Dehradun, March 3
Clad in black robes and having red scarves on shoulders and caps on the heads, a large number of pass-out students from DAV PG College were awarded degrees during the 4th Annual Convocation of the college here today. As many as 8,231 degrees were given to the pass-outs from science, arts and commerce streams.

After a prolonged period of 14 years, DAV PG College held its 4th Annual Convocation on its premises today where about 21 meritorious students were awarded with gold medals too. A large number of pass-out students, eminent academicians, social workers and others participated in the convocation.

Senior BJP leader, Rajnath Singh was the chief guest. Accompanying him was Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor as special guests while Ganesh Joshi, MLA, Rajpur, was the guest of honour. Prof SK Singh, Vice-Chancellor, HNB Garhwal University, chaired the convocation ceremony.

The programme began with the welcoming of the chief guest. Remembering the efforts of martyrs, the guests offered flowers at the Shaheed Sthal, which is located on the college premises. Following it was the convocation parade led by Principal BL Nautiyal.

In view of a large number of the pass-out students, the college management had earlier scheduled the ceremony on the college ground but the venue was shifted to the college auditorium due to the downpour continuing since early morning.

However, the college choir commenced the ceremony with the national song “Vande Matram” after which the eminent guests lit the ceremonial lamp and offered prayers to Saraswati. Professor Singh conferred degrees on the entire group of candidates while Rajnath Singh presented the meritorious students with gold medals.

Addressing the students on the occasion, Rajnath Singh advised them to work hard for achieving their set goals in life. Showing concern over growing influence of the Western traditions among the students, Professor Singh said: “India has been a pioneer in the field of education and we should not forget our traditional values. We should emphasise the conservation of cultural heritage and the emerging talents that can really bring difference in seeking the number one position among powerful countries.”

Terming the students as nation builders, Rajnath Sing appealed to the students to work for the betterment of society and the nation while wished them for better future and great careers ahead.

While showing his concern about quality education, Nishank appealed to the students to follow the Indian culture and education system that had gained recognition throughout the world. “The students should not run after the Western culture but should contribute in the development of the nation and make their country proud.”

The ceremony ended with the vote of thanks delivered by the Principal of the college followed by national anthem sung by the college choir. DR SP Joshi, chief proctor, DAV PG College, coordinated the entire programme.

Dehradun, March 3
The state census office is getting a good response from the residents of the capital city now, as they are receiving a large number of phone calls from the people who have not been enumerated so far.

“They will now be targeted during the ongoing revision round of the second phase of the census procedure,” said Dehradun Municipal Corporation census officer in charge Dinesh Sharma.

He said, “Though the census work had been completed on February 28 night with the enumeration of the homeless persons in the MC areas, we are still receiving calls from the people who were not enumerated during the period. We have received more then 100 calls till now,” said Sharma.

The enumerators were earlier facing a lot of problems as people were not cooperating, but people started supporting them after understanding the benefits of the census.

"We have directed the enumerators and supervisors to reach out and enumerate those who are left out due to various reasons,” he said. “They are asked to submit the report before March 5,” he added.

Around 900 enumerators and 200 supervisors were deployed for completing the census work in the DMC. “A revision round has begun on March 1 and will go on till March 5,” stated Sharma.

Dehradun, March 3
Taking the lead once again, the Governor house will become a venue for disseminating green ideas as part of the Spring festival or Basantotsav that will begin tomorrow.

The concept of green buildings and green technologies is expected to get a major boost this year with Governor Margaret Alva vigorously promoting it at Nainital Governor House and is keen to take it up at Dehradun Raj Bhawan, so that these two places become models for residents of Dehradun.

“The spring festival has already become popular with horticulturist and floriculturists, but we will also like to promote energy-efficient ideas. The model of green building prepared by PWD will be on display, along with LED system. The Governor House at Nainital is already using solar energy in a big way, along with a water-harvesting system. A budget of Rs 74 lakh has already been allocated for the installation of the solar energy systems at both the Raj Bhavans. We expect to start it soon here,” emphasised Alva, while speaking with the mediapersons here today.

Elaborating on the concept of green building, executive engineer BN Choudhury of the PWD said, “While the costs are set to rise while fulfilling the 34 building norms as laid down under the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), it also promises efficient water use and energy saving that automatically reduces capital costs,” said Choudhury.

On the other hand, Principal Secretary (Home) Rajeev Gupta said the Basanotsav provides a window of opportunity to amateur gardeners, professionals, scientists and the general public to brush up their knowledge about different varieties of flowers and vegetables being grown and also embrace new technologies.

While the first day of the spring festival would be dedicated to cultural programmes and painting competition, the Governor will formally inaugurate the Basantotsav on March 5, during which special postal stamp and first day cover of Phen Kamal (Foamed Lotus) depicting the biological diversity of the state would also be released.

Besides different varieties of flowers and vegetables that would be on display, GB Pant Nagar University would be showcasing two varieties of tomatoes and cucumber developed by them. The Basantotsav would conclude on March 6 with a prize distribution function.

Dehradun, March 3
The members of the Citizens for Green Doon today held a protest and submitted a memorandum to Dehradun Mayor Vinod Chamoli, asking him not to shift the peepal tree located near the Clock Tower.

“We were distressed after we came to know that the Municipal Corporation is planning to shift the peepal tree located at the Clock Tower to the Gandhi Park,” Dr Nitin Pandey from the Citizens for Green Doon told the Mayor. “The tree was planted by Sarojini Naidu when she laid the foundation stone of the Clock Tower. Instead of moving the tree, the Clock Tower should be moved somewhere else,” he added.

The Mayor told them that he had asked for the suggestion what could be done with the tree. “We are doing everything in a friendly manner and want to save greenery in the city. The tree would not be damaged at any cost as we are taking suggestions from experts,” he affirmed. “I need to keep in mind about the years to come and not just the present moment. If the tree is not uprooted now it would definitely damage the tower in the future,” the Mayor said, adding “the view of tower also gets obstructed due to the tree.”

The corporation has awarded a Rs 17-lakh project to the Union Bank for its beautification. The tower would be surrounded by a water body and fancy lights. It would be designed in such a way that no one is able to stick posters or banners near the tower, he added.

Dehradun, March 3
Quarterly conference of the Group Commanders of the NCC Directorate, Uttarakhand, was held at Nanurkhera under the chairmanship of DDG NCC Brig SN Yadav.

The routine conference was held to discuss and review the training activities carried out by the Uttarakhand NCC and formalising the training road map for 2011-12.

The conference was preceded by a felicitation ceremony for the cadets and staff, who have excelled in the recently concluded Republic Day celebrations in Delhi or were awarded by DG NCC for their meritorious performance.

Secretary (Education), Government of Uttarakhand, Manish Panwar presided over the ceremony. Panwar complemented the awardees for their achievements and praised the state NCC for its sterling performance during the Republic Day celebrations.

Dehradun, March 3
The women's cell of MKP PG College held the closing ceremony of the third phase of Project Shrinkhala 2010-11 on the premises here today. The project aims at curbing female foeticide in India.

The chief guest was Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank who was accompanied by Dr Asha Mathur, Chief Director, Health, Dr Uma Kant Panwar, Secretary, Health, and Dr Geeta Balodi, convener of the women cell.

Dr Balodi presented a detailed account of the project and apprised the audience of the motive and significance of running the project on the college campus.

Master trainers from all over the state also attended the closing ceremony of the third phase of the project.

The Chief Minister hailed the project and congratulated the Principal of the college, Dr Indu Singh, and Dr Geeta Balodi for their unflinching conviction in eradicating female foeticide from the Indian society.

Dehradun, March 3
The Civil Defence organised a student awareness workshop on ‘polythene and its management’, at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Hathibadkala, today. The workshop was jointly catalysed and supported by the Society of Pollution and Environmental Conservation Scientists (SPECS) and the Dehradun Municipal Corporation. Over 500 students attended this workshop.

In the inaugural speech, additional Chief Executive Officer of the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, Harak Singh Rawat said, “The Corporation is in the process of managing polythene and garbage in a better way. The corporation is doing well in garbage management in 10 wards of Dehradun. In the future, it plans to collect garbage from each home”. He also demonstrated a two-in-one garbage bin to the children.

Dr Brij Mohan Sharma of SPECS said that as polythene bags were easy to carry therefore most of the people in India widely use them.

Due to the careless disposal of ‘polythene’ in the country, areas where they have been deposited in large quantities have lost soil fertility. This was mainly because they cannot decompose and therefore cannot lead to the formation of good soils. Polythene bags have an acidic combination, which with time disturbs the chemical nature of the soils.

The poor disposal of polythene bags can also lead to the spreading of various diseases. This is because polythene bags can easily block sewerage and water pipes which can eventually lead to the spread of the diseases e.g. the break out of cholera in Kampala in 1997. They also cause water logging since water cannot percolate through them and acts as a good breeding ground for vectors which spread diseases.

Dr Sharma suggesting a management plan to the students and teachers and said that segregation the non-degradable garbage was required. Non degradable garbage was the bread and butter for rag pickers. The rag pickers are the volunteer beautifiers of Dehradun. Sharma also suggested that processed food should not be taken in polythene because the food becomes unhealthy.

“Do not use coloured polythene for food because of toxicity. Coloured polythene contains toxic metals as Chromium, Nickel, Copper, Zinc, Arsenic, Bromium, Cadmium, Mercury and Lead. The general practice is to carry mutton in black polythene which is very harmful to humans and the polythene which is thrown outside becomes fatal for stray dogs and cows,” added Sharma. Umeshwar Rawat, post warden of the Civil Defence said, “One of our objectives is to eradicate polythene from Dehradun”.

The principal of KV said, “It is a great awareness programme for the children and teachers”. Hemendra Gupta of SPECS was also present on the occasion.

Dehradun, March 3
Naresh Parihar struck an unbeaten century and grabbed two wickets to lead Uttarakhand Police to an emphatic 153-run win over Doon Defence Academy here today during the 60th District Cricket League at the Survey of India Stadium.

The police team won the toss and decided to bat first. Their batsmen treated the rival bowlers mercilessly as they made 238 runs for four wickets in 20 overs. Opener Naresh Parihar slammed two sixes and 12 fours in his innings.

Harsh Negi (85) also made a major contribution. Atish of Doon Academy got two wickets while Amit Sharma and Ravi Jugran got a wicket each.

Batting second, the academy squad was bowled out for 85 runs in 18.4 overs. Rajesh (32), Amar Malik (15) were the main scorers.

Dhanraj, Naresh Parihar and Manoj took two wickets each for the cops. Ravi Bisht and Vijay pocketed a wicket each.

Pithoragarh, March 3
In a bizarre cricket competition held in a village cluster in the district, the trophy was named after a male goat and the winner team was awarded two male goats.

“As male goats are considered valuable in our village, this year, youths from the village decided to name the competition after a young male goat and present the winner with two goats,” said Dinesh Basera, organiser of the competition.

“After we announced to give the winner and the runner-up prizes in the form of male goats, more than 30 teams from the nearby villages registered themselves in the competition in which Kanalichina MLA Mayukh Mahar was the chief guest,” said Basera.