Leopard falls into water tank, rescued
Mussoorie, September 25
A leopard that fell into a 10-feet deep dried up water tank for more than several hours was given a helping hand to escape into a forest near Tipdi Dhar on the Mussoorie-Dhanaulti road yesterday.

Haridwar, September 25
Various nationalised and private sector-run banks in the district have decided to revamp their security measures in view of the recent rise in the number of bank robbery incidents.

With the police also taking this matter seriously and conducting impromptu checking at various branches of the banks, several banks in the district, while welcoming the police initiative, have decided to revamp the security set-up at their branches.

Notably, in the past few days, Superintendent of City Police Kiran Lal Shah has been conducting surprise checking at various bank branches, where a majority of the banks were found wanting as far as security measures were concerned.

Be it untrained security guards hired from private security agencies, outdated ammunition, non-working Closed Circuit Television cameras, insufficient fire extinguishers or redundant theft alarms, various flaws were found by the SP during inspection of the banks.

As per directions of the police, the respective bank managers have decided to deploy only trained security guards and also to up the number of security guards from normal two to at least three.

As flaws in the installation of a number of CCTVs were found, bank managers assured of high definition resolution cameras to be put in at right angles as per police directives, from where maximum coverage of the bank customers can be ensured.

Punjab National Bank Assistant General Manager, Ahmedpur branch, Puneet Jain, told TNS that from their side already they were keeping security measures updated, but as inputs from the police had been given, they found it in the best interests of the bank only.

"We have decided to increase security guards' number, instal better resolution cameras, ensure regular monitoring of the fire extinguishers and also to put up police control room and local police station numbers at the entrance,” said Jain.

"As robbers are adopting smart tactics, we have also to upgrade our safety systems and measures. We can't leave everything to the police alone and small measures sometimes help in avoiding thefts," said Jain.

Similarly, HDFC, Ranipur, bank manager, M Harsh, accepted that two CCTV cameras were non-functional at the time of police inspection, with no CCTV installed outside at the entrance gate of the bank branch despite it being on a busy road. He also pointed out that the bank security guards they were hiring were never checked as SP Shah had found the rifle bullets outdated on inspection.

Kiran Lal Shah said that in future a similar checking drive would be carried out. In the past one year, it was found that in 80 per cent of the theft, loot and robbery incidents in the banks, the respective branches were themselves to be blamed. Had they taken sufficient preventive security measures, many of the attempts could have been thwarted, and the culprits could have easily been identified by better resolution and strategically-placed cameras.

Dehradun September 25
Eight NGOs hired to disseminate information about the Doon Valley Waste Management Project under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission have failed to deliver the results.

Neither the Dehradun Municipal Corporation (DMC) showed any seriousness or sensitivity about the nature of their work nor the NGOs exhibited any commitment towards their objective. Each NGO was supposed to be paid Rs 2 lakh, which means Rs 16 lakh for the first 30 wards. But they had been paid Rs 3 lakh only till now. In fact a cheque for Rs 2 lakh of the Rs 3 lakh due was released today. The payment had been pending since February this year.

Since the role of the NGOs was confined to only 30 wards, the DMC had done nothing about the renewal of their contracts or their replacement for other 15 wards taken under the ambit of the project.

The provision of an NGO was done to spread awareness about the project among the people through a door-to-door campaign, workshops, street plays etc., but minimal effort was made in this direction. Social and Community Development Officer of the project Pallavi Joshi said, “The NGO part of the programme could not succeed without the involvement of the councillors of the wards. The councillors should have pushed the NGOs to execute the programme in their wards to get support of the people, but they showed no interest.”?

Pallavi said the DMC officials were least bothered about the programme. No monitoring committee was formed to overlook the activities of the NGOs and which is why they became careless about their tasks. She added the NGOs had been under the impression that they would continue to get payments in installments throughout the year. “We gave them payments after thoroughly verifying documentary proofs of the work done by them in the wards. The payments were made to them annually. They had no clue about the conditions in the agreement, which they had signed,” she said.?

Pallavi said it was due to the half-hearted approach of the NGOs that they got minimal payments. The lack of contribution of the NGOs was also reflected in the results as well. “The urban locality is sensitive about cleanliness. It is slum colony dwellers who require prodding to participate in a sanitation drive. The NGOs could not deliver goods in that direction,” she added.

She said delay in the release of cheques against their dues had also been cited as the reason for the lack luster approach of the NGOs. Their bills took seven months for clearance from the DMC.

Dehradun, September 25
An immunisation and health check camp was held on the Raphael campus in which 250 children were immunised with Hepatitis B (third dose). The children live in colonies adjacent to Raphael.

Under the supervision of Dr (Col) JP Gupta, Medical Superintendent, Raphael, a similar camp was also held for children at Mussoorie with the assistance of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration. The first and second doses were given on the March 17 and April 17, 2012, on the Raphael campus and at Mussoorie on March 19 and April 19, 2012.

Established in Dehradun in 1959, Raphael Ryder Cheshire International Centre's mission is to provide relief to the poor. The organisation now cares for almost 250 adults and children needing relief from varying disabilities. The Max India Foundation (MIF) is the corporate social responsibility arm of Max India Limited, which aims to provide healthcare, creating health awareness among the needy and the deserving.

Recognising the synergy in their respective missions, the Max India Foundation and Raphael have decided to work in partnership for one month every year in the health-related areas for the benefit of the underprivileged. The month of September is being observed as the Max India Foundation -Raphael partnership month for 2011-2012.

Dehradun, September 25
In the District Dehradun Football league being played at Rangers Ground, 3/1 Gorkha Rifles defeated Vijay Cantt 1-0. Prakash Gurung scored the sole goal in the 42nd minute of the match.

In the second match, Pachwadoon defeated Khalanga 2-0. Nitesh scored the first goal in the 10th minute while Prakash scored the second goal in the 38th minute of the match.

As of tomorrow’s matches, Indira Club will take on Ordnance Factory Team while BSC Boys will clash with Garhwal Stars.

Dehradun, September 25
In the Lala Nemi Das Memorial Football League here, Uttarakhand Tigers defeated Yamuna FC 2-1. Mukesh and Ayush scored goals for Uttarakhand Tigers whereas for Yamuna FC, Mahendra scored the sole goal.

In the second match, Sundarwala boys defeated Rising Star 4-2.

For Sundarwala boys, Shashank exhibited some excellent football skills and scored three goals while Himanshu of Rising Star did a self goal taking Sundarwala boys total goal tally to four goals.

For Rising Star, Rohit and Sanjay scored the goals.

Dehradun, September 25
In the 4th Ram Babu Chetri Memorial Football School-Level Tournament being played in Dehradun, Shri Guru Ram Rai (SGRR) Public School Vasant Vihar defeated Sangam Public School 3-2. For SGRR, Suraj Thapa scored two goals while Ghanshyam scored one goal. For Sangam Public School, Rohit Rawat and Sagar Thapa scored goals.

In the second match, Kendriya Vidhyalaya (KV) FRI defeated The Asian School 2-0. Subham Limbu and Ashish Bisht scored the goals.