Dehradun, April 24
In the ongoing dharna of the BEd/BPEd Prashikshit Berozgaar Sanghtan, the local cops arrested about 35 protesting teachers for spoiling the decorum of the city and staging an agitation, here today.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at Parade Ground and staged an agitation demanding permanent jobs for 8,000 special BTC teachers. They raised slogans against the state government and also lashed out at the state government for taking no decision in teachers’ interests.

While the protesters were heading towards Gandhi Park, a strong force of the local police quickly rounded them up. The protesting teachers were whisked away in waiting vehicles away from the venue.

Speaking on the occasion, Himanshu Rajput, state vice-president of the association, said the protesters were now in a do-or-die situation. “We will not leave the roads until the government releases 8,000 thousand vacancies of special BTC teachers. Many of our members are in a very bad health condition and the government is not bothered,” he asserted.

However, the members of the sangathan shouted slogans against the state BJP government and demanded the resignation of Uttrakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

Meanwhile, Harish Virmani, president of the Mahanagar Congress Committee extended his support to the protesting teachers.

Also the party workers, under his leadership, burnt the effigy of the state government and condemned the misbehaviour of the city administration towards the agitationists.

Dehradun, April 24
The annual award, Uttarakhand Ratan, was awarded to 12 renowned personalities from different fields at the Uttarakhand Intellectuals Conference. The awards were handed over to the personalities by a former Governor of Chhattisgarh, Lieut-Gen KS Seth, who was the chief guest.

The awardees were Director, Restructure Academy, Kumaon University, VPS Arora, Director General of Police, Vigilance, Vijay Ragav Pant, Director of Herbal Research and Development Institute, Government of Uttarakhand, and Chief Executive of the State Medicinal Plant Board, Gopeshwar, Dr RC Sundriyal, an official of the ONGC dealing with depth of composition studies of vegetable and seed oil of unstudied species, Dr Sajid Jamal, Director, Hariya Kandi Samaj, Narayan Singh Jayala, member of Minimum Wages Advisory Board, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, Rajiv Jain, Dr Jayanti Sharma, Littérateur Vipin Bihari, Statutory Auditor of Kshatriya Gramin Bank Limited, Almora, Kumar Khanna, journalist Girish Ranjan Tiwari, historian CS Pandey and member of the Uttrakhand State Council for Science and Technology Rajender Dobahal. Pant could not come to the occasion for personal reasons. Those who were present included Justice Alok Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Doon University, Dr Girish Pant, SK Garg, Dr S Farooq, RC Dixit, Dr BS Bisht, Dr VN Sharda and Rajiv Jain.

Dehradun, April 24
Over a dozen passengers were injured when the bus they were travelling in turned turtle, near the Dat Kali Mata Mandir in Dehradun this morning. All the injured were admitted to the Government Doon Hospital.

The police said 13 passengers were admitted to the hospital and the remaining were discharged by the doctors after giving them first aid.

According to a piece of information, the Roorkee transport bus, carrying about 40 Passengers,was coming to Dehradun from Roorkee when it met with the accident.

The driver of the bus, Tejvir Singh, a resident of Muzzaffarnagar, is also among the injured and is admitted to the hospital.

Dehradun, April 24
The Junior High Shikshak Sangh has threatened to close down all schools in the state from tomorrow as a mark of protest against the non-fulfilment of their demands.

While addressing a meeting of the association here today, Jagat Singh Negi, president of the sangh, criticised the state BJP Government for terminating their services under the process of upgrading the junior high schools in the state.

He said: “The process of upgrading the schools have landed us in a great trouble and rendered us jobless. In spite of us being more qualified and experienced, our services have been replaced by newly recruited teachers at all the junior high schools.”

“If our demands are not met then we would initiate do-or-die activities for which the Chief Minister, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, would be responsible,” he asserted.

Dehradun, April 24
The state government has come in a quick defensive mode in the wake of a complaint filed by senior advocate JD Jain against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Kumbh Mela Minister Madan Kaushik and then Kumbh Mela administrator Anand Bardhan in the court of Chief judicial Magistrate, Dehradun, for the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the Maha Kumbh Mela in Haridwar based on the recently released CAG report.

The state president of the State Media Counsellor Committee, Dr Devender Bhasin, countered the attack saying that the Congress and other opposition parties were agitated over the stupendous success of the BJP Government in carrying the Maha Kumbh Mela to its completion, and had therefore began a tirade to ruin its achievements.

The case has been filed under Sections 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 409 (breach of trust by public servant) of the IPC. Jain appeared before Chief Judicial Magistrate Kunwar Amanendra Singh and signalled at the findings of the CAG report indicating towards the alleged wrongdoings during the MahaKumbh Mela held in January-April last year. He said: “The report clearly indicates a whopping wastage of Rs 43 crore out of a total expenditure of Rs 565 cr. The state government wasted the money of the public exchequer.”

Uttarakhand Advocate General SN Babulkar said as and when needed, the state government would give its reply to the complaint.

Haridwar, April 24
As an infant she was left abandoned at the stairs of a temple in Haridwar almost two decades back, but now she wants to visit the same temple, this time as a bright student of the University of California, Los Angeles, having been selected as Gates Millennium scholar.

Destiny turned the tables for 21-year-old Soma Sharan, who doesn’t even know the names of her parents, but has made a name for herself abroad.

After graduating with honours in Class XIIth, Soma has been selected recently as Bill Gates Foundation-run Gates Millennium Scholar, which will entitle her for a four-year graduation at college free of cost owing to the scholarship. All her expenses will be borne by the foundation if she does PhD in the future.

In 1994, Soma was found as a four-year-old infant at the small temple by a priest, who took the infant to Shri Ram Ashram. Shri Ram Ashram is a home for destitute children that was started by Baba Hari Dass in 1982. The ashram took care of her.

Soma was a bright student right from the beginning, and when in Class VIth, she got an opportunity to study at Mount Madonna School, California, USA. She availed of the opportunity went abroad to study.

At school in California, she continued to excel in her studies, and the perseverance and industry that she had put in ultimately got her the coveted scholarship.

Shoma Sharan is currently in Haridwar with Californian class mates spending time with children, who were, for one reason or the other, abandoned by their parents.

Speaking to the Tribune, Shoma Sharan said she owed much to the ashram for taking care of her and other similar children, and expressed her wish to assist the ashram once she got a job. “Had I not been brought up by the saints of the Shri Ram Ashram, I would never have been where I am now,” said she.

er since captain of the Indian cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni became successful, the Uttarakhand Government has been leaving no chance to claim him as a native and has been bending head over heels to shower awards. He was made a brand ambassador for the cause of Tiger conservation at the world-famous Jim Corbett National Park before the World Cup. The family of Dhoni hailed from Almora district of Uttarakhand. After the Indian cricket team won the World Cup, the state government announced that it would name the proposed stadium at Dehradun after him and also announced that it would give residential plots to Dhoni and master blaster Sachin Tendulkar at Mussoorie. Since there is no land available at the famous hill resort of Mussoorie and there is a ban on construction there by the Supreme Court, it was announced that the government would look for these plots near Mussoorie.

Interestingly, the state government has shown such magnanimity in showering awards on Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, but there is no such promptness in giving a small piece of land for a very important government venture. The Meteorological Department of the Union Science and Technology Ministry has been asking the state government to provide them small pieces of land for the erection of the Doppler radars at prominent high places at Mussoorie and Nainital, but without any success.

The installation of the Doppler radars would have helped weathermen to predict weather in a better way. Uttarakhand is an ecologically sensitive Himalayan state where weather plays an all-important role in the lives of the residents, particularly those living in the higher hills. According to Dr Anand Sharma, Director of the Meteorological Department, the Doppler radars could give a correct picture of the rain clouds in a radius of 250 sq km and would help make near-accurate predictions about weather.

It was in June, 2008, that communication started between the Meteorological Department and the Disaster Management Department of the state government about the allotment of sites for these radars. Kapil Sibal, then Union Science and Technology Minister, wrote to then Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri for land for the installation of these radars in September, 2008. Khanduri agreed to provide land to the department.

After much bureaucratic delays, four sites were shown to the experts of the Science and technology Department, who zeroed in on a particular site and found it suitable for the installation of the radar at Mussoorie. When the Meteorological Department wrote to the Dehradun district administration for the acquisition of the said land, it was conveyed that the land in question was a private land. The state government advised the Union Science and Technology Department to purchase the land. It also wrote that Meteorological Department under the Union Science and Technology Ministry should be solely responsible for any legal hurdles in the purchase of the land. Since March, 2010, the matter has been put into cold storage. The state government has shown an adamant attitude claiming that the chosen place by the Meteorological Department is a private property, while Union Science and Technology Ministry wants that the state government should provide them land.

Haridwar, April 24
Normally differently abled children are not associated with much physical activity particularly in the sporting arena, but with their dogged determination, hard work and a will to excel such children show that nothing is impossible.

These special children showed that though they may lack somewhere but they made up for that in other ways. This was quite evident at the Inter-State Special School Sports Meet held here in Haridwar where in different age brackets, the participants outwitted their competitors as well as stretched their physical-mental limits.

ganised by city-based Samarth Special School, which educates, trains and take care of such participants from various parts of the country, the event brought out their hidden, natural talent to the fore.

Medals in athletics events like 100-metre dash, shot put, long jump, discuss throw, weigh lifting and soft ball for girls were up for grab in tough competitions. Host Uttarakhand students shone in all major events bagging 10 gold medals that were fetched by Samarth Special School, Haridwar, Rassail School, Sashakt School, both Dehradun, Mangal Deep School, Almora, while Lucknow- based Asha Jyoti School and Asmita School participants also excelled, bagging four gold medals.

Shedding light on the psychology of such special students, Vandana Kumari, a teacher at Samarth School, pointed out that there was not much difference between a normal child and a special child but they needed care, attention and patience as the need was to gauge the skill potential in them aided with making the work more creative.

“Society should shed the prejudice against differently abled children; instead they it come out with affection, caring, which should be supportive but bear in mind their capabilities.”

Simran, who won gold medal in soft ball, said that she was quite happy as mostly they didn’t get to play at the competitive level. Zaheer from Lucknow was a winner in the shot put event.

The Vice-Chancellor of Dev Sanskriti University, Dr SP Mishra, who inaugurated the meet, said more such events needed to be organised for differently abled children as they needed to be given opportunities and affection to feel more of a part of society.

Dehradun, April 24
Aditya Tiwari and Vanshika stood first in the under-6 shoe skates boys’ and girls’ categories, respectively, during the 12th Inter-School Roller Skating Competition 2011 here today.

In the boys’ category, Arpit Negi and Arnav Jain got second and third places, respectively. Somya Sehgal and Kanchi stood second and third in the girls’ event.

In the U-8 boys’ event, Saksham Rawat, Sanidhya Maheshwari and Viraj Murab got gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively. Samriddhi Tiwari, Dihika Panwar and Gyatri Negi excelled in the girls’ category claiming the first three positions, respectively.

Kartik Sehgal emerged the winner in the U-10 category. Snehshish Tiwari got the second position and Aksh stood third. Sia Saini, Jyotsna and Siddhi Sharma got the first, second and third places, respectively, in the girls’ event.

Dehradun, April 24
Pragya scored the lone goal in the 1-0 victory of Welham Girls’ School (Senior) over Moravian Institute in a league match of the Welhams’ Invitational School Hockey Tournament here today.

The match remained highly competitive as the two teams couldn’t score any goal in the first half. The only goal came through Pragya in the 40th minute to sail her team home in this tough match.

Moravian could not retaliate later throughout the game.

In another league match played today, St Agnes and Welham Girls’ School (junior) played a goalless tie.

Dehradun, April 24
The city-based Summer Valley School celebrated the Creativity Day on its premises here yesterday. All the students were given the opportunity to express their creativity in different fields.

Various competitions were held during the day. It was the Rangoli contest that attracted a lot of students. Children used wood shaving, coloured rice, coloured semolina and fresh flowers to make rangoli. Four birthday parties were depicted by each of the four houses- Akbar, Kanishka, Maurya and Ashoka. The first birthday party of a child was depicted with the display of dolls and balloons; a grandmother’s birthday party was elegantly decorated with crockery and table linen, while a student’s birthday party was also colourfully portrayed. One of the houses also chose to portary a dogs birthday party.

Director of the school Wasu inaugurated the exhibition. The judges for the competition were Shweta Arora, Shefali Gandhi, Manjari Chaudhary, Sunita Oberoi, Narender and Akshya Wasu.

The winners of various competitions:

Rangoli: Unnati Nautiya, Aparna Barthwal, Shivani Jaguri and Astha Negi (Maurya House)

Fresh flower arrangement: Anirudh Madan and Pearl Gupta (Kanishka House)

Dry flower arrangement: Divya Kaushal and Neelan Rana (Ashoka House)

Cake Decoration: Rituza Roy and Saumya Gairola ( Maurya House)

Fruit Carving: Rachit Pathoi, Tanishq Sharma, Shruti Maithani, Rhythm and Vidika (Kanishka House).

Dehradun, April 24
Vijay Colony, Ward No. 7, one of posh areas of the state capital, has both the elite and people living in slums there.

Many VIPs, including Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, former CM Bhagat Singh Koshyari and Drinking Water Supply Minister Prakash Pant reside here. Raj Bhawan is also located in this part of the city (as some of the Cantt area falls under this ward).

Other than this area comprises Vijay Colony (Khala Basti), Shakti Colony, Nilkanth Vihar, Pathariya Peer Basti (Part I, II, III), Neshvilla Road, Badrinath Colony, Kalidas Road and Indra Colony. Some of the areas near Bindal River also fall into the ward.

Although the residents are happy with the progress of work in the locale, still they are unhappy over the cleanliness issues, as there is no sewerage line. The councillor also understands the issue but states that due to the lack of sewerage line and shortage of safai karamcharis in the municipal corporation, they face the problem.

Babita Sahotra, the councillor of the ward, who is serving her second term in the ward is from the BJP. She is the only corporator in Dehradun who has won the municipal elections with the highest margin of 999 votes.

“Not much problem is faced by the ward as the MLA being from the same party helps in developing the area,” she affirms and adds, “Embankment (pushta) worth Rs 11 lakh has been constructed under the special Component Plan recently.”

“Most of the roads have been build till now and the work is on in Vijay Colony and the project on small drains has also started. I hope it finishes before the monsoon season starts,” says Babita.

“Not only this, I have also opened schools in Pathariya Peer Basti as I want that the children should be well educated. I also help them in getting admission in high school,” the councillor who herself is teaching at DAV Inter College said.

Rajesh Kumar, a shopkeeper at Vijay Colony (New Cantt Road), said, “The sewerage line that was made four years backs has yet to start; let’s see when it sees the light of the day. Roads here are also in a bad shape.”

Usha Madhwal, resident of Kalidas road, feels that the area lacks in cleanliness drive. “The small drains and unhygienic conditions in our surroundings are the biggest problem. We have complained about it to the councillor many a time, but she is unable to help us due to the scarcity of safai karamcharis in the nigam. It is we ourselves who make it clean or else the area gets clean itself during the rainy season.”

BD Sharma from Vijay Colony, who is also the spokesperson of the Akhil Gharwal Sangathan, is angry at the working of the councillors. The area just next to the road in front of his shop falls under another councillor. The problem arises when one gets the area clean, they clean just half of it and throw the filth this side. When we ask them to clear from our side also, they refuse stating that the area does not come under them.” Another problem we face is the choked small drains in the area.

Ranjan, resident of Nai Basti, complained about the unhygienic condition in his area. He said that no safai karamchari visits there on regular basis. He further stated that roads are very narrow and it gets difficult for them to cross. Other then this he mentioned that despite paying tax to the corporation no facility is provided to them.