Urs observed at Sanjha Darbar in Mussoorie
Mussoorie, May 3
A qawwali and song programme was organised on the occasion of the 13th annual Urs at the tomb of Baba Hajrat Khwaja Sahib at Sanjha Darbar on the Mussoorie-Kempty road today.

Haridwar, May 3
With the maiden elections of the Municipal Corporation of Haridwar over, the 145-year-old civic body has got its first mayor. The expectations of residents of the civic body living up to the dizzying heights it touched in the early 50s are quite high.

During the 1950 Kumbh Fair, the Haridwar Nagar Palika was adjudged the best civic body in Uttar Pradesh on certain parameters, including cleanliness, regular maintenance, preventive measures against contagious diseases like malaria, distribution of water, connecting roads and streetlighting.

The Public Health Department (Engineering) had gifted a statue of Lord Shiva to the Haridwar civic body as a memento of its achievement. The then Nagar Palika chairman Heera Ballabh Triapthi was given the statue which was installed at Mayapur, near the railway station, 2km from Har-ki-Pauri. Since then, this intersection began to be known as the Shiv Moorti Chowk and is one of the major intersections of the city.

Now, with the maiden municipal corporation coming into existence, local residents are hoping that the same status will be achieved by the Haridwar civic body in Uttarakhand.

Manoj Garg,newly elected Mayor, told TNS that he would work to ensure that the same status is regained by the Haridwar Municipal Corporation during his tenure.

Notably, the civic body of Haridwar, which came to existence in 1868, was formed by merging Haridwar (Mayapur), Kankhal and Jwalapur, during the British era. At that time, the Haridwar Nagar Palika Parishad was known as the Nagar Palika Simant Haridwar Union and its revenue then was approximately Rs 3,000.

As per the figures provided by the Haridwar Municipal Corporation office, the population of Nagar Palika Haridwar in 1971 was 77,864, in 1981 it was 11,415, and in 1991 it was 1,47,305. During last Census carried out in 2001, the population stood at 1,75,010.

Since its inception, the Nagar Palika Parishad, Haridwar, has been categorised under Class I. Before the formation of Uttarakhand state, the Nagar Palika Parishad Haridwar comprised 25 wards which remained the same till 2001-02. Now, with its elevation to the municipal corporation status, the number of wards has increased to 30.

The Nagar Palika Parishad Haridwar is governed by the Nagar Palika Act, 1916, which was adopted by the Uttarakhand Government in 2002.

An official of the Teerth Maryada Raksha Samiti, Sanjay Chopra, and social activist Uday Ram Semwal say that with millions thronging Haridwar annually and the new corporation elected, Haridwar could win another Shiv Moorti.

Chief executing officer of the municipal corporation Jeevan Singh Nangyal said the cooperation of the public and vision of mayor-councillors could make this a reality again.

Dehradun, May 3
As a fallout of the civic poll debacle, the Uttarakhand Government today brought back Subash Kumar as Chief Secretary, replacing Alok Kumar Jain who has been made Chairman of Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (U JVNL). Subash Kumar was the Chief Secretary during the BJP regime. He was shunted out within months of the Congress government coming to power in the state. In the past 12 years, there have been 11 chief secretaries, including Vikram Singh, the first one, Madhukar Gupta, Dr R.S Tolia, N. Ramachandran, S.K Das, Indu Pande, N.S Napalchayal, Subash Kumar and Alok Kumar Jain.

While Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna termed the shuffle as a routine affair, sources claim for the past few months, things had been far from normal between the chief minister’s office and Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain.

“The Chief Secretary had been unhappy with the way projects were being floated without considering their financial viability. As he had held the financial portfolio during his stint as principal secretary, he was aware of the weak financial health of the state and wanted greater accountability. So, he found merit in the objections raised by the Department of the Finance. It was during his stint that e-procurement and audit by government departments was started. Soon, a lobby began to work against him. The civic body election defeat was just an excuse,” said a senior IAS officer.

Dehradun, May 3
Chief Secretary Subash Kumar said today that the delivery system would be strengthened in the state for which officials would be asked to monitor the pace of projects by holding meetings at the site of projects.

"Our aim will be to implement government programmes within specific time frame. Besides strengthening the delivery system, efforts would be made to ensure the budget is released in time and departments desist from spending at the fag end of the financial year," said Subash Kumar, while taking office today.

Meanwhile, in the shuffle affected by the government, the responsibility of the Finance Department has now been given to Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma while Radha Raturi, who was earlier handling the department under former Chief Secretary Alok Jain, has been given some other departments.

Contrary to reports about clipping wings of Principal Secretary Rakesh Sharma in the latest reshuffle, Sharma continues to hold the portfolio of the Department of Industries and with the Department of Finance coming his way, Sharma continues to be in charge of heavy weight departments.

Mussoorie, May 3
A qawwali and song programme was organised on the occasion of the 13th annual Urs at the tomb of Baba Hajrat Khwaja Sahib at Sanjha Darbar on the Mussoorie-Kempty road today.

Devotees in a large number thronged the tomb to seek Baba's blessings and offer chadar there.

The programme began with devotional songs dedicated to Goddess Durga.

It was followed by a qawwali presentation in praise of Baba Hajrat Sahib.

A bhandara was organised and prasad was distributed among the devotees.

The tomb is called Sanjha Darbar because a figurine of Goddess Durga and Baba's tomb are placed side by side.

The Urs was organised by the Sanjha Darbar Sarvdharm Samiti, Mussoorie.

Dehradun, May 3
The duo of Sanjeev Shankar and Ashwani Shankar today enthralled the students of Summer Valley School with their shehnai vadan.

As part of SPICMACAY concert, the brothers presented a jugalbandi in shehnai.

Shedding light on the virtues of the ancient instrument known as ‘mangal vadya’, Sanjeev said, “There are very few players of this instrument now and as such it generates a lot of curiosity and appreciation.”

Born in a family of musicians of Banaras gharana, which had been playing shehnai and flute for the last 450 years, the brothers began learning it at a very tender age.

“It was natural for us to learn shehnai from our father Pt Daya Shankar, himself an internationally-acclaimed shehnai player and our grandfather, legendary shehnai player Pt Anant Lal,” said Sanjeev.

But that was not all. The brothers then went on to learn some more music from the legendary sitar player Pt Ravi Shankar till he passed away.

“It is only at the feet of the Guru that one can learn the various nuances of art and learning under Guru Ravi Shankar was an altogether different experience,” Sanjeev added.

Though young, the brothers have already participated in various music festivals like Sri Baba Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Magh Mahotsav, Sangeet Natak Akademi Music Festival and various international concerts.

Dehradun, May 3
Vehicle owners will now be able to deposit the tax of their vehicles online. They will no longer require to go to the transport office to deposit the tax. The e-payment system was inaugurated by State Transport Minister Surender Rakesh in the city today.

Rakesh said: “Uttarakhand has become 13th state in the country where Transport Department has launched online arrangements in this direction. With this new system, there will be significant augmentation in the revenue. Along with that, the bus owners and even the public will not need to make unnecessary rounds of Regional Transport Office for the purpose. This will save time and energy both.”

He further said this would boost tourism in the state, which further would percolate into increase in employment opportunities.

Owing to this system, the tourists would be able to deposit the vehicle tax of their vehicles online. With payment of tax going online, the transport services will become easier, faster and more useful. The minister said the step had brought in a new revolution in the Transport Department.

He thanked National Informatics Centre and Bharatiya State Bank for helping in launching this service. He said soon the department would also introduce online system for Smart Card, driving licence and vehicles' registration. To curb accidents in hill areas, he said, GPRS system was also being streamlined as well.

Putting forth the achievements of his department, he said: “The Transport Department has created a record of sorts by earning revenue more than its target. Without increasing the bus fare, the Transport Corporation has decreased it's loss of Rs 25 crore to Rs 12 crore.” He said to augment the income of the department, they were also adding a fleet of new buses.

Secretary, Transport, Uma Kant Panwar, Additional Secretary Nitesh Jha and Deputy Director, NIC,Gautam Ghosh, also attended the function.

Dehradun, May 3
Garhwal Commissioner Suvardhan inaugurated the 11th annual art exhibition and two-day painting exhibition organised by Uttaranchal Kala Parishad at Drona Art Gallery today. Works of more than 50 artists have been put up in the exhibition.

Myriad themes and mediums have come into play on the gallery walls. From landscapes to portraits to abstract, it incorporates eclectic mix of variety. Suvardhan congratulated the artists for bringing up their brilliant collection in the gallery for art aficionados to watch and buy as well. General Manager, Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, HD Pandey, was also present there.

Some artists complained of high charges. Rs 6000 was charged each day for showcasing their paintings in the art galleries. At this, manager, Drone Art Gallery, DS Negi, assured that he would give lucrative discount to all the painters.

Artist Shashi Jha, retired HoD, Art Department of MPK College, presented glory of nature in pastel hues. Her work stood out for being in the vicinity of some paintings done in most vibrant colours.

“I dabbled with all sorts of themes earlier but now only natural landscapes give me real pleasure,” she said and added that she avoided abstract form, as people do not understand the theme. Such pieces remained confined to the painter only.

Another academician Asha Sahay, who also retired as arts teacher from Kendriya Vidyalaya-2, differed from Jha as she delved into abstract to bring forth her creativity. Two abstract paintings to depict the frustration in a woman’s life for various reasons are portrayed in her paintings.

CB Joshi, an Air Force officer who after retirement became a detective and prolific painter, has experimented painting with the tip of his nails and knife. The tip of his nails gave the look of a dense green jungle and knife created grass beds with flowing blades in his painting.

He said he experimented with various other forms such as use of cotton, sponge etc to bring out the desired effects in his paintings. “I do not select any theme. It just clicks in my mind at any point of time and I begin putting it up on my canvas.'' His two paintings sum up exactly that.

Deepak Kanaujiya spreads out green hues in different forms to showcase a multi-dimensional form of a woman immersed fully in dancing. LP Thapliyal, a retired archaeologist, plays with the theme of landscape in water colours. His fascination for nature started from his stay in Ladakh which lasted 11 years. Nude women have been portrayed aesthetically by artists Mamta in acrylic, Ananda Karmakar and Mukul Tiwari.

Deviating from the form of colours and brush, Satpal Gandhi, Ranajit Shee and Chandra S Rasailey attempted their creativity in sculpture form. Gandhi carved out a couple in an amorous pose. Shee gave a single piece of human form titling it as ‘Joy’ and Rasailey described two children riding a cow enjoying themselves.

The visitors appreciated the quality of the collective work displayed in the exhibition, which will conclude on May 5.

Dehradun May 3
Founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan Bhuvan Ribhu was in town to meet police officials over the issue of child trafficking today. He is the one who formulated new definition for anti-human trafficking, which was incorporated in the law.

The definition: ''Trafficking in person shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or a position of giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”

Ribhu said the police in most of the matter captures the last person in the chain of child trafficking, which is why this menace never comes to an end. He was of the view that in a case where a child has been transported or trafficked through many states, the state, which apprehends the accused along with the child, must thoroughly investigate and dig out the entire chain, most importantly the source. He said Haridwar police, which arrested a lame man from Haridwar who had stolen a small baby from Mumbai platform last year when she was asleep with her mother at night should have unravelled the chain of people behind his gang, who would have certainly picked up several such hapless children.

The police must impose Section 361 (kidnapping), 365 (wrongful confinement) and 366 (kidnapping and abduction both) of IPC along with POSCO, Protection for Children Against Sexual Offences Act. He expressed concern that half of the 1500 children missing from Uttarakhand had not been traced as yet.

He called for more caution on the part of the police saying that the children were brought in from Nepal and taken to other states in India through Uttarakhand as well. He cited a case study where a sub inspector working at Bihar had left his daughter at an acquaintance's place for better education and grooming. The girl was rescued by him when he heard her cries for help in the house. She was not given food and had more than 100 scars all over her body of injuries inflicted on her. 

Dehradun, May 3
Welham Girls' School, Dehradun, defeated Pine Grove School, Solan, in the final of the All-India Indian Public Schools' Conference under-14 Basketball Championship for girls, being organised at Welham Girls' School, here today.

Welham School defeated Pine Grove School by 29- 20. Rinchen scored 11 points for the winners while Yachika Garg scored 12 points for Pine Grove.

Moti Lal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, defeated Modern School, New Delhi, to get the third position in the tournament. The Rai team defeated Modern School by 32-08.

Col HS Bainsla, SM, Commandant, RIMC Dehradun, was the chief guest and gave away the prizes.

Mussoorie, May 3
A three-day roller skating and hockey championship began at the Appu Ghar skating floor here today.

It is being held under the aegis of the Roller Sports Association of Uttarakhand. Nearly 100 participants from seven states are attending the championship under various categories in both sections of girls and boys.

In the first fixture of roller hockey today, Delhi defeated Haryana 6-3 and entered the second phase. Rahul emerged as the highest scorer with five goals.

In the second fixture, Jammu and Kashmir defeated Punjab 13-2. Rahul Gupta from Jammu and Kashmir emerged as the highest goal scorer with eight goals.

In the roller skating races' categories, sub-junior division, Malav from UP, Nihan and Yuvraj from Haryana stood first, second and third, respectively. In the junior division, Jayan from Haryana, Sumil and Ayush from Uttar Pradesh stood first, second and third, respectively. In the senior division, Dhairya, Eklavya and Praneet from Haryana stood first, second and third, respectively.

Earlier, the championship was inaugurated by Sandeep Sahni, a member of the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, and Dhanprakash Agarwal.