Haridwar, October 14
With pious festival of the Navratras going on, devotees in large numbers are visiting to pay obeisance and offer prayers at city-based deities’ temples. At renowned sidhpeeths of Mata Mansa Devi, Chandi Devi, Maya Devi, Daksh Prajapati, Kali Mandir, Sureshwari, Sidhpeeth Sidhashram and all other temples, devotees rush can be seen.

At various places kathas are being organised on the holy occasion of the Navratras with markets decked up with religious items needed for rituals. At the Sidhpeeth Ashram, Pushpnandan Maharaj in his sermon stated that Lord Rama observed rituals of Devi Tara at the ashram of Maharshi Vashisth. Lord Krishna used to perform Goddess Durga yagya early in the morning and also guided his disciple Arjun to perform the puja.

Similarly, Lord Buddha observed rituals of deity Tara Devi; Lord Parshu Ram prayed to deity Chinnmastika; Lord Shiva performed Shodshi Yagya; Lord Mahavir performed rituals of deities Chakreshwari and Devi Padma; and Guru Arjun Dev and Guru Gobind Singh ji also observed rituals of deity Maa Durga with Guru Gobind Singh even penning the Chandi Ki Var epic, which shows the immense importance of the nine deities.

On the occasion devotees listened to the sermon of of spiritual guru at the ashram, while at various temples, ashrams and pandals religious kathas are being organised dipping the city in religious fervour.

Dehradun, October 14
Women clad in red and green Nepali dresses with traditional jewelleries, pote and tilari, men in crisp new Gorkha caps and scarves, added to the real colour to the Gorkha community during the celebration of Dasehra conducted here today.

With devotion and enthusiasm, the Gorkhali Sudhar Sabha observed the celebrations of the holy festival Hamro Dasai with a great fervour.

Brig NBS Bisht, president of the sabha, welcomed the gathering and the programme was formally inaugurated by chief guest Harbans Kapoor, Speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly, accompanied by Ravinder Jugran, president of the Rajya Andolankari Manch, Jyot Singh Ghunsola, MLA, Mussoorie, and Brig PS Gurung, president of the OBC Commission, as the guest of honour. Eminent guests were welcomed with flowers and garlands.

Hundreds of Gorkhalis from across the city and nearby districts gathered to rejoice and celebrate festivity amid the colourful cultural activities. The programme initiated with the lighting of the lamp and praying of Goddess Durga for the well being of their life and prosperity in the years to come. To commemorate the auspicious ceremony, a pot full of sown barley (jaun or jawra) was placed on the stage as the symbol of devoutness.

Dasai (Dasehra) is the festival of the Gorkhali community, associated with the pious festival of Navratra and is celebrated by all Gorkhalis irrespective of caste and creed. This is the festival when Gorkhalis in every nook and corner of the country observe fast and decorate worshipping place of their houses with colourful flowers, kalash (pots with coconut placed on it) and barley is sown to welcome the goddesses during the Navratras. It is believed that saplings of barley signify the prosperity and positive energy at home while the extravagant celebrations mark the uniqueness of unity and the oneness.

However, Dasehra is celebrated on the 10th day of the Navratra. In the morning folks offer prayers to Goddess Durga donning new clothes. The elderly members of the family put tikka of curd and rice to their kin while paying visit to each other. People prepare a sumptuous feast, precisely sailroti (sweet breads made from rice), til ki chatni (sesame sauce), bhaath (rice) and masu (chicken) that has great significance on the occasion.

From Gorkhali songs to food, people thoroughly enjoyed the function. “We are happy that not only people of our community have enthusiastically participated on the occasion, but people from other communities also equally enjoyed in the company of traditional food, songs, and dance performed by children as well elders,” added Shiv Lal Ale, general secretary, Bhartiya Gorkha Parisangh.

To wrap up the celebrations, there was the sumptuous and traditional festival lunch on the occasion. Dev Maya Gurung, vice-president of the sabha, Suraj Rai, general secretary, KB Gurung, treasurer and others were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, October 14
A spur of activities is seen in local markets with the beginning of the festival period. Traders are feeling happy, as sales have picked up with the season. A smile can be seen on the faces of jewellers, who have been witnessing a slump due to price hike of gold, as well as other caterers. After the sharad, which is counted as inauspicious time for buying anything, a large number of people could be seen thronging the markets now.

“The sales have increased by 30 per cent to 50 per cent during the Navratras. The demand for jewellery has also picked up as the marriage season is round the corner,” said Vikram Aggarwal of Titan Industries Limited.

From apparels, gift items, household gadgets to utensils and food items, attractive discounts are also being offered to lure customers.

“Our sales have enhanced by at least 40 per cent till now and are expected to increase further. However, due to the competition we are also offering discount,” said Vikram Sachdeva, an apparel shop owner in Paltan Bazar.

Navratra special thalis at attractive rates are also drawing customers to various restaurants. “As a large number of people observe fast these days, they want to have food that is delicious as well as hygienic. The trend of special thali is catching up and the entire family comes to have Navratra special food these days,” said the manager of Cosmopolitan.

Not only this, prices of fruits and vegetables have also increased due to festival season. In retail market, potatoes are available at Rs 15-20 per kg, cauliflower costs around Rs 25 and tomato Rs 25-30 a kg.

“The prices of fruits and vegetables are already very high and are likely to increase in future,” said Rahul, a vegetable vendor in Dharampur.

Dehradun, October 14
Amid the busy schedule of regular studies of professional courses, students and faculty of Graphic Era University presented the Ramlila on the premises of the institute here today. RC Ghanshal, convener of the university, inaugurated the three-day Ramlila that started today.

On the first day of the Ramlila, the characters presented the birth of Lord Rama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Kamal Ghanshala, director of the institute, played the role of Vishnu.

A large number of students and faculty members had gathered to watch the Ramlila. Students were excited to see their faculty acting on the stage on a mythological story line with age-old traditional outfits and make-up.

While addressing students, Ghanshal said the programme was conducted to deliver information as well interest in the religious chronicle to the new generation while making them agile for fulfilling their responsibilities towards family and country.

Dehradun, October 14
Never faltering, never ceasing like the uninterrupted flow of the mighty rivers, the love affair of the Nizami brothers with the Sufiana kalam encapsulates several centuries. The music of the saints is a constant guide, egging each generation to follow an ancient tradition established by their ancestors some 700 years ago, who also sang at the seat of Sufi Saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia.

“It is God’s gift and it is singing alone that feeds us and allows us to travel all over the globe. I have not known anything other than this. Studies did not interest me. If you have so many family members into music, it automatically entices you,” said Shadab Faridi Nizami, the youngest member of the Nizami brothers and son of Ghulam Farid Nizami and nephew of Chand Nizami, the qawwals from Delhi.

He was here in Doon to perform at a musical concert at Jaswant Modern School, organised by the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPIC MACAY). Accompanied by the Nizami clan, Shadab was his effervescent self as he took the stage engaging the audience with his shayari and next minute reaching the pinnacle of his singing, as he worked on higher notes again and again.

“In keeping with the changing taste among the audience, we have brought in a lot of innovation. In the past Sufiana qawwalis were sung only in 14 maatras, but we also sing in eight maatras, simplifying the singing,” said Shadab.

The brothers opened up with the classical “Allah ho, Allah ...”, followed by “Mose naina mila key ...”, and the popular “Khawaja mere Khwaja ...”. The brothers went on to present a captivating performance as they ended the programme with “Damadam mast kalandar ...”.

To complement the powerful performance of the brothers, despite the glitches in the sound system, their uncles gave a classic presentation of Naubaat, a ritual performed early in the morning at the Dargah of Nizamuddin Chisti.

“Nakari or obeisance is paid with thaap on the dholak and chaat on the tabla. It is a tradition followed all over India at the dargahs,” said Nizam Ali, uncle of Shadab.

In fact, while Shadab Nizami sings, his younger brother Sohrab Nizami also plays a glass instrument that owes its origin to the rhythmic beating of hand-weaving machine.

The brothers also performed on the ICFAI University campus.

Nainital, October 14
During the forthcoming harvest season, the basmati paddy prices are expected to be at their peak in December. This forecast has been made by scientists of the Agricultural Economics Department of Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology at Pantnagar.

A team of scientists is working under a National Agriculture Innovation Project, ‘Establishing and Networking of Market Intelligence Centres in India”, which is under operation at the Pantnagar university. One of the objectives of this project is to make price forecasts of selected agricultural commodities during harvesting. The research team of scientists had conducted a market survey at the Rudrapur regulated market, a major market for the traditional basmati paddy in Uttarakhand, and analysed the market price data that had prevailed for the past 15 years in this market. On the basis of econometric analysis and traders’ view, the team has forecast the price of traditional basmati paddy.

According to scientists, the price is expected to be in the range of Rs 2,650 per quintal to 3,350 per quintal in October, Rs 2,500 per quintal to 3,200 per quintal in November and Rs 2,700 per quintal to Rs 3,400 per quintal in December this year.

According to a University spokesperson, “The wide range of forecast price may be attributed to varietal difference of traditional basmati paddy. The major varieties of traditional basmati paddy grown by farmers in the study area are Pusa Basmati 1121, Basmati 370, Sugandha 1, Tarawadi, Punjab-1 and Pusa RH-10.”

The traders of Rudrapur market revealed that November-end and December are the peak arrival months while January and February are the lean arrival months for paddy in the market. Scientists have advised the farmers to take marketing and storage decisions of their produce of traditional basmati paddy according to price forecast by them.

The major paddy producing states in India are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Orissa, Assam, Karnataka and Haryana. As far as Uttarakhand is concerned, the area under paddy crop was 0.3 million hectares and production was 0.58 million tonnes during 2008-09. The major paddy producing districts in Uttarakhand are Udham Singh Nagar, Dehradun and Haridwar.

The once famous basmati bowl of India, Dehradun does not retain the position anymore. Basmati is no longer being produced it the traditional basmati zones of the Doon valley. Instead the production has now moved to new zones.

The basmati production in the Doon valley has fallen prey to rapid urbanisation which has swallowed up the traditional production zones of Majra and Niranjanpur.

The state government has admitted in the Assembly that the once famous Doon basmati is now being grown in new areas. The basmati zone of Majra is no longer producing the said variety of rice. However, the basmati production is now being done in Sahaspur, Vikas Nagar, Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital and Haridwar.

Despite being a small producer in terms of area Uttarakhand had exported 55,451 quintal basmati rice in the year 2007-08 and in 2008-09, the state had produced 70680.50 quintal of basmati rice.

Dehradun October 14
The discrepancy in the results of BEd course has caused unrest among students of Tanishq College. The agitating students, who damaged the college property yesterday, staged a dharna today.

As per the students, the casual attitude of the college has led to the delay in results. The college hasn’t provided the marks of practical and the internal assessments to HNB Garhwal University. The students had appeared in the examination a few months ago, but the results and mark sheets haven’t been provided till now.

“Due to the delay in the declaration of the results many of us are barred from appearing in the entrance examination of the LT course. We are now worried for the future as it will affect our careers as well,” an affected student said.

Anshul Chawla, president, DAV Students’ Council, and Mahinder Pal Rana, along with other college students, staged the dharna.

Dehradun, October 14
Observing the National Postal Week, a letter-writing and drawing competition was organised at the General Post Office.

As many as 52 students of Class III to VIII from Doon Cambridge School, SGNP Inter-College and Sharanjit Junior School participated in the competition.

SS Bisht, Business Development Centre Manager, said, “Results will be out after the copies have been examined by the Senior Superintendent of the Post Office”.

“The letter writing and drawing competition saw the participation of 25 ad 27 students, respectively,” he added.

Dehradun, October 14
The last remains of Sheel Vohra, one of the most dedicated teachers and social workers of Dehradun, were consigned to the fire at the Lakkhi Bagh cremation ground here this morning in the presence of hundreds of relatives, friends and his old students and colleagues from Doon School. Vohra had died yesterday.

The atmosphere on the cremation ground was very solemn and sombre and there were many pairs of moist eyes. Scores of Vohra’s students had specially come from Delhi and other cities.

Vohra was a veteran teacher in Doon School with a tenure spanning 42 years. He was also the Deputy Headmaster for a few years and had officiated as the Headmaster for sometime before his retirement.

At the request of his old students, the body of Vohra was taken to Doon School before the cremation. There the hearse was taken around the school campus, in particular the residence in which he had lived for most of his life, the classroom where he taught two generations of students and the grounds where he played and taught cricket. Many of his former colleagues were also present.

President of the Dehradun Club Ajay Singhari and committee members Rahul Sharma, Satish Chabbra, Vinod Kathuria, Dr Shobhit Durga and others laid a wreath on his coffin on behalf of the club and paid tributes to Vohra. He was one of the most respected members of the club and was known for his integrity.

One of the most touching scenes was when a cricket bat was put beside him in the coffin to symbolise his eternal love for the game of cricket to which he had passionately devoted his whole life.

Two of Vohra’s close friends and cricket teammates in the DAV College XI have sent their condolences on his death. Jatinder Hoon from New York says in his message, “I got a very sad news from my niece that Sheel Vohra had passed away. I was just looking at our college cricket photo and saw him standing there. He was a great soul and man of character”. Ranvir Bahl from Nagpur says, “I am saddened at the news of Sheel Vohra’s passing away. Now we will remember him in our memories only. Sheel had a lot of character, but I will remember him for his grit and doggedness. He made a fine cricket player because of these qualities”.

DAV (PG) College Alumni Association president Raj Kanwar described Vohra’s death as a great loss and said there were not many people who would match him in strength of character and deep devotion. SP Kochhar, president of Doon Citizens Council, said Vohra was a dedicated teacher and an ideal citizen.

Dehradun, October 14
Asian School is all set to clash with host The Heritage School in the Third Shri Rohitash Singh Memorial Inter-School Boys Super 8s Cricket Tournament. The final will be played tomorrow.

The two teams won their respective semifinals today. In the first semifinal, Asian School beat Guru Nanak Academy (GNA) by 17 runs. Asian School opted to bat first after winning the toss. It scored 33 runs losing four wickets in the first innings.

Batting second, GNA scored 24 runs at the expense of two wickets. While in the second innings the Asian team gathered 28 runs at the loss of seven wickets. GNA though bowled well but couldn’t strike with bat and fell to meagre 17 runs for seven in the second innings. Bhavesh of the winning team was declared best batsman of the match.

In the second semifinal, The Heritage School beat Hilton School by six wickets to reserve the final seat. The host team invited Hilton to bat first. The latter scored 34/4 in the first innings.

The Heritage School, replying, scored 38 runs losing two wickets. Both sides scored identical 26 runs in the second innings, thus Heritage won the match on the basis of previous innings score. Puneet of the winning squad was adjudged best batsman for his knock of 23 runs.

Dehradun, October 14
SGRR Race Course and SGRR Patelnagar tomorrow will clash for the title of the First Boys’ Basketball SGRR Sahodaya Complex Tournament being played at SGRR Race Course. While for the third place, Talab will play against Nehru Gram.

League matches were played today on the first day of the competition. In the today’s league match, SGRR Race Course defeated SGRR Nehru Gram 18-12.

Atul and Gaurav scored six and five points, respectively, to play chief role in the win of the Race Course team.

SGRR Patelnagar beat SGRR Talab 16-10 in another league match. SGRR Race Course also defeated SGRR Talab 19-12. SGRR Patelnager in its second match today edged pass SGRR Nehru Gram 13-11.

Dehradun, October 14
Mohit Limbu guided Hilton School to beat St Joseph 2-1 to claim the 10th Col Shashi Memorial Inter-School Football Tournament for Senior Boys held at Cameron Hall School today.

Limbu struck both two goals for his side. He scored in the 25th and 54th minutes of the game. For the rival team, Prabhanshu scored the lone goal for St Joseph in the 21st minute.

It remained a highly competitive final encounter as both sides displayed best game. However, Hilton School managed to have an edge over its rival.

Dehradun, October 14
The Inter-Section Athletics Competition began at the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) here today. The event was inaugurated by Col PK Kumaria, Commandant, RIMC. He said athletics was a game in which a cadet required a lot of skill, stamina and mental toughness and all these were important in the process of gaining success. He wished all the best to the cadets for the competition.

The event began by witnessing a march-past ceremony, during which all spectators witnessed a wonderful performance by the cadets and the band was played by Sikh Regiment. This was followed by the beginning of the events. There were a total of 23 track and field events. The result at the end of the day were:

A DIV

In high jump, cadet Kush Kumar got the first position, cadet Shashank Shekhar the second and cadet Neeraj Maurya the third position.

In shot put, cadet Kush Kumar stood first, cadet Akash Kumar second and cadet Shrilipta came third.

B DIV

In discuss throw, cadet Saurabh Singh was the first position holder, cadet Martand Dev the second and cadet Yahasvee Raj the third.

In pole vault, cadet Ligang Kobing bagged the first position while cadet Bhaskar Gogoi stood second and cadet Rupesh Kumar clinched third position.

C DIV

In 1,500 m, cadet Rahul Mishra held the first positon, cadet Abhishek Dhamu the second and cadet Siddharth Das the third.

In broad jump (long jump), cadet Ayush Salaria stood first, cadet Daniel Chabungbam second and cadet Rahul Dev Verma third.

In javelin throw, cadet Himanshu Thapa got the first position, cadet Mohit Mayank the second while cadet Aman Kumar the third.

The other events held were the heats of 100m, 200m, 400m sprint events and the finals will be held in the following days. At the end of the first day, the results were declared and the over standings were:

Chandragupta Section was first with 47 points, Ranjit Section came second with 39 points, Shivaji Section third with 35 points and Pratap Section fourth with 33 points.

The other dignitaries present were Lt Col R Nathawat, Administrative Officer, KS Ahlawat, Lt Cdr S Chakravorty, Maj SR Sahu, CS Vishwakarma.

The coordinators of the events were Wg Cdr SK Thapliyal, Brijesh Chauhan and UP Dalvi.

Dehradun, October 14
Welhams Girls School and St Thomas College will play girls final while Welhams Boys School will face Hilton School in boys final of the District Youth Basketball Championship here tomorrow.

Welhams Girls drubbed Scholars Home 38-7 with Somya scored highest with 19 points for the former team in the first semifinal. St Thomas College defeated Hilton School 15-5. Zara scored highest eight points for St Thomas.

In boys’ semifinals, Welham Boys School beat Doon International School 46-28 and Hilton School edged past Summer Valley School 34-33.

Mussoorie, October 14
Bollywood actor and Padam Shri Tom Alter, along with MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, flagged of the cross country in memory of his father late James P Alter held at Garhwal Terrace here today. More than 12 schools from Mussoorie, Dehradun, Rishikesh and Gorakhpur participated in the race.

The race was held in three different categories, namely 9-12, 6-8, 1-5 in both boys and girls sections. Asif Hussain, Vivek, Sivankar, Kuldeep finished first, second and third, respectively, in U-12 boys section. In girls’ section, Pooja Rawat, Partibha and Vaishali Gupta were declared winners. In U-14 boys section, Pramod Ramola, Sohan Singh, Manoj Rawat, Rajat and Mafisul were declared winners. Sushmita, Monika, Pooja, Sunita and Sonali emerged winners in U-14 girls section.

In open section for boys, Rajesh, Rahul, Kamal Singh, Nitesh and Manoj Panwar were declared winners. In girls, Aarti, Jyoti, Rajani, Chandni and Poonam were declared winners.

Tom Alter said the cross country was being organised in the memory of his father and a coach Rakesh Rawat who lost his life running in one such race a couple of years back. He also said main objective of the race was to promote athletics and distance running among the children.

He added it was sad that schools in Mussoorie were taking less interest in sports activities, especially athletics. “Good athletes will always be good sportsmen and it was important to create a pool of good athletes in the schools so that they become good sportspersons in the chosen filed,” said Alter.

Coordinator of the race Roop Chand said they had organised this race to bring the talent of the children at this early age.