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Cheetah to stage a comeback
Celebrations begin with Holika Dahan
A woman ties a thread at the Holika bonfire in Dehradun on Sunday. Tribune photo: Anil P Rawat |
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Tourists rush to Mussoorie for Holi
Ravi Shankar to celebrate Holi at Haridwar
Jhanda Mela: ASI fears setback to conservation work at shrine
ASI workers carry out restoration work on frescoes at Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib in Dehradun.
Tribune photo: Anil P Rawat
Govt, Ashok Leyland join hands to nurture engineers
MLA Jot Singh Gunsola being felicitated with title of “King of Mahamurkhs” at a
function in Mussoorie.
Artists saddened over MF Hussain’s exit from country
Col RB Thapa wins overall title
Pratap, Shivaji Sections win
Members to skip wildlife board meeting
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Cheetah to stage a comeback
Dehradun, February 28 One of the most challenging task ever taken by the WII, cheetah’s reintroduction will require the best of expertise and also a bit of caution to make it a success. However, the WII scientists, who have been assigned the task of a successful re-introduction of tiger in Sariska, are keeping high hopes. The WII, in collaboration with the WTI, will be developing a detailed blueprint of the project. Wild Facts
The WTI, which has proposed the reintroducing of cheetah in the Indian wild, has also geared up for March deliberations with the scientists of the WII. A senior wildcat expert of the WTI will be in Doon to be part of the deliberations. A strong votary of cheetah re-introduction, Dr MK Ranjitsinh, Chairman, WTI, links the reintroduction of cheetah to endangered grassland habitats in the country. He says while the cheetah reintroduction will ensure the return of this wild cat species into the country, it will also help in securing the grasslands and woodlands in the country that have been neglected so far. This will also work to the benefit of other endangered species that share these grasslands as common habitat with cheetah. A tiger expert and WII in charge for the project, Dr Yadvendradev Jhala, does not rule out a successful reintroduction of cheetah in the country. However, he lays stress on site specification for the success of any such reintroduction programme. Although, he admits it is still very early to come out with the cheetah introduction details.
Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, that hold potential sites for cheetah reintroduction, are likely to be involved in discussions with Rajasthan continuing to be the front-runner with the state most likely to suit this cheetah introduction initiative. Acknowledging this very fact, a meeting of wildlife experts and WTI officials was held at Bikaner in Rajasthan some months ago where initial work plan for the re-introduction of the big cat was chalked out. The WII’s March meeting comes as a follow up of the Rajasthan meeting. However, there have also been doubts if the project would see the light of the day. Member Secretary, NTCA, Rajesh Gopal had highlighted the potential threats to reintroduced animals, comparing it with those faced by tiger in India. Chief Wildlife Wardens (CWLW) of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states during the Bikaner meeting had favoured realistic assessment of the ground realities for the project. While raising their concerns, they had called for a detailed examination of several issues such as prey availability, habitat and conflict with humans before proceeding with any proposed reintroduction process. Nevertheless, African cheetah so far has been found the most suitable for reintroduction in India as getting Asian cheetah, now only found in Iran, will not be that easy taking into account its dwindling figures in that very country. But, then cheetah introduction will benefit the country, as it will make India the only country in the world to host six of the world’s eight large cats and the only one to have all large cats of Asia.
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Celebrations begin with Holika Dahan
Dehradun, February 28 With traditional gujias, there was petha, batisa and saon papri costing between Rs 120 and Rs 250 per kg were the hot favourite of customers. “Pure ghee sweets and namkeens has been especially prepared for the festival. The response till now has been above average and tomorrow also we expect to do a good business,” said Satyavatra Badoni, owner Bengali Sweets. Meanwhile, a large number children played Holi on the streets, and women in different parts of the city had started preparing for the Holika Dahan. They collected pieces of woods which were tied with a red thread. Then women prayed around the bonfire for the well being of their families. Later in the evening, the wood was burnt, signifying the beginning of Holi celebrations.
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Tourists rush to Mussoorie for Holi
Mussoorie, February 28 The tourists from Delhi and Punjab arrived in the town to spend holidays. Ranbir Singh, a tourist from Delhi, said as the shops would remain closed on the occasion of Holi in Delhi, they thought of enjoying the festival in Mussoorie. Another tourist Amit Sandilya from Narnol, Haryana, said it was a great opportunity for him to take a break from mundane routine and enjoy the festival in the mountains. However, the abrupt rush also meant traffic jam on the Mall Road due to lack of additional police force and parking facilities. Tourists had to wait for hours to reach their hotels due to huge rush in the town.
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Ravi Shankar to celebrate Holi at Haridwar
Dehradun, February 28 The programme will start at 9 am with the performance of Rudrabhishek followed by playing of colours, where people will play Holi with Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji and seek his blessings. There will also be divine satsang at the venue at 6.30 pm. The Art of Living has said everybody is welcome to this programme.
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Jhanda Mela: ASI fears setback to conservation work at shrine
Dehradun, February 28 Restraint and discipline are not the likeliest of virtues that will be practised with a huge number of visitors begin settling at most unlikeliest of places in the Darbar Sahib for rest and repose at night. Besides writing graffiti on the walls, even touching with grimy hands and rubbing heavy objects against the walls damage the work. “Visitors carelessly scribble graffiti. Sadly, we have to live with this. We have put up so many notice boards with instructions against such carelessness, but the result has not been encouraging,” said Mahant Devinder Dass of Guru Ram Rai Darbar Sahib. In fact, ASI officials faced similar problem while they were still carrying out work. “Our hard work comes unstuck when more graffiti appears the next day. As it is a private monument, we cannot do much,” said Madhusudan Uniyal, Assistant Superintendent, Archaeology Chemists. “So far 50 per cent of the conservation work has been completed and it will take another three years to do so,” said Devinder Dass. A repository of secular cultural ethos, the private heritage site is in use as the seat of the present Mahant and houses samadhis of Guru Ram Rai and his wives making it all the more difficult for the conservators to take on the restoration work where the norms set up by the ASI may be in slight variation. The project that started in 2004 with a budget of Rs 20 lakh as aid in grant was sanctioned by the Central government. The 17th century’s paintings completed in 1699 have varied influences of Mughal, Rajasthani, Kangri and Pahari styles. The use of floral designs and marigold flowers is all pervasive. The paintings tell mythological tales, scenes from Ras Leela, Ramayana and incidents from Guru Nanak Dev’s life. However, what stands out is the miniature painting of Noorjehan with a “pahari nath” at the entrance where the religious flag is hoisted. When the ASI undertook the conservation work, the task before it was both challenging and difficult as deterioration had already set in. “Many paintings were already destroyed others had soot and bird droppings and carelessly white washed with lime. Several of them could not be recovered,” said Uniyal. Local historian BP Kamboj, who has carried an in-depth study of the paintings, says the paintings were executed under the stewardship of Tulsi Ram and a group of artists at different times. “The Mughal style is all pervasive, with strong influences of pahari and Rajasthani styles of paintings that may have influenced the artists who hailed from Delhi”. Of particular importance is the tempera technique that the artists used for the inlay work and paintings. “This technique was employed in India, primarily because of the weather condition that comprises intense summer and rains. The material used by the artists was of high quality and to this day several paintings are intact despite the unsuitable conditions,” Uniyal added.
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Govt, Ashok Leyland join hands to nurture engineers
Dehradun, February 28 A collaborative initiative between the industry, the Chief Minister’s office and technical institutes of the state has been started. As per the blueprint of the Blessings programme, the technical training institutions will develop a comprehensive programme keeping in view the skill matrix required for developing fresh 10 plus II passouts into practising qualified engineers with a potential to climb the corporate ladder to become business managers. The state government will extend support for the implementation of the plan keeping in view the requirements of the industry and to broad-base education and employability of domiciles of Uttarakhand. The industry represented in this pioneering effort by Ashok Leyland will provide technical and infrastructure support for the development of knowledge and hands-on skills to meet the objectives of the plan. The company will pay around Rs 5,500 stipend to each selected student. On an average the company will spend more than Rs 6 lakh per student for the entire course. The focus is to recruit students from remote areas In the beginning, a total of 100 fresh 10 plus II students from the state will join the programme, Blessing at the campus of Ashok Leyland, Pantnagar and Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF). It is a prominent private educational trust in India, with its campuses all over South India. It was established in 1963 with Swiss Cooperation in order to provide purposeful quality education as these qualifications are widely accepted by industries in India and abroad. NTTF has one of the most rigorous diploma programmes in India with emphasis on practical and hands-on knowledge. “It was hoped that the number of students will reach 1,000 by March 2011,” claimed Chief Minister Nishank. The programme will lead to a diploma in manufacturing spanning four years offered by NTTF. The programme will provide the students with two-dimensional exposure ie knowledge base through classroom sessions and skills through hands-on practical exposure. The programme will provide industry a new breed of industry ready diploma engineers who will be the practising engineers with a potential to grow into business managers. The learning curve is collapsed for them to contribute from the first day of their induction into the industry. Diploma education is prerogative available to very few due to the limited educational facilities and the cost associated with the
programme. The programme opens new vistas wherein the diploma education is broad based and made available to a wider segment of society. The intellectually capable but financially impoverished population who are denied access to higher education have now an opportunity available to them wherein they learn and earn with no investment other than their commitment to self development. The students get a scholarship, which progressively increases in addition to canteen, transport facilities, medical and accident insurance and world-class welfare, health and safety measures.
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Mussoorie MLA gets ‘King of Idiots’ title
Mussoorie, February 28 Jot Singh received the title, which was in good humour on the occasion of Holi. The guests received a hat inscribed with humorous comments. The other guests felicitated on the occasion were MC president OP Uniyal, former MC president Manmohan Singh Mall, president of state Journalists Union Manmohan Lakera, Mussoorie Congress Sewa Dal president Ram Prasad Kavi. Coordinator Satish Kumar said titles were given to create humour and laughter on the eve of Holi. Chief guest on the occasion Jot Singh said he accepted the title, but only for one day. The speakers also read out humorous poems on the occasion. The programme was convened by Deepak Saxena, NP Dabral, Bhanu Kala, Dharamveer Saxena and others were present on
the occasion.
Prayers held
The Holi celebration began with the Holi Poojan ceremony in Mussoorie today. A large number of women gathered around the Holi bonfire and tied a thread around it and offered prayers with colours and lit lamps on the occasion. The delicacies like gujia and sweets were also prepared on the occasion. Bhang-mixed drink was also being offered which is an integral part of Holi celebrations here. The celebration took off with lighting
of bonfire. Numerous legends and stories associated with the celebration make the festival more exuberant and vivid. People rub gulal and abeer on each others' faces and cheer up saying, “Bura na maano Holi hai”.
Spiritual guru to visit Mussoorie
Spiritual head of the Art of Living organisation will bless devotees and city people with his visit on March 2 here. According to media coordinator Hemant Kundra, right now swamiji is in Rishikesh and scheduled to visit Mussoorie on Tuesday. It is learnt that he will also discuss the viability of a technical institute with Mussoorie Palika president. The palika has agreed on principle to donate 32 bigha land near Hussain Ganj to the organisation.
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Artists saddened over MF Hussain’s exit from country
The great artist of the country was forced to leave the country after the miscreants threatened his life. Sameer Shukla further says, “It is an irony that we can decorate a person with Padma Shri to Padma Vibhushan, but cannot guarantee him a respectful and safe living condition in his
own country”. Shukla also said the country could waste crores of rupees in the security of criminals and terrorists, be it Ajmal Kasab or Abu Salem, but displayed the highest level of indifference when it came to performing duties towards bonafide citizens.
Lambasting the government on it failure to provide security to artists and upholding the basic constitutional right of freedom of expression, Shukla said, “We can boast of our democratic values by welcoming the Dalai Lama, Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasreen and so on, but shamefully fail to provide the same conducive atmosphere to our assets like MF Hussain”. The episode of Hussain is a glaring example of narrow-mindedness and biased approach towards art and culture. Every responsible citizen of the country unanimously agreed towards the fact that if there was any deliberate attempt to let down any religion, caste, creed, gender or society, it should be dealt with firmly as per the rule of law and not through hooliganism. India is a country where art and art forms covered all aspects of life and nudity was never considered to be a taboo. Interestingly, it has been most prominently displayed in temples and other sacred places. It shows that our ancestors were mature and more balanced in their approach and they saw nothing blasphemous in it. Shukla was of the view that “when we brand ourselves as more civilised and educated, our behaviour takes a reverse direction. This downswing is unfortunate and just not acceptable”. He demanded that the government should enter into a dialogue and persuade Hussain to change his decision of leaving the country with the assurance of extensive security and an appeal to the nation to see that no one dared harm him. He also said such precedence did not augur well for the country and art would not be able to flourish freely under such fear of the right wingers in the country.
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Col RB Thapa wins overall title
Dehradun, February 28 More than 100 golfers from the FRI, IMA, FRIMA, ONGC, OGA and DSOI participated in the meet. The participants were awarded for overall card, longest drive, closest to the pin, best lady golfer. The various age groups include 75 years and above, 55 to 75 & 55 years and below. The FRIMA Golf Course was made available by Commandant Lt General RS Sujlana to promote active golf for which they extended complete support to Sikand Golf and Tennis. The tournament was teed-of by Ranjit Sikand, Michal Dalvi, Madhav Dalvi and Saini. The tournament was managed by SK Nandal and Atul Sikand. Sujlana gave away the prizes to the winners. The results were as follows: Overall winner 1st postion: Col RB Thapa. 2nd position: Col UC Kothari. 3rd position MR Anil Raja Vijayan. Category winner: Age less than 75 years: 1st Capt RS Sood. 2nd Major-Gen Samsher Singh. Age 55 to 75 years: 1st Col KS Mann. 2nd Col LC Rana. Age 55 years and below: 1st SK Nandal. 2nd Col Vipul Singhal. In women: 1st Jyotika Shamsher Singh. 2nd Vasundhara Nangia. Special prizes: Longest drive: Major Mudgill. Nearest to the pin: Col RS Dhillon.
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Pratap, Shivaji Sections win
Dehradun, February 28 The first phase of the Inter-section Cricket Competition commenced here today with two matches- one each of seniors and juniors being played. The seniors’ match was played between Chandragupta and Pratap Section where Pratap finally triumphed in a nail biting victory. In the juniors’ match, which was played between Shivaji and Ranjit Section, the Shivaji section utterly demolished the Ranjit Cricket team. The final scores were as follows: 1. Chandragupta vs Pratap (seniors): Chandragupta: 106 /10in 20 overs. Pratap: 107/9 in 19.3 overs. Highest Wicket Taker: Cdt Abhimanyu Dubey (Pratap) with 3 Wickets. Highest Run scorer: Cdt Abhimanyu Dubey (Pratap) with 28 runs. Man of the Match: Cdt Abhimanyu Dubey (Pratap) 2. Shivaji vs Ranjit (juniors) Shivaji: 92/10 in 19.3 overs. Ranjit: 50/10 in 14.4 overs. Highest Wicket Taker: Cdt Arjun (Ranjit) with 3 Wickets and Cdt Shiv Shakti (Ranjit) with 3 Wickets. Highest run scorer: Cdt Kumar Vikram (Shivaji) with 31 runs. Man of the Match: Cdt Kumar Vikram (Shivaji) The umpires for the event were Cdt Suryaprakash and Cdt Gokul Mahajan who presided over the seniors while Cdt Karan and Cdt Rupesh Kumar presided over the juniors. The co-coordinator of the event was Brijesh Chauhan, Dean of Sports.
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Members to skip wildlife board meeting
Dehradun, February 28 The meeting assumes a great significance as it is the platform that caters to policy decisions linked to
the wildlife. Expressing anguish over repeated ignorance of conservationists, Rajendra Agarwal of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) argued that many of the members of wildlife board were not being invited for the meeting. “I was not even invited in the January meeting following which I had to write to the Chief Minister,” Agarwal observed. “While the meeting take several key decisions, absence of representatives from conservationists’ organisation will prove detrimental to wildlife conservation policies for the state,” he added. The Chief Minister heads the 32-member state wildlife board, which apart from top forest officials of the state, includes conservationists’ organisations, top administration, Army and police officials and the experts from
the wildlife.
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Come March and scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, will be making a beginning to explore ways for re-introduction of cheetah in India. Cheetah became extinct in the country almost six decades back. Cheetah Reintroduction Project, as it is being known, will be carried out under the active assistance of the Wild Trust of India.
With Holi at the doorstep, enthusiastic Doonites on Sunday were found busy doing preparations to welcome the festival amid family and friends.
Dehradun, February 28
Mussoorie, February 28