Dehradun, May 29
Once again, girls of Uttarakhand have brought laurels by scoring well in the Class X and XII Board examinations of the Uttarakhand School Education Board. Like their counterparts in the CBSE and ICSE Boards, girls have outshone boys in the high school and intermediate results 2009-10 that were declared here today.

In the high school results, 72.68 per cent girls and in the intermediate results 82.36 per cent girls, out of the total candidates appeared, have passed in the examinations. The average of the passing candidates has been increased by 3.39 per cent in the high school, and 1.30 per cent in the intermediate this year. In high school results, Alok Prakash Saxena of Vivekanand Inter College, Ranidhara Road, Almora, has topped among boys in the Uttarakhand by securing 95.60 per cent, while Archana Singh of Rajkiya Balika Inter College, Chaukhutiya, Almora, has topped among girls in the state by scoring 93.40 per cent.

The total pass percentage of the students in high school is 65.85 per cent.

In the intermediate results, there was a draw between girls and boys as Abhilekh Barthwal and Swarnima of Rajkiya Inter College, Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal, and MSKSVMIC, Kotdwar, Pauri Garhwal, respectively, have equally secured 88.60 per cent in their examination. The total pass percentage of the students in intermediate school is 74.36 per cent.

The lone student of Dehradun district who managed to secure position in the first five toppers in the state is Amit Gairola of SVMIC Dakpatthar, Dehradun. He has scored 86.60 in his intermediate examination this year.

Results of others:

High School: Avdhesh Singh Negi of SVMIC, Chinyanisaur, Uttarkashi has secured 94.60 per cent, Kiran Rawat of MGGBVMIC, Bilani, Rudraprayag scored 93.20 per cent and Abhishek Pandey of Government Intermediate College, Paithani, Pauri Garhwal scored 92.80 per cent.

Mussoorie, May 29
In a meeting held on the Palika premises to discuss the better coordination among officials of various departments in the wake of the tourist season in Mussoorie, a decision has been taken to put a ban on horses from plying on the Mall Road.

The meeting was headed by Palika president OP Uniyal in the presence of Mussoorie SDM Manoj Kumar.

The need was felt for better understanding between various departments for the summer season.

Jal Sansthan officials informed that they were ready with their preparation, and water crisis would not occur this year. They were also of the view that water supply was hit only when electricity was not available, as most of the water came from springs through multi-stages pumps.

Uniyal said he would also request the Electricity Department to leave Mussoorie out of the routine power cut for two months.

Uniyal also directed the Mussoorie police to put a one-way system in place to avoid regular traffic jams on the increase in traffic.

Ward members also raised the point that the buses were very few for Barlowganj and Jharipani and did not arrive in time. The Transport Department official said their suggestion would be communicated to the higher authorities.

Station In Charge MC Joshi demanded that “No Parking” sign boards should be placed at various areas so that tourists did not park their vehicles at these places. He also said loudspeakers placed at congested places explaining the laws of traffic would also assist the tourists in coming days. Speaking on the continuous burning of toxic waste at the Gaddi Khani dumping yard, Executive Officer RP Semwal said the waste was being burnt for the past 50 years and it was difficult to control it.

Regarding the problem of encroachment, Uniyal said a joint inspection team consisting of palika, health and police officials would control the menace. Apart from the identified two persons on the Mall Road, none would be allowed to sell their products.

Manoj Kumar said Palika should take the lead in solving the problem and they would support them administratively.

Many dignitaries from the town, along with various officials of the departments, were present on the occasion. The effect of the meeting could be seen as Uniyal, along with the Palika officials, came on the Mall Road busy explaining to the horse owners not to ply them on the road.

The fear and rigid stand by the High Court was evident on the faces of Palika officials and it is hoped that something positive will come out of the meeting held today as the past review meeting had been an utter failure.

Dehradun, May 29
For the past six months, the Reflexology and Magneto Therapy Department established last year at the Doon Hospital has not been functioning for want of a doctor. The department was established under the Ayush wing, a unique medical arrangement that sets to bring all Indian practices under one roof.

After Dr Vijay Garg submitted her resignation in January this year, the management of the Doon Hospital has not appointed any reflexologist to run the centre.

“In the initial days, the department attracted patients, but later the number of patients began to thin and even the doctor stopped coming,” said Dr KC Pant, Senior Consultant/ Joint Director, Doon Hospital.

In the Doon Hospital, Ayurvedic and Homoeopathy Departments are already functioning. The focus is to give choices to patients so that they can opt for a treatment that they like best.

As a result, patients in far-flung areas of the state can take the benefits of a unique medical arrangement that sets to bring in all Indian practices under one roof.

Claiming to treat patients without administering drugs, a reflexologist treats patients by applying pressure on the reflex points of the patient’s body, mainly on the foot to provide relief by getting rid of negative energy.

A form of naturopathy, reflexology is based on Dr Fitzgerald’s concept of the zone system. Due to wrong posture, lifestyle, fall etc, reflex points come under pressure and as a result blood does not flow properly.

After the treatment, the flow of blood is restored properly, healing the patient. The flow of blood may be hampered due to salt deposition, bacterial attack etc. Patients suffering from diabetes, high blood pressure, insomnia, knee pain and low vision are said to respond positively to the treatment.

Terming her reasons for resignation as personal, Dr Garg said she submitted her resignation on account of domestic problems. “I could not give full time to the 
hospital as the department was open on all days. We were able to treat several patients in the short span and those who had never heard of reflexology came to us,” said Dr Garg.

Sources point out that poor infrastructure and poor payment were the main reasons for Dr Garg opting out and devoting full time to her centre.

The infrastructure put up at the ayurvedic wing and homeopathy too, has not been upgraded at the Doon Hospital and the problem of staff and infrastructure is acute. 

Dehradun, May 29
All degree colleges affiliated to Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna (HNB) Garhwal University will remain under the same. This was stated by Sunil Aggarwal, Secretary of the Association of Self-Financed Institute, Uttarakhand, here today.

Earlier, there was uncertainty among colleges on the issue of affiliation after the university was to a Central university status.

The state government had proposed to set up a separate university to affiliate the degree colleges of six districts of the Garhwal region which were affiliated to HNB university.

Talking to mediapersons here, Aggarwal said there was confusion between all educational institutions regarding the affiliation, especially regarding the new session which was about to begin, as the government had announced that all institutes would be affiliated to the new university which would start functioning soon.

He mentioned that the state government had failed to set up a separate university.

“Neither the infrastructure was ready nor the government was able to decide where the university had to be built,” said Aggarwal.

“We had talked to the university authorities regarding the same and they said till the time new university was set up, all institutes would remain affiliated to them only,” he added.

Secondly, he said, “The government had decided to do the counselling of all BEd colleges at one go. Earlier, they used to do the counselling separately for government colleges, private colleges and self-financed government colleges with a gap of six months.

Due to this the session was starting late, but now onwards it had been decided that counselling would take place at the same time and exams would be conducted accordingly.

This would allow the session to start on time.

Dehradun, May 29
Colourful presentations by students of Dehradun Girls School and Dehradun Boys School marked the summer mid-term function that concluded here today.

The programme began with Mangal Stuti performed by students of class I, followed by “Robinhood”, an English play, and Ritu Rang, a musical dance performance.

Silvia Arora, founder Principal of Ann Mary School, was the chief guest, while famous writer Nayantara Sehgal gave away prizes to meritorious students. Chairman of the school CP Dang and Director Indira Goswami were present at the function. 

Dehradun, May 29
Cadets of the 167th course at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) passed out their graduation ceremony here today. The chief guest Lt Gen VK Ahluwalia, AVSM, YSM, VSM, GOC-in-C Central Command, handed over the awards to them.

He first visited the exhibition held by students and then he presented awards to the cadets. The winners are:

Nainital, May 29
Raising some pertinent questions on the culture of Uttarakhand, eminent academician Prof Pushpesh Pant has called for a cohesive effort from all segments of the society to take forward the culture of the state.

Delivering a talk on “Cultural Heritage of Uttarakhand” that was organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC)-Academic Staff College of Kumaon University here on Saturday morning, Professor Pant pointed that Uttarakhand as a political identity was quite different to it being a homogenous cultural identity.

He said the culture of Udham Singh Nagar, Dehradun, Haridwar and a major part of Nainital districts was distinct from that of the remaining state. He also pointed out that since these areas were economic hubs and also dominated politics, they were bound to dominate the cultural scenario of the state also.

He then went on to say that the migrants from other parts of the country who have settled in the mountain regions of the state have also contributed to the culture of these regions.

Professor Pant then asked the audience to ponder, “We must understand how much of our culture is classical and how much is folk? There is a lot of difference between the urban and rural culture. Can we retain the erstwhile culture that included singing of Jaagars while we want to be rational and developed at the same time? Can what is being dished out by Kuamoni and Garhwali films be described as culture?”

He then asked, “With the changing lifestyle, can the same culture be retained? The lands have been divided. Hotels, shops and resorts have come up over there. Rice is no longer grown there. Hence, the Hudkiya Bole has vanished”.

He said a Dalit who had studied and availed reservation benefits in getting a job could not be expected to stick to playing Hudka like his forefathers who did not get any opportunity like him. He then questioned whether any unemployed youth from upper castes was willing to fill that gap.

Professor Pant deliberated upon the aspects of class and caste at length and how they had contributed to the culture. Stating that culture was not something static and rigid, he questioned, “Is culture left to be kept in museums?” He said culture was something that kept on evolving. “Water, stone and wood were a part of the human cycle. We need to think that if the culture related to these elements is to be preserved, these things will also have to be utilised. At present we are dishing things in the name of culture that are being sought by our people living abroad. Culture is not an emotional crutch,” he said.

Professor Pant then stated that technology could be used in taking the culture of Uttarakhand forward. “Culture needs to be shown over the virtual universe. Songs, dances, architecture etc can be uploaded on things like Youtube.com. We also need to be proud of our dress and food and carry them with pride when we are moving outside,” he said.

Professor Pant was critical of the political leadership in the state for its failure to let the strength of the mountain regions emerge from the background before the outer world.

Dehradun, May 29
The Western Command Adventure Cup concluded on the banks of the Ganga river at the Veerbhadra Barrage in Rishikesh today with the team from 1 Armoured Division winning the Army Adventure Cup in a nail-biting finish.

The 14 RAPID (S) team stood second. These top two teams, who defeated 11 others to win, will represent the Western Command at the Army Adventure Cup 2010 to be held later. The winners were awarded medals and cash incentives by chief guest Major Gen AK Mudholkar.

Speaking on the occasion, he said promoting adventure sports was an integral part of the Indian Army ethos as this was a means of inculcating the spirit of sportsmanship, endurance and teamwork among the soldiers.

The three-day event began on May 27, 2010 when Brig Arvind Thakur flagged off the first five teams from the Veerbhadra Barrage. On May 28, the next four teams were flagged off and on May 29 the final four teams were flagged off. Each nine-member team had to complete a gruelling 9-km mountain cycling leg, an 11-km run and a 16-km white water rafting stretch to reach the finishing line. At the end of each leg, one member of each team was dropped. Each contestant was allowed 1 minute after cycling and 5 minutes after the running leg of the triathlon to change over.

At the end of the race, 6 minutes were deducted from the final timing of each team to allow for this extra time.

The winning team was captained by Lt LS Bhullar. The cumulative timing of the winning team was 02 hours 10 min 34 sec. The second team captained by Capt Amarjeet Singh totalled 2 hours 13 min 53 sec. The chief guest was also accorded a salute during a spectacular raft parade comprising all 13 participating teams. 

Dehradun, May 29
The Vijay Cantt Football Club today lifted the Narendra Singh Kharola Memorial Football Tournament by defeating the Garhwal Sportings 5-3 in a tie-breaker.

In a hard fought match, it was Madhur of Vijay Cantt that gave a lead to his team by scoring by a header in the 10th minute of the game. Garhwal Sportings strived hard for the equaliser which came in 46th minute when Gaurav Sharma scored a brilliant field goal. At the end of the stipulated time both the team were tied 1-1.

In the sudden death, Nitin, Ashwani, Ravinder Bhandari and Siddharath scored for Vijay Cantt. For Garhwal Sportings, only Shivam and Gaurav could convert their penalties into goals.

Ajay Ghosh of Gypsy Young was adjudged the best defender while Tundop of Doon Star was named as the best midfielder. Shashank of Garhwal Sportings won the best forward award and the best goalkeeper award went to Dikshant of Vijay Cantt. Nitin Gurung of Vijay Cantt was adjudged the man of the tournament. Lt Gen TPS Rawat (Retd), a former Uttarakhand minister and former Pauri Garhwal MP gave away the prizes. 

Dehradun, May 29
Haldwani Colt, Gujral Cricket Academy, Haldwani, NCC, Sonipat, and Chamoli Aricket Association, Gopeshwar, won their respective matches in the All-India DSL Aloevera under-16 Cricket Tournament here today.

In the first match, Haldwani Colts defeated the UCA, Dehradun, by 27 runs. The Dehradun team after winning the toss asked the Haldwani team to bat first. The Haldwani boys made 140 for nine wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Openers Abhinav Kanajia and Chirag Verma scoring 32 and 30 runs, respectively, were the main scorers. Lalit took three wickets for nine runs while Sushant Dabral took two wickets for 15 runs for the Dehradun boys.

The UCA, Dehradun, was bundled out for only 113 runs in 19 overs. It was Girish Raturi with 23 runs and Anshuman Tandon with 27 runs who showed some resolve to fight as the rest of the batsmen surrendered their wickets meekly. For Haldwani Colts, Pardeep Basera and Sachin Singh took two wickets each.

In the second match, Gujral Cricket Academy, Haldwani, trounced Brave Cricket Academy, Delhi, by 16 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Gujral Cricket Academy, Haldwani, scored 123 runs for eight wickets in 20 overs.

It was again, both openers Arvind Verma and Parbhnoor Gujral who scored 75 runs for the first wickets. Arvind Verma scored 42 and Prabhnoor Gujral 27. Sandeep Kumar and Mohdmand Adil took two wickets each for the Delhi team.

In their reply, Brave Cricket Academy, Delhi scored 107 for nine wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Sandeep Kumar with 26 and Alok Verma with 21 runs were the top scorers.

Shubham Rahi with three wiockets and Anil Sharma and Arvind verma with two wickets each were the main wreckers for Gujral Academy, Haldwani.

In the third match, NCC, Sonipat, beat Eram Cricket Club, Delhi, by three wickets. Batting first, Eram Cricket Club, Delhi, scored 136 runs all-out in 19.3 overs. Shrish Yadav was the top scorer with 39 runs. Ajay Kaushik took four wickets for 16 runs for the Sonipat team.

In their reply, NCC, Sonipat, surpassed the total of their rivals in only 10 overs. The Sonipat team scored 140 runs. Opener Pardeep malik was the top scorer with 80 runs in only 53 balls.

In the last match, Chamoli Cricket Academy, Gopeshwar, got past Arman Cricket Academy, Lucknow, by five wickets. Arman club batting first scored only 72 runs in 15.5 overs. In reply, the Gopeshwar team scored the winning runs in 17 overs with Amit Kamboj top scoring with 38 runs.