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Hunger drives leopards to human habitations
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A cable car at Auli, a favourite tourist destination, in Chamoli district.
Governor releases book on Himalayan biodiversity
Governor Margaret Alva releases a book, “Biodiversity Potentials of the Himalaya”, at the Nainital Raj Bhawan
on Saturday.
Dehradun Diary
Kunal wins u-13 swimming championship
Students spread message of safe driving
South-Asian Junior TT CHAMPIONships
BHEL to light up Commonwealth-2010
Akranta beat Sunderwala Boys 3-0
Doon Combined Club thump Doon Warriors by 80 runs
Mussoorie-Dehradun Challengers Trophy
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Hunger drives leopards to human habitations
Nearly 200 persons have lost their lives and over 268 leopards have faced death since the inception of the state
Leopard casualty figure has already touched the 60 mark in the state this year due to varied reasons. But, a lack of prey has been termed as driving factor behind these deaths. The state forest authority has so far found itself helpless in arresting the rising graph of leopard deaths. The Uttarakhand Forest Authorities had recently sought help from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, seeking its specific recommendations to arrest the rising number of cases of man-leopard conflicts in the state. But, then shrinking wildlife habitat and growing interference of man in forests has brought man into direct conflict with leopards. But, a lack of prey base inside forests has been the biggest reason that seems to have forced leopards into straying into human habitations. “Barking deer (kakar) is hunted for meat by locals and this often leads to scarcity of this important leopard prey base in Uttarakhand forests,” says Ashok Kumar, Vice-Chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India.
Nearly, 200 persons have lost their lives and 343 have been injured in leopard attacks since the inception of the state. Similarly, over 268 leopards have faced death, either at the hands of poachers or in accidents, some even due to foresters’ bullets within the same period. Significantly, leopards have often been found targeting cattle and even dogs. The feline attack cowsheds, particularly during dawn and dusk hours. The state Forest Department had from time to time issued appeals to the people to be cautious during early evening and morning hours.
Nonetheless, despite some efforts on part of the state forest authorities to curb cases of man-leopard conflict, little attention has been paid to the quantity of leopard prey species inside forests. Often smaller mammals likes barking deer, blue sheep and others have least being taken up for conservation. Howsoever, the only hope now lies with the WII and outcome of its study can certainly come up with long-lasting solution to man-leopard challenge in Uttarakhand.
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‘Desi Viagra’ evokes DRDO scientists’ interest
Nainital, June 6 The fungi has been hitting the headlines repeatedly with claims about its performance enhancement qualities which have generally been associated with sexual performance till now. But research conducted by scientists of the Defence Institute of Bio Energy Research (DIBER), which is an affiliate of the DRDO and has its headquarters at Haldwani, has revealed that the fungi can enhance all out physical and mental performance of an individual since it has the capacity to increase the oxygen supply to the brain by almost 40 per cent. Scientists reveal that Yarsha Gamboo is basically a kind of caterpillar mummified by a fungal infection found at altitudes between 3,000 metres to 5,000 metres or 11,000 feet to 14,000 feet, which goes by the scientific name of Cordyceps sinensis. It is a prized ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, and most reports say it sells at prices more expensive than gold. Cordyceps sinensis is said to have myriad uses, including as an aphrodisiac is only found in the Tibetan plateau and the Himalayas, though its scientific relatives have been known to be found in the ancient forests of New Zealand also. Scientists at DIBER disclose that going by the demand of the fungi and the uncontrolled attempts at its collection and sale, this might become extinct pretty soon. Dr PS Negi of DIBER told The Tribune, “The major achievement of DIBER scientists is that we have managed to culture the mycillium on a solid structure. We have duly analysed the bio-active molecules and the toxicity process has been done. Now, the next step is clinical trials, which are only conducted by the Clinical Research Organisations. We are the first to develop the culture of this fungi and it took us as long as two years to do so”. He disclosed that the biggest challenge has been to bring the fungi from its original habitats in the Himalayan heights to the laboratory. Sources disclosed that several pharmaceutical giants have been approaching DIBER for the culture of the fungi knowing its medicinal and economic potential in the market. As on now research on this fungi for its medicinal value is being done in China, the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Korea
and Japan.
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Garhwal nigam loses Auli to Tourism Dept
Seema Sharma Tribune News Service
Dehradun, June 6 The news has spread panic waves in the nigam over losing one of its main tourist attractions. General Manager of the nigam UK Kabadwal said at the time of peak season of the Char Dham Yatra when the GMVN was offering an additional package of Auli, combining it with the other four attractions, the Char Dham, some sheen would be lost in the packages of the Char Dham Yatra which gave a mix of adventure along with spiritual bliss. Not only this, the nigam was also eyeing Auli as another business-boosting region in the time when the South Asian Federation Winter Games are scheduled to be held there by the Indian Olympic Association in the near future. The SAF Games are considered to be the reason for taking away the charge of Auli by the GMVN. AK Singh, Executive Director, Uttarakhand Tourism, said: “The GMVN was not efficiently managing the affairs at Auli. Now, when the world is witnessing the best of modern facilities, the GMVN is still employing the outdated services. It is important to set things right before the SAF Games start in Auli”. The employees have sharpened their arsenals. President of the Employees Association of the GMVN Purushottam Puri said it was strange that the state government was taking the Auli out of the purview of the GMVN which had a proper administrative structure and rich experience in tourism. On the other hand the Tourism Development Board did not have any structure, administrative hierarchy and experience. He smelt a rat that some vested interests wanted to finally put Auli on the PPP mode to make a quick buck in the garb of switching control of Auli at the moment. AK Singh admitted that the Board did not have any administrative structure, but would manage one since Auli had been give under its control. He took the GMVN to task for questioning board’s authority in taking over of Auli, saying that the Tourism Department and Board were the real owners who had created infrastructure and passed it on to the administration of the GMVN. And the GMVN was not even paying leese rent in most of the cases. He also found it bizarre that in Uttarakhand four departments, the Tourism Department, Tourism Development Board, the GMVN and the KMVN, handled tourist affairs whereas in other states only one Tourism Department had control of all tourists-related affairs. AK Singh said the GMVN had lost its faith in the government because of which the board gave the management of 28 night shelter homes to Garhwal University and 40 tourism, commerce and information centres to locals. This is the first such move where the administration of a tourist complex has been given under the control of the Tourism Development Board. It can set an embarrassing precedence for the GMVN if it did not take timely action in this direction. (To be concluded)
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Governor releases book on Himalayan biodiversity
Nainital, June 6 The Governor has appreciated the work and called for biodiversity conservation for sustainable development. Alva pointed out that the role of biodiversity was very crucial for water cycle and mitigating climate change. The conservation of biodiversity was essential for the equilibrium of climatic factors, which were affecting us everyday, she said. The book has 574 pages and contains 27 research papers related to different aspects of biodiversity of Uttarakhand, Himachal
Pradesh, Western and Eastern Himalayas. Details about different categories of plants like algae, bryophytes,
pteridophytes, gymnosperms, angiosperms, ecological aspects, medicinal plants, rare and endangered plants and birds have been included in this book. Vice-Chancellor Dr VPS Arora has written the introduction for the book. According to Professor
Tewari, 2010 has already been declared as International Biodiversity Year for awareness to conserve the biodiversity. At present, there are five biosphere reserves, 28 national parks, 98 wild life sanctuaries in the Indian Himalayan region for the promotion of biological diversity
and conservation. He pointed out that the Indian Himalayan region also represents 25 per cent endemic plants. Biodiversity is the key to the prosperity of a given region and useful for sustainable development. Professor Tewari said, “More than 10,000 plants, 300 mammals, 1,000 birds, 816 tree species, 675 wild fruits, 750 orchids, 1,748 medicinal plants occur in the Himalayan region. Uttarakhand is known for natural beauty due to its specific biodiversity, which is responsible for its
cool climate”.
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Elevated IAS officers hold reins of Kumaon admn
Rajeev Khanna Tribune News Service Kumaon is witnessing a peculiar phenomenon with reference of the administration of districts in the region. In a majority of districts the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, who have risen from the ranks of state administrative services, are holding 4most of the key posts. There are instances where an IAS, who has risen from the state administration ranks, has been posted above the direct recruits to the IAS, which has caused a lot of heartburn among the the direct recruits. It is a well-known, but unwritten fact that IAS officials who come directly through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination do not give much weightage to those who rise from the ranks of state services. Hence, the squabbling and complex administrative scenarios are emerging behind the scenes in the region. On the face of it the government contends that it is better to post an official who has risen from the ranks of state services at the key posts since he is much more experienced. But off the record, many persons, including top-level officials as well as those from within the state government, are surprised at the way things are going. A senior politician from within the ruling party recently even remarked: “I wonder who is the one in the Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal’s kitchen cabinet who is advising him to take these decisions”. Nishank blanks to quizzing over power
The power crisis in the state is continuing unabated and it is the state government, particularly the Chief Minister, who is drawing flak from the people. A common point of discussion these days at tea stalls is the failure of Dr Nishank to counter a battery of questions on the issue by a reporter on one of the leading television channels. Ordinary people can now be heard saying: “He could not answer the questions which means that he has no solution to the problem and is just making false promises through his publicity campaigns”. The public viewpoint got further impetus when “with a view to derailing a Congress campaign” on the power issue in Haldwani, there was no power cut for a day. It so happened that Congress leader and former minister Indira Hridayesh announced that she would be sitting on a day-long fast to protest against the mismanagement of power and water distribution in the state. Just when she made the announcement, the scenario improved with the Haldwani residents claiming that on the day of her fast there was hardly any power cut. But, once the fast was over “the situation was back to normal with both the scheduled and unscheduled power cuts returning to make life difficult”.
Admn shows scant respect for martyrs
Promises are made to be forgotten and tall claims made at the time when people make extreme sacrifice for the nation are also put on the back burner. People have seen this phenomenon so many times that its repetition does not surprise them any more. All it draws is a little more contempt for those in power. Major Rajesh Adhikary’s death in the Kargil conflict is another such case. When a small programme was held last Sunday to remember the local youth who had made the extreme sacrifice, no one from the administration was present. It was left to his family, friends and media persons to remember his contribution by lighting candles at a small plaque on the Lower Mall Road. It was only his mother who made a passing reference about the government on the day making a promise to erect his statue at a prominent place in Nainital. She too seems to have accepted the fact that promises after all are made to be broken.
CM’s calendars gather dust
Even six months after it was reported in The Tribune, officials of several government departments are still unable to dispose off dateless calendars of the Chief Minister, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, which the state government had got printed on the occasion of Statehood Day. Scores of such calendars continue to bite the dust at offices where no one is willing to take them home. The calendar only shows the photograph of a smiling Nishank with an oft-repeated message saying that Uttarakhand is a heaven on earth and it is the forehead of the nation. Below this message is the list of achievements of the state government. Officials blame some sycophants in Dehradun who probably came up with this bright idea of coming up with a dateless calendar and which has become a headache for officials right up to the block level. Nobody knows what to do with the heaps and heaps of these calendars that have been dumped at their offices by those sitting in Dehradun to dispose them off. An official jokingly told this reporter: “They can make good notebook covers when put from the reverse side. Otherwise they can serve as good paper napkins in the kitchen.”
Sex scandals coming to light have become a routine. The dailies carry news about sex rackets being busted on every second day. But, the scandal that recently hit the front pages of the local dailies had everyone asking for more. The reason was that this time the accused was none other than the Public Relations Officer of a state cabinet minister. The accused, Manoj Joshi, who was caught with a woman in a compromising position in a locality in Haldwani on Friday afternoon, could not evade arrest primarily because of the active media persons and the public that had gathered at the spot of the incident. He was booked and arrested along with the woman and her accomplice. The incident gave enough masala to those indulging in gossip over the weekend.
Untidy station has IG fuming
The new Inspector General of Police (IG) for Kumaon was in for a shock when he made a random visit to the Mallital police station immediately after joining. The police station that shares a common wall with the IG’s office had poor upkeep and the IG was appalled at the filth and the state of toilets over there. The very first instructions that came from him were to maintain cleanliness and orderliness in all the police stations of the region.
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Kunal wins u-13 swimming championship
Haridwar, June 6 In the senior category of above-13 age group, Sumit bagged the first position followed by Dawood and Anmol in this open event. Among girls, Prabhjhot and Ayushi Barthwal competed intensely in the girls’ u-13 category event. While conceding lead initially Prabhjot finally emerged winner with Shivangi following Ayushi in the podium list. In the above-13 category, Smriti won the open event bagging the gold with silver and bronze being taken by Shubhangi and Shalini. The medals and certificates were awarded to the winners by Rajeev Bhatnagar AMD CPR and lauded the efforts of participants stating a bright future for the participants as well as state. He said swimming enhances both mental as well as physical capacity and termed swimming as the best form of exercise which generates a fresh lease of energy in the body. While swimming coaches JP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Omkar Sharma, Rikhi Ram Rana, Sanjay Kumar Prasad, Deepak Khati, Manvir Singh, Shashi Maniwal also appreciated the skills and efforts put up by the participants. Female coach Meenakshi stated that despite a strict regimen all the participants prior to the championship prepared well and honed their skills with enthusiasm and cited the discipline among learners as the best part of teaching them. Certificates were also awarded to the winners in presence of the Swimming Association’s vice-president S Bajpai, general secretary MS Negi, Ajit Aggarwal, Raj Kumar Bhargav, Rishi Pal, Indermohan Barthwal and eminent citizens.
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Students spread message of safe driving
Dehradun, June 6 The march began from St Joseph’s Academy, which further led to the Clock Tower then to Eucalyptus Chowk and finally culminated near Nanny Bakers at the Old Survey Road. Students displayed posters and banners to spread awareness among people about taking traffic safety precautions and rallied against rash drivers. Bhuvanesh Kumar, student of Doon International School, during the march said Ishita was a bright student of Doon International School. She met with an accident on May 3 when a car hit her scooty while she was returning from school. After the accident, she was hurried to the hospital, but inadequate treatment took her life. He asserted that the silent candle march was a protest that also aimed at urging the administration to provide the public with satisfactory health as well as emergency facilities in the city. Also present at the procession were Adarsh Chamoli, organiser of the procession, Harinder Singh Mann, Director of DIS, Mahesh Rawat, Gurinder Kaur and other teachers of the school.
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South-Asian Junior TT CHAMPIONships Tribune News Service
Dehradun, June 6 In the junior boys’ singles final, Commonwealth youth champion Ganasekharan Sathiyan (India) beat Harmeet Desai (India) 11-8, 9-11, 12-10, 11-2, 2-11, 11-4. Mallika Bhandarkar (India) defeated Ankita Das (India) 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-9 in the junior girls singles final. In the junior boys’ doubles final, Harmeet Desai and Ganasekharan Sathiyan (India) beat Hasintha Marakkala Arsa and Chamera Ginige (Sri Lanka) 11-8, 13-15, 11-5, 11-7. Indian pair of Mallika Bhandarkar and Ankita Das also got the better of Vithanage Gonapinuwala and TS Alagiyawadu of Sri Lanka 11-9, 12-10, 6-11, 12-10 in junior girls’ doubles final.
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BHEL to light up Commonwealth-2010
Haridwar, June 6 With electricity supply imperative during the event, with most of the sporting events being indoors, the usage of these generators was felt by the state government and the organizing committee and so the BHEL-Ranipur unit was given the orders for state-of-the-art generators for power supply. Informing about the Commonwealth connection, Managing Director Devendra Kumar Modi said these 250mw capacities TG stator set generators were being sent to the Pragati Power Corporation in Delhi which would provide electricity specifically for the Commonwealth Games. Devendra Modi said the adherence of international quality standards and time-bound delivery of the orders was the major reason of BHEL getting national as well as international orders. At the flag-off ceremony of the generators, officials present were BHEL executives Rajesh Kumar (HRDC), Ishwardin, Ashok Gupta, Brijesh Pandey, Nirmal Khandelwal, SK Luthra, Anant Kashinath, RB Majithia and others.
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Akranta beat Sunderwala Boys 3-0
Dehradun, June 6 Bhupinder scored as early as in the fourth minute of the game to open the account of his side. Akranta team though didn’t get another goal in the first half but it displayed good football. In the second half, the team achieved another success through Bhupinder in the 65th minute. Continuing with its good attack and excellent man-to-man game, it scored the third goal of the match in the 68th minute through Ashu. Tomorrow Doon Challenger to lock horns with Doon United. A day of draw matches at
football league
Both matches played today ended in draw during the football league being organised by the District Football Association in the Police Lines. In the first match, Doon Valley drew with Pachwadon 1-1. Mukesh (39th) scored for Doon Valley and Vipul (57th) netted a goal for the latter. While in the second match, good efforts of the Bajrang Club and Doon United also ended no result. Both the teams struck two goals each but couldn’t get any further goal and the match ended in a 2-2 draw. First half was dominated by Doon United as its players Sukl (10th) and Ajay (18th) scored a goal each to end the half with 2-0 in their side’s favour. The Bajrang Club came in full spirits in the next half and netted two goals to end the match in a draw. Himanshu (56th) and Parvin (57th) scored a goal each for the side.
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Doon Combined Club thump Doon Warriors by 80 runs
Dehradun, June 6 Rais of Doon Warriors took three wickets while Chintu got two. Prithvi, Mayank and Bhim pocketed a wicket each. Batting second Doon Warriors, Sunny (50) and Vikas (44) played good knocks, but couldn’t carry forward the momentum and lost their wickets. Other batsmen couldn’t perform well and went on cheap scores with team getting all out on 219. While for the DCC, Kamal D scalped the most wickets. He got four batsmen out during his spell of eight overs. Nitin and Vaibhav took three and two wickets, respectively, to restrict the rival team batsmen.
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Mussoorie-Dehradun Challengers Trophy Tribune News Service
Dehradun June 6 The Navyuvak Cricket Academy scored total of 120 runs during the match. Shivam, made the highest score of 38 runs. The Maharana Cricket Academy won the toss and decided to bat first and made 119 runs in total. Mohsin Khan was the top scorer with 35 runs while Vidhur Sikand made 28 runs for the Maharana Academy.
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Seizure of skins of 20 wild animals, including 14 skins of gorals and five of barking deer, in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand has revealed a distinct pattern of man-leopard conflict in the state as both these mammalian species are a credible prey base for leopard.
GMVN in Dire Straits
Nainital, June 6
Dehradun, June 6
Expressing concern over frequent leopard deaths in Uttarakhand, Ashok Kumar admits leopards are yet to get the same importance in conservation as its feline cousin tiger. He said much is needed to be done to help out this wildcat in distress. 
Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RBS Rawat asserts man-leopard conflict was certainly a matter of concern for the state and the department was taking every possible initiative to control these conflicts, which resulted in deaths on both sides.
