Dehradun, August 13
Elaborate security arrangements have been made for the Independence Day parade on Sunday in the state capital.

As per the police, a total of 600 police personnel will be deployed in Dehradun district for security. This includes six DSP-rank officers and all station house officers of the police stations.

Besides, Sahstra guards will also assist the police in managing the event. A quick reaction team, bomb disposal squad and a dog squad will also be deployed on the occasion to prevent any untoward incident. Superintendent of Police (SP) Asim Srivastav, who is the in charge of the security, while talking to The Tribune, said: “We have made a comprehensive plan for security at the Parade Ground on the Independence Day. A total of 600 police personnel will remain on duty”.

The SP said the police was undergoing a checking drive at the entire important places of the district. “Hotels, dharamsalas, ISBT and railway station were checked yesterday and today also we will continue the checking drive in the district. Besides, the outer places of the district are also being checked,” Srivastav added.

For a smooth flow of the traffic, required traffic diversions have been made for the function. “The Parade ground will be barricaded from the four sides. The provision of public parking has been made at the Rangers Ground,” the SP added.

A large crowd of dignitaries from both bureaucracy and politics will participate in the I-Day function. The achievers in different fields, who made Uttarakhand proud, will be honoured on the day.

Mussoorie, August 13
Incessant rains have taken a heavy toll on PWD roads in Mussoorie. In the latest incident, the Mussoorie-Barlowganj Road near Jaypee Residency Manor, a luxury hotel, caved in yesterday night.

The sidewall could not bear the pressure of the gushing water and slid into the gorge damaging several oak trees in the process.

The PWD road was constructed this summer, but could not survive even one monsoon. The Barlowganj-Mussoorie road caters to several schools of repute like St Georges, Oak Grove and a luxury hotel frequently visited by important dignitaries.

The PWD officials said that workers have been sent to the site to repair the damage on a priority basis.

Pitthoragarh, August 13
To rehabilitate Army jawans after retirement, local Army and paramilitary units have started training ex-servicemen in fish farming with the help of the Life Sciences Research Board of the DRDO, New Delhi, and the Zoology Department of the local PG College, Pitthoragarh, said Dr Kumkum Shah, coordinator of the programme.

“The main objective of the programme is to make farmers as well as ex-servicemen aware of pisciculture technology so that after retirement, the jawans can adopt the technology to increase their resources or nutrition in their diet,” said Dr Shah.

During the past six months, three training camps for Army and paramilitary jawans at the 7th and 14th BN of ITBP, Pitthoragarh, and jawans of Medium Battery Battalion, Pitthoragarh were organised.

“We have trained nearly 100 jawans from these three units and are going to train jawans from the military hospital and 69 Mountain Brigade besides jawans from two battalions of the ITBP and one battalion of the Army,” said Dr Shah

She added that their programme also wants to involve retired Army personal of Pitthoragarh district, besides local farmers and unemployed youth.

“With the help of the programme, we are advising jawans to develop wastelands and neglected water resources near their homes for their economic welfare after their retirement,” said PN Prashad, Commandant of 14th BN ITBP.

“The programme will not only increase awareness of our jawans about the fauna of the Himalayan region, but also help increase their income after retirement,” said BS Bisht, commanding officer of the Medium Battery Battalion.

The Uttarakhand State Council of Science and Technology (UCOST) is also doing its bit for the programme. An UCOST scientist informed participants about the wide variety of fish and their conservation.

“Fish culture is safe from natural hazards like heavy rain, no rain and wild animals as well as the problem of marketing,” said Dr N Punetha, coordinator of UCOST.

Dehradun, August 13
Muslim faithfuls thronged mosques across Dehradun for the Friday prayers, the first Friday of the holy month of Ramzan. A large number of Muslims offered prayers at Jama Masjid, Dhamawala Mosque and the EC Eoad mosque.

The Friday prayers assumed significance as it was the first Friday of the Holy month of Ramzan in which the Muslim faithfuls keep fast from dawn to sunset and offer special prayers.

Dehradun, August 13
On the 23rd Youth Parliament competition held at Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV)-II, Haathibarkala, witnessed the participation of two central schools here today while three schools had already participated yesterday. Present at the occasion, along with KV-Upper Camp, Dehradun, KV-BHEL, Haridwar, KV-FRI, Dehradun, and KV-IFFCO, Bareilly and KV-1, Haldwani.

Chief guest on the occasion was Hira Singh Bisht, former MLA, Uttar Pradesh. More than 250 students participated and enacted the proceedings of Parliament. “Through this exercise the students know how the government functions,” said MS Uniyal, coordinator of the show.

The audience as well as the guests were enthralled by seeing the students enthusiastically participating in the zero hour motion, call attention, oath ceremony, bill presentation and many such other parliamentary proceedings.

However, the speakers also highlighted many other important issues related to the minimum qualification of the MLAs and MPs of our country which should be graduation. Hira Singh Bisht, NS Rana, Education Officer, KV Sangathan, Dehradun, and PK Tamta, Principal of KV, Birpur, adjudged the competition. The best speaker from each school was given prizes.

Moreover, after the state-level competition, the winners will get an opportunity to sit for the zonal level that would be held later. The show concluded with guest congratulating the teams as well as teachers who took pains to organise such a wonderful event.

Dehradun, August 13
An exhibition on philately was held at the Indian Military Academy (IMA) here today. The exhibition was inaugurated by Lt Gen RS Sujalana, Commandant, IMA.

In attendance was Chief Post Master General Anjali Deveshar and Director Postal Services Sanjay Singh and a large gathering of other dignitaries. The Postal Department also put on display a large number of stamps and literature related to the field of philately. The main aim of the exhibition was to inculcate philately as a hobby amongst the gentlemen cadets and also to encourage the facet of stamp collection amongst the young generation.

Rajesh Verma, recipient of Doon Ratan and Abhay, along with others, participated and exhibited their collections on the occasion. The exhibition was opened till 7pm for the gentleman cadets and visitors.

Mussoorie, August 13
Members of the National Student Union of India (NSUI) of MPG College protested against the limiting the seats in BA I year courses to 120 in one faculty. NSUI workers led by party president raised slogans against the college administration demanding increase in the number of the seats for the BA I year.

The party workers created ruckus for several hours and raised slogans against Principal RS Shukla. The college president Nitin Dutt said the students from nearby villages and poor families avail the education at college and to deny them admission was near to crime. The administration sensing the mood prevalent among the students raised the limit to 120, thus pacified their anger.

However, college president Nitin Dutt said the number would increase more than 120 as the village students would be making beeline in August and the limit should be raised to 200 students in near future and if not done, they would resort to similar measures. The administration on the other hand wants to limit the number as most of the students take admission only to cast their vote during the election period and this is being seen as preparation for the forthcoming college elections.

Dehradun, August 13
On the occasion of the Independence Day, Children’s Academy held inter house patriotic song competition on the campus of the school here today. Colonel JS Mann (retd), secretary of Pramukh, was the chief guest for the event.

All four houses put on their endeavour to prove their mettle in the competition. The judges were spellbound to witness the patriotic fervour in the songs.

Nehru House bagged the first position in the competition followed by Tagore House and Subhash House on the second and third position, respectively. “The moment when trophy was raised by Nehru House was indeed a proud moment for the school,” informed Major Jagdish Prasad, administration head. School also rewarded winners Rs 5,000 and certificate to Akshay Jaiswal for winning the National Championship Tournament Group II for Badminton in Bhopal.

Dehradun, August 13
A freelance graphic designer of children books will be in Dehradun tomorrow to participate in Ghummakkad Narain - The Travelling Children’s Literature Festival that is already into its third week here at The Heritage School.

An ex-alumni of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, Sachin Sebastian George will participate in the next author talk session of the festival at The Heritage School on Saturday. He will also be interacting with schoolchildren, answer their queries and tell them about finer details of graphic design.

A graduate in visual communication with specialisation in graphic design, he did his class XII in 2002 from Kerala. Sebastian has been working on paper, exploring its form, both visually and structurally, and the rest of the time, he does freelance graphic design.

The festival has been organised by the NGOs Nivesh and the Himalayan Hub for Art and Cultural Heritage (HHACH) under the aegis of Unesco, New Delhi office.

Dehradun, August 13
The three-day cultural fiesta of St Joseph’s Academy concluded today with Donavan House (first position) rocking the stage amidst thundering applause by students of other three houses of Bergin, Duffy and Dooley.

The day began with Principal of the academy, Brother AJ George, welcoming judge’s for the contests KC Tripathi, Shubha Shukla and Dr Sudha Gupta. Followed by payers to the lord by the staff, students and guests. At this inter school competition participants showcased hilarious and wise Hindi plays.

Dooley House stood first in hindi dramatics leaving other three houses. Other than dramatics, the participants of different houses also performed in the group and solo song competitions. The mesmerising songs touched many hearts and won applause by the audience. Defeating the rest houses in the captivating instrumental music, Donavan House bagged the first position in the competition, second by Duffy and third by Bergin House, respectively.

However, the senior Western dance was a mega event of the day carried out with perfection at every step. The Western dance was a hit at the show as Josephites in colourful outfits performed on the tunes of Bollywood and Hollywood numbers. The judges for the Western dance competition were Deewakar Ganguly, Vineet Panchi and Babita Chauhan.

Along with fun quotient, talented students got an opportunity to highlight their expertise in dance, dramatics, instrumental and various other genres. The Principal presented the house trophy to Donavan House. Housemaster Kaushal Raj and housemistress S Shridhar of Donavan house complimented the students and staff for their great victory.

The event concluded with the Principal expressing his joy for such marvelous performances. He congratulated everyone and said the cultural week paved the way for jubilation as a moral booster and had tremendously increased the confidence level of the one and all.

Mussoorie, August 13
The forthcoming Commonwealth Games are being termed as the grandest event of the decade in India by the Games organising committee. But the recent expose of the corruption scams has left a bad taste in the mouth of commoners.

The mismanagement of the committee, along with the indifferent attitude of the state NSS office, has deprived of opportunity for the students enrolled under the NSS to work as volunteers in the forthcoming Games.

State NSS Communication Officer Dr Anand Uniyal said the NSS Headquarters had not sent a demand otherwise the students from the state were ready to work as volunteers for the Games.

He agreed that this event would have helped in enhancing the managerial capacity and providing necessary experience for the future, but they were not contacted by either the committee or the central headquarters of the NSS at Delhi.

When NSS officials were contacted in New Delhi they said the registrations were opened till June for volunteers and more than 400 had registered from several states barring Uttarakhand. The students enrolled under the NSS in the state are of the view that they have missed the boat to witness the Games of such stature live and learn from it. Many believe that the Commonwealth Games are being held not for the athletes and children, but for the corrupt officials at many levels.

This Correspondent has learnt that the volunteers from Pune have been given the preference in the Games as chairman Suresh Kalmadi is the Member of Parliament from the same city.

Dehradun, August 13
The players who won 26 silver and bronze medals in 2009-10 for the Uttarakhand state were given cash prizes by the Rajya Yuva Kalyan Parishad at a function here today.

The players who won silver medals were awarded with Rs 10,000 and the bronze medallists were given Rs 5,000 each. Subhash Barthwal, vice-president of the association, said the players who brought laurels to the state at the national level should be given reservation in government and private jobs.

He further said he would talk to the government in this regard. Any country’s strength is known by its players and the country will progress as much as country’s players go ahead, Barthwal added.