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Conserve biodiversity to remove poverty: CM
Man-Leopard Conflicts |
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Mussoorie dept shuts eyes to water wastage
In Kumaon, residents vandalise power units
Water supply to be suspended today
UCOST to set up water testing lab
Tanzanian girl elected school captain
Students learn to test food adulteration
Campus placement: Surya Roshni selects seven management students
Photo exhibition at Raj Bhawan on May 24
Football camp concludes at Marshall School
Basketball: Dehradun eves defeat Mussoorie 24-6
VC Milan blank Cantt Blues 4-0
Now, Haridwar to be polythene-free city from July 1
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Conserve biodiversity to remove poverty: CM
Dehradun, May 22 He said research institutions and government agencies should coordinate in order to harness the ayurvedic and medicinal resources of the hill state, which is intrinsic part of our biodiversity. Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said a lot of work was still to be done for the protection of biodiversity. He said Uttarakhand kept a rich biodiversity and this could be put to use for the benefit of the common man. Dr RBS Rawat, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, PCCF, Uttarakhand, said the theme of “Biodiversity Conservation and Poverty Alleviation” was very relevant for hill state as development through people’s participation was the underlying principle to brought about changes in the lives of BPL families of the state. He, therefore, emphasised that agro eco-zone needed to be identified for the local populace to develop income generation opportunities, which was bound to get a boost with the formation of the State Biodiversity Board in Uttarakhand six months back. Dr Rajendra Dobhal, Director, UCOST emphasised on an urgent need for profiling of biodiversity. He further explained that a bio-prospecting model needed to be put in place to utilise the traditional knowledge for sustainable utilisation of biodiversity. Echoing similar views, Forest and Rural Development Commissioner Subhash Kumar said the local populace needed to be educated about the importance of biodiversity. Earlier, Dr BS Burfal, chairman of the board, spoke on the activities of the board and dwelt at length on its future programmes. Member secretary of the board Jai Raj coordinated the proceedings. He said local varieties of crops would get a boost with the setting of Biodiversity Management Committee at the local level, as per the Act.
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Man-Leopard Conflicts
Dehradun, May 22 The Forest Department’s initiative comes at a time when the department is finding itself helpless in curbing the rising incidents of man-leopard conflicts. While human casualty in leopard attacks has been very frequent in the state, the deaths of leopards, too, have touched an all-time high in recent years. Nearly 200 persons have lost their lives and 343 persons have been injured in leopard attacks since the inception of the state. Similarly, over 268 leopards have also faced death either at hands of poachers, accidents or even foresters’ bullets within the same period. These prowling leopards, in particular, have taken ageing people and infants as soft targets as they fail to get their prey within their very limits of habitats. The local connivance in incidents of leopard skin poaching is also increased tremendously. Thus, a need for a comprehensive study on man-leopard conflicts, particularly for Uttarakhand, has been felt for quite time. A study could lead to some fruitful recommendations as in case of a similar study in Maharashtra. A study in Nashik, Maharashtra, on man-leopard conflicts revealed interesting illustrations. The study found that translocation of leopards as done in cases of trapped man-eaters was not to the feline’s interests as leopards return to their original places after some time and even after crossing miles. In one particular case in Maharashtra, a trapped man-eater leopard translocated to some other place came back to its original place after crossing as many as 160 km, travelling day and night. This, while it preyed on cattle and other livestock en route. Translocation thus only Interestingly, it was also revealed that the Borivili National Park, despite being in close proximity to a large human activity, least faced such a situation making it an interesting case study of human-leopard peaceful co-existence. Thus, perceptions about behaviour of man-eating leopards need to be understood and the WII study could lead a way. The WII had some years back studied man-leopard conflicts in Pauri district and dwelt at length on nature and causes linked to these conflicts. But this study has been limited and thus a comprehensive study was still to come. “The growing cases of these incidents in Uttarakhand are a matter of urgent concern and we have proposed for a detailed study on man-leopard conflicts in Uttarakhand to the WII,” said Dr RBS Rawat, state Principal Chief Conservator of Forests. Forest officials admit that the situation in the state could turn to worse in the near future if wildlife experts’ recommended measures were not introduced to meet the threat. The department so far had been finding itself helpless to find a solution to leopard-linked deaths.
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Mussoorie dept shuts eyes to water wastage
Mussoorie, May 22 Added to this builders at a construction site near Guru Ram Rai School at Lakshman Puri have taken a illegal water connection directly from mainline passing through which is flowing continuously without any hindrance. The storage tanks over Allahabad Bank at Jhoola Ghar are also wasting drinking water as it flows freely right in front of the public eye, but Jal Sansthan remains blindfolded in taking any action against the perpetrators. Every drop of drinking water becomes precious with the onslaught of the summer season in the hill town of Mussoorie as Jal Sansthan begin its storage preparation right from the month of January. Jal Sansthan officials when contacted were unaware of such wastage, but have promised to look into the matter on priority.
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In Kumaon, residents vandalise power units
Nainital, May 22 The breakdown at the power stations that followed a power cut led to a mob attacking the power stations. The agitated people went on a rampage attacking employees and burning the infrastructure at the power stations. The employees fled for their lives and the police had to use force to control the agitators. The mob initially attacked the power station in the Pakkakot locality and fled before the police arrived on the scene. Thereafter, the power station at the Mohalla Kila was attacked. The miscreants broke the store lock and burnt the inventory lying inside. The police brought the situation under control.
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Water supply to be suspended today
Dehradun, May 22 “In these areas the water supply will be partially suspended in the morning and will be completely shut in the evening. The Jal Sansthan will not be able to use tube wells as electricity too would be affected due to work on 7 feeders each of 11 KV,” said VK Sethi, Uttaranchal Jal Sansthan Executive Engineer (South). —
TNS
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UCOST to set up water testing lab
Dehradun, May 22 Dr Rajendra Dobhal, Director, UCOST, said the project had been funded to the state with an aim to establish the Water Testing Lab so that water quality of the state could be tested and monitored. The other major objective was to prepare the Water Quality Map of Uttarakhand to assess the status of water of the hill state. Dr DP Uniyal, Senior Scientific Officer, UCOST and Co-Principal Investigator of the project, confirmed that the project had completed one year and water samples from different areas would be tested in second and third year covering the entire state. “A water quality map will be prepared, which will be of immense help to the Land Department and policy planners to take the corrective measures,” he pointed out. The project bears significance the state needs research and development work in the field of water sector primarily among them being good water quality, adequate water and sustainability of water sources.
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Tanzanian girl elected school captain
Mussoorie, May 22
The ceremony began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the chief guest, Navy Commander Prakash Malhotra (retd), who was also second in command on the INS Rajput and INS Ranvir during his tenure in the Navy. The other students elected to various posts were: Amit Bisht (vice school captain), Anirudh Gosh (sports captain), Anami (activity captain), Navpreet and Navreen (both dining hall prefect), Rajpal and Saroj (both senior dorm prefect), Monthon and Nitin Rawat (both junior dorm prefect), Lalit Chaudhry (junior dorm prefect), Tenzing and Rashika (Dharma House captains), Fatima and Hemani Negi (Jwala House captains), Om Prakash and Neha (Narayna House captains), Gulshan and Jaspreet (Surya House captains), Sheena, Abdulah and Gunjan (members of Hindi Editorial Board), Ratanlekha, Mayank Arora and Chandni Dhanai (members of the English Editorial Board). The chief guest pinned badges and congratulated the elected students. They took oath to conduct themselves in a befitting manner and pledged to maintain discipline of the school. Later speaking to the media, Anisa said her aim in the life was to become a lawyer and her election as the school captain was a step in that direction. She said with these elections she had understood the power of democracy. The students were extremely glad that they could choose their executive body in a democratic way. The process to elect student heads in a democratic way is the brainchild of school Principal Mukesh Lal and it was introduced by him last year. “Previously the school Principal’s choice was considered as final for the post of school captain but the school in unison thought of introducing democratic values last year, hence this transparent election process,” added Mukesh Lal. He said: “It is important for the students to understand the democratic process of election from the tender age after all they are the ones who will choose future Chief Ministers and Prime Ministers”. For the post of school captain four candidates were shortlisted by teachers keeping in account their behaviour, personality and contribution in academics, sports and extra-curricular activities. Students elected one out of these four students for the post. The rest were selected in order of the number of votes they received. The elections were held peacefully, the Principal said. Malhotra said: “With leadership comes responsibility”. He said he was sure that the office-bearers of the student body would conduct themselves true to the posts and maintain high moral and ethical values during their tenure.
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Students learn to test food adulteration
Dehradun, May 22 Around 250 students from Class VI to XII and teachers participated at the workshop. The main objective of the workshop was to make students aware as well as train them in food adulteration testing. In the workshop each student got the food samples from their houses. The food stuffs were mustered oil, refined oil, milk, mawa, curd, paneer, pure ghee, arhar dal, cloves, black papper, turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder, cumin seeds, besan, tea and coffee etc. About 85 per cent food samples were found adulterated. The technique of adulteration testing was taught by Dr Brij Mohan Sharma, Scientist, SPECS. Dr Sharma also explained the simple method for adulteration testing, like testing turmeric and red chilly powder by acetone, oil by lemon, milk by gram flour and turmeric. He further explained that maximum products can be tested by water, lemon and nail polish remover. Principal of the school Urvashi gave thanks to SPECS and UCOST. Usha Dubey was the convener of the workshop.
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Workshop on VLSI design begins
Dehradun, May 22 Prof GP Srivastava, Vice-Chancellor, ICFAI University, inaugurated the workshop today, which will conclude on May 24. He described the development of integrated circuit right from the days of vacuum tubes and solid state transistors to the present VLSI level. He also emphasised the growing technological requirements and the widespread acceptances of sophisticated electronic devices that had created an unprecedented demand for VLSI design. The keynote address was delivered by Raj Singh, Scientist and GP leader, CEERI, Pilani. He meticulously broke down the whole domain of VLSI design into various technological steps for consumption of audience, right from the conceptual stage to its delivery stage. Dr RC Ramola, Dean, ICFAI, was specific in identifying that such a workshop in Uttarakhand would help in providing employment opportunities and growth in the areas of integrated circuit design. The workshop was attended by 50 participants drawn from HNB Garhwal University, University of Petroleum Studies, Uttranchal Institute of Technology, Dehradun Institute of Technology, GITS Udaipur, in addition to faculty and students of ICFAI. CEERI Vice-Chancellor Pro SC Deorani, and CEERI scientist Dr SC Bose. Prof Raj Gaurav Mishra gave the vote of thanks for the inaugural session and hoped for a very productive participation during the sessions.
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Campus placement: Surya Roshni selects seven management students
Dehradun, May 22 Students from ICFAI and NIMBS have appeared in the interviews conducted by the company. It has selected the deserving students as management trainees. Written test, extempore, group discussion and personal interview were the different series that a candidate went through during the selection process. About 50 candidates have been selected in the first phase of the interview. Director of the institute Dr Pawan Kumar Aggarwal and General Manager of the company Col Arun Jha expressed their heartfelt congratulations to the students who got selected in the first round of the placements and encouraged the rest to the selection criteria. Members of the placement committee of the institute Professor Swati Bisht, Professor Om Deep Gupta, Prof Neelesh Arora and Prof essor Chhavi Katara also congratulated the selected students for their accomplishment.
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Photo exhibition at Raj Bhawan on May 24
Nainital, May 22 Governor Margaret Alva will distribute the prizes on Tuesday.
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Sagar fashions HCA’s victory
Dehradun, May 22 The RMGD set a target of 109 runs in 19.4 overs losing all its batsmen. Vaibhav Kalwani (37) and Abhinav (24) were the main scorers for the team. Sagar Mehta of HCA bowled superbly claiming three wickets for 18 in three overs he bowled. While for HCA, achieving the target wasn’t tough and it achieved it in 17.4 overs only. Sagar Mehta (44) acted as the mainstay of the team. Jatin Sharma (25) ably supported him in the win. While in another match, continuing its winning spree host UCA Uttarakhand defeated ECC Delhi by five wickets here on Survey Ground. Jeetender Singh (46), Bapu Yadav (39) and Ankur Srivastva (37) put in good efforts for ECC that opted to bat first after winning the toss. Skipper Ankit Shukla (27) also chipped in. The team set a target of 162 for seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs. For the bowling side, Samadh, Shiva and Girish Raturi were the successful bowlers picking two wickets each. In reply to a big target, the UCA rode on the innings of its opening batsman Sameer Sharma (81 off 46). He smashed 16 boundaries during his knock of 81 runs. Samadh also contributed with valuable 26 runs. The side achieved the target in 18.4 overs for five wickets. Vikas Singh of ECC took maximum three wickets. Also, GCA Haldwani beat KV Gwalior by 23 runs and Jyoti Cricket Academy drubbed St Anne’s Cricket Academy Lucknow by seven wickets.
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Football camp concludes at Marshall School
Dehradun, May 22 President of the foundation Buddhiman Thapa said, “We had conducted the camp to train and inculcate skills of the game in students from the grassroots level. For me, football as a sport, is a good scope to be pursued as a career and it needs to be promoted well among children at the initial stage. Around 80 boys have attended the camp where our trainer CB Thapa, an international player, had coached them with the basics”. Students were also satisfied after participating at the camp.
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Basketball: Dehradun eves defeat Mussoorie 24-6
Dehradun, May 22 Dehradun also registered a facile win in boys’ section over Almora by 46-17. In another boys’ match, Mussoorie defeated Haridwar District 38-18. Prakhar scored maximum 13 points. While Haridwar District’s girls registered a win over Haridwar City by 47-11. Devanshi scored 12 points in the win of her side. Simran scored eight points for the City team. Haridwar City boys beat Almora.
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VC Milan blank Cantt Blues 4-0
Dehradun, May 22 Kiran scored the first goal of the match in the 29th minute. Arpan struck next two goals for the team in the second half. He scored in the 45th and 55th minutes. Parvat also netted a goal in the 67th minute to add to the kitty of his side. In another match, Deepak Kandari scored a brace in the 2-0 win of City Young over Doon United. He netted goals in the 40th and 68th minutes to down his rival teams.
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Now, Haridwar to be polythene-free city from July 1
Haridwar, May 22 With Municipal Chairman Kamal Johra quite seriously pursuing efforts to make municipality’s clean-green drive in the Kumbh city a success, this is another of his personal efforts that is taking shape. Johra has first targeted the open-market bulk distributors of polythene so that in the first phase the source of polythene is stopped, and then consumers and people will be targeted. In a meeting between the Chairman and polythene distributors, all distributors present agreed on totally selling non-degradable material come July 1. Initially the Chairman sought May 31 as the penultimate day after which polythene ban would come into effect, but distributors put forward their problems. Uday Raj, representative of the distributors, pointed that as till date polythene stock was such that at least one month was required to shell it out. But he assured the Chairman that they would not order fresh material as well as take in view of its environmental impact on the city’s eco system as well as the Ganga river. “We have assured the Chairman that if any one of us after June 30 is found guilty in polythene trading, legal action may be taken against us. We are fully with the municipality in making Haridwar a
polythene-free city and thus contribute for the betterment of the ecology,” said Munfet Ansari, a Jwalapur distributor. Notably a total of 23
distributors out of 27 have till date signed on the initiative proposal of the Chairman. Speaking to The Tribune, Johra said now his focus was that all shopkeepers should neither buy nor give polythene to
consumers, while simultaneously urging people not to use polythene for any purpose. He said generating awareness first was the best way to eradicate polythene from the city, while imposing penalty was the second way for him.
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Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has called for conservation and management of biodiversity for furthering the poverty alleviation initiatives at the village
level.
After experiencing the worst of man-leopard conflicts, the Uttarakhand Forest Authorities have sought help from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, seeking it’s specific
recommendations to arrest the rising number of cases in the state. A proposal has been put forward before the WII by the authorities.
A football camp was concluded here today at the Marshall School, EC road, under the aegis of the Grassroot Sports Foundation.Lt Gen GS Negi
(retd) was the chief guest of its closing ceremony. While addressing to the budding footballers at the closure ceremony Lt Negi congratulated them and told them the importance of the game in life.
Finally after years of deliberations and demand from various quarters to ban polythene sale and usage in
Haridwar, in just a couple of months one may have to shell out money as penalty if one is found selling polythene bags.With Municipal Chairman Kamal Johra quite seriously pursuing efforts to make municipality’s clean-green drive in the Kumbh city a success, this is another of his personal efforts that is taking shape.
