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A mini-world at Har-ki-Pauri
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Foreign mediapersons in large numbers
A rare astrological event after 1,330 years
IIT Roorkee
Aged 89, her passion for studies still alive
Experts lay stress on oil conservation
Award for Hilton School Principal
FCI holds kite festival
Infosys selects 161 students of Graphic Era
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A mini-world at Har-ki-Pauri
Haridwar, January 15 On Mauni Amawasya today, the entire mela area, spread across 130 sq km spanning Haridwar, Dehradun, Pauri and Tehri Garhwal districts, was filled with persons from all walks of life. Tourists from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Bengal and other states were spotted in the holy city. People dressed in their colourful traditional attires attracted attention while saints in their saffron robes too lend a bright hue to the scene. A sobering shade was provided by the khaki colour on the police and paramilitary personnels’ uniforms. Not only people from India, but also from various parts of the world are also flocking to Har-ki-Pauri to view the spectacle. The atmosphere has been rendered electric by the spectacular lighting and decoration of the mela area, especially at Har-ki-Pauri. The early morning and evening Ganga ‘artis’ fill the scene with religious fervour. Tourists and mediapersons from the USA, Russia, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Africa, South-East Asia and Scandinavian countries are in the city to cover the biggest fair in the world. Most of them were disappointed that the first two baths did not involve any ‘akhadas’. Due to lack of information, they had thought that the ‘snans’ would involve the ‘akhadas’ and they would be able to capture the spectacular scene that they are familiar with. The three Shahi Snans, which will see the participation of the ‘akhadas’, will take place on February 12, March 15 and April 14. “We feel delighted and blessed to attend the fair. This is an example where the diversity of Indian culture and traditions come alive. We don’t have a visa for next month otherwise, we would have loved to watch the February 12 ‘Shahi Snan’,” said Anaida, a St Petersburg resident.
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Foreign mediapersons in large numbers
Haridwar, January 15 While strolling in the Har-ki-Pauri and mela area, one can easily see foreign mediapersons clicking photographs, taking media bytes and interviewing administrators, pilgrims, saints and local people. Despite their state-of-the-art equipment, they found the going tough once the crowd of pilgrims thronged the mela area. Most foreign mediapersons were seen following local photojournalists to get to the best footage position. Foreign mediapersons were also seen enquiring about the events and extracting story ideas from Indian journalists. Glittering mela area
The mela administration has adorned Har-ki-Pauri, CCR Mela Towers, HIV Moorti Bridge and other places with decorative lights which present a glittering view of Haridwar at night. The experience is enchanting specially when the Ganga arti commences on the Ganga ghats. People stay glued to the kaleidoscopic religious atmosphere. Though the locals too feel happy, but they don’t fail to add that the fair is only for three months and things would go back to normal once it ends. Till a fortnight ago, irregular supply of electricity had been the norm in the holy city. “Tourists and pilgrims may feel that we are living in an electricity-filled zone, but only we locals know about the power shortage we face,” said Umesh Dimri, a resident. Sunshine eases bathing conditions Bright sunshine eased the conditions during the first bath yesterday. Heavy fog was witnessed on many days in the week prior to the start of the fair. Pilgrims from the plains and southern states felt at ease while bathing as a result of the bright sunshine. Children and youth were seen spending a lot of time at the Ganga ghats playing with water.
New bus stations confuse
commuters
At every Maha Kumbh and Ardh Kumbh, the bus station is changed and new temporary stations are built. Pilgrims and tourists, who have been to Haridwar earlier, were caught on the wrong foot when they went to old bus station. On enquiring, they got to know that they have to tread a mile further to reach the nearest Rishikul inter-state bus station. A tourism information centre has been set up across the road to the Rishikul bus station. As most enquiries at the information centre were related to bus routes, an official there went over to the bus station and brought the bus schedule over, thus making his job easier.
Friendly police
With thousands of mela police personnel on duty, they were given a special briefing by Mela Officer Anand Vardhan and DIG Alok Sharma wherein they directed the cops to behave in a friendly manner with the pilgrims. They also were given instructions to first frisk their duty spot to spot any suspicious objects, specially dustbins, donation boxes etc as these are the places which attract minimum attention.
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A rare astrological event after 1,330 years
Haridwar, January 15 According to Acharya Rajeev Sharma, founder of Adya Shri Vidya International (Astrology,Geography and Vastu), the day has much religious significance and the auspicious time starts from 9:35 am. Since it’s coming after such a long time it assumes special significance. He predicts the eclipse will have severe repercussions on India and the country will have strained relations with its neighbouring countries. He also predicts natural disasters in European countries, tsunami-like situations in Asia and likely terror strikes in coming time as the eclipse will have negative fallouts. In the Indian tradition, the concept of “mauna” or silence is an ideal trigger for introspection and reflection. This word is derived from the word “muni”, an ascetic who practices silence. Mauna has been described as one of the three essential attributes of a sanyasi, along with balya or childlike state and panditya or wisdom. Mauni Amavasya is considered special in Hindu scriptures as the sun and the moon are in the Tropic of Capricorn, a rare configuration. Hindus believe that on this occasion water becomes holy everywhere and so taking a dip is more productive. Prateek Mishra Puri of the Bharatiya Prachya Vidya Society points out as this eclipse is falling over the Makar sign, it will have worldwide negative effects, specially for political leaders. Devotees in large numbers throng the Har-ki-Pauri in Haridwar to take a holy dip after the solar eclipse ended on Friday afternoon. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaud
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IIT Roorkee Akash Ghai Tribune News Service
Roorkee, January 15 Under the agreement, both institutes will exchange not only technical expertise, but also help each other’s faculty and students to gain advanced knowledge of their respective fields through various programmes like seminars, workshops and conferences. Apart from that, the institutes will help each other in improving their sports scenario. The agreement was signed by IIT-R Director Prof SC Saxena and Commandant Brigadier of BEG Manoj Kumar at 3 Feathers Officers Institute, located on the BEG premises here last week. Where the Army outfit will incur benefits from the technical expertise of IIT-R under the agreement, the students and faculty will get chance to work in various Army research institutes, said an Army officer. This is not the first time that both institutes join hands. A similar kind of agreement had taken place around 150 years ago between Bengal Sappers and Miners and Thomson Engineering College (now IIT-R). Cycling competition
When most of the localites prefer to remain at their homes during prevalent cold wave nowadays, the IITeans braved the chill and fog to participate in a cycling competition last week. The competition was organised by the Himalayan Explorer Club in which as many as 292 students (250 boys, 42 girls) participated. For boys, the distance was 36 km, while for girls it was 18 km. The rally was flagged off by Dean of alumni Harsh Vardhan at 6.15 am at LBS Ground. In the boys’ section, Ahirvar clinched the top honours, whereas Navin Sherawat and Manish Gaur remained at the second and third spots, respectively. On the other hand, Molly, Himani and Pragati won the first, second and third positions, respectively. The winners were given cash prizes and shields.
Seminar held
A seminar titled “Recent Trends in Flow Visualisation” was held on the IIT premises recently, in which more than 80 scientists participated. The workshop was inaugurated by the IIT-R Director Prof SC Saxena, who laid stressed on exchange the advance researches in the field by thevarious countries. “The visualisation technique is around 500 years old. Nowadays the flow visualisation technique is being used in preparing sensitive paints, mobile systems, industrial wind tunnels and flight testings,” said a scientist at the workshop. The participants included Dr Jurgan Compenheins, from Aero-Dynamic and Flow Technology Institute, Germany, Dr SV Akker from Virginia (US) and Dr K Murlidhar.
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Book fair concludes
Dehradun, January 15 Despite cold conditions prevailing during the beginning of the fair, a good number of customers visited the venue to pick up book titles of their choice. The popular titles that were picked up by many buyers were “Masterpiece of Indian Literature Volume III”, “Hindustan Kahawat Kosh” by SW Fellan in Hindi, “Giju Bhai Ka Guldasta” (for children), “Adiwasi Kshetrain Ki Lok Kathaiyan” and “Ornamental Gardening” by Harikrishna Paliwal. “We were sure that our book fair usually attracts readers but here the response has been overwhelming, especially the youth was particularly attracted to our selection of books. Most of them picked titles that can be used for reference,” said Dinesh Sharma, marketing executive, National Book Trust. Besides the books, many customers also opted to become members of the book club that offers good discounts. “By paying Rs 50, I have become a life-long member of the book club. It will ensure lifelong discount for me,” said Sapna Khanduri, a geography student. The focus of the NBT would now be the book fair slated for January 30 to February 7 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. “We have already begun preparing for the fair, which is expected bring different publishers from all across the globe. Such fairs provide opportunity for book lovers to pick up books of their choice and sometimes give even good discounts,” said Sharma.
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Aged 89, her passion for studies still alive
Dehradun, January 15 According to the past five years’ record, the National Institute of Open Schooling has more women candidates than men, which is an achievement for the institute. “Apparently, open schools are like a boon, specially for those who never had access to schools, and had failed in two or three subjects or dropped studies due to some domestic reasons. They can easily appear for their secondary or senior secondary examinations. It’s a privilege for our institution to have an 89-year-old woman, who still strives to seek education along with her kin. And it’s overwhelming to see the increment in the number of students being enrolled every year,” said one of the officials of the institute. The Ministry of Human Resource Development at the Centre established the institute in 1989. This separate wing for educating children was set up as an autonomous organisation where children, who could not attend regular schools, can get the certificate of qualification after appearing for the examination. The examinations are conducted twice a year. To make the procedure more lucid, the institute has started with online assistance for the students. From enrolment to syllabi, from examination to results, every information is available on website www.nios.ac.in. Apart from this, the 24-hour helpline number 18001809393 deals with the stress, anxiety and other behavioural activities of the students. The open school boasts of having the maximum strength of students suffering from dyslexia and other tendencies of mental discomfort who somehow cannot cope up with the regime of regular schools. The institute aims at educating students for a better tomorrow. It not only provides them with the traditional education but also life skills such as stitching, painting, awareness on diseases and other vocations of day to day life. But it’s often perceived that malpractices are being conducted during the examinations of open schools. Meanwhile, the administration said: “The system and the procedure are quite transparent as well as stringent like any other state board examination. The evaluation of examination papers are done by a committee set up by the administration in different parts of India while the marks are allotted according to the performance of every individual”.
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Experts lay stress on oil conservation
Dehradun, January 15 Addressing ONGC officials at the inauguration of Oil and Gas Conservation Fortnight at ONGC Academy Auditorium in Dehradun today, Prasad said oil and gas conservation must be taken as a habit by the people of the country taking into account the growing energy needs of the country. He said the hill state kept enormous hydropower potential but asserted that hindrances in the completion of under-construction power projects was hurting the state’s power goals. “There are people who believe in negativity and create hindrances in the works of development,” Prasad pointed out, particularly referring to hydropower projects in the state. He said while the state kept immense hydropower potential, it was yet to realise it fully. He said it was the duty of the citizens to work towards the cause of energy conservation. Group General Manager, ONGC, B Ram stressed the importance of oil and gas conservation pointing out that 70 per cent of the oil was being imported and conservation stood as formidable means to meet the coming oil challenges. He also highlighted various steps taken by the ONGC in reducing in-house consumption of petroleum products, improving system efficiencies, environment protection and foray into renewable energy resources like wind and solar. Earlier, Chief Engineer RK Bahuguna reiterated his department’s commitment for the cause of conservation. He said the ONGC had always excelled in oil and gas conservation. He dwelt at length on the initiatives taken by the corporation towards energy conservation. While solar heating plants have been put to use in Bhuj, even wind energy projects have been taken up by the organisation as substitute to energy. Top ONGC officials, Group General Managers SK Jain, RP Soni, Dr Manoj Asthana, and General Managers KV Ravinder and SD Mathur shared with the audience various ways to conserve oil and natural gas. Some of the measures highlighted were: use of public transport system and energy-efficient machines, construction of green buildings, plugging energy leakages, more public awareness programmes, recognition to persons, especially housewives and children engaged in energy conservation. The events of fortnight include a street play, competitions in quiz, essay, etc. Organised by Corporate Energy Cell, Technical Services, the fortnight is being held under the able guidance of Anoop Kumar, GGM, Chief Technical Services. The inaugural programme, which was aptly compered by Ratendra Kumar, concluded with a vote of thanks by SN Rajvanshi.
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Award for Hilton School Principal
Dehradun, January 15 The conference was inaugurated by Hans Raj
Bharadwaj, Governor of Karnataka, at an impressive ceremony and was attended by over 120 principles of Anglo-Indian schools and teachers training colleges from across the country and representatives of the Council for the
ISCE, New Delhi. The theme of the conference was “Anglo-Indian Schools: Heavens of Peace and Harmony”. HR Bhardwaj spoke of high value and esteem with which the Anglo Indian community and Anglo Indian schools had led the country. He recalled his long friendship with the late Frank Anthony, an eminent Anglo Indian leader, barrister, educationist and parliamentarian who made a significant contribution to public welfare.
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FCI holds kite festival
Dehradun, January 15 The competition was held among various batches of the institute. Students wrote catchy messages and slogans like “Seva Hi Dhram Hai” and “Knowledge is Power” on their kites. Kites with colourful messages looked attractive in the sky and showcased competitive spirit of the participants. Ashoo Saxena, Principal of the FCI, appreciated the zeal of the students and wished them to go as high as the kites and be very successful in their careers. For the whole day there was celebrations and this was for the second consecutive time that the FCI had organised the kite festival.
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Anand Bisht wins boxing gold
Dehradun, January 15 In 46kg weight boys’ category, Dehradun’s Saurabh emerged winner at the competition by defeating his competitor from Pitthoragarh, Govind, by a convincing margin. In 50kg category, Pitthoragarh boxer Pankaj over came the challenge put forth by Dehradun’s Vishal. In 54kg category, Jitendra Singh of Pitthoragharh emerged winner. He defeated Mohit of Dehradun. In 60kg category, Dehradun’s Anand Bisht beat Nishant of Dehradun, to win a gold. Meanwhile in girls match, Neelam of Pitthoragarh won gold in 46kg category, Anjali of Pitthoragarh emerged winner in 48kg weight category, while Sandhaya was the winner in 50 kg category. In girls’ volleyball match, Dehradun won the first place, followed by Pauri that was placed at the second spot and Tehari had to settle at the third spot with a bronze. In the finals played between Dehradun and the Pauri team, Dehradun defeated Pauri by a convincing margin of 25-12 and 25-11 points. In the boys’ final, the Udham Singh Nagar team was the winner. In the final, it defeated its nearest competitor Tehri convincingly by 25-21 and 25-15 points. In kho-kho boys’ final, the Nainital team won the gold after defeating Haridwar by 11-1. In kho-kho girls’ final, Dehradun defeated Uttarkashi by 8-1. In kabaddi final, the Haridwar team won the final match against Udham Singh Nagar by 40-38.
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Secretariat, UIT register victories
Dehradun, January 15 The LIC team elected to bat first after winning the match. The team was all out for 143 runs in 35 overs. Rupendra was the only batsman who scored for LIC. He played a scintillating knock of 80 run off just 90 balls, to display a ray of shots in his innings. LIC team was pushed on the back foot right in the beginning, it lost its first wicket in the form of Durgesh Bhatt who got out for 10 runs, Chakradev got out for 12 runs. In the middle order, Devesh scored 14 runs off 24 balls. For Secretariat team, TH Khan, Ankit, Bhupender, Rajendra, Shasank, and Rajeev took one wicket each. In reply, Secretariat team reached the target with four wickets in hand. Opener TH Khan after performing with ball, gave an exceptional performance with the bat. He made 47 runs off 31 balls. First down batsman Amit Ghai also played scintillating innings of 40 runs off 45 balls. In the end it was a middle order batsman Deepak Joshi who scored 18 runs and helped his team achieve the target. For LIC team Dugesh Bhatt took three wickets, whereas Rupendra took two wickets. Meanwhile in the second match, UIT beat NIFA by six wickets. Batting first NIFA team had a fine start to the match and scored 35 runs in six overs. Opener Neeraj set the pace for his team and scored 20 runs off 18 balls. Another opener Fazal scored 24 runs. Middle order batsman Arshad scored 16 runs. But rest of the batsmen could not do much and fell as a pack of cards before disciplined bowling line up of UIT team. For UIT team Mukesh and Naveen claimed three wickets each. In reply UIT team achieved the target with ease. Opener Kuldeep laid a firm foundation for his team to make 74 runs off 53 balls, hitting 12 fours and a six in his innings. Middle order batsman Amit and Kapil scored the remaining winning runs. Amit made 10 runs and Kapil made 14 runs. For Neeraj and Pritam took one wicket each. Meanwhile, the NIIT team registered a 143 runs victory over ICFAI team at the league here yesterday. Amar was the highest scorer for the team with 68 runs. Batting first, NIIT team piled a mammoth total of 237 runs in 40 overs. Hari opened the batting for his team with his partner Uday Rana. Hari scored 17 runs off 39 balls failing to capitalise on the start after staying on the crease for a long. Uday Rana on the other end scored 26 runs. After the openers returned to the pavilion it was Sunny and Amar who accelerated the run rate of the team. Both the players added 60 runs for the second wicket partnership. Sunny got out for 21 runs. But Amar went on to score 68 runs off 76 balls. After Amar got out lower order batsman Rohit scored for his team, he made 49 runs off 48 balls. For ICFAI team Amit Lamba and Subendra took two wickets each. Chasing the target of 238 runs, ICFAI team was all out for 94 runs. Arun gave a good start to his team and scored 13 runs, Deepak scored 26 runs off 32 balls. But after these two the middle order batsman Tawalpreet scored 25 runs off 19 balls. For, NIIT team Jagi claimed four wickets, whereas Prakhar took two wickets. Meanwhile in the second match, Old Garhwal Sporting team defeated CAU Red team by 31 runs. Opener Nasir came up with brilliant 60 runs off 64 balls, while another opener Navender scored 31 off 37 balls. First down batsman Madon scored 26 runs off 34 balls. Lower order batsman Anuj scored 28 runs off 23 balls. For CAU Red team Mukesh took two wickets. Chasing the victory target of 183 runs, CAU Red was all out for 151 runs. Efforts made by Mukesh, who scored 42 runs and Gajender who made 56 runs were of no avail. For Old Garhwal Sporting team, Arun and Suraj took four
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Infosys selects 161 students of Graphic Era
Dehradun, January 15 Many students sailed through the interviews held on the campus, who were earlier baffled with the dilemma of getting appointed. The company has offered the students with the lucrative packages of Rs 3.25 lakh to the Btech students and Rs 3.5 lakh to the MCA students. “In spite of scoring well in all our semesters, we were quite apprehensive of getting good jobs after our course is finished due to the economic meltdown. But the year’s first round of campus replacements has rendered respite to many ours plights,” said Abhishek, a BTech student. Majority of the eligible students got rewarded for their strenuous labour and diligent efforts by getting campus placements at utmost level of recession in the IT sector. More than 300 students took participation in the campus selections this year. Apart from the technology department, nine students from MBA and few from hotel management were selected by the renowned organisation Ranbaxy and the Le Meridian, respectively. Chairman of the institute Kamal Ghanshala expressed his congratulations to the students who got selected in the first round of the placements and encouraged the rest who could not get through.
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With the commencement of the Maha Kumbh, the mela area is presenting a picture of mini-India with people from various parts of the country coming to
Haridwar.
With Maha Kumbh being a global event, a number of foreign print and electronic media channels have come to Haridwar to cover the mega event.
While strolling in the Har-ki-Pauri and mela area, one can easily see foreign mediapersons clicking photographs, taking media bytes and interviewing administrators, pilgrims, saints and local people.
Haridwar, January 15
