Haridwar, February 16
For the young Russian spiritual seekers participating in the Maha Kumbh, renunciation and penance may be difficult to come by, but they are slowly getting conversant with Hindu tradition and philosophy at a luxury tent of Swami Vishnudevanand, the Russian disciple of Pilot Baba.

Vishnudevanand, a Russian swami at Juna Akhada and a Mahamandaleshwar, is camping at Haridwar, along with 70 followers from Russia and Ukraine.

The camp has become a centre of attraction even though there is no dearth of foreign sadhus and sanyasis camping at various akhada tents.

Unable to converse in Hindi, Russian students in their teens and early 20s, sometimes dressed in white flowing garments and at other times in saffron robes, have been following every word and move of their guru.

Divya Chetna, a functionary at Pilot Baba’s camp ensures that the entire Russian entourage partakes langar at the fixed time. Lessons have been planned for them in yoga and Hindu divinity.

Swami Vishnudevanand, who became a sanyasi at the age of 26 years, spends most of his time propagating the message of Guru Dattareya and Addatityavad.

Indian spirituality in its several manifestations continues to be popular in Russia. “We recently organised the biggest religious congress on Indian spirituality in Moscow that attracted a lot of visitors from the erstwhile Soviet Union republics,” he said.

The process of attracting foreign sadhus and scholars continues to be popular even now, long after Indian holy men set up bases abroad in the ’60s. Indian philosophy adds to the profile and appeal of the holy men.

“Our Indian philosophy speaks about the universe being one big family, so no one should frown upon our associations abroad. I have already given diksha to 1.5 lakh foreign disciples,” said the swami.

Avdheshanand Giri, Junapeethadheeshvar, never fails to talk about his Malaysian disciples among whom is a senior-ranked police officer.

Dehradun, February 16
The police setup in the state capital is not satisfied with the intelligence reports coming from the Centre, especially in the wake of the recent bomb blast in Pune, indicating that the Indian Military Academy (IMA) and Kumbh area could be on the terror-hit list.

“We have had several warnings about possible terror threats by the Central intelligence agencies, but these are neither specific nor give any other clue about the organisation that may be active or planning to carry out an attack. It is also difficult to pinpoint which area will be the possible target of terrorists if at all they are planning to attack”.

“We cannot put our force on a high alert in suspected areas all 365 days of the year since we have to utilise our force at other places as well. Kumbh, IMA, Doon School, Woodstock, railway station and bus stand are all soft targets and even we know that,” said a senior police officer of the state.

However, sources claim that the local police too has poor intelligence network. There is no coordination among various intelligence agencies at the state level and seldom is there any intelligence sharing. “The state doesn’t have an EOW while seldom is any help taken from the CID. The local intelligence agency has to be strengthened and it has to be more professional in the wake of the recent terrorist activities,” emphasised a senior retired officer.

Meanwhile, the police is taking no chances and has beefed up security at the IMA, Kumbh area and other sensitive places, particularly where foreigners are staying. “Out of the total visitors coming to Haridwar for the Maha Kumbh, 1 per cent are foreigners, which makes quite a good crowd of foreigners. Thus, putting in place foolproof security measures for them becomes a concern for us,” the senior officer said.

The police has also tightened security at three German bakeries situated in Rishikesh besides around six hotels and dharamshalas. The police has installed CCTV cameras at all hotels and dharamshalas.

Police sources said now almost every hotel and dharamshala had installed a CCTV cameras since it was mandatory by the authorities concerned.

Haridwar, February 16
While most religious heads and Maha Mandaleshwars visiting Haridwar for the Maha Kumbh are associated with religious and spiritual causes, there is a saint with a difference, who, apart from religious aspect, has global vision as his agenda.

Soham Baba’s mission is to fight a global problem which is affecting the whole world i.e. global warming. Established in 1991 and headquartered in the Netherlands, Soham Baba has as many followers in India as worldwide. Basically he is a neurosurgeon and his approach towards global warming is as clinical as he used to take while operating his patients.

The mission focuses on wholeness, health and harmony and is quite different from other religious organisations.

Soham Baba is clear in his approach and determined to rein in the ways which are leading to globe warming and affecting the ecosystem of the earth. He is a name to be reckoned with worldwide. He has involved his mission in various works in more than 120 odd countries and is now taking forward it to Haridwar via the Maha Kumbh. And for a global problem he has chosen a global platform, which surely is yielding results.

He is urging his followers to take this global problem seriously and is combining this cause with the religious aspect too. His advice is simple: The number of dips one takes in the holy Ganga, the number of trees he should plant.

So his effect is bearing fruit and apart from his followers, common people are too joining in his mission.

It is not that the Baba is confined to planting of trees only, but through his own resources is purifying and cleaning the Ganga ghats and Haridwar city. On his initiative, pesticides and other chemicals are being sprayed at various spots to minimise risk of vector-borne diseases.

The Baba points out that as the Maha Kumbh is a big platform, he felt it the best opportunity to spread awareness about the global warming and has got tremendous response.

Local people and devotees from other states now know Soham Baba and his mission. His large fan-following comprising mostly foreigners and the Baba guarded by foreigner security guards itself lend a unique identity to him and add to his spiritual aura.

Many still remember his followers who hogged the limelight as they carried placards with social messages during the Peshwayi of the Maha Niranjani Akhada.

Roorkee, February 16
From now onwards, technology education and technical labs of IIT, Roorkee, can be shared by students of other engineering institutes of the country.

This will be made possible through virtual labs, which will start functioning at the institute by the next academic session, claimed the IIT-R authorities.

Giving details about the virtual labs, Dr Vinod Kumar, Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering, here said the object was to invite all B Tech and M Tech students across the country to perform bio-medical experiments on the virtual workbench provided by our Virtual Bio-medical Lab via Internet.

“The virtual bio-medical and instrumentation workbench is a venture of the Indian government to give students of each and every technical institute of the country, an easy and effective access to the costly laboratory instruments through virtualisation of the lab equipments in IITs. This virtual bio-medical workbench is created and maintained by the Bio-medical Lab of Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT, Roorkee. The complete menu of virtual bio-medical experiments encompasses almost the entire range of experiments covered in the technical institutes of India at B Tech and M Tech level. Specifically, we have provided experiments related to EEG, ECG, EMG and pulse oximator,” said Dr Kumar.

He further added that the virtual experiments could be conducted in two modes only through all-time accessible experiments on synthetically generated bio-medical signals and demand experiments on real human subjects.

Under the project, which has been started initially with the funds of Rs 2 crore by MHRD, the IIT-R will put the labs of three of its departments-civil, electrical and electronics engineering.

“In the first step, the students will be able to switch on the experiment from remote through Internet and be able to perform electrical machine lab experiments and experiments on bio-medical equipments as if they are doing the experiments in a lab. They will also be able to change the parameter/settings from remote, take readings and then do the calculations also. We would make it possible by connecting our machines to TCP/IP protocol,” said Dr Kumar.

The effort is being done under the national mission on education through the Information and Communication Technology (ICT).All seven IITs in the country have been reportedly allotted Rs 200 crore under the ICT project, while the IIT-R will be funded with Rs 12 crore for their virtual lab project.

The coordinator is IIT-Delhi, said Dr Kumar, adding under this project, labs of all engineering disciplines were being developed by the joint efforts of all IITs and other institutes.

Dehradun, February 16
A daylong workshop on National Environment Awareness was organised today at Phulchand Nari Shilp Mandir Girls Inter-College. “Jalvayu Parivartan” was the theme of the workshop held under the aegis of Swayum organisation in association with Devoted Organisation of Reforming Environment (DORE).

Ramkrishna Mukherjee, Director, Technical and Research Network, presided over the workshop rendering the consequences of the climatic changes leading to global warming. Mukherjee, is a renowned geologist and an expert in disaster management.

While addressing the students gathered at the workshop, Virmani, secretary of Swayum, said the global warming was a result of human negligence. Use of polythene bags, chopping down of trees and littering garbage at every nook and corner of society would surely lead humanity towards the world’s end. Therefore, the organisation is aiming at spreading awareness among people to save environment and conserve natural heritage.

On the occasion, district-level poster competition on adverse effect of climatic changes was held at the school campus. Mukherjee presented awards to the winners of the competition. Poonam Rana of Phulchand Nari Shilp Mandir Girls Inter-College stood first, Amit Kumar, Rajkiya Inter College, Khudbuda, second, and Ranjan Kumar, Rajkiya Inter College, Dobhalwala, third.

PrincipalKusum Rani Naithani, teachers, members of Swayum, Dinesh Chandra Joshi, Manju Saxena and Mona Bali and students were present at the event.

Dehradun, February 16
Shri Guru Ram Rai (PG) College celebrated its annual function with merriment here today. The chief guest for the occasion was leader of Opposition Harak Singh Raawat, Director of the Sai Institute of Paramedical and Allied Sciences Harish Arora and distinguished faculty members and students.

Students cheered and presented a series of colourful events.

After a welcome speech by VA Bourai, Principal, SGRR (PG) College, the function began with a captivating dance performance by an NSS student. Following the dance, was a solo singing performance by Ashima on “Ye hosala kaise jhuke...”.

The highlight of the day was Uttarakhand’s dance and song performances by the Chauhan troop from Delhi. A Garhwali dance performance was appreciated by one and all.

The function concluded with staff faculty members thanking students and guests for their coordination.

Dehradun, February 16
The RPCA team registered a 47-run win over the New Indian Star team at the Suresh Chand Memorial Cricket Tournament underway at Matawalabag here today.

Batting first, the RPCA team scored 126 runs in 20 overs, Virat was the highest scorer for the team. He smashed 36 runs off 29 balls, hitting four fours in his innings.

Middle order batsman Rohit also played a crucial knock of 24 runs helping his team accelerate the run rate. Lower order batsman Prince came up with a fiery knock of 33 runs off 23 balls.

For New Indian Star, Hukesh claimed three wickets, whereas Harmu and Rohit took two wickets each.

In reply, the New Indian Star team was all out for 79 runs. None of the batsman occupied the crease for a long. Opener Vickey was out for a duck, whereas Vineet and Mukesh made five runs. Gajender made 7 runs.

It was lower order batsman Laxman who showed some resistance and scored 14 runs off 10 balls.

For the New Indian Star team, Rohit took three wickets, whereas Marmu and Norinath took two wickets each. 

Dehradun, February 16
The Abhimanyu Cricket Academy (ACA) team has made it to the semifinal of the 58th District Cricket League underway at Survey Stadium here today. In the first semifinal, ACA team defeated Old Garhwal by six wickets.

Batting first, the ACA scored 196 runs off 39.2 overs. Abhimanyu gave a strong start to the team scoring 38 runs of 78 balls. First down batsman Ravi Negi scored 32 runs off 25 balls. Vaibhav Panwar scored 30 runs. For Abhimanyu Cricket Academy, Parmod claimed three wickets, whereas Ankit and Sharad took two wickets each.

In reply, Rao Cricket Academy failed to reach the target with ease. Kiran Singh scored 46 runs, whereas Anil Pal made 35 runs, whereas Amit made 36 runs. But none other batsman delivered could sore big and the team could only mange to score 174 runs. For ACA team, Sunny took three wickets whereas Paritosh claimed four wickets.

Meanwhile in the quarterfinal match, the Uttarakhand Police team registered a six wickets win over Old Garhwal team. Batting first Old Garhwal team scored 153 runs in 35.2 overs. Opener Sudhir scored 18 runs, whereas Arun made 14 runs.

First down batsman Madan made 14 runs. It was the middle order batsman Ravi and Arun stabilised the innings for Old Garhwal team.

Ravi made 34 runs, whereas Arun made 42 runs. For Uttarakhand Police team, Lalit, Ravi and Harsh took two wickets each.

Chasing the victory target of 153 runs, Uttarakhand Police team reached the target with six wickets in hand. Harsh made 20 runs, whereas Neeraj made 53 runs. Middle order batsman Ravinder scored 44 runs. For Old Garhwal, Amit was the lead wicket taker with three wickets and Abhishek took one wickets. 

Dehradun, February 16
As a big relief to pachyderms in the country, an 11-member task force has been constituted in the country under Project Elephant that will look into issues linked to elephants both in captivity and in the wild.

The Union Minister of Environment and Forests-constituted task force will recommend measures, including amendments to strengthen elephant conservation in the country under the 1972 Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Identifying and defining elephant reserves and ranges at the landscape level, coming up with solutions to check man-elephant conflict, recommending specialised training for filed staff and bringing Project Elephant at par with Project Tiger by institutionalising framework for Project Elephant will be high on the agenda of the task force for wild elephants.

For captive elephants the task force will be looking into the aspects of training and certification of mahouts, veterinarian care and management guidelines, creation of elephant rescue centres and monitoring of captive elephants.

Rescue centres for captive elephants continue to be major issue for elephant inhabitant states as most of these are devoid of such facilities.

Lack of veterinary care for pachyderms has also been a matter of concern.

Headed by an expert in wildlife history, Dr Mahesh Rangarajan, the 11-member task force has Dr S Sukumar, Professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISC, Bangalore, Karnataka, Dr Sushant Chowdhary, Scientist, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and Vivek Menon, Executive Director, Wildlife Trust of India, as some of its members.

Project Elephant steering committee members like Dr PS Easa, former Head, KFRI, Trichur, Kerala, Dr S Vincent from the Department of Advanced Zoology, Loyola College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, Ajay Desai Co-Chairman, IUCN Specialist Group on Asian Elephant, Belgaum, Karnataka, are other members in the task force.

Welcoming the constitution of the task force, a pachyderm expert working in Uttarakhand Dr AK Singh said hopefully the task force would be able to come up with solutions to the growing problems of man-elephant conflicts affecting the elephant predominant states of the country.

After completion of the study, the task force would submit its recommendations in the form of report by May-end.

Dehradun, February 16
Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) will organise the first inter-college competition from February 17 to 26. The competition will see the participation of 20 colleges.

Addressing the press conference, Registrar of UTU, Prof HC Nainwal said the university had decided to organise various competitions like football, basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, athletics etc with a view to promote the games. The competition will be organised in association with the Uttarakhand Cricket Association (UCA).

Disclosing further, he said inter-college cricket competition would be organised at three venues that included Maharana Pratab Sports College, Survey Stadium and Abhimanyu Cricket Academy (ACA).

Umpire and scorers for the competition were arranged from Uttar Pradesh.

All teams at the competition were divided into four groups and each group contained five teams. One team from each group would qualify for the semifinals. Nainwal revealed that competition would be played on knockout bases.

Meanwhile, the football competition would be organised from March 6 to 10 and athletics from March 2 to 5. 

Dehradun, February 16
Rising Star team defeated the United Cricket Club by four wickets at the Jitender Singh Anand Memorial Cricket Tournament underway at OFD Stadium here today.

Batting first, the United Cricket Club team scored 132 runs in 20 overs. Ritish made 27 runs, Sandeep scored 31 runs and Amit scored 23 runs.

For Rising Star team Sumit took two wickets, whereas Kannhaiya took three wickets.

Chasing the victory target of 133 runs, the Raising Star comfortably reached the target with four wickets in hand. Twinkle made highest 48 runs, whereas Anuj scored 34 runs for their team. For United Cricket team, Amit claimed three wickets.