Dehradun, February 26
A petrol pump was sealed and probe ordered against two kerosene dealers after a raid by Uttarakhand Food and Civil Supplies Minister Diwakar Bhatt revealed large-scale irregularities.

All the machines of the Yak Petrol Pump on the Rajpur Road were sealed when 50 ml less petrol was detected in its 1 litre quantity.

Diwakar Bhatt ordered the immediate sealing of the machines of the petrol pump and also directed for suspension of the license.

The minister also visited two other petrol pumps, Agarwal Petrol Pump, Ashley Hall, and Shahid Kashmiri Singh Petrol Pump and found their measures very accurate.

Bhatt also ordered probe into ration dealers’ shops in the Railway Station area, where two shops were found closed. These shops include Agarwal Traders and Rajesh Prasad and Jagdish Prasad. The minister directed the sub-divisional officer to probe into the matter.

Earlier, Bhatt reached the District Supply Office and checked the attendance of the employees.

Dehradun, February 26
The Dolphin (PG) Institute of Bio-Medical and Natural Sciences celebrated its annual day today. The programme began with the lighting of a lamp by chief guest Prof Girijesh Pant, Vice-Chancellor, Doon University, followed by a welcome song and Saraswati vandana.

The entire college campus wore a festive look and was decorated beautifully with colourful lights. Inter-departmental co-curricular activities were the main attraction of the event. The finals saw power-packed performances by the participants.

Professor Pant gave away the prizes to the winners and congratulated the participants for their endeavour. He was accompanied by VK Srivastava, Deputy General Manager, Punjab National Bank.

Chairman of the institute Arvind Gupta said, “Intellectual competition is essential in maintaining high standards in the field of education. Well-maintained infrastructure, highly educated faculty and placement cell are required to run education institutions professionally. All should try to make higher education world class and it should be a subject of concern to everybody”.

The Dolphin Educational Society gave 25 scholarships to the academically brilliant students and to those from the socially weaker background.

Principal of the institute Shailja Pant presented a detailed annual report.

President of the society Ramesh Garg, secretary Vinod Mittal, Vice-Principal Arun Kumar, Dean (Student Welfare) Vipul Garg, Dr TS Mehra and Dr Aditya Swarup were present on the occasion with other faculty members, staff, guests and students.

Dehradun, February 26
Snow in higher reaches and rain in plain areas will continue to take place in Uttarakhand till Sunday afternoon. This was stated by Dehradun Meteorological Office Executive Director Anand Sharma. He said the sky would become clearer later in the afternoon.

In capital Dehradun, light showers continued through the day. It also led to fall in the mercury forcing people to remain indoors.

Meanwhile, after three days, the Rishikesh-Badrinath highway was opened to the traffic after landslides hit the road a few days back.

PITHORAGARH: Rainfall in the past 24 hours has revived the cold wave in the district. High peaks of the Himalayas in Dharchula and Munsiyari subdivisions are now under a thick blanket of snow.

District administration officials said continuous snowfall for over 24 hours had obstructed motor transport in the areas which were close to the Himalayas.

According to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), that guards the Indo-China border, snowfall this time had broken all the winter records.

“Between the Gala camp of the ITBP in the Byans valley and the Lipulekh pass, the snowfall this year was from 2 to 5 feet,” said an ITBP spokesperson.

“This rainfall is a boon to the farmers and horticulturists. The rainfall has not only been on time, but has also been equally distributed. It will not only help flowering in nut fruits, but also enrich the wheat and mustard crops along with recharging water sources for the summer months,” said Dr RK Singh of Pantnagar Agriculture University.

KUMAON: Cold wave conditions have returned to the Kumaon region since Friday morning. The higher parts of the region have been experiencing moderate to heavy snowfall, while widespread rains have been experienced across the region. Life has been disrupted in some parts. The higher reaches of Nainital also experienced falling of snowflakes on Saturday morning.

Dehradun, February 26
Dr Justice VS Malimath today said a compendium on laws and schemes relevant to women and marginalised groups prepared by the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) would allow these sections an easier access to information.

He was presenting the inaugural address at a validation workshop, organised by RLEK, to review the information collated and compiled in the compendium on laws and schemes relevant to women and other marginalised groups in Uttar Pradesh.

“The compendium prepared by RLEK will become a blue book for spreading awareness among the most vulnerable sections of society. If information is readily available, there are chances of better access to programmes meant for these groups,” he said.

Justice Malimath also urged the kendra to introduce an accountability measure wherein attention was paid on the number of persons who were privy to these benefits.

“This will be a kind of auditing exercise that will add value to the compendium and also help translate the laws into reality. I am sure the compendium will have a life of its own once benefits begin reaching the beneficiaries and you keep a track of these,” he added.

The NGO has been assigned the role of a “resource agency for the development of a compendium for legal awareness’ by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Justice Shambu Nath Srivastava, Chairman, State Police Complaint Authority, said due to the poor implementation of law, the benefits did not reach the intended sections.

“Systemic failure is responsible for the poor implementation of schemes such as the midday meals programme and the pension scheme for widows,” he said.

He also decried the system of double litigation in place in Uttar Pradesh due to which simple mutation cases stretched on for 20 years.

Earlier, Avdhash Kaushal, Chairman, RLEK, said the compendium, comprising 50 schemes and 48 laws of both the state and Central government, was prepared with a focus on three districts of Uttar Pradesh - Bhadoi, Mirzapur and Jaunpur.

“It will serve as a rights and entitlement handbook for marginalised sections,” he said.

Significantly, some suggestions that emerged at the end of the workshop too will find a place in the compendium.

Dehradun, February 26
The People For Animals (PFA), Uttarakhand, today got a boost with St Joseph’s Academy (SJA), Dehradun, extending support to their animal welfare activities.

Brother AJ George, Principal of SJA, pledged to extend support for animals in distress and create awareness about animal rights in the city by educating children to be compassionate, not just by words, but by action.

The SJA recently adopted four roosters that were saved by the PFA from being sacrificed at the Santala Devi Temple in the Garhi Cantt area of the state.

The birds will be housed in a large coop built specially for them. Students will be involved in taking care of the roosters.

The school has also introduced the “Safar Ek Rupaye Ka” scheme of the PFA, Uttarakhand. Under the scheme, each student will pay Re 1 every month towards charity. The school will also make an equal donation.

The support that the PFA has been receiving from schools has been very encouraging. Students of Welham Boys’ School and Doon School visit the shelter regularly and help in taking care of the animals and maintaining the campus.

Students from many other schools and institutions also visit the hospital from time to time.

Dehradun, February 26
Local rock band Corsair held a promotional rock show “Loud and Proud” at the Shaheed Durga Mall Park here today. The bold music dished out by the band made the audience nod to their tunes.

The band also invited other amateur rock bands to participate in their show.

The show was organised with the aim of promoting rock music in Dehradun and providing a platform to bands of local school and college students. Youngsters enjoyed the performance of the bands, which covered songs from “Linkin Park”, “Rock On” and many more.

Addressing the audience, Monty, a member of Corsair, welcomed the eight participating bands.

“Like us there are quite a few rock bands that do not get a platform to perform and show their talent in front of the public. Therefore, we have invited eight amateur rock bands to perform with us and give their best,” said Monty.

Other bands like Sidhi, Kaal and Rudra, with their scintillating performances, left the audience wanting more. The music played by the bands made the crowd sway to their tunes.

Dehradun, February 26
The Dr Virender Swaroop Memorial Debate Competition was organised at DAV PG College here today. Dayanand Women’s Training PG College, Graphic Era University, Shri Guru Ram Rai PG College, DBS PG College, MKP PG College, Sanatan Dharm Prakash Chand Kanya PG College, DAV PG College and Sardar Bhagwan Singh PG College participated in this competition.

The topic for the debate was “Indian democracy capable enough to eliminate corruption”. Speakers from different colleges expressed their views on this significant issue.

The audience was enthralled by the energy, wit and vivacity of the participants. Principal of DAV College BL Nautiyal appreciated the efforts of the students as well as their teachers.

The overall trophy for the best team went to Dayanand Women’s Training PG College. Surabhi Uniyal of DBS College was adjudged the best speaker, while Tripti Daniel of Dayanand Women’s Training PG College and Divya Kumar of Graphic Era were declared second and third, respectively.

Dr K Shukla, Ratan Singh Jaunsari and Kushal Kothiyal judged the competition. Along with teachers and students of the college, many dignitaries also attended the event. Dr Savita, Director, Bhasha Sansthan, Uttarakhand, awarded the winners and appreciated the efforts of other participants.

Dehradun, February 26
Ranjit Section has led in the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) Inter-Section Quiz Competition (phase 1). A total of 16 cadets participated in the quiz, four cadets from each section.

The participants were:

Pratap Section - Cadets Sabhyasachi Mishra, Chetan Singhal, Akash Kumar and Ashish Dahiya.

Ranjit Section - Cadets Sachin Lakhawat, Ankit Malik, Prince Robin and Anshul Kumar.

Shivaji Section - Cadets Nishant Rana, Avinash Chettry, Chetan Kumar and Vijay Choudhary.

Chandragupta Section- Cadets J Doke, Aditya Kalsotra, Anirudh Panicker and Sachin Kumar.

The quiz was divided into nine rounds, namely Ecology and Environment, Current Affairs, Sports, Science and Technology, Brain Teaser, RIMC Round, Audio, Video and Buzzer rounds.

At the end, the scores were as follows:

Pratap Section - 70 points

Ranjit Section - 90 points

Shivaji Section - 75 points

Chandragupta Section - 60 points

The quiz-masters for the event were Ruchi Dutta, UP Dalvi, Balvir Chauhan, Shika Juyal and N Negi.

The timekeepers were Cadets Khumanlaba, K Pranish, Prem Kashyap and Kumaran.

The chief guest for the event was Col PK Kumaria, Commandant, RIMC. He complimented the cadets for their vast bank of knowledge.

The members of the jury were CS Vishwakarma, DN Thapliyal and PN Naik.

The other dignitaries present were Lt Col A Tiwary, Wg Cdr SK Thapliyal, Lt Cdr S Chakraborty, Major SR Sahu and KS Ahalawat. The main co-ordinator of the event was PK Sharma.

Dehradun, February 26
The Doon School was invited for “The Olympics Dreams Live Programme” in London in January.

In the run-up to the Olympic Games in London in July 2012, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is tracking 28 athletes from across the world. And the schools with which they were associated were invited for the programme to get a better insight into the lives of these sportsmen and women.

The Doon School was invited as India’s  only Olympic individual gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was its student for some years.

Representatives of the BBC have been visiting these schools. They had visited The Doon School in September 2010.

The school was represented at the programme by Anjan Chaudhary, who is a teacher of mathematics, a housemaster and a keen sportsman, and Udai Bothra, a good athlete, who was the representative of the students.

The conference was attended by about 200 student and teacher delegates and conducted at the historic British Museum in the heart of London.

In the two-day workshop, the participants were taught how to make a good movie. There was a discussion on creating storyboards and every non-UK school was linked with a UK school to take this partnership forward.

The Doon School was teamed up with Thomas Hardy School, a school in the southern part of England. A plan has been chalked out for both schools to be in touch in the run-up to the Olympics.

School

The Doon School

William Knibb (Jamaica)

Loktak Christian Model

Habib Public Sec. School, Pakistan

Jan Mohr High School, Namibia

Blair Academy (UK)

Sportsperson

Abhinav Bindra (shooter, India)

Usain Bolt (sprinter)

MC Marykom (boxer, India)

Shoaib Ahmed (hockey)

Merlyn Diamond (sprinter)

Luel Dong (basketball, Chicago Bulls and UK teams)

Merlyn Diamond was present as a student representative from her school.

Haridwar, February 26
Despite an overcast sky, students gave their everything at the annual sports meet of Shravannath Math Jawaharlal Nehru (SMJN) College here today.

In the 200m race among girls, Alka Saini (BA III) came first followed closely by Pratima Chaudhari (BA I). The bronze went to Tanu Singh of BCom I.

In the same event in the boys category, Devdeep Chakraborty (BCom II) won the gold with Arjun Singh (BA II) coming within a second’s distance at the second position. Karan Singh (BCom II) came at the third position.

The showpiece race event of 5,000m was won in an emphatic fashion by Supendra Kumar (BA II) who was followed by Karan Singh (BCom I) and Sumit Kumar (BA II).

The shot-put was won by Pratima Chaudari followed closely by Tanu Singh and Tanuja Rana (BA I). In the boys section, Divyam Kumar (BCom I), Sandeep Singh (BA III) and Chirag Chauhan (BCom II) claimed gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.

Dr SK Batra of the college said that the winners would be given medals at the annual function.