Mussoorie, September 5
The main police station at the hill town of Mussoorie, which is an important tourist destination that boasts of many governmental and non-governmental organisations of national importance, is running without any in-charge since the past one month.

The previous station in-charge, Parikshit Kumar, was transferred to the Vigilance Department last month and the post has remained vacant since then, leaving most of the traffic control and law and order work in the hands of subordinate officers, leading to a near breakdown of the policing activity in the town.

The police administration had begun the transfers of various police officials at the beginning of the Kanwar festival in the state. Several police officers were given transfer orders, including Mussoorie police station in-charge Parkishit Kumar in the month of August, but even after a month, the residents are still waiting for the new police station in-charge of Mussoorie.

The absence of the police station in-charge is being felt by the residents of the town who have aired their concern over the crumbling law and order and traffic problem, which is dependent on the subordinate officers.

The police beat boxes have become relaxing places for the rickshaw-pullers at Jhoola Ghar and very few constables are seen manning The Mall Road barriers in the evenings.

The absence of the police station in-charge has meant that incidents of brawl and unnecessary arguments between the locals and tourists are on the increase. Apart from this, there is no headway in the murder cases that have occurred in the recent past along with several theft incidents, which remain unsolved so far. The situation worsens on the day when the Sub Inspector, acting on behalf of the station in-charge, has to leave the town for some official purpose, which could be more than two days at a stretch.

The secretary of the Mussoorie Traders' Association, Javed Khan, opined that the delay in the recruitment of the new police station in-charge in the town is hindering maintenance of law and order. He further said that there was no responsible person in the town to address their problems related with the police.

The City Youth Congress president, Anuj Gupta, said that the town that was important from the tourist safety point of view had been sidelined by senior officials in the police force completely.

Kushal Singh Rana, secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mussoorie unit, was of the view that the traffic control had also taken a beating due to the absence of any competent police station in-charge in the town.

When contacted, the Circle Officer(CO), Mussoorie, MS Pharaswan, from the Police Department, informed the media that the ongoing strikes in the Capital of the state had resulted in the delay but he assured that the new police station in-charge would take charge within this week.

Dehradun, September 5
The Alumni Association and the students of St Joseph’s Academy (SJA) organised a Teachers’ Day function to express their gratitude to the past and present teachers, here today.

The programme commenced with the lighting of a ceremonial lamp followed by a short prayer. The students presented an array of spellbinding performances, including a duet by the Milestone band and ‘Fatal Ambush’, a medley of old Hindi songs, a skit and a vibrant contemporary dance.

The highlight of the show was the power-point presentation slides of the interviews of various teachers and surprise gifts for them. The senior most teachers were presented special appreciation tokens by the Alumni Association.

The Principal Rev Bro AJ George gave a vote of thanks to the Alumni and the students for putting up a remarkable and memorable show.

The teachers and students of the Summer Valley School celebrated the Teachers’ Day by planting Gulmohar plants on the school campus.

The function was followed by a cultural program where the students showcased their talent on the stage.

A tug of war was organised between the teachers and the students where the teachers proved their mettle.

Director (Administration) Ashok Wasu, principal Dr SC Biala along with the teachers and students participated in the programme.

Meanwhile, the students of the Indian Academy presented a colourful cultural programme on the occasion of the Teachers’ Day. Neelam Sharma, principal of the school, inaugurated the programme by lighting a traditional lamp.

Teachers’ Day was also celebrated at the Delhi Public School. The programme started with Saraswati Vandana and a ‘welcome speech’ that laid stress on the role of the teachers in present day society.

The teachers were felicitated by the students in the morning assembly. The students presented sizzling dance performances as a part of the celebrations.

The students of the Heritage School presented a colourful cultural programme on the occasion of the Teachers’ Day. Chairman of the school Awadhesh Chaudhary congratulated the students as 
well as teachers on the occasion.

MUSSOORIE: Teachers’ Day was celebrated with fevour in various schools in the town today.

The students sought blessings from their teachers and presented several cultural events to pay respect to the teaching community for imparting them much-needed education.

The alumni of St. Georges College, Oak Grove School, Wynberg Allen School, Hampton Court and Waverly thanked their teachers through various social media groups for inculcating in them true values and the spirit to compete in their respective professions with confidence.

At Ramadevi Inter College the students shed light on the life of Dr Sarvappali Radhakrishnan and presented several comical skits, bringing the house to laughter.

The students through greetings wished their teachers on the occasion. The former principal of the school, AC Mittal, said an adequate number of teachers, who could guide the students through effective teaching methods that were in tune with the present day, was needed.

The Class XII students while acting as teachers received valuable experience and understanding about the vagaries of the job.

Former teachers of the school LP Baloni, VK Soni, SS Aswal and BP Joshi and the present principal, Anuj Tayal, were present at the function.

Teachers’ Day was also celebrated at other institutions like Waverly, Ghananand Inter College, Mussoorie Girls Inter College etc.

A social activist and former Congress leader, while addressing the gathering at a school in the Jaunpur block of Tehri Garhwal, said on such an auspicious day one should pledge to provide quality education that was worth and was capable of creating responsible citizens.

Dehradun, September 5
The University of Petroleum and Energy Studies here today presented the Shiksha Ratan award to Padmashree Dr AN Purohit, a former Vice-Chancellor of HNB Garhwal University, on the occasion of Teachers’ Day.

Dr Purohit was born in 1940 in Kimni village of Chamoli and had his initial schooling in Nainital. He secured his doctorate from Panjab University, Chandigarh. He also served in well-known organisations both nationally and internationally, including a short stint as the Vice-Chancellor of HNB Garhwal University, Srinagar.

In his career, he has written 175 research papers and has several books to his credit. He has been a guide to more than 20 students for their PhD. Dr Purohit has extensively worked in the Himalayan belt, particularly in Uttarakhand, on plant physiology, ecophysiology of trees and the environment. He was awarded Padmashree in 1997 by the President.

On Teachers’ Day today, Dr Purohit was felicitated by the Chancellor of the UPES, Dr SJ Chopra, in the presence of the faculty and staff members.

Dr Purohit, in his address to the faculty members, thanked the management for the honour and appreciated the initiative taken by the UPES in recognising the achievers of Uttarakhand in the field of academics.

In his address, he said such initiatives would encourage the younger colleagues in the academic world.

The winners of the students’ council elections of DBS College take out a victory procession in Dehradun on Wednesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, September 5
National Students' Union of India has bagged both the coveted posts of president and general secretary in the DBS (PG) College Students' Union elections in Dehradun.

NSUI's Sushil Singh, who polled 750 votes, was elected president. His nearest rival Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad's Vijay Raj Chauhan polled 589 votes. Similarly, NSUI's Devendra Singh Negi was elected general secretary, polling a total of 702 votes in his favour. He defeated his nearest rival ABVP's Sanjay Chowdhary, who got only 577 votes.

For the post of joint secretary, Nidhi Kala of the ABVP stood winner, polling 315 votes. Manisha Kothiyal was elected treasurer, polling 371 votes. As for the post of union representative, Ankit Rawat, stood elected, polling 217 votes.

A total number of 1369 students of DBS (PG) College, Dehradun, participated in the polling.

Mussoorie, September 5
Mussoorie Postgraduate (MPG) College here is bustling with activities as students gear up for the coming students’ union elections to be held on September 12.

The college premise is covered with posters and banners of candidates of various national students’ organisations in violation of the instructions of the Lingdoh Committee of keeping the college premises free of any publicity material.

According to election officer Dr Ganga Saran, five students’ organisations, ABVP, the NSUI, the AISF and Rock On will field their candidates for the coming election on September 12. The candidates will have to file nomination papers between 2.30 pm and 4 pm tomorrow.

The last date of taking back nominations is September 8 and the final list of candidates will be published the same day.

The counting of votes will be held from 9 am to 1.30 pm and the results will be declared on September 12.

The candidates are finding it tough to reach out to all students for votes as most of them come from far off villages of Tehri Garhwal district.

Prof Anil Khanduri, Sunil Panwar, Ram Gupta, Ramesh Chauhan, Shalini Gupta and Lipika Kamboj are the members of the election committee who have been tasked to oversee the election process. — OC