Haridwar, April 29
Just a day after the completion of the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar, a controversy related to Kumbh affairs has surfaced. Akhada Parishad national chief Mahant Gyan Das has come out in the open against the mela administration over the dismantling of the Lord Hanuman temple and Shri Ram Charan Padukas belonging to three akhadas allotted land at the Bairagi camp.

While the administration seems adamant to remove all constructed structures during the Kumbh tenure, Bairagi Akhadas have warned that they will not visit Haridwar for future Kumbhs if the administration forcefully removes these religious structures.

Saints belonging to the Nirwani, Nirmohi and Digambar akhadas in particular have criticised the administration’s decision of removing these religious establishments. Akhada Parishad saints have decided to stage an agitation at the Bairagi camp tomorrow to press for an end to the administration’s drive to remove these structures. The Bairagi Akhadas are also demanding that religious rituals be allowed at these places.

But the administration says as the Maha Kumbh has got over, as per the norms, any structure on the Bairagi camp and adjacent Kumbh mela camp areas have to be removed and the areas will be cleared of any structure, permanent or temporary, so that for the next Kumbh fair ample space is there. Even the Bairagi Akhadas have been demanding the allotted land on lease and as the Bairagi camp area comes under the Irrigation Department, any decision regarding the land is to be taken by the department with the consent of the Chief Minister.

Notably, the Kumbh camp areas are allotted to akhadas and saints for usage during the Kumbh tenure only. The Lord Hanuman temple and Shri Ram Charan Padukas were set up during this Maha Kumbh tenure only.

District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram says as per the ruling of the court, the Bairagi mela camp areas have to be left void after the completion of Ardh Kumbhs and Maha Kumbhs and as saints are given these land areas only for the Kumbh duration so there is no justification in saints seeking permanency of these temporarily allotted spaces on religious basis.

Upper Mela Officer Harveer Singh met Mahant Gyan Das and other akhada saints today and tried to put the mela administration’s point and court’s ruling before them. But the adamant saints said at no cost would they allow bulldozers to run through these holy structures.

Meanwhile, this contentious issue has been brought to the notice of Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank by state Urban Minister and local legislator Madan Kaushik. The issue may affect claims of the government about a successful hosting of the Kumbh. Sources say the Chief Minister himself visiting Haridwar to resolve the issue is very much in the pipeline and tomorrow some decision may be arrived at in this regard.

Dehradun, April 29
Reinventing itself, the Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam (GMVN) has come up with 11 tightly knit package weekend tours. These specialised tours cater to the specific requirements of tourists.

Managing Director VVRC Purushotam said, “The weekend package tours have been prepared to cater to the corporate sector which usually does not have much time and prefers to seek out fun and thrill in small duration.

“We have tailor-made theme-based tours which tourists can pick as per their taste and requirements.”

The main consideration is definitely the high-end tourist, but the GMVN has also offered the same tours to the economy class also. This has been done by cutting down on lavish food and luxuries for them.

Purushotam said that ample arrangement for the accommodation of tourists has been made on all sites which include bungalows, lodges and camps. The meal would remain vegetarian.

“The route passes through dense trees, shady groves, alpine meadows, steep short climbing to the lofty heights from where one can have enchanting views of fascinating snow. These are excellent weekend packages by the GMVN’s expert team”.

Nainital, April 29
The Institute of Professional Studies and Development Research (IPSDR), a prestigious institution of Kumaon University, continues to be in the eye of a storm with the university authorities deciding that from the next session no admission for the MBA course will be held for this institute and the courses will be run only from its Almora and Bhimtal campuses.

The Vice-Chancellor of the university, Dr VPS Arora, while talking to The Tribune, said: “I have told the students currently enrolled at the institute that their session will continue to be run over here, but no new MBA admissions will be held for the IPSDR. The campuses at Almora and Bhimtal that offer the courses are barely utilising 25 per cent of the resources available and it will be better if the resources there are utilised to the optimum”.

Dr Arora further said: “The IPSDR was set up to run vocational courses. I want to categorically say that the IPSDR as an institution will continue to function and only vocational courses will be offered here”.

Meanwhile, the Professor and Head of the IPSDR, Dr RC Mishra, has quit his post and will be joining Uttarakhand Open University from May 15. Though Dr Mishra refused to comment on the developments, sources close to him say that certain elements of the Commerce and Management Faculty of the university wanted to extend their control over the institute and were not happy to see the IPSDR functioned independently.

Interestingly, the system of having a separate Research Degree Committee (RDC) and Board of Studies (BOS) for the IPSDR has been done away with. Dr Arora said the decision was taken at recent meetings of the Academic Council and the Executive Council of the university. It was also pointed out at the meetings as to how could one university have two different institutions offering an MBA course, one being run by the university at Almora and Bhimtal and another by the IPSDR.

People close to Dr Mishra point out that such an arrangement exists in several universities across the country, including the Lucknow and Allahabad universities, and it is high time that the Kumaon University authorities come out of their cocoon and look at things in a broader perspective.

Interestingly, the university was scheduled to hold an RDC meeting for submission of synopsis for a set of students this afternoon for which intimations and orders were given on the very same day.

The students pursuing MBA at the IPSDR have not been attending classes over the past two days and are seeking clarifications from the Vice-Chancellor on this issue.

Earlier, the IPSDR-Microsoft IT Academy which was functioning on the basis of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Kumaon University and a franchise of IT giant Microsoft Limited for running an IT centre at the pristine Hermitage Building here was scrapped.

The decision to scrap the MoU was taken with the university saying that the franchise had decided to abandon its functioning without any information on December 31, 2009.

It was also pointed out that the centre was neither paying any rent for the premises being used by it to the university, nor was it giving 40 per cent of the fees to the university charged from the students under the self-financing pattern on which it was functioning. Besides the Centre was also running a series of short-term courses without the consent of the university.

Haridwar, April 29
As the agitation of Gurukul Kangri University staff and non-teaching employees entered its 65th day, support has come from former legislator Ambrish Kumar, who has pressed for the Central university status so that the damage done by stripping of the deemed university status can be restored.

Addressing the agitating employees on the university premises, Ambrish Kumar shed light on the historical background of the university and said there were barely a few universities in India that could match up to the moral education, contribution to the Indian freedom movement and the society as whole as Kangri university did.

“Gurukul is a world-renowned institution, which has produced not only academic students, but morally, culturally, patriotic students also, who are leading the society in various fields of life,” said Kumar.

Demanding necessary action from the Union HRD Ministry which took off the deemed status from Kangri university, he said it was a pity that a century-old university had been pitched for barely a few years old institution whose motive was to earn money which was a shame for the HRD Ministry.

He also sat on symbolic dharna at the agitation spot, along with former Samajwadi Party state general secretary Murli Manohar, who demanded that people of Haridwar should come forward to stir the movement till its glory was restored.

Vice-Chancellor Prof Swatantra Kumar has expressed happiness over support coming from various quarters and said the university management was trying at its level best to get the Central university status.

He also said the Union Minister for Labour and Employment was constantly in touch with the officials of the HRD ministry in putting university’s case properly.Today, five employees of the university sat on fast as part of the agitation which has entered 65th day.

Dehradun, April 29
The final of the Inter-Section Quiz Competition was held at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) here today. Three teams of 12 members from each section took part in the quiz. The quiz comprised various rounds like ecology and environment round, sports round, brain-teasers round, science and technology round, current affairs round, audio round, video round and buzzer round.

Quizmasters of the evening were Rakhi Chamola, PK Jain, Rachna Malhotra and UP Dalvi. Computer assistance was provided by Vineet Mathews while scorer was Selven. The final scores were: Chandragupta Section 203 points, Ranjit Section 165 points, Shivaji Section 138 points and Pratap Section 127 points.

The chief guest for the evening was Col H Dharmarajan, SM, Commandant, RIMC. He appreciated the performance of the cadets and encouraged them to keep themselves acquainted with the happenings around and enhance quizzing skills.

The other dignitaries present were Lt Col R Nathawat, Lt Cdr Chakraborty, Major SR Sahoo and KS Ahlawat. PK Sharma was coordinator of the event. Other members of the jury present were CS Vishwakarma and DN Thapliyal. 

Dehradun, April 29
The Paralympic Committee of India conducted selection trials for the shooting team that will take part in the World Cup to be held in France and Spain and the World Championship to be held in Crotia.

The trials in pistol and rifle events were held on the outskirts of Dehradun here today.

During the trials, players who scored 540 points qualified. Akash Kumar scored 560 points out of 600 points in air pistol. Lalit Kumar scored 550 points, Parveen Kumar scored 531 points, Abhimanyu scored 525 points and Narender Kumar Nain scored 518 points in the same category.

In the women air pistol category, Dilraj Kaur scored 307 points out of 400 points. While Arjuna awardee Naresh Kumar Sharma performed superbly scoring 597 points out of 600.

Dehradun, April 29
The Equnox Mr Uttarakhand contest is being organised by the Equnox Sports Promotion and Dehradun Bodybuilders Association at Ambedkar Stadium, Kaulagarh Road, on May 1.

At least 150 contestants are expected to participate in this competition. Uttarakhand’s famous bodybuilder Rahul Bisht, Lekhraj Gurung, Dushyant Sharma and Yogiditya have already confirmed their participation in this championship.

There will be seven weight categories and the competition will be played under the rules of the IBBF. The winners will be rewarded with cash prize and trophies worth 2.5 lakh in total.

Mukesh Thakur, the coach at the Equnox gym, at a press conference held today, said the first prize would carry Rs 7,000 while the second and third cash prizes will be Rs 5,000 and Rs 3,000, respectively. The fourth and fifth position holders will also get Rs 1,000 each.

The overall winne, Mr Uttarakhand, will get a reward of whopping Rs 51,000 and the runner-up will get Rs 21,000.

Addressing the press conference, secretary of the association NL Sharma said during the competition the body building team of Uttarakhand for Mr India championship to be held in Guwahati from May 6 to 9 would be selected.

Mussoorie, April 29
Eminent actor, author and theatre personality Tom Alter on his visit to Nand Kishore Bamboo’s residence on his birth anniversary on Tuesday, said the IPL in its present form was nothing else but Ravana, for the game had tarnished the name of such a beautiful game cricket.

Elaborating further, he said, the IPL could be compared to a classic film of all times “Mughal-e-Azam” being converted and reduced to a 10-minute pornography film.

He said it was surprising how great players like Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri were mum on the issue. Top officials must be aware of the scam in the IPL, but as most of them had recieved a lot of down payment, they all had chosen to stay silent. He had indicated the downfall of the IPL two years back, but none took him seriously.

Alter reminisced the days spent with late Nand Kishore Bamboo, Ranji player and international coach. He also informed that after consultation with the Bamboo family, it was decided that every year on April 26, a six-a-side interschool cricket tournament involving all schools of the town would be organised.

He said the legacy of Bamboo should continue and this was one such move. He was glad that a roller skating tournament was also planned in October and it would help in promoting sports in the town.

Alter, praising Bamboo, said it was his calibre that the State Games were conducted in the state and no one had initiated it after his death. Bamboo contribution surpassed any award, be it Arjuna, Dronacharya or Khel Ratan.

Alter further opined that the National Games had not been conducted for the past three years and this all was due to incompetent president of IOU Suresh Kalmadi. He questioned the reasoning behind the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi and was skeptical on the gold medal tally for the country.

He was of the view that till the system and the president changed, there was no chance of increasing the medal tally. “What this country needs is an athlete such as Flying Sikh Milkha Singh whose 100-m and 200-m timings are still difficult to break by modern athletes,” he concluded.

Pitthoragarh, April 29
The Uttarakhand’s girls boxing team for the sub-junior and junior categories for the national competition to be held in Tamil Nadu from May 3 to 7 was declared here by the selection committee after a long training camp that concluded here today.

The team includes two girls from Dehradun - Sangita Soniyal and Nevedita in the junior category.

“The girls selected for the national competition in the sub-junior category are Deepa Garia, Kiran Kaira and Hema Dhami from Bageshwar, Neelam Mehta and Babita Bisht and Lalita Kharka from Pitthoragarh,” said Dharmendra Bhatt, sports officer of Pitthoragarh and in charge of the training camp.