Dehradun Diary
Khanduri passes first acid test
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri passed his first acid test during the handling of the communal violence in Rudrapur that started on Gandhi Jyanti on October 2. After alleged sacrilege of a religious text in the industrial town, Muslim community members were on the roads to demand action against the culprits involved in the incident.

Dehradun, October 9
Now 50 poor girls will be able to get free tuition from teachers of Welham Girls’ School in the city. Extending help toward these girls who were given away scholarships under the 4th Udayan Shalini Fellowship programme held at Welham Girls’ School, Principle Jyotsana Brar said, “My school is meant for the girl students. These 50 students can also come here and take tuition classes from the school teachers on every Wednesday.”

She expressed gratitude on having connected with this project and said the NGO could make good use of the school premises in conducting its workshops or other activities.

On this occasion, chief guest and Speaker Harbans Kapoor, Vice-Chancellor, Uttarakhand Technical University, Dr DS Chauhan, and former chairman, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, Umesh Aggarwal and Managing Trustee Dr Kiran Modi were present on the occasion.

Kiran Modi said the Udayan Care, a Delhi-based NGO, launched the fellowship programme in 2002 under which poor but brilliant and talented girl students were provided scholarship to enable them to be

confident and self-reliant in life. Till date, more than 1,950 students had benefited from the scholarships.

Besides Delhi, the NGO also have branches in Kurukshetra , Aurangabad, Kolkata and Uttarakhand.

Dr Chauhan stressed on the need of more collective and cumulative efforts to be made in the social service sector to contribute toward society.

Umesh Aggarwal suggested the NGO to take along other willing aspirants or organisations in its activities and expand its network for the benefit of the needy strata of the society.

Harbans Kapoor appreciated the contributions of the Udayan Care saying that had the brilliant legends like Abraham Lincoln, Abdul Kalam Azad, Deen Dyal Upadhyaya failed to overcome their financial and social deprivation, the world would not have had benefited from their immense contributions. Therefore, it was very important to back up such talents struggling with their deficiencies to shine in life. 

Mussoorie, October 9
Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala, addressing students and the staff during the 42nd Founder’s Day celebrations of Guru Nanak Fifth Centenary Girls School (Shangrila) in Mussoorie today, said the purpose of education was to create a generation that had the capability to do something new.

Elaborating further he said instead of repeating what had happened in the past, the purpose of education should be to create people who have vision, wisdom and can make new inventions and discoveries. Speaking on the information revolution in the world, Dr Jaspal Singh was of the view that with the advent of vast number of equipment available, it was easy to acquire any information but the need was to transform that information into knowledge and ultimately into wisdom so that students can have a bright future.

Dr Jaspal Singh further said that students should have curiosity for knowing what one does not know and the process should start at an early age and carry on lifelong.

Dr Jaspal Singh highlighting the importance of religion in one’s life stressed on the point that whatever the community possessed was just the extension of what Guru Nanak preached or did during his lifetime.”Guru Nanak preached about oneness of God which still exists in the Guru Granth Sahib but the people have forgotten these preaching thus leading to misery”, added Dr Jaspal Singh.

Dr Jaspal Singh also emphasised that the school should take lead in promoting preachings of Guru Nanak and especially in context of his “Udasis” (Travels of Guru Nanak) as the message of Universal Brotherhood was the need of the hour. He said that Punjabi University would also support such endeavour in near future.

Later speaking exclusively to the Tribune, Dr Jaspal Singh said that Punjabi University had introduced online Punjabi language certificate course for the interested students living abroad. The university had also digitized the available past 60-70 years of history of Punjabi folk dance and process of digitising Punjabi music, especially the classical music as Patiala Gharana was very famous, were also in pipeline.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri passed his first acid test during the handling of the communal violence in Rudrapur that started on Gandhi Jyanti on October 2. After alleged sacrilege of a religious text in the industrial town, Muslim community members were on the roads to demand action against the culprits involved in the incident.

It was the second incident of sacrilege in a week that inflamed the passions of the community. Regrettably, the district civil and police administration failed to apprehend the growing volatile situation by its inaction on the sensitive matter. On October 2, an irate mob blocked the main road as a mark of protest against the incidents but soon anti-social and criminal elements took over the protests and started heavy brickbatting on the police force. They started burning vehicles and soon the battle turned communal.

In all, four persons were killed and scores of business establishments were looted or set on fire. Since the formation of Uttarakhand on November 9, 2000, the Rudrapur incident was the worst communal violence in the history of the nascent state which is known for its religious harmony and communal goodwill.

It was a known fact that with the state Assembly elections round the corner, the Terai region of the state with dense population and having more number of Assembly seats, will be the main battle ground for various political parties.

Continuous efforts were made to spoil the communal harmony but the district administration failed to check such incidents and take action against the culprits.

However, after the violence on October 2, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Khanduri visited the riot-hit town and personally took charge of the situation. On his return to Dehradun, he took decisive action and replaced the entire police and civil administration of the district. He sent the new set of officers to replace the existing ones in the state plane, the very next morning.

Amid tension and rumours, the new set of officials was able to control the situation as the industrial town limped back to normalcy.

The main opposition Congress, which represents the Rudrapur Assembly segment through its powerful local legislator Tilak Raj Behad, failed to respond quickly to the situation. It took two days for opposition Congress leaders to respond to the communal violence after Congress president Sonia Gandhi formed a committee to look into the incidents.

Senior leaders of the party visited Rudrapur in a charter plane hired by the party but had nothing much to offer to the sufferers of the violence except blaming the state government for failure and to demand a judicial probe into the communal violence.

Dehradun, October 9
Rajeev Nagar Dhanda, one of the largest wards in the state capital, comprises 12 colonies and has a population of 40,000. Some of the posh areas of the city like Shastri Nagar, sector 1 of Defence Colony and Sarthi Vihar also fall in this ward. The state assembly House is also situated in the area.

Though the area is considered far better than the other wards of the city in terms of provision of civic amenities, a few residents face major civic problems like sanitation, water-logging and nonfunctional streetlights.

Rakesh Lakhera, a resident, complained of the absence of sewerage and damaged roads in the ward. “Bulbs on most of the streetlights have fused and no one pays heed towards this problem,” he affirmed.

Puneet Negi also pointed out the same problems besides the absence of hygienic conditions in the area.

Bhagwant Singh Rawat said he was facing no trouble as such except the absence of sewerage in the ward. “The councillor lives nearby so he keeps visiting the area,” he stated.

It is Saraswati Devi who is most annoyed with the unhygienic conditions in her area, especially during the rainy season. “No sanitation employee visits the area regularly and we have to clean the road in front of our houses ourselves. The problem aggravates during the monsoon when water stagnates right in front of our homes,” she added.

The councillor, Capt PS Negi, who is from the BJP, says he tries to keep people in his area satisfied though it is a difficult task, as one could never gets satisfied with your work. “I have got done works worth Rs 70 lakh in my area and I am happy the way the things are going on,” he said.

Regarding the nonfunctional streetlights, he said he had got replaced all the fused bulbs or tube lights recently. “There is no timer fixed on the streetlights in the area and the locals have to switch these on and off themselves. Sometimes they fail to do so due to which bulbs or tube lights get fused,” he held.

About the absence of sewerage in the ward, Captain Negi said the laying of sewer lines in all the areas of the ward would start very soon as the project had been approved under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). 

Dehradun, October 9
Host Doon Girls’ School-A and Welham Girls’ School set up a final clash in the Tek Chand Memorial Basketball (Under-12) Tournament here today. The final is scheduled to be played at 4 pm tomorrow.

In the first semifinals, Doon Girls’ School-A outplayed Doon Girls’ School-B 35-9. The A team beat the B team 8-0, 6-2, 12-3, 9-4. Jeevna with 14 points played a pivotal role in the win of A team while Ritigya scored four points for the B team.

In the second semifinals, Welham Girls’ School got the better of The Aryan School 56-22. Welham won the quarters 24-10, 12-2, 6-0, 14-0. Ishita scored with 10 points for the winning team while Riddhi’s 13 points scored for Aryan went in a vain.

Earlier in the league matches, Doon Girls’ School-A beat Doon International School 24-8 and Doon Girls’ School-B defeated Raja Ram Mohan Rai Academy 12-10.

Welham Boys’ School and Welham Girls’ School today became the champions of the District 3-on-3 Basketball Championship in the boys and girls’ categories respectively. The competition was conducted by the District Basketball Association (DBA) at Welham Boys’ School from 6.30 am to 10.30 am. The DBA, Dehradun, also conducted a clinic on the 3-on-3 basketball rules.

A total of 24 teams participated in the championship, which was played on a knockout basis. In the semifinals of the girls’ category, Hopetown Girls' School beat Convent of Jesus and Mary School 4-3 and Welham Girls’ School defeated Doon International School 19-1.

In the final, Welham Girls' School beat Hopetown 8-1 to win the title.

In the semifinals of the boys’ section, Welham Boys' School got past The Doon School 9-6 and Hilton’s School thrashed Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy 12-1.

In the final, Welham Boys' School defeated Hilton's School 14-10 to claim the title.

Ganganjot Juneja, Joint Director, The Asian School, and former Captain of the Uttarakhand state junior basketball team, was the chief guest for the finals.

He presented trophies and certificates to the finalists. Juneja appreciated the efforts of the DBA and was very happy to see the improving standards of basketball in Dehradun. A certificate of participation was given to all the players. 

Dehradun, October 9
A hat-trick by Rahul Rawat helped Summer Valley School humble North Point Children Academy 4-0 in a league match of the 13th Col Sashi Shamsher JB Rana Memorial Inter-School Football Tournament held at Cambrian Hall School here today.

Rawat struck in the 32nd, 37th and 42nd minutes of the play to rule the roost. Earlier, Debujit (22nd) opened the account of Summer Valley. On the other hand, North Point failed to score any goal throughout the match.

In another league match played today, Seven Oaks School edged past Hilton's School 2-1. Shivankar (38th) and Prahash (46th) were the scorers in the win of Seven Oaks while Ankur Gurung (59th) chipped in for the losing side.

Host Cambrian Hall School also beat Doon Valley 3-1. Shubham Malik (19th), Shubham Gussain (39th) and Pawan (58th) scored a goal each for the winning team. Jeet (50th) struck the lone goal for the opponent team which went in a vain.