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Kanwariyas from Punjab arrive in Haridwar
Bird
flu scare in kumaon
Power supply to offices will not be disrupted, says DM
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Indian brains the best in IT sector: Trehan
Tibetan youth hold protest march
Erotic songs replace devotional ragas in Holi celebrations
Varsity VC dissolves managing committee
Mystery shrouds death of medical student
Nuclear programme indigenous, says scientist Mittal
Hanol dance of Chakrata presented
Shani temple renovation: Vested interests exploiting issue
Annual sports day at The Hertitage School
Carman School sports day
Vidhan Sabha win by 9 runs
Dehradun
Diary
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Kanwariyas from Punjab arrive in Haridwar
Haridwar, February 12 A large number of Kanwariyas from Bathinda, Ludhiana, Moga, Gurgaon, Delhi and other places could be chanting ‘bum bum bholey’ and ‘Om’ braving the chill in the morning as well as evening. Ravi Kumar, a Kanwariya from Bhatinda, said after fetching Ganga jal from Har-ki-Pauri today, they had started their return journey on foot so they could reach there on time. Kanwariyas from other states said they had arrived early in Haridwar as it would take some days to go back to their respective places on foot. With the holy Piran Kaliyar Sabir Dargah Urs concluding successfully on the February 10, the Haridwar administration has started chalking out plans for the successful completion of ‘Sharadiya Kanwar’. Superintendent of Police (traffic), city zone, Dr Kiran Lal Shaw said if the number of Kanwariyas coming to Haridwar increased, a special traffic plan would be devised to avoid jams. |
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Bird flu scare in kumaon
Nainital, February 12 Samples have also been collected from the Nainital poultry and egg market which is the key supplier of poultry products to hotels and restaurants in the tourist town. Samples have also been collected from Jyolikote, Devidhura, Baldiyakhan, Khurpatal etc. Sources said in the absence of poultry farming in these small areas, most of the poultry products, including chicken, were procured from places like Haldwani, Rampur, Bilaspur and Moradabad. The authorities are also keeping an eye on small poultry farms that dot the hilly areas. Samples are being collected from all breeds of poultry birds available in the market. Following the reported detection of a bird flu case in Orissa, the authorities in Uttarakhand have directed officials of all 25 veterinary hospitals across the state to begin the random sampling of birds in their area. The follow-up action, if any, would be taken following the reports of the samples taken. |
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Power supply to offices will not be disrupted, says DM
Nainital, February 12 At a meeting held recently in Bhimtal to review the district plan and the Centre-sponsored schemes in the district, District Magistrate Nidhi Mani Tripathi told the officials of the Power Department that the power supply to the offices providing essential services would not be disrupted under any condition. She also called for an end to the practice of resorting to the unscheduled power cuts by the department. Taking stock of the tourism-related activities, she said more facilities needed to be provided to the tourists. She pointed out that small parking lots needed to be developed in Nainital and other smaller tourist destinations. In addition to this, new places of tourist interest need to be developed, she asserted. Pointing towards the functioning of departments like Minor Irrigation and Irrigation, she said it must be ensured that there was no duplicity in works being executed. Addressing the officials of the Health Department, Tripathi pointed out that all gram sabhas in the district must be provided with first aid boxes under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). At the same time, she has ordered the officials of the Social Welfare Department to start developing a date base of pension beneficiaries and making their bank accounts available online so that their pension could be deposited in their accounts immediately on release. Tripathi made it clear that the officials must utilise the budgetary allocations made to them for the current financial year. She asked the officials to travel to the spots where schemes were being executed and inspect the works being done. |
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Indian brains the best in IT sector: Trehan
Haridwar, February 12 Trehan, once CEO of New Delhi Television India, was speaking at a seminar on “E-Business and Management” here at the Haridwar Management Association Chapter annual function. He termed the Internet as a potent tool in the management sector as communication and information data is just a click away, which comes handy for managers.
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Tibetan youth hold protest march
Dehradun, February 12 In March 2011 a total of 21 Tibetans committed suicide as a mark of protest against the Chinese atrocities. “We are on the street to express solidarity with our Tibetan brothers,” said Dawa Dakpa, member of the Regional Tibet Women’s Association. She said despite peaceful measures adopted by people of Tibet, the “repressive” Chinese regime continued to suppress the basic human rights of the Tibetan people. “Six thousand Tibetans are already imprisoned and another 4,000 are missing,” she said. Meanwhile, president of the Tibetan Women’s Association (Clement Town) Tenzin Dolma said Tibetan women would continue their struggle. “We have been demanding the release of environmentalist Karma Samdrup, who has been imprisoned for the past 15 years. There are several activists who have been put behind bars on fake charges,” she said. She said the association members had also been raising their voice against the illegal detention of wandering Tibetan women and monks. |
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Erotic songs replace devotional ragas in Holi celebrations
Pithoragarh, February 12 “The Holi, which begins from the first Sunday of the month of “Paush” in the Kumaon region, remains on devotional ragas till the month of “Falgun” and, thereafter, it converts on ragas expressing erotic sentiments till the 6th day of Holi,” said Jagdish Chandra Punera, organiser of Holi Baithak in Pithoragarh. Almora has two century-old tradition of Holi recital and it claims to spread Holi songs, being recited by several groups and bhajan mandalis, in adjoining villages to interior regions of Kumaon. “We begin our erotic Holi with the creation of legendary Kumaoni poet Gumani, who has beautifully created a blend of devotional sentiments with those of erotic one,” said Dr Pankaj Upreti, a leading Holi singer of the Kumaon region and president of the Himalayan Sangeet Sodh Samiti, an organisation devoted to the promotion of the Himalayan brand of music. At Almora, besides the Sodh Samiti, several other organisations, including the Hukka Club, the Tripura Sundari Navyuvak Kala Kendra, and the Jagannath Kirtan Mandali, have organised the Holi recitation since the first Sunday of “Magh” month. “We are singing ragas based on Shringar Ras. These songs have content based on fun-making gestures of Radha, Krishna and her other sakhis in Brindavan during the time of Lord Krishna. These blends are full of devotion towards Lord Krishna but expressed in erotic or satirical ways,” said Dharani Dhar Pandey, leading Holi singer of Almora town. In Champawat, which is known as original capital of Chand Kings and place from where Holi singing sought royal patronage before being spread to other parts of Kumaon, Holi singing has been organised at various places as the month of “Falgun” nears. “The Holi presentation by Mohan Chandra Chuabe, based on raga, Kaffi, titled as ‘Madho Madhuban Jana Unhen Samajhakar Lana’ became hit at Holi recital overnight in the town on Saturday, which presented separation pains of gopika’s of Brij Bhumi after Lord Krishna left for Mathura,” said Dharam Singh Adhikari, a Holi lover and organisers of sittings. The Holi sittings have also been reported from Gangolihat, Bageshwar, Berinag, Barechina, Didihat and Ranikhet towns of the region. “The villages of Kumaon these days are also reverberating with Holi sittings impersonating the pains of separation of sakhi’s of Brindavan from their loved Lord Krishna,” said Mohan Chandra Kharkwal , another leading Holi singer of Champawat town. |
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Varsity VC dissolves managing committee
Dehradun, February 12 In his directives, Singh has called a probe into the matter by constituting a special investigation committee and asked the president of the college management to re-conduct free and fair elections. According to Dr Bhattnagar, the formation of the managing body was not fair while the committee members had violated the laws of the HNB Garhwal University and the High Court by not appointing the founder member of the college in the managing committee. However, Dr Ashwini Kamboj, president of the MKP PG College, managing committee, said, “The university has taken a nippy action into the matter without any proper investigation on the complaint of Dr Bhattnagar.” “We would approach the High Court to present our views on the directions of the university,” he added. |
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Mystery shrouds death of medical student
Nainital, February 12 According to information, he had gone to his house in Kitcha over the weekend. He, along with one of his juniors, went out somewhere and returned home on Saturday night with someone else who dropped him on a motorcycle. However, on reaching home he lost consciousness. He was taken to a nearby private hospital from where he was referred to a government hospital. However, he died on way to the hospital and was declared brought dead by doctors. The cause of his death is also yet to be ascertained and the reasons that could have led to this tragedy are being probed. |
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Nuclear programme indigenous, says scientist Mittal
Haridwar, February 12 Padmashri awardee JP Mittal said despite the embargo put up by the western world, particularly the United States post-Pokhran 98, Indian nuclear and space scientists proved that their superiority didn’t suffer. Mittal, who has been working at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, for past 50 years, said due to the scientific community’s efforts, the USA, Australia, France or other European nations had to lift the sanctions and now they were involved in nuclear deal with India. This was due to the economic development of the country which needed power and nuclear energy. Exuding confidence that India was well-prepared for any nuclear attack as it had the technology, arsenal and capability, Mittal said while the Indian nuclear programme had always been defensive, same couldn’t be said about its neighbours so one couldn’t rule out nuclear war in the sub-continent. When questioned on the Fukishama nuclear reactor leakage disaster in Japan 2001 and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 1986, Mittal said in India no such threat loomed large as post-Fukishama, an intensive third party assessment of all nuclear plants in the country was done which declared these as quite safe, with all of their recommendations being adhered to instantly. With India taking on lease Russian nuclear submarine Nerpa last month, the top scientist said India’s maiden indigenous domestic nuclear attack-capable submarine was being made at Visakhapatnam which would make India only sixth nation that had this capability. On the trend of youngsters opting for non-science subjects, Mittal, said there was no dearth of talent and now with expanding of IITs, the Indian Institute of Science, the Indian Institutes of Indian Science Education Research and guaranteed placement assurance from the government in fact not only in India but around the world, Indian teachers and scholars and students are shining everywhere.
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Hanol dance of Chakrata presented
Dehradun, February 12 The performers have been active since 1990, having already performed at the Republic Day parade in Delhi, and other cultural venues. They are regularly invited by the Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, Virasat,Dehradun, besides Lok Rangan, Khajuraho, Uttarakashi, Magh Mela, Lok Rang,
Jaipur. |
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Shani temple renovation: Vested interests exploiting issue
Nainital, February 12 Since the demolition was executed a week back, there have been sporadic protests across Kumaon on the issue with small groups of Right wing activists participating in these protests. Observers point out that the demolition has served the purpose of several groups of people who have now stumbled upon an opportunity to serve their vested interests. To begin with, the observers say that the said temple was not being managed by any public body or any trust but as a “private enterprise.” Secondly, it has provided an opportunity to the Right wing Hindu activists to indulge in small-time politics and get some prominence in the media. There have been protests organised by such organisations in places like Nainital, Kashipur, Jaspur, Haldwani and a couple of more places. In Nainital, some 30-odd people with affiliations to various Hindutv organisations had marched through the town in a procession from Ram Sevak Sabha to the Collectorate via the Mall Road, raising slogans. Sources say that this was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct which is still in force across the state. When asked about this violation, the police personnel on the ground said that they had no orders from the administration to stop the procession. Ironically, the decision of the protesters to take out a procession had been reported in every major vernacular newspaper on that day. There are also attempts being made to communalise the issue as it is being pointed out that the authorities have desisted from demolishing encroachments done by religious institutions of the other faith. The protestors have also been alleging that the Lake Development Authority(LDA) has specifically targeted the temple while turning a blind eye to the other rampant illegal construction that has been taking place in Nainital with impunity. The LDA authorities on the other hand have stated that they have served notices to a large number of people found to be encroaching upon public land and resorting to illegal construction. They say that 22 structures have been identified for sealing while nine others are to be razed soon. A group of rational citizens led by social activist and senior media person Rajiv Lochan Sah has come out openly against mobilising of common people for defending illegal encroachments. Amid all this, the role of the media has been questioned at length by the rational people of the town. “How can they report a group of 20 to 30 odd protesters resorting to a demonstration as a vishaal pradarshan (huge demonstration). Earlier also some of them had called the temple a Pauranic structure (one finding reference in Pauranas),” the group questioned. It seems they too are hand-in-glove with the Right wing elements, say the residents of the town while pointing out that a group of 30 people do not represent the religious sentiments of the total town. Locals also point out that the temple in the form of a religious structure has come into existence only during the last few years. The demolition was carried out on February 6 at the Thandi Sadak amid a strong police presence to ensure that no untoward incident took place. On a previous occasion in November, the officials and labourers who had gone to carry out a demolition at the same spot had been chased away by some activists of Right wing Hindu organisations. The Thandi Sadak that has always been walkers’ delight, has witnessed a series of temples coming up or the expansion of old ones over the last few years. It was in November last year that a furore was generated over the demolition of the alleged encroachment by those managing the Shani temple. At that time a team of labourers had demolished the alleged encroachment that had taken place on the Thandi Sadak while the said temple was being reconstructed after it was badly damaged in a rock fall during the monsoons. |
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Annual sports day at The Hertitage School
Dehradun, February 12 Students presented musical performances and field events on the occasion. The chief guest on the occasion was Sanjay Singh Bisht, an international hockey player. The programme began with march past by students of the junior section. The highlight of the event was the colourful mass PT in which children with nimble footwork, great expressions and synchronisation enthralled all present. The chief guest gave away the prizes. The programme culminated with the vote of thanks by Principal of the school B Gill.
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Carman School sports day
Dehradun, February 12 The students beautifully displayed mass PT based on the theme of ‘Fruits and vegetables’ on the premises of the school. The chief guest for the occasion was Amrit
Burret, head of the social service cell at Doon School. The event began with the primary school parade and the nursery class drill ‘Mixed Vegetables,’ class KG- ‘Halloween and Pumpkins’, class I ‘Intelligent Eating is an Art’, class 2 ‘Shopping for Vegetables’ and ‘Blooming Health with Tomatoes.’
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Vidhan Sabha win by 9 runs
Dehradun, February 12 Batting first, Vidhan Sabha scored 102 runs losing all its wickets in process. TS Rawat scored highest 23 runs for Vidhan Sabha. Deepak Tomar of the Agriculture team took 4 wickets in his 6 over spell. Chasing the target, the Agriculture team faltered and could just muster 93 runs. —
TNS
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Dehradun Diary
It is for the first time that there is a gap of 35 days in the final outcome of the state Assembly results in Uttarakhand. The polling in the state was held on January 30, 2012, and the counting of votes will be done on March 6 after the completion of election process in the neighbouring Uttar
Pradesh.
In the past two Assembly elections held in 2002 and 2007 in the state, the gap between the polling and counting of votes was not more than 10 days. However, this time it has been a long wait for the candidates who were in the fray and the political parties. The two main contenders for power in the state, the Opposition Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been reiterating about forming their government after the declaration of results. However, there is more confusion than clarity about their prospects. Leaders of both parties are making tall claims about getting a majority in the new Assembly but in private most of the leaders accept the confusion and inability to guess the outcome of the polling. A large polling percentage, particularly by the youth, has also added to the confusion. Both parties are claiming that increased polling will favour them. Interestingly, while the ruling BJP leaders believe that the increased vote was a vote against corruption indulged in by the Congress-led Central Government and the appeal by Anna Hazare also helped them, Congress leaders are sure that the increased vote was anti-incumbency vote against the BJP government and its alleged misrule. In these calculations, BJP leaders are more defensive while Congress leaders are confident that their party will be near the half-way mark in the Assembly and if there is a slight swing in its favour, it could even win majority on its own. This kind of optimism has been missing among ruling BJP leaders while Congress leaders are in a celebratory mood. Birender Singh, Congress general secretary and in charge, Uttarakhand affairs, threw a party last week for journalists and party leaders at a city hotel. Although it was termed as a “Thanks giving” dinner for the media, the mood was celebratory with an orchestra in play. On the other hand, there has been gloom in the ruling BJP camp. The war of words between Chief Minister BCKhanduri and former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has further demoralised the party rank and file. The allegations by both senior leaders, alleging sabotage of each other’s poll prospects, have added to the despair of the party workers and leaders. Many observers believe that washing of dirty linen by two senior leaders show the despondency of the leadership with poll results. The media stories of both leaders complaining against each other to the central party leaders do not augur well for the future of the party in the state. It was not only the ruling BJP, the party known for its discipline, that there has been public display of allegations between Khanduri and Nishank. The Uttarakhand Congress leaders, who are smelling an election victory, are at loggerheads. The factional leaders of the Uttarakhand Congress have plunged themselves headlong in the fight to get the coveted position of Chief Minister if their party wins the state Assembly elections. The façade of unity between these leaders as shown during elections was unmasked. While, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat, a front-runner for the top post, kept a safe distance from party general secretary in charge Birender Singh even during elections, after the polls. Vijay Bahuguna, party MP, was also not seen with Birender Singh. Satpal Maharaj, Pauri Garhwal MP, who was unhappy with the distribution of ticket, also had working relationship with Birender Singh. Interestingly, none of these state leaders, including leader of the opposition Harak Singh Rawat and Uttarakhand Congress chief Yashpal Arya, turned up for the “Thanks Giving” dinner hosted by Birender Singh last week. The candidates and the leaders are also flocking to the temples, saints and soothsayers to pray for their victory in the poll. Two of the contenders for the top post in the state Chief Minister BC Khanduri and the Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs were seen performing special pujas at Haridwar temples. Even astrologers are also having a field day. One of the astrologers has predicted a strong “Rajyog” for Khanduri while others are predicting a victory for the Congress. The political leaders will be on tenterhooks till March 6 when the ultimate verdict of the people will be known. — SMA Kazmi |
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The Tibetans living in exile in Dehradun yesterday held a protest march denouncing the alleged atrocities committed by the Chinese authorities in Tibet. The Tibetan women and youth participating in the march raised slogans against the Chinese and demanded release of Tibetan prisoners.
The phase of erotic songs replaces devotional ragas in the Kumaoni Holi celebration in the town and villages these days as the month of Falgun comes to close. Holi singers, named as Hiliyars in the region, have now gone on to present the
holi-based erotic sentiments expressed by “Gopikas” of “Brij Bhumi” to express love for Lord Krishna.
With aspersions being cast by a US arm control expert on the credibility of Indian nuclear programme saying that a Pakistani scientist may have provided nuclear technology to India, renowned Bhabha Atomic Research
Centre-based scientist JP Mittal has refuted these claims, terming the nuclear programme solely indigenous based on talent, calibre and technology of Indian scientists only.
As part of Spic Macay, Mahashiva Sanskriti Kala Manch presented the Hanol dance of Chakrata at the Institute of Management Studies
(IMS).
They group is based in at the Mahasu Area of Chakrata, which is revered by the population of both Dehradun district and
Himachal. Hanol is the seat of the main deity of this region. They perform traditional folk dances of Jaunsar-Bawar in the praise of the god
Mahasu.
