Pragya, a seven-and-a-half-year old skater, practises to cross under a six-inch bar for making it to Guinness Book of World Records in Dehradun on Monday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Children pay homage to martyrs at rally
Dehradun, May 28
Ashnoor Kaur (8), TV child actress, dressed up in olive green uniform of a soldier, led many other school children of the city in a rally held from Parade Ground to Gandhi Park on the occasion of Shahidi Smark, to pay homage to martyrs. She came to attend the event, 'Ek Sham Amar Shahidon Ke Naam,' organised by Yograj Cinevista in the city to honour the martyrs of various wars.
Students hold photographs of martyrs at a vijay yatra in Dehradun on Monday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Two blind boys to compete in international judo contest
Dehradun, May 28
Two blind boys, Manvender Singh Patwal from Kotdwar and Kishan Chaure from Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, have been selected to compete in an International Blind Judo Competition to be held at Vilnius, Lithuania, from June 1 for three days.

Three wins on opening day of football tourney
Dehradun, May 28
Garhwal Rifles, Lansdown and Northen Railways, New Delhi, won their respective matches on the opening day of the Narendra Singh Kharola Memorial All India Football Tournament played at Ambedkar stadium here today. Uttarakhand Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Dinesh Aggarwal inaugurated the tournament.

A player hits a pedal kick in a match in the Narendra Kharola Memorial All-India Football Tournament in Dehradun on Monday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, May 28
A peaceful symbolic demonstration was held by villagers and pro-hydro projects activists in front of the Vidhan Sabha here today.

They requested the legislators to pass a unanimous resolution to demand the Centre that all those hydro projects that had all kind of clearances from the authorities concerned and whose 50 per cent work had already been completed should be allowed to be constructed. Many of the affected women from the remote villages of Uttarkashi along with the gram pradhans were a part of this symbolic demonstration. A similar demonstration was held under the leadership of JP Pandey, Uttarakhand Jan Manch, at Haridwar today.

“We want to make it clear that Dhari Devi temple in the middle of the Ganga at Srinagar was being shifted for the Srinagar hydroelectric project and put on the bank of the Ganga. In this way, the action is being taken for the uninterrupted flow of the Ganga.

“We also made an appeal to Parmath Niketan to remove their encroachments from the Ganga in Rishikesh by them so that the uninterrupted flow of the Ganga remains unaffected,” said Radha Devi, pradhan of Meethi Beri village, Dehradun.

Pramila Devi, Ludyaad, Uttarkashi, said, “Through a symbolic demonstration, we appeal GD Agarwal and also Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand to follow the code of the ‘Bhagwa Vastra’, which they are wearing and give away the luxuries of AC rooms, desist from petty politics and not to stop the development of the state. If they are very much concerned about purity of the Ganga, then both of them should shift their agitation to Kanpur and Varanasi. We, the locals, want the hydroelectric projects to start in the village as it depriving us of employment and electricity, which is important for us.”

“A bigger peaceful demonstration will be held tomorrow i.e. May 29 at the gate of Matra Sadan ashram, Haridwar, which has become the centre for stalling the hydro power projects in the state and spreading the wrong myth about the Ganga,” said Avdhash Kaushal, Chairperson of the Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK).

“If GD Agarwal is so concerned about the samples of Ganga water, then he should take the samples from Kanpur where he has spent his whole life, or from Varanasi and Allahabad. There is no need to come to Haridwar to take the samples and to show the same to the Prime Minister where Ganga is not polluted,” said Rajiv Puri, a businessman from Kanpur.

Meenu Chhetri Pradhan of Purohitwala village in Dehradun said, “According to GD Agarwal, only a few people are opposing the stalled hydro power projects in the state, but the situation is contrary and even political parties are in the favour of restarting the stalled hydro power projects, keeping their political interests aside.”

The agitators presented letters written to the Assembly speakers, Chief Minister and the legislators requesting them to press for an immediate resumption of the stalled hydro power projects in the state and also to pass a unanimous resolution to restart them.

Dehradun, May 28
The Uttarakhand Assembly could not transact any real business today as the opposition BJP repeatedly stalled the proceedings of the House on the first day of the budget session, demanding a discussion on the resignation of the BJP MLA from Sitarganj, who has now become a member of the Congress.

As soon as the House opened on Monday, the Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt demanded a discussion under Rule 310 (adjournment motion). “The waya former Sitarganj MLA was ‘managed' and made to quit his seat smacks of deep-rooted conspiracy in which no less than the Chief Minister was involved with money being openly exchanged for the MLA's loyalty,” charged Bhatt.

Repeated pleas by Speaker of the Uttarakhand Assembly Govind Singh Kunjwal to maintain silence were ignored by the opposition benches who again raised the demand for a discussion and a high-level probe into the entire episode. Later, BJP MLAs stormed the well of the House, raising slogans forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House.

When the House again convened, the Leader of the Opposition was again on his feet demanding discussion. “The episode is a blot on the face of Uttarakhand where for the first time horse-trading took place to buy an MLA. We want to bring before the House proof that we have gathered,” said Bhatt.

As the din continued, the House was adjourned for the second time and after the third adjournment when the House reassembled at 12:20 pm, Bhatt along with other BJP MLAs once again took up the issue and pointed out at the empty treasury benches prompting the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hriydesh to explain to the opposition benches that according to the rules the adjournment motion could not be taken as the opposition members had not given advance notice.

“It is the duty of the government to give reply to the adjournment motion but it cannot be given at such a short notice, “she said.

Bhatt pointed out to the amendment brought to the Uttarakhand Assembly rulebook recently according to which such a notice could be brought up as soon as the House assembled.

However, when the matter was brought before the Speaker, he rejected the contention and adjourned the House for the day. The angry BJP MLAs then stormed out of the House and held a sit-in at the corridor leading to the Assembly.

Dehradun, May 28
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Indira Hriyadesh today said that despite the obstruction by the BJP MLAs, the government would be forced to table the Bills amidst the din as the legislative business of introducing important Bills and the budget has to be completed before the session ends.

Speaking with reporters, the minister said the government was thwarted in it’s efforts to introduce four Bills comprising Uttarakhand Excise (Amendment) Bill, Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation (Amendment ) Bill, Uttarakhand Cooperative Societies (Amendment) Bill and Uttarakhand Lekha Pariksha Bill today due to the disruption by the BJP MLAs. “These are important Bills and we would like to hold discussions on them so that the new MLAs too get a chance to speak, but if the disruption continues, we would be forced to pass the Bills during this session."

She also said the new MLAs would get a chance to prove their worth by participating in the discussion. “Staging walkouts is not an answer; it would be better for all of us to allow the House to function so that the Bills are tabled, discussed and then passed,” she said.

The minister also said the former MLA Kiran Mandal was given Y-security after his house was vandalised. “Instead of taking up the issue of Kiran Mandal in the House, the BJP party should send a delegation to enquire from the former MLA the reasons behind his quitting the party. As far as the Congress is concerned, the former MLA was taken into the party fold after on his free will. The MLA had told the party leaders about his disenchantment with the BJP as the leaders had failed to fulfil his demands specific to his area and people,” said the minister.

Dehradun, May 28
That all is not well within the Congress was evident today when two MLAs from the ruling party, Harish Dhami from Dharchula and Lalit Mohan Singh Faraswan, MLA from Kapkote, decried the treatment meted out to their constituencies by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

Harish Dhami came to the House wearing a black band and charged the CM with ignoring the demands of the people of Dharchula.

“We have been urging the CM to declare Dharchula as the backward area and confer the OBC status to 183 castes so that they too get benefits of reservation but our demand have been ignored. Former Chief Minister ND Tiwari had promised to confer the backward status to Dharchula but the promise was not kept,” he charged.

The MLA said there was rampant unemployment in his area and as the area borders Nepal, the youths of the area could be influenced by the Maoist movement of Nepal. “I have also demanded a 30-bed hospital at the Mathkot area in Munsiyari and at Tejan in Talajhor area,” said Dhami.

Furswan also voiced his discontent against the CM for failing to release foodgrains in his assembly constituency.

Dehradun, May 28
Students of Sri Guru Ram Rai (SGRR) Public Schools did exceptionally well in the CBSE Class XII exams as among 120 students of SGRR who scored very high marks, Rishabh Dabral of Kotdwar topped by scoring 95.6 pc in the science stream.

Parul from SGRR Bhaniawala was second with 94.6 pc and Ayushi Tomar of Ghaziabad as third with 94.2 pc.

In commerce, students of SGRR Talab, Manish Oberoi was first with 94 pc, Priyanka Goyal second with 92 pc and Asmit Ahuja and Priya Karwal of SGRR Race Course third with the score of 91.2 pc.

In the arts stream, students of SGRR Race Course Arun Gautam came first with 82.2 pc.

Among other schools of the town, Surbhi Pathak remained topper in her school, Children’s Academy by scoring 93 pc marks. The other two students Vaishanli Gupta and Aditi Gupta topped the commerce stream in the school.

In Doon Valley Public School, Vipin Bisht topped by scoring 95 pc in English subject. Others who scored above 90 pc in various subjects in the school are Pooja and Surbhi Bansal 95 pc in business studies, Pooja in economics with 93 pc, Pooja in entrepreneurship with 95 pc, Aryan Verma in painting with 99 pc, Anirudh and Manisha in BDP with 91 pc, Suresh Rana and Mohit in DTP with 99 pc and Vivek Kumar in IT system with 93 pc marks.

Haridwar, May 28
Girls again outshone boys in Class XII exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) the results of which were announced today.

Surabhi Kumar of DAV School topped in the commerce stream with 96.2 per cent while Nidhi Jain of the same school topped in the science stream with 94.8 per cent marks in Haridwar.

Vasu Garg (93.8%), Sakshi Chopra (92.8%) and Aishwarya Singhal (92.6%) were among those who excelled in the commerce stream.

In the science stream, Sakshi Joshi came second with 94.6 per cent, followed by Khushbhoo Goel (93.6%), Manisha Mukherjee (92.2%), Prerna Aggarwal (92.2%), Tuhin Pandey (91%) and Priya Jain (91%).

Ayush Parvin (87.6%), Jainendra Kumar (86.2%) and Kumar Kislay (86%) secured the first three position, respectively, in the science stream in the school.

In the commerce stream, Gunjan Khetarpal with 81.8 per cent was the topper, followed by Prabhal Pratap (81.6%) and Anshul Aneja (80.2%).

DAV School principal KC Purohit attributed the good results to hard work of students and good guidance by teachers.

While Swami Sharad Puriji Maharaj, founder of Shiv Dale Public School, urged students to perform equally well in the competitive examinations.

Mussoorie, May 28
The wait of class XII students ended in Mussoorie when the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) announced its results in which Oak Grove School students outshined others today.

Oak Grove students once again proved their merit as Prashant Kumar topped the town, securing 96.2 % (science stream). He scored 98% in chemistry and 99 % in maths. Aarushi Kahtpal(93.8%) from science stream and Aviral Kumar (92.85) from arts stream stood second and third, respectively. Out of 52 students, six students from Oak Grove secured above 90 %, while 8 students obtained marks above 80%.

Surina Thapa (90%), Rinki Negi (88.2%) and Sushusmita (86%) emerged as the toppers from Kendriya Vidyalya. Smriti Kandari (91%), Thinley Dorjee, Pankaj Bisht and Rishi Mishra obtained 83% and topped in the school. From Tibetan Homes Foundation, Yashi Dawa (86.8%), Thondup (84.8%) and Tenzing Jhapma(84.2%) topped their school. Sanchit Goyal secured 85.6%, Aashish Kumar obtained 73% and Sapna Negi secured 68.2%, emerging as toppers from their school.

Haridwar, May 28
After coming out in flying colours in the CBSE intermediate examinations, most of the students are now hoping for make it to IIT, AIIMS, NDA etc. But this doesn’t seems to work for those students who have unconventional career options like genetic engineering, wildlife photography, social work, psychology and agricultural sciences on their minds.

Sakshi Joshi, who secured 94.6 per cent in the science stream, wants to be an IAS officer. She said she drew inspiration from her uncle who works at Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration in Mussoorie. Talking to the TNS, Sakshi said she wanted to pursue Honours in Mathematics from Delhi University and simultaneously prepare for IAS. “My dream is to get training at the LBSA, Mussoorie, one day.”

Her father, Satish Chandra Joshi, said, “Children should not be pressurised or dictated as today, umpteenth career opportunities are available and ultimately its child’s interest that should be given preference.”

Surabhi Kumar from DAV, a resident of Khanna Nagar, wants to be a Chartered Accountant. Surabhi had been brilliant in science but had been more inclined towards commerce to which her father Charan Deep Kumar didn’t object.

Having cracked IIT JEE, Prerna Aggarwal, a student of Jagjeetpur DAV School, is still pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor and is preparing for AIIMS and AFMC, Pune.

Gunjan Khetarpal of Shiv Dale School wants to make it to the corporate world so that she is in a position to provide jobs to many others.

Dehradun, May 28
Ashnoor Kaur (8), TV child actress, dressed up in olive green uniform of a soldier, led many other school children of the city in a rally held from Parade Ground to Gandhi Park on the occasion of Shahidi Smark, to pay homage to martyrs. She came to attend the event, 'Ek Sham Amar Shahidon Ke Naam,' organised by Yograj Cinevista in the city to honour the martyrs of various wars.

Mayor Vinod Chamoli, who was also present on the occasion, said regardless of the fact that events were not held at Gandhi Park, he gave permission for this one since it was dedicated to the cause of martyrs.

Ashnoor, who like other children, wore badges reading, 'I am also a soldier,' kept smiling throughout for the cameras. Talking animatedly about her small journey in the acting world, she said: "Four years ago, a casting director for serial,'Jhansi Ki Rani,' who was friends with my mother's friend approved me for the role of Jhani Ki Rani in her childhood. Then came another serial, 'Shobha Somnath Ki,' and now I am doing 'Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuch Kaha.'

She said she spent almost seven hours on the sets and never felt tired as the crew pampered her all along. The exposure cemented her resolve to be an actress. She expressed displeasure when her father Gurmeet Singh said they would prefer to give her acting career a break after one year so that she could pursue her senior classes sincerely. Ashnoor does not want any break at the moment. She said she wanted to be a doctor and an actress in future. 

Dehradun, May 28
Two blind boys, Manvender Singh Patwal from Kotdwar and Kishan Chaure from Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, have been selected to compete in an International Blind Judo Competition to be held at Vilnius, Lithuania, from June 1 for three days.

Both the boys will go with their coach Avnish Bhatt and Manager Kamal Virmani, both from Uttarakhand, for the international event.

The players were given final training at Judo Hall here from May 22 onwards under the guidance of national coach of the Indian Judo team Satish Sharma, which came to an end today.

Patwal, who studied from the National Institute for Visually Handicapped, Dehradun, and is presently serving in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in New Delhi, said he had been learning judo for past seven years but started taking professional training four years ago. He said, “Judo is the most blind-friendly game. Unlike other sports, where blind sportsmen have to depend on sound, here the sportsman plays by actually holding the opponent and can gauge their moves.”

Kishan, who is a teacher in a government school in New Delhi, has been coming to take coaching from Satish Sharma every 15 days in summer. “I found the training under Satish Sharma more fruitful. I would practice the techniques I learnt in the past 15 days throughout the year.”

He said since they were going to compete for the first time at the international level, it was only after returning from there that they would be able to differentiate between the level of training and other facilities they had been getting here so far. Satish Sharma said judo at International level was played in Japanese language about which the players had been fully guided. Manvender said he was hopeful of making it big at the event. He said he wanted to play a memorable game. Kishan said he wished to make his country proud at the event.

Dehradun, May 28
Garhwal Rifles, Lansdown and Northen Railways, New Delhi, won their respective matches on the opening day of the Narendra Singh Kharola Memorial All India Football Tournament played at Ambedkar stadium here today. Uttarakhand Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Dinesh Aggarwal inaugurated the tournament.

The first match was played between Garhwal Rifles, Lansdown and Uttarakhand Police. Both the teams played attacking game but there was no goal till the half time. Later, in the 50th minute of the second half Manoj Bhandari scored the first field goal for Garhwal Rifles. In the 60th minute, Sandeep Kandari scored the second goal and also scored the third goal in the 72nd minute. Garhwal Rifles won by 3-0.

The second match between Bengal Engineering Group (BEG), Roorkee, and Northen Railways went into tie-breaker when both the teams failed to score in the stipulated time. In the penalty shootout Northern Railways team won by 3-1. Only Anup Bhatt could score the penalty from BEG, Roorkee, while Manoj Joshi, G. Kamai and Ashok kumar scored goals for the railways team.