Dehradun, October 13
Anganwari workers from all over the state laid a siege to the ICDS Directorate and held similar protests all over the state in support of their demands today .

For the past one year, Anganwari workers have taken to the streets raising one demand or the other, be it better working scales or increase in remuneration.

It is no surprise that 20,067 Anganwari centres in the state have been without the services of Anganwaris.

The Anganwaris engaged in the implementation of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) programmes have generally been lauded for their dedication, but with their proclivity for boycotting work at the slightest provocation, the patience of the people is wearing thin. Their long absence is adversely affecting the functioning of the centres.

Apart from additional work and lower wages, the Anganwari workers have faced lathi charge, earning sympathy of the people. But watching them in a strike mode more often, the opinion is gradually changing.

“They should be at the centres but most of the time the centres are empty. They have been entrusted with important responsibilities of providing cooked food and other health programmes. They should be performing these duties but all of them gather in Dehradun,” said Savita, a housewife.

The officials in the Directorate (ICDS) say that the increase in honorarium demanded by the Anganwari workers is unfair. “After the Central Government decided to give Rs 3,000 as honorarium to the Anganwari workers, the state government decided to slash the honorarium to Rs 500 from Rs 1500, this is being protested by the workers. Some of the demands like making them government employees are not within our jurisdiction, “said Vijaya Barthwal, Minister Women Welfare and Child Development.

Dehradun, October 13
Women are the main shoppers on any day of the week but just a couple of days before Karva Chauth, they seem to have stolen all the limelight and captured the bazars of the city. The markets are catering to the whims and fancies of the fairer sex and pampering them with the claims of “best deal ever”.

The beauty parlours in the city too have hired mehndiwalas and are offering special packages to women for hair and skin treatments. Mehndiwalas are also lining alongside the roads in the bazars. From traditional to abstract, they are making all kinds of patterns on the hands of women of all age groups. Husbands, boyfriends or male members of families could be seen happily chatting away with their lovely companions when they sat patiently for the mehndi designs to be completed on their hands, arms or even on feet.

The shopkeepers too are making hay while the sun shines as they are charging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 for renting out the space outside their shops to each mehndiwala for two days. The ones who had been engaged in this vocation of applying mehndi throughout the year and have their own space in markets are also charging 50 per cent of the money earned by those who have come from different parts of the state to make handsome amounts in these few days of the festivity.

The most conspicuous feature is that the saree or garment shops have most happily accommodated mehndiwalas. An employee of Mahawar clothes shop, Paltan Bazar, said: “The crowd near the shop attracts other women to the shop and they feel tempted to try and buy sarees or other clothes. This is the reason why almost all the saree shops in the bazar have got groups of mehndiwalas working outside their shops.”

Besides, the shops selling cosmetics and sweets were seen packed to every inch. Ragini Gupta, a house maker, said she was picking up her favourite sweets for sergi, to be eaten before sunrise on Karva Cauth

No one is complaining of the constriction of space in the bazars as long as it is the festival time. The vehicular movement on the narrow roads inside the bazars are making it difficult for the commuters to walk. “If the vehicular movement is banned in the bazars, then the crowd too will get thinned. Most of the women prefer to come on bikes or in cars so that they can easily manage their heavy shopping bags or little children while shopping. So we can not afford to ask for such a change,” said a shopkeeper.

Mussoorie, October 13
A one-day regional symposium on higher education was held at St Georges College in Barlowganj, Mussoorie, today.

Guest speakers, addressing more than 400 school students from various parts of the country, emphasised on selecting career according to their ability, aptitude and intellect.

Renowned educational psychologist Dr VS Ravindran speaking to the students in the first session said they should make their career choices according to their capabilities and intelligence and not what other peer groups were choosing for themselves.

Dr Ravindran further said the students, while making career choices, forget about objectiveness and lose their sight of the goal in the process, regretting later in life.

He asserted that every career had a scope if it was selected according to one’s own limitations and strength. Prof Rajiv Shourie from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) said: “Our country is on the path of development but still there is need to change the mindset while imparting education”. Professor Shourie opined the trend in education was changing and now the focus was on innovation and creativity. He stressed on the fact that students should develop curiosity in themselves to create something new so that they could choose career accordingly and emerge as leaders and not followers in the world.

Shourie also said in the present scenario, the expertise with well-rounded personality was much in demand and the students should focus on extra-curricular activities too if they wanted to excel in life.

Later speaking to the media, the principal St.Georges College Bro. Christopher said his school was hosting such a symposium for the second time and the results were encouraging. Bro. Christopher was of the view that such symposium helped in providing able guidance to the students who were still in confusion over what career to choose in their life.

One of the students Rahul Soni from Templeton Academy in Naukuchia Tal was of the view that such symposium should be held on a regular basis as they helped in clearing doubts about the career choices and help them in focusing on their goal in life.

The students from the Tibetan Homes Foundation, Central School for Tibetans, Kasiga International, Nirmala School, etc also attended the symposium with rapt attention.

Dehradun, October 13
The Uttarakhand Punjabi Mahasabha (Ladies Wing) today organised the Karva Chauth queen competition. Chandni Sehgal was adjudged the winner in the age group of 21-30 years, while Rekha Aneja and Rajni Devi were declared runners-up.

In the age group of 31-40 years, Nalini Anand grabbed the first prize followed by Kirti Pahuja and Richa Narang as runners-up. Veena Ahuja won the competition in the age group of 41 years and above while Veena Kapoor was adjudged the runner-up. Neelam Sehgal, state president of the mahasabha, was the chief guest of the programme while Savita Kapoor and Anjali Verma were the guests of honour.

In between the competition folk songs and dance were presented by the local artistes. The show was judged by Neeraj Khanna, Meenu Chadha and Ranjana Gill. — TNS

Dehradun, October 13
Doon Valley School disappointed hosts Cambrian Hall School, beating it 2-0 in the finals to walk away with the title during the 13th Col Sashi Shamsher JB Rana Memorial Inter-School Football Tournament, here today.

The winning team scored a goal in both halves each. The first goal of the match came in the 25th minute through Piyush for Doon Valley. Later on, hosts made some good goal-bearing attempts to an equaliser but the opponent team thwarted them all.

Returning after a break with 1-0 lead into the second-half of the play, Doon Valley players looked more confident, taking more chances to score goals. On the other hand, Cambrian put up a stiff competition but in a vain as the rival squad netted another goal in the 52nd minute. Chief Guest Col BS Chhetri, President of Gorkha Sudhar Sabha, gave away the prizes to the players and the teams in the prize distribution ceremony.

Dehradun, October 13
The Inter-section Athletics Competition has started at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC). It includes various track and field events. The results of the various competitions held on the first day are as follows.

Discus throw: 1st- Cadet Anil Kumar, 2nd- Cadet PY Shreevastava, 3rd- Cadet Ekansh Uniyal; broad jump:- 1st- Cadet Tomthin, 2nd- Cadet Gaurav Kumar and 3rd- Cadet Pratyush Nayak; high jump: 1st- Cadet Mayank Dhama, 2nd- Cadet Sohail Islam and 3rd- Cadet Shashank Shekhar;

Junior section: Discus throw: 1st- Cadet Kumar Vikram, 2nd- Cadet Yashasvee Raj and 3rd- Cadet Stephen; shotput : 1st- Cadet Kumar Vikram, 2nd- Cadet Akash Kumar and 3rd- Cadet Yugant Pandey.

800M Race: 1st- Cadet Md Salman, 2nd- Cadet Maikel Singh and 3rd- Cadet Shashank Shekhar

Pole vault: 1st- Cadet Kobing, 2nd- Cadet Bhaskar and 3rd- Cadet Chandrakant.

1,500M race: 1st- Cadet Rahul Mishra, 2nd- Cadet Vikram Dalal and 3rd- Cadet Abhishek Yadav. — TNS

Dehradun, October 13
The finals of different weight categories of boys and girls in the District-Level Boxing Championship at the Parade Ground here today. The tournament was organised by the District Sports Office. The following are the results.

In the girls’ under 20-26 kg final, Sakshi got the better of Aastha to lift the title. In the 26-30 kg final, Taru got past Pooja to win the bout and Amita defeated Mansi in the 30-34 kg final. In the 34-38 kg final, Diksha surpassed Karishma. Babita defeated Simran to walk away with 38-42kg title. Netra also registered a win over Karishma in the 42-46kg final bout.

In the 46-50kg final, Sangita got the first place beating Neha. In the 54-57kg category, Kanishka defeated Pooja while Nandini bettered Shipla in the 57-60 kg final bout.

Boys’ finals: 22-24kg: Navin bt Siddharth, 24-28kg: Rahul bt Shulabh, 28-32kg: Kuldeep bt Arvind, 32-34kg: Deepak bt Anurag, 34-36kg: Himanshu bt Deepak, 36-38kg: Vivek bt Abhishek, 38-40kg: Atit bt Bharat, 40-46kg: Vikram bt Navi, 42-44kg: Shrikant bt Tushar, 48-50kg: Sachin bt Resham, 50-52kg: Shuraj bt Pawan, 52-54kg: Vihsal bt Saurabh, 56-58kg: Sandeep bt Amit, 60-64kg: Parvez bt Gaurav, 64-69kg: Harsh bt Asish, 69-75kg: Pradeep bt Ajay and in 75-81kg weight category Ajeet bt Tarun.

Dehradun, October 13
Welham Girls’ School and Convent of Jesus and Mary (CJM) entered the girls final of the District Youth (U-15) Boys and Girls Basketball Championship held at Doon International School today.

In the boys’ section, Welham Boys’ School and Hilton’s School made it to the final winning their respective semifinals. The finals of the championship will be played here tomorrow.

Meanwhile in a tough battle, KV Club got the better of Stadium Trainees 25-23 in girls section in a league match of the District-Level (Under-17) Basketball Tournament held at Parade Ground here today.

KV lost the first two quarters 4-7 and 5-6 while in the next two quarters, it registered wins with 8-0 and 10-8. Kiran (12 points) topscored for the winning team while Manisha (eight points) and Priya (six points) scored for Stadium Trainees. In another boys’ match, Bulls Club got the walkover against SGRR Nehru Gram that did not reach the venue. — TNS

Mussoorie, October 13
In the 123rd Annual Athletic meet held today at Oak Grove School grounds in Jharipani, Mussoorie, Rahul Singh, Anisha Kundu, Ranjan Kumar, Ankita, Viashal Kumar and Saloni verma were declared best athletes in their divisions.

The chief guest on the occasion, General Manager (GM) of the Northern Railways and member board of governors of the school SK Budhlakoti, inaugurated the meet by lighting the Olympic torch.

Vishal Kumar received Gold medal in the Junior Division (boys) and Saloni Verma won Gold in girls’ section of the same divison. In middle group (girls), Ankita, and in boys’ section Ranjan Kumar was the adjudged winner. In senior boys, Rahul Singh and in senior girls, Anisha Kundu, were declared Gold winners.

The overall athletic championship was won by Tagore House in the boys’ section and Mirabai won the coveted trophy in the girls’ section.