Coming Soon: Urdu Academy in Dehradun

The Uttarakhand government has given its nod for the setting up of Urdu Academy in the Dehra Dun.

Announcing this today, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said different languages of the country are a reflection of its pluralist culture and the Urdu Academy will be a step towards strengthening it.

DehraDun SP bans entry of any vehicle in the Paltan Bazar area

The Paltan Bazaar appeared different with the police starting the enforcement of the ban on entry of all vehicles in the market area. Some shopkeepers protested alleging that the ban on vehicles would adversely affect their business. However, the protest did not affect the police who along with Municipal Corporation of Dehradun staff also removed the cobblers and small vendors setting shop on the roadside and the encroachment on the footpath by shopkeepers.

The Dehradun senior superintendent of police Keval Khurana has already made it clear that such stringent measures are needed to redress the traffic congestion being faced in various areas of the State capital.

Members of the business fraternity have often opposed measures taken by the authorities to resolve the problem of chronic traffic congestion on city roads.

On Tuesday the police had erected temporary barriers to close the gaps in road dividers on Saharanpur Road to tackle the traffic jam. This allowed the traffic to move ahead slowly in stead of being held at a place but the wholesalers of the Aarhat Bazaar protested against the police action.

Meanwhile, the vehicle owners employed in shops in Paltan Bazaar have been given temporary passes to park their vehicles free of charge at the MDDA parking near the Clock Tower.

A professional football training held in Dehra Dun

A professional training course in Dehradun will be organised at the Maharana Pratap Sports College from November 16 to 23 this year. Disclosing this while addressing mediapersons at a Press conference in Dehradun on Thursday, Dehradun Football Academy secretary Virendra Singh Rawat said a professional training course, first of its kind will be held at Maharana Pratap Sports College, Raipur Dehradun from November 16 to November 23.

A small fee of Rs 1,000 per participant has been kept for the course while food, accommodation, dress, track, suit and medal would lead to additional charge of INR 5,000.

Duarte, who is linked to Union of Professional Football Coaches of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will be imparting the coaching at the course that will consist of planning, sports safety, theoretical sessions, audio and video sessions and law of the game session. Rawat further said that Sparton Sports Company will be the main sponsor for the course and will be providing ground equipments.

Referring to sports in Uttarakhand, Rawat lamented that the so far no initiative has been taken in Uttarakhand to provide best of football coaching. He said 22 players have already registered themselves for the course to be conducted in Dehradun this month. Rawat also informed the media persons that the Doon Football Academy is also planning to organise a national level football tournament in 2013

Coming Soon: IPL matches to be hosted in Dehra Dun

With an aim to giver a boost to sports in Uttarakhand, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday announced it would organise international and IPL T20 matches in the proposed cricket stadium in Dehradun.

“If the new stadium is built with all the requisite standards, we will organise international and IPL matches here,” said BCCI Vice President Rajiv Shukla, after laying the foundation stone for the new cricket stadium which is being built with support from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Ltd. Of the total cost of Rs 100crore for the stadium, the oil major has already released Rs 50 crore.

ICFRE, Dehra Dun and USFS, USA in exchange programme

The United States Forest Service (USFS) and Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) will collaborate to facilitate exchange visits of forestry personnel between the two countries for studying climate initiatives and exchange of faculty and students from Forest Research Institute University with the US counterparts.

A team from USFS discussed the proposed collaboration with the ICFRE director general VK Bahuguna in Dehradun for planning and implementing Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) plus in India.

The ICFRE is already revising the classification of forest types in India and assessing the changes in forest types will be useful in mapping baselines and comparative carbon estimates over time.

The council is also involved in REDD+ strategy development in the country and also going to launch pilot REDD+ projects in Uttarakhand and Gujarat. The council DG further said that ICFRE also needs to develop capacity in estimation of non-carbon aspects in areas relevant to REDD+ like impacts and vulnerability assessments, ecosystem goods and services, adaptation services, social economic research and valuation of ecosystems services.

The proposed collaboration between USFS and ICFRE will entail exchange visits of forestry personnel between the two countries for studying climate initiatives, training programmes for scientists from ICFRE and its institutes on use of new technologies for research in climate change and exchange of faculty and students from FRI University with their counterparts from USA. The proposed collaboration between USFS and ICFRE is also expected to take the benefits of REDD+ to joint forest management and village level while integrating community forest management institution into the national and State level
REDD+ architecture.

Uttarakhand Born, India U19 Captain Umukt Chand to be rewarded

The Uttarakhand government has decided to honour India's Under-19 World Cup winning captain Unmukt Chand, who hails from the state, with a cash award of Rs 11 lakh for his outstanding achievement in the field of cricket.

Making the announcement on Thursday, Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna said there was no dearth of sporting talent in the state and all incentives will be given to promising sportspersons to help them hone their skills.

The Char Dham Yatra ends this week, for this year, to reopen next year

The annual Char dham pilgrimage in Uttarakhand's Garhwal Himalayas will come to a close on 18th Nov, 2012 for the winter season during which the famous four shrines at Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri remain snowbound.

The process of bringing the annual pilgrimage to a halt will begin on Wednesday with the ceremonial closure of the sacred portals of the high-altitude Gangotri shrine in Uttarkashi district, official sources said in Dehradun on Tuesday.

As per tradition, the idol of Goddess Ganga at the shrine will be shifted to the nearby Mukhba village where it will be worshipped during the winter months.

Portals of Yamunotri shrine in Uttarkashi and Kedarnath in Rudraprayag district will also be closed for the period on November 16, the sources said.

The closure of the famous Badrinath temple in Chamoli district on November 18 will mark the end the Char Dham yatra this year, they said.

The portals of these high altitude shrines in the Himalayas are opened for devotees in April-May and closed in October November every year due to snow-bound conditions.

Coming Soon: A world class cricket stadium in Dehra Dun

The Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) would construct a cricket stadium and an academy for the sport in Dehradun, announced Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna.

The oil major would construct the cricket complex with an investment of Rs 100 crore, the chief minister said at a function here.

The complex, comprising a stadium and an academy, would be set up in a 23-acres-area at Raipur here.

For this purpose, ONGC is likely to form a joint venture with the state government.

On November 15, the foundation stone will be laid for setting up the cricket stadium at Raipur.

Happy Birthday Uttarakhand (9th Nov, 2012): 12 years of existence

As Uttarakhand completed 12 years of its existence on 9th Nov after its separation from Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna announced a slew of measures aimed at the welfare of those who fought for statehood to the region.

Addressing a simple function in Dehradun to mark the occasion, the Chief Minister said equitable development of the backward areas of the state, especially those located in remote hilly terrain, is the primary goal of his government.

Announcing a series of welfare measures, Bahuguna said families of agitationists, who went missing during Uttarakhand statehood movement, will be treated at par with the kin of those who laid down their lives at the peak of the agitation and given compensation.

The FRI DehraDun Building celebrates its 83rd birthday

The grand building of the Forest Research Institute (FRI) in Dehradun, turns 83 years old this month. The pride of place which this impressive building enjoys in the valley is well-known. The building is one of the jewels in Doon valley’s crown and is held in great respect as a national heritage site.

There is hardly any visitor to this region who has not seen this grand building and the museums it houses. Of late, several Hindi films and even South Indian films have been shot at this campus. Karan Johar’s “Student of the Year” has some lovely scenes shot at FRI.

Styled in Greco-Roman Architecture by Sir CG Blomfield, the main building is a National Heritage which was inaugurated in 1929. It was inaugurated by Lord Irwin, the viceroy of India, on November 7, 1929. Its Greco-Roman and Oriental architecture is spread over a plinth area of 2.8 hectares. The FRI campus is spread over 500 hectares. The building took seven years to complete and cost a then astronomical sum of about `90 lakh.

Seventy five years of the grand FRI building were celebrated in 2004, two years before the Forest Research Institute celebrated its centenary year. Senior foresters and scientists attended the platinum jubilee celebrations in the valley.

Coming soon: Rajiv Gandhi Adventure Sports Academy and Helipad in Uttarakhand

As part of efforts to give a boost to development activities in hill areas, Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna laid the foundation stone of Rajiv Gandhi Adventure Sports Academy building, close to Tehri lake.

It will built over 10 acres of land at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crore. The academy will be imparting training to adventure sports enthusiasts in over 24 games including canoeing and kayaking.

He said a helipad too will be developed for the convenience of tourists near the lake and will be connected to Sahasradhara airstrip in Dehradun.