Haridwar, November 11
The water flow to the sanctum sanctorum of Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri, has been restored after a hiatus of 27 days, as the Ganga canal brimmed with water once again. The canal was closed on October 14 for annual maintenance and the water flow was restored only late last night.

A scant amount of water was available at the Braham Kund due to the closure of the canal, which had left the devotees pouring in from different parts of the country heart-broken, as they had to face difficulty in performing religious ceremonies at the site.

The water flow to the canal used to be restored on Divali. However, it was for the first time that water was not released on the occasion.

The extended delay in the restoration of the canal was due to the expansion work on the stretch between the Mayapur Scrap Channel and the Prem Nagar Ashram Bridge.

However, the place returned to life after the water was released yesterday as devotees rushed to the banks to take a holy dip in the Ganga.

“The work on the canal stretch was nearly done and as per the directive of the higher officials of the department water in the Ganga Canal was released late last night,” Sub-divisional officer, Uttar Pradesh Irrigation department, Vijay Veer Singh Yadav said.

The closure of the canal drew criticism from various quarters of the society, with the Matra Sadan Ashram, known for its ‘Save holy Ganga’ campaign, even questioning the purpose of expanding the canal capacity by the Uttar Pradesh government, which still manages to control the canal operations, despite Haridwar falling in the state of Uttarakhand.

Meanwhile, the Poorvanchal Jan Jagriti Samiti criticised the UP government for not restoring the water flow to the Braham Kund, Har-ki-Pauri, during the Chhath festival.

Rishikesh, November 11
A special tribute paying ritual was held along the Ganga ghat for the mid-June flash flood victims and Phailin cyclone victims here today in Rishikesh.

World peace prayers were also held under the guidance of the saints of Swami Sukhdevanand Trust and Parmarth Niketan and Swargashram based Swami Chidanand Muni Maharaj.

Yagna, hawan and special chanting of hymns were performed by the saints and Sanskrit scholars for the souls of the deceased.

Rituals of yagna were performed under the guidance of Dr Ram Priya Das, principal, Shri Swami Narayan Gurukul.

“The Indian culture was pro-yagna. It caters to global peace and from Himalayas to Ganga, the message disseminates throughout the world,” said Swami Chidanand Saraswati.

He called on the people to go for spiritualism, so that the global terrorism roots could be eradicated.

He said the western world was realising that spiritualism was the answer to fight terrorism and hatred and not weapons. The Gurukul family and the Ganga Action Parivar Parmarth Niketan vowed to work together for the social and spiritual causes.

Swami Asaganand Saraswati dwelled on Gange Tav Darshnath Mukti philosophy. He said taking such pledge along side holy Ganga river ghat would pave way for prosperity of the whole world.

Spiritual guru Madhav Priya Das Swami also felicitated Gujarat based social activist Vipul Kumar on the occasion, who announced of providing Rs 1,000 per month scholarship to nine children hailing from poor and neglected section.

Rendition of bhajans was also done by Has Mukh bhai, Vindit bhai and Jakhu bhai.

Mussoorie, November 11
Regional artistes from the folk music, album and film industry were felicitated during the Uttarakhand film award ceremony organised by the Uttarakhand Film Association here yesterday.

Singer-cum-actor Ram Ratan Kala was honoured with the lifetime achievement.

On the occasion, the chief guest, Srinagar MLA Subodh Uniyal, announced Rs 2 lakh for the Uttarakhand Film Association for its service towards promoting the culture and tradition of the region. Artists from across the state also presented folk and cultural items to mark the occasion.

Among others honoured on the occasion were lyricist Ratan Singh Jaunsari, Chandralekha Tripathi, Mani Bharti (folk singing), Reshma Shah (for singing in Jaunpuri style), Kishan Mahipal (music composition and singing), Om Badhani (script writing), Jitendar Panwar (singing), Shiv Dutt Pant (choreographer), Gita Thakur (acting), Padam Singh Gusain (acting and singing), Meenakshi Uniyal (acting), Deepak Vyas (character acting) and Babloo Jungli (photography and camera operation).

Florence Novac, a French student, who is doing her research on Garhwali music and its evolution, was also presented with the UFA award. She also mesmerised the audience by her musical presentation in Garhwali dialect.

Jaagar folk singer Preetam Bhartwan, Kuldeep Sharma, a Himachali folk singer, and Surendar Rana also enthralled the audience with their melodious voice.

The producer of the first Garhwali film, Parashar Gaud, was felicitated for his contribution towards the Garhwali film making.

President of the Uttarakhand Film Association SPS Negi thanked the audience for making the function a success despite a protest call by some social activists.

The programme was coordinated by Rajendar Rawat and Anil Godiyal.

Mussoorie Muncipal Council president Manmohan Singh Mall, Chatar SinghRawat, Rakesh Bhadola, Narendar Bisht, Manoj Tamta, Raghuvir Panwar and Sandeep Rana were present on the occasion.

Dehradun, November 11
The trend of installing high voltage headlights on cars and two-wheelers after tampering with the factory settings of the vehicles' lighting systems are irking other motorists on the roads and also increasing the risk of accidents during night hours in Dehradun.

Knowingly, ignoring the fatal consequences these bright lights could have, vehicle owners are ready to flout norms and instal these on their cars and two-wheelers just to get extra bit of attention on roads.

''Tampering with the factory-fitted lighting system is illegal and is an offence under Motor Vehicle Act. Vehicle owners doing such acts will attract penalty,'' Arvind Pandey, Additional Regional Transport Officer (ARTO), Enforcement, told The Tribune.

Using such high-watt fog or driving lights can make it difficult for other drivers to see who are coming from the opposite direction and increases the chances of mishap on roads. ''It is becoming very common these days that I get dazzled in the middle of the road by overly bright headlights installed on the cars. I generally prefer to stop my car and wait for that vehicle to pass first,'' said Bhupinder Singh, a car owner.

''People who are carrying out unscientific modification of their vehicles and putting more dazzling lights are actually compromising public safety and action would be taken against those vehicle owners found using high-watt bulbs and headlamps,'' said ARTO, Enforcement.

It is pertinent to mention here that numerous drives have been carried out by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and traffic police against such vehicle owners but those drives had little effect on such errant vehicle owners.

On request of anonymity, one shopkeeper dealing in car decorative items told The Tribune: ''Such is the craze among youngsters regarding dazzling lights that some of them get it installed immediately after taking out the new vehicle from the showroom.'' People are installing neon, xenon and LED lights in the headlamps these days, he added.

According to Devendra Rawat, traffic inspector, ''the two-pronged approach of action along with awareness among the car and two-wheeler owners regarding the consequences of such lights can bring a positive result.''

Dehradun, November 11
Two cricket matches were played in the ongoing Senior Council Twenty-20 Cricket Tournament at St. Joseph Academy here today.

St. Jude’s School defeated Hilton School by one wicket in the first match of the day. Hilton School won the toss and elected to bat first. The team scored 108 runs and got bowled out in the 19th over of the inning. Jaspreet remained the highest scorer of Hilton School after scoring 25 runs.

In reply, St. Jude’s School had a good start with opener Prayank scoring quick 37 runs. Though, the middle order stumbled with some batsmen getting out in a row. But, Vardhan played a clinical innings of 22 runs and took his team to one wicket victory.

In the second match, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy (RRMR) defeated Doon Cambridge School by a huge margin of 60 runs. Batting first, RRMR displayed a superb batting show and set a target of 141 runs for Doon Cambridge with Ankit scoring 49 runs. In reply, Doon Cambridge had a bad start and lost some quick wickets in the initial period of the innings. The whole team was bowled out at 73 runs with Rohit scoring the maximum 11 runs for Doon Cambridge.

Dehradun, November 11
A free of cost health checkup camp was organised by the Society for Health, Education and Women Empowerment Awareness (SHEWA) at Shri Santan Dhram Shaba , Landaur Bazaar , Mussoorie, here yesterday. A day-long camp saw the enthusiastic participation of more than 100 patients from nearby colonies to take advantage of free services provided by doctors.

Doctors from Sanjay Orthopaedic, Spine and Maternity Centre, Dehradun, examined and gave free consultation to patients. Around 40 patients came for their antenatal checkup and doctors told them about do’s and don’ts for healthy pregnancy.

The camp focused on counselling women about nutritious diet and the danger of being affected by diseases if they neglect early symptoms. They were also told about self-breast examination, family planning, antenatal check-up and immunisation.

Orthopaedic surgeons present there laid emphasis on strengthening the muscles and maintaining healthy routines to keep their hand and leg joints active and healthy. With correct posture and strengthening exercises for joints and muscles, a lot of back and joint disorders can be managed, said doctors.

Orthopaedic doctor Sanjay said that total joint replacement surgery is successful and effective treatment for arthritis patients. He emphasised that joint replacement surgery is a good alternative.

Pratik, secretary, Society for Health, Education and Women Empowerment Awareness (SHEWA) said: “The health camp was based on the noble idea to spread health awareness.''

Dehradun November 11
Three gamblers were arrested from the Karanpur area here today and a sum of Rs 34,000 was recovered from their custody. Acting on a tip off, a police team from Dalanwala raided a gambling den in Karanpur and arrested three persons namely, Mohammad Sohail, Vinay Gupta and Shankar Prasad, police said, adding that a sum of Rs 34,000 was recovered from them.

A case has been registered in this regard and police has questioned the culprits to get more information about other gamblers, it said. 

Dehradun, November 11
The athletes of The Aryan School brought laurels to the school after their performances in the recently held 67th Annual District Athletics Meet at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) in the city.

Chandeep Sharma grabbed the first position in 100-metre and 200-metre race and won two gold medals in the athletic championship.

Piyawit won the shot-put competition and won a gold medal. Continuing school’s dominance in the meet, Ankush Johny, Akhil Tripathi, Kashish Vashisht and Chandeep Sharma grabbed the second position in 4X100 metre relay race and got four silver medals.

It is to be noted that the athletic meet was held on November 9 and November 10 at the RIMC playground.

Dehradun, November 11
Welham Girls School will lock horns with The Aryan School in the finals of the Dehradun Council Schools Association (DDCSA) Senior Girls Basketball Tournament.

While the hoopsters from Welham Girls School beat their counterparts from St Joseph Academy 50-12, The Aryan School overwhelmed Convent of Jesus and Marry in close encounter (56-50) to book a place in the finals.

The matches were played at The Aryan School basketball court.

Dehradun, November 11
The Uttarakhand Roller Skating Association today announced a 14-member team for the upcoming 51st National Roller Skating Championship to be held in Mumbai in December.

Gulratan Singh Rathore of the National Roller Skating Association was the chief selector.

The team comprises of Devesh, Yash Agarwal, Pratham Sharma, Shakambri, Ankush Bist, Parth Vohra, Shashank, Rishika Kavatra, Siddhanth Madan, Deepak, Shresth Gupta, Yash Gupta, Humza Ali and Vartika Negi.

Priyank Sharma has been appointed as the coach of the team.

Dehradun, November 11
A woman registered a dowry complaint against her husband and in-laws in the Dalanwala police station here today.

The complainant, Maalvika Chaturvedi, lives in circular road in the Dalanwala area, and according to her complaint, her in-laws and husband physically assault her daily and since her marriage she has been physically and mentally tortured for the persistent demand of dowry.

According to the Dalanwala police officials, complaint has been registered and efforts are going on to arrest the accused in the case.