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High prices prevent a cracker of a Divali
Tourists, residents celebrate Divali with fervour
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Festival of lights goes greener
Shop gutted in fire
Docs attend to 90 burn cases
A family offers prayers during Govardhan Puja in Dehradun on Saturday. A Tribune photo
Ramgarhia Sabha celebrates Vishwakarma Diwas
A diwan in progress at the Patel Nagar gurdwara on Vishwakarma Diwas in Dehradun on Saturday. A Tribune photograph
Scientist ensures UPC 628 better fodder variety
High Court to celebrate 10 yrs of success
U’khand shooters bag silver in international c’ship Shooters from Uttarakhand who won a silver medal at the International Air Gun Shooting Championship in Bangkok recently.
RIMC holds physical training contest
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High prices prevent a cracker of a Divali
Dehradun, November 6 In all, 500 licences were issued in the city to stall owners and most of them pegged the sales at Rs 3 crore. “Though the exact figures will be calculated in the coming week, most of the small vendors witnessed plummeting sales,” said Abrar Hussein, a shop owner at Dhama Wala. Earlier, small vendors in every nook and corner of the town would cash in on the festivities and set up firework stalls without any permission. But with the government acting tough while issuing licences, these too had diminished. As the price of crackers has gone up due to the increasing raw material costs and licensing issues, there has been a marked difference in the sales at big cracker shops. “With a continuous decrease in the sale and profit of fireworks in the past few years, we decided not to sell crackers this time,” said Sikand Kumar, a trader. He attributed costly raw material and the recent floods for the jacked-up prices of crackers. “I do not think that people will completely stop buying crackers, but the interest levels have considerably diminished. It is not due to the active environmental lobby, but prices may have forced people to keep off these. “Earlier, the bursting of crackers used to begin several days in advance, peaking on Divali, but this year, it was not the case. People also kept off sweets. From last year, I think the sale of sweets and crackers has gone down considerably,” added Sikand. On the changing trends dictating the choice of crackers among buyers, Hussein said children still buy a lot of “phuljharis”, but this year, customers were demanding “aloo” bombs and wanted sparklers that shoot up in the sky and don’t make much noise. However, Doonites’ appetite for silver and gold rose by a few notches. Though the heavily-stocked cracker shops wore a deserted look on the eve of Divali, major markets remained full with residents preferring to invest in gold and silver. The Divali sales of gold and silver are expected to cross the Rs 500 crore mark in Dehradun alone. “People still view gold and silver as good investments and continued till the morning of Divali,” said a salesman of a top jewellery shop. Besides, mobile sets too seemed to have found favour with residents of Doon and continued to be a favourite pick as most of the buyers favoured sturdy handsets. Most private buildings and houses were lit up in multi-coloured lights and marigold flowers and in the evening, people visited nearby temples and lit lamps there as well.
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Tourists, residents celebrate Divali with fervour
Mussoorie, November 6 The Mall Road, hotels and various governmental and non-governmental institutions were decorated with ornamental lights and the joyous occasion was reflected in an array of lit earthen lamps and candles. Devotees offered prayers at various temples in the town and extended greetings to each other by exchanging sweets and other delicacies. Children in the best attire had a ball and lit up fire crackers all night. Tourist James Catchpole from England said he had heard a lot about Divali celebrations, but wanted to experience it practically, so he was here in Mussoorie. The scene of the Doon Valley with exploding fireworks, visible from here, was amazing, added James.Sarita, housewife from Mussoorie, said even inflation had failed to dampen their festive spirit and they shopped according to the available budget. Hotel owners in the town also provided special discounts to the tourists and joined in the celebrations. Rajiv Chawla, another tourist from Delhi, said this was his third Divali celebration with his family in Mussoorie. He said the family could shop and celebrate easily in Mussoorie, it being a small town compared to Delhi which is overcrowded. Soldiers from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) known as “Himveers” also celebrated Divali with fervour. Various entertainment programmes were held, along with bursting of crackers at the ITBP campus. Traders were also quite satisfied with the outpouring of costumers on Divali day. Some social organisations quietly distributed sweets and warm clothes among the poor on the occasion. Villagers around the area, who celebrate their own Divali that falls after 20 days of the national Divali, also joined in the celebrations this year. Political leaders like Mussoorie MLA Jot Singh Gunsola, Rajpur MLA Ganesh Joshi, both preparing for the 2012 elections, extended greetings on foot from the Tehri bus stand to the Library Bazar.
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Festival of lights goes greener
Pauri Garhwal, November 6 The hill town bore a kaleidoscopic look with homes and buildings illuminated with bulbs and earthen diyas. With increasing awareness about environmental conservation and global warming, people here were seen more inclined towards eco-friendly ways of celebrating the festival with emphasis on lighting and decoration rather than on fire crackers. According to local people, with each passing year, local people as well as tourists have been seen burning very few crackers, with preference being given to eco-friendly ones. “In the past few years, there has been a sharp fall in the sale of crackers. Though price rise may be to blame, yet the residents’ inclination to keeping Pauri pollution free can’t be ignored,” said Anis Khan, a variety store shopkeeper in the lower bazar where many Muslims sell Divali and other religious items. The efforts of the local administration, municipality, schools and NGOs in generating awareness about pollution due to usage of crackers are bearing fruit with children urging their parents to not to buy crackers.“We regularly organise campaigns along with various organisations to generate awareness about pollution and global warming. The increase in awareness in people about fire crackers is a major boost for environment lovers. The fact that the younger generation is understanding this aspect is a positive sign,” said Sanjay Juyal, a convent school teacher and a Rotary Club member. The younger lot too relished the option of celebrating Divali with non-polluting crackers. “It is better to celebrate Divali with lights, flowers and a few crackers, that too eco-friendly ones. Noticing me, my cousins and friends have followed suit,” remarked Tanvi Rawat, a PG student. Many attributed the less usage of crackers to their prohibitive prices. With rockets and multicoloured spark crackers priced above Rs 200, residents refrained from buying too many of these.
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Shop gutted in fire
Dehradun, November 6 Deepak Kumar, the owner, on his return from Nehru Stadium where he was running a cracker stall, found his shop in flames. Nearby residents tried to put off the fire before two fire tenders reached the spot under Fire Officer BS
Negi. It has been learnt that a rocket cracker had hit some flex sheets at the front of the shop. The damage is being estimated at Rs 1.5
lakh, according to the owner Deepak Kumar. Two adjoining opticians’ shops also suffered minor damage. Timely action by the Fire Department prevented the fire from spreading.
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Docs attend to 90 burn cases
Dehradun, November 6 Plastic and general surgeons as well as ophthalmologists were on call this weekend as hospitals geared up to deal with fireworks-related accidents. Dr BC Pathak, CMS, Doon Hospital, said, “The Emergency was functioning till wee hours as several patients came up with minor and major fireworks-related injuries. Eye injuries are common during the festival and our ophthalmologists were on call, so was the plastic surgeon.” The Coronation Hospital received around 10 burn-related cases on Divali. “There were no serious incidents,” said Dr AS Rawat, CMS, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Coronation Hospital. Officials at the CMI and private nursing homes said that they were always geared up for emergencies and thus, Divali did not warrant special preparation. Most firecracker injuries occurred to children aged below 15. Experts said injuries caused by rockets were by far the worst as these rupture eyeballs which were difficult to salvage. Blast injuries could lead to superficial burns wherein certain metal parts could enter the eye and damage it. According to Dr BC Ramola, senior eye surgeon, Doon Hospital, there has been an increase in eye injuries among children caused by firecrackers in the past few years, mainly because of the negligence of parents and failure to follow simple precautions. “Usually children suffering from minor injuries like corneal abrasion to major ones such as traumatic cataract, corneal tear, retinal detachment, vitreous haemorrhage and ruptured globe come for treatment - an after effect of a careless Diwali,” said Dr Ramola.
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Govardhan Puja celebrated
Mussoorie, November 6 According to committee member Satish Dhaundiyal, the festival is always celebrated a day after Divali. On the day, Mount Govardhan near Mathura is worshipped. People keep awake whole night and cook different types of food for the bhog (offering of food) to Lord Krishna. The ceremony is called Annakut which means the mountain of food. He further said the festival was in commemoration of the lifting of Mount Govardhan by Lord Krishna.According to a legend, before Lord Krishna was born, Indra, the god of rain, was the chief deity of Braj. Then Lord Krishna instigated people to stop worshipping Indra. Indra wanted to show his power over Lord Krishna and brought about a cloudburst which flooded the countryside for many days. People were afraid that the downpour was a result of their neglect of Indra. But Lord Krishna assured them that no harm would befall them. He lifted Mount Govardhan with his little finger and sheltered human beings and beasts from the rain. This gave him the epithet Govardhandhari. After this, Indra accepted the supremacy of Lord Krishna. Since then the Annakut festival or Govardhan Pooja is celebrated across the country, added Dhaundiyal.
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Ramgarhia Sabha celebrates Vishwakarma Diwas
Dehradun, November 6 The celebrations started with the bhog of Shri Akhand Path Sahib. Bhai Pritam Singh recited the shabad. Kaka Navjoot, Bhai Sohan Singh Kanpuri, Bhai Kanwarpal Singh and Gurdwara Race Course Head Granthi Bhai Jaspreet Singh said the modern technical expertise owed its origins to the benevolence of Lord Vishwakarma. Sabha secretary Sewa Singh Matharu said a health camp would be organised at the Ramgarhia Bhawan on December 12. Sabha president Mahendra Singh Bhambara, Pramjeet Singh Kundi, Jatedar Dilip Singh, treasurer Surjeet Singh Jutley, Kartar Singh, Santokh Singh, Baldev Singh and Raghuveer Singh and Rajendra Singh Rajan were present on the occasion. Mass feasting was also conducted to mark the occasion.
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Scientist ensures UPC 628 better fodder variety
Nainital, November 6 The notification has come at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Deputy Director-General (Crop Science) of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) held in Chennai a couple of months back. This variety has been recommended for cultivation in Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Professor and senior forage breeder at Pantnagar Dr JS Verma, who has contributed in the development of the variety, said, “The plants of this variety have profuse leafy growth with high leaf stem ratio which ensures better quality of the fodder. Yield potential of this variety is 350-425 quintal per hectare green fodder and 50-55 quintal per hectare dry matter in 85-90 days after planting at 50 per cent flowering stage. Besides, this variety also has better seed yield potential of 6-8 quintal per hectare”.
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High Court to celebrate 10 yrs of success
Nainital, November 6 On the first day, a series of Lok Adalats will be held in all districts as well as the High Court premises here. This will be followed by organising of a voluntary blood donation camp on November 10 on the High Court premises. On November 11, a tree plantation drive will be undertaken on the court premises. An exhibition will also be put up on the premises from November 9 to 13 in Chief Justice’s Block. Side by side a series of sports competitions will be held from November 8 to 12. The main function will be held on November 13 on the premises of the High Court and the celebrations will conclude with a cultural evening at the Chalet Hall. In the main function, Justice VS Sirpurkar of the Supreme Court will be the chief guest, while the other guests will include Justice Ciric Joseph of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice JS Kehar of the Karnataka High Court and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank. The programme will be chaired by Governor Margaret Alva. The programmes that are to be held from November 9 will be inaugurated by Chief Justice Barin Ghosh.
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U’khand shooters bag silver in international c’ship
Dehradun, November 6 An international shooter and coach and mentor to various budding shooters of Uttarakhand through his premier shooting academy, Doon Institute of Shooting and Sports, Mayank Marwah teamed up with Kartikey and Arun of Uttarakhand and paved the way for silver medal for the country and together they brought laurels to the state. They won medal in 10-metre air pistol in men category. Gold went to the team from Thailand. The shooters showed good commitment under the able guidance of manager and teammate Marwah.
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RIMC holds physical training contest
Dehradun, November 6 The cadets put up a brilliant show with a lot of zeal and enthusiasm for their sections and stunned the audience with their skills. After two days of cut-throat competition, Ranjit Section emerged victorious followed by Pratap, Shivaji and Chandragupta Sections. Results: Mass PT: Ranjit - first, Shivaji - second, Pratap - third and Chandragupta - fourth. Overall: Ranjit - first, Shivaji - second, Pratap - third, Chandragupta - fourth. Chief guest of the evening was Col PK Kumaria, Commandant, RIMC. Chief coordinator of the competition was Lt Col Rajesh Nathawat ably supported by Wg Cdr SK Thapliyal, Lt Cdr S Chakraborty, Major SR Sahu and Brijesh Chauhan. The field arrangements were coordinated by Sub Maj RH Magdum, Sub Kundan Singh and Hav S Patil.
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Prices proved to be a damper for most Doonites bringing down Divali excitement as well noise levels. 
Mussoorie, November 6
The Ramgarhia Sabha today observed the Vishwakarma Diwas by organising shabad kirtan at Ramgarhia
Bhawan, Patelnagar. The celebrations started with the bhog of Shri Akhand Path Sahib. Bhai Pritam Singh recited the
shabad.
Shooters from Uttarakhand made the state and country proud by winning silver medal in the team event at the recently concluded International Air Gun Shooting Championship in Bangkok from November 2 to 5.
