Dehradun, 30 March 2009
Neena Sharma, Tribune News Service
Fighting penury, personal tragedies and alienation, Kabootri Devi comes alive on stage. As the first notes of her song explode, breaking the stillness of the marquee, the audience revels in the power and beauty of a full-throated voice burnished to perfection and refinement.
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Dehradun, 29 Mar 2009
Wintry conditions were revived today in Uttarakhand after higher reaches of Himalayas received a fresh spell of snowfall accompanied with light to medium showers of rain in the plains.
Areas like Badrinath, Auli, Dayarabugyal, Kedarnath along with other high altitude areas falling under Chardham tourist circuit in Garhwal region were receiving intermittent snowfall since last night, MET office sources said.
In Kumaon region also the hills surrounding Pithoragarh, Dharchula, Munsyari and Johar valley wore over two feet of snow.
Lower areas of the state shivered with light to medium rains with chilly winds in the region while Dehradun and nearby areas witnessed intermittent drizzle.
Meanwhile, a large number of tourists gathered at hill resorts of Mussoorie and Nainital, expecting snowfall.
Met Director Anand Sharma here said the weather is likely to improve by tomorrow morning.
Dehradun, 24 Mar 2009
Uttarakhand began as a struggle of the ‘Highlanders’ versus the ‘Low Landers’. With the new delimitation in place now, the present Lok Sabha elections seem to defeat the very purpose for which a separate ‘hill-state’ was created.
“Ladh kay lengay, bhidh kay lengay, lay kar rehnegay Uttarakhand,” Atul Sharma’s battle cry spawned a mass movement for a separate hill-state, today he feels dejected and cheated for what seemed a promising future is today.
Of the 70 Vidhan Sabha seats, 40 were in the hills and about 30 in the plains, but today as per the new delimitation policy, there are 38 seats in the plains and 32 seats in hills, giving the plains an edge or unfair advantage over the hills.
“Iski sansktirit ek badey UP say bhin thi, isaliye ek kalpana ki gayee thi iskay alag hojaney say bahut sari bate ban jayegi. Lekin aise nahi hua aur is wajah say ek nirasha bani huee hai” Despite not reaching proportions, it has led to a battle-royal between the highlanders and the lowlanders. This hangs like a dark cloud over the very causes that lead to the creation of Uttarakhand. There is a feeling in the hills that the distribution of the Vidhan Sabha seats are biased towards the plains, as the new state was meant to look after the people of the hills something Kishore Upadhyaya, Congress MLA from Tehri reasserts.
Political parties are taking a cue from their varied areas of influence this election, the plains a strong vote bank
for SP and the BJP while Congress looms larger than life in the remote mountains.
As Vinod Barthwal, SP General Secretary put its, “Parvtiya kshatre ko mehtvata milrahi hai aur milni bhi chahiye. Par yeh bhi nahi hona chahiye ki maidani bhaag uunkay saath anyaya ho aur unhay yeh mehsoos ho ki pervitya rajya maine judh kar humarey saath insaaf nahi ho raha hai yeh bhi uchit nahi hai.”
The agitators who struggled for the creation of Uttarakhand never asked for Roorkee or Haridwar, nor did they fight for a state that was named Uttaranchal. Their ‘Utopian Uttarakhand’ has eluded them and it all boils down to scoring political brownie points with the electorate, as the dream of Uttarakhand lies defeated and dying. Just a pale imitation of Uttar Pradesh.
News Source: http://www.ndtv.com
Opening Dates of Chardham Yatra in Uttarakhand – 2009 Season
1. Yamunotri, Gangotri dwar will open on 27-04-09 and close on day of Deepavali.
2. Badrinath will open on 01-05-09 and close on 10 days after Deepavali.
3. Kedarnath will open on 30-04-09 and close on eve of Bhaidooj.
Get more information on Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri at www.chardhamyatra.org
Rishikesh (Uttarakhand), 5 Mar 2009
More than 400 foreign yoga practitioners from over 35 countries are taking part in a weeklong international yoga symposium in Uttarakhand.
The seven-day long 8th annual International Yoga Festival has been jointly organised by the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board and the Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh was kick started from Mar 1.
The ongoing festival is drawing a large number of foreign tourists especially from west.
‘The yoga festival has a very good mixture of teachers from all over the world. It also brings people to the Ganga (River) and puts them in touch with the whole spirit of India. So it’s a very wonderful feeling of bringing yoga students to the homeland of yoga,’ said Davis Frawler, a tourist from USA.
Large numbers of visitors and yoga practitioners are coming every year to attend the yoga sessions and perform yoga exercises. Most of them attend this festival to introduce the culture of their country to the people from rest of the world who are present here.
‘I am teaching Shinto Yoga in this festival. I want to introduce Japanese culture to the other countries’ people. I would also like to share the ancient wisdom of Japan, said Hikaru Hashimoto, a tourist from Japan.
The festival is held on the banks of the river Ganga, it offers a wide variety of yoga asans including Kundalini Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Reiki, Pranayama, Power Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Pranic Healing, Music Therapy, Yoga Therapy, Nada yoga, Meditation and special satsangs (prayer meetings).
The question-answer sessions with prominent exponents of Yoga are one of the highlights of the Yoga Week.
‘Yoga is for all. It is beyond region and religion, beyond caste creed and colour. The motive of this festival is to make the people from both India and western countries realize the importance of Yoga,’ said Swami Chidanand Saraswati, President and Spiritual Head of the Parmarth Niketan, Rishikesh.
Yoga is helpful not just for physical health, but it also helps to overcome mental problems like stress, depression and frustration. First organised in 2001, the festival has since been held every year. (ANI)
Tehri (Uttarakhand), 4 Mar 2009
Dev Suman State Library, a prominent library which dates back to the British era, lies in a shambles in Uttarakhand’s Tehri district, after facing neglect from the authorities.
The library is the prominent one in this otherwise remote district and draws bibliophiles from far and wide.
But due to the poor state of this library, the visitors find it difficult in locating the desired books.
Although the State Government has given grants for the procurement of books and manuals, there are not enough shelves to stock them. As a result, some of the pages of the books are lying across the floor of the library. The rats have also created havoc by chewing away some of these books.
Manoj Kumar, who works as a manager at the library complained of the budgetary constraint, which was the main hindrance in the upkeep of this library.
“Due to the budgetary constraints, we are unable to buy new cupboards and due to this, we have to stock the books in double layers. Due to this, the students who come here face difficulty in taking out the books. There is also a possibility of rats and termites eating away the old books. Maximum we can do is to spray Baygon spray to keep them at bay. Some of the books are as old as 200-300 years. But the books should be microfilmed to save them from further deterioration. If there is computerization of this library, we will be able to provide better service,” said Kumar.
On other hand Meenu, a schoolteacher, who is a regular in the library said that there should be more space to make reading comfortable.
Some of the books which library stocks include the Gazettes of erstwhile united provinces, rare dictionaries, yearbooks, almanacs, administrative reports of Tehri administration and books on Ayurveda by Charak.
Maharaja (King) Narendra Shah established the library on October 7, 1923. It was named Dev Suman State Library in 1974. In the year 2000, it was shifted to its current location.
News Source: http://www.newstrackindia.com
