Dehradun, January 8
An exhibition showcasing the cultural heritage and tourism of Uttarakhand along with the history of the Winter Games is being put up at the Maharana Sports College, Raipur.

The ice-skating events of the SAF Winter Games are scheduled to be held from January 10 to 12. Along with the opening ceremony of the Games on January 10, the exhibition will also be inaugurated.

The tableaux of the Winter Games and tourist places of the state including Char Dham, Rajaji Park, Corbett National Park and Forest Research Institute (FRI) at a hall of the stadium will attract the attention of one and all from January 10. An model of ice-skating rink has been placed in the centre of the tableaux.

“Five kiosks with a variety of pictures have been put up at the exhibition to give information about the various aspects of the state including tourism, industry, education, sports and culture,” said Varinder K Arora, PRO of the event. “Each kiosk will be manned by a representative.”

In a separate enclosure at the exhibition hall, the history of and the information about the Winter Games has been displayed.

“Winter games are not that popular in the country and the exhibition will help popularise these,” the PRO said.

Besides Sports Minister MS Gill, Chief Ministers of Uttarakhand and Sikkim would also be present, he added.

Dehradun, January 8
The inability to answer a number of questions put up by mediapersons regarding the SAF Winter Games here made Brig SS Patwal (retd), President, Winter Games Federation of India (WGFI), leave the press conference in the middle.

The federation had called the press conference to list its achievements and hard work during the preparations of the Games to the media. However, it had to cut a sorry figure when journalists started asking them questions on the mismanagement and other aspects.

In the middle of a long speech by Patwal regarding the hard work put in by the federation, a journalist posed a question. This was followed by a volley of queries from the media, most of which Patwal failed to answer.

The WGFI President didn’t know the total amount that had been spent on the Games. He said that Rs 4.95 crore was given by the Centre and 10 per cent was spent by the state government, but he couldn’t tell how much had the government spent and how much did it amount to in total.

Among other burning questions which made Patwal think was why only demonstration games would be held here and not the competitive ones when crores of rupees have been spent on the rink. On this, he replied, “This is the first time we are holding the Games and it is a test for us. We are yet to finalise this aspect.”

The hottest question was what was the highly paid media management company hired by the federation doing. There seemed to be total mismanagement at the stadium.

Neither have the organisers finalised the procedure (ticketing or free entry) for spectators nor have mediapersons been issued accreditation cards when just a day is left for the international event to begin. He found himself cornered by these questions and left the press conference.

The Games will be held in two slots. Ice-skating events will be held from January 10 to 12 at Doon and skiing events will be held from January 14 to 16 at Auli. The Games will be inaugurated by Sports Minister MS Gill. Renowned singer Kailash Kher will perform at the opening ceremony.

Haridwar, January 8
City residents are trying their bit to stand by the families of those who got killed in the January 6 bus accident near Kuthalgate with mass condolence meetings, performace of yagyas and religious rites, observing 2-minute silence and offering earthen lamps on the holy Ganga.

While on the one hand, Hindu spiritual gurus performed religious rituals, on the other side Muslims offered namaz to pray for the solace of the souls of the dead, thus presenting a diversified unity of the pilgrim city. A similar scenario was witnessed last month when 11 youths of a Muslim family had died in an accident near Gaindikhata while coming from a marriage ceremony. Hindus had prayed for their souls’ peace and visited their Jwalapur-based homes expressing sympathy and solidarity with the affected families.

At Arya Samaj Ved Mandir in Jwalapur, a yagya was held. A number of saints participated in the yagya with a 2-minute silence observed after its completion.

Swami Yatishwaranad, Swami Muktanand, Swami Hari Chetanand and Swami Ved Muni among others performed the yagya. People associated with the temple committee too participated in the rites amidst the chanting of mantras.

A shantiyagya was performed at the Gurukul Kangri University-situated Brahmashram wherein university officials, employees and residents participated. Vice-Chancellor Prof Swatantra Kumar, Prof Mahavir Aggarwal, Dr RK S Dagar, NKS Arya, Dr Vijendra Shastri and Dr Prabhat Kumar, among others, participated in the yagya rituals.

Muslims termed the accident as unfortunate and held condolence meetings. Namaz was also offered by them at Jwalapur.

A candlelight march was also taken out late in the evening comprising traders and other organisations to pay tributes to the victims. From the Sabji Mandi market, with candles in their hands the activists urged the state government to take necessary steps to ensure special care was taken in the maintenance and traffic on hill roads.

Small traders leader Sanjay Chopra said due to varied geographic conditions in hill districts, high-quality measures should be adhered to in the making of roads as well as other related aspects such as traffic lights, street lights, signages, safety side walls and strict traffic rules imposition.

Student unions too organised condolence meetings. At Shravannath Math Jawaharlal Nehru College a meeting was held in this regard under the aegis of the students union. Diyas were offered by members of the Chandracharya Vyapar Mandal and various people offering tributes.

Dehradun, January 8
Students are turning up in large numbers to seek admission to DAV PG College. The admission process got delayed as the results for the examinations conducted in October last year were declared late.

Despite the chilly weather conditions, the students are coming to seek admission in the second and final-year of the BA, B Sc and B Com courses even from far-flung areas.

Due to the delay in the examination as well as the admission process, students are worried that they will not be able to attend the mandatory 180-day attendance before the final examinations.

“HNB Garhwal University is responsible for the delay,” said Pallavi, a student.

“I wonder how we will complete our course and fulfill the attendance criteria of 180 classes as per the varsity rules. We hope the annual examinations get postponed by two months this year,” said Deepak, another student.

According to SP Joshi, chief proctor of the college, “The university is entirely responsible for the delay in the academic process. The college is only responsible for giving admissions to the students and conducting classes. The classes for the second and third-year students began from September last year and those who were confident of getting through the back papers examinations attended regular classes.”

“As per the directions of the university, we have started with our admission process while the rest of the formalities of filling up the admission forms will be done later,” added Joshi.

Dehradun, January 8
Hosts Shri Guru Nanak Public (SGNP) Boys Inter College registered a semifinal berth today with a 2-0 win over St Agnes in the ongoing District Hockey League Championship here. SGNP has won its all three league matches in Group A.

Shiv (32nd) and Tinku Sonkar (36th) were the ones to strike in the win of the hosts. The winning team got eight penalty corners while St Agnes had five penalty corners.

Tomorrow, Doon Hawks will face Uttarakhand Power Sector and Indian Council Forest Research Education will battle it out with Dehradun Club in the league matches.

Dehradun, January 8
SIDCUL got the better of ITCC today in the Uttarakhand Twenty20 League Championship being held at Survey Stadium, Hathibarkala, here.

SIDCUL set a target of 90 runs in 20 overs. Manish scored the maximum - six runs - for the team. The team got most of their runs through extras - 38 runs. Ayush got three wickets and Mohit took a wicket for ITCC.

ITCC could just score 71 runs at the loss of four wickets in 20 overs. Mohit (24) and Gaurav (21) were the main scorers for the batting side. Virender and Sonu got one wicket each.

In another match, Rao Cricket Academy beat Purohit Cricket Academy by seven wickets. The latter scored 110 for seven wickets in 20 overs and Rao scored 111 for three wickets in 13 overs.

Dehradun, January 8
In a close fourth quarterfinal today, 2/3 Gorkha Rifle entered the semifinal beating 5/3 Gorkha Rifle 2-1 during the Great Vivekanand Memorial Football Tournament being held on the Pavilion Ground here.

Bhosal Gurung (53rd) and Chab Bahadur Thapa (55th) laboured hard to strike a goal for the winning team. Ganesh of 5/3 GR scored a goal to make the match competitive but his side did not find the equaliser.

Mussoorie, January 8
Nine players from Garhwal University, who were selected for the North Zone Table Tennis Tournament scheduled to begin on January 10 at the Uttarakhand Technical University in Dehradun, are undergoing rigorous training at a camp at Mussoorie Post-Graduate College here.

Coaches Bhupendar Upreti, Narendar Kumar and Ramesh Chamoli provided necessary training to the players today. The camp started on January 3. The players were selected at a recently concluded inter-university championship held in Mussoorie.

According to Dr Ajay Parmar, convener of the camp, nine players were selected from the Garhwal University for the competition.

In the men's section, Dinesh Rana (MPG College), Mohit Bisht (Kotdwar), Prashant (Gopeshwar), Mayank (Srinagar) and Sumit Joshi were selected.

Among women, Priyanka Madhwal, Vinita Chimwal (DAV College, Dehradun), Priti Khanduri and Ria Dimri from Gopeshwar were chosen.

Dehradun, January 8
A 29-member group of students from Army Goodwill School, Gulmarg, in the Kashmir valley, called upon Uttarakhand Governor Margaret Alva at the Raj Bhawan here today.

The group is on a tour of Chandigarh, Dehradun and Ambala as part of the Indian Army’s “sadbhawna” initiative.

The Governor appreciated the gesture and called upon the students to maintain the integrity of the country. The students presented a memento to the Governor and sang a group song “Hum hoge kamyaab...” for her.