs 3,800 per kg whereas China silk can be bought for Rs 1,800 per kg.

Now, the market is inundated with a cheap version of China silk duplicated with unrefined Benarasi brocade and weaving. This new trend has pushed the weavers to the brink.”

If Benarasi silk is threatened by cheap China silk, then fake Amritsari products, poor imitation of Kashmiri handloom, tarnish its reputation of being the most elegant and sophisticated handloom of the country.

“People demand lower price as they claim that they have seen the same product at much lower price. It puts us in the dock to make them understand the difference between fake Amritsari and original Kashmiri product.

“Our handloom is fighting for its survival because people are not ready to give the exact price of the labour, which goes into weaving each thread,” said a Kashmiri weaver.

Tarun Kumar Pandey, artisan from Bihar, blames the government for not giving enough subsidies to the artisans to pull them to traditional handloom.

“Artisans get only the labour of their work which is not enough to lead a decent life. They must be given subsidies and other benefits so that they also come and join the traditional work of weaving.”

Artisans from Uttarakhand, who had maximum number of 52 stalls out of total 96 stalls represented by 14 states, complained of lack of refinement in their products.

They asked for government help in establishing a centre equipped with slick machines to bring refinement in their coarse handmade woollens so that they can have more buyers.

“We cannot afford designers who ask for Rs 20-1,000 to design our products. So we have no option but to stick to a few traditional motifs. The government should come forward in lending us this help by holding workshops for us,” said Ramesh Chamoli, artisan from Uttarkashi.

The battle of survival has made many artisans bring changes in their traditional work and adapt themselves to the demands of modernity.

The stall of carpets of Mirzapur (UP), saris of West Bengal, chikan embroidery of Lucknow testify to the demand of the change.

Giridhari Majeed, artisan from West Bengal, added, “We have to include designer saris in our stall which also have traditional Katha and Jamdani, to cater to the demands of customers.”

KC Chamoli, mela adhikari (co-ordinator), said the Uttarakhand Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation is supporting more and more artisans every year as this year they included 14 states in comparison to 10 states last year to promote handloom and handicraft of all states.

Dehradun, January 2
Weighed down by the payments being made to employees in consonance with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, the state spending has increased forcing the Finance Department to suggest belt-tightening measures and also increase earnings.

With the fiscal deficit reaching 4.5 per cent in 2009-10, the state may not be able to put in money in core areas of development as a result the Finance Department has suggested resource mobalisation measures in areas such as state excise, power, forest, mining and water. “We need to revise user charges and fees in higher education, medical education, health, animal husbandry, agriculture, irrigation and drinking water,” said Alok Jain, Principal Secretary Finance and Planning.

There are also suggestions of reducing staff strength in school education department and even explore PPP possibilities wherever there is revenue accumulation, other steps suggested are district level recovery of government dues (DM level). Besides in the coming years the government will have to drastically reduce staff by relying on outsourcing and review staff strength in light of actual work.

“To ensure efficiency we have introduced robust project management, implementation systems to avoid cost over runs and ensure third-party quality monitoring of all constructions schemes above Rs 1 crore,” said Jain.

In the past few years, around 1,359 new industrial units have come in, but industrial disparity continues to dog the state as most of the industries are spread in the plains. There are 3,000 units still in the pipeline and most of the 98 per cent units have Haridwar, Nainital and Dehradun as destination for investment.

Nainital, January 2
Kumaon University has repealed its Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with a franchise of Information Technology (IT) giant Microsoft Limited for running an IT Centre at the pristine Hermitage Building here.

The decision to scrap the MoU was taken at a recent meeting of the Academic and Executive Councils of the University.

According to Vice-Chancellor of the University VPS Arora, “We had conveyed it to them that the Centre was to be run as per the laws and statutes governing the University.

“When they just decided to abandon their functioning without any information on December 31, 2009, we decided to repeal the MoU”.

He informed that the Centre was neither paying any rent for the premises being used by it to the university, neither was it giving 40 per cent of the fees to the university charged from the students under the self-financing pattern on which it was functioning. He further informed that the Centre was also running a series of short-term courses without the consent of the university.

Dr Arora said he had asked the franchise Piyush Mittal to adhere to the norms of the university to which he did not respond and instead decided to abandon the setup.

“As regards the students enrolled for the three courses that were being run in accordance with the clearance given by the university, it is our moral duty to ensure that they do not suffer and we will see to it that they get the qualifications for which they have paid and spent so much time. But as regards the students enrolled in short-term courses that were not being run with the consent of the university, I have directed to the Secretary (IT) to look into the matter,” he told The Tribune.

With the future of so many students in a limbo, the university authorities are mulling over taking legal action against the franchise. “They were not sensitive at all towards the students and their future. The students had approached me with complaints regarding delay in results and classes not being taken,” he added.

As regards the premises being vacated by the Vice-Chancellor said it would be used by the university for running computer courses of its own.

The Hermitage Building Centre was one of the flagship ventures of former Chief Minister ND Tiwari in this region. His government had flaunted its setting up as one of the major achievements.

Nainital, January 2
Kumaon University has begun the New Year by announcing the start of a whole lot of new courses for students of the region. The university has also decided to go in for a large-scale revamp of examination and admission systems.

According to Vice-Chancellor VPS Arora, the university is all set to take a further leap with regards to its courses in biotechnology, pharmacy and microbiology.

The university has decided to start a large number of new courses at it Almora campus. These include a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) programme, Masters in Philosophy (MPhil) in Hindi, Masters in Arts (MA) in Visual Arts and Music (Tabla and Vocal). It has also decided to introduce Masters in Science (MSc) in Micro Biology at its Bhimtal campus.

Meanwhile, the university will be introducing a series of courses at DSB Campus in Nainital. These include MBA in Tourism, Masters in Pharmacy (MPharma) in Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, along with a diploma in Hospitality Management.

“The decisions to start these courses were taken at a meeting of the Academic and Executive Councils of the university on December 31. An MBA in Health Management is also in the pipeline,” the Vice-Chancellor informed.

He said all these new courses would be run on the semester system. Several other courses like Bachelors in Pharmacy (BPharma), MSc (Statistics), MSc (Forestry), Bachelors in Sciences (BSc) in Biotechnology, Masters in Law (LLM), Bachelors in Arts (BA) in Visual Arts along with Post Graduate Programme in Journalism and Media Studies are also being converted into the semester pattern of examination.

He informed that barring the Bachelors in Commerce (BCom) and Masters in Commerce (MCom), all other courses run by the commerce and management faculty are set to be run on semester pattern from the next academic session. “The university has also decided to adopt a central evaluation pattern,” Dr Arora said.

Dehradun, January 2
In this wintry and chilly weather, students of MBA-Entrepreneurship of Graphic Era University distributed blankets among poor people at Mohla village under the East Hope Town Gram Sabha located on the Shimla bye-pass, near here, today.

An organisation named Helping Hand formed by students as part of their Social Entrepreneurship project conducted this event here today. The organisation aims at concentrating on social upliftment and activities which will benefit the less-privileged members of society.

Large numbers of Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the valley were gifted with woollens on New Year day. They also received an excellent response for this noble cause from faculty members and students of Graphic Era University. They collected approximately 200 new woollen covers, blankets and baby blankets, while a large quantity of assorted warm clothing was collected additionally.

After the stringent survey by the students and with the support of the gram Pradhan of Mohla Sunder Lal, Helping Hand made their initiative a huge success.

Sunder Lal helped the organisation in identifying needy families and was of great assistance during the distribution of warm clothes.

Today, the distribution was made at the premises identified by the pradhan. Around 40-50 families were present on the occasion. Warm clothes were distributed amongst families based on their needs. Each family got a minimum of two woollen covers.

Students also promised to organise a medical camp during their next semester as the area lacks medical facility nearby. Prof (Brig) RP Nautiyal, HOD, Entrepreneurship, and Abhishek Misra were present at the event.

Haridwar, January 2
Serving humanity in any way is a service to God, and if in bits too one does something for the downtrodden and lower strata of society, then society will be like paradise. This was stated by Uttarakhand Sanskrit Academy vice-president Dr Mahavir Aggarwal while addressing students of the National Service Scheme (NSS) on the final day programme at Mayapur.

Citing an example from the epic Mahabharata, he pointed Lord Krishna’s teachings and examples to put further the need of serving the needy to the Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter-College students.

Programme officer Ashok Kumar Saini urged students to take forward the lessons learnt in the weeklong camp and have bigger goals in life that transcends boundaries of region, city, state and nations. “The values you have inculcated through various programmes and events during the NSS camp should be utilised in life’s spheres too,” said Saini.

Ashram coordinator Jitendra Tiwari also appreciated students’ behaviour and 
positive attitude.

During the weeklong camp, students participated in cleanliness drive, educated illiterate villagers, spent time with leprosy patients and participated in debates, quiz etc.

Various cultural programmes were also held on the occasion by Juhi, Sneha, Neetu, Renu, Swati, Abhijit, Vijay Kant among others. Prizes were also distributed among those who excelled at the various events.

Dehradun, January 2
On the occasion of the 344th Prakash Parv of Guru Gobind Singh, the Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sahib at Gurdwara Karnpur organised a nagar kirtan here today. The nagar kirtan began with the placing of Guru Granth Sahib on a palanquin from Gurdwara Karanpur at 1 pm and ended at Gurdwara Singh Sabha at 7:30 pm. A number of devotees gathered and chanted the Gurbani during the procession.

The special attraction of the procession was the “gatka” (Sikh martial arts with swords), “ghode baji” and “unth baji”. School kids and other Sikhs were busy cleaning the roads. A military band from Punjab came to participate in the ceremony.

The Gurdwara Committee has already arranged a programme of Yatra Thada Sahib followed by a langar for Guru Parv, which is on January 4 and 5, respectively.

Dehradun, January 2
The Abhimanyu Cricket Academy (ACA) won by six wickets against RPCA team at the under-17 District Cricket League underway at Col Brown School organised by the Cricket Association of Uttarakhand here today.

Abhimanyu was the star performer for the Abhimanyu Cricket Academy team. He scored a magnificent 81 for his side and claimed two wickets. RPCA team won the toss and elected to bat first and put up a decent 186 total for the loss of six wickets.

It was unfortunate on the part of the RPCA team who lost three of their well-set batsmen in the form of run outs. It was a good start for RPCA team, whose openers Rawajot and Mayank added 70 runs in the first 11 overs.

Rawajot scored 55 runs in 63 balls, hitting seven fours in his innings, whereas Manyank scored 29 runs in 33 balls.

First down batsman Vishal also contributed with the bat and scored a useful 22 runs. Lower order batsman Amit and Deepak scored 14 and 21 runs, respectively, to help the team reach the 186 runs mark.

For the ACA team, Abhimanyu was the pick of the bowlers claiming two wickets, whereas Priyanshu and Shaksham took one wicket each.

In reply, the ACA team achieved the target with six wickets in hand. The task of chasing 187 runs as victory target did not proved much of an up hill task for the team. Opening pair of Priyanshu and Abhimanyu did the job for the team. Priyanshu scored 35 runs in 38 balls.

Abhimanyu who proved successful as a bowler earlier gave an outstanding performance with his bat as well. He struck 81 runs in 72 balls, hitting eleven fours for his innings.

First down batsman Vaibhav scored 11 runs, whereas Chand scored 17 runs in 13 balls. For the RPCA team, Rishab took wickets, whereas Vishal and Prabhat took one wicket each. 

Dehradun, January 2
The New Era team scored 97-run victory over the Valley Boys team at the 58th District Cricket League underway at OFD Stadium here today.

Batting first, the New Era team scored 207 runs in 25 overs. It was not a good start for the New Era as it lost its opening batsman Gurdeep for 10 runs, but another opener Gaurav played a useful innings of 57 runs in 40 balls, hitting eight fours in his inning.

First down batsman Prashant accelerated the run rate and scored 35 runs in 15 balls.

Thereafter, Kapil also came up with important 55 runs in 47 balls. Shashank scored 31 balls.

For the Valley Boys team, Amar took two wickets, whereas Vikram and Vishal took one wickets each.

Chasing the victory target of 208 runs, the Valley Boys team was all out for 110 runs. The team lost its first wicket when its score was zero. The team lost its confidence with after losing its opener early.

But Shashank did it for his side, as he went on to score 46 runs in 50 balls. After him it was Praveen and Vikram for his team who made some useful contribution for his team.

Praveen scored 15 runs, whereas Vikram scored 21 runs.

For New Era team, Kapil was the lead wicket taker with three wickets. Narender and Haider supported him well both of them took two wicket each and helped the team in winning the match.