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Colourful ending to SAF Games
Locals see a festival in Auli games
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Ropeway functional
Winter Games at Auli may prove unSAFe for birds
Girl mauled by leopard, succumbs to injuries
Enchanted to be in holy city: Karisma
Nainital diary
Directory of 535 Indian literatures released
Seminar on cleanliness organised
Doon Combined beat ITM team by 15 runs
Sri Lankan Port Authority team win matches
Doon Hawks win district hockey tourney
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Colourful ending to SAF Games
Auli, January 16 Speaking on the occasion, he said: “The Uttarakhand Government thanks the people of the state, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, the Army, the Winter Games Federation and other agencies for making the games a success despite the initial hiccups”. “Though these were the first-ever multination winter games organised in the country, these were well managed. The success of the games will further encourage the state government to bid for other major games, which will help in boosting the state tourism and economy,” he added. State Sports Minister Khajan Singh, local MLA and other dignitaries were present on the occasion. The bands of the Garhwal Rifles and other bands of the Army played various march past tunes during the closing ceremony. The bad weather had affected the opening ceremony of the games in Dehradun as well as the inauguration of the skiing leg here. Union Sports Minister MS Gill was to inaugurate the games in Dehradun but he failed to make it the venue due to the bad weather. Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, was to open the skiing leg of the winter games at Auli. He also could not reach the venue for the same reason. Meanwhile, India secured the first position while Pakistan remained second in the skiing events. Bangladesh, Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives failed to open account in both the skiing and skating events.
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Locals see a festival in Auli games
Dehradun, January 16 In the morning, the skiing events saw the countries of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal competing with one another while in the evening it was entertainment all the way. A large number of tourists and the vehicles of the SAF officials moving around was a special attraction for the locals from the business point of view. “A large gathering of people here itself signifies that something big is happening here. Not only has our business increased but also the closing ceremony has created a festival-like mood here,” said Ram Singh Thapliyal, a shopkeeper. Owing to yesterday’s snowfall, Auli seemed to be wrapped in a white blanket, which has brought cheers to the tourists. “I have come from Dehradun to watch the SAF Games. Though I have seen snowfall earlier also, I wanted to see the skiers taking part in the games,” said Raghwesh Manhor, a tourist. On the opening day of the skiing leg of the SAF Winter Games on January 14, cultural programmes and other activities were organised at Auli. Late in the evening special arrangements were made to entertain the officials with cultural programmes at the Gandhi Maidan, Joshimath. On the Friday evening, folk dances and other programmes were organised for the locals. The locals, mainly comprising youngsters, danced and sang along with the artistes. “We are thankful to those who have made this arrangement,” said Ram Joshi, a local resident. Yesterday, Sufi singer Kailash Kher kept his date with the people, despite the harsh weather. He was at Auli in the morning and had to come down to Joshimath for his evening performance there. But, the heavy snowfall blocked the road and also the ropeway was out of order. However, a group of 140 jawans and the police removed the snow from the road and brought the singer and other officials on their trucks to Joshimath. The Sufi singer started his show along with his troupe at about 10 at night and dazzled the locals who were curiously waiting of him to arrive. He sang popular numbers. The locals thronged the venue and danced fervently. “Bamb laheri” was the song that was appreciated the most by the local crowd. Kailash Kher thanked the ITBP jawans and the cops for helping him reach Joshimath. He was all praise for the people of Joshimath and the entire Uttarakhand. “The people here are innocent and quite hospitable and I will continue to visit the state again and again. It was my wish to perform at Joshimath and Auli,” he added.
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Ropeway functional
Dehradun, January 16 The 14-km Joshimath-Auli road was not open to traffic even today due to the snow. Though the 8-km stretch of the road has been cleared of the snow. Meanwhile, the weather was good for the games that started at about 12 noon.
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Winter Games at Auli may prove unSAFe for birds
Dehradun, January 16 Certain researchers at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, led by senior scientist VP Uniyal had come out with a comprehensive list of faunal biodiversity at Auli and its surrounding areas. Now, they will again get to work after the conclusion of the Games to assess their impact on the region’s biodiversity. Auli, Uttarakhand’s skiing paradise which has often been referred to as mini-Switzerland by the Uttarakhand Government, has been subject to intense recreational activity in recent times. And, the SAF Winter Games is the icing on the cake. Dr VP Uniyal, who had been closely associated with the study of avian fauna in Chamoli Garhwal, does not rule out the negative impact on indigenous birds due to the Games. “Some of our researchers studied the faunal diversity of Auli and its surrounding areas before the staging of the Games. These researchers will be going back to Auli after the conclusion of the event and would conduct an impact assessment study,” he said.
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Girl mauled by leopard, succumbs to injuries
Dehradun, January 16 The victim, a resident of Ron village in Almora district, came out of her house during early morning hours when she was pounced upon by a prowling leopard. The leopard after mauling the girl in the very courtyard of the house tried to carry her body to the forests. But the wild cat could not succeed as a large number of people had by then rushed to the scene. The beast left the body some 500 metre from the house and escaped into the forest. The girl that sustained serious injuries in the head and neck areas succumbed to her injuries shortly afterwards. However, Almora Forest officials said they were not sure whether the wild cat that attacked the girl was a leopard or a tiger. Divisional Forest Officer, Almora, Rahul disclosed that by identifying the footmarks, the attacking wild cat seemed to be a leopard. He also held that it was the prerogative of the Uttarakhand Chief Wildlife Warden to declare any leopard a man eater. The Uttarakhand forest authorities have in the meantime alerted their staff as they fear many more leopard attacks. The Almora leopard attack comes at a time when Nainital, another district of Kumaon, in is already facing the wrath of a man eater tigress, which is still to be gunned down despite the Chief Wildlife Warden’s orders to declare the beast a man eater. Leopards straying into human habitats have been quite frequent in Uttarakhand and the state Forest Department is finding itself helpless to deal with the situation. A large number of people lose their lives every year in wild animal attacks every year in the state.
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Enchanted to be in holy city: Karisma
Haridwar, January 16 Attired in a plain, white-embroidered kurti and wrapped with an azure stole, the Bollywood diva casted a spell on people as thousands lined up to get a glimpse of the actress who has stamped her acting skills by winning the coveted National Award twice as well as numerous Filmfare Awards for her balanced performance in both art and mainstream cinema. In an exclusive conversation with The Tribune, Karisma shed light on her film career achievements and tips for the younger lot who want to venture into filmdom. She said she was blessed to be in the pilgrim city where she had landed for the first time though had been to Uttarakhand for family and film purposes. “It’s enchanting to be in the holy Ganga city, in the midst of people of this city which is world renowned for its religious aspect. I feel blessed to have come here and hopefully I can go around the city to get more insight into this world renowned city,” avered Karisma. What set Karisma apart from her contemporary actresses was that she essayed non-glamorous roles in “Jubaida” and “Shakti” as well as popular cinema flicks like “Dil To Pagal Hai”, “Raja Hindustani”, “Hero No. 1”, among dozens of her super-hit films. On this aspect, Karisma said it’s just a matter of hard work, dedication and giving everything to your role as nothing comes easy in this business. Recently getting rave reviews on being on the January 2011 cover of coveted international magazine “Harper’s Bazaar” where she looked quite lean, the actress admitted that she had to carry out a rigorous physical regimen shedding several kilos to attain the perfect figure which she used to have in her heydays. Though in a lighter vein, she said Bebo (Kareena Kapoor) was a better person tospeak on this topic. With the distance of 70mm (cinema) screen and 35mm (television) fast lessening, the actress, who successfully acted in “Karishma :Miracle of Destiny” and as a judge in dance reality show “Nach Baliye”, sees it as a mingling of the two modes for better entertainment. She said television had taken giant strides in the past few years and was providing more opportunities to film stars as well as for audiences which was a good sign. She said she was still in films and was looking for good proposals only, as she didn’t want to be doing run-of-the-mill roles at this age. On her kids Samaira and Kiaan, the mother in her said her life had changed after she became a mother and now her first priority was the good upbringing of her kids. Karisma was all praise for her sibling Kareena who is now the hottest Bollywood heroine and said the acting gene in the Kapoor clan had once again been demonstrated. While signing off, the actress didn’t forget to mention her grandfather legendary Raj Kapoor with whom she shared a special bond and a piece of advice to the younger generation who wanted to make it big in the glamour field saying hard work, confidence, determination and creativity made the essence of success.
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Nainital diary
Tribune News Service Koshiyari was countered by state Congress president Yash Pal Arya who attacked the present government for letting down the people on all the fronts. He went on to charge that there was total anarchy in the state. Not to be ignored, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) president Trivendra Singh Panwar accused both the Congress and the BJP of destroying the basic character of the state and letting down the people by ignoring their aspirations. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that is struggling to find a foothold in the hill areas of the state said it was the only party that worked in the interest of the poor. Hill areas enjoy warm sunshine
Even as the people of the Terai and Bhabar regions shivered in the cold during the first fortnight of the New Year, the hill areas enjoyed warm sunshine. People coming to Nainital and other tourist spots were pleasantly surprised to witness warm sunshine with clear skies, whereas the plains were engulfed by fog and the visibility was close to zero. On several occasions, the tourists, who had made it to Nainital thinking that they were off-season visitors, went on to recommend to their friends in the plains to visit the place if they wanted to enjoy warm sunshine. It was only around this weekend that the weather became inclement and the town experienced the snow and sleet. With the winter at its peak, it is a sort of holiday time in Nainital. Following the practice that has become a tradition in the lake City over the several decades past, most of the business establishments like hotels and restaurants have shut down for at least a month. This time is being utilised by the owners for renovating their premises or carrying out the repair works. Several shopkeepers too have shut down and have moved to places outside to visit their friends and relatives. With the schools closed for the winter vacations, many people have sent their families to their relatives and friends for holidays. The town has started wearing a desolate look and is expected to come back to its normal life only around the middle of February. With there being hardly any tourists around, the shopkeepers, who continue to open their shops daily, can be seen enjoying games of ludo
and carom.
Kandari makes tall claims
Cabinet minister Matbar Singh Kandari’s recent visit to Nainital was marked by his tall claims that he is the only one amongst the ministers who has been fighting for the issues that he stands for. At one point he said just like Bhagat Singh, he too was not afraid of getting hanged by the neck but he would not compromise on the stand that he has taken. The media persons, who were present while he made these comments, were surprised at his tone and tenor. Later, it was revealed by Kandari’s close confidantes that the minister was “highly frustrated” with the way things
were moving. Kandari, ironically had interesting candid confessions to make. In a calculative manner he meekly accepted on his own that there were several discrepancies going on with regards to the disbursement of pension and other social security benefits. He himself gave one example after the other how funds meant to provide relief to the poor and the needy were being siphoned off. But, when he was asked how many officials had been penalised for these blatant errors, all that he could say was that inquiries had been set up. He went on to qualify this by saying: “What can I do alone against a gang of crooks?” By saying this he made another confession that the ministers were not being taken seriously at all by the officials. Even in the matter pertaining to the Kaliyar Sharief case where he has been given a notice by the High Court for trying to stop certain works there, he tried to put the ball in the court of the District Magistrate, saying that it is the official who was at fault and had allocated funds for the works in a wrong manner. He said he had not received any notice as such. The minister said he would abide by the court’s decision and all that he had done till now was to stick to his stand.
It’s no stopping boozers
The fact that Nainital hardly has any pubs or bars does not make much difference to the tipplers in the town who want to drink outside their homes. A large number of local eating joints are more than willing to offer their services for a small sum. One can see groups of people huddled together at these joints drinking away. Very often such groups cause a lot of nuisance outside the joints. They enter into
fracas with other groups who are also drinking or they pick up fights with common people over
trivial matters. The ironical part is that all these things are happening right under the nose of the local police. Most of the eating joints allowing drinking on their premises without permission from the administration are located very close to the police stations and police posts but continue to run their business
with impunity. Such tipplers are becoming a major nuisance and are giving a bad name to the city, as tourists wanting to board late night buses are most often the witnesses to such brawls. When it comes to liquor, the local administration seems to have turned a blind eye to the rights of the consumers who purchase booze from the outlets. In Nainital, various brands are being sold over and above the price listed on the bottles and there is no one to check the practice. Those sitting on the sales counters openly brag that the consumer can go and complain to anybody but they would charge
the premium. The liquor prices are already very high in the state owing to the existing Excise policy. Getting good wine from vends is in itself a Herculean task in most of the districts. It is high time the authorities have a look into these issues.
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Directory of 535 Indian literatures released
Dehradun, January 16 Rashid (67) is famous among Hindi poet lovers. Arfi narrated a few lines from his collection, which captivated the gathering at the function. Arfi laid stress on promoting Hindi literature among youngsters and encouraged the Hindi Sahitya Samiti for their endeavours in Dehradun. He also expressed gratitude to the Asha Memorial Mitralok Public Library for publishing detailed information of 535 literatures from all over India in a directory. Editors of the directory Anand Dewan and Anil Sharma, former president of the samiti Nek Chand Jain, Ambar Kharbanda and Gurpreet Singh Khalsa were present on the occasion.
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Seminar on cleanliness organised
Dehradun, January 16 Around 200 persons, including slum children, from various NGOs participated in the seminar. All of them were seen holding placards that mentioned about how one could keep their area clean. The Mayor explained to them about the solid management project that would be started in the city soon. He said this was the biggest work that the nigam had taken in its hand as none other could do the same. But it would be successful only if the residents extended their support to the team. The Chief Executive Officer of the nigam explained to them how to maintain the surroundings hygienic. He asked them to maintain two bins for throwing the filth, one that could be recycled and the other which was actually a waste.
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Doon Combined beat ITM team by 15 runs
Dehradun, January 16 Doon Combined won the toss and elected to bat first. Ravi was the top scorer of the team. He played a fast knock of 58 runs in just 47 balls. Arvind (15), Yogender (13) and Bobby (10) were other main contributors for the team. The team scored 142 runs at the loss of 10 wickets. Replying to the target, ITM’s Shivam played a fine knock of 43 runs and was the lone batsman from his side to score respectable number. No other batsmen could support him from other end and wickets kept falling. Saleem (10) was the only other batsman to have scored double figure number for his side. The ITM team made total score of 127 runs, while losing 9 wickets. In the second match, the Himalayan Cricket Academy surpassed RPCA by six wickets during the Uttarakhand Twenty20 Cricket League Championship at the Survey Ground here today. The RPCA team won the toss and elected to bat first. They made the total score of 103 runs at the loss of 10 wickets. Mannu of the RPCA made the highest score of 26 runs, while Nitin Bhandari and Sudhir made 21 runs each. In the second inning of the match, Himalayan Cricket Academy made the total score of 107 runs at the loss of 4 wickets. Vijay (44) and Sumit (24) managed to score well and made the team score respectable points. The Himalayan Cricket Academy surpassed RPCA by 6 wickets during the Uttarakhand Twenty20 Cricket League Championship at the Survey Ground here today. RPCA team won the toss and elected to bat first. They made the total score of 103 runs at the loss of 10 wickets. Mannu of RPCA team made the highest score of 26 runs while Nitin Bhandari and Sudhir 21 runs each. In the second inning of the match, Himalayan Cricket Academy made the total score of 107 runs at the loss of 4 wickets. Vijay (44) and Sumit (24) managed to score well and made the team score respectable points.
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Sri Lankan Port Authority team win matches
Dehradun, January 16 In the first match, Sri Lankan team trounced Oriental Insurance Company Cricket Club by seven wickets. Batting first after winning the toss, the Oriental Insurance Company Cricket Club made 112 runs for eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Gaurav with 31 runs and Sumit Tripathi with 25 runs were the main scorers for the team. L Pariera and Shahan took three wickets each for the touring side. In reply, Sri Lankan team scored the required runs in 12.1 overs only. Openers Shahan with 37 and Spaman with 45 runs were the main scorers. In the second match, Sri Lankans defeated Uttaranchal IT Traders Association team by nine wickets. Batting first, Uttaranchal IT Traders Association team made 111 runs all out in 20 overs. Vikas Dewan made a brilliant half-century by scoring 52 runs, while Mittu scored 27 runs. Sahasandra took 4 wickets for 15 runs for the Sri Lankans. In reply, Sri Lankan team scored 112 runs in 9.2 overs. Opener L Dies scored 49, while N Adonsh scored 24 runs.
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Doon Hawks win district hockey tourney
Dehradun, January 16 It was Doon Hawks that opened the account by scoring through Saleem in the 29th minute, but Harinder of Dehradun club equalised in the 48th minute of the game. As both the team remained tied 1-1 at the end of the stipulated period, penalty shootouts were applied. Fahad Aftab, Ravi, Nadeem and then again Aftab scored goals in the penalty shootout for Doon Hawks team. For Dehradun Club, Nurul, Sonu, Deepak Rawat, Ayush and Nrul scored all penalty strokes. In the sudden death, goalkeeper of Doon Hawks stopped a goal to make his team win the tournament. President of the Human Resources Development and Economic Development Foundation Jitender Mohan Sharma gave away the prizes to the winners and runners up teams. President of the Guru Nanak School RS Kandari, principal of the Guru Nanak School Jasbir Singh, president of the Dehradun Hockey Association SK Jain and secretary of the association Sushil Bahuguna.
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Auli, January 16
Dehradun, January 16
Svelte, gracious, polite, humble, greeting with a traditional namaste with no hangup of being a celebrity, an all-time great actress of Hindi cinema Karisma Kapoor enchanted the people of Haridwar in the same way as she was enchanted with the religious-spiritual-natural serenity of the Kumbh city.
Attired in a plain, white-embroidered kurti and wrapped with an azure stole, the Bollywood diva casted a spell on people as thousands lined up to get a glimpse of the actress who has stamped her acting skills by winning the coveted National Award twice as well as numerous Filmfare Awards for her balanced performance in both art and mainstream cinema.
Dehradun, January 16
Dehradun, January 16
Dehradun, January 16
Dehradun, January 16
