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Perul plan to fight forest fires
No Indian dishes for Mansarovar pilgrims in China
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Talented women from ‘Maati Se Manch Tak’ surprise audience
U’khand nightingale’s tale of woe goes unheard
Cadets do social work as they trek
Right to Education Act will create problems, says Shikshak Mandal
Dr Hahnemann’s birthday celebrated
Health camp for slum kids held
Punjabi welfare society celebrates Baisakhi
CM extends Baisakhi greetings
Foundation offers to extend rural business in state
Manorama on National Advisory Board
PCDA register 2-wkt triumph over AG
Rao Cricket Academy score 51-run win
Facile victories for Chaudhary XI, Nanurara XI
Indian Gold Cup
Local Kings XI drub Mumbai Indians
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Perul plan to fight forest fires
Dehradun, April 12 Come summers and Uttarakhand Forest Department personnel are on their toes trying to control the forest fires that are a regular feature in the heavily forested state. With temperatures soaring, 377 hectares of forest cover has already been burnt in these 176 fires. As many as 49 of such incidents have taken place in Garhwal division while 43 occurred in Kumaon forests. The forest authorities have come up with a long-time Perul Plan to find a permanent solution to forest fires. One of its kinds, the plan envisaged utilisation of pine needles, a major cause of the spread of forest fires. It is the brainchild of Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat. “Perul is the main cause behind the spread of forest fires and its intelligent usage can help prevent such fires,” he said. The forest authorities have entered into a memorandum of understanding with a number of companies to put this perul to use. The villagers, who will be collecting perul, will be paid by these companies. Chief Conservator of Forests KS Samant, who is the nodal officer for forest fires, said the Uttarakhand Forest Department had already started working on Perul Plan and the collection of perul had even begin in certain forest areas. In the meantime, Master Crew Stations have been set up in every forest division across the forest cover of Uttarakhand. These crew stations are working as quick-response teams to deal with forest fires. Global positioning system too is being put to use to get better results. To further shorten the response time, a better mobility of fire-fighting teams is also being ensured. “We even plan to introduce motor cycles. By motor cycles, forest guards will reach the site of forest fire in the shortest possible time,” Dr Rawat said. Forest officials have
often found themselves helpless in extinguishing these fires, which, at times, reach alarming proportions. The Corbett fires of 2008 summer are still fresh in public memory. A huge forest wealth
is destroyed in forest fires every year.
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No Indian dishes for Mansarovar pilgrims in China
Pitthoragarh, April 12 “On the complaints that
the cooks sent on trade passes for the facility of pilgrims in Taklakot and on Kailash Parikarma were found doing other unwanted works, rather than cooking
food for Indian pilgrims, the district administration has decided not to send them from this year,” said
NS Negi, District Magistrate, Pitthoragarh. Since 2001, the KMVN has been sending Indian cooks on trade passes after giving them proper training at Dharchula for 13 days on 110 Chinese yuan per day. “Despite most of the pilgrims prepare their food themselves during the stay in Tibet, the Indian cooks were managed on the demand of some other pilgrims who could not do so,” said DK Sharma, Manager Tourism, KMVN. Now, even the government of India has made it clear that if Indian pilgrims need Indian cooks in Tibet, they can only be sent on full visa rather than on trade pass. “Now, our efforts will be directed towards advising the Kailash Mansarowar pilgrims this year to prepare food of their interest themselves if they dislike Tibetan food provided by the Chinese authorities during the 12-day stay in Tibet,” said Sharma.
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Talented women from ‘Maati Se Manch Tak’ surprise audience
Nainital, April 12 The range was complete. There were Gadaul geets (songs of sowing and harvesting seasons), Jaagars and Jhora, to name a few, that were presented by them for the second day in a row. The women from rural interiors of the region sang their hearts out at the “Maati Se Manch Tak” programme. On Sunday afternoon, the session began with a presentation of Riturayan by Kabootri Devi who has become a legend in Kumaoni folk. She set the stage for Parvati Devi and Umedi Devi of Okhalkanda block of Nainital who came up with a portion of Jaagar sung in the early hours of the morning when the singers urge the gods to take their bath at sunrise. Interestingly, these two artistes had never sung in their villages and this was the first performance by them. It was just by attending various Jaagars that they have learnt it. The women from Buxa tribe that resides in the Ramnagar-Bazpur area and whose language resembles the one spoken in Braj. They sang a Sanskar
geet that described the marriage of a daughter in their households. A particularly enchanting performance was given by women from Supi-Kafli village in Ramgarh block. They presented a Jhora which is also referred to as Bhaini in their area. Accompanied by gestures of hands, they described the tough life of a woman who has to attend to the needs of a buffalo, her mother-in-law as well as a tiny daughter at home. Another group of women from Ramgarh block and followed it up with a Shagun geet on Bhumiya Raja and then moved on to sing a portion of the tale of Rupa Rauteli. Well-known radio artiste Beena Tewari, who made the Uttarayan programme on All-India Radio popular with her songs, also sang a Vidai geet. Addressing the women she said, “The popular songs being dished out in the name of Kumaoni songs have nothing to do with the culture. “Unfortunately, the kind of audience that used to be there in our times has also vanished. It is time that we do something to preserve the actual culture of this region”. Her performance was followed by another well-known singer Basanti Bisht who came up with a Khuded geet, a form of sad singing in which the singer addresses himself or herself. The women from the Tharu tribe that inhabits the Khatima region of Udham Singh Nagar presented a Charai geet which is sung at the time of Charai festival. The highlight of the session was again a presentation by eminent poet Girish Tiwari or Girda. The event ended with a Chapeli presentation which had the audience dance.
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U’khand nightingale’s tale of woe goes unheard Nainital, April 12 It should come as a shame for those in power that this icon of Kumaoni folk music is leading a life of penury. She is struggling on a day-to-day basis to keep herself on the move. In her 60s, she is expected to make her ends meet with a paltry sum of Rs 1,000 dished out to her in the name of pension for cultural artistes. Hailing from a remote village in Pitthoragarh, Kabootri Devi has made a mark for herself singing folk songs of the region and has given an identity to Kumaoni folk songs. There was a time when she sang on radio and many of her songs have even been telecast by Doordarshan. Despite her hardships, she is committed to keeping alive the tradition of folk singing and is ready to go and sing at programmes where she is invited. Her daughter Hemanti, who is herself striving with her husband, who works in Mussoorie, to make both ends meet, takes her to various places. “Living alone in the village has become a very difficult task. I just wish that someone comes forward to arrange for my stay in the town so that I can take care of my medical needs. Travelling to and fro to the town costs Rs 100 per trip which is too much for me,” she said. Her condition is such that ideally she should have an attendant round the clock, but even the thought of it is a far-fetched dream. Her daughter has become sceptical about even allowing Kabootri Devi to talk to the media. “I know you are sincere and want that something should be done for her. She needs to be recognised for what she has done for the culture of this state. But what is the point of giving repeated interviews when those who can do something are sitting with their eyes and ears closed,” she said. It was a pleasure listening to Kabootri Devi talk and listening to her sing was a wonderful experience. Kabootri Devi takes to the stage like a fish to water and communicates with the audience brilliantly, but when it comes to talking to mediapersons, she is very shy. It is high time that it is realised that she, along with her collection of folklore and songs, is a treasure that Uttarakhand has. And this treasure needs to be respected and preserved.
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Cadets do social work as they trek
Dehradun, April 12 The rewarding experience encouraged the cadets to participate in some more social work. At the Fort of George Everest, cadets took upon themselves the task of thoroughly cleaning and sprucing up the area. They picked up all plastics, polythene bags and other non-biodegradable substances and kept them in a pile. It was a reward in itself to see the place transformed from a site dotted with wastes to one which was absolutely free of it. The RIMC has a long tradition of conservation. The RIMC conservation festival organised every year sees the cadets being addressed by many renowned environmentalists from across the country. The overall coordinators of the event were Neeraj Negi and Vineet Mathews.
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Right to Education Act will create problems, says Shikshak Mandal
Dehradun, April 12 Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Navendu Mathpal, state patron of the association, said the Act would have an adverse affect on students as well as on their parents if they would be compounded by public schools with
fee hikes and other compelling issues. Mathpal emphasised that public schools had overburdened parents by making increment in the fees by 25 per cent to 30 per cent. He alleged that the privatisation of the schools had given them a source of earning and derived new way of making profit out of it. Not only parents, but teachers also were affected adversely through this Act as their rights also got affected. He also said, “This Act not only provides education to every child, but also takes away the fundamental rights given by Unnikrishnan in the Supreme Court (1993)”. Giving prior records, Mathpal highlighted the malpractices of recording pseudo accountability of the students in the schools that came under Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan and profiting themselves by ruining the school management effectively. Another issue that was raised by the association was the 25 per cent reservation in the private schools which also nagging the deserving children from getting their rightful education. They also said the state had the requirement of 20,000 teachers but the department had declared the teachers surplus instead of recruiting them. The association has proposed to ask the administration for investigation into the same and to make initiative in holding awareness drives with support of
the people.
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Dr Hahnemann’s birthday celebrated
Dehradun, April 12 The function began with the welcome of chief guest Jai Prakash Narayan, Vice-President of the Central Council Indian Medicine (CCIM), followed by a speech of the Chairman of the college Dr AK Kamboj. Prakash Tyagi of the CCIM chaired the event, while students of the college presented a short cultural programme. GL Arora, state president, CCIM, Dr Ravi Kaushal, national secretary, Ayush, Dr Raman Nakra, Dr SS Sachan and other faculty members of the college were present at the event.
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Health camp for slum kids held
Dehradun, April 12 SK Johari from Baroda appreciated the initiative taken by the NGO and Doon School. On this occasion Richa Jauhari, DS Jauhari, SK Johari, general secretary, Rajiv Johar, Nitin Saxena of Talent Enablers and Amrit Bratt of Doon School were present.
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Punjabi welfare society celebrates Baisakhi
Dehradun, April 12 Residents presented colourful performances of singing and recital of poems, Gurbani and played tambola for entertainment. A disabled child artiste, Rijjul Bakshi, also performed on the occasion. Rajpur MLA Ganesh Joshi was the chief guest at the function. He wished the residents of Dehradun a happy and prosperous Baisakhi.
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CM extends Baisakhi greetings
Dehradun, April 11 Nishank said, “On the one hand Baisakhi spreads the significance of love, brotherhood and prosperity in the country, and on the other it is the reminiscence of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which led to the casualty of many innocent Indians”.
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Foundation offers to extend rural business in state
Dehradun, April 12 While briefing the conference, Dr Kamal Tawri (retd IAS officer), state president of the foundation, said, “We will like to introduce our company as consulting powerhouse with strong presence in government advisory services, implementing public partnership projects and investment banking initiatives and domain knowledge and expertise in agricultural as well as infrastructure spaces”. The foundation also claims structuring PPP models of global standards in rural business for different government undertakings in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Kerala that have brought value additions to the business. “The success and accomplishment, which business has seen in other parts of the country, can be witnessed in Uttarakhand too. Therefore, the foundation has already given memorandum to the chief secretary, NS Napalchiyal stating the plans and schemes of the projects,” said Tawri. “Through this project of creating hub of rural business in the state, we would like to create awareness in the rural section. Utilising the resources available and yielding best out of it with the selection of technically as well as commercially competence should be the prime object of the project,” he added. Prem Kashyap, Principal of Pestleweed College and Jhumarlal Tawri, President of International Agriculture and Cow Protection Council, are in support of the project lead by the foundation.
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Manorama on National Advisory Board
The Union Minister of Labour and Employment is the Chairman of the Board while State Union Minister of Labour and Employment it’s vice-chairman. Surekha from Karnataka has also been nominated as member of the Board. The first meeting of the Advisory Boards will take place on April 15. Manorama has thanked the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and the UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for nominating her as a member of the Board.
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PCDA register 2-wkt triumph over AG
Dehradun, April 12 The AG team won the toss and elected to bat first. Sanjeev (35) and NK Subramanium (27) were the principal scorers for the team. Sunil (14) and Dharam Singh Negi (16) also chipped in
valuable runs. However, the AG team could just score 127 runs in the allotted 25 overs. Gopal and BS Bhandari of PCDA did the major damage claiming three and two wickets respectively. Ajay, Lalit and NK Purohit also got a wicket each. Batting second, PCDA achieved the target in 22.4 overs at the loss of seven wickets. Opening batsman RS Katal was the main scorer for the team. He played a knock of 44 runs in 63 balls patiently and took his time to settle on the pitch to lead his team to a win. His innings comprised six boundaries. Lalit (15), RK Goyal (15) and NK Purohit (16*) played valuable knocks in the victory of their side. For the AG, RS Rana captured four wickets to emerge as the best bowler of the day. He gave 26 runs during his five overs. Sanjeev and NK Subramanium also contributed even while bowling with a
wicket each.
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Rao Cricket Academy score 51-run win
Dehradun, April 12 The 20-over match was reduced to 17 overs by the umpires as the teams reached late on the field. The Rao Academy won the toss and chose to bat first. The Academy mounted a big total of 140 runs in their allotted 17 overs at the loss of six wickets. Saurabh scored highest 26 runs for the side. While replying to the target, the Diamond Cricket Academy batsmen were taken for a ride by the bowlers of the Rao Cricket Academy. The disciplined bowlers of the Rao Academy bowled with tight length and line and didn’t allow any of the batsmen to take easy runs. Buckling under pressure considering the unassuming target, the batting side of Diamond Cricket Academy failed to click and lost wickets cheaply. It was bowled all out for 89 runs. Sachin was the pick of bowlers for the Rao Academy. Rahul and Himanshu got two wickets each.
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Facile victories for Chaudhary XI, Nanurara XI
Dehradun, April 12 Batting first the losing side set a target of 151 runs in the allotted 15 overs. Manoj (38*), Jagdish (37) and Laxman (30) were the main scorers. For Chaudhary XI, Shekher Chaudhary captured two wickets while Anurag and Raj Chaudhary got a wicket each. In reply, Chaudhary XI with the help of Sachin (35), Raj Chaudhary (35*) and Aalam (21) achieved the target in
9 overs. Raj Chaudhary was declared Man of the Match for his unbeaten 35 runs knock and getting one wicket. In another match, Nanurara XI easily defeated Doon Combined Club by eight wickets. Rahul Chauhan was the man behind the win with his three wicket-haul and 17 runs.
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Rajendra Sports leave for Kolkata today
Tribune News Service
Dehradun, April 12 The Association General Secretary Javad Bhatt said the 14-member team would leave for Kolkata tomorrow. The members of the team announced include Amit Chaudhary (captain), Umang Gandhi (vice-captain), Rahul Yadav, Julfikar Ali, Kasim Ali, Safik Rav, Hemant Upreti, Shubam Joshi, Anshul Kanval, Vikrant Chaudhary, Sardar Rabjot Singh, Deepak Tiwari. KC Tripathi would be the manager and Ajad Ali was chosen as the coach.
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Local Kings XI drub Mumbai Indians
Dehradun, April 12 The Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bat first. The openers gave good start to the team but the middle order batsmen couldn’t take much advantage of it. Openers Karif (46) and Safiq (28) started off well for their side. However, the next three batsmen scored nine runs only. Amit was another hope for the side as he emerged as a top scorer for his side with 57 runs. Mumbai Indians set a target of 180 runs at the loss of five wickets. For Kings XI, Umang Gandhi scalped two wickets while Deepak, Rahul, Rawjyot Singh and Zulfi got one batsman out each. Batting second, Umang and Deepak flayed the bowlers of the Mumabi Indians side with ease. Both played fast knocks and didn’t face any resistance from the attack of their rival bowlers. Umang struck 54 runs in 34 balls and Deepak scored 54 in 31 balls to down Mumbai Indians. Zulfi too contributed with 23 runs. Hemant and Amit took two and one wicket respectively for Mumbai Indian.
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Forest fires continue to rage in Uttarakhand, if one goes by 176 incidents of forest fire recorded in the state since the start of fire season from February 15.
Nainital, April 12
Hers is a voice that has the ability to put wings to a listener’s fantasy and transfer him or her to a faraway land - a land of mystic charm and immense natural beauty. Her songs talk of nature’s bounty and human survival in it. The notes come from deep within her and hit the listener straight in the heart.
No wonder, Kabootri Devi deserves to be called the kokila (nightingale)
of Uttarakhand.
Though the Right to Education Act, 2009, was implemented with much promises by the
Centre, according to the Rachnatmak Shikshak Mandal, Uttarakhand, it will not solve any purpose, rather will
create problems. Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Navendu
Mathpal, state patron of the association, said the Act would have an adverse affect on students as well as on their parents.
Dehradun, April 12
Dehradun, April 12