Haridwar, March 13
The deformities and negativities that have crept in our society 
and human beings will be cured by the goodness of Indian culture, with spirituality, yoga and ayurveda playing a pivotal role in this transformation.

This was stated by yoga guru Swami Ramdev at the concluding ceremony of the International Yoga Festival held at Dev Sanskriti University in Haridwar today.

Stating that a resurgent India will be a super power in future and will be leading the world Swami Ramdev said Shantikunj, along with his own Patanjali Vidyapeeth, will be instrumental in strengthening the inner conscience as well as maintaining one’s health.

“Both Patanjali and Shantkunj are working on the same methods and ideologies. The results are there all to see, but this is a process which needs time as well as selfless contribution from every citizen,” said Ramdev.

Shantikunj, founder Acharya, Shri Ram Sharma’s vision, was also focussed in the festival, especially his forecast of the 20th century vision of India, becoming a stronger world power.

“We have to bring back black money put in foreign bank accounts as 40 crore people of India are not getting two-time meals. This way we can’t be said to be on progressive path, only a healthier nation can be called fully developed,” said the yoga guru.

Adding on to his guru’s words, Acharya Balakrishan, Vice-Chancellor, said yoga was the key to one’s inner and outer problems. On ayurveda, Acharya Balakrishan said this therapy was not limited to medicinal herbs only, but was also instrumental in generating one’s conscience.

“Ayurveda and yoga are related to each other and not aligned to any specific religion, and we put forth yoga-ayurveda with scientific demonstrations if someone doubts their credentials,” remarked Balakrishan.

Gyan Bharti awardee Juna Akhada chief Mahamandaleshwar Swami Avdeshanand Saraswati said literature in Shantikunj, especially by Shri Acharya Shri Ram, had given way to revolution in literature. He said by following directions of yoga, one could get full benefit of this form.

He further added that one needed to have a stronger character and discipline for maximum results.

At the concluding ceremony, Chancellor Dr Pranav Pandya termed the success of the yoga festival as a good sign for Haridwar and India and proclaimed that soon Haridwar would be not only of India, but also of the whole world’s spiritual city.

Today’s sessions were addressed by Indian Business Academy, Bangalore, Dean Prof Subash Sharma and New Jersey United States of America Dr Rajeev Malhotra.

A book was also released compiled by Dr Subash Sharma at the function.

A gala cultural night was organised in the evening.

Mussoorie, March 13
In a joint press conference of the Nainital and Mussoorie Hotel Associations held in Mussoorie yesterday, members expressed their fears that the tourism industry was on its last legs due to the flawed policies of the state government. The members were of the view that the incessant increase in the tax structure had given a death blow to the already struggling industry due to recession and terrorism since last year.

The hoteliers also said the government had done nothing to increase the tourist flow at Haridwar, Mussoorie, Nainital and Dehradun. Therefore, it had lost the moral right to collect increased VAT and luxury tax from them.

The government, they said, was also adamant towards change in the tourism policy according to the present global scenario, whereas states like Goa, Rajasthan and Kerala had adapted to it with ease.

The hoteliers demanded that the government roll back the increase in VAT and luxury tax with immediate effect to provide some relief to the industry.

They also said the present government had also failed to create new tourist destinations like the Tehri Lake and Lakhamandal. The government was considering Kanwarias and religious pilgrims as tourists which was wrong as very little revenue was generated from them.

The members said if their demands were not met, the hoteliers would be forced to begin a long-lasting movement and bring tourism to standstill. MHA president RN Mathur, general secretary Ajay Bhargav, GS Manchanda, Sandeep Sahni, Nidesh Shah from Nainital and others were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, March 13
With Navratras only two days ahead, the market is ready to strike hard on the pockets of the common man, as the price of fruits and vegetables have gone beyond his reach.

Apparently, while bananas are sold at Rs 30 to Rs 40, grapes are priced at Rs 50 per kg and cheeku between Rs 40 to Rs 50 per kg. However, the least bought fruits are apples, pomegranates, pineapples, black grapes and strawberries.

Not only the leafy veggies and fruits, but the prices of the petty spices like coriander powder, chili powder and turmeric powder have also compelled people to think twice before buying these. Coriander powder that was around Rs 60 per kg last month is now selling at Rs 120 per kg.

“My kids love to have lemonade after returning from school, but the price of lemons has squeezed the taste out of our pockets too with their price of Rs 80 to Rs 100 per kg. The price of green chillies has risen to Rs 40 per kg. Tomatoes, peas, bottle gourd, carrots, beans are all pricey. Unfortunately, the price of garam masala has been positioned next to gold with Rs 380 per kg,” said Nirmala Bhatt, a homemaker.

“Earlier, we used to have a whole apple individually, but now one apple is cut into pieces and then shared by all family members. The present scenario of the price rise has made us think twice before buying anything. I see no scope of declination in price rise in the coming future,” she added.

The above quote echoes disappointment in every common man’s heart. Not only veggies and fruits are running short in the routine household, but the dairy products with their nutritional contents are also now disappearing from the houses of the common man. Till now several people have been eating these as their staple diet, but the rocketing prices will put a signboard of “no” to these.

Sunny, an owner of fruit and vegetable shop at Karanpur, said, “Earlier, I used to gain mounting profits from my business, but now the scenario is entirely different. Few people come to buy fruits and take potatoes, tomatoes and onions, which has made my business plummet”.

“In fruits, bananas, guavas, grapes and oranges are sold mostly, while apples, pears and pomegranate go untouched by the buyers. The stringent price hike have clouded many sufferers like me,” he added.

Another trader of the grocery store, Sanjay said the sky-rocketing price of the spices to the sources, the retail price of the eatables had risen to 25 per cent in the retail market within a span of one month and is presumed to go higher. The reason behind the hike in the prices of vegetable, lentils and poultry products are increasing price of inputs like seeds, manure, fertilisers and implements.

The supply of these eatables and its perishable nature are the prime factor that determined the price hike.

“It’s the high time that the government’s participation and contribution have to be implemented in the economy. The inflationary budgeting presented by the Centre has determined to make holes into the pockets of every bread earner. Buyers as well as sellers will sense some respite if the prices of the basic utility items come down within the reach of the common man. Otherwise, the people will be only dreaming of buying fruits and vegetables in future,” said Pratibha Mehra, a complainer.

Dehradun, March 13
While the police has been unable to maintain the already setup police assistance booths, which are in a pitiable condition, it has decided to come up with more such booths in the city.

The police said every two beats would have a police assistance booth and all these would be ready within a month or so. Two constables were deployed at every booth and it would help the police to act fast in case of any untoward incident.

Jagatram Joshi, Superintendent of Police (City), said, “We are revamping all police beats and new police assistance booths are being set up in the city. Every two beats will have a police information booth and in about a month’s time the work will be completed”.

“One such booth has been set up at Dilaram Chowk with two constables deployed there and it has proved helpful to residents. These booths will obviously help the police and the public if any incident occurs to solve it immediately and easily,” added Joshi.

However, on the contrary, the police has failed to maintain the police assistance booths already there in the city. Several such booths are found broken and posters pasted on these.

One such booth situated outside MKP Girls College is in a shambles and most of the time sans cops. This is despite the fact that several incidents of eve-teasing and misbehaviour with girls have come to light here. Though the police had launched its drive to nab such offenders by deploying women cops in plain clothes in the area, after some period of time they were withdrawn.

Nainital, March 13
The Kumaon University authorities have decided to reschedule the examinations to various courses that were earlier scheduled to start from March 22. The examinations will now start from March 29 instead.

The decision was taken by the university authorities at a meeting of the Examination Committee that was held in the university this morning.

Besides Vice-Chancellor Dr VPS Arora and Registrar Sudhir Budakoti, several other senior officials and principals of various colleges affiliated to the university participated in the meeting that was convened following a continuing agitation by students seeking postponement of the examinations.

Talking to mediapersons, Dr Arora said, “The examinations that were earlier to be held between March 22 and 27, will be rescheduled. The first examination will now be held on March 29. The last day of the examinations will remain the same and the examinations that were to be held between March 22 and 27 will be weaved in the schedule drawn for the conduct of examinations between March 29 to May 17”.

He said the university intended to declare the results of every stream by June and the improvement examinations would be conducted in July so that the starting of the next academic session was not delayed.

Dr Arora also informed that the timetable for certain classes of science stream would be redrawn so as the students got enough time to prepare for the successive examination.

The decision of the university has not gone down well with the agitating students, who have threatened to launch an agitation from Monday that will include closure of various colleges.

The agitating students raised slogans against the university authorities after the meeting of the Examination Committee.

The students say that the day of commencement of examinations should be April 5. They have been charging that there is no point in conducting examinations as the syllabus has not been completed by the teachers owing to the delay in the start of the current academic session.

The students have been saying that even as the university authorities had promised to conduct classes for, at least, 180 days, the same were not conducted even for 80 days. They have been contesting that if university employees can keep the university closed for days together in support of their demands related to the implementation of the recommendation of the Sixth Pay Commission, why can’t the examinations be postponed by a fortnight.

Dehradun, March 13
Under the aegis of the Forum for Emotional Intelligence Learning (FEIL), Maple Bear held a parenting workshop tilted “How to be an even better parent”, here today.

The workshop was performed under the able guidance and presidency of renowned child psychologist and chapter head of the FEIL Dr Rashmi Wadhwa.

The workshop was conducted for parents to learn about the behavioural pattern of children and how to deal with their impulsiveness.

Issues relating to understanding one’s blind spots, stubborn behaviour in children, reasons for temper tantrums and developing interests in children towards learning in a stress-free environment were primarily discussed in the workshop.

However, both parents and the guides had healthy interactive sessions, where they participated enthusiastically.

Principal of Maple Bear and FEIL secretary Harender Juneja, FEIL executive member Rajeev Sachar, MapleBear vice-president Rajni Juneja were among other people who participated voluntarily in the workshop.

Dehradun, March 13
Law College, Dehradun, organised the final round of the third Sushila Devi Memorial Moot Court Competition, 2010, on their college campus.

Proceedings of the court were performed by students in the courtroom of the college followed by the valedictory session in the seminar hall.

Justice SN Srivastava, Chairman of the Police Complaint Authority of Uttarakhand, was the chief guest and chief judge of the competition. Companion judges SN Babulkar, Advocate-General of Uttarakhand, and Dr SC Gupta, Dean, of the Faculty of Law, HNB Garhwal University, accompanied him.

The theme of the competition was the Medical Termination of the Pregnancy Act, 1971.

The participants of the competition presented their ideas, apprehension as well as perception for and against the proceedings of the moot session.

Dr Rajesh Bahuguna, Principal of the college, said the announcement of this competition was done last year in November, where 20 teams had participated.

The participants of the winning team were Chunauti Kaushik, Varun Sharma and Nisha Alag. Chief guest, Principal, Dean and Managing Director of the institute congratulated the winners.

Dehradun, March 13
On the occasion of the graduation ceremony, Eurokids - Old Survey Road celebrated its fourth annual day at Hotel Sunrise here today.

Children presented a fun-filled programme of dance and music. Students of playgroup section presented a birdie dance followed by an exciting performance by the students of nursery.

Parents as well as guests enjoyed the enthralling performances by the toddlers.

The highlight of the evening was the fancy dress competition by the students of playgroup and nursery.

Another attraction of the function was the play enacted by the Eurojunior group.

Additionally, the graduation ceremony was conducted in which graduation certificates, trophies, memoirs and achievements cards were distributed. Principal Vinita Kala inaugurated the function and appreciated the hard work of the students.

Director of the school Capt Sanjay Kala, Ruchi, Sunita, Kamana, Lavleen, Ashpreet and Sanjana organised the show.

Dehradun, March 13
Dr Rajendra Dhobal, Director, Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology (UCOST), today said several national-level institutions were engaged in bio-prospecting, but most did not know the rules pertaining to the National Biodiversity Act.

“We need to guard our resources in the face of economic development. It will be possible only if the institutes have adequate knowledge about rules that can act as important tools,” said Dr Dhobal.

He was speaking today at the International Conference on “Mountain Biodiversity: Conservation and Sustainable Utilisation” held at Doon University.

While Dr GS Rawat, Director-General, ICFRE, said the Himalayan mountains supported 18 per cent of the diversity and needed to preserved at any cost.

While delivering a key-note address, Dr Rawat said the mountain ecosystem not only supported biodiversity, but also livelihoods. Therefore, preservation was of utmost importance there.

Significantly, during the technical session, Prof PK Hajra, former Director, Botanical Survey of India, spoke about the concept of protection of sacred groves in the North-East that contain rich diversity.

“The Buddhist practices have boosted the protection of these groves that are referred as Kankarbani and Rakhat in the local language,” said Professor Hajra.

Often neglected, the below-the-ground diversity contained in the soil will also be taken up during the conference. “The important bacterial activity that takes place in the soil, dictates the health above the ground,” said Dr Jyoti K Sharma, Professor, School of Environment and Natural Science.

Dehradun, March 13
Expressing dismay at the absence of strong monitoring system, a top scientist of the country today said due to poor checks at airports precious bio-resources continued to be smuggled outside India.

Dr KS Rao, an eminent scientist, said the Biodiversity Act, 2002, was strong enough to prevent illegal exploitation and smuggling of bio-resources. However, the implementation aspect left a lot to be desired. He said bio-resource material could only be protected if the state governments implemented the Act with vigour and gave teeth to their own Biodiversity Boards.

“We need to have a strong vigilance system at all-India level. Unfortunately, this is not the case, the staff manning the airports have no training in deciphering objects such as herbs or dried plants of immense value. A strong patent regime can only work if considerable investment is made in human resources, which are also well conversant with the nitty-gritty of patent regime,” said Dr Rao, Department of Botany, University of Delhi.

The scientist is here in Doon to participate in the International Conference on “Mountain Biodiversity: Conservation and Sustainable Utilisation”. He has been part of the Global Environment Facility Funded Project at Nanda Devi Biosphere and in western ghats studying the below ground microbial diversity of these sites.

Disturbed at the absence of any monitoring system in Uttarakhand that is a rich source of aromatic and medicinal plants, Dr Rao said despite the constitution of the state-level biodiversity board, no mechanism had been developed to safeguard the rich biodiversity of the state.

“In the hills monitoring can be carried easily as the only means of transportation are buses, trucks and private vehicles and there are very few entry and exit points, however, it is not being done,” said Dr Rao.

Terming the Biodiversity Act as comprehensive, he said Brazil and India had been at the forefront of the drive to put up a strong patent regime that disallowed the bio-resource wealth from being exploited for industrial use.

“Unhindered exploitation of common property resources by multi national companies (MNCs) would at once jack up the prices of medicines. Overhead costs can go up to 60 per cent if the MNCs have unbridled access to these resources and the burden will automatically pass on to the consumer who will be forced to fork out extra money,” said Dr Rao.

Howls of protests and over reaction by India, Dr Rao said when American institutes tried to patent “neem” or “haldi” did not in any way serve the country’s interest. “We need to work on strengthening our systems so that the source of origin can be proven. Unfortunately, it requires a lot of money and patience, litigations extend to several years and require lot of time and money. Therefore, vigilance is important because once the other country acquires a patent on product, huge sums of royalty have to be paid for economic exploitation,” added Dr Rao.

Calling upon the Uttarakhand government to segregate areas that are hot spots of biodiversity from pollution, Dr Rao said an immediate action needed to be taken on this front.

Dehradun, March 13
Maharana Pratap Sports College and RPCA will play each other in the final of the Jitendra Anand Memorial Cricket Tournament at the OFD ground here tomorrow.

In the second semifinal played between the RPCA and ACA teams, the RPCA team emerged victorious by six wickets.

The ACA could not live up to the expectations of the spectators and got out on a low score. The ACA made 168 runs in 27 overs. Kiran and Paritosh were the only batsmen who clicked. Opener Kiran gave a flying start and dispatched the ball to all corners of the ground. He smashed 60 runs off 36 balls.

Paritosh scored 28 runs off 18 balls. Once these batsmen got out, no other batsman occupied the crease for long. For RPCA, Rohit and Ankush picked up three wickets each in their six-over spell. Shashank picked up two wickets.

Chasing 169 runs for victory, the RPCA reached the target in 17 overs. Opener Gajendra paved the way for the team’s victory. He smashed 69 runs off 60 balls and Mukesh scored 47 runs off 40 balls. First-down batsman Shushant played a knock of 25 runs.

For the ACA, Aman took two wickets, while Himanshu and Ravendra picked up one wicket each.

Dehradun, March 13
The RIMC concluded its 88th Founder’s Day ceremony with great pomp and show here today. The two-day programme saw young cadets get involved in plethora of events like horse riding, hockey and paragliding etc.

The chief guest on the occasion was Major-Gen Manvendra Singh, AVSM and VSM. In his address, he congratulated young cadets about their achievements and said the RIMC trained their cadets in a way so that they could scale bigger heights. This year the RIMC had cent per cent results in its NDA examination.

Avannendra M Thakur won the par-excellence award for academics, quizzing and outstanding performer.

Major-Gen Manvendra Singh presented the awards to the cadets.