Dehradun, August 19
The Samata Party, Uttarakhand, today gave a proposal for merger with the Congress in a press conference here today.

The proposal will be sent to state Congress president Yaspal Arya.

Addressing mediapersons, Anurag Kumar, president of the Samata Party, said their party had held a meeting in this regard. And the senior party leaders felt that the existence of their party at the national level was diminishing and they and the party workers were not satisfied with it.

The Samata Party working committee handed over the responsibility of taking the party’s next step with full authority to Anurag Kumar who decided to merge it with the Congress.

He today gave a proposal of merger to Congress convener Rajiv Maharishi for the state president.

“We are very happy with Samata’s decision and welcome them. Any party whether small or big if comes to our family, it does contribute in a big way. We are together going to win the 2012 assembly elections,” said Maharishi.

Dehradun, August 19
Bursting at the seams and overflowing with inmates that keep coming from different corners of the country, the Nari Niketan is unable to cope with the rush, the problem exacerbated by acute paucity of staff.

Women, mostly abandoned and suffering from mental illness, are accommodated at the Nari Niketan, that can, at the most, house 50 inmates, but after 23 women from Haldwani and 18 from Kotdwar were brought to the Niketan, the number has swelled to 71, making things unmanageable for the staff and management. These women are brought to the Niketan in compliance with magisterial orders.

The need for trained caretakers, nurses, doctors and other staff is acutely felt at the Niketan. In the absence of trained staff, the inmates, who are normal, are forced to look after the mentally ill patients. Physicians from the Doon Hospital visit the Niketan twice a month, but it does not have an in-house medical cell, despite the fact that around 57 patients are suffering from one or the other mental illness that requires constant supervision of a psychiatrist.

Along with a superintendent, there are only two caretakers. “As per norms, the Nari Niketan should have, at least, eight caretakers, a minimum of two nurses for handling the inmates who get aggressive and violent most of the time and two or three safai karamcharis,” said Ramindri Mandarwal, Protection Officer, Dehradun district.

Along with sending inmates to the Niketan, permanent medical and caretaker staff should be posted so that they get proper care, he added.

Besides, the Niketan has to depend on the largesses of the Doon Hospital for procurement of medicines as no separate financial allocation is made for medicines. The mentally ill patients need to be administered prescribed medicines to control their aggression. Already the Doon Hospital is facing a financial crunch and in case it stops supplying medicines at the Niketan, the mentally ill patients’ health will be at risk. “They also require regular investigation, so that the effects of medicines can be supervised. But, because we do not meet the patients on regular intervals, that kind of monitoring cannot be undertaken. The Mental Institute at Selaqui, too, takes patients who are supervised by their family members,” said Dr JS Bisht, psychiatrist, Doon Hospital.

Dehradun, August 19
Agitated over the wastage of tons of wheat that is getting rotten in government godowns, workers of the General Mahadev Singh Nagar Mandal, affiliated to the Bharatiya Janta Party, today burnt the effigy of Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar.

Under the leadership of Sachin Gupta, councillor of Yamuna Colony, the agitators gathered at the Clock Tower.

BJP mahanagar president Puneet Mittal said tons of wheat had gone wasted due to the negligence of a minister and he should feel sorry about the same.

Mandal president Vinod Sharma claimed that even after so much wheat getting rotten the Agriculture Minister had not been able to make proper arrangements to save the good grain. He said people were struggling to get wheat but the government was not ready to provide them the same instead they were happy seeing it going waste.

While Gupta stated the person who was not willing to take care of the common man had no right to stay on the post and he should immediately resign.

Dehradun, August 19
Raksha Bandhan is the time to celebrate love and togetherness with near and dear ones. And to mark this festival with remembrance, city shops have been decked up with beautiful and colourful rakhis the past one month.

Raksha Bandhan is one such auspicious occasion that not only holds religious connotation but conveys a deep sense of love and affection between brother and sister. Rakhis are colourful silk threads studded with beads, stones and Rudrakshs. They are available in varied shapes, sizes and colours with trendy embelishments on them.

To attract a large number of people to purchase rakhis every nook and corner are decorated with rakhis to make it convenient for the customers to mail it to their relatives who are living in far off places. For some where a string worth Rs 5 is perfect, others, who want something stylish, can even purchase rakhis in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 500.

“I’ve started selling rakhis for the past one month in the range of Rs 3 to Rs 70 for those who have to send it to their relatives residing in far-off places,” said Ramesh Gupta, rakhi vendor at Subhash Nagar.

“My brother and all other cousins live in distant areas and due to work they won’t be able to come for rakhi this year. In that case I’ve mailed them rakhis in advance so that they get these on time,” said Revathi.

This year rakhis that are sleek, stylish and convenient to wear, designed with stones giving a bracelet effect are preferred to the traditional bulky rakhis. However, these rakhis are sold at nominal price range of Rs 25 to Rs 50. Greeting cards with sentimental quotes and rakhis in it are the most selling ones. Not only these but couple rakhis for brothers and their wives have also been introduced in the markets by the name of “Bhaiya and Bhabi”.

Interestingly, if anyone wants to buy branded stuff on this rakhi then Archie’s is that one store to throng. Rakhi cards for Rs 25 to RS 200, with rakhis attached to it is convenient for mailing through post. Also if style is one’s preference then “Puja Thali for Rakhi” priced from Rs 275 to Rs 450 is worth purchasing to make the occasion look attractive. This puja thali is not only stylish but has all basic items such as tika, roli, rakhi and sweet.

“With normal threads we have silver rakhi worth Rs 180 and divinity rakhis which have a gold plating on different deities. Till now the response has been very good and depending on taste brothers purchase a variety of gifts for their sisters,” said Suman, at Archies.

Though traditional sweets such as gulab jamuns, burfi, moti choor ladoos and ghewar and many other delicious sweets have picked up great demand, contemporary form of sweets are also sold in great chunk during the occasion.

“Though during monsoon ghewar is always in demand, people are coming to our shop asking for our homemade chocolates by the brand name of Chococlicks and are receiving very good response,” said Satyavrat Badoni of Bengali Sweet shop.

Dehradun, August 19
Freida Mc Rae, Director of Shishya School, visited ICFAI University and delivered a talk on school education, “The Challenges and Opportunities”, during a workshop held here today.

In her address to prospective teachers of the university, Mc Rae said, “It is very important for an individual to understand the psyche of a child. Life is magnanimous and full of hope. Discipline is indeed a challenge for the teachers of today, but a positive approach to the whole issue might spell wonders”. She said she had experimented at the Shishya on various discipline issues.

She laid stress on creativity in teaching, effective classroom management and interactive techniques of teaching. Emphasising on planning, managing, leading, controlling and evaluating teaching for the aspiring teachers. She said in-service training of teachers like attending refresher course, orientation programme and workshop for building capacity of the teachers by the teacher training institutes.

Speaking on the issue of AIDS, she said awareness about the epidemic held the key to its effective successful eradication. She enlightened students with information relating to “women’s liberation” and expressed pleasure to know the corporate-social responsibilities of ICFAI University by opening Alpha Learning Centre at different slum areas in Dehradun and providing both general as well as vocational education to the children.

Dehradun, August 19
An exhibition of photographs by five amateur photographers opened at Galleria de Rupali in Inderlok Hotel here yesterday. The senior most among the photographers was Manoj Rangarh. He specialises in nature photography and has also fondly covers major events such as the Maha Kumbh. His photographs reflect his love for his native Tehri.

“I have been in love with photography since my childhood, and I try to capture the soul of nature in all its manifestation,” said Manoj. All of his photographs on display were eye catching; however, his pictures of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Tehri Dam, Niti Valley, Maha Kumbh and two pictures of tribal women in their finest jewellery were more attractive. Photographs of new Tehri and old Tehri too attracted much attention. Incidentally, the photograph of old Tehri, which now is submerged, should be of much archaeological and historical value.

Nishant Ohri has on display seven black and white photographs, each one more attractive than the other. His picture of a cemetery captioned “Frozen”, showed in ample measure his eye for the unusual. Ohri too became fascinated with photography as a teenager. “It is surprising how people underestimate the potential of photography as an art form,” said Ohri. He is studying medicine at present, but photography is his first passion.

A third artist, Sparsh Batra is the youngest of all the photographers. A student of the Doon School, this teenager has picked up and assimilated the finer points of photography which was amply evident in his exhibits. TV channels such as National Geography and Discovery served as appetisers to his passion. Unlike other teenagers, Sparsh does not want to go for higher academic education. “I wish to pursue a career in media, and make this insatiable passion a career, that will give me a living as also immense pleasure,” said this passionate young photographer. One of his best exhibits is a black and white photograph of Saharanpur Chowk, that provides a three dimensional image of a typical bazar scene. A picture of Lord Buddha is serenely captivating.

Another young photographer with nine exhibits is Maanas Lal. His subjects are varied in range, and covers nature, famous monuments, deserts and the freezing heights of Laddakh. Some of his most attractive photographs are of Taj Mahal, Fatehsagar Lake in Udaipur, the Pir Panjal ranges as seen from the air. The ruggedness of Thar Desert is beautifully captured in this study of a sand dune. Another breathtaking picture is “Frozen Delight” that captures the highest motorable road in the world, Khardungla Pass, taken in sub-zero temperature.

Maanas is only 20 but has already developed varied tastes and interests. As a student of computer science, he excels in his studies. He is also much fond of lawn tennis and cricket. Maanas is an amateur crooner too, and is now learning classical Hindustani music to further fine tune his singing skills. It appears that he has inherited his interest in music and art from his talented parents, Madhu and Aloke Lal.

The credit for setting up this art gallery goes to another young man, Mohit Dang who modestly claims that he is manager operations of the recently opened Muse restaurant, even though his family owns Inderlok Hotel.

The idea behind Galleria de Rupali was entirely conceived and executed by young Mohit, who himself is a talented photographer and has travelled widely. He also studied art history in Italy. Some of his photographs too are on display. The most fascinating is picture of an old palace in Sorento in Italy; this palace was buried under a volcano many, many years ago, and was subsequently excavated.

Mohit would also like his gallery to encourage folk artistes to display their work and artifacts. Mohit said Galleria de Rupali was set up primarily to promote amateur artistes and photographers and allow them the facilities to display and sell their work. He plans to organise a major exhibition on the occasion of the platinum jubilee of The Doon School, featuring well-known national and international painters.

The exhibition will remain open till September 18. The visiting hours are from 11 am to 3 pm and from 7 pm to 10 pm.

Dehradun, August 19
Professional and amateur photographers of the state got together to put a show of their exhibits on the World Photography Day at Heritage School in association with the GVK EMRI 108 Ambulance Services here today.

The photographs, taken while on line of duty, depicted various facets of society viewed through the photographers lens. Social and cultural themes dominated the exhibition. In all, 108 photographs were on display.

“The exhibition lends an opportunity to the photographers to come together under one umbrella to showcase their talent. There were several photographs on display which may have missed the newspaper pages. We wanted to bring out those photographs as well,” said Rajesh Barthwal, president of the Uttarakhand News Cameramen Association and also organiser of the exhibition.

The Kumbh Mela, scenic landscapes of Uttarakhand, three-wheelers filled with children on their way to school had caught the imagination of the lens men.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Chairman of Heritage School Avdhash Choudhury and CEO of GVK EMRI Anoop Nautiyal.

A special section dedicated to the activities of the 108 Ambulance Services was also put up.

Nainital, August 19
The body of an unidentified woman was recovered from the forest area on the Rampur Road at Mota Haldu village near Haldwani yesterday. The body was discovered by police personnel patrolling the area when they came across a stench emanating from the forest area.

It is being assumed that the woman was murdered. Sources said there were attempts to disfigure her face with acid.

Victim is said to be in her mid-30s. The body was in a decomposed state.

It was sent for postmortem and investigations are on in the matter.