Haridwar, January 31
After a hiatus of almost two months, the Tehri Dam authorities have started releasing enough water into the holy Bhagirathi river. The Gang Canal, which flows to its capacity at the twin pilgrim cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar, has brought smiles on the faces of pilgrims, teerth purohits, traders and tourists.

Earlier, the flow into the river had been stopped after the Koteshwar tunnel of the dam suffered heavy damage in a massive landslide. Now, about 10,000 cusecs of water is being released from the dam reservoir raising the level of the Ganga. Pilgrims and tourists have once again started to flock the both cities.

The officials of the Irrigation Department, Uttar Pradesh, which manages the operations of the Gang Canal in Haridwar, said as the repairs of the Koteshwar tunnel neared completion, enough water had been released into the Bhagirathi from the Tehri Dam reservoir. It was a technical process and criticism of their department by some organisations was unwarranted, they added.

Meanwhile, the Teerth Maryada Samiti has welcomed the rejuvenation of the Bhagirathi, which now flows to its capacity, though they said the hiatus was quite long, particularly in the month of Magh, which is considered quite auspicious.

“We always pressed for sufficient water in Braham Kund at Har-ki-Pauri and adjacent ghats as a low level of the Ganga at these places affects the sentiments of people who come to Haridwar in large numbers daily to take a holy dip and perform religious rituals during Magh,” said Sanjay Chopra, convener of the samiti.

Meanwhile, there was rush of pilgrims from the states of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and other states at the railway station and the bus stand here.

Mussoorie, January 31
The rock-cut sculpture of a lion near Vasu Cinema on the Mall Road in Mussoorie has been a landmark too good to be missed by passing tourists. They stop for a moment to pose in front of the magnificent lion that has been sitting majestically in a roaring posture since 1960.

Tourists cannot stop marvelling the hands of the sculptor that chiselled out the King of the Jungle from rusty rocks, the art work that has stood the test of time. It is sad that the sculptor who carved out the lion along with traditional folk dancers near the Jhoola Ghar is completely forgotten by “elitist” Mussoorie.

Senior citizen Madan Mohan Sharma, who owns a shop near the sculpted lion, says eminent sculptor C Roy from West Bengal was on a maiden visit of Mussoorie in 1960. When he was roaming on the Mall Road a rock that caught his imagination and the artist in him began working on ideas. After seeking permission from the Municipal Council (MC), Roy picked up a chisel and a hammer and started the tedious work of carving the rock intricately on a daily basis for one year. His dexterity with the chisel and the hammer culminated into an imposing lion that still “roars” with pride on the Mall Road towards the Library Bazar.

The other witness to this deed is Rajendar Singh Raunchela, now 67 years. He says that the work on the rock began when he was around 17 years old. He clearly remembers the sound of the chisel on the rock as they passed by the site on their way to school. The artist worked diligently on the rock with apt concentration.

Raunchela says the sculptor from Bengal was ably assisted by a famous painter Kalicharan Verma who owned a studio called Chitralekha in the Nawaz Building, also known as Standard Rink, that was consumed in fire in 1967. (At present Hotel Garhwal Terrace exists in its place). Kalicharan also painted the portraits of eminent leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Rajendar Prasad etc. that still grace board room walls of the Municipal Council. Raunchela further says that Kalicharan watching Roy working alone offered assistance and after that the pace of work increased immensely.

Local historian Gopal Bhardwaj says that after completing the lion sculpture, the artist did not stop there and carved out other figurines of a parrot, an elephant etc on the rocks of the Mall Road, thus turning it into an open art gallery. “The intricate work of traditional folk dancers at the Jhoola Ghar stands out from the rest, especially the carving of jewellery on women. Today watching the art work one wonders about the artist and his whereabouts, but answers are few.

Bhardwaj says it is believed that when Roy, after completing the work was not given the respect he deserved, he left Mussoorie and headed for Nigeria. Roy also painted the portrait of the Governor of the area. Roy used to sit on the road from where the Governor’s cavalcade crossed every day. One day the Governor glanced through the car window and seeing a painter with his portrait stopped and was pleased with the painting. The Governor called him to his palace and gave him a lot of art work after that, thus making him a rich artist from a pauper.

Bhardwaj laments the fact that today we take pride in the two art works of C Roy, but no attempt has been made to trace out the great sculptor. The travesty does not end there. The MC that places the plaque with names of all members, even in toilets, has not bothered to put a small sign board mentioning the artist’s name. Today one can praise the art work, but the artist who created these works is been lost in oblivion. Residents of the town are of the view that the MC, along with the creative fraternity, should make an effort to find the artist and felicitate him or his family for giving the town two landmarks which will remain engrained in the town and tourists’ hearts forever.

When contacted, MC Executive Officer Rohtash Sharma said the plaque was in place, but could have been eroded in the sands of time. However, if the board felt that it should be reinstated, he had no objections to it. He also clarified that all such properties belonged to the MC which must have paid the artist his dues. So the need to put his name must not have been felt.

Sharma also divulged that the present MC was planning to create such art work all over the town to attract more tourists and the work on the DPR worth Rs 1.5 crore was being prepared at the moment.

Dehradun, January 31
Candidates who took the Licence in Teaching (LT) examination that was held yesterday at 127 centres across the state alleged that the papers were not set up as per their level and alleged that these were bogus.

Applicants who had prepared for the paper in English language could not attempt the paper as the paper was set in Hindi. It was also found that maximum admit cards of the candidates had mistakes. The rectification process in the admit cards took half of the examination time and candidates could attempt only half of the paper.

The students agitated against the state government for the mismanagement in the examinaion.

According to the candidates, one of the centres for examination, Children’s Modern Academy, Dehradun, had allegedly leaked the examination papers earlier, for which a report was lodged at the Patel Nagar police station here yesterday.

Dehradun, January 31
Maintaining the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system, which was started by the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) mainly to reduce the burden of examinations on students, has become a problem for teachers.

Though the CCE concept has provided respite to students as well as their parents, teachers in Dehradun feel that it is a very lengthy procedure to maintain the record of every individual student, as it involves a lot of time and extra efforts. They feel that the time spent on maintaining the record of student activities can be utilised to teach them.

“The curriculum was started with an outlook to promoting weak students to the next class while not holding them back in the same class on the basis of assessing their conduct in class and participation in extra-curricular activities. But, the process is now overburdening our jobs,” said AK Pant, a teacher at Scholars’ Home.

“With the strength of over 45 or 55 students in each class, it’s quite difficult for us to keep a record of everyone. The implementation of the programme requires a lot of efforts to verify and then jot down the positive attributes of students, specially those who are weak in studies,” added Pant.

The teachers, including class teachers and subject teachers, have to maintain a register wherein the names of the students and their abilities in extra-curricular activities are written down from time to time. Highlighting the strength as well as the good characteristics of students, the report is then sent to the principal every two or three months for preparing the final progress report.

“This is for the first time we are practising the CCE system in our school. It has created extra load on the teachers. After a short training conducted by the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sansthan, we are asked to uphold the bio-data of every student while keeping in mind the background of the child. The problem arises with the students specially who are weak in studies and can not cope with the syllabus of their standard,” said MS Uniyal, a teacher at Kendriya Vidyalaya-2.

However, the CBSE has urged the school authorities to maintain the CCE record twice a year to promote the child to the next class. The board has also given sound training to the teachers for the assessment of individual student along with the complete policy of the board to frame the curriculum.

Haridwar, January 31
Pointing to the immense talent that Haridwar has, children showcased their near-perfection dancing skills, be it classical, semi-classical, folk or Bollywood genre. All this was visible at the ongoing Winter Festival in the city organised by the Nritayangan Group which is seeing an overwhelming response, both from participants as well as the audience.

Being held in three formats, single, duet and group, the dance participants are bracketed in the age group of 5 to 15 years. Spectacular, awesome, synchronised and brilliant performances are being presented at the festival by young participants, most of whom are trained, while many on their own are giving them a run for their money.

As per the judges, they are having quite a tough time judging the talented younger lot, be it their dancing skills, flexibility, facial movements, hand-eye coordination, sense of music-dance beats, innovative steps or even costumes as per the song or musical theme, every other performance seems to be bettering the previous one.

Belonging to Meerut, the judges trio of Deepak, Gobind and Rakesh are all praise for the immense talent Haridwar boasts of and are surprised that there are very few opportunities and platforms available for the kids in the world-famous city. “You just have to see the skill, talent and confidence of these participants who do not have many opportunities available to them, unlike the same-age counterparts from New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore or even Dehradun. But they have in them what is required to be successful at the top level. We are surely surprised by their level of dance performances,” said Rakesh Parihar, one of the judges.

One of the participants Ananya Atreya, a Class V student, who performed on a Rajasthani song, says she has been learning dance since the age of six, but gets few opportunities to perform live, apart from school functions.

Informing The Tribune, Bhawani Singh, Director of the Nrityangan Group, said the sole aim of the festival was to give a platform to the city’s hidden talent. And with the way the festival has shaped up, they have succeeded in it.

Pithoragarh, January 31
Students from the far-off western region of Nepal, who study in different colleges in the Kumaon region, have demanded the status of a state for their region under the new Nepali constitution.

The students gathered under the banner of the Antera Rashtriya Ekata Manch to celebrate the third anniversary of the organisation here yesterday. The student leaders said during the 332 years of feudal rule in Nepal, the western region, which comprised nine districts of the Mahakali and Seti regions, were totally neglected. “Only when these regions are made part of a separate state, can these match the mainstream development in Nepal,” said Prem Joshi, organiser of the meeting.

According to the proposals passed in the meeting, the organisation will fight those political parties that are creating a gap between people of India and Nepal for their political interests. “The relations between India and Nepal are centuries old and the societies of both the nations are inter-related by blood bond,” said Tilak Singh, who presided over the meeting.

The Nepali students said out of 75 districts of Nepal, there were 14 regions divided in five zones, namely the far-western, mid-western, central and eastern regions. “The development in the past decade has been mainly concentrated in central and eastern regions of Nepal, whereas mid-western and far western regions have always been neglected,” said Joshi.

The students also showed their concern over the delay in the completion of the new Nepali constitution and bizarre political conditions prevalent in Nepal. They hoped that the Nepali people would put pressure on the constitution makers to step up the pace of the work to complete the draft of the constitution soon.

Dehradun, January 31
Amid great enthusiasm, students of The Heritage School held their valedictory ceremony on the school campus here today. Dr Vipin Vaish, a pediatrician, was the chief guest on the occasion.

The programme commenced with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by Dr Vaish followed by a prayer service.

School office-bearers of class XII handed over charge to class XI. The Heritagians bid adieu to the outgoing class with heavy hearts and sang the farewell song.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Vaish expressed appreciation for the ceremony and advised the students of class XII to pursue their goals with dedication and hard work.

The outgoing batch of students was given mementoes by Director of the school Vikrant Chaudhary who wished them good luck for the future.

Dehradun, January 31
Dehradun Institute of Technology (DIT) beat Doon University by a big margin of 118 runs in the ongoing 60th District Cricket League held at the Survey Stadium, Hathibarkala, here today.

DIT opted to bat first after winning the toss in the match. Mukesh Rawat (72) and Ashutosh (56) mainly scored for DIT. They played fast knocks and helped the side set up a good fighting total.

The batting team set a massive total of 238 runs in allotted 35 overs. Rohit Rawat of Doon University took maximum four wickets. Nahim Ahmed got two, Sumit Pawar, Harish and Uday pocketed a wicket each.

Doon University was bundled out for 120 runs in 25.5 overs. Uday Rana (33) and Anup Rawat (18) could only chip for the team. For rival team, Amit Thakur and Ashutosh Tamta took three wickets each and Sumit took two.

Dehradun, January 31
The Doon Combined Club defeated the ITCC by five wickets in Uttarakhand Twenty-20 Cricket League Championship on the Mahindra Ground here today.

ITCC scored 94 runs in 18.4 overs. Aman (16), Mohit (25) and Gaurav (15) scored mainly for the batting side. Vipin and Sheetal took three and two wickets, respectively, for the opposite side.

In reply, Doon Combined achieved the target in 13.4 for 5 wickets. Arvind (25) and Ravi (31) were the principal scorers. Mohit of ITCC took two wickets.

Earlier in the first match, Doon XI got the better of Doon Tiger. The winning team scored 210 for seven wickets with Naresh (48), Ashish Joshi (42) and Neeraj (46) mainly contributing, while Doon Tiger was packed off for just 57 runs. Narender of Doon XI bagged maximum six wickets.

Dehradun, January 31
Income Tax (IT) officials today swooped on offices of the Winter Games Federation of India in connection with the SAF Games held this month.

The raids were conducted on Maharana Pratap Sports College, Raipur, and office of sports secretary Rakesh Sharma. However, the officials of the IT Department said it was only a part of their routine verification.

PRO of the Income Tax office AS Anand said it was the TDS verification and not the raid at the SAF Games office at Raipur. The PRO said it was a part of their routine TDS verification.

The officials, who started the operation in the day, continued the raids till the filing of the report.