Haridwar, February 17
India and Nepal share a special bond and both countries have much in common culturally, religiously, geographically, politically and economically. In many ways like yoga, ayurveda, they compliment each other.

This was stated by Nepal’s first democratically elected President Dr Ram Baran Yadav in Haridwar who is on a personal-religious visit to the Kumbh city.

Ram Baran stressed on the age-old friendly ties between the two nations pointing that our friendship has been nurtured and had withstood the test of time.

The Nepalese President reached Haridwar from New Delhi around noon and first went to Doodhadhari Ashram where he sought the blessings of ashram saints. He then headed to Har-ki-Pauri VIP ghat for a dip along with his family members.

Then, the President’s cavalcade headed to Pilot Baba’s ashram-cum-camp at Neel Dhara mela area.

The Baba honoured the President and Baran sought his blessings. He also registered his profile in the documentation record book of his family purohit.

The President’s family purohit Sanjay Gautam informed that the family has been registering its profile for several generations.

Speaking to The Tribune, President Yadav opined that relations between India and Nepal were heading in the right direction and despite some differences, the bond between both countries remained strong.

On the issue of global terrorism, Baran said that the time has come for the world to unite against the global menace. On the new constitution which is to be promulgated this year, he said that Nepal needs help and support from India in this regard as well.

Later, President Ram Baran went to yoga guru Swami Ramdev’s Patanjali Yogpeeth and had a chat with the swami. Baran, himself a surgeon, lauded the efforts of Swami Ramdev in spreading healthy life concepts and yoga not only in India but also around the world. He wished that projects as being carried out by the Patanjali Yogpeeth should be replicated in Nepal.

Two yogpeeths are being constructed in Nepal - one at Janakpur and the other at Kathmandu.

Acharya Balakrishan also welcomed the Nepalese President and assured of Patanjali Yogpeeth’s cooperation to the Nepal government in spreading yoga and ayurveda.

Accompanying Baran were his son Chandra Mohan Yadav, daughter Anita Yadav and cousin Kiran Yadav who is a parliamentarian. Elated at visiting Haridwar during Kumbh, Anita and Kiran said that as India and Nepal share too many similarities, they feel at home in India.

Pitthoragarh, February 17
Preparations for the famous 75-day-long Purnagiri fair, which is scheduled to start from March 2 at Tanakpur in Champawat district, has come to a halt following a dispute between the district panchayat and the forest authorities.

The Forest Department, for the first time after the Forest Act was enacted in 1986, has demanded an assurance from the zila panchayat, the organising body of the fair, that this Act will not be violated during the organisation of the fair. “We are adamant not to allow violation of the law this year. Despite our request, the zila panchayat did not respond even last year,” said AK Gupta, District Forest Officer (DFO), Champawat.

According to the department, the annual fair, which attracts nearly 50 lakh devotees from western Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and parts of Haryana, covers 75 per cent of the reserved forest area during the mela time and non-forest activities are carried out during the fair. “Out of the 26-km mela area, 15 km falls under reserved forest for which the district panchayat of Champawat never takes permission from the department before auctioning it to the shopkeepers every year,” said Gupta.

Champawat Zila Panchayat Chairperson Preema Pandey says if the forest authorities do not cooperate with the Zila Panchayat, the latter will lose nearly Rs 30 lakh out of Rs 40 lakh it earned from the fair every year. “If this proposal will be forced on the mela organisers this year, we will demand compensation from the Centre as this mela is only major source of income for this zila panchayat,” said Pandey.

The Champawat Zila Panchayat authorities said the land in which the shops were set up during the mela belonged to the PWD and not to the Forest Department. “It is not the Forest Department but the district administration which gives us land to be auctioned for setting up parking lots and shops,” Pandey added.

The Forest Department, which is under pressure after an RTI inquiry by Ajay Rawat, an environmental activist of Nainital, about the violation of the Forest Act in the mela area, is adamant to stop its violation at the mela this time. “If the organisers of this fair do not act on our advice, the Forest Department will refer the case either to the Central empowerment committee of the Supreme Court or local courts,” said the DFO.

Pitthoragarh, February 17
As Holi draws near, the Kumaon region appears to be getting into the Holi mood with people gathering in towns and villages to sing Holi songs.

These recitals are gaining momentum not only in cultural centres like Almora, but also in Nainital, Ramnagar, Haldwani, Champawat and Pitthoragarh towns where these occasions have entered their next phase from Mahashivratri day.

In the Kumaoni tradition, there are three phases to Holi singing. This time, it began on the first Sunday of Paus (December 13, 2009) and will culminate on Holi.

“In the first phase, devotional songs based on classical ragas are sung to please incarnations of Lord Vishnu - Rama and Krishna.

“In the second phase, the singers move into the ‘sringar’ mode and the various ragas used are devoted to the dawn of spring. During the final phase, which begins on Mahashivratri, the singing becomes a mode of enjoyment, entertainment and has in it the colours of spring,” said Shiv Charan Pandey, a legendary Holi singer from the Hukka Club, Almora.

“We start singing from raga Pilu and conclude with raga Bhairavi. Some new singers also sing in Pahari Shivranjani and Kalawati ragas,” said Jagdish Punera, a singer from the Shor valley of Pitthoragarh district.

According to Shiv Charan Pandey, Holi singing in the Kumaon region was started by singers from the great Ranpur gharana for which the Vaishnav content was provided by Nautanki players of Mathura.

“But the influence of classical singing introduced during 1850-60 by the great musician of Rampur Ustad Amanullahan Khan is still deeply present in Kumaoni Holi. The ustad simplified the tough classics and made it congenial for common singers,” said Shiv Charan Pandey.

In Pitthoragarh and Gangolihat area of Kumaon, the two forms of holi singing - sitting and standing - are prevalent.

The tradition in Kumaon begins with the sitting form at Almora, converts into standing and moving form in Kali Kumaon region of Champawat and Shor area of Pitthoragarh district towards the last phase of Holi.

Punera said that the sitting form that is sung in various ragas namely Pilu, Kalyan, Kaphi Khamaj and Jaijaivanti began in the Gangolihat region and was protected by the Chand Kings of Kumaon in the medieval age.

Haridwar, February 17
After the much turmoil over Gurukul Kangri University being stripped of deemed university status, along with 44 other universities across the country, a team from the University Grants Commission (UGC) inspected the university campus.

A seven-member team assessed the facilities and following of the criteria as set up by the UGC. The committee team is headed by Panjab University Vice-Chancellor RS Sobti, Additional Secretary Satish Ahuja, Prof Jayaram Reddy, Dr Seema Bawa, Dr SK Bansal, Dr DD Pandey and RK Saini.

The committee members inspected all departments of the university. They also had talks with teaching staff members as well as non-teaching staff employees.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Swatantra Kumar gave a presentation to the committee and said Gurukul was working for the culture of the country and also had produced freedom fighters. “The Vedas, sanskriti, philosophy and other related subjects are in themselves filled with moral education and Gurukul University is the flag-bearer in this regard”.

Professor Kumar added keeping in tune with the times, the university had also technical education courses. From MSc, MBA, MCA to engineering courses, Gurukul University has all such modern employment-related subjects. “Gurukul is keeping a perfect balance between science and yoga, technical and spiritual as well as moral education,” added Prof Swatantra Kumar.

Earlier in the morning, the UGC team took part in the yagya rituals at the university hawanshala. Chancellor Prof Ved Prakash Shastri presided over the hawan rituals which were coordinated by Dr Mahavir Aggarwal. 

Dehradun, February 17
Virendra won gold in 800 m at the annual sports meet of the S Bhagwan Singh Post-Graduate Institute of Biomedical Science and Research here today. Kishor came up with a silver-winning performance and Bhupendra had to be satisfied with a bronze medal. The three-day event saw the participation of large number of college students.

In long jump, Amrit gave an outstanding performance to clinch gold, Virender claimed silver and Puspendra got bronze. Among girls, Kamini clinched gold, Akanksha won silver and Pankaj had to settle for bronze.

In discus throw (boys), Rajesh Negi came out on top while Rahul Singh won bronze. Ankit won gold in the girls category. Jyoti clinched silver and Roshandeep bronze.

Shekhar gave an outstanding performance to occupy the first place followed by Vivek Gaur and Rahul Singh respectively. Terisa bagged first place among girls, Ankita was second and Priyanka was third.

Virendra clinched the gold in triple jump, Amrit had to settle for silver and Kishor had to be satisfied with bronze. In the end, there was a race for senior staff members that was won by Neelum Maharishi.

Dehradun, February 17
Uttarakhand Police has made it to the final of the 58th District Cricket League. In the second semifinal, Uttarakhand Police defeated Pan Business by six wickets.

Batting first, Pan Business scored 259 runs off 40 overs. Lokesh gave a flying start to the team, smashing 34 runs off 36 balls. The other opener Ravi made 23 runs off 16 balls. First down batsman Subodh along with Harender kept the run rate up for the team.

Subodh made 34 runs and Harender scored 48 runs. Lower order batsman Rajiv played a important knock of 53 runs off 36 balls. For Uttarakhand Police, Navnish picked up three wickets.

In reply, Uttarakhand Police reached the target with six wickets in hand. Naresh played a scintillating innings of 118 runs off 90 balls. Neeraj scored 53 off 49 balls. Narender scored 25 runs. For Pan Business, Rajneesh, Subodh, Harender and Lokesh took one wicket each.