Dehradun, September 6
In the second-round meeting held among officials of Tourism, Forest, Finance Departments and representatives of the rafting community in Uttarakhand today, all raging issues — controversies over certain beach camps to be removed allegedly for causing disturbance to environment and wildlife, beach-auction parameters, the recently approved 20 per cent entertainment tax by the Cabinet etc — have been brushed under the carpet to make the most of this season.

The season looks promising as a large number of Delhites, who will avail two weeks’ holiday in the wake of the Commonwealth Games (CWG), have shown interest in booking in advance for river rafting in Rishikesh.

Eighteen rafters, who had not been given no-objection certificates for pitching camps before the designated period last year, have also been given the go-ahead this year around.

It was also decided that a committee comprising Principal Secretary, Tourism, CEO Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB), Principal Secretary Finance, Chief Conservator Eco-Tourism, Chairman, Forest Development Corporation and the Uttarakhand Horticulture Development Council, headed by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests will submit a report by October 15 for a clear-cut policy on river rafting.

The rafting community has been given permits to pitch their camps by September 15, but the community has decided to announce the date to begin rafting later when the water level in the river comes down to a safe level.

The rafting community had already been miffed with the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Corporation (UTDC) for withholding the permit till date while the booking season had already started. They seemed intent to settle this issue out with the UTDB and the Forest Department once and for all.

Deepak Bhatt, president, Sahsik Paryatan Sangharsh Samiti, an organisation of rafting entrepreneurs, said they had had no clue whether to accept or reject the bookings from their customers and Delhites who wanted to enjoy river rafting while the CWG would be on in Delhi.

In such a scenario, he feared, that these people would bypass Uttarakhand and move to Himachal.

The issue of permits has been hanging fire since 2003. Bhatt said, “We are in the business since the 1980’s. On our insistence, the UTDB gave us a permit for five years from 1998 to 2003.

“Thereafter, under the Nav Prabhat policy, this period was reduced to one year. Then, it went on reducing — from six to three months and so on.

“To get some security and stability after all these years in the business, we again demanded a five-year permit especially when they have increased the camping amount three times. We did not oppose this because the rates had remained static since 2002”.

What is provoking the rafters is the composite move of the Tourism Department and the Forest Department to come out with a inclusive policy to earn good revenue from rafting business by auctioning beaches.

The matter got fresh fuel this year after a WII report declared 14 of the total 36 rafting camps to be detrimental to the cause of ecology and wildlife conservation in the 37-km stretch from Rishikesh to Kaudiyala.

Partha Pratim Saha, a rafter who was one of the earliest to start a venture there, said, “In these 15 to 20 years, never once has a finger been raised on our business for causing disturbance to the wildlife or ecology. This was not even in the previous WII report that was published in 1999. It is astonishing that all of a sudden, they found us harmful”.

He added that the idea of auctioning the beaches was ludicrous, especially when the Forest Department talked of forest conservation by pointing out that camps were creating disturbance in the area.

“Auctioning is a way to earn revenue by attracting the mafia, who will win by placing high bids, thus replacing poor locals who have been earning their livelihood from rafting for so many years.

“And what about us, who came from different parts of the country and started this activity when none existed here just to pursue our passion? It gave us nothing for the first 10 years and when it started doling out profits, the Forest and Tourism Departments came forward to stake their claim. The moves by these departments has landed our business in the doldrums.

“We, the founders of this cottage industry who made it hugely successful without any training institute in the country to back us, are being pushed to the brink,” he said.

The rafting community is looking at the auction process with suspicion. They think that it is a conspiracy to create a rift between local and outsiders by permitting locals to occupy 90 per cent of the beaches.

Saha said that he and the seven outsiders, who were among those who founded this business, have been pitted against the locals. How will the locals be adjusted in the new scheme of things, he said.

“Already 31 camps of the total 36 have been occupied by locals. If they are promoting locals, what will the authority do about the locals who are already working? Where will they go?” he said.

Saha also questioned the very idea of auctioning, advocating that rafting, which comes under the category of eco-tourism, cannot be propagated as mass tourism by commercialising it. Competitors who have put in huge money to win these bids will try to extract the maximum by over exploiting the resources of the area. Then, what will happen to the concern of ecology and wildlife, he asked.

Entertainment tax has emerged as another boiling issue. Deepak Bhatt opposed the move to put rafting in the bracket of the entertainment industry where they would be charged 20 per cent entertainment tax. “The state government never did a single thing to develop infrastructure here. Now, they want to levy entertainment tax. This is rubbish,” he fumes.

The Tourism Department of the state though is yet not clear on the matter. AK Singh, Deputy Director, UTDB, said that the department is yet to get any directive from the higher ups in this regard.

Clearing the mist about auctions, Rajiv Bhartari, Chief Conservator of Forests, said that all these years, the rafters had been using forest land without paying a single penny for it.

“As many as 109 rafters have been paying a petty annual sum of Rs 36 lakh to the Forest Department, while many of them single-handedly earn crores in a single season. That is why we thought of framing a policy.

“Moreover, as per the Procurement Tool Act, government land can only be used by leasing it out through the auction process whereby competitors come forward by staking their claims.

“As far as the interests of established entrepreneurs are concerned vis-a-vis wealthy claimants, we will give priority to the old ones. Only if they refuse, the bid will go to others.”

Bhartari blamed the rafting community for crossing its limits and disturbing wildlife by lining up the entire beach stretch with tents.

The Forest Department is looking to having the cake and eating it too as it is talking of auctioning the land on the one hand and of wildlife disturbance on the other.

Nobody — the Tourism Department, Forest Department or the rafters — seem interested in the welfare of wildlife.

Mussoorie, September 6
Eminent Indian mountaineer and the first woman in the world to climb Mount Everest twice, Santosh Yadav on her visit to Oak Grove School at Jharipani, Mussoorie, interacted with students and staff on the invitation of the Principal of the school.

Santosh, sharing her experiences, appealed to the students to save the environment which was depleting day by day due to global warming. She said the glaciers were receding at an alarming rate which was a threat not only to the country, but to humanity too.

She recalled her climbing days and said mountaineering was a challenging, but enjoyable task for which one had to prepare mentally and physically.

She said mountains taught you to be humble and respect nature and this she learnt on her way to the Everest. It was easy to climb the Everest during clear weather, but the same peak became hell when the weather was acute as she had been a witness to it on two occasions.

She advised the students to inculcate virtues like discipline and patience in life to succeed as good citizens of the country.

The students asked several questions from the Everest climber which she answered promptly.

The Oak Grove School Principal also presented a memento to Santosh on the occasion and said the students would avail the opportunity by incorporating the advice given by the eminent climber.

Santosh first climbed Mt Everest in May 1992 and then did it again in May 1993. She was born in 1969 in Rewari district of Haryana. She joined Uttarkashi's Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. Currently she is an officer in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. She was conferred the Padma Shri award in 2000.

Nainital, September 6
Bringing out the shortcomings in the education system, women representatives from villages in the Kumaon region shared their experiences here today calling for changes that eventually enable the betterment of those at the lower rung in society.

These representatives had come from across the districts of Kumaon to share their experiences in the light of the Millennium Development Goals at a programme organised by Vimarsh, an NGO, with the support of the Vaada Na Todo Abhiyan (VNTA).

A glaring fact brought to light by the speakers of the villages of the Betalghat area was the discrimination being experienced by the villagers on the lines of caste.

It was disclosed that casteism was the most visible in the area when it came to mid-day meals as students from the Scheduled Castes were made to sit in separate rows to take their meals.

The shortage of teachers, lack of drinking water facilities and bad road conditions were other problems highlighted by the speakers from this area.

The women speakers also dwelt at length on the issue of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and demanded that the duration of days for which the work is being offered to the people must be increased and the problems in making of job cards be removed at the earliest.

Addressing the gathering, the Vice-Chancellor of Kumaon University, Dr VPS Arora, spoke at length on the issue of the role of education in women empowerment.

“It is an irony that in a country where there are women as President, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Chairperson of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, Leader of the Opposition and in our state where we have a woman Governor, there is a huge disparity in the status of women.

“There are about 45 per cent women who are not educated and a very large section of women faces domestic violence. It is only education that can remove this disparity”.

He said mere framing of laws was of no use until these laws aiming at empowerment of women were implemented properly. Dr Arora asked the women present to be aware of their rights and assert themselves while seeking them.

He questioned, “How many of the women public representatives are making use of the Right to Information? How many of them are taking independent official decisions?”

He also pointed out that while the number of girl students was comparatively more in institutions offering higher education, it was also high when it came to dropping out at the school level. He said proper education could help women check this dropout rate.

Dehradun, September 6
On the occasion of the birth anniversary of a former President Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, students and faculty of Graphic Era University celebrated Teachers' Day here today.

The programme was initiated by a recital of the Saraswati vandana by girls. The students presented a colourful cultural programme of dance and song.

Throwing light on the life of Dr Radhakrishnan in brief, Prof Anil Kumar Baliga, Dean, Academic and Engineering, appealed to students to follow his path.

Dehradun, September 6
The two-day seminar on “Emerging Trends in Industrial Automation and Soft Sensors” culminated at Graphic Era University here yesterday. The event was organised under the aegis of the Department of Instrumentation and Control/Applied Electronics Engineering on their campus.

The seminar aimed at educating students about the functions and combination of software for running different instruments in various industries where a large number of students are working.

The chief guest of the seminar was Prof Dr SK Chakravarthy, Director of Manav Rachna International University, who also inaugurated the programme by lighting the lamp.

The seminar was divided into four phases- two phases for day I and the rest for day II.

Prof Dr Rajesh Kumar, convenor of the seminar and Head of the Department of Instrumentation and Control, informed the students about how industrial automation and soft sensors had emerged in the latest trends of electronic application following the certain parameters of temperature, pressure and control on its instruments.

Dehradun, September 6
Surashek of Col Brown School rained five back-to-back goals to humble Selaqui International Public School 6-1 in a league match of the Senior Council Football Tournament at St Joseph Academy here today.

He struck in the 15th, 19th, 25th, 45th and 55th minutes of the game to lead his side to a one-sided win. Jiya (65th) of the winning side netted the next goal. While Pranav (38th) was the only successful striker of the rival team.

Also, Moravian School defeated Indian Public School 3-1. Its star striker Tenzin struck two goals to play an important role in the win.

He found the target in the 27th and 44ht minute of the game. Aranav (28th) of the IPS scored the lone goal for his squad.

In another league match, Doon School thrashed Heritage School 4-1. Dhruv (22nd and 38th), Arjun (34th) and Adhiraj (42th) were the scorers for the winning team. Shubham of Heritage also netted a goal in the 28th minute.

Meanwhile, St Jude managed to beat Summer Valley 7-6 in tiebreaker round. Both sides played a goalless draw and the match was penalty shoots were taken.

Dehradun, September 6
IBS, Dehradun, a constituent of ICFAI University, Dehradun, organised the second phase of the workshop on personality development- ‘The Positive Thinking for Aspiring Managers’- enlightening students with various aspects and dimensions of interpersonal relationships, motivation, attitude, effective communication and on institution building for leadership.

The workshop commenced with an interactive session taken by Brig Satish Chandra Upreti, Global Management, Dehradun. He educated the students with several easy and hidden ways to make friends, handle people and influence them in day-to-day life to build an efficient and strong interpersonal relationship.

“Admonish in private and praise in public” is a fundamental technique to handle people, he advised them.

During the second session, JB Pandey, senior consultant, TERI and Additional Director (retd), Uttarakhand, Agriculture, focused on the key to happiness, positive attitude and ways to neglect negative attitudes.

Pandey impressed students with various ways to counter situations when often a negative attitude ponders and surrounds one’s decision, but a firm pedestal of attitude will surely lead one out from such circumstances and build a strong self motivation in his/her career for organisational as well as individual growth.

It was followed by a session on effective communication in which students were told about the importance of listening skills, functions of communications, modes of communication and barriers of communication.

Speaker Pulock Bhattacharji, Head, Business Development and NRI services in iTrust, enhanced the students’ knowledge on effective communication with new and various styles and modes of teaching such as videos, funny examples and class activity.

In the end, Rajen Brijnath, Senior VP and Chief of Manpower Development, ITC (retd), briefed students on building leadership qualities and through team-building exercises taught them to become positive leaders in life.

The student of IBS, Dehradun, received lots of knowledge which will surely help them in their professional career and lay strong foundations for their personality development in future. 

Dehradun, September 6
On the fourth day of the All-India Inter-School Soccer Championship, Assam Valley School, Army School Clement Town, Tibetan Nehru Memorial School, Doon School, St Joseph School, Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Welham Boys School, Asian School teams reached the quarter finals.

Five matches were played in which the teams gave each other a neck-and-neck fight. The results of the matches held on the fourth day are as follows:

1. RIMC Vs Asian School. Result: Asian School won 1-0. Scorer: Few

2. Doon Valley Public School Vs Welham Boys School.

Result: Welham Boys won-2-1. Scorers: Umer -1 (WBS)

Kishlay-1 (WBS), Piyuah (DVS).

3. St Georges College Vs Doon School. Result: Doon School won 4-1. Scorers: Wahin Khosla-2 goals (DS), Shiva-1 goal (DS), Uday-1 goal (DS), Damen-1 goal (SGC).

4. Moravian Institute Vs Scholars Home. Result: Scholars Home won 3-1. Scorers: Naveen-1 (MI), Lohzang-1 (SH),Neguri-(SH), Bharat-1 (SH).

5. YPS, Mohali Vs Selaqui World School. Result: YPS won 4-0

Scorers: Taran-1, Amik-1, Chirag-2

Quarterfinal matches are scheduled to be held on September 7 between Assam Valley School Vs Army School Clement town. Tibetan Nehru Memorial School Vs Doon School. St Joseph Vs Rashtriya Indian Military College and

Welham Boys School Vs Asian School.

Dehradun, September 6
Shri Guru Nanak Boys Public School, Chukhuwala, won both senior and junior section matches during the Regional Sports Meet held on its campus here today.

Guru Nanak School in the seniors got the better of Government Inter-College, Dobhalwala, 21-14, 21-16. While in junior boys match, Guru Nanak school beat Dobhalwala College 21-11, 21-8.

Omkar Singh Chauhan of the wining team and Balwant Singh of Dobhalwala College did the best job for their respective sides. Principal of the Guru Nanak School Jasbir Singh Virk was also present at the spot.