Minor Tibetan student gives birth to baby
Mussoorie, February 24
What could be termed as a rare incident in the erstwhile sleepy town of Mussoorie, a 16-year-old Tibetan student studying in a government school gave birth to an infant around 3.30 am at community hospital on Thursday.

Dehradun, February 24
The 25,985 undelivered postal ballots may have upset the election calculation of the BJP with Chief Minister BC Khanduri raising the issue with the Election Commission, on the contrary the Uttarakhand electoral office is maintaining that the voter turnout through postal ballot is expected to be higher than the last two elections.

As there is more than a month for the postal ballots, the total voter turnout through the postal ballot will be much higher. It is already 31 per cent.

In the 2009 general elections, the voter turnout through postal ballot was 21 per cent (19265), out of a total of 93,326 service voters). In 2007, the voter turnout through postal ballot was 19 per cent (15,564 out of a total of 81,319 service voters), said Radha Raturi, Chief Electoral Officer.

Citing reasons such as lack of updation of the list of servicemen, who might have retired, transferred to some other units and even the family member (in this case wife) after a short stay at the unit reverting back to her home as some of the reasons behind the undelivered postal ballots.

“There are a total of 31,070 woman (wives of servicemen) who too figure on the postal ballot list and a few among them may have gone back home. This could be a plausible explanation for the undelivered postal ballots. It is only the Army that can forward the postal ballots because they have the addresses of the employees,” said Raturi.

With high stakes being attached to the outcome of postal ballots in the 2012 Assembly elections, both BJP and Congress have been keenly watching the entire process and are expected to lower their guard only on the day of counting when the postal ballots will be counted first.

The Uttarakhand Electoral Office had dispatched 22,727 postal ballots for Army servicemen and their family members in Pauri, 15,306 in Pithoragarh, 13,158 in Chamoli, 9,743 in Dehradun and 6,799 in Almora.

Besides, there are a total of 20,558 other service voters who were on election duty and had also exercised the option of postal ballots. 

Dehradun, February 24
A case of corporal punishment meted out to a student of class VI of a reputed school here has shocked people of the city. According to information, an 11-year-old boy was allegedly beaten up by the sports coordinator for wandering in the corridors of the school three days ago.

The victim, Harjot Singh of Selaqui International School here sustained injuries and was allegedly denied treatment by the school authorities in a bid to hush up the matter.

While speaking to The Tribune, Apar Singh, the victim’s father, said, “The incident came to our notice when Harjot called us last night, three days after the incident took place. He called us from the mobile phone of a maid at his hostel. My son told me he was passing through the school campus when his sports teacher, who was drunk that time, scolded him for taking the shortcut. He pulled the turban off my son’s head and held him by the open hair and then thrashed him with cricket bat on his back and hips.”

Apar also alleged that two other teachers of the school witnessed the incident and instead of coming to the rescue of the child, made fun of him. “The headmaster of the school also covered up the incident from the Vice-Chairman of the school and also did not inform us. He told my son as well as my daughter, who also studies in the same school, not to inform us or else they won’t be able to sit in the examination,” he charged.

The father immediately went to the school and complained to the Vice-Chairman, Maj-Gen Basant Singh (retd). On learning about the incident, Basant Singh, rusticated the sports teacher.

Harjot’s medical test was done at the Coronation Hospital where he was reported to have swelling in the left hip and the lumber region. The student was still under shock and trauma.

The student’s father has reiterated his demand for strict action against the authorities so that the incident was not repeated again.

“My son was beaten up badly for a petty cause. The teacher could have punished my son by making him apologise in writing or making him run on the field, but torture at this level will not be tolerated. There are injury marks on his body which clearly show that he was beaten up badly,”  he alleged.

When contacted, the Vice-Chairman of the school agreed that the incident did take place on the school campus and termed it as unfortunate for both the victim and his parents.

“We have expelled the sports teachers while further investigation is underway to know whether the other two teachers were involved in the incident or not,” he said. 

Haridwar, February 24
The last rites of Mahant Shankar Das, head of Shri Bada Panchayati Udaseen Akhada, were performed according to custom in Haridwar today. The mahant died yesterday. A large number of sadhus, politicians and people from various walks of life attended his cremation.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri expressed condolences at mahant’s death. Besides, Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Haridwar MP Harish Rawat, former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, local MLA Madan Kaushik and former municipal chairman Satpal Brahamchari have mourned the death of the religious leader.

Swami Ramdev said Mahant Shankar Das was a great soul who firmly believed in ancient traditions. Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami HansVedacharya also lauded mahant’s role in promoting the tradition of akhadas. 

Mussoorie, February 24
What could be termed as a rare incident in the erstwhile sleepy town of Mussoorie, a 16-year-old Tibetan student studying in a government school gave birth to an infant around 3.30 am at community hospital on Thursday.

The baby girl was delivered through natural process and weighs around 2.8 kg. Both mother and baby are recuperating at the hospital, and the hospital authorities are monitoring the situation closely, considering the young age of the mother. It is also believed that a Tibetan youth working in the Special Frontier Force of the Indian Army is the father of the infant.

Meanwhile, the Mussoorie police has begun investigations and is quizzing all those who are closely linked with the incident.

According to the school authorities, the girl, who is a student of ninth class and is enrolled in the hostel of the Central School of Tibetans in Happy Valley area, had just returned from the winter vacation to the school hostel. On Wednesday night when she rushed to the Landour community hospital after she complained of severe abdomen pain. The hospital staff, suspicious of the whole matter, conducted an ultra-sound and found out that the girl was nine-month pregnant. She was shifted to the maternity ward, where she delivered a 2.8 kg baby girl around 3.30 am on Thursday.

When contacted, principal of the school RB Singh, showing his ignorance in the matter, said that the school was closed for Losar celebrations and he was out of station. He rushed to the school as soon as he was apprised about the matter. RB Singh further informed that the school had one warden for boys and a matron for girls to look after the students in the hostel. But both were clueless in the matter due to absence of any visible signs of pregnancy.

RB Singh also informed that the school had taken a strict view of the matter and had constituted an internal enquiry. Senior officials at Delhi have also been informed about the incident, added Singh. The Rector of the school, who looks after the Tibetan affairs, said that his community was in a state of deep shock at the incident and had ordered a thorough probe to determine the guilty person in the case.

The Rector also informed that after the investigations, it has been revealed that a Tibetan youth working in the Special Frontier Force (SFF) at a unit somewhere in the Siachin Glacier was the person responsible.

The SFF was conceived during the post Sino-Indian war period comprising mainly of Tibetan refugees, whose main goal was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in case of another war between the People's Republic of China and India.

According to the head of the investigating police team, Sanjay Mishra, they had begun investigations in the matter and were trying to contact the Tibetan youth. The police, after complete investigations, would be registering a case in this matter. Sanjay Mishra also said that they were also investigating the role of the school staff that had no inkling of a pregnant girl in the school since nine months and remained mum on the issue till the day of delivery.

According to sources, the girl was emotionally attached to the youth and met him in the month of June at Dharamsala, where she had gone to meet her brother, and it was here she developed close relationship, leading to her pregnancy.

The brother of the said girl had also reached the hospital from Dharamsala and is in a state of shock and was not in the condition to speak on the issue. The Tibetans residing in the town are aghast at such an incident, which is rare in the community. They have demanded a thorough enquiry into the matter.

It is to be noted that the government school where the incident occurred does not have a female counsellor to deal with such matters. Many residents around the school believe that if the medical examination of the girl would have been conducted after the failure of the first monthly cycle of the girl, such a situation could have been avoided. 

Haridwar, February 24
A two-day annual sports meet organised by Susana Methodist BEd Girls College, Roorkee, on the college campus concluded here today. On the occasion, Principal Unnati Vishnoi said for the overall development, it was necessary for the girls to participate in games.

A large number of students participated in the event.

Races, long jump, discuss throw, shot put and fun races were also held.

The major attraction was matches in kabaddi and kho-kho.

In kabaddi, the Indira Gandhi team beat the Kiran Bedi team.

Fatima, a member of the winning team, said: “My family was not allowing me to participate in the match.

But now when we have won,I hope they will feel proud when I go home today with a medal.”

Haridwar, February 24
The annual sports meet at Shravan Nath Math Jawaharla Nehru (SNMJN) College is likely to start on February 27. It was postponed for a day yesterday in view of shoddy playground conditions. Today it was further deferred for owing to slow pace of work.

The ground conditions were inspected by college principal AK Ghildiyal, commerce department head Dr SK Batra along with college union chief Prerna Kainthola this morning. But these were not satisfactory with the contractor seeking additional time to level the ground. A decision was taken in this regard to extend the annual meet date.

Meanwhile, political science department students formed a committee wherein all executive members were elected unanimously.

A common meeting was held at the college common room where Anurag Mishra formed the core committee. Mehtab Alam was chosen general secretary, Pankaj Kumar sub-coordinator, Renu Rawat cultural secretary, Kartika, Sunaina, Varsha, Shivani Saini were appointed secretaries with Amit Prajapati and Arshad Kwaja as sub-secretaries. The college principal congratulated the committee members for taking initiative in this direction with former political science council general secretary Prerna Kainthola extending her support to the committee’s working. At the meeting, it was also decided that a series of annual lectures-cum-debate that were held throughout the year will conclude on March 3 with a host of experts being invited. 

Dehradun February 24
A weeklong fest ‘Srijan-2012’ commenced on the campus of Dolphin (PG) Institute of Biomedical and Natural Sciences here today. The event began with the inter-departmental Sports Competition and other activities.

The guest of honour was B Sen Gupta, head of Aqua Water Solution Plant, of the college who inaugurated the event by lighting a lamp. Students held a march past parade followed by mass PT and various drills.

Informing about the programme, Vipul Garg, Dean, Student Welfare, said the coming week would bring lots of activities to the college.

The preparations for all sports activities and other programmes among students indicate that the annual week’s celebration will have an extra attraction for spectators.