Mussoorie, January 15
The future of more than 700 students from Municipal Postgraduate College (MPG) is in jeopardy due to more than 10 posts for various academic courses that have been lying vacant for the past several years here.

The neglect of the department concerned can be gauged from the fact that more than 10 academic posts have remained vacant in the college for the past several years resulting in unfinished courses and thus affecting students’ preparation for the respective courses.

Head of the college Sudhir Gairola said they were facing staff crunch for the past several years. “Two posts each in the

Hindi, political science and English are vacant in the college, along with one post each in Hindi and sociology. The posts have remained vacant for over a decade in the college where poor students from adjacent come for education,” said Gairola.

President of the college students’ union Anit Kumar was of the view that due to the absence of adequate teaching staff in the college, the students were forced to study privately, paying huge sum to private tutors. The teachers present in the college were facing the additional pressure due to the lack of adequate staff, said Anit Kumar.

He demanded that the authorities concerned should act immediately and fill in the vacant posts in the larger interests of the students.

MPG College is the only institution that is managed by the Mussoorie Municipal Council but the council has no role in appointing the faculty members in the college as it is affiliated to the Garhwal university, Srinagar.

President of the Mussoorie Municipal Council OP Uniyal said the appointment of the teaching staff was done by the government along with the University Grant Commission (UGC) under specified guidelines.

“The recruitment procedure was carried out a few months ago but as most of the staff members did not meet the eligibility criteria, the procedure had to be stalled.

The council was contemplating restart of the process so that the vacant posts can be filled and students do not have to suffer in near future,” added Uniyal.

Haridwar, January 16
For the first time in the history of Mahakumbh, idols of deities from Garhwal are being taken to Prayag for a holy bath.

The idols of the shrines of Shri Badrinath, Shri Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri will have a bath amid rituals at any Kumbh fair held out of Uttarakhand.

From Haridwar to Allahabad, the distance will be covered in 10 days with the procession reaching Prayag on January 25.

The replicas of the idols will also be exhibited at the Prayag Kumbh fair area, so that devotees gathered from across the country and foreigners get a glimpse of the religious shrines of Uttarakhand.

Apart from these deities hailing from the Garhwal region like Ma Dhari Devi from Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal, the local deities of the Yamuna, the Alaknanda, the Mandakini, the Pindar, the Dhauli and the Ganga rivers are also a part of the religious entourage which commenced their journey today from Haridwar.

Being spearheaded by Swami Achyutanand of Bhuma Peeth, several religious, social and environmental and local organisations from Uttarakhand are participating in this religious entourage.

Prior to flagging off the procession that includes the beautifully decorated replica of eight temples and a huge Ganga Kalash, these idols had a holy bath at Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri.

Amid chanting of hymns, pundits-teerh purohits hailing from hilly regions and from the pilgrim city of Haridwar performed the rituals.

Talking to The Tribune, Swami Achyutanand said the motive of this initiative was to generate awareness among the masses about the threat looming in the Himalyan belt in Uttarakhand, pollution in the Ganga and hydropower projects that were having a negative impact on the ecology of the region.

Organisations that are part of this initiative include the Bhuma Niketan (Haridwar) Ganga Aahwan, the Forest Land Conservation Committee (Yamunotri) the Nature Environment Institute (Srinagar-Pauri Garhwal), theMaa Dhari Devi Sangharsh Samiti (Srinagar-Pauri Garhwal)the Mandakini Bachao Dal (Kedar Ghati), Ganga-Himalaya activists.

Apart from this, local people hailing from the Garhwal hills are also accompanying the procession in their traditional attire and folk musical instruments drawing the attention of the people throughout their way.

Bhopal Chaudhari of the Maa Dhari Devi Sangarsh Samiti said by this they wanted to bring to the limelight the problems being faced by hilly district residents due to massive hydropower projects and the threat to the Maa Dhari Devi shrine, which is being tactically tried to uplift from its original place in Srinagar, Pauri Garhwal.

Mussoorie, January 16
Film makers from Mussoorie, concerned at the chaotic conditions prevalent in the town and neglect shown by the concerned departments, have come out with a novel idea of making a film on it to make the people aware of the problems.

A 15-minute short fictional film depicting the problems faced by residents on Mall Road and Mussoorie in particular were screened at a hotel today. The film has been directed and produced by Pradeep Bhandari under the banner of PB Films. The film takes back the audience to yesteryear days and compares it with the present chaotic conditions, which have defaced the town to extreme levels much to the disgust of all.

The film also attacks the ethics of the people and raises awareness towards keeping the town plastic free and roads bereft of potholes.

Pradeep Bhandari said, due to the chaotic conditions prevailing in the town, Mussoorie has become one of the ugliest places in the country. The film will be shown at various forums in months to come till the the time the situation of the town does improves to the level for which the town was known in the past, added Bhandari.

Dehradun, January 16
Several women organisations in Dehradun today staged a dharna at Gandhi Park, Dehradun, seeking a check on the rising crime against women in the state.

Women empowerment organizations, the Samakhya, the Disha, the Pahal, the Samta, the Mahila Manch, the Bhubaneshwari Mahila Ashrma, the Janwadi Mahila Sanghatan and the Mahila Adhikar Manch today staged a dharna and sought immediate measures from the state Congress government demanding a curb on the rising crime against women.

Women activists raised the issue of the Anshu Nautiyal and Preeti murder case. They demanded setting up of fast-track courts for timely disposal of such cases. They also sought deployment of an inspector rank officer for investigating women harassment cases.

The women organisations said stern laws must be made to ensure security for the women. They said all those who committed the crime of rape must be hanged. Geeta Gairola, Jahanvi Tiwari, Ravi Chopra, Dwarika Bisht and Anandi were prominent among those who participated in the dharna. 

Mussoorie, January 16
The expanded executive committee of the local BJP unit in Mussoorie was announced after long deliberations at a hotel here today.

The president of the Mussoorie local unit, Roop Singh Kathait, read out the names of the members of the executive committee in presence of the party workers gathered on the occasion. All the members were elected unanimously in presence of senior leaders, including MLA, Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi.

Mohan Petwal was elected for the post of vice-president, Khem Bahadur Thapa as vice-president, Anarwala, Kripal Singh as vice president, Chamasari, Sunder Singh Kandwal as general secretary, Kuthal Gate, Kushal Singh Rana, general secretary, Mussoorie, Shimla Chandolia, Seeta Panwar, Rukmini Thapli and Neeraj Agarwal were elected for the post of secretary. Naresh Anand and Dyal Singh Jawadi were also included in the list.

The president, Roop Singh Kathait, speaking on the occasion said that all the combinations had been taken care of while deciding the executive committee with many new faces given an opportunity to serve the party. He also said that the BJP was fast becoming the most favoured party among the youth and more would be incorporated into the party in the near future.

The MLA, Mussoorie, Ganesh Joshi, congratulated the newly elected members of the committee and said that it was because of the party workers that he was able to win the MLA seat in Mussoorie. He appealed to all the members to strengthen the hands of the party so that BJP can win the parliamentary elections scheduled in 2014.

Dehradun, January 16
In the 1st Late Shri Neel Ratan Kashyap Memorial Football Tournament being played here, Sports Hostel, Vijay Cantt and Bajrang Club won their matches today.

In the first match of the day, Sports Hostel beat Doon Eagle 2-1. For Sports Hostel, Siraj Bisht (3 min) and Rahul Kumar (47 min) scored goals whereas for Doon Eagle Gangesh (32 min) scored the goal. In the 2nd match, Vijay Cantt beat Yankes Club 2-0. Tushar (7 min) and Jatin Bedi (22 min) scored the goals.

In the 3rd match, Bajrang club beat khukri club 3-0. VS Rawat was the chief referee for these matches.

Dehradun, January 16
Bright Home Public School defeated United Scholars by 21 runs in a match in the Shishu Pal Singh Raghav Memorial Cricket Tournament played at Survey Stadium here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, Bright Home Public School team scored 116 runs for seven wickets. Surpartap was the top scorer with 22 runs.

Abhishek and Sagar took two wickets each. In reply, the United Scholars team could score only 95 runs.