Centre to bear 90 pc cost of Kishau dam project
Dehradun, May 27
Ninety per cent of the cost of Kishau dam project to be built over the Yamuna will be borne by the Central Government, and Uttarkhand will get Central help to make the DPR for the project in a joint venture with Himachal Pradesh government.

Mussoorie, May 27
Schools in Mussoorie were today teeming with students, who had appeared in the class XII board exams conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), after the results were announced.

Tenzin Chokyi, a student of Tibetan Homes Foundation (THF) School, secured the all-time high marks in the town and topped with 95 per cent in the arts stream. She thus brought laurels not only to her family but also to the Tibetan community living in exile in Mussoorie.

Tenzin, who comes from a humble background, secured 94 per cent marks in English core, 97 per cent in Tibetan language, 95 per cent each in history and political science and 93 per cent in geography. She also received A1 grade in work experience.

Ruhi Anand from CJM Waverly Convent followed her closely with 93.3 per cent marks while Surbhi Tayal from Kendriya Vidyalaya stood third with 93.3 per cent marks.

Tenzin Thinley with 90.45 per cent and Rinzin Dorje with 87.85 per cent marks stood second and third, respectively, in Tibetan Homes Foundation School.

Kendriya Vidyalaya also fared better this time with a pass percentage of 96.22. Shikha Bhatt with 86.8 per cent marks stood second while Rohit Mishra with 84.4 per cent marks was third in the school. Diksha Bisht and Ananya Nautiyal secured 82.6 per cent and 82 per cent marks, respectively.

The pass percentage in Central School for Tibetans (CST) was 71.26 per cent this year. Tsering Dolma with 84 per cent marks topped the school while Tenzing and Yurgen Chering with 82 per cent and 81.4 per cent marks stood second and third, respectively.

At Oak Grove School, 29 students appeared in the class XII examination. Two students scored 90 per cent and above marks. Shruti Sudha with 90.8 per cent marks topped the school while Mrinal Kumar Mandal stood second with 90.4 per cent marks. Overall seven students scored 80 per cent and above marks, nine students 70 per cent and above marks and eight students scored 60 per cent and above marks in Oak Grove School.

At CJM Waverly School Monica Paul secured 86.45 per cent marks while Gurpreet Kaur got 80.85 per cent marks. The elated principal of Tibetan Homes Foundation School congratulated Tenzin for topping the town and bringing laurels to the school. He also commended the staff and other students for excelling in the exams.

Dehradun, May 27
The simple but useful activity of washing hands with soap and water, a sure shot way of keeping water-borne and respiratory diseases at bay, is now going to be an important part of the mid-day meal programme among school children in Uttarakhand.

The responsibility of inculcating this habit will be entrusted to the 31,000 bhojan matas, which, as important care-givers, will frame a time-table for the activity and ensure that children have germ-free hands.

Several organisations, including the World Health Organisation (WHO), have pointed towards the lack of sanitation and supply of contaminated water as reasons for the occurrence of water-borne diseases among children in India.

Rising up to the challenge, the Department of School Education is chalking out a comprehensive programme for institutionalising the hand-washing activity.

“We have directed the district education officers of all districts to provide us data about the availability of wash basins and the status of water supply in schools.

The bhojan matas would be encouraged to ensure that children wash their hands with soap and water at a specific time before consuming their mid-day meals,” said P.S Jangpangi, Director-General, School Education.

The problem in rural schools in Uttarakhand is the absence of wash basins and supply of adequate water. After the Supreme Court directives, several schools in the state have managed to get these facilities, but the absence of wash basins continues to be a problem.

“We will allocate finances for procuring soap, towels, nailcutters and aprons for bhojan matas for complete sanitation and cleanliness,” said Jangpangi.

A total of 17,761 schools are covered under the midday meal programme in the state and all these schools are expected to receive budgetary allocation for the hand-washing activity.

The Department of School Education is likely to approach the Department of Health with which it is running the school health programme for contribution towards the finances.

In the past, the Department of School Education paid only cursory importance to the hand-washing activity and allocated only Rs 1,000 for this purpose. That is going to change now and the department is even looking at tying up with the banks for funds.

The department has earmarked October 15 for all schools to observe Global Hand-Washing Day.

Dehradun, May 27
Ninety per cent of the cost of Kishau dam project to be built over the Yamuna will be borne by the Central Government, and Uttarkhand will get Central help to make the DPR for the project in a joint venture with Himachal Pradesh government.

This was decided at a meeting held in New Delhi today.

The meeting was held by the Water Resources Ministry with officials of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The Central Government will give special assistance of Rs 200 crore every year to Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand’s FRDC BPPandey, UJVNL MD GP Patel and officials of Himachal Pradesh were present at the meeting.

Dehradun, May 27
Padmashree Parkash Joshi, an eminent social scientist and founder of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), a voluntary group, has exhorted the youth, specially students, to come forward to check the deteriorating condition of environment around them.

Addressing students of DAV College, the oldest and the biggest college of Uttarakhand, here today, Anil Joshi cautioned the students about the lurking dangers of environmental degradation and destruction of ecology. He said that the time had come for the youth and the students to wake up to the challenges to be faced by them in near future. '' You are young and have many more years to spend on earth than us. It is better to awaken to the threat being posed to ecology,'' he said.

Joshi further said that in the mad race for material gains this should not be forgotten that economy was completely dependent on natural resources and cannot exist in isolation. ''This is the time to preserve and conserve the natural resources for the coming generation,'' he appealed.

On the theme of green growth, he said that throughout the world there is increased consciousness about green growth parameters and there was also need for India to adopt these. '' There is need to talk about green growth and resources-based education, otherwise the entire human race would suffer in the coming times,'' he warned.

Anil Joshi called upon the students to come forward in preserving their future through ecology preservation. He said that students should come forward in large numbers to participate in the ''green march'' to be taken out in Dehradun on June 5 on the occasion of World Environment Day. 

Mussoorie, May 27
In continuance with the 125th celebrations of Oak Grove School, Convent of Jesus and Mary Waverly won the inter-school dance competition held at school auditorium, yesterday.

Manav Bharti International School stood the second, while Mussoorie International School was declared the third.

The students despite immense heat, put up a grand show and contested keenly in the dance competition for various categories.

Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshi, who was the chief guest on the occasion, inaugurated the competition by lighting the ceremonial lamp, which was followed by chanting of vedic hymns by the students of Oak Grove School under the guidance of M Nagpal.

The girls from Oak Grove School of X class presented their dance on the theme depicting violence against women, but were unable to register their presence in the top three positions in the competition. The class X boys of Oak Grove School gave their performance of dance on the theme of love and students from girls section of the school presented a dance on martial arts.

Manav Bharti students danced on the tribal beating of drums. The girls from Mussoorie International School presented their dance depicting indomitable spirit of the women. The Mussoorie Public School and St Lawrence High School also presented well-orchestrated dance sequence on the occasion.

However, the girls from Waverly Convent presented their dance dedicated to Lord Ganesha which was much appreciated by the audience and the judges declared the team as the winners of the competition. The last dance of the competition was presented by Mussoorie boys and girls. It was fusion of Maharashtra and western dance.

The students from Oak Grove school filled in between by rendering few Bollywood numbers on the occasion. History of the school was also presented in the form of documentary movie that provided interesting information about the institution.

Ganesh Joshi complimented the school on its one hundred and twenty five years of meaningful existence. He exhorted the students to imbibe time-tested values and not to ape everything from the West. The need of the hour is to develop one's own capabilities to attain one's goal, added Joshi. Later he distributed the citation and awards to the winners of the dance competition. The Principal Oak Grove School, Sandip Trivedi, presented a memento to Ganesh Joshi and thanked all participants for showing keen interest in the competition.

Dehradun, May 27
Brig K.G. Behl (Retd.), president of the All India Consumers' Council, Uttarakhand, has demanded that Dehradun should be declared a green and heritage city and works should be taken up to beautify and make Dehradun green. He said that recently Anil Prakash Joshi of Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation (HESCO), addressing a meeting of the Himalayan Unity Movement, had asked that green city status be given to Dehradun for which it had been decided to hold a green march on June 5, being celebrated as World Environment Day to press upon their demands.

Brig Behl (retd) said that All India Consumers' Council fully supported the move and would join hands with like-minded citizens to safeguard Dehradun.

Brig Behl ( retd) said that All India Consumers' Council , Uttarakhand, had been harping for a long time to preserve the greenery of Dehradun, which was known for its greenery ,canals, basmati rice, leechi orchards and a variety of fruit and other trees. Some of it's old colonies like Dalanwala were called heritage colonies and were being kept and developed to preserve that status. Dalanwala was well planned by the Britishers and was being maintained to preserve the culture and greenery of Dehradun, where practically all houses used to be in plots of 5 bighas each, with leechi and other fruit orchards and beautiful trees. The locality was accordingly planned by marking parallel and cross-roads of about 30 ft width with 16 ft tarmac road where tongas/baggis , small vehicles like tempos or motor cycles could ply. The whole locality was supplied water for gardening etc. with canal water.

He said that despite the destruction of greenery on a massive scale, still it is not too late and some of the old heritage can be revived. He demanded that the state government should initiate steps to make a beautiful green park in the area vacated by the MDDA at Pritam Road as suggested so many times. ''Since it is a government land there should be no objection to convert it into a park,'' he said.

He charged that the haphazard growth of the town after it was declared as interim capital of the state since 2000 ha totally disfigured the town to the extent that to widen or provide roads, even canals had been covered up.

''The green hedges around the houses had now been replaced by concrete walls due to security reasons. Earlier, during rainy season the water never got accumulated as it passed through hedges but now flooding of houses, roads and collection of water as ponds is a common sight. The neat and beautiful town has been made dirty and filthy with choked drains and garbage,'' he commented..

He also demanded that the Parade Ground should be converted into a beautiful green park as it serves as a lung for breathing where people can come for a walk in the mornings and evenings. This ground had been totally neglected. 

Dehradun, May 27
Dehradun had a respite from the sweltering heat wave condition as sharp showers cooled the Doon valley in the afternoon.

The showers, measuring 2.4 mm, brought down the temperature, giving relief to the residents from the oppressive heat. The maximum temperature in Dehradun had crossed the 40 degree Celsius mark on Sunday. The rains brought down the temperature to 37 degree Celsius today.

Dr Anand Sharma, Director of the Meteorological Department, said the sharp showers were due to the western disturbance active over the neighbouring states of Himacvhal Pradesh and J&K.

Dr Sharma said that temperature would rise from tomorrow as there were no signs of any rain in the coming few days. 

Dehradun, May 27
A week-long training workshop on "Entrepreneurship development programme (EDP) in biotechnology-based industries" was inaugurated at the Dolphin (PG) Institute of Biomedical and Natural Sciences here today.

It is being jointly organised by the Dolphin institute and the Uttarakhand State Biotechnology Department. More than 30 participants from different institutes of Uttarakhand are attending the workshop. The focus of the workshop is on the role of biotechnology in floriculture, medicinal and aromatic plants. The participants would be addressed by several scientists and experts from these fields in the next few days. The programme was inaugurated by Dr JMS Rana, Director, State Biotechnology Department. In his inaugural address, Dr Rana emphasised the need to develop skills and more importantly learn to harness those skills to become a successful entrepreneurs.

The trainees were also addressed by Dr Arun Kumar, Director of Dolphin institute and Dr Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, programme coordinator of EDP workshop.

Faculty members and students of the institute attended the inaugural session.The manual of the EDP programme was also released on this occasion.

Dehradun, May 27
On the directions of Chief Secretary Subhash Kumar, new transformers have been stored in the 33 KV power substations throughout the districts of the state. With the availability of transformers of variable capacities, the dysfunctional transformers can now be changed without any delay. 

Kumar gathered information from District Magistrates of all the districts about the availability of the new transformers after carrying out the physical verification of the required number of transformers. As per the information provided by them, six transfprmers have been made available in Garampani area of Nainital, one in Bhavali, seven in Bhimtal, two in Sukhatal, 13 in Mansi , seven each in Almorah, Sult, Dwarhaat, Bagheshwar, Kupkot, Ghansali at Tehri Garhwal, Jhak, Jakhanidwar, Nai Tehri, Chamba, Satpuli, Sanyusi, Chamoli, Gairsain, Karnprayag, Joshimath, Pithoragarh, Dharchula, Didihaat, Pauri Garhwal, Kedarnath Marg in Bhatwadi , Chinyalisaur, Sarukhet, Purola, Mori, Tanakpur , Champavat, Lohagat and six in Lavari. — TNS

Mussoorie, May 27
The third Inter-frontier Rock Climbing Competition, in which more than 84 participants of around five frontiers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are contesting, began at the ITBP grounds here today.

The chief guest on the occasion, Padma Shri awardee Harbhajan Singh, IG, Director, ITBP Academy, inaugurated the four-day event by declaring the games open. The participants presented a guard of honour to the chief guest.

The ITBP jawans, popularly known as 'himveers' from five frontiers, will showcase their talent in various events. The events include balance climbing on natural rock, followed by jumar climbing, prusic knot climbing, seat rappelling, piton climbing and cat crawl. The other events scheduled for the competition are stomach rappelling, crevasse rescue left and right method (Bilgri), piggyback etc.

Addressing the participants, Harbhajan Singh said the operation in the mountains was a challenging task, especially when it is supplemented with rugged terrain and inclement weather.

The ITBP Academy endeavoured to impart rock climbing training and instill confidence among the trainees and this event was a part of the effort. He said the ITBP had carved a name for itself by excelling in the field of mountaineering, both at national and international levels, and providing relief to the citizens during any accident or disaster, thus revealing the hidden strengths of the soldiers. 

Dehradun, May 27
North Bengal Cricket Association, Bangladesh, Dena Bank and ONGC won their respective matches in the 31st All-India Uttarakhand Gold Cup Cricket Tournament played here today.

In the first match, Dena Bank defeated Can XI, Kathmandu, by 28 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Dena Bank scored 150 runs for nine wickets in 40 overs. Shuv Luv was the top scorer with 36 runs to his credit. Sagar Pun took four wickets for 25 runs while Bhuwan took three wickets for 26 runs. In reply, the Nepalese team was all out for 122 runs in 36.6 overs, losing the match by 28 runs. Binod Bhandari scored 66 runs. Gaurav Sharma took four wickets for 10 runs.

In the second match, North Bengal Cricket Association, Bangladesh, defeated Air India by eight wickets. Batting first Air India team scored 164 runs all out in 37.3 overs. However, due to sudden sharp showers the target for the Bangladesh team was reduced to 156 runs in 36 overs. Chasing the total Bangladesh team comfortably surpassed the target by scoring 158 runs for the loss of only two wickets, winning their second consecutive match of the tournament. Mahmudul Hasan scored 66 unbeaten runs and was ably supported by Tanveer Haider, who scored 45 unbeaten runs. Kuldeep Singh took two wickets for 50 runs.

In the third match, ONGC trounced Uttarakhand XI by six wickets. Batting first the Uttarakhand XI team scored 161 runs all out in 39 overs. Ravinder Rawat scored 42 runs. Sarandeep Singh took four wickets for 28 runs and Saurab scalped two wickets for eight runs. In reply, ONGC team scored 162 runs for four wickets in 28.3 overs to win the match by six wickets. Prashant Bhandari scored 53 unbeaten runs and Turwar Kohli scored 37 runs. Dhanraj Sharma took two wickets for 29 runs.