|
|
|
|
Survival of Indian circus hangs in balance
A crusader against pine trees
|
|
|
With moist eyes, cops bid adieu to Kumbh city
Nursing colleges may get sister act together
Soon, Sanskrit will be compulsory subject
School holds health camp
BEd aspirants feel cheated
Governor condoles student’s death
Opportunities galore to study abroad
Roorkee’s Akbar is Mr Haridwar
Ladpur Knight Riders edge past HCL XI
Kunal Thapa fashions Western Boys win
Unison World, Scholar’s Home girls win
|
|
Survival of Indian circus hangs in balance
Dehradun, April 19 These days trapeze stunts by artistes of Nagaland in Westen Circus amuse people of the city, but the fact remains that the circus troupe is failing to attract enough crowd. The enthusiasm of the Indian circus and the vibrancy of the spotlight are somehow fading now. Senior manager of Westen Circus DR Pandey said: “The first day witnessed about 2,000 spectators, but the sustainability of the crowd cannot be presumed now. The Supreme Court imposing a ban on wild animals such as tigers, leopards, lions, bears and monkeys from participating in the circus has affected the graph of the circus. Maybe we can do good business in Dehradun as our troupe has come to a hill area with people having inclination towards art and entertainment. We need large funds to maintain the circus, but the revenue comes out to be less. Out of this most of it is spent on looking after the animals and other
expenses. “Currently, there are about 100 big and small Indian circuses that are still striving hard for survival, whereas earlier performers were honoured for their work. The Indian circus was preferred over their foreign counterparts. It had a large fan following, children being the main followers of the circus, but it has been replaced by computer games and sci-fi 3-D films,” quipped Pandey. Unless the Central government takes an initiative to support, the condition of the circus can not
be uplifted.
|
|
A crusader against pine trees
Dehradun, April 19 Ex-serviceman Ramesh Chandra Baurai has taken onto himself to sensitise fellow villagers against these forest fires even while openly advocating the removal of pine trees. A time-bound removal of pine trees is the sole solution for putting a final check on forest fires. A single-man brigade, who started his sensitisation operations from Pauri Garhwal, has now been frequently visiting districts of Uttarakashi and Tehri to motivate people to fight forest fires. “People have started maintaining a distance from forests. There was time when villagers rushed to save forests whenever these encountered fire. But, today that same spirit is missing”, he said arguing that forest laws have alienated the locals from forests. Baurai has even taken up the matter with Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Harish Rawat, who has further written to Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh putting forward his suggestion of pine removal. A resident of Nandakhet in the Bangar area of Pauri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand, Baurai has even taken up the matter with the state Chief Minister. He even rubbishes Forest Department’s suggestion of the utilisation of pine needles, the root cause behind these fires. “I don’t think it is feasible. It is very difficult to get results at a scale that can minimise fires in forests and even if pine needles are all put to use. The adverse impact of these trees on water resources cannot be negated,” Baurai added. Water bodies in Uttarakhand hills are vanishing fast and chir is actively contributing to this phenomenon. Chir forests should be replaced with mixed forests and even issues of wildlife can be addressed to a big extent if these chir forests are replaced with fruit trees. The ex-serviceman has even been trying to approach the Forest Research Institute to back his campaign against pine trees despite his little influence with forestry experts. Little worried about the quantum of success, Baurai pledged to continue with his campaign against pine trees and hopes to succeed in generating a popular opinion even in Forest Department.
|
|
With moist eyes, cops bid adieu to Kumbh city
Haridwar, April 19 With there being no terror attack, no major unfortunate incident, barring the accident at Birla Ghat on the last Shahi Snan, the mela police personnel are leaving the Kumbh city with satisfaction that they did their job to perfection. Police buses and vehicles carrying police personnel and their luggage are now a common sight in Haridwar. Leaving the city, of which now they know every nook and corner, moist eyes of the personnel said it all of their association with the pilgrim city. They roamed like tourists before their departure to their respective states. Most of them termed the Kumbh duty as a lifetime experience that had made them mentally and physically stronger and enhanced their outlook towards people and the profession too. Acknowledging the immense contribution of each personnel, the mela police chief, DIG Alok Sharma, is trying to reach out to each personnel and thank him for his valuable contribution. Given the big number of police staff deployed on the Kumbh duty, the wireless system has come handy for him in addressing at one point of time thousands of personnel stationed at various police sectors in the Haridwar and Rishikesh mela area. “Main DIG Alok Sharma bol raha hoon...” the live introduction begins as police personnel listen to the voice broadcast specially for them. After listening to the message of their in charge, they can converse with him on the system. Like a Sub-Inspector from Uttar Pradesh, hearing the message at the Saptsarovar mela stationl, just couldn’t control his emotions and said: “Saheb this time all station mela personnel have switched off their cellular phones and are attentively listening to your speech. Everyone in the past few months have got attached with the Kumbh city, the holy Ganga, devotees coming to take a dip and the varied challenges that the Maha Kumbh duty offered us. Now, we are feeling bad that we have to leave our respective state camps”. Several personnel of other states and paramilitary jawans said earlier they had apprehensions working in another state, but the love and affection the Uttarakhand police and local people gave to them, changed their opinion. One of the newly recruited women constables asked the DIG that before the commencement of the Maha Kumbh from several quarters doubts were being raised over the effectiveness and capability of the home state police in carrying out the Kumbh. “Will that perspective change after the successful completion of this mega fair where we controlled and managed more than five crore people, besides there was no terror, criminal or violent act”. To this question pat came the reply from not the DIG, but Uttar Pradesh DSP Ashok Sharma, who joined in the conversation from the Neeldhara sector. “Now no one can question the Uttarakhand police credibility, specially their enthusiasm, effectiveness and presence of mind. Behaviour they showed during their duty was commendable”. While the DIG added that the successful hosting of the Kumbh dispelled all doubts, and now critics had taken their words back as nothing speaks better than work and results. Making the conversation more light, a constable from Pauri Garhwal district urged the mela police in charge that after making sure that the Kumbh passed off peacefully, the due reward would be that the DIG became the DGP of Uttarakhand. As a token from the mela police side to all leaving mela personnel, holy Ganga water and prasad is also being given to them.
|
|
Nursing colleges may get sister act together
Dehradun, April 19 Against the prescribed ratio of one nurse for every five patients (beds), nurses at the Doon Hospital and Female District Hospital are responsible for more than 10 patients. And with no service rules and a nursing cadre, the nurses continue to be supervised by doctors. Of the 12 posts of matrons in Uttarakhand, only three are filled. No appointments have been made in the state since 2006. According to the council’s norms, the state requires at least 1,000 nurses. The requirement is for 800 staff nurses and 200 sisters in all 13 districts. The situation is worse in the Doon Hospital and Female District Hospital that attract the maximum number of patients. The situation at the community health centres (CHCs) is equally critical. The Raipur CHC has only four nurses. As per the Indian Nursing Council norms, there should be at least 225 nurses on duty on a given day. In a single shift, it translates into 60 staff nurses and 15 sisters (in a supervisory position) working six hours a day in a 300-bed hospital like the Doon Hospital. The difference in the sanctioned posts as against the numbers required is huge. “There are frequent complaints of tiffs between family members of patients and nurses for not attending to their sick relatives. We try to do as much as possible, but the workload is acute. “There is a need to increase the number of sanctioned posts,” said Anjana Bhowmick, Secretary of the Uttarakhand Nurses Service Association. In the state, against the sanctioned demand of 255 nurses, only 143 are working and there is a shortage of
112 nurses. “We have been badly hit by the shortage of nursing staff. I have been told that on many occasions at the District Women’s Hospital, nurses engaged in the labour room have to double up even at the Neo-Natal Care Department. “We hope to overcome the shortage once our Nursing Training Institute becomes functional here. The appointment of provisional staff under the National Rural Health Mission too will help us provide extra hands,” said DG Health Dr CP Arya. Apart from the huge shortage of nursing staff in hospitals, even education and training to nurses remains largely unattended. However, the biggest problem in this regard remains the management of the staff. “As there is no cadre, our problems and representation to higher-ups is largely left to doctors. We require nursing officers to oversee our functioning,” said SK Singh, President of the association. The state Health Department is banking on the Nursing College in Dehradun that will start functioning in July and two more are planned in Chamoli and Nainital. Until then, nurses will have to continue with the grind.
|
|
Soon, Sanskrit will be compulsory subject
Dehradun, April 19 Mahant Krishna Sharma visited Uttarakhand along with some of his companions to congratulate the Chief Minister on having declared Sanskrit the second official language of the state and also on the successful conduction of the Kumbh. He said Sanskrit was not only the mother of all languages, but also of the human civilisation. Dr Nishank by declaring it the second official language of the state had done a commendable work towards propagation of Sanskrit, said Mahant Sharma. He believed that the country would also follow the example set by Uttarakhand and would work towards reinstating Sanskrit to its rightful place. He further added that Sanskrit was a “dev vani” - the language of the gods. It was also the language of the Vedas and Puranas, so it was the oldest of all languages of the world. “If today English is treated as an international language, Sanskrit may be termed as universal language. Now, it has also proved that people in the West have developed a keen interest in Sanskrit language,” he added.
|
|
School holds health camp
Dehradun, April 19 Under the supervision of Man Kind Pharma (Delhi), maximum people were detected to be deficient in calcium, while others availed the check-up facilities of ECG, blood test, physiotherapy etc. Dr Sandeep Ahuja, Dr Reena Ahuja, Dr BS Judge, Dr Sameer Swami, Dr Aswani Kalra, Dr Kamra, Dr Arun Kumar Dhir and Dr Anil Dhir were present at the
health camp.
|
|
BEd aspirants feel cheated
Nainital, April 19 A large number of students, who had come for the ongoing counselling under the arts and commerce streams got a rude shock when they were informed that all seats for the two streams had been filled by Sunday night. The students protested that all those who had scored up to 230 marks in the entrance exams had been called, while the cut-off limit had eventually been 237. They questioned what was the point in making them come here from far-off places. They also questioned the university’s decision to hold counselling in Nainital when the town did not even have a BEd college. University officials have stated that they had called the permissible number of students for the counselling and everything was done according to rules. Officials further said the cut-off limit had remained high on account of a large number of students from reserved categories taking admission in the general category. The counselling for the science stream will be held from tomorrow. It was after a seven-month delay that the counselling for the session started from April 16 and the formal classes will start from April 26. As announced by the university earlier, the counselling for the government and private-run colleges affiliated to it was being done simultaneously. The BEd academic session had been in the doldrums since September because of delays on the part of the government and the managements of private colleges thus putting the students to hardship. The university now wants to conduct the session in one go without any break. It will partially overlap the next session but the authorities want to finish the session at the earliest. The exams will be conducted in August this year so that the conduct of the successive sessions can be streamlined. 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 the private colleges offering this course. This probe had followed the instances of various irregularities coming to light in the last session. The university had decided to go for counselling for the private colleges as it felt that there was a tendency among the managements of the private colleges to enrol students by taking money.
|
|
Governor condoles student’s death
Dehradun, April 19 In her condolence, she has expressed deep sympathy towards the deceased’s family and wished speedy recovery to the students injured in the accident during the event organised by the Eco Watch Society.
|
|
Opportunities galore to study abroad
Dehradun, April 19 Pointing at the glaring lack of understanding among city residents about the opportunities available to study in universities abroad and the method to go about that, Madhukar Dhiman said: “The schools in the city are yet to open to the concept of studying abroad. Most of them remain block-minded, even if we approach them for guidance. This workshop has been aimed at educating youngsters about these opportunities. Through my institute, which is the recognised testing centre for qualifying exams like IELTS, TOEFL, GRE, GMAT, SAT, PTE and TOEFL.” His institute, which also holds French language classes under the collaboration with Allianz Francaise, is also entering into an MoU with the Dev Bhumi Institute of Technology (DBIT) soon. Dhiman said if the students were alert and well-informed, they could study half the time in India and the rest half in their selected universities in some cases. This way they could get the same degree without spending much money. According to Deepak Chaudhary, these workshops also helped school students to prepare for the future requirements to study in their choicest courses in their most-preferred universities. Natasha Heer said courses offered by Allianz Francaise opened new vistas for Doon students to study in French universities. Christine also assured the participants at the workshop of quality life and job security for Indian students in New Zealand saying that “it is cost effective for Indian students to study in New Zealand which gives value for their hard-earned money. The education system in my country for foreigner students is based on three principals, study, work and settle. Unlike Australia, New Zealand wholeheartedly welcomes foreign students, including Indians, to settle on its turf”.
|
|
Roorkee’s Akbar is Mr Haridwar
Haridwar, April 19 The championship was held at the Valia Health Club at Kankhal. The overall category title was bagged by Akbar from Roorkee. The title for best muscle man was won by Kankhal‘s Vijay Kumar. In the 50-55Kg weight category Amit Kumar stood first, followed by Sashank Thakur and Shiva. In the 55-60kg category Mohan Negi, Pawan Kumar, Ravi Kumar bagged positions. In the 60-70 kg category Vijay Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Akbar Ali and in the 70-75 kg weight category Shahzad Ali, Sabrej and Ruhil, respectively, bagged the podium positions.
Tthe chief guest, Mahant Gyan Das, urged youths to be healthier and stronger as it they were to shoulder the responsibility to guard and protect the country. Lauding the efforts and hardwork put in by contestants, the Akhada Parishad chief said as in a fit body a healthier mind dwells, so people specially youths should make extra efforts to make their body healthier and ultimately contribute to making nation a developed country. While Juna Akhada’s Soham Baba motivated the contestants by revealing that he himself thought of making a well-toned body and taking part in such competitions. The Mahamandaleshwar, who is synonymous with his strenuous efforts against global warming, said India’s future was in right hands as these participants were opting for a healthier lifestyle and indirectly would serve the country. Prominent among others who attended the competition were Uttarakhand Minorities’ Commission President Sardar Sukhdev Singh Namdhari, Haridwar BJP president Om Prakash Jamdagni, former legislator Ambrish Kumar, Murli Manohar, Satya Narayan Sharma, Baba Hatyogi, Mahant Hemant Das, Mahant Sanjay Das and Rakesh Valia. The event was judged by Raj Kumar, Chandrapal Kashyap, Amit Chetri and the coordinators were Amit Valia, Sunil Kumar, Sunil Singh and others.
|
|
Ladpur Knight Riders edge past HCL XI
Dehradun, April 19 Batting first, Ladpur set a target of 143 runs losing seven wickets in the stipulated 15 overs. Naushid (51 not out), Ashish (20) and Deepak (18) mainly scored for the team. Bablu and Banni got a wicket each for
HCL XI. Batting second, HCL XI could score 129 losing eight wickets in the allotted overs. Badal (37), Manish (30) and Kake (22) were main scorers for the team. While for the winning side, Faizal captured three wickets, Nitin and Rahul got
one each. Meanwhile, Naushid of Ladpur was adjudged man of the match for his unbeaten 51-run knock. He scored his half century in just 32 balls to ensure his team’s win.
|
|
Kunal Thapa fashions Western Boys win
Dehradun, April 19 Western Boys opened their account in the 40th minute of the game to finish the first half with 1-0. It was Thapa who struck for them. While in the second half, it was fierce battle between the two teams to score a goal. Roshni Club got its first goal in the 57th minute when Nitin Bhardwaj netted one. With this goal, both teams were equal at 1-1. But Kunal Thapa once again retaliated in the 62th minute to get the match in his team’s favour. Meanwhile, a match would be played between Vijay Cantt and Sarvodaya Club at 4.30 pm tomorrow.
|
|
Unison World, Scholar’s Home girls win
Dehradun, April 19 In another encounter, Scholar’s Home drubbed St Joseph’s Academy 26-8. Shriya scored 14 points. Jaswant Modern School beat SIA 12-4. Surbhi scored eight points. Hopetown School also outclassed DAVPS by 39-9 in a one-sided match. Pummy struck 10 points for
Hopetown.
|
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In the midst of craze of television and multiplex culture, the Indian circus is struggling really hard to keep its flag high. With the dying culture of the circus, artistes and performers are unable to find room.
There is simmering discontentment among villagers against growing forest fires in Uttarakhand’s hilly villages. While forest officials have resorted to a flurry of measures to check these forest fires, a complete removal of pine trees seems to be another plausible suggestion. Pine trees comprise major portion of Uttarakhand forests.
Haridwar, April 19
Dehradun, April 19
Dehradun, April 19
Dehradun, April 19
It was a unique conglomeration in Haridwar when at the Mr Haridwar Body Building Championship contestants were felicitated and watched by saints. With Maha Kumbh’s all Shahi Snan duly completed, Akhada Parishad’s national chief Mahant Gyan Das and Juna Akhada Mahamandaleshwar Soham Baba took some time from their hectic schedule.
Dehradun, April 19
Dehradun, April 19
Dehradun, April 19
