Dehradun, January 5
Teams of Nepal and Maldives reached Dehradun today to participate in the South Asian Federation (SAF) Winter Games that will begin on January 10 at the ice-skating rink of the state capital.

As many as eight players from both the teams reached the city along with their coaches. The teams are staying in the Madhuban Hotel at Rajpur Road. The staying arrangements for the teams had earlier been made at the Doon University.

Teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka are likely to reach Dehradun tomorrow. The eighth team - Afghanistan - is not taking part in the event, organisers said.

As per the new schedule, the ice-skating events will be held from January 10 to 12 in Dehradun while the skiing events will take place from January 14 to 16 in Auli, Chamoli district.

Dehradun, January 5
The Uttarakhand Forest authorities today received a major success when a leopard finally got trapped inside a cage that had been placed in the Indian Military Academy (IMA) for the past several months.

The trapped feline, that had minor scratches on its face, was noticed inside the cage by the IMA authorities this morning. They informed Dehradun Division Forest officials of the development. “We brought the leopard trapped cage out of the IMA and subsequently released the leopard into the Malhan forest range of Dehradun,” Rajkumar, Malsi Range Officer, disclosed.

The caging of a leopard within the campus of the IMA came as a big boost to the Dehradun Forest Division officials’ efforts to make the IMA free of leopard movement. The movement of leopards had been noticed inside the academy for long and had been a cause for concern. The IMA officials had been repeatedly asking the forest officials for a solution to the problem. Only a day back, a leopard had killed a cattle in the Aracadia Grant area that falls in the same vicinity.

Leopard movements have been quite frequent on the outskirts of Dehradun city due to its forest surroundings. Tracts of tea gardens, which are no more in use for tea cultivation today, have large a number of lantana bushes. The leopards usually hide in these bushes and attack human settlements. The frequency of the attacks becomes more severe during winters as these leopards turn desperate for their prey.

Dehradun, January 5
Slums have begun mushrooming even in hill districts of the state, which is a matter of concern for the state. At least nine urban local bodies (ULBs) in the hill districts, comprising Muni Ki Reti, Kirti Nagar, Gangotri, Nand Prayag, Badrinath, Rudraprayag, Kedarnath, Dharchula and New Tehri, are now witnessing growth of slums.

For the first time, the state has defined slums for hills and plain districts and also provided a comprehensive data on the nature of the slums, the nature of the habitation social, economic activities of the inhabitants living their and the nature of the habitation etc. The entire exercise will help the state come up with a slum policy and launch a slum-improvement programme as envisaged in the Centre’s vision of making cities free of the slums.

Findings of a survey undertaken by an NGO, the Himalayan Institute for Environment Ecology and Development (HIFEED), at the behest of the Urban Development Department, clearly points out the haphazard growth of the slums in the hill districts. While there is confusion regarding the two Urban Local Bodies (ULBS), comprising Joshimath and Doiwala, about the presence of slums in the Dehradun, the number of slums was expected to go up from 124 to 139. The number of slums in cities undergoing rapid industrialisation like Dehradun, Haridwar and Rudrapur has drastically risen.

“The criteria for the number of families living in hill and plain areas has been defined separately in the document that sets parameters for definition of the slums. A government order has also been issued in this regard. In the hills, the number of the families should be five or more and in the plains, the number of the families should be 20 or more,” said Principal Secretary, Urban Development, S Raju.

According to the norms, the area will be designated as slum where at least 50 per cent of the housing comprises semi-permanent structures made mostly of wooden, tin and other material. The habitations do not possess any civic amenities and the owners residing there have no legal rights over the property. Also, 50 per cent of the population should fall under the BPL category.

For the first time, definition of the slums has been explained and norms have been laid. According to the document, these were unplanned settlements without an approved layout and construction. Some could even be a probable source of danger and unfit for human habitation, especially existing in low-lying areas with dilapidated structures that were designed haphazardly, but falling in urban areas and lying within the municipal boundary.

According to the base line data, the population in slums in the state is put at 574 and the tentative population has now been put at 571 and the count is still on. The population of these slums is reported to be 5.98 lakh and can touch 6.5 lakh and above. The number of households has been pegged at 1.97 lakh.

Officials of the Investment Programme Management Unit of the Asian Development Bank (Uttarakhand Urban Sector) said, while the document for the slums policy had been drafted, the data from the survey would lead to the creation of an action policy for the slums.

These slums will benefit under the State Slum Improvement Plan and would also be covered under the Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana (RAY), Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM), Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) and drainage, solid waste management and water supply etc under the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Dehradun January 5
On the occasion of the 98th Indian Science Congress to be held in Chennai, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of Uttarakhand, is actively participating in Pride India - Frontier Science and Technologies Mega Expo, a national science event in Chennai, these days.

An exhibition on the theme, “Biotechnology, Science and Technology for the New Millennium”, has been put up by the state biotechnology department.

A large number of delegates and other participants are appreciating the approach of Uttarakhand exhibitors for the initiatives taken to develop biotechnology education, research and biotechnology based on social upliftment programme in the state.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The five-day Science Congress exhibition commenced from January 3 and will culminate on January 7.

The Government of Uttarakhand attaches high priority to biotechnology and believes in benefiting greatly from the direct intervention of research and would know about the associated tools for the sustainable development of the state and its economic upliftment.

The government places a very high priority to the strengthening of BT education and research in the state as well as on the overall human resource department.

Pithoragarh, January 5
Uttarakhand Police entered the second phase of the Uttarakhand Invitation Volleyball Competition after they won two matches on the inaugural day of the event being held at DS Bisht Ground here.

“Out of the four matches played today, Uttarakhand Police defeated Haridwar and Pithoragarh teams 25-12, 25-11 and 25-8, 25-10 points respectively.

“Gopeswar defeated Bageshwar 25-19, 25-12 and SSB defeated Haldwani 25-9, 25-17,” said Vinod Singh Waldia, District Sport Officer and organiser of the competition.

The competition was inaugurated by Pithoragarh District Magistrate NS Negi in the presence of District Judge DP Gairola.

Dehradun, January 5
After fighting a tough quarterfinal battle, Willis Youth Club made their exit from the Great Vivekanand Memorial Football Tournament as Doon Valley beat them 5-4 via sudden death to enter the semifinal.

The match that was played on the Pavilion Ground remained goalless in stipulated time.

Following a 0-0-deadlock, penalty shootout was held.

The penalty shootout ended at 4-4. Tarun, Ankur, Brijesh and Nikunj scored a goal for Doon Valley while Shyam, Arpan, Himanshu and Tika were the successful scorers for Willis Youth Club. In sudden death, Ayush of Doon Valley scored the winner.

In the last league match of the championship that was also played today, 5/3 GR defeated City Young 4-2. Neema Lamba was the star for 5/3 GR as he struck three goals - in the seventh, 15th and 43rd minutes. Omkar Pradhan (65th) scored the next one for the winning team.

Manish Khatri of City Young (25th and 26th minutes) fought hard for his team. Tomorrow, Akranta will play the second quarterfinal against Cantt Blues at 2.30 pm.

Dehradun, January 5
Priyanshu Khanduri (105) scored a ton to sculpt the title win of Sports Trainees at the First Triangular Series defeating Tanush Cricket Academy by 118 runs here today on the Rangers Ground.

Batting first, the winning side scored 219 runs in 35 overs for five wickets. Priyanshu Khanduri (105), Raj Kumar (39) and Pranjal (34) were the principal scorers. For TCA, Singdh Skalani, Agrim Tiwari, Akash Rawat and Preetam Rawat got a wicket each.

In reply, TCA were all out in 29 overs at the score of 101 runs. Lalit Panwar (28) and Tanush (24) were the main scorers for the side. Himanshu and Sayam Arora of the winning team took two wickets each. Rajat Negi, Priyanshu, Ankit Pant and Rahul also pocketed a wicket each.

Priyanshu Khanduri of the winning team was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant ton.

Dehradun, January 5
Shashank Mamgai was the star in the 3-0 final win of Eleven Star over Doon Star to claim the Shaheed Khadag Bahadur Memorial Football Tournament title here today at SGRR, Nehru Gram.

He scored all the three goals in the match. The goals came in the first half while the next half remained goalless. He found the net in the eighth, 17th and 30th minutes.

Chief guest Trivender Singh Rawat, state Agriculture Minister gave away the prizes to the teams and the players. Shashank Mamgai was declared Man of the Match.

The Man of the Tournament trophy went to Mohit Thapa of Eleven Star. Bajrang Club was awarded the Fair Play Trophy. All the officials of the organising committee were present at the concluding ceremony.

Dehradun, January 5
Mohit scored a lone goal in the 1-0 victory of the Dehradun Club over Doon Hawks during the ongoing District Hockey League Championship for boys that was held at Shri Guru Nanak Public Boys Inter College, Chukhuwala, here today.

Mohit scored the golden goal in the eighth minute of the game. Doon Hawks failed to score throughout the match. The winning team got five penalty corners and Hawks got three.

Tomorrow, two matches will be played. However, the organisers haven’t fixed the fixtures for the same.