Tough time ahead for ‘divided BJP’
Neena Sharma
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
A public dressing-down by BJP national president Amit Shah to state party members, while on his visit to Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali on lack of unity being responsible for the party’s poor performance during the recently concluded bypoll, failed to bring the much-needed affect on the party which continues to be deeply divided as before.

Ambitious leaders with their own unique agendas continue to pull the party in different directions. The efforts of the party to rake up businessman Om Prakash Uniyal’s alleged suicide and demand a CBI inquiry into the disbursement of ex gratia was a god-sent opportunity for leaders to unsettle the Rawat government. But for submitting memorandum to the Governor, the party seems to have given up on the issue.

Strangely instead of rallying behind party chief Teerath Singh Rawat, it was general secretary Prakash Pant who was in the forefront of the exercise to nail the Congress.

But the moment soon got lost as it was another senior leader who thought it opportune to rake up another issue that of different prices prevailing in the fruit and vegetable market in the city.

“The party is misguided in its approach. It is still working with the belief that anything related to price rise would help the cause of the party when the political situation has changed. The UPA is no longer in power at the Centre, instead the voters had voted for the BJP in the hope that it would check prices. There is no point in keeping alive an issue that has served its purpose, instead the party should focus on the tardy relief work,” said Manohar Kant Dhyani, a senior BJP leader.

In all this, Uttarakhand BJP chief Teerath Singh Rawat seem to have gone missing, especially after the election results to the bypoll were announced.

“His low-profile approach, more so after the results of the bypoll is giving further currency to the rumours that his removal is inevitable. Though it may not be in the offing, his “now here, now gone” approach only adds to the context,” said a senior BJP leader.

300 students, teachers attend lit fest
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
Ghummakkad Narain — the Travelling Literature Festival — in the memory of noted writer and journalist Thakur Vishva Narain Singh concluded here today. The sessions were conducted for the age group of 15 to 17 years and addressed by culture and education specialist Shaguna Gahilote, Hindi writer Prempal Sharma, Oriya and English writer Manas Ranjan Mahapatra and acclaimed Australian author Christopher Cheng. The festival reached out to about 300 children and teachers on the second day.

In the morning, Shaguna led the screening of “A little Poland in India” produced by the Polish Institute and Doordarshan followed by an interactive discussion on displacement related to war and conflicts and natural disasters such as Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir floods.

This was followed by a lively discussion with Prempal Sharma, noted Hindi writer, IAS and executive director of the Indian Railway Board. He was swamped by questions from children ranging from how to improve reading habits, crack IAS, create books and improve course books, given him being a member of the NCERT syllabus committee.

“The festival is an excellent initiative to promote reading among children, especially given the depleting numbers in reading, I congratulate the organizers, especially Shaguna Gahilote on this excellent initiative,” said Sharma.

Manas Ranjan Mahapatra, editor of the National Book Trust, urged children to think freely and be inquisitive and ask questions. Talking about the festival, he said, “Ghummakkad Narain is a trendsetter which has shown that successful events can’t only be held in big cities but also in small cities like Dehradun on a sustainable manner.

Christopher Cheng mesmerised the audience with his stories of rats, phythons and mini zoo in his own house. The children and teachers alike laughed and screamed during his excellent storytelling sessions. Later, he interacted with teachers for a one-to-one session to give tips on how to include storytelling in the class.

The festival will now travel to Bhopal and Delhi in November and December, respectively.

‘Technology not to be blamed for decline in kids’ reading habit’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
Famous Australian children storyteller Christopher Cheng today said it was wrong to blame computers or mobiles for a decline in reading habit among children. Cheng, who was in Dehradun today to attend Ghummakad Narain, the Travelling Children’s Literature Festival, said he did not ascribe to the notion that children attraction towards games on computers and mobiles was discouraging them towards taking to book reading.

He said the decline in book reading habit among children was due to the fact that parents themselves have stopped reading and have thus failed to inculcate the same to their children.

“Computers or mobiles are not bad in times of upgrade of technology. But parents themselves have stopped reading and thus, children are now left with a little encouragement to take to reading at the very homes,” pointed out Cheng.

He said children needed to be exposed to books and asserted that even in computers and mobiles, people read books.

He said children in India were no different than of America, England or even his hometown Australia. “They certainly enjoy books and need right sort of encouragement,” he said.

Cheng said teachers too have an important role as children needed to be given sometime for leisure reading. He said children were mostly engrossed in reading linked to their syllabus and this often deprives them of making some reading of their choices. “Teachers need to help children strike a balance between the two,” he said.

Another participant to the literature festival, bureaucrat and writer Prempal Sharma asserts that children’s literature festivals were a strong medium to promote literature. Sharma, a joint secretary with the Union Ministry of Railways, said while schools had their limitations, parents and other organisations needed to come forward to promote children literature.

He said literature festival like Ghummakad Narain could be instrumental in furthering the cause of children literature.

Sharma, in particular, raised concern about lack of children literature in Hindi. “While children literature is adequately represented in English and even in vernacular languages like Bengali and Malayalam, the situation is pathetic in Hindi and needs urgent attention,” he argued.

He said literary festival needed to travel to government schools so that children, who are not well off and forced to keep a distance from literature get to know of it,” he said.

Prempal Sharma also strongly favoured adequate encouragement to writers of children literature. “Those indulging in writing, particularly in hindi, are poorly paid and thus, there were very few who are full-time writers and that is also reflected in children literature,” he observed.

Computers or mobiles are not bad in times of upgrade of technology. But parents themselves have stopped reading and thus, children are now left with a little encouragement to take to reading at the very homes. — Christopher Cheng, Australian children writer

Children’s literature is adequately represented in English and even in vernacular languages like Bengali and Malayalam, but the situation is pathetic in Hindi and needs urgent attention. The literary festival needs to travel to government schools so that children who are not well off and forced to keep a distance from literature get to know of it. — Prempal Sharma, Hindi writer

3-day Industrial expo in Haridwar from today
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 25
A three-day industrial expo will be held under the aegis of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Director of Industries, Uttarakhand and SIDCUL Manufacturers Association of Uttarakhand in Haridwar from September 26 to 28.

To be organised at Rishikul ground, the expo named SIDCUL Mahotsava and Industrial Expo will witness more than 200 companies from across the country participating in this annual event.

Chief Minister Harish Rawat is scheduled to inaugurate the expo tomorrow in the presence of Cabinet minister, MSME, Harish Chandra Durgapal, city legislator Madan Kaushik and Mayor Manoj Garg.

A havan will be performed by pundits in presence of Chinmaya Pandya of Shantikunj Gayatri family.

Chairman Harindra K Garg of SIDCUL Manufacturers Association said that the idea behind organising the expo is to inform the manufacturers and industrialists about the various schemes run by Central and state governments.

Also, the expo will provide a platform for interaction between the manufactures and the prospective buyers.

General secretary Raj Arora said that a number of stalls to be displayed in the expo will be open for local people of Haridwar, where they will get best of the items, products and consumer goods produced in Haridwar, SIDCUL, at a low price.

Arora exhorted the need of bridging the gap between SIDCUL-based manufacturers and local Haridwar-Jwalapur market traders, so that local people get the local products at reasonable rates.

Also planned are a poets’ convention on the first evening, an art competition and renowned Uttarakhand folk singer Narendra Singh Negi’s musical night on September 27. The concluding day will witness a dance competition, cultural programmes and a discussion.

Executive Director of Haridwar-based Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited Prakash Chand along with Haridwar parliamentarian and former Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank will be the guest of honour.

SIDCUL Mahotsava: More than 200 companies from across the country will participate in this annual event

Summer Valley School trounce Guru Nanak Academy 3-0
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
On the second day, two interesting matches were played in the ongoing Dehradun Council Schools Association Girls’ Football Tournament (DDCSA) at Unison Girls School here today.

In the first match, Summer Valley School thrashed Guru Nanak Academy 3-0 with Archisha, Riya and Shreya scoring a goal each for the winning team. On other hand, the second match of the day proved to be a one-sided affair with Moravian Institute registering a massive victory of 6-0 against Raja Ram Mohan Roy Academy. In the first half of the match, Stanzin Chosdon and Elisheba Singh scored two goals each and later Manisha Singh Rawat and Amisha Rana netted a goal each for Moravian Institute.

Welham Girls’ School to host TT tourney

Welham Girls’ School will organise the All-India Indian Public Schools Conference (IPSC) Girls Under-14, 17 and 19 Table Tennis Tournament here from September 27 to 29.

Teams from Delhi Public School, RK Puram, New Delhi; Delhi Public School, Mathura road, New Delhi; Scindia Kanya Vidhyalaya, Gwalior; Mayo College Girls’ School, Ajmer; Ashok Hall Girls’ Residential School, Majkhali; and Welham Girls’ School have confirmed their participation in the tournament.

A total of 22 group league matches and 52 individual matches will be played during the three-day tournament. The matches will be officiated by qualified umpires of the Uttarakhand Table Tennis Association.

Super-8 boys cricket tourney begins

The 7th Rohitash Singh Memorial Inter-School Boys Super-8 Cricket Tournament kicked off at The Heritage School here on Thursday. Twenty-six schools of the city are participating in the tournament.

Bala Hisar Academy (BHA) defeated DPS ‘B’ in the inaugural match. After being put into bat first, DPS scored 26 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in the first innings while BHA scored 29 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. In the 2nd innings, DPS made 24 runs for the loss of 5 wickets while BHA made 22 runs for the loss of 4 wickets and won the match.

In the second match, The Asian School got a walkover against The Aryan School.

Welham Girls, Shigally Hills in basketball finals
Tribune News Service

A player tries to dodge opponents to shoot a basket in a match in the DDCSA U-15 Girls Basketball Tournament at Welham Girls’ School in Dehradun on Thursday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, September 25
Host Welham Girls’ School and Shigally Hills International School won their semifinal matches in the ongoing DDSCA Junior Girls Under-15 Basketball Tournament played at Welham Girls’ School here today.

In the first semifinal match, Welham Girls’ School thrashed The Heritage School 50-10 with Shambhavi scoring the highest 14 points for the winning team. For The Heritage School, Kanika scored 6 points.

Shigally International Academy also won its semifinal match against Unison World School by 25-21 points. Sanjay scored the maximum 10 points for Shigally International Academy while Pia netted 11 baskets for Unison World School.

DAV Public School beat Nasiba Hill Academy

Interesting matches were played in both under-15 boys and girls open category in the ongoing Basketball Championship at Multipurpose Sports Complex at Parade Ground here on Thursday.

In the boys under-15 category, DAV Public School defeated Nasiba Hill Academy 35-27, while in the second match, St. Agnes Club registered a 40-35 win over St. Paul Club. In another match, Nasiba Hill Academy defeated Stadium Trainees in a close match, 34-23 points. Army Public School also won its match against Police Line Club 25-15. In the last match of the day, DAV Public School defeated St. Agnes Club 44-36.

On the other hand, DAV PG College trounced Kendriya Vidyalya, Birpur, 29-26, in the girls open category match.

Cross country on Oct 1

The District Sports Office will organise a cross country race in Dehradun on the eve of Gandhi Jyanti on October 1. The race will be held in five categories, namely men, women, boys, girls and veterans, and will begin from Ashley Hall.

In the men’s category, the race will be held from Ashley Hall to Mussoorie diversion while in the women’s category it will begin from Ashley Hall and culminate at the RTO. The race for boys, girls and veterans will end at Dilaram Chowk. According to the Sport Department authorities, there is no entry fee for the race and the participants will have to submit their age certificates for participation.

Cleanliness drive initiated in Haridwar
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 25
Under the ambitious Swajal Project, a cleanliness drive was initiated here today, with a mass awareness rally being organised. District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan, Chief Development Officer Ranjana, Mukhya Nagar Adhikari Vipra Trivedi and Mayor Manoj Garg flagged off the rally from Pt Gobind Ballabh Pant Park, Devpura. Government school students carrying slogan posters and placards generated awareness about cleanliness.

DM Pendiyan said that cleanliness is imperative to ensure a healthy India as without it many diseases and ailments occur.

CDO Ranjana pointed that from schools, colleges to government departments everyone should come forward to ensure cleanliness at every stage. MNA Vipra Trivedi said that participation of schoolchildren is a good sign as from early stage itself they will know the benefits of cleanliness.

Meanwhile, Mayor Manoj Garg and MNA Vipra Trivedi initiated a cleanliness drive at saint dominated Sapt Sarovar area. Mayor Garg had yesterday visited the area on the complaint of local ward councillor Anil Mishra about the pathetic condition of civic facilities. A section of saints had also expressed unhappiness over the shoddy condition of Sapt Sarovar area, which has a large number of temples, ashrams, dharamshalas and a scenic jogging track along side Ganga river.

Taking cognisance of this, Mayor Manoj Garg said that for the beautification of the Sapt Sarovar, adjacent to Neel Dhara Ganga river, a letter has been written to district Tourism officer. Also, regular cleaning of the area will be made by the civic body.

Beautification of embankments on the river bed along the Sapt Sarovar walking path will also be done soon.

MNA Vipra Trivedi said that the civic body is trying to ensure that the city remains cleaner and greener for which cooperation of local people is imperative.

Unnayan-2014 showcases yoga, technical skills of DSU students
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 25
Annual multi-activity extravaganza ‘Unnayan’-2014 was organised to welcome the freshers at the Dev Sanskriti University here today. Freshers who enrolled in various curriculums were given a warm welcome by the seniors. Both seniors and freshers showcased their talents and skills in Unnayan-2014.

From yoga asanas, chanting of hymns, patriotic songs, group dance and vocal performances to technical knowledge, Dev Sanskriti University displayed their skills and talent.

Addressing students who had gathered on the occasion, Dev Sanskriti University Chancellor Dr Pranav Pandya urged youth to take one step at a time as at this age, diversion of one’s energy, capability and strength is natural.

“Those who have the vision and maturity to channel their resources in the right direction get success in life. Unnayan is our way of welcoming the freshers; it’s different from ragging. Every college should follow the concept, wherein students mingle with each other in a healthy and simple way,” said Pandya.

Talking about the life of Shantikunj founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya, Dr Pandya said owing to the ups and downs faced bravely by Acharya, the small sapling he sowed decades ago has now grown into the full-fledged tree of Shantikunj.

Pro Vice Chancellor Dr Chinmay Pandya, Student Welfare Council officer Agambeer Singh and other staff members of the university were present at the function. A pledge was taken by senior students to help new students with love, affection and right guidance, shunning any practice or form of ragging.

Devotees throng temples in Kumaon on first day of Navratras
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, September 25
A large number of devotees visited ancient temples of goddesses across the Kumaon region and Ramlila started at various places, including Almora and Pithoragarh towns, as the Navratra festival began today.

In ancient Almora town, the beginning of the Navratras was marked by staging of Ramlila at various places in the town and adjoining villages. People also started making effigies of Ravan and his family members. “Devotees paid obeisance at temples of goddesses across the town on the first day of the Navratra festival, while Ramlila started at eight places,” said Navin Bisht, a culture activist and journalist in Almora.

Big crowds were witnessed at the Vaishnavi temple at Dunagiri in Dwarahat and the Purnagiri temple at Tanakpur, besides the Barahi temple at Devidhura and the Jayanti temple in Pithoragarh district. “Some temples in Pithoragarh district can be traced to the Puranic era, as various goddesses are worshiped by people of the district,” said Dinesh Pandey, a journalist at Champawat.

Ramlila began in Pithoragarh town today, according to the manager of the Ramlila committee. The Durga puja would continue at the Ramlila ground where a statue of Goddess Durga had been installed. “We have called Bengali pundits to worship Goddess Durga so as to maintain the spirit of the festival. The puja is being organised for the convenience of the Bengali community residing in the district,” said Bhupendra Singh Mahra, president of the Ramlila committee in Pithoragarh town.

Infrastructure along borders
Army, civil admn to coordinate
Our Correspondent

Pithoragarh September 25
Time-bound and comprehensive programmes in coordination with the Army and civil administration will be started to increase infrastructure facilities on the nation’s borders with China, Nepal, Myanmar, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Lt Gen (retd) MC Bhandari stated this at a seminar in Nainital today. The seminar was organised by the Ministry of Training and Personnel, Government of India.

According to the organisers, this follows a decision taken by the Cabinet Secretary after consulting all there services chiefs a few days ago.

“This is for the first time that such a seminar to coordinate with the military and civil administration in respect of increasing required infrastructure on the borders was held in the country,” said Gen Bhandari, while talking to this correspondent after the seminar.

The seminar was attended by Army officers, retired officers from Meghalaya, Garo hills, central sector and other parts of the Himalayan state adjoining China and other borders, along with civilian officers. It was opined that until the Government of India does decide to develop infrastructure facilities in border states, especially in the states sharing border with China, the tension as a result of being weak at these borders will continue to be with the countrymen.

“Besides strong road network at the Indo-China border, we need warehouses, rail lines, helipads, aerodromes and all-weather ration depots at this border. China has all these facilities for its troops, due to which, it is able to mobilise 30-32 divisions on the Indian border within no time,” said Gen Bhandari.

NHM Director visits Haridwar hospital, expresses concern at lack of facilities
Tribune News Service

Haridwar, September 25
CK Mishra, Additional Secretary, Health, and Director of the National Health Mission (NHM), government of India, inspected the district hospital here yesterday. Mishra enquired about the facilities being provided at the hospital and took inputs from patients. He expressed unhappiness at lack of cleanliness and facilities, shortage of equipment and medicines in the hospital. He took cognisance of paucity of beds in the hospital and directed the authorities to increase the number of beds so that more patients could avail be admitted.

Mishra stressed on providing primary health facilities to expectant mothers and infants and directed the officials concerned to ensure orders are followed in this regard. On a large number of women found to be anaemic, Mishra said this deficiency was common among expectant mothers in India owing to lack of nutritious food intake. He called for a mass awareness drive in this regard in which both administration and people participate.

Dr Nidhi Pandey, Director, National Health Mission, Uttarakhand, thanked Mishra for sanctioning Rs 394 crore budget for the state under the mission.

Additional Director Dr Prem Lal, Additional Director, Uttarakhand, Dr Archana Shrivastava, IEC official JP Pandey, CDO Ranjana, SDM Beer Singh Budhiyal and CMO Dr Sushma Gupta accompanied Mishra during his visit to the district hospital.

Officials told to study disaster norms of other states
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
Prayag Datt Bhatt, chairman of the Disaster Management and Rehabilitation committee, has asked officials concerned to examine disaster norms laid down by Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Bihar governments for disaster-hit people in their states.

“The study will help us in revising our own state norms and then introduce changes. In comparison to the other states, the ex-gratia aid being given by our state is the highest. According to the prevailing norms, the state government is giving Rs 5 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh to those who are suffering from 80 percent disability etc,” he said.

He stressed on the need to monitor programmes being implemented under the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank for the disaster-affected districts.

Bhatt who has already toured Uttarkashi and Tehri districts said he would be presenting the report to Chief Minister Harish Rawat for evaluation.

Meanwhile, member of the committee Jot Singh said the committee was of the view that ex gratia being offered to farmers who lose their standing crop during disaster government should be hiked. “We should frame farmer-friendly norms so that they paid substantial amount to see them through the immediate sowing season,” he added.

‘Committed to rebuilding infrastructure’
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
Chief Minister Harish Rawat has said the state government is committed to constructing and rebuilding damaged infrastructure in disaster-hit areas of the state.

He said the state government was committed to enhancing basic facilities such as drinking water, better roads, electricity, medical and health facilities at important tourist destinations in order to revive tourism sector in the state.

After launching “Mere Bujurg-Mere Teerth” scheme exclusively for senior citizens to undertake pilgrimage at a function held here today, the Chief Minister said a target had been set by the state government to take 25,000 senior citizens on Char Dham Yatra pilgrimage in 2015.

He flagged off a bus boarded by the first batch of 25 senior citizens for Badrinath.

Rawat said successful culmination of Nanda Devi Raj Jaat Yatra and Char Dham Yatra had sent out a message that higher areas of the state were safe for travelling. He said the scheme would prove to be extremely beneficial as far as rejuvenating the tourism sector was concerned.

State Tourism Minister Dinesh Dhanai said the state government had taken elaborate measures to rebuild damaged infrastructure in the state’s disaster-hit areas.

CII hails Made In India campaign
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
Ajay S Shriram, president, Confederation of Indian Industry, welcomed launch of “Made In India (MII)” campaign by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that initiative to ease procedures and welcome investment into the sector had been taken at the right time.

It is the only way to generate employment for the large pool of young people joining the labour force every year. As mentioned by the Prime Minister Modi, purchasing power of the people can be enhanced and demand created only if they have employment opportunities.

CII endorses the idea that security of investment and consistency in policies are most important for developing the trust of investors. He said that assurance given by the Prime Minister Modi that the Centre and states will work as a team is important for industry and is a welcome step. The emphasis on self-certification will go a long way in reducing difficulties for businesses.

The prime minister’s emphasis on skill development and mapping of skills to industries is an important endeavour that must be pursued. He said that CII has taken many initiatives in this area and trained many workers with specific skills across sectors by adopting Industrial Training Institutes.

Sanitation awareness campaign
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
Minister for School Education and Water Resources Mantri Prasad Naithani today launched an awareness campaign on sanitation and cleanliness drive under the Nirmal Bharat national programme at Rajiv Gandhi Navodya Vidyalya.

Speaking on the occasion, Naithani said that hygiene and good health are interlinked. “Only a healthy person can remain happy and our aim should be to ensure that society that we are aiming to build remains healthy,” he said.

He said that on October 2, all the political representatives, officers and employees will take a pledge for cleanliness and sanitation. “To encourage clean habits among schoolchildren, we have already successfully imposed compulsory hand washing before serving mid- day meals at schools. Beginning from today, as part of awareness campaign involving schoolchildren, essay competition, painting and debates would be held till October 23,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion Director of Swajal Soujanya said that the Nirmal Bharat campaign is being implemented in the state since 2003. “We are aiming to have 100 per cent toilet coverage in the state by 2019,” she said.

On the occasion the minister flagged off the IEC van that will travel in different parts of the state to disseminate information on cleanliness and sanitation.

Girl commits suicide
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
Unable to bear the pain of scolding from her parents on some issue, a 16-year-old schoolgirl allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving train near Maukampur railway crossing here this afternoon.

According to police officers, the deceased has been identified as Shweta Singh of Nehru Colony, who left the house in the morning following a fight with her parents. She jumped in front of Mussoorie Express, which was heading towards Dehradun.

Reportedly, Shweta, a class XI student, had an argument with her parents on some issue, after which, she left the house. In the meantime, her parents started searching for her. Their neighbours told them that they saw Shweta going towards her school. They were shocked to know after reaching the school that their daughter had not reached the school premises.

Meanwhile, they got information that a young girl had jumped in front of a moving train near Maukampur railway crossing, after which, both the parents rushed towards the spot. Later, the police sent the body for postmortem.

UKD expresses concern over ‘deteriorating’ law and order
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 25
AP Juyal, officiating central president of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state today. He demanded that the Congress-led state government should take effective steps to maintain proper law and order in the state.

Addressing mediapersons here today, AP Juyal, officiating central president of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, said cases of loot, dacoity, murder etc had been increasing month after month. He said the police and district administration should take effective steps to curb criminal cases in the state.

Juyal said the Congress-led state government should announce Gairsain as the capital of Uttarakhand at the earliest. He demanded that the state government should take effective steps to rebuild damaged infrastructure in the disaster-hit areas of the state.

He said senior party leaders were trying to resolve differences among leaders of different sections of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal.

DN Todariya, Dinesh Badola, Deepak Gairola, Jai Prakash, Vipin Rawat, Manoj Mamgain, Anil Balooni, and others were present on the occasion.

Forest minister wants policy framed for vital herb
Tribune News Service

Uttarakhand Forest Minister Dinesh Aggarwal addresses a meeting in Dehradun on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Vinod Pundir

Dehradun, September 25
Uttarakhand Forest Minister Dinesh Agarwal has directed framing out of a clear-cut policy for extraction of high-value herb Keda Jadi found in higher reaches of Uttarakhand.

Presiding over a meeting of Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation in Dehradun today, Forest Minister Dinesh Agarwal said lack of policy on extraction of Keda Jadi was leading to smuggling of this high-value herb and was thus depriving the state’s people of its livelihood benefits.

The minister asked the forest officials to study policies of Nepal and Bhutan linked to Keda Jadi so that the state could sell this herb through international tendering. He held that the Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation must work to increase its sources of revenue and stop pilferage in quarrying and forest products-linked activities. He said pilferage causes revenue losses to the Forest Department.

He ordered better upkeep for forest rest houses. He said the rest houses that need repairs must be repaired at the earliest. He called for promotion of eco-tourism activities.

Navratra festivity takes off
Tribune News Service

On the first day of the Navratra festival, deity Kali at Bhim Goda temple in Haridwar on Thursday. Tribune photo: Rameshwar Gaur

Haridwar, September 25
A large number of devotees thronged and worshipped the ‘Shail Putri’ deity as the pious Navratra festival began here today. Rituals were performed since wee hours in the morning with many taking the holy dip in the Ganga prior to visiting shrines and temples. Traditional “Kalash Sthapna” was done from 10:12 am to 12:30 pm as the time was considered auspicious by pundits and astrologers.

Devotees paid obeisance at the revered shrines of Mata Mansa Devi, Mata Chandi Devi, Mayapur Devi, Shri Dakshin Kali Peeth, Durga Mandir, Tibdi Hanuman Mandir, Tibdi Radha Krishan Mandir, Mata Shakumbari Mandir, Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir, Sati Kund, Daksh Prajapti Kankhal Temple and other temples situated across the city.

Devotees are arriving in large numbers to perform Navratra rituals at Gayatri Teerth, Shantikunj. A mass Gayatri meditation is being done here under guidance of expert pundits of Shantikunj.