Pushpa Saklani murder case: Police remand for 2
Dehradun, October 22
The city police has been able to get seven-day custody from the district courts of the accused, Basant and Vikas, who were arrested yesterday for being involved in the Pushpa Saklani murder case.

Bahuguna attends Durga Puja in Dehradun
Dehradun, October 22
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna participated in a Durga Puja programme organised by the Durga Puja Samiti, Raipur, late last evening. He paid his obeisance and wished everyone on the occasion.

Haridwar, October 22
A cleaning drive of the holy Ganga river began on a big scale in Haridwar today. Being initiated by social organisation Divya Prem Sewa Mission, ex-Shankaracharya Swami Satyamitranand flagged off the cleanliness drive from Ganga ghat.

Speaking on the occasion, Swami Satyamitranand said that it was the duty of every Indian to make sure the holy river, which was considered as mother, remained clean.

He urged people residing along side the Ganga river bed to be more aware about the sanctity of the holy river.

The holy Ganga binds different groups of people having varied customs, rituals, languages, faith, caste, creed and community into one fold.

For Hindus, Muslims, rich or poor, the pious Ganga river made no difference and paved the way for an integrated India. "It is up to us to make sure that the Ganga remains clean and pure by preventing it from pollution," said Swami Satyamitranand.

Chief of the Divya Sewa Prem Mission Ashish Gautam said that apart from volunteers cleaning the Ganga ghat, local people will also be apprised of the importance of this river and the impact pollution, garbage and filth had on this river, considered as mother.

He made it clear that it was not a one-day programme but an effort that would continue on a regular basis. He said that it was high time that both the government and society came forward with sincere efforts in saving the holy Ganga.

Noted litterateur Mahavir Aggarwal cited the salvation aspect and impact of the Ganga on billions of people, who depend on it both spiritually and economically.

Swami Gobindanand lamented the river Ganga today was not in it's purest form, which it used to be. " We need to conserve the purity of the holy river to keep the ancient Indian civilisation in tact," he added.

Lauding the efforts pitched in by the mission, Swami Umakantanand Saraswati pointed that more and more people should join this drive.

Volunteers from Madhav Rao Devle Siksha Mandir, Divya Bharat Siksha Mandir and Pradeep Vatika Hostel did the cleaning work.

Dehradun, October 22
Priya Jain, a beautiful lass from Mussoorie, was adjudged Miss Uttarakhand in a gala function which took place on late Sunday night at Drona College. Kritka Negi, a resident of Pauri Garhwal, became the first runners-up, and Jaismin Ghildiyal of Dehradun bagged the title of second runners-up. The grand finale function consisted of Indian and western wear, and an evening gown round, followed by a question-answer round.

The girls exuded oomph and loads of confidence for the event, for which they had been preparing for the past one month. The labour put in for their grooming, fitness and beauty enhancement was truly on test.

Jain had been the favourite of the judges, who had been seeing her through various sub-contests till the finale.

Convener Dalip Sindhi said Jain had an edge with her sparkling beauty, good height, vital statistics and, of course, ready wit. She stole the show with her impromptu answer to the final question as to which qualities today’s girl must possess. She gave the most likable answer. She replied: " The inherent qualities that should stand out in today's girl should include self confidence, kindness, hard work, dedication and sincerity. These traits leave a mark on her life and make a difference in society."—TNS

Dehradun, October 22
The city police has been able to get seven-day custody from the district courts of the accused, Basant and Vikas, who were arrested yesterday for being involved in the Pushpa Saklani murder case.

The police is hoping to gather significant information from the duo, enabling them to arrest the remaining three accused, who are still absconding.

Meanwhile, in another incident, Anju Kumari, 17, a resident of Shiv Sadan Colony in Raipur, committed suicide by setting herself on fire at her residence at 9 in the morning. Her father works as a gardener.

Anju studied only up to class IV.

The police has not been able to ascertain the reason behind her suicide.

In Vikasnagar, too, a mentally upset girl jumped into a river without any provocation. The police did not file any FIR, citing that the victim was a mentally challenged person. 

Dehradun, October 22
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna participated in a Durga Puja programme organised by the Durga Puja Samiti, Raipur, late last evening. He paid his obeisance and wished everyone on the occasion.

Bahuguna said the festivals brought people together. He said the worships helped not only in self-improvement but also brought improvement in the society. He said all should resolve to contribute for the society and the country.

All religions teach people to be a good human being. Also present on the occasion were Managing Director OLF R Sekharan, AK Bandhopadhyaya, Sushant Bhattacharya, Hamendra Malik and Mayank Khanduri.

Dehradun, October 22
The 13th founder’s day celebrations of Asian School were marked by incomparable magnificence and grandeur. Social activist and international film and theatre actor Kabir Bedi graced the occasion as the chief guest.

The festivities began with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the chief guest.

President of the school Amarjeet Singh, in his welcome address, said the starting point of success and achievement had always been dreaming big. He also said goodness was the only investment that never failed. He expressed a deep sense of satisfaction and achievement that Asian School and The Ecole Globale International Girls’ School had carved a distinct niche for themselves and had become the preferred destinations for students from all over the country and abroad.

Presenting the annual report, Principal AK Das recounted the prominent achievements of the school in the past year.

Throwing light on the achievements in the field of sports this year, he said the school had achieved many distinctions, the most noteworthy being winning of the coveted inter-school CBSE Sahodaya senior basket ball tournament.

Speaking on the occasion, Kabir Bedi expressed his love for the mountains and said he felt oneness with Uttarakhand and its surrounding regions.

Bedi also graciously released the 13th issue of the school magazine ‘Colors’.

The programme began with live musical performance entitled Nayi Disha. The aesthetic blend of Hindustani Classical, Carnatic and western music was directed by Sayoni Ghosh and Anvesh Kant.

The next programme was a rendition of the classic tale of ‘Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves’ presented by students of junior and middle school. It was directed by headmistress Farah Saulat.

The grand finale of the evening was Hindi play ‘Laadli - Celebrating the girl child’ which depicted woman as the epitome of strength, power, dignity and virtue. The choreography was done by Pratibha Srivastava, Neha Aggarwal and Ashish.

Dehradun, October 22
Tourism in the state has been mostly confined to pilgrimage, which reduces drastically during the winter. The situation has arisen as the state government has failed to cash in on the rich diversity of mountains, flora and fauna of Uttarakhand and promote tourism during six months of the winter from October to March.

Barring holding the SAF games at Auli, the government could not do much in this direction. Previous state governments created a lot of noise by announcing the Char Dham pilgrimage during the winter. It was contended that devotees could visit the four main shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath even during the winter.

AK Dwivedi, Joint Director, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, said, “The state government must do something to revive tourism, including religious tourism, during the winter also. It should also constitute an apex body on the lines of the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board.

Dwivedi, however, said the Tourism Department was planning to hold winter festivals in Mussoorie and Nainital. The programmes for the events were being chalked out. Besides a couple of events, the department had not been able to make a good use of its resources whereby it could continue to hold activities like adventure tourism, including white water rafting, bungee jumping, 
skiing, rock climbing, mountaineering, paragliding, rafting etc.

The earlier moves to open off-beat destinations with the support of the Forest Department like wildlife parks and sanctuaries too could not take off due to lack of initiatives on the part of both forest and tourism departments. The state government had failed to formulate a concrete policy on winter tourism in 11 years of its formation. 

Dehradun, October 22
Governor Aziz Qureshi released “Ek Thhi Kusum”, a short story collection authored by former Cabinet minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Pant, here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Governor talked about the changing social scenario and the need for enriching the unique culture of India.

Former Chief Ministers BC Khanduri and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, who also addressed the function, appreciated the human values projected in the book.

Pant said the stories spoke about Uttarakhand. Former Assembly Speaker Harbans Kapoor, Leader of the Opposition Ajay Bhatt and MLAs Ganesh Joshi and Prem Aggarwal were also present. 

Dehradun, October 22
The Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSA) of Uttarakhand has launched a special drive to regulate the supply of milk coming from outside the state to check any violation of the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006) during the festival season.

As the chances of adulterated milk entering Dehradun markets increase during the festival season, the FSSA has begun checks at the entry points.

“Despite a shortage of manpower, vehicles and other paraphernalia, we have started a drive from October 21 and it will continue till November 15. Besides keeping an eye on the entry of milk, a meeting with the representatives of milk companies will be held to gauge the exact strength of the companies to know whether they will be able to maintain the supply in case the supply of milk coming from other sources is stopped,” said Anuj Thapliyal, designated food safety officer.

“During the drive, checks will be maintained at factories and production sites where sweets and other savories are prepared. We will also be checking the health of workers employed at factories,” said Thapliyal.

As a large number of milk companies are operating in the region, the food safety officials are optimistic that the supply of adulterated milk will come down. But during

Diwali, the supply of mava (milk fat) also increases and it is supplied along with milk through neighbouring cities of Saharanpur and Muzzafarnagar.

Besides maintaining a vigil, random sampling of products being sold at shops will also continue. Four food safety officers have been empowered under the Food Safety and Standards Act (2006) to conduct checks at Vikasnagar, Dehradun, Mussoorie and Rishikesh.