Dehradun, April 25
The Night Landing System (NLS) and the Instrument Landing System (ILS) installed by the Civil Aviation Department of Uttarakhand at Jolly Grant Airport are lying idle, with landing and take off of flights at night remaining a distant dream.

Amid much fanfare, the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Department had announced the installation of NLS and ILS systems last year by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) but these could not become operational in the absence of a go-ahead by the Director-General of Civil Authority (DGCA).

The delay has dented the credibility of the state government that is keen to increase air connectivity in the state. As of now, Jolly Grant Airport has to adhere to the sunset limitation. Therefore, landings take place only between 
10 am and 5pm.

It is reliably learnt that the AAI has now asked for some space to install high-beam lights at high-rise buildings to further facilitate night landing. “The AAI has now asked for installation of the beam lights at five places on hillocks or buildings to facilitate landing at the Jolly Grant Airport (Rishikesh). We have been asked to provide space measuring 4m x 4m that would fall in the path of the flight. This space falls under the forest area, the survey was undertaken last week and now the land has to be handed over, may be then the night landing system will become operational,” said PC Sharma, Principal Secretary and Director, Uttarakhand Civil Aviation.

Once the Instrument Landing System (ILS) becomes functional, it will facilitate the flights in marking the central line of the runway from a distance of 17 nautical miles (25 km), enabling smooth landing for Airbus and Boeing aircraft.

The Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Department has been giving in to the demands of the Airport Authority of India (AAI) since 2004, when 28 acres of land was first handed over for building of the Airport. “They then raised the demand for some more land; that, too, was handed free of cost, the airport construction took five years and then last year calibration of instruments was undertaken, now this latest demand has again pushed us backwards, asserted Sharma. 

As long as 80 km of sewer line is to be laid in these areas, but only 5 per cent of the work has been done so far. As regards 40-km branch sewer line to be laid from Ballupur to the Gandhi Road, only 2 per cent job has been done.

Of the 160-km water pipe line to be laid in various parts of the city, only 20 km of area has been covered till now.

Though the deadline for the project to lay a pipeline in Raipur, near the Bindal river, will expire on April 29, less than 50 per cent of the work has been carried out.

When asked about the slow progress of the projects, BM Garg, Executive Engineer, said: “We are sure that schemes will be completed well in time. To avoid problems during the rains, we have already asked the department concerned to fill all the potholes so that people do not face any problem.”

Talking to The Tribune, Mayor Vinod Chamoli said: “Only five projects have been passed by the administration and the remaining we ourselves need to work out. I hope we will be able to provide relief to the people during monsoon this year.”

On the sanctioning of the projects, Dehradun District Magistrate Sachin Kurve said: “We have passed the budget for the upcoming projects according to the rules.” 

Dehradun, April 25
Taking strict action against private and public schools that were found selling stationery and other material on their premises, the district administration has asked all of them to shut down their shops immediately. If any of the institutes violates the rule, firm steps will be taken against it. Senior police officials and district education officers have been asked to keep an eye on the offenders.

Issuing the orders here today, City Magistrate MS Bisht said that he had been receiving complaints from parents as well as the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP)and Students Council, DAV College, that most of the schools were forcing the parents to buy all the stuff from the shops located inside the schools.

Earlier the City Magistrate also asked all institutions to reply to him whether they were allowed to sell stationery and uniform. Most of them have replied that they are not into business and a few have asked for time to file the reply.

Talking to The Tribune, Bisht mentioned, “This is a very serious issue as it is related to education. We need to think upon this that education has just become the source of income.” “None of the institutes can run the shop on its premises without getting a nod from the government and we will not let the offender go free this time.” 

Dehradun, April 25
Governor Margaret Alva presiding over a meeting of the executive committee of the Uttarakhand State Council of Child Welfare at Raj Bhawan here today called for a health check-up camp for street children in Dehradun on a priority basis.

Expressing her concern over the state of health and living conditions of over 2,000 street children in Dehradun city, the Governor said cooperation from various institutions and organisations would be taken to set up a night shelter home for such children in the city. The Governor said it was her dream project to establish such a home where street children would be taken care of by way of regular medical check-ups and given other facilities.

She laid stress on carrying out a campaign to realise the aims and objectives of child welfare through the mobilisation of private hospitals such as the Himalayan Institute at Jolly Grant and the Indian Medical Association.

Uma Kant Panwar, Secretary, Medical, Health and Family Welfare, Uttarakhand, said work on the health check-up of children in the state was being undertaken through the Chirayu programme.

General secretary of the council Pushpa Manas presented a report on various activities conducted by the council during the period September 2010 to March 2011. These included a tour programme for children, a state-level painting competition, shramdan through children’s camps and work undertaken for the welfare of under-privileged children and rag pickers. At the meeting, the Inner Wheel Club, MVay Opportunity Foundation, the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, Hindustan Computers Limited and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation were thanked for extending cooperation to the Council of Child Welfare. 

Dehradun, April 25
Woodstock School, Mussoorrie, beat defending champion Welham Boys’ School (Blue) in the final to annex the 25th All-India Golden Jubilee Basketball Tournament Trophy, here today.

Woodstock got past the host team 17-17, 9-16, 21-15, 34-20. Vir of Welham scored 16 points, the maximum for his side. Whereas Matthew scored 32 points to play a major role in the final win of his squad.

Earlier in the morning, the two sides won their respective semifinals to enter the final. The Doon School lost the semifinal battle to Woodstock School that scored 66 in reply to 55 points of the rival team.

Tushar (20 points) and Gaurav (15 points) were the principal scorers for Doon and Woodstock, respectively. In the second semifinal, Welham Boys surpassed YPS, Mohali 58-25.

Piyush scored 15 points for the winning team and Sunderjit scored 18 points for YPS. Meanwhile, Harish Sharma, General Secretary of Asian Basketball Federation and Indian Basketball Federation, was the chief guest on the occasion.

Dehradun, April 25
Fitness Solution qualified for the quarterfinals, defeating Abhimanyu Cricket Academy (ACA) by three wickets during the Beehive Twenty-20 cricket tournament at Matawala Bagh, here today.

ACA got all out for 99 runs in 18.5 overs. Nipual Jain (18) and Dilpreet (17) were the main scorers. Fitness Solution achieved the target in 18.3 overs for seven wickets for 100. Manish (30) and Akash (18) were the principal scorers.

Doon beat Carman

Doon Public School, Bhaniyawala, defeated Carman School, Dalanwala, by six wickets in 16th Gardner Premier League Inter-School Indoor Cricket

Tournament, here today at St Thomas College. Mount Fort Academy in another match beat Hilton School.

Dehradun, April 25
The quarterly meeting of the 13th Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Delhi section, was held at Graphic Era University (GEU) to foster innovations and boosting technology, here yesterday.

The meeting was attended by S Bhattacharya, Senior Manager, IEEE, Delhi section, as chief guest who started the programme by hoisting the IEEE flag, followed by Saraswati Vandana.

Showcasing the enthusiasm and vigour for the IEEE among the students, the students from top 15 colleges from Karnataka, Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh attended the programme.

A presentation was given on the IEEE, GEU. The tasks accomplished and the laurels it fetched as elucidated by the presentation really proved the GEU to be worthy of being the only university from Uttarakhand to be under the Delhi section of the IEEE. Then presentations on new advancements in technology were given by AK Shukla (scientist G,DEAL), BS Jassal, the dean project, GEU which really enhanced the knowledge among the students.

An interaction session with the placement head of GEU was conducted. S Bhattacharya said, “The perfect blend of knowledge, creativity and fun exhilarated the students to forge ahead and contribute to the technical advancements.” 

Dehradun, April 25
Welham Girls’ School (A) and MKP (PG) College scored identical 4-0 wins in their respective league matches to book the semifinal seats in the Welhams’ Invitational School Hockey Tournament, here today.

Welham (A) 4-0 with the help of a hurricane performance by Bedika who struck three goals (16th, 23rd and 26th minutes) thrashed CNI 4-0.

Alisha (38th) also chipped in with one goal.

While MKP blanked Welham Girls’ School (B) 4-0. Mamata (15th and 31st), Kavita (17th) and Pooja (44th) scored the winner. Welham failed to score throughout the match.