Haridwar, September 9
In a commendable act, many students of Dev Sanskriti University, who have just returned from Chhattisgarh as part of their annual social internship after teaching yoga and working for social causes, want to take up wholeheartedly job as well as social work in Naxalite-affected areas.

The students of Dev Sanskriti University have a flavour of their social and national responsibilities and the moral teachings they undergo here have made them citizens that our country needs.

So, be it Yogita Singh from Kanpur pursuing MSc in clinical psychology or Megha Shrivastava belonging to Madhya Pardesh and Tri Shandya Sahu from Chhattisgarh both pursuing MSc in yoga and 25 other such students who extensively worked in the state which is fast turning into minefield of the Naxal violence want to happily work in Chhattisgarh.

Seeing their determination, skills and penchant for working for rural, poor and tribal people, even Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh has sought yoga teachers and students from Dev Sanskriti University pursuing various related courses to work in Chhattisgarh schools and educational institutions to bring social, spiritual as well as healthy change in the state.

The students were on their one and a half month internship tenure which is a part of university academics that final year students irrespective of their courses have to give time and energy to social causes as run by Shanti Kunj Gayatri family.

So, from giving training of the art of yoga to the schoolchildren to older people, these students also tried to generate mass awareness on various social issues, particularly the social ills that have slowly inflicting the society.

When The Tribune spoke to such students, most of them pointed out that such internship had filled them with a confidence as well as broadened their horizon and the teachings environment at the university had filled them with skills that they could even generate mass awareness among the tribal-poor villagers who got influenced by the Naxalites.

Kopal Saxena, post graduate in clinical psychology, who hails from Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh from which Chhattisgarh was carved out in 2000, said, “I know the problems very well, but now with yoga, art of meditation, spirituality and learning of Pandit Acharya Shri Ram Sharma I can work anywhere in the country be it Naxal-affected states or the communal riot sensitive areas”.

Ram Mahesh Mishra, joint director of the university, states, “From the day a student enters the university premises, he is inculcated with both moral and social education, apart from regular academic curriculum. That’s why this social internship, one of the most unique in the world, is mandatory for all students before we award them degrees”.

“During our internship we saw lack of education, employment opportunities, propaganda by Naxalites, which are the main reasons that innocent poor people get attached to Naxalite groups. Villagers need to be educated and made aware of the dire consequences Naxal violence brings with it. Yoga, meditation and clinical psychology can definitely help. We saw this during our course of internship,” said S Gautami from Orissa, another Naxal-affected area.

Similarly, a hundred other internship trainee students like Yogita Singh, Shailendra Pratap, Parmarashok, Anamika Mishra, Pragya Gangwar, Kapil Saxena and Lalu Ram pursuing village management course, too, feel that after internship, they are better equipped to handle outside pressures and stress as the university has already trained them to handle these better.

Seeing the spirit of these students, it seems they are ready to rock the world with their twin academic and moral education and a penchant for social work, too, as was professed by Gayatri family founder Acharya Shri Ram Sharma.

Haridwar, September 9
The pilgrim city of Haridwar is also known for the multi-cultural and religious setup with communal harmony and brotherhood being an ideal example for all other cities. Here people of multi-sects reside together in a large number.

With the festival of Eid-ul-Fitr to be observed tomorrow, the city is abuzz with the celebrations, particularly Jwalapur, seems to be decked up and illuminated in colours of Eid.

Roads leading to the mosques have been beautifully decorated and illuminated with colourful lights lending a kaleidoscopic look to the whole area.

The Badi Jama Masjid, situated in the midst of the Kathaira market, with beautiful lighting is attracting people in large numbers, apart from the daily namaazis. Similarly, the other mosques in the area Shahi Masjid, Masjid Darjiyan and some in Paoghoi, Ghoshiyan, Kassaban and Bahadrabad have also been decked up for the festival.

Markets are abuzz with the Muslim community buying necessary as well as other items related to the festival making the Jwalapur market like a metro city market. “Mah-e-Ramzan has a special importance in our religion as we observe fast for one month. Now all are waiting for the moon to be seen so that the exact date of Eid is known. We have been shopping for the festival and will be inviting colleagues and friends to my home on Eid,” said Anis Khan, an ITC employee.

Haridwar, September 9
In a gesture that gave the message of communal harmony and diversity of Indian culture, students of the Dev Sanskriti University organised a Roza-Iftar function today.

All students and teachers, irrespective of religion, observed a day-long Roza, read verses from the holy Quran and then participated in a mass food ‘bhoj’.

A total of 28 non-Muslim students, along with their fellow students, observed Roza. They had ‘sahri’ and observed all rituals and norms.

They also added their own touch by observing ‘nadyoga sadhana’.

Lauding the gesture, hostel superintendent Abhay Saxena said that it exemplifies the unique cultural-religious diversity of India and the harmony prevalent among Indians.

Special guests on the occasion - Yoga Department lecturer Gulam Askari Jaidi and Shahnawaz Hussain of Clinical Psychology - termed the event as an example of love between different sects and regions.

Speaking on the occasion, Jaidi said, “Roza is an occasion to test one’s patience. The holy month of Ramzaan gives the message of brotherhood which you students have aptly displayed.”

In coordinating the programme, Pragyesh Chaurasia, Gopal, Swapnesh, Sandeep, Rahul, Mukesh, Pradeep, Jitendra, Abhishek, Ashish, Vineet, Praveen, Vivek played a pivotal role. The university management also commended the unique gesture and has wished all happy wishes on the eve of Eid.

Dehradun, September 9
A three-day social science exhibition-cum-national integration camp began at Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) here yesterday. Students from 13 units of other KVs will also participate in the camp which will conclude on September 10.

On the occasion, an exhibition based on the cultural diversity of Bihar state and France was incorporated together while models, charts, sketches, paintings, maps and crafts were kept on display.

The judges for the exhibition were BS Sajwan, NS Chauhan, former Principals KV and Dr Ranjana Rawat, Associate Professor (History Department), DAV PG College, who allotted marks to the crafts made by schoolchildren on the basis of clarity, display, presentation and relevance.

A English-Hindi debate competition was also conducted on the occasion. The topic of the debate was “Bharat mein vishwa guru banne ki shamta” in Hindi and “India has the potential to lead the world” in English, in which participants spoke enthusiastically for and against the motion. The participants expressed their wise and intellectual views on the topic which held the audience spellbound.

The event was inaugurated by Major-Gen S Chaudhary, president of the school managing committee, accompanied by JM Rawat, Assistant Commissioner, KVS, RO, as the guest of honour.

The exhibition was open to all to create interest in the field of electronic technology. Many students and delegates from the technical institutes have attended the occasion. The exhibition was organised with an aim to deliver information on the history of Bihar and France while imbibing emotion of national integrity in every individual student.

A cultural programme was held on day two of the Cluster-level social science exhibition-cum-national integration camp organised at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Upper Camp. Folk dances of France and Bihar were performed by students from 13 units of Kendriya Vidyalaya.

Dehradun, September 9
Assam Valley School lifted the 10th RIMC Soccer Tournament beating the defending Champions Tibetan Nehru Memorial Foundation School, Dehradun, here today.

The clash between the two schools brought forward many amazing moments during the match session.

The first half of the game saw many wonderful movements with Kalsang scoring for the TNMFS in the 5th minute of the game. The excitement started shooting in the game when Nishant scored an equaliser in the 19th minute.

With this, the game was in full swing with both teams attacking and counterattacking at each other. The second half saw an equally competent spirit among the finalists with TNMFS dominating the ground, but failing to give the final touch.

Again in the 49th minute Nishant successfully converted a beautifully placed pass by Dilhun Tatak, the AVS captain, into the post. This followed a number of deadly attacks by the TNMFS, but they failed to convert the ball into the post.

In the individual awards, the best player of the tournament went to Nishant Boruah (AVS). Highest Scorer of the tournament was cadet Ayush Salaria (RIMC) with 9 goals. Best Goalkeeper of the tournament title went to cadet Surya Prakash (RIMC).

The chief guest of the evening was Maj General BC Khanduri (retd) AVSM, former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He gave away the prizes to the winners and praised the standard of the game and wished the participants a very best of luck for their future games.

He also stated that the RIMC soccer cup tournament is one of the most prestigious and popular tournaments held at Dehradun. Col PK Kumaria, Commandant RIMC presented the vote of thanks to the chief guest for taking out time from his hectic schedule to attend the occasion.

He also praised all participating schools for a good response and putting up a great show filled with loads of spirit and enthusiasm par excellence. The tournament was successfully coordinated by Wg Cmdr YS Panghal and Brijesh Chauhan (Dean of Sports).

The band for the closing ceremony was provided by 6/8 GR and 4/5 GR. Other dignitaries present were Brig CS Thapa(Retd), Col. Dilip Prasad, Wg Cmdr SK Thapliyal KS Ahlawat,CS Vishwakarma, DN Thapliyal and PK Sharma. 

Dehradun, September 9
Hope Town Girls School defeated DAV Public School 28-16 on the inaugural day of the sixth Gardner Silver Jubilee Inter-School Basketball Tournament for Girls started at St Thomas' College on Thursday.

Pummy of the winning team scored eight points, while 12 points efforts of Anjali went in vain as DAV Public lost the match due to lack of good support from other players.

Host St Thomas' College had an easy 28-4 victory over Moravian Institute 28-4. This was Paridhi who troubled Moravian side scoring 18 points.

In another match played today, Carman School, Dalanwala surpassed The Hertiage School 16-6. Jagriti with 10 points fashioned the win of Carman.

Dehradun, September 9
Carman School, Dalanwala, trounced Sanskar International School 4-1 on the first day of the Sub-Junior Inter School Football Tournament held at Col Brown School here today.

Rohit scored the first goal in the sixth minute for Sanskar. The players of Sanskar had a disappointment when it scored s’elf-goal equalising the socre (one each).

After this score Carman School didn’t look back as Pranjal (15th), Mayank (18th) and Pawas (40th) netted a goal each to led their side to an easy win.

While the match between Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy and Incent School ended on 2-2 draw. Nikhil (eighth) and Shubham Singh (35th) scored for former and Satyam (24th) and Shibham (22nd) for the latter team.

St Thomas School blanked Heritage School 3-0. Sujail (5th), Thinlis (10th) and Kautilyum (42nd) scored in the win. Also, Guru Nanak Academy beat Doon School 2-0. Shuhum struck both of the goals.

Dehradun, September 9
Host St Joseph Academy got the better of Cameron Hall School 5-2 in the penalty shootouts to book the final berth in the Senior Council Football Tournament, here today.

St Joseph Academy will now challenge Col Brown School in the final of the tournament that will be played here on Friday at 3pm.

In today’s keenly contested semifinal, Vaibhav of Cameron Hall scored the first goal in the 35th minute.

The goal created anxiety in the side of St Joseph as it made desperate goal attempts to equalise. The host team got success in equalising in the 59th minute through xPrabhanshu.

The goal energised the St Joseph players however the match ended on 1-1 in the stipulated time.

Even in extra time the score remained the same as the two tough sides couldn’t score. Later, the penalty shootouts were taken to decide the winner of the match.

Arya Sawan, Abahy Rana, Jobin Matthew and Ayush Rawat found the target in the tiebreaker round for St Joseph.

While Amulya Sahi was the lone scorer in this round for Cameron Hall as the side lost 5-2.

A new UK study has revealed that traditional childhood pastimes of climbing trees and playing conkers are on the decline. According to a survey by Ipsos Mori for RSPB, under 34 recall far fewer such childhood outdoor experiences than their counterparts over 55.

It also highlights how poorer children experience less of nature. Ipsos Mori interviewed 1,012 people face-to-face for the survey in July. He asked the public which of 12 outdoor experiences they remembered having as a child which included making dens, daisy chains, climbing trees, playing conkers and feeding birds.

Some 92 per cent of the public agreed that experiences of nature were still important to children, and 82 per cent agreed that schools should play a role in providing them to all children. Research has highlighted the positive impacts of contact with nature on a child's education, health, well-being and social skills.

At the same time there has been a decline in these opportunities, with negative consequences for children, families and society - a condition now known as nature deficit disorder. "The government has stated its commitment to spend more on the education of the poorest children by introducing a pupil premium in England," says Mike Clarke of the RSPB.

The RSPB's research has also shown that 10 per cent more people on the lowest incomes believed that schools should play a role in ensuring that all children had these outdoor experiences, compared with those earning more than 25,000 pound. — ANI