Dehradun, April 2
A guest lecture was given by Navin Gulia on “Positive and Positive” at the Khetarpal Auditorium of the Indian Military Academy (IMA) here today.

The speaker shared his story on how he overcame challenges of life, despite facing insurmountable obstacles and setbacks. He gave a presentation on his expeditions that got his name featured in record books and also shared the lessons learnt during his schooling and his training at National Defence Academy (NDA) and Indian Military Academy (IMA).

Gulia, an alumnus of IMA, sustained serious injury during obstacle training competition finals, which paralysed his whole body, just a month before passing out. At the time when his whole body was paralysed and when he could not even use his fingers, he did Masters in Computers from Pune University in first class and UGC NET Lectureship in Computer Applications.

In 2004, he made a world record in adventure driving, by driving to the highest motorable mountain pass Masimik La at 18,632 ft from New Delhi non-stop in 55 hours. He got the state award for adventure sports the same year.

He was awarded the Chief of Army Staff, Commendation Card on Army Day in 2005 for his work on rehabilitation of disabled soldiers through war-wounded foundation. He also received the National Role Model Award from President APJ Abdul Kalam in 2007 for his achievements and his work in the field of social welfare.

He has also been named the Times of India “Global Indian of the Year”. During the course of his speech, he shared his success mantra on various aspects.

Dehradun, April 2
Gender sensitivity during Census 2011 was not just limited to choosing a woman enumerator as mascot for the nationwide operation.

The Directorate of Census Operation, Uttarakhand, took special care to earmark Dehradun and Udham Singh Nagar districts as gender sensitive and trained the enumerators accordingly.

“These districts were earmarked sensitive as there was a wide gap between the male and female sex ratio. The participation of women in economic activities was less and also was their literacy rate.

“The enumerators were trained to ensure that in these circumstances, women were not ignored,” said Snehlata Agarwal, Director, Uttarakhand Census Operation, at the release of the provisional census data on Uttarakhand.

However, like the rest of the country, the gender imbalance in the state continues giving ample indication that boys are preferred and many girls do not survive.

The sex ratio in the age group 0-6 years has dropped to 886 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011. It was 908 per 1,000 boys in 2001.

“There are several factors that are working against girls. The sociological aspects have to be looked into along with other factors,” said Agarwal.

There has been a decline in the number of children under the age of 6 - down 5 million since 2001 to 158.8 million in 2011.

The figures presented today are preliminary and the final population count will be released next year.

Discussing about the negative growth in terms of population in Almora and Tehri Garhwal districts, she said, “We think accessibility, increased road network and education may be some of the reasons forcing residents to migrate to other places. We will get a clearer picture once the data is scrutinised properly,” she said.

She said that as the census was not caste based, only six religions, as mentioned in the Indian Constitution, figured in the census questionnaire.

“The Central government has to take a call. If at all they decide to get information on caste, the census will be conducted in May,” said Agarwal.

Agarwal said that despite the fact that persons falling in the ‘other’ gender category were enumerated separately, they were included among males in the final table.

The enumerators, mostly teachers, travelled the length and breadth of the state and were guided by the geo-stationary position (GPS) maps.

Those present at the press conference included RK Raman, Joint Director (Census), Mohammed Ahmed, Deputy Director (Census), and Dashrath, Deputy Director (Census).

Dehradun, April 2
“Foetus sex selection and female foeticide had started taking place in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but these have become rampant now. The reason may be that we have failed to change attitudes in society. Their ramifications are now being felt all over the country,” Dr Deepa Sharma, CMS, Doon Hospital (Female), said this today at a workshop organised by the Dehradun Obsterics and Gynaecology Society and Shri Bhuwaneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA) under the aegis of the ‘Let girls be born’ programme.

Dr Deepa Sharma said that despite the PNDT Act being in place, it was difficult to book the diagnostic centres carrying out illegal sex-determination tests. “Without proof, the authorities cannot proceed and take action against them.”

CMO Dr RK Pant said that these illegal tests cannot take place without the connivance of the doctors who own the centres and the administrators who agree to look the other way.

“Due to the lack of proof in many cases, the licenses of centres have not been revoked. Improvement in technology and with mini-vans having sex-determination machines reaching villages have meant that the facility is now available at the doorstep of the villagers,” said Dr Pant.

Dr Geeta Balodi said that it was difficult to nab the culprits as everything was done under wraps. "The persons involved do not take money directly and do not issue receipts. They use indications like ‘Jai Mata di’ or pink colour to indicate that the foetus is female. Plus, some of these are located in interior areas. But we intend to catch them by conducting sting operations,” she emphasised.

Gyan Singh Rawat of SBMA said that the ashram had intensified its campaign against this practice by organising awareness camps.

Dehradun, April 2
IIT Roorkee (IIT-R) is all set to add another feather to its cap tomorrow when it will inaugurate its third campus.

IIT-R, which has seen five transformations since 1847, has achieved astounding success at its Roorkee campus (spread across 365 acres) and the second campus at Saharanpur (25 acres). The third campus - at Greater Noida - will be inaugurated by Ashok Bhatnagar, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-R.

“It is essential for an institution to grow in quality and quantity,” said SC Saxena, Director, IIT-R, while addressing mediapersons at Roorkee today.

The centre at Greater Noida, which is located at 20, Knowledge Park-II, has an academic block and a field hostel in a 10 acre campus.

The academic block is a three storey building that has 16 lecture rooms, software labs, faculty offices, library and a computer centre. Besides, adequate facilities are also there for administrative functions. The centre is equipped with state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, Saxena added.

With this setup, IIT Roorkee proposes to extend its expertise in the field of engineering, technology and science management in Noida, Greater Noida and other nearby locations.

IITR, which today is successfully conducting more than 100 short courses every year for a period of one or two weeks, proposes to extend this facility to the new campus.

Dehradun, April 2
Having completed more than two decades of life in teaching, SK Tripathi feels that he still has a long way to go. “I have been teaching for the past two decades. Even today I feel as I felt on my first day and receive the same regards from my present and former students,” he said.

Tripathi is an alumnus of Kanpur University and a 10th grade geography teacher at Kendriya Vidyalaya-I at Haathibarkala, Dehradun. He started his career in 1986 from Aizawl, Mizoram, but later went to Agra and Kanpur before coming to Dehradun.

On being asked how did he first become inspired to pursue teaching as a career, he replied, “After completing my masters, I thought education as a means to shape the future of children and I decided to take up teaching as career. It gives me satisfaction in each and every class I teach, while forming a close association with my students and building trust on each other”.

Tripathi has a passion for teaching and also implements the new tool of the teaching method through the Computer Aided Design (CAD) to understand geography as a subject better. “I try to make geography easy for the students to understand, while encouraging them to pursue a career in the civil services such as IAS and PCS,” he added.

Tripathi strongly boasts of teaching children of IPS officer (retd) Kiran Bedi, Chief Minister of Mizoram Lal Thanhawla and former Chief Minister of Assam Hiteswar Saikia.

“The joy that I receive from teaching is exemplified through the connectivity and regards I receive from my present and former students. I feel content to see the attitude of my students and perspectives positively towards their career and future,” said Tripathi on being asked what gives you the greatest joy in teaching.

Tripathi opined that meeting the social, emotional and educational needs of many children with special needs in the school is the biggest challenge for teachers nowadays. “I personally feel that more and more time should be devoted to such students and parents should also respect the dignity of the teachers,” added Tripathi.

Haridwar, April 2
Haridwar almost always manages to find a holier way to take part in every important occasion. The World Cup cricket final between India and Sri Lanka on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was no different.

Yagnas and hawans were organised by cricket fans and the city’s community of saints. Special prayers were held and milk was offered to the Ganga at various ghats.

At the Dukharan Hanuman Mandir on Birla Ghat, sadhus performed a hawan to secure an Indian win.

Juna Akhada national secretary Shri Mahant Vidyanand Saraswati, Shri Mahant Prem Puri, Thanapati Mahant Raju Baba, Mahant Maheshpuri, Mahant Suresh Giri and Mahant Mukesh Puri were present on the occasion.

At the Jagdev Singh Sanskrti Maha Vidyalaya on the Sapt Rishi Ghat, milk was offered to Lord Shiva and the Ganga to boost the confidence of the men in blue.

A yagna was performed by youth activists at the Chandracharya Chowk amid the chanting of Vedic hymns and raising of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and “Team India” slogans.

Meanwhile, normal life was affected in the city due to the final. Deserted markets, streets, highways and office compounds bore testimony to a cricket-crazy city.

Fans thronged the venues where huge screens had been set up to view the match. At one such venue on the Subash Ghat, denizens gathered much before the scheduled start and remained till the last ball was bowled.

“I took leave for the final as India has reached the final after eight long years,” exclaimed Mallika Sehgal, a SIDCUL employee.

Dehradun, April 2
Akranta Club defeated Sunderwala Boys 2-1 in the third-place playoff of the Vir Singh Memorial Football Tournament at OFD Grounds here today.

Ankit Negi played well and scored both the goals - in the seventh and 10th minute- for Akranta Club. After the first goal, Sunderwala Boys counterattacked and equalised through Shubham Bisht in the ninth minute. But the second goal by Ankit in the very next minute sealed the fate of the match.

The final will be played tomorrow.

Dehradun, April 2
Scotland U-19 team beat Abhimanyu Cricket Academy by 20 runs in a friendly cricket match played at the Abhimnayu Cricket Stadium in Dehradun.

Batting first, Scotland U-19 piled 309 runs at a loss of five wickets. R Mclean and F Coleman scored 115 runs and 103 runs respectively. P Ross scored 38 not out. As of ACA bowlers, Sanjeet took major three wickets.

Chasing the victory target, ACA got all out at a score of 215 runs.

Kunal Chandela was the highest scorer. He contributed 100 runs. N Farrar took five wickets in its eight over spell. S Page and G Main clinched two wickets each.