Dehradun, October 10
Children from six schools of Dehradun today submitted a memorandum to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank against animal slaughter in the name of religion in Uttarakhand.

The students held a public awareness rally in collaboration with the state unit of the People For Animals (PFA), following which they submitted the memorandum to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister interacted with the students participating in the rally and answered their queries about the government’s role in stopping cruelty towards animals in various forms, including ritual of slaughter in the name of religion.

Addressing the schoolchildren, the Chief Minister said a specific law and public awareness was required to end the barbaric practice of animal slaughter in the name of religion. The Uttarakhand government has banned slaughter of bovine animals in the state under the Bovine Protection Act, he added.

Uttarakhand PFA representative Gauri Maulekhi said Doon Club president Ajay Shanghari flagged off the awareness rally at the Gandhi Park from where the students, staff and PFA volunteers walked to the CM’s residence at Garhi Cantt. The participants were carrying posters with photographs of animal sacrifice in temples of the state and slogans. While interacting with the Chief Minister, the students asked as to why couldn’t the Uttarakhand government ban animal sacrifice if Narendra Modi could enact a law banning animal sacrifice in Gujarat?

The PFA asked the Chief Minister that theirs and other organisations had undertaken public awareness campaigns across the state to end the practice of animal slaughter in the name of religion. However, they lamented a lack of effective implementation of the act and action on the part of the district administration and the police.

Nishank assured the PFA that he would see to it that the administration took necessary action and police lodged FIRs against animal sacrifice and other illegal forms of cruelty towards animals.

Students and staff of Doon School, Olympus High, Scholar’s Home, Doon International School, Summer Valley and Welham’s Boys School participated in the rally.

Dehradun, October 10
Predicting a positive outlook for the Indian economy, Anand Rathi, Chairman, Anand Rathi Group, said today that the trend was reflected in the upward movement of the market that was expected to perform much better in the coming days.

He was speaking at a seminar on “Investment Opportunities: The road ahead”. While predicting a strong economic growth for India, Rathi said India was expected to achieve 8.5 per cent plus growth.

“I think investors should consider long-term scenario and invest on a consistent basis by taking advise of investment experts so that their hard-earned money is channelised properly,” said Rathi.

China and India are two big economies that will be instrumental in deciding the growth and would play a decisive role in the world economy.

Pradeep Gupta, Vice-Chairman, Macro Economy and Commodities, said Indian markets would receive a higher inflow of investment by FIIs, given the fact that the Indian, together with Chinese markets, are growing faster than the other countries.

“The EPC and real estate sectors will perform well in the future and that specific stocks should be selected and invested in with a long-term view,” said Gupta.

The group is a leading distributor of mutual funds, insurance, corporate deposits and loan products. The group has a regional office in Dehradun.

DD Sharma, Senior Vice-President, Anand Rathi Group, focused on mid-cap stocks and said a daily study of the market is a must for dabbling in these stocks. More than 600 investors participated in the seminar and put before investment experts queries regarding best investment options.

Dehradun, October 10
A book on Dehradun’s heritage written by Devki Nandan Pandey was released at a function held here today. Named “Uttarakhand Etehasik and Samajik Parivesh”, the book deals with people and places associated with Uttarakhand state.

The book was released by Dr Rakesh Kumar, Secretary, RuralDevelopment,Uttarakhand government. Many senior citizens attended the function.

Deena Nath Saluja, a former Chairman of the Dehradun Municipal Committee, speaking on the occasion, eulogised the effort made by the writer to bring out lesser-known people and places of Uttarakhand.

Dr Rakesh Kumar said the efforts of Pandey were appreciable since the book had come at a time when the state of Uttarakhand would be completing 10 years of its existence.

Mussoorie, October 10
The two-day founder’s day celebrations ended at Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary School at Shangrila here with the resolve to promote and adhere to value-based education.

Shangrila girls dominated the second-day celebrations which was a potpourri of tradition and modernity. The programme began with the shabad recitation by Shangrila girls “Tu kar mehnat mai”.

Headmistress ND Sahni read out the annual report. She also apprised the gathered audience about the installation of Radio Khushi, a community radio station at the school.

Tiny-tots of the school performed a skit from the “Ramayana” in English. A dance sequence “All is Well”, showing different phases of a student’s emotions, was displayed by Vincent Hill students. Plays like “Robin Hood” and “Window” entertained the audience thoroughly. A play depicting the life of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, “Mahabali Surmein”, was watched by the audience with rapt attention.

Students performed the salsa, kathak, bhangra and Garhwali folk dance.

MLA Rajpur Ganesh Joshi appreciated the facilties available in the school and said traditions should not be forgotten along with modern education. He said, “We instead of aping western form of education should feel proud of our traditional skills like yoga and ayurveda and promote these effectively”.

The chief guest on the occasion ex-Mayor and president of the All-India Sikh Women Forum Harjinder Kaur congratulated the students who had excelled in various disciplines of sports and academic in the school. She said she was delighted to learn that the school was working with the mission to educate all rich and poor in the town. She commended the founders for running Bal Vidya Mandir for financially weak students.

Chairman of the school Jaspal Singh thanked all and said the school was growing and keeping itself attuned to the demands of the modern life, along with imparting the tradition values. He said they were also planning to open a BEd college for women shortly.

The Cock House Shield was presented to winners on the occasion along with the citations.

Dehradun, October 10
The Udayan Care, in collaboration with the Kusuma Foundation, organised its third induction-cum-pledge-taking ceremony of the Kusuma-Udayan Shalini Fellowship Programme here today.

The ceremony was held on the campus of the Welham Girls’ School where a large number of students attended the event. The programme commenced with welcoming of chief guest Subhash Kumar, Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand Government.

Accompanying him was Dr Rakesh Kumar, Secretary, Development, Revenue and Disaster Management, and Dr S Farooq, philanthropist, industrial and social activist, as the guest of honour.

However, members of the organisation presented group songs followed by the welcome address by Dr Kiran Modi, managing trustee, Udayan Care.

Also, senior members of the organisation shared their experiences.

Under the specially designed programme of fellowship, oath-taking ceremony was solemnised.

Cheques of scholarship and badges of honour were distributed to students by the chief guest.

The programme culminated with vote of thanks by GL Kak, convener, Udayan Shalini Fellowship, Dehdradun chapter.

Nainital, October 10
A two-day meeting to discuss “The Constitution and Caste-Based Census” ended here on Sunday afternoon with the majority of the speakers resolving that there is nothing wrong if a caste-based Census is held while keeping social justice as the motive, but they would oppose any move to achieve political goals through the exercise.

The speakers at the event organised by the District Bar Association debated the issue at length and made impassioned speeches both for and against the proposed move of the Central government.

Advocate Nand Prasad contested that there was nothing wrong if the government conducts such an exercise as it was the need of the hour. He went on to question why the government has failed to get caste-based Census done with the routine Census exercise.

“All that they needed to do was to have an additional column in the Census form. Instead, they will now be spending thousands of crores on getting the entire exercise done again next year.

“Another question that comes up is that why did the government delay the caste-based Census and what were reasons for it?” he said.

Another point of view aired passionately was that of DD Sangudi who has been a follower of the Ram Manohar Lohia school of socialist thought.

However, he was very critical of the Vishwanath Pratap Singh-led Janta Dal government for implementing the Mandal Commission recommendations. He criticised Parliament and the Supreme Court for putting its stamp of recognition on the decision.

“Parliament, Vishwanath Pratap Singh and the Supreme Court took the place of Manu,” he said while opining that any attempt to promote caste-based development would be regressive in nature.

“I will not support any attempt to divide society on the basis of caste. Even the framers of the Constitution were of the opinion that reservation should only be given to those people who are underprivileged and that too for a fixed tenure and not forever,” he said while assailing the attempts of various political parties to stop the determination of a creamy layer among backward castes.

Another speaker MB Singh said that if the government wanted to carry out a caste-based Census, it must do so only after amending the Constitution.

The convener of the meet Hari Shankar, while winding up the session, said, “Everyone has doubts about the intention with which the step is being taken. Everyone wants to know why a caste-based Census is required. Is it being done under pressure from a set a persons. People want to know if it is being done to ensure social justice or for political motives.”

Dehradun, October 10
Irrigation Minister Matbar Singh Kandari has asked officials concerned to identify places to construct Vikram stands on the outskirts of Dehradun so that they don’t have to enter busy areas of the city. He said the transportation system was very bad in the city and it caused chaos. Thus, to manage the traffic they should not be allowed to enter busy areas.

He passed these orders at a meeting with officials after reviewing the condition of transportation mode in the district at the Vidhan Sabha office here today.

Kandari also asked them to check out the parking maintained by the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA). He told them to see to that the allotted parking areas were maintained in such a way that a large number of vehicles could be parked there.

Kandari asked the officials to recognise the places for the parking lots so that the jam caused by the parking could be avoided.

He also issued orders to senior police officials to keep a check that vehicles were not parked on the roads and asked them to mark space on both sides of the roads so that the vehicles were parked inside that particular area only.

He also asked them to inform all school authorities that they needed to arrange for the parking of their staff as well as visitors on the premises only.

Dehradun, October 10
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank today participated in the 476th Parkash Purb celebrations of the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ramdas.

In his message, the Chief Minister said Sikhs kept a glorious history and had contributed towards safeguarding nation’s integrity and culture.

He said great Sikh Gurus like Guru Teg Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh always fought for the weak and |the downtrodden.

He also reminded that the state had famous Sikh shrines like Hemkund Sahib, Nanakmata and Reetha Sahib.

After participating in the discourse, the CM attended the langar. Uttarakhand Minorities Commission member Amarjeet Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Gangajeet Singh and Harcharan Singh were present.

Pitthoragarh, October 10
Owing to non-repair of motor roads from Haldwani to Almora and from Almora to Pitthoragarh, border towns of Pitthoragarh district are facing an acute shortage of cooking gas and at some places diverting to fire wood for fuel to be used as daily need.

The Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam (KMVN), the sole distributing agency of cooking gas in the Kumaon region, has many excuses for the shortage. Nigam officials are attributing this shortage to the motor roads damaged in heavy rains last month. “Our trucks carrying cooking gas to hill regions have to take a detour of Haldwani-Ramgarh-Almora and from Almora to Sheraghat and then border town of Munsiyary, Dharchula and Pitthoragarh, resulting in the late and insufficient supply of cooking gas,” said RD Pandey, Manager, LPG , KMVN. Pandey hoped that after the Haldwani-Almora and Almora-Pitthoragarh were repaired, the supply of gas would get proper.

Almost every town in Pitthoragarh district and rural areas like Someswar and Kafarkhan of Almora are facing cooking gas shortage. People of Munsiyari, Dharchula and Thal towns have captured the lone cooking gas truck when it reached the town on the way to Munsiyary after 2 months. “The people of Dharchula started an agitation and demanded a proper cooking gas supply. They also burnt an effigy of the KMVN. The distributing agency had to request them to lift the dharna,” said Dr Abhishek Tripathi, SDM, Dharchula.

The rural area of Lohaghat has also not received cooking gas supply for the past three month after motor roads in the district got blocked due to rains. “The villagers have now resorted to kerosene stoves and firewood for the fuel but the students studying in local colleges have become the worst victims of this shortage of cooking gas,” said Jagdish Singh Taragi, a resident of the Talli Chanmari locality of Lohaghat town.

Dehradun, October 10
Thousands of people thronged Hotel Pacific to be part of the two-day exhibition, Lifestyle-2010, which kicked off here on Friday.

As many as 38 stalls were put up on the premises, which displayed items like western and Indian ready-to-wear clothes, precious and semi-precious jewellery, artifacts, footwear, home accessories, corporate gifts, candle stands, key holders, mobile stands, photo frames, items made of metal, aluminum, plastic or wooden, traditional boxes, etc.

A children’s corner was also displayed where they could play games by paying some amount and also get to try their hands at pottery making. Not only this, services by tarot card readers and tattoo makers were also available at the spot.

The crowd present there depicted that Doonites eagerly wait for this pre-Diwali and pre-wedding seasonal shopping destination entire year. On the whole, it’s a fun-filled affair, where like-minded entrepreneurs get together to promote an array of things. Exhibitors from Dehradun, New Delhi, Kolkata, Gurgaon, Uttar Pradesh, Ludhiana and Ghaziabad showcased their masterpieces.

“We have come here for the first time and are expecting a good response as we feel people in the city appreciate creativity,” said Nidhi Bakshi, Ghaziabad-based exhibitor of wooden and aluminum artifacts.

Ditto for Vernica Sharma from Noida. “The response is good, but for small items. The exhibition has just started and we hope till the time it ends we are finished with our items. People liked hand-made gift tags a lot. These look beautiful while we put these in gift wrappers and are not even costly,” said Vernica.

Other than these, Samakshi from Delhi displayed artistic creation; Rajni from Ludhiana showcased jewellery bought from Mumbai; Gigi Pathak presented oils, body-care products, perfumes etc made from natural items; and Priya Sethi exhibited the handbags which she imported from Singapore.

City-based Mohammad Reza was seen explaining the benefits of aerobics, salsa and yoga to people. Along with him was Sam De who was busy in making temporary as well as permanent tattoos. “People from various walks of life are coming to me for getting tattoos done. Those who don’t go for permanent tattoos prefer temporary ones as it stay for as long as 10 days and with this they can experience the joy of having the tattoo,” said Reza.

Manasi Raina, tarot therapist, was also seen engaged for the whole day as people keep on visited her stall to know about their future.

Dehradun, October 10
With the US keen on cutting on outsourcing jobs to India, one Indian company running a centre in Dehradun has perfected the art of reverse outsourcing by providing training opportunities in Information Technology (IT) to students from the UK, US and elsewhere.

A right mix of quality education imparted by qualified teachers at relatively half the cost and an opportunity to travel around Uttarakhand and other places come as part of the training package designed by Koenig Solutions, IT training provider, at its IT Park Centre situated on the Sahastradhara road.

Compared to Western countries, the IT training and certification is relatively inexpensive in India, which has long held a reputation of producing talented software engineers and IT professionals. “We started running ‘boot-camp’ style courses of three-six week duration for IT developers, system analysts and freshers five years ago. The Dehradun Centre is popular with trainees from the UK, New Zealand and Oman,” said Chief Executive of Koenig Solutions Rohit Aggarwal.

The company has also become a trend-setter in educational tourism, “as most of the overseas students take up courses during their holidays, especially at Goa and the Doon centre”. “There has been an increase in the number of foreign students coming to this part of the country. One can only imagine what it can boost the economy of the state. Right now, the numbers may be small, but I see an upward trend in the coming years,” said S Ramaswamy, Managing Director, State Infrastructure Development and Industrial Development Corporation Uttarakhand Ltd (SIDCUL).

It is also providing indirect employment in the form of accommodation at hotels and rented premises. Trainees are mostly form the UK, Germany, New Zealand and Gulf countries and the African continent. “Every year 300 to 400 students come here and the Doon centre at Sahastradhara has managed to attract 40 per cent of business since we started offshore training four-five years back. In fact, we have a tie-up with Hotel Madhuban and other hotels, where most of the students are accommodated,” said Aggarwal.

The training is for the period of three weeks, three months and even a week. The average cost for three-week course is $ 3,000. “Back home, the upgrade is mandatory but it comes at a cost. Here it is cheaper. In addition I get to explore another country,” said Immanuel, a New Zealand national. The training covers accommodation and also includes pre-course assessment, upgrade and post-technical training so that students do not face problem when they go back.

“In some cases the companies pay for the training, while in other cases the individuals make arrangements for their training,” said Claria, a trainee from the UK.

Koenig Solutions acquired land from SIDCUL in 1997 and stared offshore training in 2002. “The choice before us was to either innovate or perish. The hard knock that the businesses suffered throughout the world had left many companies scarred. However, some hard thinking led us to decide on bringing off shore students here. Clearly India has an edge over several countries in the IT and we thought why not provide training to overseas clients at 50 per cent cost of their IT training and certification,” said Aggarwal.

Dehradun, October 10
A workshop on “Storage solution for cloud computing” was conducted by the CSI, Dehradun Chapter, on the ONGC Club premises here yesterday. A large number of people attended the workshop that was divided into two sessions.

The programme initiated with the welcome speech by chief guest M Thyagaraj, ED and CIO, ONGC, Dehradun, followed by a presentation of research work by experts. The website of the CSI Dehradun Chapter, along with its e-newsletter, was launched during the workshop.

In the first session of the workshop, Vinod K Taneja, Event Chairman, delivered a brief introduction about the topic followed by its brief description by Vivekanand Venugopal, vice-president M/s Hitachi.

The second session of the workshop commenced with the talk delivered by Dr RC Joshi, Professor at IIT, Roorkee, followed by a talk by C Ramkumar, Senior Technology Consultant, EMC Corporation.

Later, Vivekanand Venugopal and Dr R C Joshi were felicitated. The event concluded with the vote of thanks.

Eminent guests like Dr DR Shukla, SIO, NIC, Uttarakhand, and Dr Vinay Kumar Pathak, Vice-Chancellor, Uttarakhand Open University, attended the workshop.