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10th Plastic Bank comes up in Mount Fort Academy, Dehradun

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Dehradun, Doon Valley based environmental action and advocacy group, SDC Foundation has established 10th Plastic Bank in the city with the help of CSIR – Indian Institute of Petroleum (IIP), Government of India. SDC’s Rishabh Shrivastava appealed to students to bring segregated plastic waste from their homes and collect it in the school. He also explained to the students about the process through which plastic will be converted into fuel. Rishabh also told students about the importance of community participation and a cleaner environment.

Plastic pollution is becoming a major environmental and health threat all over the world. To fight and arrest the problems being caused by the rampant usage of single-use plastics, CSIR-IIP and SDC Foundation, together started an initiative of installing plastic banks in the city which helped in the recycling of plastic waste. The model of plastic bank promotes the decentralised practice of collection, source segregation and recycling of single-use plastics being generated in homes, offices and institutes.

During the event, Puja Jain, Principal of Mount Fort Academy informed the audience about numerous environmental friendly steps being taken and how the participation of students is crucial.

Jyoti Dhawan, Director, Mount Fort Academy stressed on the need to have a clean and hygienic environment and progress ahead together as a society. On the occasion of the plastic bank inauguration, the certificate of recognition was awarded by SDC to staff members of Mount Fort Academy.

During the event, SDC’s Founder Chairperson Anoop Nautiyal, Rishabh Shrivastava, Pyare Lal, Praveen Upreti were also present.

Monal Adventure Carnival: 22nd-23rd February 2020

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Tania Saili
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Rudraprayag. For all those who happen to be in Rudraprayag hill-district of Uttarakhand on the 22nd-23rd of February, there is something exciting lined-up.

The district administration along with local MLA Manoj Rawat have organized a two day ‘Monal Adventure Carnival,’ at one of districts most-scenic of abode, Chopta.

Talking to Newspost, MLA Manoj Rawat tells us, “this is first of its kind festival in this region which is bereft of tourists in the heart of winter,’ adding, ‘the beauty of this place is double fold in winter and we want tourists to explore this region in every season.’

The two-day power-packed schedule will give you a glimpse of the rich and unique culture of the region. The fresh white mantle of snow, promises to add more to the magical charm, ensuring that your memory-card is full of pleasant memories.

Pic Courtesy: Kunal Dobhal

‘Monal Adventure Carnival’ 2020 promises everything. There are adrenaline pumping adventure activities to choose from: Trekking to Chandrashila, Snow Kayaking, Mountain Biking and even Snow Skiing for those who dare, on the first day of the Carnival.

 

A glimpse of pahadi culture at ‘Avahaan’ is sure to get you to dance to the beat of traditional instruments like the Dhol and Damau.

On the 23rd of February, Pandavaas and Rajnikant Semwal have lined up a befitting finale with live concerts by two indigenous artists of Uttarakhand that is sure to leave their audience asking for more.

Kunal Dobhal, of Pandavaas fills me in, “we are looking forward to our first-ever performance in our home-district. Its our own band in which we have hand-picked local talent including school going students. We are looking forward to entertaining our audience with traditional instruments and songs.”

Promising to be a regular event on the map of Rudraprayag district, those who miss the event this time round, don’t loose heart, give it a shot in 2021.

Earth Day Network Rising Star: Haridwar’s Ridhima Pandey

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Tania Saili
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Haridwar, “My inspiration to become an activist for our dwindling environment was the 2013 Kedarnath Deluge. During the floods I learnt about global warming, I started questioning our actions as a society. I filed my first petition in National Green Tribunal in 2017, for the inaction of the Centre Government, and since then I have moved upward and onward.” A confident 12-year-old environmentalist, Ridhima Pandey, who recently received the ‘Earth Day Network Rising Star,’ award for her sincere efforts in spreading awareness about our environment, fills me in.

Earth Day Network a global, environmental NGO engages with over 75,000 partners in some 190 plus countries and marks its 50th Anniversary this year.

 To name just a few, Ridhima from Haridwar Uttarakhand joins a bevy of young achievers such as Licypriya Kangujam a climate activist, Madhav Datt who built a worldwide network of young environmentalists, Sumair Handa Bakshi who works to protect the water bodies and rare species such as Gangetic Dolphin. These young minds are taking forward the baton of preservation and conservation in India.

Ridhima Pandey with her powerful voice awakens people far and wide to work for a cleaner, greener, and less polluted planet. Earth Day Network believes strongly that, “youth are crucial to help mitigate climate change and enhance a sustainable way of life.”

 Her reaction to the award, “I dint expect an appreciation or an award for my work. The award is inspiring and it motivates me to do more in the future,” adding, “the fact that they took my work and my efforts seriously, motivates me to do my best, and gives me a chance to show everyone that I am worthy of the award.”

For the future, not surprisingly the young lady plans, “to register an NGO which works on conserving environment and works on climate changes.”

 We at Newspost wish this rising star, all the very best.

Heroes of Tomorrow

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Tania Saili
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felicitation
Arun and Tauqir at the felicitation ceremony in Dehradun

Dehradun, ‘Been There Doon That’ organized a felicitation ceremony for two young heroes from Uttarakhand. Both, pioneers in their field have won the Sanctuary Asia Award in Mumbai recently.

In their early thirties, Tauquir Ahmed and Arun Gaur, were recipients of the “Youth Naturalist Award” and “Sanctuary Wildlife Award’ by Sanctuary Asia. Together the two have put Uttarakhand on the map of Environmental Conservation.

Tauquir Ahmed, a Gujjar from Rajaji National Park, started off as a cook for a group of bird researchers. He started making notes for them and step-by-step has become one of Uttarakhand’s foremost bird watcher. He has an innate understanding of nature, and now a young graduate, he has helped in camera trapping, tracking, sighting and collar tagging numerous birds in the hill state. Wandering down memory lane, he remembers: “In 2012 I first held my first pair of binoculars to watch, observe and identify birds. Five years down the line, I have the privilege of sharing my knowledge and passion with young minds by conducting programs in schools.”

Tauqir and Arun being felicitated at today’s gathering by Author Ganesh Saili

On the other hand, Arun Gaur is one of the select few who have had the good fortune of being able to earning a living from his home in the hills. His Devalsari Environment and Technology Development Society Project spread over a radius of 70 kms, is one of its kind success story. Today ten villages under the banner of the Project are leading by example of sustainable, responsible eco-tourism in the heart of its lush green deodar forest. Arun adds, “Electricity came to our village in 2005, and a car, as recent as 2006. We started Devalsari Environment and Technology Development Society Project in 2013-14 and have given eco tourism a whole new definition.”

An intrepid Lokesh Ohri of ‘Been There, Doon That’ sums it up: “These brave sons of the mountains have brought laurels to the hill-state by pursuing their chosen passion with single minded pursuit and dedication. It is this dedication that we are celebrating here today.”

Greening Uttarakhand, one fruit tree at a time

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Tehri, Handpicked villages of Tehri Garhwal will witness a mega tree plantation drive on 16th February 2020. ‘Earth Day Network’ and ‘One Tree Planted’ will help plant 30,100 saplings of apricot, walnut, plum, pear, papaya, and lemon, fruit trees in Manjgaon, Kalavan, Uniyalgaon, Haveli, Jaadgaon, Navagaon, Semvalgaon, Maroda, Lamkandai and Hatwalgaon, which fall within Saklan region.

The inaugural ceremony will be held at State Higher Secondary School, Manjgaon. The villagers will plant these saplings in their farmland and homesteads, which will then be nurtured and monitored by social enterprise Sustainable Green Initiative.

“It may sound clichéd, but indeed, where there is a will, there is a way. In the land of the “tree man” Vishweshwar Dutt Saklani, the people treat tree saplings like their own children,” says Raj Mohan, Director, Sustainable Green Initiative (SGI).

According to SGI’s estimate, each fruit tree gives a quintal or more fruits from the fourth year onwards. Even at marginal market prices of Rs 10 per kg, each tree will provide nutritional value or an additional income of Rs 1,000 to the farmer who has planted these fruit trees.

“We planted 15,000 trees in this area last year on Basant Panchami, and encouraged by the excellent survival rate and with the way the people here are taking care of the saplings, here we are, working on greening the world, one fruit tree at a time,” said Karuna Singh, Regional Director for South Asia and Country Director, Earth Day Network.

Nine-year-old young environmentalist, Ms Licypriya Kangujam who has been campaigning for action to tackle climate change in the country, will also grace the event along with His Excellency Mr Klaus Molin, Swedish Ambassador who will also plant a sapling within the school premises.

“Know your Forces” organized by Airforce Station, Sarsawa

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Saharanpur, Air Force Station, Sarsawa in coordination with District administration Saharanpur organised a one-day mega display of military assets for the school students of Saharanpur area.

The students witnessed various jaw dropping tactics and aerial manoeuvres of flying  helicopters by Air Force pilots. On display was MI 17 V5, ALH/ Dhruv and the  recently inducted sophisticated Chinooks.

The event was inaugurated by the Divisional Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar, Air Commodore Ajay Shukla Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry), DIG, Saharanpur range Upendra Agarwal and District Magistrate, Saharanpur Alok Kumar.

The aim of the programme was to reach out to the youth of the area and familiarise them with the Indian Armed Forces in general and Indian Air Force in particular. More than 3000 school children of various age group participated in the event.

Young minds were briefed about the role of the Indian Airforce and various career opportunities available in the forces. They were also apprised about the importance of maintaining cleanliness in the area to avoid birds menace, for safety flying.

The event generated remarkable interaction and excitement among the students to learn about military aircraft, equipment and the life in IAF. The event generated greater admiration & respect for our Armed forces and made many new ambassadors of Airforce amongst the Youth for whom this was an opportunity to give wings to their dreams.

Peace Gathering held for Aanchal Kohli

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Dehradun, On the occasion of the Death Anniversary of Late Aanchal Kohli, members of the Kohli family, relatives and friends organised a Peace Gathering at Gandhi Park, Rajpur Road, Dehradun, today evening.

Organized in the memory and support of Doonite born and brought up Aanchal Kohli who was found dead in her apartment some three years ago.

The murder case was transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last January, but there has been very slow progress, with the accused in the case, Rahul Pandhi, out on bail.

Candles were lit in the loving memory of Aanchal, followed by 2 minutes of silence. Post which her parents and siblings updated the close knit gathering on what had conspired since and where the case stood as of today.

Talking about the status of the case, mother of Aanchal, Anjum Kohli said, “The culprits Rahul Pandhi and the ones involved in the murder of our daughter roam free on bail. It’s been three years, we’ve been fighting for justice. It is our humble request to the CBI and the officials to please expedite the process. We will fight until justice is served.”

The family and friends gathered at the Peace Gathering had full faith in the Indian Judicial system and were hopeful that justice would be served without further delay, bringing some sense of closure and relief to the bereaved Kohli family.

Cookies from super crop: The best of taste and health

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Tania Saili
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Cookies made from indigenous crop

For those of you who have had enough of factory made biscuits or rock hard local imitations, there is good news: Uttarkashi based ‘The Farmhaus Cafe & Bakery,’ the first of its kind. This German Bakery is run by the dynamic-duo Aakriti Rawat from Pauri and her German partner Stephan Pöllman, have made some interesting additions to their recipes: healthy cookies made from Raagi and Amaranth, indigenous crops from the hills of Uttarakhand.

“What makes it very special for us is that we wish to encourage local farmers to continue to grow their indigenous, super food crop like Raagi and Amaranth. At the same time we wish to employ more and more women in our business,” Aakriti tells us.

On the same lines, helping them out is Assistant Baker, 23-year-old Karishma from village Malla. An innocent Karishma confides in me, “When I first tasted the Raagi-Mandua cookies I was pleasantly surprised at how good they tasted. Mandua is something that we fed our cattle. Unaware that these could be turned into something so delicious and healthy. This is a great initiative, and now we are trying out recipes with Amaranth (chaulaee) as well. I am excited to learn something new everyday.”

Having lived in metropolitans, the duo is aware of the demand for healthy food options and is trying to plug the gap, by providing nutritious, organic homemade cookies made from super crop for city folks for starters.

“We have developed two kind of cookies – Raagi & Amaranth. Raagi cookies have almost 70% Mandua flour. Many other ingredients like apples, walnuts, jaggery etc. are locally sourced from Hursil and in and around Uttarkashi,” an added asset as Aakriti mentions.

Having grown up on cakes and cookies as a child, Stephan, an economist by profession but a baker by choice, puts it simply: ‘Baking runs in our family!’ The young man has been experimenting successfully with recipes from home but using indigenous nutritious ingredients from Uttarakashi, which to everyone’s pleasant surprise has worked out well.

Looking for a broader horizon, Aakriti and Stephan are on the look out for outlets for their ‘German cookies’ in Rishikesh, Dehradun & hopefully Delhi in the first stage. Those interested can get in touch with them to choose from an array of cookies. A sampling of each cookie out does the other in texture, feel and flavour.

To order:

Raagi: Chocolate Chip Raagi cookie, Coconut Jaggery Raagi cookie (Vegan), Coconut Raagi cookie, Almond-Butter Raagi cookie, Apple Oat Raagi cookie

Amaranth (Chaulaee) cookies:- Lemon Amaranth cookie, Coconut Amaranth cookie

Click/ call: https://www.facebook.com/thefarmhaus.ukt/ +91 98711 85941

Bharat Rang Mahotsav comes to Dehradun

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Tania Saili
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Dehradun, A parallel edition of 21st Bharat Rang Mahotsav is being held in Dehradun. Considered one of India’s biggest theatre festival, the Mahotsav is wooing audiences with world-class theatre showcasing modern theatre & regional dance forms.

Organised by National School of Drama in collaboration with the Department of Art & Culture, Government of Uttrakhand. The seven-day festival began on February 6 and will continue until the 12th of this month.

Sh. Abdul Latif Khatana, Chief (Tie), NSD says, “During the festival, theatre enthusiasts will be treated to an exciting mix of modern theatre that promises an indulging theatre experience, alongside authentic ‘deep-remote-area’ regional and international performances.”

The 21st Bharat Rang Mahotsav is showcasing a range of productions comprising  of 7 shows from critically acclaimed plays, carefully curated from across India and around the world. Among four Indian plays, two plays would be held in Bengali and one each in Assamese and Malayalam. Whereas, two international performances from Sri Lanka and Nepal will be staged in English and Nepalese respectively.

Dr. Arjun Deo Charan, Acting Chairman, NSD said “BRM aims at uniting individuals. BRM has been an exceptionally effective celebration drawing in a ton of crowd and we trust a comparative run for the current year as well.“

Telling us more about the week long festival, Suresh Sharma, Director In-charge, National School of Drama (NSD), said, “The 21st Bharat Rang Mahotsav focuses on providing an engaging audience experience. There are shows that will leave a far larger imprint on the audience than just making them simply watch something. Hence the audience will also experience the importance of space, design and environments.”

Besides the plays,  traditional dance and folk performances will be staged round the clock at the venue.  21st Bharat Rang Mahotsava is also being hosted parallel in other cities viz. New Delhi, Dehradun, Nagpur, Villupuram and Puducherry.

Doon artist completes art project for Jammu Airport

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Tania Saili
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The painter lost in his world of colours

Dehradun: Anshu Mohan an expert on Pahadi miniature painting and a resident of Mathorawalla in Dehradun has been very busy over the past few months. The artist has been busy filling colours to a 25X3 feet and 23X3 feet (total 49X3 feet) canvas which will soon adorn the walls of the Jammu Airport.

Finished adding final touches to his work, Anshu tells us, “I painted a replica of Krishna-Radha series in Basholi style. The artwork for the Jammu airport is a part of the Rasamanjari series, based on the work of 15th century Sanskrit poet Bhanudatta.”

While most miniature paintings are on A3/A4 size, for Anshu, the fact that he had to replicate his miniature work onto a 49 feet canvass, was challenging but thrilling at the same time.

The pahari canvass which will bring alive the walls of Jammu Airport

The project which started in December 2019, took a little over two months to be completed, a relieved Anshu tells us over the phone, “ Today I finally packed and couriered the canvass, which should soon be on display.”

Since early childhood whenever Anshu visited museums across the country where he was attracted to various paintings on display and that is where his inspiration came from, “Even today, I am trying to follow the art which was there 200 years ago, I try to recreate the same genre of painting and technique with colours.”

Pursuing his Doctorate from Mansingh Tomar University in Gwalior, Anshu Mohan holds practical workshops for Fine Art students all over India as he feels, though faculties pay attention to theory there is a lack of practical knowledge in a field which is all about expression in various mediums.

Today, the artist’s work adorn the wall’s of various Institutes such as Archeological Survey of India, Bharat Bhawan, Kangra Museum to name a few and when he is not putting paint to canvas, Anshu Mohan is delving into history to learn more about Indian and Garhwali Miniature Paintings.

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