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Oldest akhada’s Peshwayi gets grand reception
World Wetlands Day |
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Tight security measures in place for Kumbh
R-Day parade: 90 NCC cadets felicitated
Artificial lakes not friendly to birds: WWF
Secretariat clinch narrow victory over SMI
Sai Institute score 65-run victory over Sahaspur XI
Badminton: Players’ names announced
ONGC’s conservation fortnight concludes
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Oldest akhada’s Peshwayi gets grand reception
Haridwar, February 2 Aahwaan Akhada is the oldest akhada, making today’s Peshwayi much more significant. The head of the akhada is Shivendra Puri Ji Maharaj, whose chariot led the procession. The atmosphere and grandeur though was quite similar to that of the first Shahi Peshwai of Juna Akhada and Agni Akhada took out on January 30. The royal procession started at 11 am from Pandeywala at Jwalapur after the conduct of rituals, which started 7 am. The procession took off amid religious songs and music of bands. There were crowds of people running into thousands at the Pandeywala venue. On the entire route, people gathered in large numbers and by the time the royal procession had begun to move from Jwalapur, streets en route were jam-packed with local residents and there was not an inch to move as none wanted to miss the spectacle that comes every 12th year. This Peshwayi followed the same route as the other Peshwayis undertook and people had already filled the vantage places to get a better view of the procession. The whole route was manned by the mela police and para-military forces to ensure a smooth flow of the royal procession. At Shankar Ashram Chowk where the Peshwayi reached at 3:30 pm, people could be seen atop multi-storey buildings and at several ashrams and it was hard time for the police to control the crowds there. “There is no space left here and this is awesome. Earlier, there was craze too but this time it’s unprecedented. Enthusiasm of people standing for hours together to get a glimpse of the Peshwayi was unseen before,” said Vivek Sharma whose book shop at the chowk was filled with spectators, but no customer. While at Jwalapur, where a railway crossing falls in the route of the mega procession, several scheduled trains had to be halted. This royal procession too had all colours and variety that akhada procession are known for. Naga sadhus performing breathtaking feats left every one dazed. Also the royal carriages of akhada heads and saints moving along the main tableaus drew attention of the people. Notably, another mega Peshwayi of Mahanirmani Akhada will be taken out in the Kumbh area. This Peshwayi will start at 10 am from Kankhal Bagh and passed through Shankaracharya Chowk, Tulsi Chowk, Shiv Moorti Chowk, railway station, old bus station, Devpura, Rishikul, Old Ranipur, Chandra Charya Chowk (Ranipur Mod), Shankar Ashram, Singh Dwar, Krishna Nagar and Kankhal Chowk and culminate at Mahanirmani Akhada. On February 5, Atal Akhada will take out its procession followed by Niranjani Akhada on February 7. Finally, the royal procession of Anaand Akhada wil be held on Mela Officer Anand Vardhan and DIG (Mela) Alok Sharma were all the time monitoring the royal procession. (Top) Saints carry a deity in a palanquin during a Shahi Peshwayi in Haridwar; and (right) a saint displays his stick-wielding skills in Jwalapur on Tuesday. Tribune photos: Rameshwar Gaur
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World Wetlands Day A management plan, suggesting ways to improve bird biodiversity in the wetland, has sought better funding from the Centre Jotirmay Thapliyal Tribune News Service
Dehradun, February 2
A notified important bird area of the country, Asan, the only reserve in Uttarakhand will have better days soon. The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, at the behest of the Uttarakhand Forest Department, after a gruelling exercise had come up with the first comprehensive management plan for Asan. After looking into all pros and cons and taking into account opinions of all stakeholders, the management plan has suggested ways and means to enrich bird biodiversity in the wetland. However, Uttarakhand, a state bestowed with some of the finest wetlands in the country, is still Conservator of Forests, Yamuna Circle, BP Gupta, who has been taking keen interest in the promotion of Asan as an important wetland of the country, admitted that Ramsar status was certainly a far cry for Asan but added that the important bird area status certainly held much significance. Orthinologist Asad R Rahmani in his book “Potential and Existing Ramsar Sites in India” had given importance to Asan as a wetland. Calling for a study of biodiversity values of some of the Uttarakhand’s wetlands, Rahmani asserted that such a study could bring Uttarakhand wetlands on an equal footing with other Ramsar site wetlands of the country. World Wetlands Day is celebrated every year on February 2. It marks the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar along the Caspian Sea. Every year, government agencies, non-governmental organisations and citizens groups take advantage of the opportunity to undertake actions aimed at raising public awareness on wetland values and benefits in general and the Ramsar Convention in particular. Meanwhile, as part World Wetland Day celebrations, Uttarakhand Forest Yamuna Circle authorities in association with WWF Education conducted an interactive workshop for children today from various schools. Apart from lectures by some orthinologists, bird-watching exercise was conducted during the workshop.
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Tight security measures in place for Kumbh
Haridwar, February 2 Today’s procession route was divided in four sectors with two companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, four of the Rapid Action Force, riot control and horse squads, apart from the regular mela police, deployed at various points. Eight gazetted officers, six inspectors, 33 sub-inspectors, 20 head constables, 278 constables and 15 traffic inspectors manned the whole procession route. People were frisked and luggage searched at all sensitive and crowded places besides at the entry points of the city. Personnel of the ITBP, PAC and other paramilitary forces have been deployed at check points, temples, akhadas, commercial establishments, railway and bus stations, industrial area and other important places.
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R-Day parade: 90 NCC cadets felicitated
Dehradun, February 2 She also praised personnel and their officials for remarkable performance at the national ceremony and making an outstanding presence of the state. Cultural programmes presented by students of different schools and cadets were the main attraction of the function. Out of the 90 selected cadets, 10 girls and six boys participated in the Rajpath Parade while three girls and five boys performed as the guard of honour. Besides, 50 cadets performed at the Prime Minister’s rally on the Republic Day at the Rajpath in Delhi.
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Artificial lakes not friendly to birds: WWF
Dehradun, February 2 WWF officials, who along with 50 students from different Dehradun schools, visited Asan on World Wetlands Day today conducted water quality tests there. They also conducted on-the-spot inspections of the site. “We conducted water-quality tests and found that the quality at the two recently formed lakes between Rampur Mandi and Asan Conservation Reserve were not friendly to migratory birds,” Dr JS Rawat, Conservation Officer and in charge, Environmental Education, WWF-India Field Office, told The Tribune. He said the two lakes have failed to serve the purpose as the water has become stagnant. Dr Rawat, who had been frequenting Asan for the past many years, also claimed that the number of visiting birds it has been quite less this time. Students from Welham Boys, Hilton School, St Judes School and DSB Inter-College, Rishikesh, were part of WWF-led team to Asan. The two lakes had been created in 2007. Two camping sites had also been created to facilitate eco-tourism. There have also been reports of sudden release of water by irrigation authorities at the barrage causing disturbance to the birds. The high-decibel noise caused by quarrying in the Yamuna in adjoining Himachal Pradesh has also been causing disturbance to birds at
Asan.
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Secretariat clinch narrow victory over SMI
Dehradun, February 2 They shared nine wickets among themselves to leave SMI batsmen struggling The SMI team made a good start to the match. Opening pair of Manish and Parveen added 78 runs for the first wickets partnership. Manish played a knock of 43 runs of 40 balls, whereas Parveen smashed 41 runs of Giyanender and Ajay made 17 runs each. Lower order batsman Suraj scored 13 runs. In reply, the Secretariat team achieved the target with one wicket in hand. The team began on a poor note losing both the openers for a low score. TH Khan made eight runs while Anil Negi made nine runs. Rajender was the lead run scorer for the team with 46 runs off 53 balls, whereas Rajeev made 28 runs. Lower order batsman Hitesh scored 20 runs off For SMI team Giyanander took three wickets, whereas Manish took two. Meanwhile, in the second match, the ACA team registered a massive 97-run victory over the Doon Champs team. Batting first the ACA team scored 256 runs in 40 overs, Manoj was highest scorer for the team with 83 runs off 83 balls, hitting nine fours and one six in Vaibhav Bhatt made 33 runs and Sunny made 32 runs. For Doon Champ, Naim picked up four wickets and Ritesh took two wickets. In reply, the Doon Champ team was all out for 159 runs. Galib made 22 runs, Reehaan made 31 runs, Depender made 36 runs and Ritesh made 37 runs.
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Sai Institute score 65-run victory over Sahaspur XI
Dehradun, February 2 Vikrant gave a tough time to the Sahaspur XI bowlers. He scored 67 runs off just 21 balls. Vishal supported him well from the other end to score 24 runs. Middle order batsman Bhoomi’s knock of 29 runs also proved handy for Sai Institute, as the team reached the target of 176 runs in 20 overs. For the Sahaspur XI team Amit picked up four wickets, whereas Dheeraj took three and Gaurav claimed two. Chasing the victory target of 177 runs, the Sahaspur team was all out on 117 runs. There was not much that the team batsmen could do before the disciplined bowling of Sai Institute bowlers. They lost the opener Amit for a duck in the first over, another opener Umer scored 18 runs. First down batsman John came up with a brilliant 19 runs performance, but he failed to continue with its scoring. Middle order batsman Karan scored 20 runs. Adil and Fayoz picked up two wickets each.
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Badminton: Players’ names announced
Dehradun, February 2 The singles comprise Prajwal Mehta, Vibhav Chauhan, Shivam Raturi, Tushar Babbar, Toshin Hyanki, Aaryesh Chauhan, Sidhant Kumar, Kaustubh Rawat, Himnshu Tiwari, Kianshu Pant, Saurava Sharma, Mohit Singh, Rajat Arora, Yash Raj, CH Vinay Sai Bodhit Joshi, Lakshya Sen, Viyom Chouhan and Chirag Sen. In doubles team, Arnav Agrawal, Prajwal Mehta, Shivam Raturi, Aaryesh Chauhan, Kaustusbh Rawat, Chirag Sen, Mohit Singh, Sidhant Kumar, Toshin Hyanki, Viyom Chouhan, Vaibhav Chouhan, Ujjawal Dobal, Tushar Babbar, Lakshya Sen and Bodhit Joshi will be members.
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ONGC’s conservation fortnight concludes
Dehradun, February 2 He talked of various means of conserving energy, like switching off the lights when not in use, using recommended appliances for cooking, avoiding wastage of food, turning off the vehicles at red lights. Anoop Kumar, GGM, Chief Technical Services, under whose guidance and leadership the fortnight was organised, expressed his optimism that such events always led to a new wave of conserving natural resources. He congratulated to the winners of various competitions held during the fortnight. B Ram, Group General Manager, in his address conveyed that continued efforts are required by all sections of society to conserve our precious resources without slowing down the development projects. He exhorted that now it was time for real action in line with lessons learned during this fortnight. KV Ravinder, GM, Head QAD, congratulated the award winners of various events and advised them to carry forward the message to all sections of society. RK Bahuguna, Chief Engineer (Electrical), Head-Corporate Energy Cell, indicated that increased energy consumption had forced people to focus on energy conservation. He shared that the ONGC was actively involved in energy conservation efforts for the past many years and elaborated the various events organised during the fortnight in and around
Dehradun.
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Awesome, breathtaking, unprecedented, unique, never seen before and majestic. These were the superlatives that one heard throughout the route of the Shahi Peshwayi
of Dashnaam Aahwaan Akhada.
Wetland Asan is set to get better funding in the days to come even as its recently prepared management plan has been submitted.
Haridwar, February 2
Governor Margaret Alva felicitated 90 NCC cadets of Uttarakhand, who had participated in the Republic Day ceremony in New Delhi, at Raj Bhawan here yesterday.
She congratulated the cadets for their efforts and diligent work to represent the state at such a grand event.
Dehradun, February 2
