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Save our crops from animals, say hill farmers
Showers bring relief from rising mercury
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Guru Amar Das’ 531st birth anniversary celebrated
NSD experts to hone acting skills of schoolchildren
Kids, parents find summer camps cool
Minister reveals his religious side at inaugurations
26 take part in contests
Purkul artisans showcase products in Mussoorie
4 scribes to be felicitated
Double delight for Doon
Vineet’s fiery innings lead St Ann’s to victory
Garhwal Sporting win tough encounter
Financial crunch holds back teams from participating in tourneys
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Save our crops from animals, say hill farmers
Pitthoragarh, May 23 The farmers were highly enthusiastic about the “Krishi Raths”, which were organised in all 670 Nyaya Panchayats in the state because the advanced hybrid seeds and scientific advice for which farmers used to spend more than Rs 100 to reach the block headquarters were available at doorstep. “We observed that hill area farmers are curious about the new cash crops and off-season vegetable instead of crops,” said SK Singh from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, attached to Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Pitthoragarh. Uttarakhand Agriculture Director Madan Lal also confirmed menace of wild animals in rural areas. “It is pigs and monkeys in hill areas and nilgais in Haridwar district which are destroying the crops,” he said. The Director said during the recently held agriculture festival the problem of drying fields in hill areas surfaced as almost total agriculture is rain-fed. The agriculture in hill areas also has problem of small holdings, which needs chakbandi, besides the unavailability of advance hybrid seeds to the farmers in hilly area. “Until we produce hybrid seeds in the hill region and distribute them there, we cannot get this problem solved as even after 50 per cent subsidy the hybrid seeds ae beyond the capacity of hill farmer to purchase them,” says Madan Lal. But the Agriculture Minister is ready with a solution for the entire problem. “We have drawn a plan to give subsidy of Rs 33,000 on per hectare land for the protection from these wild animals,” said the minister. The minister also has a plan to provide water to the cash crop growers in hill areas. “We are going to increase subsidy to purchase water tankers by farmers up to 80 per cent for common farmer and 100 per cent for community use,” he said. Scientists and horticulture experts participated in the agriculture festival also confirmed the problem of wild animal menace. Horticulture expert in Tehri district M Umar Khan says the hill farmer is fed up with the herds of wild pigs in Tehri which are destroying their crops. “In our district if this pig menace can be removed the whole Jaunpur block and the Ghansali area as well as the fruit belt of Chamba and Mussoorie can be established as a hub of cash crops production” says Khan. The Rudraprayag district is also facing the menace of wild animals in the form of herds of monkeys. “If this problem is removed and irrigation could be arranged, the farmer in Rudraprayag can grow flowers which have a ready market at the Kedarnath shrine,” says SL Shah, District Horticulture Officer, Rudraprayag. If only the seed replacement which is only 6 per cent at present can be increase to 20 per cent, the agriculture production in hills can be increased sizably. “If these types of agriculture festivals can be organised at every crop season, the hill farmer can be motivated towards profitable cultivation,” said SK Singh, an agriculture scientist from Pantnagar University.
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Showers bring relief from rising mercury
Dehradun, May 23 He attributed the rains to cyclonic disturbances in Punjab and adjoining areas. While showers were experienced at a number of places, squall along with rains hit the plain districts of the state. Meanwhile, rains that started in capital Dehradun in the early evening hours came as a big respite for people. It also brought down the rising temperatures. Dust settled down here bringing cheer on the faces
of Doonites. The showers on the other hand also helped in curbing forest fires that had started during this time of the year.
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Guru Amar Das’ 531st birth anniversary celebrated
Haridwar, May 23 People attended shabad kirtans with utmost devotion which were held in various gurdwaras in the city. Guru Amar Das was accorded to Guru in 1552, while he was born in 1479 at Basarke village, 13 km from Amritsar. Guru Amar Das’ birth anniversary is celebrated on nine jeth as per the Nanakshahi calendar which falls on May 23
as per the Gregorian calendar.
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NSD experts to hone acting skills of schoolchildren
Dehradun, May 23 “Such workshops are being conducted to promote the age-old tradition of drama and theatre among schoolchildren in the state. The experts from the NSD will highlight the importance of the theatre and its existence since long time. They will train students with minute technicalities of theatre, voice modulation, confidence and the finesse of communication with the audiences,” said Atik Ahmad, founder president of Abhirang, at a press conference here today. “The workshop will surely help people in all age groups in gaining confidence and removing hesitation. The workshop will benefit people in improving one’s personality, while enhancing acting skills in students to pursue theatre as their career. The registration form is of Rs 100, but the workshop is of free of cost. However, charitable amounts would welcomed from interested applicants,” he added. While addressing the mediapersons, Atik also requested the state government to provide some funds for theatre artistes to run their acting school and for its maintenance.
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Kids, parents find summer camps cool
Dehradun, May 23 Summer camps come as a rescue as these are a good source of recreation and help children to get a break from the monotonous lifestyle and a busy schedule of academics. Personality enhancement and skills development are the main aim of these camps. Summer camps are being organised at various locations in the city with
varied fee structures and durations. “I have enrolled my son in a hobby class of art and craft so that every day for an hour he is occupied in doing something creative. I’ve noticed tremendous improvement in his behaviour as he was an introvert earlier,” said Sulekha Mehta, a mother. Perhaps, schools and other institutional organisations are conducting a number of camps on sports, dance, music, art, personality development, computers and cooking. Natasha, a teacher, said, “Apart from studies, creative activities like singing, dancing, drawing, painting and story telling are a great source of communication and help small children immensely in improving their confidence”. Students who have an inclination towards art and craft will now get a chance to enroll in a summer camp organised by Funshalla, an academy for creative education in collaboration with Pogo channel. Pogo showcases a programme called “MAD” which will be a part of the summer camp here. “After getting a positive response last year, we have decided to hold it again with the help of professional teachers who have been groomed by experts of Pogo. The teachers will be teaching various kinds of activities based on the theme of ‘Mad Mad World’ where MAD stands for music, art and dance. Art and craft from around the world consisting of its culture, theatre, language etc will be taught to children divided in two categories of 6-10 and 11-15 years at a fee structure of Rs 1,450 for 15 days,” said Sameer, coordinator of the camp
at Funshalla. The much-awaited dance workshop by the Shiamak Davar’s Institute of Performing Arts will start from June 23 till July 9. The dance workshop, which promises a fun and learning like none other, has appointed experts in the field of dance from the troupe of Shiamak Davar, the famous choreographer. The camp caters to different age groups for about a month with nominal fee structure. The camp is open for adults also Under the aegis of National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, Parvitya Abhirang Natya Academy would be organising another fascinating camp on acting and theatre from June 1 till June 30 at Marshall School. “The experts from NSD would highlight the importance of theatre and its existence since long time. They will train students with minute technicalities of theatre, voice modulation, confidence and the finesse of communication among the audiences,” said Atik Ahmad, founder president of Abhirang. For those kids who like to take part in outdoor activities summer camp at Olympus High School, Niranjanpur, will be perfect for them. The camp conducts activities such as roller skating, swimming, lawn tennis and karate.
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Minister reveals his religious side at inaugurations
A minister of state was at the centre of two similar situations in Nainital district past fortnight. The first occasion was the dedication of an X-ray machine, said to be the state of the art, to the people of Nainital. In his attempt to grab maximum media and public attention, the minister went on to demand why a pandit had not been called to perform religious rights on the occasion. Given the tendency of officials and even media persons, no one had the heart to tell him that no prayer is held for occasions such as these in public hospitals where a large number of patients wanted silence so that they could recover in peace. But, the minister failed to learn from his experience. A few days later, he went on to inaugurate a newly constructed room in Ramnagar where post-mortem examination would be held. Apparently, he did not want to let go an opportunity to inaugurate yet another facility and see his photographs in newspaper the next day or at least his name in a writeup. His habit got better of him on this occasion also and he demanded why a pandit had not been called for a prayer at the newly constructed room. An embarrassed official, who was present at the function, later said to this reporter: “This speaks a lot for their mindset. Did he think he was inaugurating a banquet hall or what?”
Popular personalities visiting a business enterprise go a long way in making the latter popular. Shopkeepers consider it their good fortune if their regular customers make it big in life or if a popular personality visits their enterprise and goes back fully satisfied with the services offered to him. The Tribune came across two such smaller enterprises last week. The first one is a small eating joint in Mallital market, known as the Naini restaurant, which serves routine food with mutton keema being a speciality that is very popular with the locals. Just on top of the wash basin used for washing hands by the customers hangs a framed letter which is very difficult to read. It is only when one reads it carefully that one gets to know that it is actually a certificate of appreciation given by none other than the legendary Bollywood and theatre personality Prithviraj Kapoor when he had visited Nainital in 1955. The restaurant had been set up in 1948. The second enterprise is Sonam’s Tibet Restaurant which was one of the destinations visited by the newly chosen Miss India Manasvi Mamgain. She could be heard telling her friends that she had been relishing the momos served by the enterprise since she was a child. The staff at the enterprise was an elated and excited lot when she turned up at the shop. Right from the owner to the serving staff, everyone was busy clicking pictures of the Miss India through the evening.
Agri workshop out of bound for media
Media persons in Nainital were surprised on being told that the recent workshop on “Transformation of Agriculture in Uttarakhand” hosted by none other than Governor of the state Margaret Alva was a closed-door affair and only the participants that included environmentalists, social activists, policy makers, scientists and administrators would be present at the event. Some of the media persons and even the participants could be heard quipping that when has agriculture become a serious security concern like defence matters that the media is being kept away from it? It was observed that the participation or mere presence of media persons through the event would have gone a long way in updating their knowledge on agriculture-related issues and would have helped them bring several more issues before the masses.
Minister keeps scribes waiting
Like Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, the ministers in his cabinet are also fast gaining the reputation of being late comers to public functions. The last in the series of ministers turning up late or not turning up at all is Agriculture Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. At a recent function at the Institute of Bio-technology at Patwadangar being run by Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture where he was to inaugurate a library, the minister failed to turn up at the conference hall on time, despite being present on the campus for almost two hours. The media had been invited for the function at 2 pm while the minister failed to enter the hall till almost 4.30 pm. During this while he was busy going around the premises and attending a prayer at a temple. The media persons had no choice but to return without covering the event.
Lower caste Bhojan Mata attacked
In an incident that can put to shame any society that claims to be civilised, a woman who cooks mid-day meal in a village in Pitthoragarh, was attacked by local residents on account of her being from a lower caste. The woman is a part of the group of women designated as Bhojan Matas in the state. The people of the upper castes would not allow her to cook the meals for their children. Ironically, the issue was played down in the local media and even by the administration. The issue was treated as a routine development with even the politicians refraining to comment on it lest they lose their goodwill among the upper castes.
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26 take part in contests
Dehradun, May 23 Bhupendra Singh Negi of SPECS informed the children about the importance of biodiversity. He said it was a collective responsibility of one and all to ensure that the rich biodiversity of the state should be protected at
all costs. Kundan Singh, former Pradhan, Gram Panchayat, Marora, Sakalana, suggested frequent staging of such competitions for better sensitisation of the society. Harshdev Uniyal, Regional Panchayat Member, too supported the staging of such events. Hemandra Gupta and Uma Shankar Bahuguna of SPECS took the opportunity to inform the villagers about the solar lights development by their organisation. As many as 26 schoolchildren took part in the competition. Prizes to the first three best in each category were provided apart from rendering of consolation
certificates.
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Purkul artisans showcase products in Mussoorie
Mussoorie, May 23 In the exhibition titled “Stree Shakti”, five SHGs, namely Aastha, Vishwas, Jagriti, Unnati and Pragati, displayed their products ranging from handicraft, handquilted home decor and accessories made by the 90 women working in the NGO. The tourists were amazed at the dexterity shown in the artefacts. Sam and Linda, tourists from America, were immensely pleased with the effort and said such handmade products had become a rarity now. They bought several goods as a memorabilia from Uttarakhand. According to Stree Shakti programme Director Chinni Swamy, the project was started six years ago and its main objective was to provide income-generating opportunity for women in the forgotten rural community of Purkal village. The programme aimed at empowering women to become income earners in their family by providing them with the resources and training for producing and selling beautifully made handmade quilts, bags and much more. Chinni Swami added further that right now more than 90 women were being trained under various self-help groups to improve their knowledge and income. The project also envisaged inculcating saving habits among women via group fund which could be lent to others when in need. Chinni Prakash and her husband, originally residents of Mumbai, made Purkul their home 10 years back. Chinni Prakash then decided to devote her time towards rural women after seeing their bad condition. "Today, through Stree Shakti project, one woman is able to earn more than Rs 3,000 per month as added income for the family," she said. The products had also been displayed at Delhi Hat where the response was encouraging. Apart from this, a school and facility of creche was also being provided for the working women under the project. Chinni Prakash and her husband are also running a programme Yuva Shakti under which they provide education, health services and sanitation at Purkul village. Scholarships are also given to poor students. The Director said tourists had liked the products immensely, and they planned more such exhibitions in near future. She aso thanked Harshda Bohra for her support to the cause.
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4 scribes to be felicitated
Mussoorie, May 23 The scribes to be honoured for their exemplary work in the field of media are: Sardar Harbhachan Singh (Seemant Prahri), Jabbar Singh Verma (Amar Ujala), Ajay Ramola (The Tribune) and the only woman reporter in town Neema Kant. The committee meeting was led by Press Club president Bijendar Panwar and senior journalist Pradeep Bhandari. Chief guest on the occasion will be eminent author and writer Ganesh Saili, along with several reputed dignitaries from the fields of journalism, literature and politics. Satish Kumar, Hartish Kalra, Deepak Kumar, Mohsin Ahmed, Manish Gangoli and others were present on the occasion.
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Double delight for Doon
Dehradun, May 23 In girls’ final, Dehradun beat Haridwar 30-10 with a sound performance by Aastha (10 points). While in boys’ final, Dehradun defeated Mussoorie 33-18. Prithvi of the winning team scored ten points and Prakhar scored six points for Mussoorie. Earlier in girls’ semifinals, Mussoorie had beat Haridwar City 30-8 and Dehradun had surpassed Nainital 35-18 in boys’ semifinals. Meanwhile, with Himanshu’s scintillating performance of 16 points Nainital attained third place beating Haridwar City 28-22 in the boys’ race third and fourth place. Mussoorie also got past Haridwar City 17-10 in the match for third and fourth place in girls’ section. Ayushi top scored of the winning side with 10. Trophies, prizes and tokens were given away to players, participants, coaches, managers, referees and technical officials.
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Vineet’s fiery innings lead St Ann’s to victory
Dehradun, May 23 Vineet hit 11 boundaries and four sixes during his well struck century. He faced no resistance from rival bowling attack. Nitin Yadav (43 off 30) ably supported Vineet. Both stitched together a very stable opening partnership of 113 runs. Jai Prakash (33*) also contributed in the later part of the match. Getting a good support from its batsmen, St Ann’s mustered a big total of 215 runs losing four wickets in the allotted 20 overs while
batting first. Baljinder Singh, Ankur Gautam, Parmod Gaat and Sagar Mehta of RK
Academy managed to got wicket each but had a sound thrashing at the hands of batsmen of their rival team. All bowlers proved costly and that helped St Ann’s Academy set a big target. Chasing the target, RK Academy had dismal
performance even in batting. The team got all out on 86 runs for nine wickets in 20 overs. Jai Prakash got three wickets, Muzammil Rehman and Nitin Yadav picked two wickets each. Sharun Srivastva got one for St Ann’s. In another match played today, UCA Dehradun beat ERAM Cricket Club Delhi by 26 runs. The winning team scored 164 for eight in 20 overs with Sameer Sharma (52 off 42) top scoring. Batting second, ERAM was packed off for 122 in 19.5 overs. Babu Yadav was the (47 off 28) top scorer for the batting team. While Pawas Bhandari of UCA emerged as the most successful bowlers scalping four wickets for 28
in 2.5 overs. Shiv Choudhary and Vaibhav Panwar took two wickets each. Keshav Negi also got a wicket for
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Garhwal Sporting win tough encounter
Dehradun, May 23 Shashank was instrumental in his play scoring in the 25th, 32nd and 25th minutes of the game. Valiant effort of Suhsil who scored a brace for Shivalik (34th and 36th) went in vain. He scored back-to-back goals to give the match an interesting twist. Shivalik was 3-0 when he netted the two goals to put the score on board as 3-2. But later Garhwal Sporting’s defenders tightened the noose and didn’t let its rival score even a goal later on. While in the second encounter, Vijay Cantt edged past Doon Eagle 2-1. Manish Rai of the winning team gave an early jolt to his rival team netting a goal in the 7th minute. The next two goals came in the second half. Vijay Cantt took the lead with Tushar Rai scoring a goal in the 40th minute to make the score 2-0 in his team’s favour. Doon Eagle could get some respite and hope in the 67th minute when Sameer Khan scored a goal. But the happiness didn’t last for long time as they failed to get the next goal.
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Financial crunch holds back teams from participating in tourneys
Dehradun, May 23 Only 10 boys in total are participating in this championship. Last year also in this competition, which was held in Haridwar 10 teams in total had played. Dehradun, Haridwar City, Haridwar district, Mussoorie, Nainital and Almora are the only handful of districts participating in the tournament. There is not even a single participating team from the Garhwal region like previous years. The state basketball team of Uttarakhand will be selected from this competition. “There are variant reason for the minimal participation of districts in state level tournaments, including busy calendar of the associations, no basketball teams in some regions of the state and others. But main reasons is some districts are very far like Pitthoragarh and the players have no money for transportation,” said Vinod Vachani, secerarty of the Dehradun Basketball Association and Uttarakhand Basketball Association, in a candid talk with The Tribune. This ongoing tournament has got some help from the ONGC while in the u-18 state championship held early this month Aspen Crew had extended a helping hand. This also brings to light the sorry state of affairs of sports department in Uttarakhand. “What to talk of district level tournaments even in the state level tournaments, the players have to manage money of their own. That means only the rich and those who can afford resources can play while sports still remains a distant dream for the poor. The sports directorate doesn’t even give money for transportation of players during the tournaments and if it does where does the money go, there should be check on that,” quipped a basketball coach preferring anonymity. The minimal participation of number of districts in tournaments also affects in selection of the state team as they say more the merrier. “Of course, if a large number of players are participating then it would be good for raising a good state team,” Vachnai said.
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As a respite from the scorching heat, Uttarakhand received showers at a few places bringing down the rising temperatures.
According to Director, Dehradun Meteorological Centre, Dr Anand Sharma the showers will continue in a few places.
Haridwar, May 23
Dehradun, May 23
Dehradun, May 23
Mussoorie, May 23
Dehradun, May 23
Politicians in Uttarakhand, like in several other states, leave no opportunity when it comes to seeking publicity for themselves. With their tendency to go overboard, they are also caught with their feet in their mouths on several occasions and cause embarrassment not only to themselves but also to the officials accompanying them.
