Haridwar, May 30
The two-day All-India Sanskrit Research Convention concluded here today, where experts, intellectuals, saints, politicians and geologist gave their inputs on how changes in the ecology and natural disasters can be tackled with the help of ancient knowledge.

Experts pointed out that human beings should not do undue interference with the five basic elements of the universe, the earth, water, light, air and sky.

The Vice-Chancellor of University of Sanskrit, Rajasthan, Prof Ramanuj Dev Nathan, said human beings were playing with the nature for the sake of development. Shankaracharya Raj Rajeshwaram said disasters were happening due to wrongdoings of people and society.

Jagadguru maintained that natural disasters could be tackled by India with the help of deep intellectual knowledge that Third World countries lack despite having modern technical excellence.

Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari said: “Vedas and epics were written in our country, but now our Indian society is on the path of degradation which is a cause of concern.”

Among others who spoke on various sessions of the convention were Dr Mahavir Aggarwal, Dr Vedprakash Shastri, Dr Prakash Joshi, Dr Prakash Chand Pant, Dr DN Sharma, Dr Devi Prasad, Manjula Bisht, Narendra Pandey, Dr Harish Gurani, Prof Manu Dev Bandhu and Dr Dhruv Pati Pandey.

Haridwar, May 30“The role of the media in the current scenario, where moral values have taken a back seat and corruption has crept into politics, bureaucracy and society, is very important,” said former Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Swami Chinmayanand. He also maintained that the vigilant media was the need of the hour.

The former minister was addressing mediapersons on the occasion of Hindi Patrakarita Divas organised by the Haridwar Press Club here today. Novelist Kamal Kant Budhkar said the first Hindi newspaper, Udant Markand, was published in 1826 and to acknowledge the role of Hindi language, May 30 is celebrated as Hindi Patrakarita Divas every year.

Acknowledging the role of scribes, particularly those belonging to Hindi newspapers, Chinmayanand said with local editions, the voice of the local people was reaching out to the authorities concerned.

Assuring the people of the commitment and the role of the Press as the fourth pillar of democracy, the newly elected chief of the club, Avikshit Raman, said mediapersons, particularly in Haridwar, had been working together to bring the problems of the people to the fore.

MUSSOORIE: Journalists today observed Hindi Patrakarita Divas by organising discussions and meeting at different places here. A programme was also organised on the Municipal Council premises, where different issues concerning the print media were discussed. 

Dehradun, May 30
Plagued by the problem of unauthorised construction around centrally protected monuments that lose lustre, the Director-General, Archaeological Survey of India, has issued notices for their demolition in Uttarakhand.

Around 15-20 notices have been issued to individuals in the state by the sub circle office for the demolition of the illegal constructions. These monuments are located in Dwarahat (Almora), Jageshwar, Kashipur and Dehradun.

“These are preliminary notices and the parties have been given a specific time frame to act; if they fail, the state authorities will be asked to step in,” said Dr DN Dimri, Superintending Archaeologist, Dehradun Circle. In Uttarakhand, there are 42 centrally protected monuments and the maximum number of monuments is in Almora (18) and five in Dehradun.

Until now, the Superintendent, Archaeology, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Dehradun Circle, was the sole authority for giving a no-objection certification for carrying out repair work and construction in the regulated area.

But in March 2010, in order to prohibit the illegal construction activities near the heritage and protected monuments, the Central Government brought amendments in its Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. According to the amendment, a competent authority nominated by the state, in case of Uttarakhand the Principal Secretary, Culture, will give consent for the construction activity within the monument radius.

“In Uttarakhand, the monuments have so far remained free of encroachment but unauthorised constructions in the periphery have begun impacting the beauty of ancient structures. For example in Dwarahat, at the Gujar Deo Temple, an illegal construction has come up and even a mobile tower has been set up. It is bound to have an effect on the longevity of the temple that has been conserved by the ASI,” said Dr Dimri.

In the Lakhamandal and Hanol areas of Dehradun, too, illegal constructions have come up. Despite the awareness campaign launched by the ASI, the local population continues to ignore the guideline and even resent notices.

According to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010, a minimum of 100 metres area beginning from the boundary limit of the protected monument is specified as the "prohibited area", beyond which, in all directions, a minimum of 200 metres is categorised as "regulated area".

Thus, the residents in the protected area (100m radius) of the protected monuments cannot raise any construction and in the regulated area, they could undertake construction, repair and altercation only with the permission of the competent authority.

Various unauthorized structures near or around the protected monument .

Until now the ASI enjoyed the provisions.

Pithoragarh, May 30
The administration of Munsiyari tehsil has taken cognisance of violent incidents among villagers in the higher meadows of Chiplakota and Panchachuli over the collection of yarsagumba caterpillar.

SDM (Munsiyari) JS Rathor said a clash had recently taken place between two groups of villagers over a patch of meadow at the Raj Rambha glacier. “Owing to more rains and snow this year, the production of Yarsagumba is likely to increase this year. To get this highly prized caterpillar, a large number of villagers have come to these meadows,” said Manoj Chandran, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Pithoragarh.

According to forest officials, another reason for this struggle to collect the “magic herb” is the new system of marketing from this year. “Now, the forest panchayats will be able to auction yarsagumba to anyone. The purchaser can further sell it anywhere, which till last year was considered a crime,” said the DFO.

“Last year, out of nearly one quintal of production, only five kg of yarsagumba was auctioned by the forest panchayats of the Munsiyari region. The remaining rest was sold in the market or smuggled to Nepal. We hope to check smuggling by this new marketing system, the DFO added.

Pithoragarh, May 30
From April onwards and up to June-end, villagers from the Johar and Darma valleys of the Munsiyari-Dharchula subdivisions of Pithoragarh proceed towards the Himalayan heights of Chiplakot region to dig out a special herb called yarsagumba (cordyceps sinensis).

For more than a decade, for villagers living in the higher Himalayan region, this has been a primary avocation since it was found that the Tibetan medicinal plant also grows in abundance in the meadows of Chiplakot besides the Himalayan sub-alpine region of western Nepal.“Yarsagumba is an intomophilus fungus found primarily in the sub-alpine region, 3,200 to 4,000 metres above the sea level.

“The fungus is parasitic like the caterpillar,” says CS Negi of the Department of Zoology, Government Postgraduate College, Pithoragarh.

He has done extensive research on this plant under the National Medicinal Plants Board, Department of Ayush, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The extraction of yarsagumba started in this part of the Himalayas in 1998 when Tibetan traders learnt of its presence here and began trafficking it to Tibet and China via Nepal.

The miraculous impact of “cordyceps sinessis” became known to the outside world when a few years back, Chinese women athletes were found using yarsagumba to energise them. The consumption of this aphrodisiac plant by the Chinese and Tibetans began some 1,500 years ago when some Chinese herdsmen observed that their livestock became energetic after eating a fungus-like grass.

About 1,000 years later, the Ming emperors started using it as a tonic after developing powerful potions from it. Old Tibetan medical practitioners believed that “cordyceps sinensis” enhanced lung functioning, bolstered kidney energy, cured cough, impotence, spermatorrhoea, asthma, aching back and knees and general debility caused by long-term illness,” says Negi.

Yarsagumba fetches a good price for retail as well as in the wholesale market. The prices could range from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1,00,000 per kilogram. 

Nainital, May 30
The authorities at the Bharat Ratna Gobind Ballabh Pant High-Altitude Zoo have taken certain initiatives that could go a long way in promoting non-conventional methods of animal conservation.

To begin with, the authorities are planning to release two tigers, a male and a female, who were captured from Jim Corbett National Tiger Reserve two years back, together in a huge enclosure for breeding.

If the two animals manage to procreate, the zoo will have succeeded in carrying out “wild breeding of tigers” in its premises as both the tigers are essentially from the wild. It is being stated that the experiment, if successful, will be the first such endeavour in India.

Officials at the zoo informed The Tribune that a huge enclosure was being made by combining three enclosures at the zoo for the purpose of facilitating the mating of the two animals.Officials say that the mating season of the wild cats is expected to start somewhere in October and they see chances of the female conceiving during that period.

“We are hoping that this initiative turns successful,” says the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Nainital, TR Bijulal, who has been doing special work on tiger conservation.

The male Royal Bengal tiger that was captured from Bijrani range of Jim Corbett National Park two years back was released for public viewing last Thursday. About 11 feet in length and 270 kg in weight, the tiger was trapped following protests that it had turned a maneater. The Forest Department authorities, however, are of the opinion that he is not a maneater as its canines and paws are intact. It took more than eight days for the zoo officials to shift him to the present enclosure as the wild cat was unwilling to enter a cage once again.

The female tigress is scheduled to be released in a separate enclosure initially later this week. She had been trapped from the Kaladhungi Range as she was ailing. Both the animals had been kept away from human attention during this while as a part of their acclimatising process.

It is towards October when she is in heat. The zoo officials plan to release them together in a single big enclosure being prepared for them. — TNS

Dehradun, May 30
The next phase of the “Satyagraha Yatra” launched by the Uttarakhand Congress against the state BJP government will re-start in the Garhwal region from May 31.

The yatra being undertaken by Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya will start in the Garhwal region from Garsain in Chamoli district. The place has its significance since the statehood agitators who fought for a separate state of Uttarakhand demand that Garsain should be the permanent capital of the state.

The main aim of the yatra is to highlight the alleged failures of the state BJP government before the masses. Yashpal Arya wants to complete a tour of the entire state through this “Satyagraha Yatra” before the state Assembly elections scheduled to be held in February next year.

Another important aim of the yatra is to counter the “Antodaya Yatra” being undertaken by Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in the state. He has already covered 40 Assembly segments out of a total of 70 Assembly seats in his yatra where he interacts with common people and tries to solve their problems on the spot.

The Congress through its “Satyagraha Yatra” wants to highlight various alleged scandals during the government’s four-year tenure.

The Congress yatra that started from the border town of Dharchula in Pithoragarh district covered more than 1,800 km going to more than 72 big or small towns of the Kumaon region. The yatra got a fairly good response in the Kumaon region where people in large numbers listened to the Congress leaders.

Dehradun, May 30
A total of 563 Gentlemen Cadets (GCs), including 17 from foreign countries, will pass out from the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) on June 11.

President Pratibha Patil will be the reviewing officer at the passing out parade while Army chief Gen Vijay Kumar Singh will accompany her. Governor Margaret Alva and Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank are also expected to attend the programme.

The IMA has beefed up security on its campus. Public Relation Officer (IMA) Amit Dagar said the award ceremony would be held on June 8 and the graduation ceremony of the Army Cadet College (ACC) wing on June 3. The passing out parade would be held on June 11. An entertainment programme would be organised on June 10.

Meanwhile, the police is doing its homework to chalk out plans for security ahead of the visit of the President. It will conduct verification drives in nearby areas of the academy.