|
|
|
|
Camera traps to capture Nandadevi snow leopard
|
|
|
Good response to hybrid maize developed in state
Naktu Ram, care taker of Lyndale Estate in Mussoorie.
Photo courtesy Gopal Bhardwaj
Admission bigger task for students
ABVP opposed to proposed Aligarh varsity branches
Umesh Dutt, national general secretary of the ABVP, addresses mediapersons in Dehradun on Thursday. A Tribune photograph
Haldwani, New Delhi teams win league matches
Swimming camp comes as rescue in scorching summer vacation
Seminar on biomedical waste management held
Doon Business School to hold placement camp
Mohit Aggarwal, Chairman of Doon Business School, addresses a press conference in Dehradun on Thursday.
A Tribune photograph
Vijay Cantt, Doon Star Club in semis
IIT-R provides counselling online
Investigations on in deaths due to convulsions
Adventure Cup begins today
An Army rafting team participates in the Army Adventure Cup in the Ganga near Rishikesh on Thursday. A Tribune photograph
|
|
Camera traps to capture Nandadevi snow leopard
Dehradun, May 27 Ten camera traps will be initially put up at Nandadevi Biosphere, one of the widely known habitats of the snow leopard. The other Gangotri region in Uttarkashi district too can follow suit. The work for installing camera traps will begin in June by a WII team led by Senior Wildlife Scientist S Sathyakumar. “These will be first-ever credible images of snow leopards taken through camera traps”, said Sathyakumar. He said the snow leopard images received through camera traps could help in their assessment of their strength by studying the coat pattern. “Like stripes in case of tigers, no two snow leopards keep the same coat pattern,” he pointed out. Snow leopard gets its identification mark though black rosettes. After much of concerns raised vis-à-vis snow leopard conservation, Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India has embarked upon a four-year-old UNESCO project on the big cat. The project has entered into its second year. Camera traps so far have been mostly used in the country for the tiger census and have proved the most credible mechanism to ensure a foolproof count, as there is no substitute to pictures to estimate felines’ true count. Camera traps so far have been rarely used to capture snow leopards and one such initiative was certainly successfully undertaken in Sikkim and the outcome was on way out. The pictures taken from camera traps will help come up with baseline information about the beast such as status and distribution of snow leopards and will throw light on snow leopard-human conflicts and the biotic pressure on snow leopard habitats. A WWF-India survey entitled “Snow Leopard Conservation of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh” that concluded recently has confirmed the presence of snow leopard in Uttarakhand on the basis of indirect evidence. On average, one indirect evidence of snow leopard was found for every 39 km walked
in Uttarakhand. Listed as an endangered species on the IUCN-World Conservation Union’s red list of threatened species, the snow leopard that has its habitat in the higher reaches (3,000-4,500 metres) of Uttarakhand has often been neglected when it comes to conservation efforts.
|
|
Villagers against elephant corridor
Nainital, May 27 The villagers are alleging that the government wants to displace a large number of human beings in the name of building a corridor for elephants. The agitators said such attempts of the government to displace people who had been residing in the area for decades would not be tolerated. The agitators marched through Lal Kuan town shouting slogans against the attempts of the government. They then went on to have a meeting at the sub-division premises where they also handed over a memorandum to the local administration.
|
|
Good response to hybrid maize developed in state
Almora, May 27 The Vivek QPM 9 is named after Vivekananda with the letters QPM specifying Quality Protein Maize. As its name suggests, the hybrid is high in protein content. Tryptophan and lysine are present in substantial amount as the essential amino acids. The quantity of tryptophan is more than 40 per cent and lysine is more than 30 per cent in this hybrid. Talking to The Tribune, the Director of the VPKAS, Dr JC Bhatt, said: “The protein profile of this maize is far better than other varieties”. It amounts to as much as 90 per cent of the milk protein. He further disclosed that Vivek QPM9 is similar to taste of the regular maize. “It has been commercialised through companies Kirtiman and Ventura. The response has been very good. We are now aiming for its multiplication at different places and also through the NSC.” He said such hybrids could go a long way in tackling the issue of malnutrition and under nourishment in a country like India where there was a large section of the population falling under the under-nourished category. The VPKAS is a prominent institute doing pioneering work in the area of hill agriculture. Established by the legendary Boshi Sen, the institute has made a name for itself having developed more than 120 varieties of 20 crops. It is a rare known fact that India’s first hybrid VL Maize 54 was developed here. The institute was initially set up as a private laboratory by Sen who had immense attachment with the Himalayas, Almora in particular. It was in 1959 that it was taken over by the Uttar Pradesh government and in 1974 it had come under the wings of the ICAR with Dr MS Swaminathan guiding its activities. Since Sen was a follower of Swami Vivekananda, the latter’s name has been adopted for the institute and all varieties developed here are named after the great philosopher. The crop varieties developed here include rice, maize, wheat, finger millets, barn yard millets, garden pea, tomato, onion, etc.
|
|
When Mussoorie was haunted by ‘telis’
Mussoorie, May 27 Mussoorie came into existence in around 1820 when Captain Young, an adventurous British military officer, together with Shore, Superintendent of Revenues at Dehradun, explored the present site and jointly constructed a shooting lodge there. Thereafter, the town was elevated to a most-favoured destination. British people in the company of their wives, girlfriends and Indian princes would throng the town, drawn by the romantic aura of the place. Simla was considered too official and soldiers preferred Mussoorie to avoid their superiors and indulge in romantic adventures. This reputation led to an influx of more British people, accompanied by native workers like porters. By 1901 Mussoorie’s population had grown to 6,461, rising to 15,000 in the summer season. The mistrust developed among the natives after 1857 led to rumours that the British were extracting human oil after abducting and rendering the natives unconscious. Local historian Gopal Bhardwaj says such an account of “oil extractors” is mentioned in a book written by Constance Fredereka, aka Gordon Cumming, called “From the Hebrides to Himalayas”. Constance was the 12th child of a Scottish family that visited Mussoorie in 1876. In her travelogue “Umbala to Mussoorie”, she writes about the fear of “oil extractors” prevalent at the time. She goes on to say in the book: “To a population thus dependent on the multitude of human workers, any cause that diminishes the supply is a serious matter. Imagine, then, the effect of a story having, some years ago, been circulated, among hill tribes that the Europeans required a vast supply of “pahari oil”, and intended to take every hill man, woman or child, whom they could catch, and hang them up by the heels before a big fire in order to extract their oil! Not only this, another common belief that the industry back home in England was being lubricated with the lard made from helpless Indians also affirmed the intentions of the British among the natives. This story was so universally believed that all porters ran away from Mussoorie, and were only persuaded by slow degrees to return. For months they continued to work trembling, still believed in danger”. Book by Cummings goes on to say: “In Mussoorie, accidents ousted necessity and added a new component into the beer-making formula, a little trouble perhaps. Unexpectedly everyone remarked on a much improved brew and the source was traced to Vat No. 42. The rapidly diminished beer soon uncovered the delightful remains of a ‘pahari phaltoo’! The poor fellow had fallen in the beer at the brewery and the accident went unnoticed. Quite unknown to him it had given the beer trade a fillip. Henceforth, meat was introduced as a missing component and was scrupulously added until more modern less cannibalistic means were discovered”. The new formula details spread like wild fire and cemented the rumours of human oil extraction among the native Indians. He further states that the story is also mentioned in a speech given by Keelen at a Rotary club meeting in 1958 where she mentions “momai wallahs” referring to “oil extractors”. Bhardwaj says even he has heard elders of the town corroborating the stories to be nearly true. Bhardwaj said a Lyndale estate chowkidar Naktu Ram (now deceased) told him in 1990 that the fear of “telis” became a talking point among the natives who made a beeline from Dwargad looking for work then. Naktu Ram said: “The natives from his village who had come for work were vanishing frequently and not making it back to villages due to the abduction for the oil that was used for creating an antibiotic paste used for curing war wounds. After dusk the ‘oil extractors’ would abduct the porters from various parts of Mussoorie and put them in sacks after making them unconscious and take them towards the Old Bhole Brewery which had 5-foot-thick walls. The natives were hung upside down and a nail struck right at the middle of the head over the huge utensil below. The fats in the shape of oil used to drip from the head and collected for the medicinal use. The cries of the victims went unheard due to the thick walls”. The story much in circulation with people of Mussoorie after several decades is still a subject of grandfathers’ tales in and around Mussoorie. During the two world wars people lived in constant fear of the the “oil extractor” and hid in their homes after sunset. Public announcements were made telling people to venture out in the dark at their own risk, added Bhardwaj. The fear of the “oil extractors” did not diminish after India gained Independence. An old resident from Mussoorie, Harmohan Arora, says that there is truth in the stories of “oil extractors” roaming in the town as her sister Jasvir Kaur, who was returning from her school, was caught by two “telis” in 1962 during the Chinese aggression and was released after she raised an alarm. Seeing a crowd of young teenagers coming to help the girl, the two scampered in a hurry and vanished amid the foliage near the school sparing his sister. Perhaps, the Indian government too was extracting antibiotics from the human oil then, adds Harimohan Arora. These “oil extractors” had haunted the residents of the town for several decades. The traces of the “oil extractors” are not available now presumably there are better ways to acquire antibiotics but the tale of “telis” must have created panic then.
|
|
Admission bigger task for students
Dehradun, May 27 With some students preferring to go to places like Delhi and Chandigarh for higher studies, many students opt to study in Dehradun itself. Known as the school capital of India, Dehradun has also come up with vast avenues for students interested in doing their further studies. With a large number of educational institutes opening up providing a variety of courses ranging from BTech to BBA, Doon is fast coming in terms with higher quality education. “The biggest advantage in this college is that we can pursue other courses like computer training side by side, because attendance is not an issue here. With such options available, the question of diversifying interests is also answered easily,” said Pallavi Dimri, a first-year BCom student of DAV College. Along with courses like BCom and BBA, professional ones like BTech and BArch are also available for students. The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) offers 35 graduate and postgraduate courses in the high growth sector of oil and gas, power, aviation, shipping, automotive, infrastructure, etc, thus offering students a wide range of choice. Monica Deo, a first year BTech student from the UPES, cites her one year as an engaging experience in the technological field, with summer school, workshops providing a lot of exposure to advanced technologies. For students interested in BEd, there are many options like the Doon Institute of Teachers Training, Doon Valley College of Education, to name a few. For students inclined to doing law, Law College located in Prem Nagar is the best option. Founded in 2002, it offers a five-year BA LLB integrated degree course and a three-year LLB course after graduation. Abhilasha Semwal, who just completed her five-year course from the same college, says: “All subjects that we study help us in giving a strong base in this field and the internship expands our experience level”. Therefore, Dehradun is growing in terms of providing quality education not only at the primary and secondary levels but also at the higher level. With good educational institutes equipped with a highly qualified faculty, Dehradun could also become a centre of higher learning in the future.
|
|
ABVP opposed to proposed Aligarh varsity branches
Dehradun, May 27 He held the AMU responsible for the creation of Pakistan and held its student cadre instrumental in creating opinion in favour of Pakistan during pre-Independence days. He also quoted Mohd Ali Jinnah as asserting that the late father of Pakistan had himself acknowledged the role of the AMU in the creation of a separate country. The five new AMU branches are to come up at Kisanganj in Bihar, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Pune in Maharashtra, Mamlapuram in Kerala and in West Bengal. Earlier in the day, national ABVP president Milind Marathe and general secretary Vishnu Dutt Sharma inaugurated the convention at Col Brown Cambridge School here. The meeting started with the observation of one-minute silence for defence personnel who attained martyrdom in the Dantewada Naxal attack. Marathe attributed it to the efforts of the ABVP that resulted in accordance of second language status for Sanskrit in Uttarakhand. He said the Central government had failed to check commercialisation of education in the country. Referring to the arrival of a large number of Bangladeshis in the country, Professor Marathe said the ABVP strongly backed identification of Bangladeshis and had asked the Centre to send them back into Bangladesh under all circumstances. He even expressed apprehension over these Bangladeshis intruders managing Unique Identity Cards due to complacent attitude adopted by the Central government. ABVP’s national general secretaries Vishnu Dutt Sharma, Umesh Dutt, Ashwani Paranjapay and Sunil Ambekar, Dr Ram Naresh and Dr Kailash Sharma addressed the opening session of the convention. ABVP leaders from across the country and also from the neighbouring Nepal are attending the conclave.
|
|
Haldwani, New Delhi teams win league matches
Dehradun May 27 In the reply, Gopeshwar team could score 136 runs for nine wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Eklavya Dobhal was the sole batsman who scored 43 runs in 41 balls. Arvind verma of the winning team was declared the Man of the Match. In the second match, UCA, Dehradun, defeated National Cricket Club, Sonipat by five runs. Batting first, UCA, Dehradun scored 136 runs in allotted 20 overs. Tanush Gusain was the top scorer with 35 runs. Pardeep Malik took two wickets for 20 runs for the Sonipat team. In reply, NCC, Sonipat could score 121 runs for eight wickets in their allotted overs. Nakul with 42 runs and Harish Khatri with 22 runs did try to chase the runs but later bastman failed to keep the tempo. Pritam Singh and Aman Singh took two wickets each for the winning team. Aman Singh of UCA, Dehradun was declared the Man of the Match. In the third match, the Brave Cricket Club, New Delhi defeated ACC, Lucknow by nine wickets. Batting first, Lucknow team scored only 68 runs in 18.2 overs. Akram was the highest scorer with 27 runs. In reply, the Brave Cricket Club, New Delhi, scored 69 runs for the loss of one wicket. Opener Alok Verma scored 30 before getting out. The New Delhi team achieved the target in 10.5 overs. In the fourth match, Haldwani Cricket Club Defeated Eram Cricket Club, New Delhi, by six wickets. Batting first, Delhi boys scored 157 runs for seven wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Openers Adnaan Ameer with 29 and Abhishek Mishra with 42 laid a solid foundation. Durgesh Singh also scored valuable 33 runs. Chasing the target Haldwani team helped by a brilliant 83 runs in 66 balls by Chirag Verma reached the target losing only four wickets in 19 overs.
|
|
Swimming camp comes as rescue in scorching summer vacation
Haridwar, May 27 Apart from the private professional trainers, the Uttarakhand police swimming trainers are also giving special inputs to the kids. Till date at least 170 students have enrolled in the training camp and are learning the basics as well as different strokes of swimming. President of the International Club Rajesh Kumar said the lazy and unhealthy lifestyle was severely affected our kids’ mental and physical development and that is why they had decided to organise a swimming camp so that younger generation gets some fitness lessons in their free time. Ayushi Barthwal a Class V student of Delhi Public School and one of the first to join the camp termed the experience as both entertaining and healthy. “Initially, I had a fear of water but my father encouraged me to learn swimming and now after learning the basics and my fear has evaporated. Now, I want to pursue swimming professionally too and want to be fully trained in butterfly and breaststroke style of swimming,” said Ayushi. The specialised trainers comprising Uttarakhand police trainers too are excited about the enthusiasm shown by children and the way they are learning the intricacies and traits of this aquatic sport. Female trainer Meenakashi termed it a healthy initiative and would go a long way in inculcating healthy and sporting spirit in the learners. While Uttarakhand police trainer Mahaveer Singh Negi remarked that with swimming the fear psychosis has boiled down among children and there has been a remarkable change in the personality and outlook of the students that is quite apparent. The other expert trainers include JB Singh, R Ram Rana, Praveen Kumar, Omkar Sharma, Sanjay Kumar, Vasant Prasad and Deepak Khati. “With Haridwar being known as a Ganga city it’s imperative that more and more people learn swimming here and have a healthy sporting culture and this is a small initiative from our club side,” said S Vajpai secretary of BHEL International Club.
|
|
|
Seminar on biomedical waste management held
Haridwar, May 27 This was stated by experts who attended a one-day workshop-cum-seminar on biomedical waste management organised by the Pollution Control Research Institute (PCRI) here which was the first of its kind conducted for making a pollution control action plan on bio-medical
waste management.. In his key-note address, Central Pollution Control Board member J Chandra Babbu stressed on the need for environmentally responsible management of regulated wastes. Chief guest, Executive Director, BHEL, Ranipur unit, DK Mody said appropriate treatment and segregation of bio wastes needed to be done. MD Kayal, General Manager, PCRI, ISE & GRI, said a project would dwell on “Preparation of Pollution Control Action Plan for Haridwar City” in which bio-medical waste was one of the environmental issues. Head of medical services, BHEL, Dr NC Agarwal, Rajesh Kumar General Manager (CDX & HRDC),Vimal Kumar, General Manager (HR), Khalid Zahir, AGM (PCRI), Dr NG Shrivastava of PCRI, Arjesh Sharma and Dr S J Singh.
|
|
|
RIMC cadets get life-saving lessons
Dehradun , May 27 A total of 47 cadets (16 Life Savers and 31 First Aiders) of RIMC took part and successfully completed the course. On May 25, being the inaugural day, the course started with the basic swimming tests. This was followed by lectures by Sqn Ldr YS Panghal on first aid and resuscitation. The lectures also included the first aid required in case of choking, snakebite and fractures etc. In the evening, practical demonstration by the AIPT instructors on life-saving skills and resuscitation were conducted at the swimming pool. On May 26, a practical demonstration on life-saving sports was given. Cadets practised bandaging, carriage and resuscitation. They were also shown a movie followed by a practical on resuscitation. In the evening the cadets after rigorous practices and minutely honing of skills, underwent tests conducted on life saving skills. Everyone applauded the sincerity, enthusiasm and active participation of the cadets. Undergoing the course the cadets have been able to assess their strengths in terms of speed, stamina and more team work.
|
|
|
Doon Business School to hold placement camp
Dehradun, May 27 Mohit Aggarwal, Chairman of DBS, said: “The DBS is one of the premier higher technical educational institutions of the country that specialises in management education. Our key focus area at the institute is the placement of its students. The institute can mobilise 100 per cent placement for its students due to strategically development of corporate relationship and skill building efforts in its students”. “The institute is direction oriented and follows business principles in curriculum that is designed to groom the personality of its students. The school will also like to continue with its courses that will surely include of the international business programme SAP, for ERP training. SAP is a global leader in enterprise solution and is deployed by every large corporation in India or abroad. The programme is equivalent to regular PGDM certificate,” he said at a press conference held here today. Mohit Aggarwal, Chairman of Doon Business School, AK Das, Director General, Dr A Kumar, Sunil Choudhary and Mahendra Saxena chaired the conference.
|
|
Vijay Cantt, Doon Star Club in semis
Dehradun, May 27 In the last league matches today, 2/3 Gorkha Rifles defeated Doon Valley Club by 3-0 in a one sided match. Gorkha boys dominated the game and scored the first goal through Noak Bahadur in the 9th minute of the game. The Doon Valley Club did try to equlise but could not succeed. In the second half, Gorkhas put further pressure and scored through Narayan Thapa in the 40th minute and Manoj Gurung in the 44th minute to seal the fate of the Doon Valley Club. In the second match of the day, the Doon Star Club drubbed Gypsy Young 4-0. The match was evenly balanced in the first half as both the teams raided each other but could not find openings to score goals. It was in the second half that Doon Star Club scored their first goal in the 58th minute. Later Nitin scored twice in the 65th and 69th minute of the game while Tenzing scored in the 67th minute.
|
|
IIT-R provides counselling online
Haridwar, May 27 Those students who have qualified JEE-2010 will be having general counselling session from May 30. Such candidates have to fill their course choice and other details via the Internet but this is only for the general quota candidates as the SC, ST and physically challenged candidates will have also to personally visit the campus. Notably, the online counselling opened on the IIT-R website today and will be available for general candidates till June 12. While for the above-mentioned three categories the counselling will take place on the campus from June 9-12.
|
|
Investigations on in deaths due to convulsions
Dehradun, May 27 The condition of the girl, who is also related to the two boys, is stable. She has been referred to the Doon Hospital for undergoing a CT scan. The authorities, who were earlier suspecting deaths due to encephalitis, say that CT scan of the girl becomes necessary. It will help them come to some conclusion regarding the exact nature of the disease. In all probability would be
conducted tomorrow. The Doon Hospital authorities have already taken the CT scan of the second boy and the result will come tomorrow. However, the CT scan of the first boy was not taken as he died as soon as he
was admitted. “Though investigations are still on, most likely the fits that the children suffered may have been due to epilepsy or meningitis. As other children in the family too are said to suffer from similar fits,” said Dr DK Juneja, Disease Surveillance Officer (District).
|
|
Adventure Cup begins today
Dehradun, May 27 A total of 13 teams comprising nine participants each will be taking part in the competition, which will be held over a period of three days. Five teams competed on the first day today. The event comprises three legs namely, 9-km mountain cycling over the arduous hills of Pauri Garhwal, followed by 11-km hill running and 16 km of white water rafting in the Ganges. It is considered to be one of the toughest endurance competitions across the globe. The competition will culminate on May 29 with a raft parade-cum-display by the teams at the Veerbhadra barrage at Rishikesh.
|
|
|
| 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 | |
With the WWF-India recently concluded survey revealing signs of existence of snow leopards in the upper reaches of Uttarakhand hills, the Dehradun Wildlife Institute of India for the first time is all set to install camera traps at Nandadevi Biosphere.
Ten camera traps will be initially put up at Nandadevi Biosphere, one of the widely known habitats of the snow leopard.
Dehradun, May 27
Doon Business School (DBS) is to continue with its campus placement drive from May 29 where more than 12 leading companies will come to the college for selecting deserving candidates. More than 60 companies had already selected 55 students of the MBA batch through the campus placement.
