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Ayush Gram hits the bump
Intl Yoga Festival
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Prisoners’ reformation prime objective of state: Alva
Physical disability no hurdle for this singer
Floriculture yet to bloom in state
Govt moots hostel for working women
Champawat to have 5 kendras to treat diseased animals
DM convenes meeting on Char Dham pilgrimage
Updating of Dharchula school facilities ordered
Education awareness drive
Stationery, shoes given to poor students
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Ayush Gram hits the bump
Dehradun, March 1 With the PIL being filed in the Nainital High Court, the 65 crore Ayush Gram project, awarded to Kolkata Pvt Ltd last year, is expected to get delayed further. The costs on the project too are likely to go up. “The project is a test case for us as we are venturing into ayurveda tourism with private partners, catering to the high-end clients from both India and abroad. But now this problem has cropped up. There is a confusion regarding land, which is being given on lease by the Ayurvedic Department to the private party,” said Dr Pooja Bhardwaj, Director, Ayurveda and Unani
Services. The project being undertaken on a public-private partnership mode by the Uttarakhand Government and the Emami Consortium envisages an ayurvedic hospital, an ayurvedic drug manufacturing unit, 3-star hotel, an ayurved museum, herbal cultivation facilities, a lodge and herbal cultivation on government land leased out for a period of 60 years by the Health Department to Emami
Limited. The Rishikesh-based Parmarth Niketan, that is also part of the consortium with Emami, has been roped in to provide expertise in running the ayurvedic hospital and also offering Panchakarma and Yoga. The Chevron Hotel chain of Delhi will be building the four hotels. |
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Intl Yoga Festival
Haridwar, March 1 The International Yoga Festival is an annual event, organised by head of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram Swami Chidanand Muni. The festival has fast gained international recognition. Indian as well as international yoga gurus, scholars and experts like Padma Shri awardee Bharat Bhushan, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, V Vasu Devan, Maa Gyaan Suveera, HH Radhanath, Swami Bhagwati Saraswati, Manouso Manos, Janet Brey Attwood and Andrew Cohen will be participating in the festival. Revered Indian spiritual gurus like Shri Shankaracharya Swami Divyanand Teerth, Swami Dayanand and Swami Chidanand Muni will also be giving discourse in various sessions of this festival. Apart from this, the participants will also be able to take part in yoga classes. Swami Chidanand Muni said, “Yoga is an ancient science which leads to healthy body and mind and liberation of soul.” |
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Alva: Free ill prisoners on humanitarian grounds
Dehradun, March 1 In both the jails, she interacted with the prisoners and found out how they were faring. She said initiatives should be taken soon to provide free legal assistance to prisoners and releasing prisoners who were ill or above 70 years of age on humanitarian grounds. She also directed the officials present to allow prisoners to shift from jails elsewhere in the state if they wished to move. After her visit, she appreciated the efforts being made in many of the state’s prisons to engage inmates in creative activities. The Governor instructed the Principal Secretary (Home) to prepare a proposal for a Model Open Jail for women. She said the handicrafts like carpets, furniture and pots made by prisoners in Haldwani open jail and Dehradun (Sudhhowala) jails was admirable and the work should be emulated by other prisons in the state. She assured the prisoners that she would make all efforts to ensure that relief was provided to them on humanitarian grounds. She also planted a mango sapling in the women’s ward of the Sudhhowala jail. |
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Prisoners’ reformation prime objective of state: Alva
Haridwar, March 1 Alva also held talks with the prisoners, particularly female inmates. Later, talking to media persons, the Governor said that of all the five prisons she visited in the state, she found Roshanabad prison as most clean, reformative and
well equipped. Margaret Alva said prisoners’ reformation was the prime objective of the state. She also proposed giving concessions to old prisoners and those suffering from diseases. Prisoners also handed out to the Governor, a self-made portrait of Swami Vivekanand, Ashoka symbol and various other items. Accompanying the Governor were Secretary of Home Affairs Utpal Kumar, Garhwal Division Commissioner Ajay Nambiyal, DIG, Garhwal division, Sanjay Gunjiyal,,IG, Prisons, Bhaskaranand Joshi, DM Senthyl Pendiyan, SSP, Pushkar Sailal and other administrative officials. |
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Physical disability no hurdle for this singer
Haridwar, March 1 Chaturvedi hailing from Haridwar has sung numerous devotional folk music numbers and despite being non-Garhwali he has released albums in Garhwali and Kumaoni. Having penchant for music since childhood despite having to face many hurdles, Chaturvedi worked hard to realise his dream. Today, at the release of his new devotional music album “Sai Nam Hai Saccha” at Sai Temple in Jwalapur amid the presence of a large number of people Chaturvedi got emotional. He said he always took everything in his stride as he knew dedicated efforts would bore fruit. Chaturvedi told The Tribune that singing in Garhwali and Kumaoni was not difficult for him as he had been a resident of Haridwar since childhood where people from hill area lived in a large number. Having worked with renowned vocal artist Vrinda Ram, and lyricist Manju Mathur, Pradeep Deji, Chaturvedi emphasised that the youth needed to be motivated toward folk music and melody as western music and remix versions had nothing creative in them. Impressed with legendary singer Mohammad Rafi and Sonu Nigam, Chaturvedi wants to work for the young talent belonging to the lower strata of society. Besides Sai bhajans, Chaturvedi has sung devotional songs of Goddess Durga and Ganga. He is working on Garhwali, Kumaoni and Punjabi albums at present. |
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5 wood smugglers held
Haridwar, March 1 While five wood smugglers were nabbed on the spot, one named Javed succeeded in escaping, for whose arrest raids were being conducted at nearby areas. As per S Sanantan, Divisional Forest Officer, Haridwar range, on a tip-off from an informer, a special forest patrol squad was mobilised in Pathri section of Haridwar forest range since last night. Around 11 pm the team got some clues of the smugglers being active in a certain part of the Pathri section. On reaching the area, the forest team found sheesham trees being cut by a group of people. Nearby was a mini truck stationed, in which the trees were being piled up. Seeing the forest vigil team, the smugglers tried to attack the team members, but when they realised the team was armed, they tried to flee but five of them were nabbed on the spot itself. The arrested persons were Arun Kumar, Sonu, residents of Munda Kheda, Shamim, resident of Badshahpur village and Kuldeep Kumar of Naseerpur Kunj. Talking to The Tribune, Deputy Forest Ranger Keshar Singh Negi said that from the smugglers sheesham wood worth Rs 50, 000 was seized with other logging equipment. DFO Sanatan further informed that out of these smugglers, two have various cases registered against them for being involved in similar smuggling cases. Forest conservator, Shivalik Circle, SB Sharma, has lauded the nabbing operation of the forest team and has announced cash incentives for all the team members that included Keshar Singh Negi, Mahipal Saini, Gautam Kumar, Mamta, Sita Ram and Surendra Singh. Meanwhile, in view of the smugglers’ arrest, in Haridwar forest range as well as in Rajaji National Park, vigil has been intensified. |
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Floriculture yet to bloom in state
Dehradun, March 1 In 2010-2011, the total area under floriculture had gone up to 9130.19 hectare, with different varieties of flowers like gerbera, gladiolous, rose, marigold, carnation and other flowers being grown in the state. A majority of these flowers except marigold gladiolus and rose are being grown in polyhouses under controlled conditions. The total production for 2010-2011 was at 19452.66 metric tonne. “The Horticulture Department under the horticulture mission project is providing a number of incentives to the growers where they can avail finances even up to Rs 10 lakh. Depending on the kind of polyhouse a grower wants to set up, the government is providing finances up to Rs 1.50 lakh,” said IA Khan, Director, Horticulture. Between the two divisions of Kumaon and Garhwal, the total area under floriculture in the Kumaon division comprising the districts of Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Almora, Bageshwar, Pithoragarh and Champawat is 315.99 hectare, more than that of the Garhwal division. “The districts of Udham Singh Nagar, Nainital lead in the producton of gerbera which is sold as a cut flower while the remaining districts have made their presence felt in the production of gladioli,” said Khan. However, this cannot be said of the Garhwal division where floriculture is yet to pick up in the hill districts of Pauri, Tehri, Rudraprayag and Uttarkashi. In the Garhwal division, the growers in the districts of Haridwar, Dehradun and Chamoli have taken to floriculture in a big way. “Due to conducive climate in Dehradun and other districts, several varieties of flowers can be grown. We had tried orchids in several places and these yielded good results. Several progressive farmers in Dehradun too have begun to grow marigold due to the huge potential it has in the flower market,” emphasised Khan. In Uttarakhand, the area under gerbera flower in 2010-2011 was 60.69 (hectare) and the production was 8817.39 metric tonne, while for gladiolous, the total area was 5230.47 hectare, production was 3705.24 metric tonne. For Marigold, the total area covered was 2243.63 hectare and the production 3105.18 metric tonne. In the case of carnation, the total area was 119.21 hectare, the production was 2577.54 metric tonne. While for rose, the total area was 759.94 hectare and production 735.17
metric tonne. |
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Shooting for TV serial based on Ruskin Bond’s works in full swing
Mussoorie, March 1 The previous series “EK Tha Rusty” based on the stories of the same author have already proved to be memorable ones and were much appreciated by the audience in mid-nineties. The shooting that began on 27th February will continue for three weeks more in which the locals that have figured prominently in the writings of Ruskin Bond would be captured for the series. According to the producers of the series, the sequel is designed to bring the simple and impressive storyteller Ruskin Bond into the homes of television viewers in an interesting and enduring way. Though it is a continuation of “EK Tha Rusty Part I” that was made for Doordarshan in the mid-nineties, this series is complete in itself and uses flashbacks as a tool to give it a timeless quality as well. This television series will feature popular stories and novels written by Ruskin Bond, namely ‘Love is a sad song’, ‘Who killed Rani?’, ‘Dead man’s gift’, ‘Binya passes’, ‘Time stops at Shamli,’ etc. According to the producer and director of the series Subhadarshini Singh, now heading Crown communications, some of Ruskin Bond’s beautiful poems have been translated into Hindi as endearing songs for some interesting sequences. Bipul Gupta is playing the lead role Rusty, the protagonist of the series. Among other actors Ayub Khan, Suhasini Mulay and Gaurav Sharma also provide their services to the series as actors. There are six Sikh actors from Delhi and Chandigarh. The series when competed will bring alive the nostalgia of the 60s - the music, the people, the sudden opening of young minds to freedom and fashions. That is something that not only moves the people who were young then but the youth of the following generations as well. The music will be recreated from the most popular songs of that era in English and Hindi for the television series. Many characters from different stories are either same or similar and so one continuous storyline has been created... It is a period drama, evocative of the author’s life in the late 60s. As much as 90% of the series is being shot on location in Mussoorie and the hills of Garhwal, which form the background of most of the stories in our series. Shubhadarshini, divulging the storyline in brief for the series, says that the parallel stories of Rusty and his romance with Susheela, the end of the affair and much later, meeting her in a strange coincidence, and the stories of Rusty’s friends, including the sensualist turned hermit, are intertwined and will be featured along side to make the series racy and full of drama. She further said that it is basically a light hearted look at human relationships and the bittersweet experiences of the people in a small hill station. |
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Govt moots hostel for working women
Pithoragarh, March 1 District Magistrate R Rajesh Kumar said the government had sought the estimate of the hostel soon for which the tehsildar of the headquarters sub-division had been instructed to furnish the information. “The committee will be powerful enough to take decision for the management of the hostel which will have 50 rooms initially. If the committee takes a decision to manage the hostel by any NGO, the status of the NGO and its assets will be taken into consideration,” said the District Magistrate. Giving information of another scheme for the juvenile women, the Kishori Shakti Yojana, the District Magistrate said under this scheme, the government had released Rs 8.80 lakh which would be used to train 20 juvenile women each in all centres running in the district. “The training will be given to NGOs having good reputation in this sphere and training kits will be managed from the Administrative Training Institute, Nainital,” said Rajesh Kumar. |
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Champawat to have 5 kendras to treat diseased animals
Pithoragarh, March 1 These centers will also be made online by broadband service of BSNL to provide the animal keepers online information about the seasonal diseases infecting the cattle and their treatment, said Yadav. According to Yadav, due to scrapping of agricultural holdings in villages, the dependence of villagers on traditional agriculture is gradually decreasing. To keep them in the villages and stop their migration to the urban areas, Government of India has planned to divert the attention of farmers towards animal husbandry, which has great scope to make livelihood for the village youths. “Due to diseases in animals, the national loss is worth Rs 300 crore per year,” informed the Joint Director. The animal husbandry official said that the district of Champawat had nearly 2.60 lakh livestock but due to lack of sufficient staff of stockmen and other technical people, this huge stock is not giving sufficient dividend to the farmers. “To fill this gap, the department is opening five pashu rog niyantran kendras at Champawat, Tanakpur, Lohaghat, Barakot and Pati subdivisions of the district,” said Yadav. The Joint Director also informed that out of 35,000 sheep migrating in Terai region of Champawat district, nearly 15,000 have been vaccinated to protect them from the diseases prevailing in Terai region during the beginning of the summer season. “We have purchased more than 10,000 PPR vaccines from the department and we are going to vaccinate the remaining sheep grazing in the forests of Tanakpur, Chalthi and Bastia of the district,” he said. |
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DM convenes meeting on Char Dham pilgrimage
Dehradun, March 1 He directed Subdvisional Magistrate, Rishikesh, Pratap Singh Shah to hold a meeting with hotel/restaurant owners to fix rate list of food items and maintain hygiene. He also directed to set up a seasonal police post, traffic police personnel on roundabouts and homeguards on important junctions. While taking note of the transportation, he also give directions to hire buses from other states if necessary and maintained the fitness of the buses. He also asked to arrange for a surgeon, besides the rest of the medical team. He collected information regarding trauma centre, ambulances and medical equipments. He directed to keep the water tanks clean and make smooth arrangements for enough drinking water supply during the pilgrimage. He also ordered officials of power department to repair or replace the electrical equipment wherever necessary and to maintain proper lighting arrangement on bus-terminals, street lights and in cities. While directing Executive Engineer, local body, he asked him to keep the sanitation proper in all the places connected with
Char Dham. |
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Updating of Dharchula school facilities ordered
Pithoragarh, March 1 He has deputed the social welfare officer and executive engineer of the Rural Engineering Department to camp at Dharchula to repair the hostel of the school and make sure that nutritious meal is given to the students there. “The conditions of the Rajakiya Balika Aashram Padhayati Vidyalaya in Dharchula are bad and the students studying there have neither beds to sleep nor good meals to eat,” said the DM after visiting the school. The District Magistrate said living conditions were worse in the school and three students were sharing a wooden bed. “We have also requested the NHPC officers to help in providing some beds for the school and to help in construction of two extra rooms for the hostel for the poor girls as the space was insufficient in the hostel, which has a capacity of 173 girls students from class one to class X11 at present,” said the District Magistrate. |
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Education awareness drive
Dehradun, March 1 Pandey said Uttarakhand should achieve total literacy by the end of this phase of the programme. “The state has already achieved 79.60 per cent literacy and I am hopeful that with our efforts the state will achieve full literacy,” she said. On the other hand, Chairman of the Rural Litigation Kendra Avdhesh Kaushal said, “The country has managed to eradicate polio and now we need to get rid of illiteracy,” he said. The Sakshar vahan will create awareness about literacy in Uttarkashi district. Pandey also released literacy material to be used during the mission. |
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Stationery, shoes given to poor students
Dehradun, March 1 According to Rajeev Sacchar, one of the members of the organisation, 150 pairs of shoes and stationery were distributed among the students. He said, “In the past the group set up a library and members donated 1,000 books.” “We will soon organise a medical camp for the students, besides a tree plantation and Right to Information (RTI) awareness campaigns,” he said. |
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