Dehradun, December 20
Despite the initial delays and glitches, the Open Ice Skating Championship will kick off tomorrow at the ice skating rink, a first-of-its-kind indoor facility in South Asia erected at Raipur at a cost of Rs 55 crore.

The championship, being organised by the Winter Games Federation of India and the Uttarakhand Government to popularise the sport, has attracted top players with international exposure.

Players from Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are expected to take part. They will vie with each other in skating and ice hockey events.

The high point of the 60m x 30m rink is the Zamboni machine procured at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore through the state and Central governments’ efforts. The project had almost come to a standstill and had missed several deadlines in the absence of the machine.

Mike Jeschke from Ontario, Canada, a refrigeration engineer representing Pine and Peak Developers, said that the massive rink is working as a giant refrigerator with a huge cooling mechanism having been put underneath the concrete basement.

“The Zamboni machine will help clear the snow during the events. The exact temperature required for the rink will be monitored through a computer. This kind of sporting arena is quite common in countries with 50°C temperatures,” he said.

While experts and trainers are giving a thumbs up to the facilities, the million-dollar question about who would run the rink continues to plague the brains of experts.

“Our region is way ahead in ice skating and the locals are passionate about the sport, but due to paucity of funds, we could never dream of this kind of facility that would be a boon for players.

“But it is not clear as to who will run the show once the Games are over,” said Abdul Rashid, member, technical committee.

The electricity bill of the skating rink is expected be around Rs 1.5 crore per month with per-day expenses of using the rink being close to Rs 7.5 lakh as per conservative estimates.

“No doubt the rink will spur youngsters to take up ice skating. It is already an Olympic sport, but the government has to ensure that the facility they have set up does not prove to be a white elephant.

“For this reason, I suggest that the Winter Games Federation of India be allowed to plan for it,” said Akshay Kumar, Secretary, Ice Hockey Association of India.

To meet the everyday power expenses of running the rink, State Winter Games Association President Brigadier SS Patwal had suggested outsourcing so that a private company could plan events, but many opposed the suggestion.

“Any company that is asked to take up the project will be more interested in the commercial aspect. It will a big loss to players who may have to fork out exorbitant fees for practicing.

“To avoid such a situation, the upkeep should be left to the Winter Games Federation of India. We do not want the sport to be the preserve of the few,” said M Ashraf Dijoo, member, technical committee, and responsible for building the winter sports infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dehradun, December 20
A cracker of a show is expected to unfold tomorrow at the Open Ice Skating Championship with top notch players from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir set to dominate in their respective events.

What sets apart the 300-strong team from Jammu and Kashmir is the sheer power house of talent from the regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. “We are confident of putting up a spectacular show in ice hockey event in which eight teams are participating,” said Ali Amir, sepoy, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).

He was a member of the ice hockey team that participated in the Asian Challenge Cup at Abu Dhabi and the Indian team was ranked eighth.

The passion for ice hockey made him take up the sport very early. “Ladakh is the only region in the country where ice hockey is played on natural arena. No wonder, the Ladakh Winter Club even attracts Canadian players, mostly working in the High Commission of Canada.

“We do not have a snow-clearing machine. The entire exercise is done manually, but the spirited people of my region just enjoy doing it.

“No wonder, the ice rink is a Godsend opportunity for most of us,” he stressed. Some players have returned after undergoing training in Poland.

The team’s preparations are handled by M Ahsraf Dijoo, who has played 18 sports, but winter sports continues to be his first love.

“Our team members are raring to go. We have immense potential in our state and we are also expanding our infrastructure in Gulmarg,” said Ashraf who is an expert rink maker and a pioneer in cycle polo that is also being played at the national level. His son M Mutaib is also a national ice-skating player.

Easily the top-ranked players participating in the event are Subodh Patil from Maharashtra and Anup Kumar Yama from Hyderabad and winner of the bronze medal in men’s individual skating and pair skating at the just-concluded Asian Games in China. He will be participating in the men’s figure skating event.

Subodh has been ranked number 42 in the world and will be participating in the senior ice speed skating event tomorrow.

“It has been a tough ride for me as I began as a roller skater but realised that it is not an Olympic event. So I shifted to ice-skating,” he said.

For most players, exposure to ice skating begins once they land at the venue because there is no artificial rink in the country. “The rink in Raipur is a boon for us. Abroad, we have to pay around Rs 5,000 for a seven-day practice.

Similarly, Anup Kumar too made a jump from roller to figure skating after setting his sight on the Olympics.

“My father was a recreational skater and that is how I took up the sport while pursuing my MBA studies. We have a small rink at home and that helps me in my practice,” said Anup Kumar. It was due to the support of his father that he managed to put up a stupendous performance.

The champion bemoaned the absence of ice-skating facilities in the country. “I practice on a wooden floor and this is the big drawback for most of us,” he said.

In the pair skating event, he has teamed up with Avni who is from Vishakapatnam. Together they bagged the bronze medal in the pair skating event at the Asian Games.

“As we live in different parts of the country, joint practice sessions are very few, but we keep these up by visiting each other’s cities,” said Avni.

In fact, the lack of training in Andhra Pradesh forced Kirat Singh, a speed skater, to shift to Canada. “I have already won the junior championship and my exposure in Canada will give me the cutting edge,” he said.

Dehradun, December 20
To discuss vital issues concerning the welfare of university and college teachers of Uttarakhand, members of the Federation of Uttarakhand University College Teachers Association (FUUCTA) assembled in the geography department of DBS PG College here today.

President of the association Dr Sudhir Gairola chaired the meeting and pointed out that the government should provide the entire UGC benefits to teachers without any delay, raise the age of retirement of teachers from 60 years to 65 years and grant four increments to newly recruited PhD holders and two increments to newly recruited MPhil holders who were recruited as teachers by the university.

FUUCTA general secretary Dr VC Pandey appealed to the government to introduce a smart card health scheme for teachers of universities and colleges of Uttarakhand, like other government employees from different departments who enjoyed this privilege.

He further added that as per UGC guidelines, the post of professor with a proper scale should be incorporated in PG colleges. And moreover the above demands in no way would add to the financial burden on the new state, according to Dr Pandey. In this context a letter had also been sent to the Chief Minister.

Dehradun, December 20
It was fun-filled day for students of DAV Inter College as they celebrated their annual day here today. The students presented well-choreographed cultural items.

The chief guest of the occasion, Narayan Dutt Tiwari, senior Congress leader, inaugurated the occasion by lighting the ceremonial lamp. He encouraged the students to utilise all opportunities coming their way and work towards making the country successful. He also gave away awards and certificates to students for excellent performance in academics, extra-curricular activities and sports.

The highlights of the day were a Garhwali folk song and a folk dance that beautifully showcased the culture of India. The festivities ended with the distribution of sweets.

The principal of the school congratulated the students and their mentors for putting up a good show.

Present at the occasion were Dr. S Farooq, social worker, Jitender Thakur, eminent writer, Rajeev Sharma, MC Bhandari, Nand Kishore, Anil Verma and others.

Pitthoragarh, December 20
Students in Barar primary school are not going to their classes due to the fear of attacks by a Himalayan black bear roaming in the area, said Samadhan, District Forest Officer (DFO), Pitthoragarh.

“The wandering bear has injured many villagers. As a result, residents don’t want to send their children to school,” said SS Pangti, gram pradhan of the village.

Villagers have requested the Forest Department to get rid of these bears. “We are forming a team of five-six forest guards who will fire in the air to force the bear into the forest,” said Sambandhan.

“The area near Barar school was once a corridor for Himalayan black bears which has been blocked by the primary school’s boundary wall,” said the DFO.

He added that in the Dharchula and Munsiyari area, villagers are coming across bears in the nearby forest. “Bears come down to escape the chill in the higher reaches and, normally, don’t attack humans, but they do get disturbed by the presence of humans in forests,” he added.

Dehradun, December 20
To pay tributes to Himanshu Panwar who had died in a road accident, students of Scholars Home held a peace rally here today.

The rally began from Scholars Home till Dilaram Chowk where the students held posters and banners with slogans written on these in the memory of the deceased.

Through their peace march, the students recalled the memories of Himanshu and appealed to the masses to always wear a helmet while driving a two-wheeler. 

Dehradun, December 20
Under the aegis of the Rajya Paramedical Chhatra Sangh Samiti, paramedical students staged a dharna, in favour of their pending demands, in front of the Vidhan Sabha here today.

The protestors were demanding the constitution of a council for the welfare of students. They also demanded the immediate registration of paramedical students and forming a placement cell for passed-out students.

The protestors also received support from senior Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana who expressed concern for them.

Dehradun, December 20
Today is indeed a very special day for the officers of 37 NDA/46 Regular Courses who passed out of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) in 1970.

These veteran soldiers reunited for three days to rekindle old memories at their alma mater here in Dehradun. From the portals of the academy in December 1970, 475 gentlemen cadets passed out. From this course, 20 brave officers attained martyrdom in the Indo-Pak 1971 War.

The reunion of the course is being held at the IMA from December 19 to 21. Besides the emotional homecoming for all, the course photographs, address by the Commandant, visit to the IMA museum and IMA campus, jubilee dinner and wreath laying at the IMA war memorial will be held.

The highlights of the event were the emotional get together and interactions which took place during the two-day stay.

Nostalgia brought tears of affection in most eyes when they recalled the wonderful time spent together in the heydays of their lives.

Every officer could be seen beaming with pride at the contribution he had made to the Indian Army. A fairly large number rose to higher ranks - eight became Lt Generals, two became Army Commanders, out of which Lt Gen BS Jaswal, GOC-in-C, Northern Command, was present on the occasion. Col Tony Oberoi (retd) from this course is a leading golf architect in India. The officers of the course presented a silver trophy (Ruby Trophy) to the IMA.

Dehradun, December 20
BC Milan Football Club got past Gypsy Youth Club in the Shivalik Trophy Football Tournament being played at the Survey of India grounds here today to reach the semifinals.

It was an early attack by BC Milan that proved fruitful. Amit scored the first goal in the seventh minute of play.

Gypsy Youth made repeated raids on their rivals looking for the equaliser, but could not succeed against the solid defence of BC Milan.

The second quarterfinal between City Young Club and Garhwal Sporting will be played tomorrow.

Haridwar, December 20
There is a good news for the hockey lovers of the state as in just a few days Haridwar will be hosting the annual All-India Swami Shraddhanand Hockey Tournament that will see the best of the sides from across the country competing for the top places.

Beginning from December 24, the five-day tourney will be having first-class teams of the country vying for the coveted trophy in which hockey wizard Major Dhyanchand had played once. For the tourney, to be held at the twin Gurukul Kangri University hockey grounds, a total of 16 teams have given their consent for participation while more teams are likely to register for the tournament.

The teams that have given their consent for participation are Punjab National Bank, Delhi, EMI, Jalandhar, Core of Signals, Shahjahpur, Sahabad Markanda, Uttar Pradesh Police, Northern Railway, Gorakhpur, Moradabad-II, Itawa, Yamunanagar, Chandigarh, Rampur Hostel. From Uttarakhand, apart from the host Gurukul Kangri University team, the other team that has given its consent for participation in the tournament is Uttarakhand Police.

Dehradun, December 20
The players of 9 Garhwal Rifle had to use all their strength to beat Garhwal Boys by 1-0 in the Late Manvender Singh Memorial Football Tournament held on the FRI Grounds here today.

In a fiercely fought match between the two teams, Vinod Singh scored the first goal for the winning team in the fifth minute of the game. Garhwal Boys did try hard for an equaliser but could not succeed.

Meanwhile, in the second match of the tournament, Bajrang Club got better of Doon Valley 2-0. The excitement of the crowd increased when Henry scored two goals for the winning team. He was also shown the yellow card by the referee during the match.