Haridwar, April 3
The much-awaited wait for a one-book solution and answers to Hinduism and its related philosophy for all those interested in Hindu religion and Indian spirituality as whole has now ended with today in the Maha Kumbh city Haridwar releasing of “The Encyclopaedia of Hinduism”.

The 11-volume compendium is the culmination of efforts of Swami Chidanand Saraswati under the Indian Heritage Research Foundation.

The book was released by Tibetan spiritual guru, His Holiness Dalai Lama, yoga guru Swami Ramdev, Chidanand Muni, former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishan Advani, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and a number of prominent saints and religious-spiritual gurus.

This encyclopaedia of Hinduism has resulted after a strenuous effort of more than 15 years and 1,000 odd scholars joining to bring about this historic effort.

It encompasses, for the first time in history, the depth and breadth of Indian history, civilisation, culture, art, architecture, spirtiutality and varied things related with India and Hinduism philosophy.

Notably, the India Heritage Research Foundation was established in year 1987 and is a non-profit humanitarian foundation.

Appreciating the efforts put up in launching the encyclopaedia, the Dalai Lama said the Hindu philosophy-science is not confined to one religion only, but touches and affects the whole world.

“During this pious Maha Kumbh, this encyclopaedia will benefit people worldwide dwelling on varied aspects of Hinduism philosophy,” said the Dalai Lama while inaugurating the compilation.

“Religious intricacies, complexities, answers, queries, history, knowledge and all that one wants to know about the Hindu philosophy are now available in book form and this will be reviving once again the Hindu philosophy. Any one, from students to foreigners, now can get access to this vast world of Hinduism and philosophy,” said Chidanand Muni, who conceptualised the idea of this encyclopaedia.

Pitthoragarh, April 3
After keeping silent during the auction of liquor shops in Kumaon, women have again started opposing their opening near residential and educational areas. These protests have erupted at various places in Champawat, Pitthoragarh and Bageshwar districts.

In Champawat district, women in Lohaghat and Banbasa areas staged a protest against the opening of liquor shops.

“We are against the opening of a country liquor shop in the main market. We have started this protest which will continue if the administration does not accept our demand,” said Munni Devi, a demonstrator.

After Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) JS Nagniyal agreed that liquor shops would not be located near residential areas, the women suspended their agitation.

In Lohaghat town of Champawat district, a women’s group, under the banner of the Mahila Sangharsh Samiti and Mahila Samakhya, opposed the opening of a liquor shop inside Lohaghat town.

“Until the liquor shop is not shifted from the main market, we will continue our dharna here,” said Khashti Pachauli.

Members of the women’s group said more and more women were joining the cause after the successful demonstration at Pati Block last week.

In Pitthoragarh district, women from the Nachani area of Munsiyari sub-division and women in the Ganai Gangoli area of Gangolihat sub-division are up against the opening of a liquor shop in the main market.

“The liquor shop in the Devrari Bora area of Ganai Gangoli has been opened in main market. This will result in the huge consumption of liquor and subsequently crime against women will increase. We are opposing the shop and have given an ultimatum of three days to the administration. If it is not removed from here, the women will continue their agitation,” said Jagjeevan Prasad, Gram Pradhan of Simali village.

Women’s bodies are also holding protests against the opening of liquor shops near schools at the Nachani market of the Munsyari sub-division.

“Liquor shops have been opened near the inter-college and two other schools. The movement to shift these shops has been supported not only by the common man, but also by traders and some political organisations,” said Puran Dwivedi. 

Dehradun, April 3
Taking note of the dwindling population of sparrows in Dehradun, a campaign to bring them back was launched today from the Raj Bhawan here by Governor Margaret Alva.

For this purpose, specially designed wooden nests were installed at the Raj Bhawan in the hope that the house sparrows would come during the breeding season, giving fillip to the bird population in Doon.

The Governor, who is herself a keen wildlife enthusiast and bird watcher, said pesticides might be one of the major reasons for the disappearance of birds.

“It has been found that the use of pesticides by farmers is keeping away the birds, but scientists and those engaged in wildlife need to find out the exact cause so that the birds can be conserved,” the Governor said.

She also expressed dismay at the death of tigers. “In one year we have lost around 14 tigers in the state. There are very few tigers left in the reserves. The conservation efforts have to be directed at reducing man-animal conflict which is responsible for the deaths of this animal,” said Alva.

The wooden sparrow nests have been specially designed by the Action and Research in Conservation of Himalayas (ARCH), an NGO. “We have set up more than 184 nests in Dehradun and 12 at the Raj Bhawan in order to attract sparrows. These nests were designed after intensive field trials and studies. The nests provide good protection for eggs against predators birds,” said Prateek Panwar, founder trustee of ARCH.

The boxes, each costing around Rs 250, will also be set up in rural areas to generate awareness among rural children about the conservation of house sparrows. The Raj Bhawan has donated a total of 12 boxes for this purpose.

Soon a green drive will also be launched at the Raj Bhavan wherein all employees will be encouraged to plant a tree and take care of it.

Dehradun, April 3
In an interaction with its 30 coordinators working in various villages, the Uttarakhand Human Resource & Economic Management Development Foundation, an NGO, listened to their grievances and suggested solutions, besides allocating them new tasks to disseminate information about various state-sponsored schemes among panchayat members. They were also asked to coordinate with various government offices and channels to redress the problems faced by people living in these areas.

The graduate youngsters who belong to these villages apprised Jitender Mohan Sharma, Chairman of the NGO, as to how panchayats had no idea about the various government schemes. These rather obstructed their work by asking for their “share”. The government offices turned a blind eye to the infrastructure-related problems and many more.

Sharma said it was through these coordinators, he got to know about the absence of any teaching faculty in the Dugali area. Manohar Singh, coordinator, was asked to take the lead and employ graduate and postgraduate youngsters to take turns to teach village folks and they would be paid by the NGO. He was also assured of mid-day meal to them if they demanded.

Sharma said: “Even in the past we had held workshops to educate panchayat members of these villages about various government schemes launched for the welfare of backward people. Today also we briefed our coordinators about them. We also gave them responsibility to dig deep to know about the general grievances people of the area are facing, and play a pivotal role in coordinating with the related governmental departments to redress those problems”.

He picked Athurwala village for not having any sitting arrangement for senior classes in the only government school and its 1,500 potable water lines lying defunct for a long time.

He also said the doctors in the villages did not take pains to open the hospital till stipulated time. These were some of the problems which coordinators shared with them.

He said the motive behind employing these coordinators was to link these youngsters with the developmental activities taking place in their villages and remove the bottlenecks as and when those appeared. For this they were given stipend as well.

The selected youngsters have been allocated respective clusters where they would run awareness programmes, health camps, self-help groups and many such constructive activities.

He said since their NGO was just one-and-a-half months old and did not get any government aid, they were funding the projects with donation. Their achievements included laying of a 500-metre water pipe line at Khod village, disbursing Rs 10,000 each to three BPL families for setting up three toilets in the Jolly Grant area, giving Rs 75,000 each to two families who lost their family members in accidents in Dhudhali village.

Dehradun, April 3 
ICFAI University, Dehradun, organised its annual alumni meet, Constantum 2010, here today at its campus where about 60 alumni members of the Science and Tech Department attended the alma-mater event. The alumni participated in various activities during the function and shared their experiences. An interactive session was also carried out regarding placements, internship activities, identification of possible avenues of institute-industry collaboration, technology exchange. It imparted valuable guidance for their prospective future.

Prof GP Srivastava, Vice-Chancellor, IUD, was the chief guest who inaugurated function. Srivastava, congratulated the alumni for their achievements and bright future. Dr RC Ramola, Dean, FOS, and Anuj Jalote, president of the ICFAI Alumni Association, also asked students to make all possible efforts for their future and give help for the growth of ICFAI University, Dehradun.

On the occasion, alumni chapters were also launched in various important cities in the country starting with Delhi (NCR). 

The programme ended with a cultural programme in the evening. The event was organised by Dr GS Brama and Vivek Singh, student coordinator.

Nainital, April 3
Clearing the doubts of students wanting to pursue a Bachelors in Education (BEd) degree for the past one year, Kumaon University has announced that the counselling for the session would start from April 16 and classes will begin from April 26.

As announced by the university earlier, it will conduct counselling for government and private-run colleges affiliated to it.

The BEd academic session has been in the doldrums for almost seven months as despite having taken and cleared the entrance examinations, the session could not commence because of delays from the government-end and the managements of private colleges thus putting the students to hardship.

The decision of the university has dispelled the fear that the session might be declared a zero year.

Talking to The Tribune, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr VPS Arora, said, “The session will be conducted with full dedication in one go. Of course, it will partially overlap the next session, but we want to finish the session at the earliest. 

“The classes will continue without break and we hope to conduct the exams in August this year so that the conduct of the successive sessions can be streamlined”.

According to media reports, the entrance exams to the course were held in September last year. The results were declared in October and there were about 25,000 students who had cleared the exam.

In the middle of December, the university had taken upon itself the onus of counselling for the private colleges offering the BEd course.

In the recent past, there had been a detailed probe into the infrastructure and the facilities available in private colleges offering the course. 

The probe had followed the instances of various irregularities coming to light in the last session. However, as the university got the reports of the investigation, it announced its intention to start counselling for these colleges.

The university decided to go for counselling for private colleges as it felt that there was a tendency among managements of private colleges to enrol students by taking money and in this process, the very concept of merit is given a go by. 

Once the counselling is done on the basis of merit, students would be allocated to different private colleges. The matter had been further complicated with the managements of certain private colleges approaching the High Court.

Nainital, April 3
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) has opposed the present format of the Right to Education (RTE) Act introduced by the Union government on April 1.

The party has accused the government of ignoring the plight of a large number of students and promoting a dual education policy.

Talking to The Tribune, CPM state in charge Raja Bahuguna said, “To begin with, the Act has no role to play in case of the children below the age of six years and above the age of 14 years. Does it consider that these children do not deserve to get education? What happens to the child who attains the age of 14 years? Does he or she not have the right to get higher education?” He further pointed out that the government instead of introducing and promoting a universal pattern of education across the country, was bent on implementing a dual education policy, one of which was meant for the classes and one for the masses.

“Our stand is why do they not introduce a universal policy with a similar curriculum across the country. Why is it that the children of the elite get to study a different curriculum in a different school with all facilities, while the poor study in an altogether different environment?” he said.

The student’s wing of the party All-India Students’ Association (AISA) has already launched a movement against the Act in various campuses in the state.

The CPM leader said, “This is just a lollipop handed over to the masses while the government continues to promote its agenda of privatisation. If India claims to be a welfare state, the government should ensure that all children get educated on a single pattern comprising single curriculum.” He said the government must ensure that the shortfall of teachers was addressed and all schools had proper infrastructure.

The party is also opposing the move of the government to allow foreign universities to set up shops in the country. “These universities are not required when we have universities of our own. It is yet another move in promoting privatisation of education and inequality,” said Bahuguna.

Activists opposing the RTI Act in its present form are of the opinion that children below the age of six and those between 15 and 18 years of age should also be brought under the purview of the Act. They say that a child, who is just class VIII pass, cannot be deemed fit to earn a living. Several children are unable to get education if they do not go to school before six years of age or they dropout between 15 and 18 years of age. The Act needs to ensure that children do not dropout, they say. They have also been vocal in saying that about 38 per cent of Indian population is below the poverty line. Poverty cannot be removed unless the government invests in education. Instead, the government spending on education is on the decline. The activists charge that it was 3.84 per cent in 2008-09 and has come down to 3.03 per cent 2009-10.

They have been underlining that till the government increases its spending, the Act will exist only on paper.

Dehradun, April 3
Biotechnology, an emerging field of life science and biodiversity with its activities and uses covering the entire sphere of human life, was the major aim of the lecture series, Biologic 2010, organised by Beehive PG College on the premises of the ONGC here today. The event has been contemplated through the participating approach by the state Biotechnology Programme, UCOST, and ONGC.

The main theme of the event was environmental biotechnology, where eminent speakers and experts presented informational data while sharing their experiences among the students. Various aspects of the subject provided valuable inputs through presentation and lectures. Research papers, projects and data of the speakers, research scholars and students were also presented during the lecture series.

On the occasion, a poster competition was held at the venue relating to the theme of biotechnology. The posters of the participating students were displayed, while the winners were awarded by Dr S Farooq, president of Himalayan Drug Company, and OP Thapliyal, president (HR) of Ind Swift, Chandigarh.

Dr JMS Rana, Director of the state Biotech Programme, was the chief guest, who inaugurated the event.

The lecture series was divided into two sessions. Prof DC Thapliyal chaired the first technical session while Dr AK Sharma, Department of Bio Science, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Microrisosphere, AK Mishra and Dr SK Gupta gave lectures. Prof GS Randhawa and Dr Praveen were speakers of the second session.

Dehradun, April 3
Ajabpur Youngster Dehradun today secured a final berth beating JSM Meerut by 19 runs in the second semifinal of the 3rd All-India Uttarakhand Cup held here at the Rangers Ground. They will now meet Gurusharan Academy Delhi in the final tomorrow.

Though Ajabpur couldn’t set a big target for Meerut in the allotted 40 overs, but the latter couldn’t even match up to that. Ajabpur set a modest target of 147 runs after deciding to bat first.

Their top order didn’t perform to their ability and went back to the pavilion cheaply. Yajuvender (40) top scored for the side. Ashish Joshi (29) and Ravi Bisht (19) too chipped in. For Meerut, Ravinder and Manu took two wickets each. Pramod, Vikas Vishnoi, Neeraj and Sumit Kundu got a wicket each.

Batting second, Meerut was bowled out for just 127 runs. Ali Haider (34) and Anant Vishnoi (20) were the only batsmen to get respectable numbers for their team.

After emerging as the top scorer for Ajabpur in the match, all-rounder Yajuvender scalped two wickets. Navneesh too got two batsmen out in the eight overs he bowled. Arvind Sajwan and Ravi Bisht also contributed with a wicket each.

Dehradun, April 3
As many as 32 teams will participate in the second Day-night Softball Cricket Tournament being organised by the Khalanga Cricket Association from April 4 at PRD Ground on Tapovan Road.

In this district-level tournament, clubs, technical educational institutions, government and semi-government offices are expected to participate.

Addressing a press conference, convener of the association Hira Singh Bisht 
said that last year, the tournament was a success and this year too, they wanted to replicate it.

He added that for this tournament, proper arrangement of lighting had been made.

The teams have been divided into two pools. During the tournament, man of the match, man of the series, best batsman, best bowler and the most disciplined team will be awarded.

The winning team will be awarded Rs 31,000 while the runners-up will get a cash prize of Rs 21,000. Members of the winning and the runners-up teams will also get individual prizes.