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Snow leopard indicates its presence at Gangotri Park
Plan on cards to check traffic snarls in Haridwar
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POLITICAL DIARY
RINGSIDE VIEW
Sikh body to distribute blankets to Muzaffarnagar riot victims
Debt-ridden farmer ends life in Nainital village
City sways to the tunes of Shivani Kashyap
Police accused of doing shoddy investigations
Security up in city ahead of New Year
ABVP opposes move to convert college into pvt varsity
Anup Nautiyal joins state unit of AAP
Schoolteacher gets Young Scientist Award
Anti-mining force raids two sites, one held
Cricket tourney
Cant Blue win over DDSA football team
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Snow leopard indicates its presence at Gangotri Park
Dehradun, December 29 The pictures of a male and a female snow leopard have been captured on a camera trap at the park. The camera captured the male snow leopard on November 18 whereas the female snow leopard’s image was captured on December 2. Both the photographs were released by the state wildlife authorities today. The Gangotri National Park authorities have been making efforts to capture images of the rare and endangered snow leopard for the past three years. Deputy director of the park Gaurakh Nath Yadav said half a dozen trap cameras were installed in different areas of the park. “We finally got the photographic evidence when cameras captured the two snow leopards on the trek from Gangotri to Gaumukh at a height of about 10,500 feet”, he said. Earlier, snow leopards was captured by the trap camera in 2011 and 2012 in the Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve but no photographic evidence had so far come from the Gangotri Park in Uttarkashi, the other important habitat of snow leopard in the state. A WWF-India survey, ‘Snow leopard conservation of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh’, done in 2010, had confirmed the presence of snow leopard in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, on the basis of indirect evidence. The first-ever photo capture of the endangered snow leopard was made by a joint team of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the State Forest Department from the Malari region of Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve on
April 10, 2011. Listed as endangered on the IUCN-World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Species, the snow leopard has its habitat in the higher reaches of the state, at a height of 3,000-4,500m, but has often been neglected when it comes to conservation
efforts. Photographic evidence
The pictures of a male and a female snow leopard have been captured on a camera trap at the park. The male snow leopard was captured on November 18 whereas the female snow leopard’s image was captured
on December 2. Both the photographs were released by the state wildlife authorities on Sunday. |
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Plan on cards to check traffic snarls in Haridwar
Haridwar, December 29 Circle Officer Rajesh Bhatt and Circle Officer Traffic Jodh Ram Joshi today inspected the city core zones, where yellow line would be marked to distinguish parking space and normal road track. A special paint laying machine had started
inking yellow line on the roads. CO Rajesh Bhatt paved way for traffic congestion, particularly during the peak hours. “From tomorrow onwards we will be penalising the offenders, who violate the yellow line. Challans will be pasted on those four wheelers, which will be parked on no parking zones. Apart from this, we carried out helmet and driving license drive in the city to ensure traffic violations are brought on track. The helmet
checking drive will be carried out on daily basis,” said Bhatt. While CO Traffic Jodh Ram Joshi said a total of 677 challans were levied with state exchequer today. Rs 68,200 were collected
from these fines. He said helmet checking drive was carried out at Chandracharya square, Devpura square, Rishikul square, Arya Nagar square, BHEL sector 1, Shiv
temple intersection, Shankaracharya square and Bhoopatwala. Joshi sought public cooperation in this regard. He said the motive of the police was to ensure safety of the people and smooth traffic in the city. The trader’s community at Chandracharya chowk welcomed the initiative by the police. Chandracharya chowk traders Mridul Kaushik and Uday Ram Semwal expressed cooperation with traffic police. The traffic police have also increased checking and patrolling on national highway stretch passing through the city, SIDCUL industrial estate-Shivalik Nagar, BHEL, Bhoopatwala, railway station,
bus station, Jwalapur and at the core mela zone of Har-Ki-Pauri. |
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BJP hopeful of winning 5 LS seats
Haridwar, December 29 Three-time MLA Madan Kaushik, while welcoming new members into the party's youth wing today, said, “The party banks on its disciplined and young party activists who will play a pivotal role in the coming Lok Sabha poll.” Citing the byelection win in the last year’s Tehri Garhwal Lok Sabha poll by party candidate Mala Raj Laxmi Shah, Kaushik said Mala defeated son of present Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, who had pitched in all governmental resources to ensure his son Saket Bahuguna’s win, but the public’s mandate was with the BJP. A former Cabinet minister in the BJP-led state government, Kaushik said, “We are a party with a difference where family lineage or coterie does not work, but work ethics, experience and calibre are given weightage. I urge all youth activists to sincerely work for the party and reach out to the common public with BJP’s ideology, vision and manifesto.” On his chances of contesting from Haridwar Lok Sabha, Kaushik replied it all depended
on the party high command. Though, Kaushik is eyeing a ticket, but he says he would work with the same dedication for other candidates even if the party did not
consider his claim. Divisional president Vikas Tiwari in his address said, “In the municipal corporation election in Haridwar and Dehradun, BJP mayor candidates won, which points to the anti-Congress public mood.” |
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Cong, BJP at loggerheads over Lokayukta Bill
SMA Kazmi Tribune News Service
Dehradun, December 29 There was a controversy over the introduction of the Lokayukta Bill passed by the previous BJP government led by Chief Minister BC Khanduri. Khanduri had passed the Lokayukta Act which was prepared by Team Anna. The Bill, after being passed in the state legislature, had received the Presidential accent in September 2013. However, the government headed by Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna was not willing to implement the Act passed by the BJP Government. Bahuguna pointing ,towards some of the flaws of the Act, had announced that the state government would not implement the Act but would wait for the Lokpal Bill to be brought by the Central Government in Parliament. This gave enough fuel to the BJP which accused the state government of going soft on the issue of corruption and delaying the implementation of the Lokayukta Act which had got sanctioned by the President. The Loklayukta Act of 2011, after getting the Presidential accent, was in abeyance for the past four months. The BJP made it a political issue and wanted to encash on it in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, with the passing of the Lokpal Bill in Parliament last week and the decision by the state government to adopt the Bill for the state has turned the tables. Uttarakhand would be the first state in the country to adopt the new Lokayukta Bill as adopted by Parliament. This has put the state unit of the BJP in an awkward situation. The Congress-led state government claimed that the Lokpal Bill passed unanimously by Parliament with an active support of the opposition BJP would check corruption in the state. On the other hand, the BJP unit had been demanding that the Lokayukta Act, which was passed by the Khanduri-led government, should be implemented as it was state specific. They argued that the Lokayukta Act passed by Khanduri was a comprehensive act, which even took care of corruption and the judiciary. But the one being introduced by the Congress Government had left out the judiciary. They further argued that repealing the Act amounts to negating the role of the state legislature which unanimously passed the Act. The Congress Government stated that the Bill passed by Parliament with an active support of the BJP at the central level was far more practical and effective tool in curbing corruption. The state BJP leadership would be put in an embarrassing situation during the three-day special session of the state Assembly. It would be difficult for the party to oppose the Lokayujkta Bill which was in conformity with the Lokpal Bill passed by the parliament with the support of the BJP.
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BJP leader on a sticky wicket over Rudrapur riots
The attachment of property of absconding BJP legislator Rajkumar Thukral from Rudrapur, in Udham Singh Nagar district, for his alleged involvement in communal riots that took place in Rudrapur in October 2010, has further polarised the polity of the state. Communal riots had erupted at Rudrapur town on October 2, 2010 in which three persons were killed and several shops were gutted. Thukral was allegedly involved in the riots and cases were registered against him. After the Congress came to power, a CB-CID probe was ordered into the riots. Meanwhile, Thukral won the assembly polls from Rudrapur, riding on the communal polarisation of votes. The probe found his involvement into the riots but he denied it. In the past one-and-a-half year, the state unit of BJP tried to exert pressure on the government to drop the charges against him. Individually, Thaukral also tried to placate Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to evade the legal dragnet against him. However, after the probe and court directions to surrender, Thukral absconded, prompting attachment of his property as per court directions. The Uttarakhand unit of the party wanted to exploit the situation to its advantage. A special meeting of the BJP legislature party would be held on December 30 to discuss the issue. It was expected that the party would try to make it a political issue inside and outside the state assembly before the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in the coming year. Promoters turn opponents
After drawing flak from the chief secretary, the Dehradun police were forced to drop the idea of implementing the one-way traffic plan, which created chaotic conditions across the town, in the state
capital recently. Interestingly, the district police officials who were working round the clock to implement the plan are now criticising it behind closed doors. The plan, which is said to be a brainchild of SSP Kewal Khuranna is now being labeled as ‘weird’ and ‘unworkable’ by
the police personnel themselves who were, previously, appreciating the plan at every public platform and did every bit to implement it. The plan was not only opposed by the traders or the common man but also by the ruling Congress party leaders, who even threatened to launch an agitation if the police did not drop it. On the condition of anonymity, a district police officer said
the traffic plan was bound to fail, as it was not formulated meticulously
and ignored the increasing number of vehicles in the city. Weighty issues
It is a known fact that men in olive green have always been health conscious. From regularly being part of the X-country runs to Battalion Physical Training (BPT), an officer prefers
to be part of every physical excursion. But it seems that the officers posted at the Uttarakhand sub-area are
slightly more finicky than their peers when it comes to fitness. The health conscious fad among the officers posted here can be gauged from the fact that a digital weighing scale has been placed right outside the board room of the sub-area. Now whether it is compulsory to check wait before you go in or after you come out is best known to the officers
posted there. Away from media glare
The Indian Army has always tried its level best to present a positive image in the public, whether it is the organisation of the sadbhavna meets across the country or holding
rallies and undertaking social projects. This time, to ensure that the recently held Gaurav Senani Rally was projected in positive light, the organisers, including the Uttarakhand sub-area and Lucknow based-Central Command, had banned mediapersons from entering the premises. Attended by a large number of ex-servicemen and veer naaris, the chief guest of the rally was the Chief of Army Staff General Bikram Singh. On being enquired as to why the media was not invited for the widely publicised rally, an officer posted in the Uttarakhand sub-area revealed it was due to the fear of getting negative publicity. “Every ex-serviceman, veer naaris and the dependants of the martyrs have some sort of problem. Though we would be taking every effort to resolve the issues, we do not want them to go public about the problems. If they see the media, it becomes very difficult to filter the information being passed by them,” said the officer. (Compiled by SMA Kazmi, Gaurav Talwar and Parwinder Sandhu) |
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Sikh body to distribute blankets to Muzaffarnagar riot victims
Dehradun, December 29 Founder President Doon Sikh Welfare Society Kirpal Singh Chawla urged the members of the society to donate new blankets to be distributed to the
riot victims. DS Mann, Educationist and Chairman of the Doon International School, was the chief guest on the occasion. He sought society’s support in aid of riot victims, who he said were suffering in harsh winters. He said he would provide a bus to the society for taking blankets to the relief camps where the riot victims
were staying. Mann honoured Amarjeet Singh Bhatia, the outgoing president of the society, for his contribution in strengthening the society by enrolling a total of 435 members. Nearly 800 members were inducted in the society since its inception 33 years ago. Amarjeet Singh has been the president of the society for as many as five terms so far. Earlier, DS Mann administered oath to the new DSWS President GS Jassal and his 30 member executive. Amarjeet Singh Bhatia also read out the
annual report. Around 200 sweaters were distributed to schoolchildren. Rajendra Singh Rajan, president of Shri Guru Singh Sabha, Dehradun, was also present on
the occasion. |
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Debt-ridden farmer ends life in Nainital village
Pithoragarh, December 29 Heavy rainfall also damaged the road linking the village to the main market, following which many farmers could not take their produce to the nearby market for sale. A victim's relative said Bora could not take his crops to the Haldwani market for sale. His crops gradually started damaging. He had also taken a loan of Rs 2 lakh from Bank of Baroda, which he was finding it difficult to repay . Recently, a bank also served a notice on him. He went into depression and ended his life. Nainital District Magistrate Arvind Singh Hyanki said they had ordered a probe into the incident. He said there could be other reasons, too, behind his extreme step as the state government had suspended the loan recovery post the mid-June natural disaster. He said the SDM had been tasked with looking into the case. Local social activists said most of the farmers in the Dhanachuli area of the Okhalkanda block in Nainital were dependent only on agricultural activities only. Bahadur Singh Jangi, a CPI (ML) leader, said this was the third incident in the region post the disaster. Earlier, two other farmers from the region had committed suicide after their crops were damaged in the deluge. |
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‘MUSSOORIE IS SAFE’ Tigmanshu Dhulia, Jimmy Shergil urge govt to promote filmmaking in state Tribune News Service
Mussoorie, December 29 Dhulia, director of “Pan Singh Tomar” who resides in Dehradun, said the main challenge was to restore the image of the state following the mid-June disaster, which resulted in a decline tourist influx. The government should make an effort to promote film making in the state to boost tourism. He said the regional film industry should be strengthened to create an environment for the film making. “A capacity building exercise should be conducted through several workshops and training programmes so that jobs can be generated for the youth,” he said. He advised the government to at least sponsor a regional film in a year and also extended his support by assuring to direct such film if planned. It should try to reopen closed cinema halls in the state and provide tax-free incentives in the process. Speaking about his forthcoming projects, he said, “My latest venture is Bichde Sabhi Baari Baari and I am interested to shoot it in Uttarakhand. I will be visiting here in May and June to select the location for the movie.” The other films by Tigmanshu Dhulia in the pipeline are Milan Talkies, Revolver Rani and Jai Ramji. Bollywood actor Jimmy Shergil said he made it a point to act in a Punjabi film to boost Punjabi cinema. Such efforts lead to the growth of the Punjabi film industry to the tune of Rs 45 crore per annum. He said his father was born in Mussoorie and he had emotional attachment with the hill town. He appealed to the tourists to plan to spend their holidays in Uttarakhand as it was safe to travel contrary to the prevalent perception that had been created after the mid-June disaster. Tourism Secretary Umakant Panwar said, “The state has all ingredients to become a film- making hub of the country. For it, the need of the hour is to upgrade the state infrastructure.”
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Kunjwal launches poetry book
Dehradun, December 29 Kunjwal said there was no competition to the writers and poets as nobody can threaten their thinking or challenge them. “The manner in which a poet or a writer brings out thoughts from his heart and mind, it is comparable to none. The writings are capable of bringing a change in the social scenario that is capable of taking the country on a positive path of success. A number of evil practices can be brought to an end by the way of good and meaningful writing,”
added Kunjwal. “The writers and poets should come forward with good work so that the people are impressed and start doing their work with honesty and dedication,” he added. He praised Uniyal and motivated him to bring out more such motivational and positive poems. Subhash Pant said earlier poetry was constrained in the geographical barriers. “But with a change in time and ideology of people, poetry has changed its colour, appearance and ideology. It has started going from one platform to another,” he added. State Congress Vice President Suryakant Dhasmana, Dr Savita Nag, Gurdeep Khurana, Mohan Singh and Anjali Sharma were also present on
the occasion. |
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Documentary on Swami Nigmanand’s life adjudged best at film festival
Haridwar, December 29 The 90 minute documentary, titled ‘Satyagraha’ is directed by Lisa Sabina Hurley, an American filmmaker. The documentary was awarded as the best documentary at the Delhi International Film Festival held recently. “I have been a yoga aspirant. I came to Uttarakhand in search of inner peace and after coming into contact with Matra Sadan ashram, I thought of bringing Swami Nigmanand’s sacrifice to global fore,” said Hurley. The documentary film was shown to people at Matra Sadan ashram, which was appreciated by all. The film depicts the tapasya mode of agitation which Swami Nigamanand had carried out at the ashram, against the illegal quarrying going on in the city. His 108-day long fast, reasons of his death and post death legal battle that was fought by the residents of the Matra Sadan ashram led by Swami Shivanand, are depicted in a precise and informative manner in the documentary. Apart from the Swami Nigmananand’s life, the documentary also highlights the save Ganga and clean Ganga movement carried out by the ashram. “I met Swami Shivanand during a visit to the holy shrine of Shri Badrinath Dham in 2010. I was influenced with the spiritual knowledge and the concern for holy Ganga,” she added. She said she visited the ashram and came to know about Swami Nigmanand’s hunger fast. Swami Shivanand said the district administration had tried their best to
make sure that Sabina doesn’t complete the documentary film. |
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Khyati Sharma now eyeing Femina Miss India title
Dehradun, December 29 Speaking to The Tribune while sharing her experiences, she said having right concoction of beauty and brain contributed towards her winning the title. “If you don’t respect others, nobody will respect you. A beauty queen should be much more than just a pretty face. She should set examples for others to follow. This is what I did and won the pageant,” she added. A student of bachelors in medical microbiology, Khyati was sent to the contest by her mother, a homemaker. “It was at the insistence of my mother that I participated in the contest. She has always pushed me beyond boundaries to explore the new world,” she said. Selected for the second round of Femina Miss India to be held at Delhi, Khyati is now preparing for the event.
— TNS |
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City sways to the tunes of Shivani Kashyap
Mussoorie, December 29 Later, Garhwali singers Narendar Singh Negi and Pritam Bhratmn also sang some foot-tapping regional numbers. A battle of rock and metal bands competition was also organised in which more than eight bands competed against one another. The participating bands were:
Bhairawaad, Kheechar, Threads, Wazood, Night Rockers, Necro Mancer,
Rubaba. Earlier a treasure hunt activity was also conducted for tourists, but chaos ruled the event courtesy the organiser’s mismanagement. Some tourists were miffed as they were asked to cough-up around Rs 350 by horse owners to hunt for the treasure while others got the undue advantage of using their own vehicles creating unnecessary confusion. |
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Police accused of doing shoddy investigations
Dehradun, December 29 Addressing a press conference here, state president of UKD Kashi Singh Airy said the manner in which the Uttarakhand police had conducted the probe raised several doubts regarding the authentication of the probe. Airy said, “The manner in which the joint secretary Suman Valdiya was arrested by the police, is far from the facts of the case. It is possible that the arrest was made under political pressure.” Slamming the state government, Airy said the recent ruling of reducing age limit for appearing in the Uttarakhand Provincial Civil Services (Judicial) exams, clearly reflected the apathy of the state government. Government had also failed miserably in meeting the needs of the
disaster-affected victims across the state.’ Those present in the meeting included VD Raturi, Kishen Singh Mehta, DK Pal, Pankaj Vyas and Manmohan Singh Negi, along with several others. |
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Security up in city ahead of New Year
Dehradun, December 29 To keep tabs on anti-social elements, the police will install barricads at various places in the city. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kewal Khuranna said has all vehicles would be checked at entry points to the city to prevent the smuggling of illegal liquor . “We will not allow anti-social elements to disturb peace in the city at any cost”, said SP (Rural) Manikant
Mishra. |
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ABVP opposes move to convert college into pvt varsity
Dehradun, December 29 ABVP workers will lay a siege to the Principal’s office on Monday to register their protest on the issue. Ramesh Gadiya, national secretary of ABVP, said, “The state already has 26 universities including two central, eight state, eight private and deemed universities, but still the management of DAV College is conspiring to convert the college into a full-fledged university.” He also blamed the college management of harassing the students in the name of opening a new university and extorting money for the same. Gadiya said, “We will oppose any such move
and will not allow the college management and the government to set a private university at the cost of DAV Post Graduate College.”
— TNS |
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Anup Nautiyal joins state unit of AAP
Dehradun, December 29 An outline was drawn to formulate different committees of the party for the state. Major BS Bisht (retd) and SP Dobryal also joined the party. Addressing the gathering, Ranbir Chowdhary, party treasurer, said a lot of people were becoming part of the AAP because it had raised the issues pertaining to the people. Ranvir Chowdhary, Sanjay Bhatt, Rajesh Bhauguna, Onkar Bhatia, Ganesh Kala, Kamal Devradi, Suresh Negi, Mahesh Tagwan, Manoj Chowdhary, Sunita Singh and Saheb Singh Panwar were also present in the meeting. |
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Schoolteacher gets Young Scientist Award
Mussoorie, December 29 Surendar Singh Negi, Minister of Science and Technology, presented the award to Gaur for his contribution towards popularising science among schoolchildren from remote villages and creating awareness about science
and communication. Gaur had been teaching poor students at the Government Inter College Gorakhori in Tehri Garhwal district from the past
several decades. “Without science we cannot think about sustainable development of the society and it is important to inculcate the interest of the students towards science from early age so that they can play their role in country’s progress,” said Gaur. |
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Anti-mining force raids two sites, one held
Dehradun, December 29 The team zeroed in on a mining area leased to one Arun Kumar Sharma
and seized over 26,000 square meters of illegally mined material from the site. Arun Kumar
was arrested and a tractor-trailer was also impounded from the mining site. In another raid, 33,990 square meters of illegally mined material was seized from another mining site of Banu Devi. |
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Extra-curricular activities play vital role in life: Kingston Principal
Dehradun, December 29 Addressing parents and students, Colonel Baghel said, “Truth is challenging, but it unlocks the door to a more fulfilling life.” Talking about the virtues of hard work and patience, he said, “By cultivating patience, one becomes a better parent, a good teacher and an excellent friend.” Bharti Rawat, managing director of the school, thanked all the guests for participating in the function and said, “Education is a continuous process right from the minute we are born till the end. Education in the sphere of sports and other extracurricular activities should be taken seriously as it inculcates a strong sportsman spirit among students from the very beginning.” Principal BS Rawat, said, “Extra-curricular activities play a vital role in an individual’s life. One needs to lay emphasis on these activities along with the regular curriculum for the overall development of students.” The sports meet ended with the prize distribution ceremony. Ajanta (green house) bagged the overall trophy by winning the maximum medals in various categories. |
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Ankit, Kartik winners in roller skating event
Mussoorie, December 29 In the junior division (boys’): Kartik Kandari and Yash Rawat were declared second and third respectively, while Shraddha was declared first in the girls’ category. In the senior division Shubham Rawat, Sandeep Singh and Vikki Singh were adjudged first,
second and third respectively. The highlight of the race was senior citizens and skating champions
from yesteryears such as Gopal Bhardwaj, Singhara Singh, who once again wore their skates and raced in a specially created category for
the seniors. Roop Chand and Nand Kumar coordinated the entire event. |
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JA Boys, Vijay Cant register wins
Dehradun, December 29 The match was decided through a tiebreaker, in which JA Boys beat Rising Star 5-4. In the second match, Vijay Cant defeated Eleven Star 2-1. Praveen and Vijay scored the goals for Vijay Cant in the 10th and 27th minutes, respectively. For Eleven Star, Naushad netted one goal in the 60th minute of the match. |
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DPS Ranipur in title clash with Bal Mandir
Tribune News Service
Haridwar, December 29 DPS Ranipur defeated Uddeshwar Public School by a 53-run margin to secure a berth in the final against Bal Mandir Senior Secondary School. The match will be held on Monday. Ishan Pandy, Abhinav Singh successfully held a 111-run partnership to take DPS Ranipur to a score of 142 in the stipulated 20 overs. In reply, Uddeshwar Public School were all out at 88 runs, thanks to a fine bowling performance by Mritunjay (4-22-3) and Abhinav Singh (4-14-2). Organisers Kamal Chamoli, Inder Mohan Barthwal, umpires Ravi Kumar, Bhupendra Singh, Karun Chauhan, coordinated the proceedings of the semifinal match.
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Cant Blue win over DDSA football team
Dehradun, December 29 The second match was also a one–sided affair with the Raipur Football Team defeating Balaji Boys 4-0. Jigmey and Jatin scored 2 goals each in the match and helped their team
to win. — TNS |
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