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Movie “PM Narendra Modi” being shot in Dehradun

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Prime Minister, Biopic, Modi
Pic Courtesy: Twitter

Dehradun, Doonite Satish Sharma will once again make his presence felt on the silver screen, with yet another big Bollywood banner shooting in the valley.

Directed by Director Omung Kumar known for ‘Mary Kom’ and ‘Sarbjit’,  and co-produced by Suresh Oberoi, Vivek Oberoi’s father along with Sandeep Singh the film “PM Narendra Modi” is being shot on-location for the fourth day in a row in Dehradun’s premier institute Forest Research of India.

Pic Courtesy: Lucky Singh

The biopic is being shot on war footing, with three separate film units working simultaneously in the city.

Actor Vivek Oberoi is essaying the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a get-up complete with prosthetics and beard, this daily routine takes the actor close to three hours. The first look of the actor was revealed on twitter on the 7th of January this year. Scenes from the PMO are being enacted with Actor Prashant Naraynan and veteran actor Anjan Shrivastav and Satish Sharma in the conference room of the Forest Research of India which will be showcased as the Prime Minister’s Office in the upcoming movie.

In another corner of the premier Institute, the magnificent corridors of the Forest Research of India come alive with a different set where a few scenes of the movie are being filmed as well.

With a month to go, the entire unit is making sure that the movie will be released by 4th of April in 23 regional languages, before the next election dates are announced.

It may be recalled that Satish Sharma is Editor of “Garhwal Post” published from Dehradun. Journalist turned actor Satish has worked in a dozen movies so far. His upcoming movies are ‘Firkee’ and his first South Indian film ‘Kaappaan’ will release in May this year.

Been There Doon That releases ‘Walking with Laata’

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Pic Courtesy: Girish Sharma

Mussoorie, In collaboration with the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration, Mussoorie the ‘Been There Doon That Society’ organized a heritage walk and book release of their book, “Walking with Laata.”

Braving the winter morning hundred odd participants from all walks of life, from in and around Dehradun made their way to the IAS Academy, Mussoorie for a one and a half hour event. Director, Sanjeev Chopra, IAS welcomed the keen participants to what used to be the oldest hotel in Mussoorie and was taken over in 1959, for training officers of the All India Services.

Professor Ganesh Saili spoke about Charleville’s Rudyard Kipling connection and how it today trains the Steel Frame of India.

Lokesh Ohri then took the participants for a walk around what used to be the Happy Valley Club. The walk culminated with the launch of “Walking with Laata,” a compilation of essays of walks and trails from the Valley of Doon. The book was launched by Director Sanjeev Chopra, Joint Director Arti Ahuja, Joint Director Manoj Ahuja and Professor Ganesh Saili.

Lokesh Ohri spoke about how ‘Been There Doon That’ (BTDT) was Dehradun’s Heritage Walking Group that was set up 4 years ago and had done over three hundred walks not only in Dehradun but its environs and how, ‘Walking with Laata was the culmination of all these interesting walks.”

The 386 page book traces the history of the Doon from the Gurkha War of (1814-1816) to its becoming the seat of the Forest Research of India, Survey of India, Wildlife Institute of India, Oil and Natural Gas Commission and many other premier institutes.

Interspersed with history, flora and fauna, collection of interesting black and white to  recent colour pictures, the book includes maps and instructions for its reader who wants to explore Dehradun afoot and soak in the sight and sounds of the valley, ‘Been There Doon That,’ call home.

KoKo Power Studio: Giving wings to your health

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Dehradun, “Creating what’s not there!” has been the leitmotif of Dehradun’s KoKo Power Studio, which opened shop in Rajendar Nagar in December last year. The Studio brings with it new concepts of personalized fitness training, making it one-of-its-kind personal training studio in the valley.

Standing out, KoKo Power Studio isn’t your regular gym. Boasting of ‘Only Pilates’ the  Studio comes inclusive with state-of-the-art equipment ranging from Reformer, Wunda Chair, Barrel, Step Ladder along with a TRX training center module suspension training, 3D functional Training and TRX RIP Cord Training.

Along with all this you also have the conventional resistance training area equipped with kettle-bells, trampoline, Bosu Ball that makes your workout fun, exciting and something to look forward to.

A highly qualified fitness professional, armed with many International certifications Chetna Gurung aka Koko shares with us, “the idea of personal training is primarily to target those who feel the need to train under a professional who know what’s best for you,” the woman behind the Studio.

 

A teenager trying to make into a a sport selection, a person looking forward to lose those extra kilos before an upcoming event or even your 50plus looking to improve their health, the Studio caters to their customized needs.

Covering all major components KoKo Studio gives training from renowned training staff along with nutrition counselling, lifestyle assessment and lot more. So when joining KoKo Power Studio you are bound to go in for a complete transformation, as Chetna puts it,  “let the weight scale go down and the quality of living go up.”

Vaidya Shikha Prakash who joined KoKo Studio in the month of December 2018, tells us, “The workout has helped me with stamina fat loss and muscle gain. It has been a positive change for me.”

No matter your gender, age or profession, if you want to stretch your limits and give your health new wings, then KoKo Power Studio is the place for you.

A Hero return’s home

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Amritsar, Attari-Wagah Border. All eyes from home and abroad were tuned in to their television sets all day today to catch a glimpse of the homecoming of a real hero, 35 year old Wing Commander, Abhinandan Varthaman.

Despite the ceremonial Beating Retreat Ceremony at the Wagah Border being cancelled, people poured in from all over, some with garlands, some with the tri-colour flag, some playing the dhol and damau braving the cold and rain, anxiously awaiting WC Abhi to cross the border all day today.

Abhinadan or ‘Abhi’as he is fondly called by his loved ones, overwhelmed a nation with his courage, fortitude and grace in enemy captivity. On his late night return, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor addressed the media, “Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman has been handed over to us. We will be taking him for a medical check up which is mandatory because the officer ejected from his plane. Indian Airforce is happy to have him back.

Yesterday at 16:28 IST Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan announced a ‘Peace gesture’ of returning captured Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot Abhinandan Varthaman. Within seconds the announcement was greeted jubilantly across the globe. Politicians, citizens, netizens rejoiced the news of the possible homecoming of their hero.

Taken into custody by Pakistan on Wednesday when his parachute wafted by the wind, landed on the other side of the Line of Control as he ejected from his MiG-21 before successfully targeting the Pakistani F-16.

Soon after being taken into custody, a short video clip of Wing Commander Abhinandan sipping a cup of tea on the other side of the border went viral. His cool demeanor, confidence and chivalry won him instant fame and fan following across all ages.

The pilot’s proud and relieved father S Varthaman stated to the media “just look at the way he talked so bravely. A true soldier. We are so proud of him.”

His parents Dr. Shobha Varthaman and Air Marshal S. Varthaman took a late night flight from Chennai to Delhi. Video and pictures of the parents receiving a standing ovation, with cheers and claps from co-passengers went viral within minutes of being shared on social media.

His returning home safe and sound is seen by many as a positive sign of de-escalation of tension on our borders.

Joint briefing of the Indian Army, Airforce and Navy

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New Delhi, A joint Army, Airforce and Navy briefing that was to take place at 5:00 p.m. today was pushed back to 7:00 P.M. post what is being seen as Imran Khan’s ‘peace gesture’ of stating that they would be handing over Wing Commander Abhinandan tomorrow.

Maj Gen Surendar Singh Mahal from the Indian Army, Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor of the Indian Air Force and Rear Admiral Dalbir Singh Gujral of the Indian Navy, addressed the media gallery from the Raisaina Hill, in New Delhi.

First to address the media gallery was Air Vice Marshal RGK Kapoor, who stressed on the timely intervention of the Indian Air Force which had thwarted the plans of the Pakistan Air Force and minimized damage to Indian military installations. Air Vice also stressed on the fact how they had electronic signatures of the Pakistan fighter jets entering Indian airspace, and also that the Pakistan Army had just one indian pilot in custody and not two or three that they had initially stated.

Talking about the return of Wing Commander Abhinandan return tomorrow, the Chief stated that they were happy, “the Wing Commander will be returned to India and we are happy and look forward to his return.” He also added, that the gesture, “was in consonance of the Geneva Convention.”

Maj Gen Surendar Singh Mahal highlighted the fact that there were over thirty five ceasefire violations since the 14th of February carried along the Line Of Control, “the Pakistan Airforce was targeting our military instalments, brigade battalion, headquarters and our logistic installations, but our high level of preparedness and immediate response by our forces foiled their designs.”

Rear Admiral Dalbir Singh Gujral assured the preparedness of the Indian Navy, if need arises, “ I can assure you of a resolute, swift and strong response by the Navy when needed. We stand as one with the Army and Airforce to ensure the safety and security of our nation and its citizens.”

Evidence in the form of shrapnels, shards, and pieces of the shot down F-16 Pakistan Air force were also displayed in front of the media.

India Strikes Back

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26th February 2019, 3.30 a.m. in a pre-dawn attack by India which took less than half hour Balakot, Muzafarabad and Chakoti nurseries of terrorism and JeM camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir were decimated by 12 Mirage 2000 fighter jets today.

Expertise fighter pilots equipped with rapid seek and destroy mission, aided with laser guided bombs and heron drone took off from Ambala airbase and destroyed the Jaish Camps. The air-strike comes twelve days after the Pulwama attack in which we lost 40 bravehearts of the Central Reserve Police Force to a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

In an early morning tweet Congress President Rahul Gandhi wrote, “ I salute the pilots of the IAF.”

tweeted by pakistan airforce

Sources tell us that the aircraft dropped 1,000 kg laser guided bombs, completely destroying the terror camps.

Speaking to Newspost Retd Wing Commander Praful Bakshi said, “Its high time, the whole nation was waiting for this action. Let me make this clear that this was an attack on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir which is our land, and NOT Pakistan and its time we claim what is ours.”

Former PCC Chief of Uttarakhand Kishore Upadhyay stated, “it is our prime duty to stand in solidarity with the defence forces of the nation.

 

Addressing the media, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale stated, “There was credible intelligence report that there was possibility of JeM attack in various parts of country and the Fihadeen Jehadis were being trained for this, so in the face of imminent danger a pre-emptive strike was necessary . India struck JeM largest camp in Balakot, in this operation large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, group of Jehadis were eliminated, the facility was headed by Ustad Ghori, the brother in law of Masoor Ahmed. The target was conditioned to avoid civilian casualties.  As the strike was a short while ago we are awaiting further details.” 

Father of martyred Major Chitresh Bisht of Dehradun lauded the air-strike saying, “I wish this would have been done earlier. Yet the precision with which the Airforce undertook the strike is worth praising. I hope that in the future such action is taken against terrorists and those who give them safe haven.”

Mussoorie Road Musing

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Mussoorie, Home to work, work to home, for many years now I have been travelling the 33-kilometer stretch between Mussoorie and Dehradun. All these years one tends to take for granted the ease with which this road snakes up the mountain.

We do it almost by rote without a thought for those early pioneers. It is men like John MacKinnon, our Scotsman who started work on this road to bring up bullock-carts to his brewery at the western end of town in what is now Baasi Estate.

Inch by inch the road gained a grip, the foothills were subdued to make this the gentlest approach to any hill station in India. Reports of landslides made the road open to public only in 1929-30, who took full advantage of motor travel both ways. Numerous viaducts or an overpass bridge, have stood the onslaught of time and have borne with pride the increase in traffic, while our recent bridges elsewhere collapse like a house of cards.

From the collection of Ganesh Saili

In 1926, a loan was obtained from the United Provinces Government to get the road to village Bhatta. In the year 1930, the terminus crept up to Sunny View or Douglas Dale Spring. It was six years later in 1936, Barrister Darshan Lal, the then-Chairman of the Municipal Board helped bring the road to Kingcraig.

The road will bring us more trade,’ explained MacKinnon. And was he right!

The first buses to ply between Mussoorie and Dehradun were owned by the Gwalior and Northern India Transport Company. In the third week of June 1920, a model-T Ford negotiated the Cart Road up to the Library for the first time, driven by Col. E.W. Bell who said, ‘all gradients met with were negotiated with ease, safety and without the least difficulty.’

John MacKinnon needs no statue’s or memorials or round-about named after him, his viaducts and the Mussoorie Cart Road stand as an ultimate remembrance of men who were bigger than these mountains.

Ruling the Tons Rapids: National Kayaking Competition

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Uttarakashi, The sleepy towns of Naitwar and Mori in Uttarakashi district of Uttarakhand will slowly be making their way onto the international map for offering adventure sports by  hosting  ‘National Kayaking Competition’ from the 2nd – 3rd of March, 2019.

From mild to wild and everything in between, the four plus rapids on the Tons, a perennial river made from the confluence of Rupin Supin river in Uttarakashi has a picture postcard setting. The scenic Jaunsar Valley makes the perfect playground for amateur as well as experienced kayakers and rafters, looking for some adventure here.

After a gap of nine years, Tons is all set to thrill participants, with sprinter and slalom kayaks in this free of cost competition. The Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam ltd will fund the 4-5 kms between Naitwar and Mori for the kayaking competition. The organizers hope that the competition will see close to forty kayakers, both men and women, from India, Nepal and other neighbouring countries who will participate in this two day kayaking event.

Praveen Rangar the man behind the upcoming event is busy tying up loose ends, “This is an attempt to promote adventure tourism and give employment to the youth of the region. Tons is very technical, very cold and a low volume river compared to Ganga in Rishikesh, which makes it a challenge for all enjoy kayaking and rafting.

Feeling optimistic about the event, District Magistrate, Dr. Ashish Chauhan states, “we want tourists to explore the district and diversify footfall in Uttarakashi. The district and specially the Tons Valley has much more to offer than places such as Har-ki-dun and Hursil.”

If all goes well, then very soon a Rafting Training Camp will be set up base here and from April onwards colourful rafts will be seen snaking down the river through the region.

District Education Officer addressed students of PEN-India Foundation

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Doiwala, District Education Officer (Basic), Mr Rajendra Singh Rawat visited PEN-India School currently being run in Bhaniawala. He gave tips to the students on staying healthy and appreciated the efforts of PEN-India School for providing free and quality education to underprivileged children.

District Education Officer (Basic), Mr Rajendra Singh Rawat inspected PEN-India School and gave tips to the students to remain healthy. He said, “students are the future of the Nation and the development of the nation depends on the children.” He also distributed half yearly examination report cards and was highly impressed when students of nursery introduced themselves in English.

Mr. Rajendra Singh Rawat appreciated the fact the though the school was being run from  a rented shop, PEN-India Foundation was determined for provide free and quality education to the underprivileged students.

As per the tradition of the school, the students welcomed Mr Rajendra Singh Rawat with our National Flag as memento. Mr Anoop Rawat, the Chairperson of the Foundation gifted him the annual calendar of the PEN-India Foundation and said that the students appeared enthusiastic with the visit of the education officer.

Mr Santosh Budakoti, the Director of the Foundation said, “the guidance from the education officer will prove to be helpful in operating the school.” During the event journalist Mr Sanjay Sharma along with volunteer teachers, Mrs Ritu Sharma and Mrs Deepalika Negi were also present.

Building a lasting bond: Factoria Agro & Canny Overseas

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New Delhi, Since 1993, FACTORIA-AGRO, a Ukraine based company has been engaged in oilseed and grain processing, specializing in the production of mustard and linseed oil. From 1997 when the company made its first export, to today where it supplies products to close to two dozen countries worldwide. Factoria- Agro has been constantly on the look out for opportunities to expand horizons.

Recently, Factoria-Agro ventured into Indian soil with Canny Overseas as their marketing partner to exploring the Indian market. Utilizing Canny Overseas long expertise in the the country, Factoria-agro will explore business prospects in the Indian Sub-continent through Canny Overseas.

Canny Overseas, a Private company was incorporated on 29 April 1994. The company brings with them years of experience in marketing Agri commodities in India. The company has over twenty-five years of experience in the field of marketing and sales.

With their formidable experience and expertise, Canny Overseas and Factoria-Agro look forward to growing from strength to strength. From being pioneers in mustard cultivation in Ukraine to being leading masters in the field of Edible Oil, Factoria – Agro has an impeccable reputation and is synonymous reliability and qualities that make it stand out in the competitive world, just like their partner, Canny Overseas in India.