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Women Army Officers create history atop Bhagirathi-II

By
Ashish Dobhal/Tania Saili
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Dehradun, The Indian Army has kept alive the glorious tradition of sending the best officers to be part of our illustrious armed forces, and its not surprising when these ‘best’ amongst the best go on to create new records.

In the first amongst many, a team of 9 dedicated, determined women officers from the Indian Army created history atop Bhagirathi-II nestled in the Gangotri Valley of Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakashi District. Not only did the team summit the peak they went onto do yoga atop the peak, creating history.

Under the guidance and watchful eyes of Colonel Omendra K. Panwar, the officers performed yoga at a height of 19022 feet, setting a  new record and breaking the former record held by the Indian Army for performing Yoga at a height of 18,800 feet at Siachen Glacier.

Captain Richen Dolma, Captain Deepti Bhatt, Captain Mukta, Captain Ankita, Captain Neetu, Captain Tanya, Captain Bhumika and Captain Aparajita were part of the expedition team which set this new record. The team set off to summit Bhagirathi-II Peak on the 22nd of May, following which they set up base at Nandanvan base camp at 4400 mt.

Meantime inclement weather played spoil sport with heavy snow and hail pounding the area. But fighting all odds, the team carried on with their mission undeterred, although  a mountaineering team from Mumbai cut short their ascent to the summit due to the weather conditions, these women carried on regardless.

The women officers, “did not give up and they kept moving onwards, upwards under the leadership of Colonel Omendra K. Panwar,’ Captain Deepti Bhatt tells us, “going on to create history.“

Tollywood actor Abir Chatterjee to shoot in Mussoorie

By
Tania Saili
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0
Camera! Light! Action! these words will echo once again in the hill-station of Mussoorie which will witness another film unit, this time from Tollywood, shooting in Landour, Mussoorie, starting tomorrow.
One of the busiest and talented Tollywood actor Abir Chatterjee will be seen shooting on-location in Landour, Mussoorie for his upcoming movie by Arindam Sil, ‘Byomkesh Gotro‘. With little or no time for Abir to unwind, the actor is already travelling to the hill-station after wrapping up a marathon of post-promotional schedule for Kaushik Ganguly’s ‘Bijoya‘ (sequel to his National-Award winning Bishorjon) and ‘Guptodhoner Sondhane‘ as well as .
The hill-station promises to play the perfect location for the thriller with monsoon showers turning the hill-side mysterious with shades of black and grey in the backdrop.  The film also stars 21 year old Satyakam who plays the son of a business magnate from Landour, Mussoorie with the young lad visiting legendary Bengali detective Byomkesh at his Kolkata home and pleading for help.
The film unravels how Satyakam feels his life is under threat and invites Byomkesh to come to the hill-station to investigate the case. The movie takes an interesting twist when the detective arrives in  Landour to find Satyakam murdered. The fiery movie cast  includes Sohini Sarkar, Rahul Banerjee and Anjan Dutt with Abir in the lead role playing Byomkesh.
Landour residents are not new to Bollywood film units shooting in the area. A few weeks back, Bollywood stars Tiger Shroff and Ananya Pandey were shooting in the area for their upcoming  sequel to ‘Student of the Year.’
The 4 week shoot will end towards the end of June and the movie is set to have a Durga Poojo release. While ‘Byomkesh Gowtro‘ could well be Tollywoods first to film unit to shoot in this scenic locale, but not the last, for sure.

More than just one way to Kedarnath

By
Tania Saili
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0

Sharp at 6:00 a.m. I awaken to the sound of a chopper on its way filled with pilgrims going to one, or two or all four shrines of Chardham. Their journey began early morning at the Dehradun helipad.

Sub Inspector Pathak from Kedarnath Police Station confides in us: “From 6:00 am to 6:00 pm, they make anywhere between 35 to 40 chopper sorties to Kedarnath. Of course there’s an hours break in between.”

Seven weeks after the portals of Kedarnath Temple were flung open on 29th April 2018 till today, 5 lakh 75 thousand pilgrims have made their way to the highest Shiva shrine. The temple is amongst the most sacred of Shiva temples and the Mandakini Valley is one of the most beautiful valleys in Garhwal Himalayas. Pilgrims, some 55,772 have come here to 11,676 ft above sea level, taken off from the helipads at Dehradun, Haridwar or from the proximity of Guptkashi, Sonprayag, Phatta.

A Mussoorie resident, Vineet Aggarwal preferred the chopper from Haridwar for his aged parents to visit Badrinath and Kedarnath. Happily he tells us: ‘It would have been nigh impossible for my mother to walk to the shrines. But the helicopter has made her dream pilgrimage come true!’

Of course there are many who make their way up the steep incline from Gaurikund (5400 ft) riding astride a sturdy mule, as they clip-clop their way to the shrine. Hundreds of mules and horses give you a flavour of the old pilgrim trail where the chattis dot the ascent to the Shrine. Thus far, some 18,4048 pilgrims have taken the ride by paying somewhere between rupees 1400-1600 one-way.

But what’s warms the cockles of the heart is that most folks take to the pilgrim trail on foot, trekking 16 long kilometers from Gaurikund to Kedarnath. When reports last came in, a whooping 33,93,07 pilgrims have walked along the narrow and arduous path to the shrine, for many it is a journey of faith.

Sages have said, ‘All that is gold does not glitter. All those who wander are not lost.’ And thats true for those who come to Kedarnath.

5-day Film Appreciation Course by FTII concludes in Dehradun

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newspost
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The 5-day Film Appreciation Course by Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) Pune, in association with Uttarakhand Film Development Council (UFDC), Govt of Uttarakhand concluded in Dehradun.

Prem Chandra Aggarwal, Speaker of State Assembly presented Certificates to 119 participants coming from 26 diverse professions and 10 states (Uttarakhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Delhi).

The second half of the course, besides regular classes in film appreciation, film aesthetics and documentaries by course director Pankaj Saxena , included three absorbing guest sessions.

FTII alumnus Munish Bhardwaj screened his own film MOH,MAYA,MONEY to illustrate the process of film making to highly enthusiastic students. Film Maker and Broadcast Management  professional Avinash Pokhriyal held a highly engaging session on the work methodologies obtaining at the Mumbai film industry and left the participants inspired to make quality cinema in Garhwali and Kumaoni languages.

Prof. GB Singh,Dept of TV Engineering, FTII  concluded the academic sessions with a hugely informative lecture on the admission process, courses and life at FTII.

FTII has so far conducted over 74 short courses in  21 locations across the country covering 3300+ participants during the last 1 year mainly under its cross country  film education outreach initiative SKIFT (Skilling India in Film and Television).

Almora’s Bhuvi Da: A light onto others

By
Lucky Singh/Tania Saili
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0

Hardwork, determination and vision is a recipe for making dreams come true, and 26 year old Bhuwan Chaturvedi is one such young lad.

A resident of the Deyghat, the last village along the Almora border, Bhuwan is an inspiration to all. The Founder of SKILL ZONE-A FORTUNE TEACHING Institute  Bhuwan  has single-handedly counselled and guided many youth from his area, irrespective of their age or gender, he has been the inspiration behind many a success stories in the area, which has won him the endearing title, ‘Bhuvi Da.’

Bhuwan Chaturvedi dint have it come easy. His childhood was full of struggles and yet he rose above them all and managed to get trained at the International Training Programme in New Delhi. It was while he was working in Skill-India that he thought of tapping hill-migration at its very root by making the youth aware of what lucrative options awaited them.  Bhuwan quit his job and returned to his home in the hills, visiting one village after the other counselling young men and women and formally setting up  SKILL ZONE-A FORTUNE TEACHING Institute in the year 2017.

Speaking with nostalgia Bhuwan tells us, “I come from a village where education was kept on the back-burners and even graduates are sitting idle coping with depression.” Bhuwan adds, “I began counselling school going children and then moved on to graduate and post graduate students. People from the hills migrate due to lack of facilities here which is most unfortunate and I wanted them to see the opportunities which were readily available around them.“

Without charging a penny, Bhuwan moves from district to district, village to village covering counselling those who seek help and assistance from the lad. Workshop for counselling, english speaking, public speaking, preparations for interview, personality development are held for two-days, three-days and some that last half a year  to bring about a positive change in the youth.

After the success of his innovative programme in Kumaon Bhuvi Da now plans to shift base to  Chamoli District in Garhwal.

This selfless act of Bhuwan doesnt earn him much as he does it purely out of love and concern for the youth of the State. If anyone would like to help or assist Bhuwan in any which way, they can do so by directly contacting him through his Facebook Page.

https://www.facebook.com/bhuwan.chaturvedi

Chief Minister launches aerostat internet technology balloon

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newspost
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0

A big initiative was taken in the field of internet technology in Uttarakhand when CM Rawat successfully launched an aerostat technology balloon at IT Park, Dehradun. The ITDA with support from IIT, Mumbai has for the first time in the country carried out this unique experiment.

Those areas which has not yet been linked with information and internet technology will be given priority in aerostat ballon.  Keeping in view the tough geographical conditions, ballon technology will be helpful to the hill-state which is vulnerable to natural disasters and in case of any emergency such a technology will be useful in contacting people in remote areas.

Chief Minister said that the state government is committed to provide information and communication technology to the next generation. Remote villages like Ghes are now digital village, connected with Apollo Hospital through Tele-Medicine. Providing internet technology to scattered populations is not profitable for private companies. The cost balloon technique is extremely conducive for providing internet facility in the rural areas.

In this, connectivity platform would be provided through state wide area network (SWAN). Aerostat balloon is a celestial platform in which the gas even lighter than available in the environment, is filled and raised high in the sky. The balloon is connected to the surface with the help of a rope and through various mechanisms.  The balloon can be installed in an appropriate vehicle and taken from place to place and  activated in no time.

In emergency situations, the equipment involved in this technology can be used through solar energy. The maximum area affected by a balloon can be covered, under which data speed can be obtained up to 5 Mbps. Through this, it will facilitate the communication system in emergency situations, communication system during the relief works in the disaster affected areas and the finding the persons in mishaps through celestial surveillance.

383 Gentlemen Cadets join as Officers of the Indian Army

By
Tania Saili
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0
by: Sachin Aggarwal

Under an overcast monsoon sky and the magnificent Chetwode building in the background, 383 Indian Gentlemen cadets along with 74 foreign cadets from 3 friendly nations, 45 from Afghanistan, 13 from Tazakisthan, 9 from Bhutan, joined the passing out brigade at the Drill Square at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun today.

Head of the Nepal Army, General Rajendra Chetri was the Reviewing Officer at the Passing Out Parade.

Witnessed by anxious parents, wardens and guardians this memorable moment in the life of every cadet as they cross the Chetwood threshold or the ‘antim-pagh’ to become officers of the Army, makes a picture-perfect moment. The passing-out-parade is a unforgettable experience for young officers and their proud family, for it is nothing short of a iving symbol of the culmination of their hard work, training and determination eventually coming to a fruitful end.

The two-hour programme included parade inspection, sword of honour, piping and oath ceremony ending with the Academy resonating with the young officers voice as they sang the Academy song ‘Kadam kadam badhaye ja, khushi kay geet gaye ja,’ with much aplomb and show.

Keeping alive the glorious tradition of producing excellent officer like qualities the Indian Military Academy Dehradun stands tall as one of the premier institutes in the world today as it send out the best officers to join their respective armies.

63 Cadets from Uttar Pradesh:

Those who took part in the march past at the historical Drill Square were 63 cadets from Uttar Pradesh followed by Haryana at 49, Bihar at 35, Uttarakhand at 33, Punjab at 29, Himanchal Pradesh and Maharashtra at 22 Cadets each, Rajasthan at 20, Jammu-Kashmir at 17, Madhya Pradesh at 14, West Bengal at 12, Tamil Nadu at 9, Karnataka and Jharkhand at 8 each, Manipur and Delhi at 7, Kerala 5, Andhra Pradesh at 3, Telangana and Assam at 4 each, Orissa at 3, Mizoram and Chandigarh at 2 each, with one cadet each from Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura, took part in the June 2018 Passing Out Parade.

CM honours Police Team that successfully scaled Mt. Everest

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newspost
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Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat attended the ‘Flag-in ceremony’ of the Mount Everest Mountaineering Campaign 2018 by Uttarakhand Police team, held at Police Line, Dehradun today.

Chief Minister honoured the 15 members of the Uttarakhand police team including 6 constables, 1 Inspector and 1 mini fireman. Chief Minister announced promotion of six constables to the post of head constable and one increment each to the Inspector and mini fireman.

Chief Minister also announced Rs 5 lakh for Police Team that went to Mt. Everest, stating that, “by successfully scaling Mt. Everest, Uttarakhand Police Team has achieved a historic feat. Uttarakhand police are the first police force in the country to successfully scale Mt. Everest. Participation in such campaigns increases the morale of the soldiers and they learn new experiences.“

Congratulating the team,  Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Utpal kumar Singh said that, “it was due to firm determination and self–confidence of the jawans that the expedition was successful. The police team has given a message of team spirit and we have to work in team spirit for the welfare of the people.

DGP Anil Raturi said, “despite limited resources, Uttarakhand police team by scaling the highest peak has made Uttarakhand state and Uttarakhand police proud.”

Uttarakhand Buses: Disaster on Wheels

By
Lucky Singh/Tania Saili
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0

Up until now, the Dehradun based, Uttarakhand Transport Corporation has for years made sure that the dwellers of this hill-state, stay well connected. Often it has meant using rickety old buses that refuse to be go away.

Officials of the Corporation tell Newspost that once a brand new bus rolls into the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation, it will rarely ever retires. It’s either “Refurbished, retreaded or recycled” and put back on to the road again. Initially, when its brand-new, a bus is run as an AC bus taking passengers to and fro; later after a bit of wear and tear, it is demoted to being a ‘semi-ac bus’ and finally when its almost falling apart it is recycled into an ordinary bus – waiting for disaster to happen. Left with little or no other option available, passengers have to perforce use buses which elsewhere would be in a junkyard.

A passenger told Newspost that the last category of ‘condemned’ buses ply between the State Capital of Dehradun to places like Haldwani, Ramnagar and Kashipur. By the time these cattle-traps reach their final destination, the paint is chipping, the seats that once smelt of fresh leather are torn and tattered; a few windows have fallen out; the door demands a wrestling match to open or shut; the retread are no match for the rough roads and punctures happen all the time. Meanwhile the bus wheezes, coughs, sighs and creaks but manages to limp to its chosen destination. These miracles are routine, all in a day’s work.

Speaking to Newspost Mr G.M. Deepak Jain of Uttara khand Transport Corporation says, “We need more buses for the State for which a proposal has been sent to the State Government. Though we did purchase brand new buses last year, but plying on the hill roads shortens the life of these buses.” He added, “The UTC lacks funds and we have sent a proposal for a new budget, as far as the condition of buses is concerned we cannot wish away these buses, we have to change their category and keep them on the road as long as they can ferry passengers safely.”

Manoj Thapliyal a regular passenger on the Dehradun-Haldwani roadways bus tells us, “I am a frequent traveller on this route, most of the buses that ply on these roads are just metal scrap waiting to fall apart, but beggars cannot be choosers!’

So once a bus enters the gates of the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation it will never leave. Of course officials themselves will never step into one of these contraptions. Meanwhile the vehicle will continue on a slide down the slippery slope: first downgraded, then downsized as it continues to serve those brave hearts people who step aboard these stuck-together-with- scotch-tape and shoestring affairs. That and a prayer!

Yoga to be spread amongst the masses : CM Rawat

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newspost
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For International Yoga Day preparations, under curtain raiser programme a general yoga practice session was held at B.R. Ambedkar stadium at ONGC on Thursday. Swami Ramdev, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Mr. Trivendra Singh Rawat, Union Minister of State for Ayush Mr Shripad Yesso Naik, Uttarakhand Ayush Minister Dr Harak Singh Rawat, Swami Chidanand Saraswati of Parmarath Niketan, legislators Harbansh Kapoor and Ganesh Joshi, Acharya Balkrishan, Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, DGP Anil Raturi, Union Ayush secretary Rajesh Kotecha, Uttarakhand Secretaries R.K. Sudhanshu and Dr . Pankaj Kumar Pandey and a large number of senior officers practiced  yoga with Swami Ramdev.

Speaking on the occasion, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Mr. Trivendra Singh Rawat said that Yoga has to be taken to people since Yoga is way to make the world disease free. He said that in the Indian Culture it is said “ Sarve Bhuvante Sukhin: Sarve Bhuvantu Niramaya” which is apt for yoga. Yoga originated from Uttarakhand.”   

Chief Minister said that through the efforts of Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi the entire world has recognized the power of yoga and June 21 is being celebrated as International Yoga Day. He said that Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is working to join the entire world through yoga. He further said that when political power and spiritualism join hands then it paves way for the welfare of the world.

Chief Minister said that it was matter of pride that Dehradun has been chosen for hosting the national function of the International Yoga Day. This will help Dehradun and Uttarakhand to figure on international horizon. He said that everybody should resolve to do yoga daily to make the world disease free.  The Chief Minister called upon the people to participate in the International Yoga Day programme to be held at FRI on June 21. He said that those who could not attend the function could do yoga in their villages, cities and homes.

Union minister Shripad Yesso Naik said that it was due to efforts of Prime Minister that the message of yoga has spread to the world.

Those keen to participate in the main event to be held at FRI campus and get gate pass, can apply online at http://egatepass-uk.in/yoga_pass.php. 

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