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Low turnout for third Shahi Snan
Security enhanced after Moscow blasts
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Kumbh responsible for rise in leopard deaths: Forest Dept
Hanuman Jayanti celebrated
Kotdwar register six-wicket victory over Roorkee
Rawat’s solitary goal takes Eleven Star to victory
Women too in race for liquor vends
40 HP, J&K farmers visit FRI
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Low turnout for third Shahi Snan
Haridwar, March 30 Millions of devotees took a holy dip in the Ganga at Har-ki-Pauri and other ghats along with akhada saints. As per the second Shahi Snan schedule, the akhadas were allotted specific time slots at the Braham Kund in the Har-ki-Pauri area while for common people all other ghats were opened for taking dip. Notably, this Chaitra Poornima festive bath, coinciding with another religious occasion of Hanuman Jayanti, was originally not scheduled as a Shahi Snan, but was later accorded the status by the Akhada Parishad, the sole governing body of all akhadas and saints that take part in the Kumbh. Earlier, it has been the tradition that all 13 akhadas bathe together after the completion of the main Shahi Snan of Baisakhi, but as this time the Chaitra Poornima was falling before the Baisakhi snan, the Akhada Parishad decided to accord today’s festive bath the coveted status of Shahi Snan. While today all 13 akhadas took holy dip together, the seven Sanyasi Akhadas took part only symbolically. Bairagis performed the rituals to the full effect. The first to take holy dip in the Brahm Kund were saints of Niranjani Akhada who left their base camp at 9:30 am and reached Har-ki-Pauri at 11:15 am. Completing the dip in 20 minutes, they tread back to the camp and reached there at 13:05 pm. Juna Akhada saints reached the kund at 11:50 am and completed the dip proceedings at 12:10 pm. The following were the akhadas of Maha Nirmani, Bairagi, Bada, Naya and the last one to take royal bath was Nirmal Akhada. From 10 am to 6:30 pm, entry at the Braham Kund area was restricted for public. The Bairagi, Udasin and Nirmal Akhadas took out processions while going to take holy bath and thus took more time to reach the Brahm Kund and to their base camps. Their processions were colourful with participation by thousands of their followers, including a large number of foreigners. Head of respective akhadas and their prominent saints were sitting on chariots while folk artistes presented varied skills during the processions. People, keeping in mind restrictions, had been seen taking bath at Har-ki-Pauri since last evening and by wee hours lakhs had taken the holy dip there. Though the turnout of devotees and tourists was in millions, it was not as huge compared to the previous Shahi Snan of Somwati Amawasya on March 14. This can be gauged by the fact that today state roadways buses were allowed to enter the Rishikul inter-state bus terminals 1 and 2. On earlier two Shahi Snans, even two-wheelers were not allowed to move on the inner roads, including those leading to these bus terminals. The mela police allowed two wheelers till Shankaracharya Chowk and Shiv Moorti Chowk while free movement was allowed on the inner roads of New Haridwar, Ranipur, Tibdi, BHEL and Jwalapur suburban areas. In all, the royal bath was a success for the mela administration that thanked everyone associated with the mela in ensuring the a smooth and successful conduct of the third Shahi Snan.
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Security enhanced after Moscow blasts
Haridwar, March 30 More than 15,000 police personnel manned the mela area and it appeared that mela cops were present in every nook and corner. Especially at Har-ki-Pauri, the core mela zone, the security cover was taken over by paramilitary forces who were aided by the state’s elite commando unit with sharp shooters positioned at high-rise buildings. At all mela sectors, super, zonal and sector magistrates were supervising mela proceedings and all inputs were being shared with the mela officer via the mela control room.
Intelligence agencies and local intelligence unit personnel too were active in the whole city to thwart any terror or criminal incident. At all important temples and sensitive areas, heavy deployment of the mela police was seen. Frisking of pilgrims and passengers was done at the railway and bus stations while the mela police, special bomb disposal squad, sniffer dog, horse squad, jal police squad and riot control squad were on high alert round the clock. DIG Alok Sharma, who is in charge of the mela police administration at the Maha Kumbh, said elaborate security arrangements were in place for the third Shahi Snan.
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3 tents destroyed in fire
Haridwar, March 30 District Fire Officer SK Sharma said that at 3:45 pm, they received a call about a fire in the Neeldhara area and immediately, fire extinguishers were rushed to the spot. Within minutes, fire tenders reached the area and prevented the fire from spreading to other camps. The fire broke out in the Swami Shiv Shakti camp in the Mahamandaleshwar Nagar area. Three tents and one sermon hall were gutted in the fire. Six fire tenders were pitched in to extinguish the fire and which was doused in half an hour. Fire officials attribute the cause of the fire to the diyas (lamps) that are lit for religious purposes. Two days earlier, the district police had asked all camp managers to install fire safety equipment at Kumbh camps. They had had heated arguments with many camp managers on that day and today, the fear of the police was proved right. At the city’s busiest and congested Jhanvi market yesterday, a fire took place which gutted four shops, including a restaurant. A two-member inquiry panel has been formed by mela officer Anand Vardhan to give a detailed report within seven days on the incident as well the suggestions to prevent future occurrence. The panel comprises Chief Fire Officer, Kumbh Mela, and Executive Engineer, Vidyut Vitran.
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GB Pant varsity graduate hand-picked by Obama
Nainital, March 30 Dr Siddiqui is now set to negotiate contentious agricultural issues with India and other developing countries at the World Trade Organisation's stalled Doha round. His beaming brother Rais A Siddiqui, who is a practising lawyer in Nainital, says: “Hard work has led him to achieve such a prestigious position. Years back, he had a choice of joining the Indian Air Force or the Pantnagar University and he chose the latter”. He recalls the tough days when electricity was a problem in their Haldwani home and Dr Siddiqui used to study under lamp posts. Son of a businessman, Dr Siddiqui went on to become an agriculture scientist and expert at the global level. “His work on a variety of rubber plants has been acknowledged the world over. He had worked on a variety that helped rubber grow in arid lands. This plant not only gave rubber, but also provided fuel. Various governments across the globe, including Australia, sought to replicate the experiment and that took him across continents. He was in India about two years ago to give a lecture in Chennai,” he said. Having appointed him along with several other government functionaries, Obama in a statement has said: “I am grateful for the willingness of these fine individuals to serve my administration and am confident that they will represent our nation well. I look forward to working with them in the coming months and years”. Dr Siddiqui is currently Vice-President for Science and Regulatory Affairs at CropLife America, where he is responsible for regulatory and international trade issues related to crop protection chemicals. Previously, Dr Siddiqui also served as CropLife America’s Vice-President for agricultural biotechnology and trade. From 1997 to 2001, Dr Siddiqui had served in various capacities in the Bill Clinton administration in US Department of Agriculture as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programmes, Senior Trade Advisor to Secretary Dan Glickman and Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programmes. As a result, he was involved in several bilateral, regional and multi-lateral agricultural trade negotiations. Since 2004, Dr Siddiqui has also served on the US Department of Commerce’s Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, and Health/Science Products and Services, which advises the US Secretary of Commerce and office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on international trade issues related to these sectors. Between 2001 and 2003, Dr Siddiqui was appointed Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he focused on agricultural biotechnology and food security issues. Before joining the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Dr Siddiqui spent 28 years with the California Department of Food and Agriculture. He received a BSc degree in plant protection from then Uttar Pradesh Agricultural University in Pantnagar, as well as MSc and PhD degrees in plant pathology, both from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. The Pantnagar university authorities have expressed their happiness and pride at the achievements of Dr Siddiqui who was born in Haldwani and had joined the Pantnagar university in 1960. A former Vice-Chancellor of Doon University in Dehradun, Dr Gajendra Singh, happens to be one of his batchmate.
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Kumbh responsible for rise in leopard deaths: Forest Dept
Leopard deaths have reached an all-time high this year with the casualty figure already touching over 40 in the first three months. There certainly has been a distinct pattern in these deaths. In most cases, the limbs of these leopards were found chopped off after these were trapped and killed. Starting with the infamous Badowala leopard death incident in Dehradun recently, the limb of the leopard was sliced off by those who intended to kill the leopard for the very same purpose. Similarly, the Dunga leopard death in Kalsi too involved chopping off of the limbs. In the previous day’s Pitthoragarh incident involving the deaths of two leopard cubs, the moustache and nails of the dead cubs were missing. This is certainly unusual as the earlier leopards have been killed for the precious skins that fetch an hefty amount in the unlawful wildlife market. But killing for nails and hair do point to some pattern. The Uttarakhand Forest Department has been finding itself helpless in checking leopard deaths taking place one after the other. These incidents have risen phenomenally this year forcing both wildlife experts and the state Forest Department to ponder upon the reasons. Forest officials admit that those engaged in killing of leopards are killing the wildcats for immediate small gains. “These cannot be the handiwork of professional poachers. They are trapping leopards either for nails, teeth or hair,” J Rawat, Sub-Divisional Officer, Mussoorie, pointed out. He acknowledges that many leopard deaths have taken place since the start of the Kumbh. The religious congregation of Kumbh comes every 12 years and is also the most awaited occasion for carrying out rituals. Leopard nails, teeth and hair are used in the preparation of lockets and hence, the spurt in leopard deaths could be attributed to this fact. The heavy influx of ochre-clad ascetics into Uttarakhand for the ongoing Kumbh and the involvement of some of them in such acts cannot be ruled out. Interestingly, in many cases, the trapped leopard has escaped from the traps after getting injured. This indicates that unlike hardcore poachers, these trappers don’t have fool-proof trapping techniques indicating to the involvement of ‘holymen’. The Uttarakhand Forest Department had apprehensions over miscreants resorting to misadventures in the forest areas during Kumbh and had even recently beefed up security in the state forest areas. But it seems that religious practices involving the use of animal parts have gained an upper hand over the security arrangements. Forest authorities are anxiously waiting for the Kumbh to get over to ensure that these relentless leopard killings come to an end. Amateurish Bids l Rise in leopard deaths during Kumbh l Wild cats killed for hair, nails and teeth, not skin l Traps of poor quality as some beasts have managed to escape
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Hanuman Jayanti celebrated
Dehradun, March 30 President of the Gram Vikas Samiti Pan Singh Rawat said people from all walks of life participated in the Hanuman Jayanti celebrations. He said the samiti had been from time to time organising discourses at the temple. Ganesh Khanduri and Kshetra Panchayat member Nanda Rawat were among prominent persons present on the occasion. Yesterday, the samiti had taken out a Shobha Yatra.
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Kotdwar register six-wicket victory over Roorkee
Dehradun, March 29 Nav Uwak team decided to bat first after winning the toss. Their top order crashed badly and at one point the team’s score was 56/6. However, this was Naveen (65*) who saved the face of his side. He struck 65 in just 53 balls and smashed four sixes and five fours in his well-played knock. Shivam also contributed 41 runs to support the dwindling innings of the team. The team before getting bowled all out scored 166 runs in 31.5 overs. For Kotdwar, Gurukirath Singh took three wickets, Vijay Rawat and Vipin Kashyap pocketed two each while Gaurav Gupta and Harpreet Singh also tasted success with one wicket each. Batting second Sidhbali Kotdwar achieved the target set by their opponent in 29 overs at the loss of their four batsmen. Opening batsman Gaurav Sharma (61) and Naman Sharma (59*) emerged as the mainstay of the side to take the team to win. For Nav Uwak, Roorkee Babu captured took two wickets, Kamal and Naveen Negi got one each too.
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Rawat’s solitary goal takes Eleven Star to victory
Dehradun, March 30 Both the teams couldn’t do much in the first half of the game and could make a very few solid goal attempts. Even those attempted never seemed a goal attempt and were hit from too far from the goal post. The first half of the game remained a goalless. While in the 18th minute of the game Neeraj of Garhwal Sporting was shown yellow card for unsporting behaviour while Satyaprakash of Eleven Star was issued yellow card in the 35th minute. The teams got some pace in the second half of the match, however, there was no success for them till the 66th minute when Sachin Rawat of Eleven Star brought a smile on the sweaty faces of his teammates. This goal turned the tide of the match and made Rawat star of the day. After this goal, Garhwal Sporting made some efforts to level the match, but that didn’t bring fruit for them. Earlier, the match was inaugurated with much pomp at the stadium. The balloons were released in the sky and crackers were also burst. The chief guest of the day declared the tournament open and wished good luck to the players of both sides.
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Women too in race for liquor vends
Nainital, March 30 However, those leading the anti-liquor campaign in the state have dismissed this as The allotment of liquor vends for the next financial year was done through the lottery system across the state on Sunday and the women did manage to get a few of them. Incidentally, there were women applicants vying to get liquor vend in all the districts of the state. The number of applicants was the highest in Haridwar district where there were 2,700 applications put up in the names of women, and this was followed by Nainital where the number of applicants was 1,200 and Dehradun where the number of applicants was 950. The lowest number of applicants amongst women was in Bageshwar district where only two women were in the running for getting liquor vends and none of them could get it. The highest number of vends allocated to women happened to be in Nainital where seven vends were allocated to them. The allocation was done for both the ends selling the country liquor as well as Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). However, this does not mean that women have given up their fight against liquor. They are still very vocal in their opposition to the consumption of alcohol and the presence of liquor vends in markets. “Liquor has wrecked havoc in the social sphere in the hills. It is a well-known fact that even children are taking to consuming it. Everyone knows that out of the total earnings, which are a pittance, the men have the tendency to spend up to 80 per cent on alcohol thus putting their families to economic hardships. Yet, you have liquor vends that are easily accessible anytime of the day,” says Bimla who puts up a small stall near the Mallital market. She says that the government should ban liquor, but even if it is adamant in collecting revenue through it, the vends should be located outside the city so that the people think twice before going there. PC Tewari, who is a politician and also an activist co-ordinating social groups against liquor in Kumaon, told The Tribune, “Putting up applications in the name of women is a ploy of the liquor lobby to derail the women’s movement against liquor. “It is true that vends have been allocated to women but do you ever find women He further stated, “It is a well-managed campaign and we will definitely chalk out a strategy to counter it. In fact, the women from a large number of villages in Kumaon, particularly in Almora district, are mobilising support to launch an aggressive movement against the illegal sale of liquor which they claim is being done from shops other than liquor vends also. Having already garnered the support of women from about 25 villages, the women activists, who are otherwise busy from dusk to dawn attending to the household chores as well as the farm needs, are set to extend their support base. Right now they claim to be having strength of about 600 women who are up against arms against the illegal liquor trade.
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40 HP, J&K farmers visit FRI
Dehradun, March 30 Welcoming the participants, Dr SS Negi, Director, FRI, said it was being ensured that the research undertaken by the institute benefited the society down the line. He said a demonstration village had been established one each in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand for ensuring that the benefit of research reached the farmers and the downtrodden in the society. Similarly, the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, has established Van Vigyan Kendras on the pattern of Krishi Vigyan Kendras. The farmers had earlier visited Research Station, Dhaulakuan (Paonta Sahib), Model Village Shyampur, medicinal plant nursery and medicinal plant pharmacies in Haridwar. The farmers had earlier visited the famous agro forestry, Hara Farms, near Yamunanagar in Haryana. Mohinder Pal Singh, Director, Himalayan Forest Research Institute, Shimla, and Dr Karan Pal Singh, scientists, FRI, were also present on the ocassion. The exposure visit that began on March 25 will conclude today.
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again gripped the Kumbh city of Haridwar as the proceedings of the third Shahi Snan of the century’s first Maha Kumbh falling on the occasion of Chaitra Poornima were conducted today.
The Shri Sankat Mochan Hanuman Mandir Samiti, Garhwali Colony, Nehru Gram, offered a 1.25-kg laddoo to Lord Hanuman on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti today.Pt Ramesh Chandra Khanduri said the residents of the Ring Road area and Adarsh Colony at Nehru Gram collected donations for the preparation of the
desi-ghee laddoo. Apart from the grand worship at the temple, a mass feast was also
organised.
Dehradun, March 30
