1. From Doon Chowk towards Darshan Lal Chowk

2. From Lansdown Chowk towards Darshan Lal Chowk

3. From Kanak Chowk towards Lansdown Chowk

4. From Convent Chowk towards Rozgaar Tri-Junction

5. From Lansdown Chowk towards Convent Tri-Junction

6. From Arhaghar T-junction towards Dharampur Mandi

1. From Agarwal Bakeri to Dharampur Chowk

2. From Convent Chowk to Manoj Clinic, Cross Road

3. From Tehsil Chowk towards Doon Chowk

4. From Doon Chowk towards Old Bus Stand

5. From Kabaadi Market towards Haridwar Road

6. From Kurzon Road towards Brightland School, Lucky Medicos to Municipal Road

7. From Karanpur towards DAV College

8. Inroads of Balbir Road

Dehradun, September 25
It could be trouble times ahead for Uttarakhand Rafting companies operating in the Ganga with the Uttarakhand forest authorities bringing into implementation a new set of rules for the renewal of rafting licences. This, when rafting operators are already under the hammer of the Entertainment Tax Department that has recently included rafting as an entertainment exercise and asked the operators to pay taxes beginning this year.

The new set of rules will bring most of the local rafting operators from out of the action. The Uttarakhand Narendra Nagar Forest Division authorities have made it mandatory for fulfilling these norms before ensuring any rafting exercise in the Ganga.

Already delayed by a month due to incessant rains that struck Uttarakhand, the rafting season this year is heading for troubled waters. The Narendra Nagar Forest Division has been seeking a fresh submission of applications from the rafting companies for licensing and other activities. The forest authorities are not ready to provide licences to those companies who are into the rafting business for less than eight years. They are for more than one year period to the rafting companies that had earlier been assured of a five-year licensing policy. Besides, this charge for utilising forest areas has also been hiked apart from per head fee levied by the state forest department.

Rafting operators, led by Deepak Bhatt, accuse the forest authorities for intentionally jeopardising rafting activities in the state. “First, it was a Wildlife Institute of India report followed by frequent changes in terms and conditions of licensing. This all evidently indicates that the forest authorities are the least interested in promoting activities like rafting in the state”, Bhatt observed. “We are now left with no option than to hold a massive demonstration in Dehradun on September 27, the World Tourism Day”, he added.

A delegation of rafting operators met Uttarakhand Principal Chief Conservator of Forests on Friday. But the meeting evoked little hope for rafting companies.

A WII report sometime back had identified certain number of beaches camps alongside the Ganga of being detrimental to the wildlife. This had led to the Forest Department advocacy for stricter checks on rafting activities in the Ganga.

Haridwar, September 25
In a unique event, ashes of more than 10,000-odd unknown human bodies gathered from different crematoriums across the country were brought to Haridwar for immersion into the Ganga.

This immersion also tried to convey a message of communal harmony that all are one and we should rise above the issues of caste, religion, creed or sect.

The task of bringing of the last remains of unidentified or unclaimed bodies to the pilgrim city is being done annually for the past eight years during ‘shraadh’ by the Devothan Sewa Samiti.

Ashes of 10,971 bodies were immersed, along with more than 100 kg milk, in the Ganga amid chanting and rituals.

Prior to the immersion, a grand procession was taken out through the streets of the city with idols of different deities - Ganesha, Shiva-Parvati, Panchmukhi Hanuman, Ganga - along with the asthi kalash rath (chariot bearing the urn containing the ashes).

Samiti president Anil Narendra, who is also the founder of Veer Arjun, a Hindi news daily, said that according to Hindu tradition, the ashes are immersed at Ganga ghats as our forefathers, it is believed, come to the ghats during ‘shraadh’.

Terming the yatra to be a blessing from the manes, Vijay Sharma, general secretary of the samiti, said that as soon as the yatra commenced, the rains stopped. Even the Ayodhya issue was put on hold.

Municipal chairman Kamal Johra lauded the efforts of the Devothan Sewa Samiti in performing the rites of people who died away from their near and dear ones.

The visarjan yatra (immersion journey) began from Bhoopatwala and passed through Bhimgoda, Har-ki-Pauri, Upper Road, Shiv Moorti Chowk, Shankaracharya Chowk, Bengali Mod, Chowk Bazar and Kankhal. It culminated at Sati Ghat in Kankhal.

Dehradun, September 25
With little to boast of on the minority front, the Uttarakhand government has even reduced the constitution of welfare committees into a farce. As if years of inactivity and inaction were not enough and ignoring the existence of Prime Minister’s 15-Point Programme committee headed by no less than the Cabinet Secretary, the Uttarakhand government has gone ahead and created another such committee leaving the members of the minority community confused.

Created for the welfare of the minorities, the state-level Prime Ministers’ 15-Point Programme committee was constituted in July, 2010, in the state and has since met twice. However, on September 15, the Uttarakhand government appointed Daljeet Singh as Vice-Chairman of the 15-Point Programme putting a big question mark on the constitution of another parallel committee, carrying the same name in the state.

While clarifying the government’s position, Chief Secretary Subash Kumar said the committee headed by him was more into implementing the programmes while the other body is of political nature. “Daljeet Singh has been appointment Vice-Chairman of the 15-Point Programme Committee, that is a political body and is of advisory nature,” he added.

However, members of minority community charged that it was done deliberately by the BJP to undermine the efforts of the Central government, which was keen on improving the economic and educational status of the minorities in the state. “The creation of two parallel bodies with similar names would only create administrative confusion and also send a wrong message to the minorities who are looking at the government expectantly for economic and educational uplift,” affirmed Razia Beig, President, Bar Council (Uttarakhand).

The committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary receives funds from the Central government and has to implement all programmes as directed by it for targeted development of the minorities. Perplexed by the sudden interest shown by the BJP government, the appointment is also being viewed as one motivated by politics rather than genuine interest for the welfare of minorities.

“To my mind the 15-Point Programme Committee already exists and has a Cabinet Secretary as chairman. According to the rules and regulations of this committee, there are no provisions for the appointment of Vice-Chairman. The Uttarakhand government has violated the rules and regulations of the Government of India by nominating Daljeet Singh as Vice-Chairman of the 15-Point Programme,” said Ramesh Sall, former Director, Minorities Development.

Bhawali, September 25
As many as 543 schools in the state have been devastated in the recent fury of rains experienced across Uttarakhand.

The government is now in the process of shifting the students of these schools to other schools having safe buildings.

This was stated by Cabinet Minister Gobind Bisht, who was touring the Kuan area, near here, to take stock of the damages caused by the rains and successive landslides, mudslides and falling of boulders.

Bisht said he had been unable to come to the region on account of the two-day Assembly session, in which important issues like passing of the supplementary budget were to be taken up. He said he would be touring the region extensively till September 27 and have a meeting with officials of various departments at the Vikas Bhawan in Bhimtal on September 28 after which the estimates and proposals would be prepared for reconstruction works in the area.

He said the Rs 500 crore given by the Centre was very less as compared to the scale of the disaster that had been recorded in the state. He said the losses were far more than Rs 21,000 crore and the government would be approaching the Centre for the release of more funds. The minister said thousands of kms of roads had been devastated across the state and massive financial resources were required to undertake the reconstruction works. In addition to this, thousands of tracts of fertile agricultural lands had been washed away along with extensive damage that had been caused to a very large number of residential and other buildings.

The minister said an assistance of Rs 51,000 was being given to the persons whose houses had been completely damaged. He announced that the compensation would be paid in accordance with the disaster management policy of the nation.

Dehradun, September 25
With an intention to empower women and girls, MKP Girls PG College has started two new certificate courses from this very year. Keeping in mind modern education and working environment for women, the college management has introduced these courses.

The two courses offered at the college are three and six months certificate courses in women studies.

Interestingly, the eligibility for the courses in women studies required is class XII, that is, after completing intermediate from any stream. The certificate courses can be pursued along with any other degree course.

Talking to The Tribune, Principal Indu Singh informed that, “The courses have been started to teach girls the principles and ideologies on the subject while empowering them to develop as individuals. The courses are certified from the university and have attracted many girls in the college. Girls have also shown great enthusiasm and interest in learning the subject”.

According to Indu Singh, a large number of students has enrolled for the courses, while the classes have already begun from this month. There are around five to six subjects in these courses out of which students can opt any combination of their own choices. The fee structure is yet to be set by the college committee, but will be very nominal unlike any other college.

“The course will not only add certificates or qualifications, but will also inculcate a sense of responsibility, duty and women rights among the women. We, at MKP, always try to conduct workshops and other academic projects for our students regularly. Similarly, through this course we aim at making our students more confident and independent while opening wide-career options for them in future,” asserted Indu Singh.

Haridwar, September 25
With environment becoming a compulsory subject in many educational boards, schoolchildren have certainly become more aware of the need of conservation of environment as well as more sensitive towards nature. Be it effects of global warming, natural disasters and the means to control environment degradation, students are quite aware of these issues and are also implying in their daily life what they learn.

This was exemplified in the environment-related painting exhibition held at Bharat Seva Mission in Chandighat, where little kids sketched their views about the environment on drawing papers. Harmful green house gases emission, polluting of rivers, wastage of water, electricity, renewable energy sources, hydroelectricity projects or ways to conserve environment, children gave their thoughts on these topics through painting in their own style.

According to organisers of Bharat Vikas Parishad, the event was organised to create general awareness among these growing children about the environment as global warming has arisen as one of the vital problems that whole world is facing and if it’s not controlled, it could have serious implications over human life.

Students, too, participated with enthusiasm and got appreciation from teachers and organisers for their works.

Notably, the Bharat Sewa Mission for the last decade has been involved in social works, particularly in the field of environment. The mission runs a school for underprivileged section of the society, has an ashram and a medical centre catering to the poor and needy.

Even Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on his visit to the mission few months back had acknowledged the efforts of the mission activists and donated Rs 11lakh to the mission charitable fund specifically for environment works.

Haridwar, September 25
Several cultural festivals and events have been either postponed or cancelled in view of the massive loss of life and property due to rains and flood in the district.

The annual Haridwar Mahotsava has been cancelled this year that was scheduled to be held in a fortnight. District Magistrate R Meenakshi Sundaram, citing the flood fury, ordered the cancellation of the multi-cultural event.

Keeping the recent flood in mind, another mega event International Yoga Mahotsava has also been put on hold by the organisers. The global yoga, cultural and spiritual event to be organised jointly by Dev Sanskriti University and the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Council will now be held next year in February. It was scheduled to be held from October 17 to 24.

This decision was jointly taken by the organising committee headed by State Tourism Minister Madan Kaushik and the Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti University, at a meeting here in Shanti Kunj.

Apprising of the decision, both informed that in a few months, as the situation would get normal, probably by February, the new dates of the global event would be finalised.

Meanwhile, the Shanti Kunj family apprised the minister of utmost help to respective governments of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh while already the Shanti Kunj members and volunteers are working in the respective affected areas.

Dehradun, September 25
Parade Ground and DAV Inter College won titles in the girls and boys categories respectively at the Volleyball Championship organised under the Panchayat Yuva Krida and Khel Abhiyan here today.

Parade Ground defeated SGRR, Race Course, in the girls volleyball final 25-15, 25-11, 25-12.

In the boys category, DAV Inter College beat SGRR, Race Course, 21-11, 25-3, 25-18.

Players were given gold and silver medals during the prize distribution ceremony. T-shirts and kits were also given away to the players during the event, said Anil Sharma, an organiser.

Dehradun, September 25
Doon Star, strong contenders at the Hishey Memorial Football Tournament, stormed into the final to face Akranta on Sunday on the Pavilion Ground.

Doon Star defeated Moravian-Ex 4-1 in the first semifinal today. Balvinder (12th), Manish Khatri (18th), Nitin Gurung (24th) and Rahul (56th) netted the goals. Nathu (36th) was the only scorer for Moravian-Ex.

In the second semifinal, Sports Hostel and Akranta had a neck-to-neck competition. Ultimately, Yaspal’s goal in the 40th minute helped Akranta enter the final. Tomorrow’s final will be played at 3 pm.

Dehradun, September 25
The Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) will organise an inter-college sports competition from September 28. The university will also hold a North Zone Table Tennis Championship for men and women from December 11.

The inter-college sports competition will be held in eight disciplines - cricket, football, table tennis, hockey, basketball, volleyball, badminton and athletics. The university has given the responsibility of organising the competitions to its affiliated colleges.

Table tennis and football will be organised by the Selaqui Academy of Higher Education, badminton by the Tulas Institute, volleyball by the Jaspal Rana Institute and basketball by the Sardar Bhagwan Singh College, Balawala. Cricket, hockey and athletics will be organised by the university.

University teams in these disciplines will be selected which will attend a week-long practice camp.

Addressing a press conference at a city hotel, Prof DS Chauhan, Vice-Chancellor, UTU, also said that the university would host the North Zone Table Tennis Championship for men and women from December 11.

The Association of Indian Universities has given the responsibility of hosting the TT competition to the UTU in which 40 team will participate. Till date, 20 universities have sent their registration, Chauhan told mediapersons.

“We have a budget of Rs 1 crore for the championship and we will host the event successfully,” he added.

Dehradun, September 25
Hosts Guru Nanak Academy, Raipur Road, got the better of St Thomas College (STC) 2-0 during the Inter Council School Sub-Junior Boys Football Tournament on Saturday.

GNA’s Naizil Thapa, who was yesterday’s star, struck an early goal in the eighth minute. This goal was followed by one from Sourav Rana (26th). Rivals STC failed to find the net during the match.

Lucent International School scored a narrow 1-0 win over Sanskar International School. Parvez (45th) netted the lone goal for Lucent to earn them a hard-fought victory.

MIS outplayed The Heritage School with a big margin of 5-0. Akash Prakash (6th, 22nd and 40th) and Shailesh (25th and 30th) struck the goals giving no chance to their opponents to recover.

Earlier, the match between Marshall School and Doon Public School ended in a draw.

Dehradun, September 25
For the second consecutive year, the Dehradun team claimed the basketball title in the 40th KV National Sports Meet held at Bangalore.

The Doon School team beat the Chennai team 47-43 in the final. Rohit, Jaideep, Mukesh, Dhiraj, Pradeep, Shivlok, Umesh, Shivam, Rshul, Hemant, Pulkit and Pratap were the players of the squad. Balvinder accompanied the team as manager.