Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat tests positive for Covid-19

 18-12-2020

The CM has isolated himself on doctors’ advice. Tweeting about his condition, he requested all those who had come in contact with him to isolate themselves and also get tested.

Uttarakhand chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday and isolated himself at his residence.

Sharing this on his Twitter handle in the afternoon, Rawat tweeted, “I had got Covid test done. And my report has come positive. My health condition is fine and I don’t have any symptoms too. On the advice of doctors, I will remain in home isolation. I request all those who have come into contact with me in last few days, to isolate themselves and get themselves tested.”

This is not the first time Rawat has isolated himself during the epidemic. In September, he had isolated himself after his Officer on Special Duty had tested positive for Covid-19. Earlier on August 26, the chief minister had gone into self-isolation after three of his staff tested positive for Covid-19.

Earlier this year on June 1, Rawat and two of his ministers had decided to quarantine themselves after Cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj tested positive for Covid-19. Rawat had attended a Cabinet meeting with Maharaj. Later on June 6, Rawat had tested negative for Covid-19.

Many senior government functionaries have also tested Covid-19 positive in the state in the past week or so. On Wednesday, Uttarakhand health secretary Amit Singh Negi tested positive for Covid-19. On December 8, Amita Upreti, director general of the health department, had also tested positive for Covid-19.

Uttarakhand has so far reported over 84,000 Covid-19 positive cases and 1,384 deaths. The positivity rate in the state stands at 5.4% and case fatality rate at 1.63%. Dehradun district has so far reported the maximum 25,012 Covid-19 positive cases followed by Haridwar (12,905) and US Nagar (10,787).

AAP may name Uttarakhand CM candidate soon

 17-12-2020

 DEHRADUN: The AAP, which has announced to contest the 2022 Uttarakhand Assembly polls, is likely to name the CM candidate soon, party insiders said.  

“We have discussed vital issues with Manish Sisodia ji, who had recently visited the state. He will be sharing the details of the visit with Kejriwal. The party will soon finalise the face for the CM candidate,” said a party insider in the state.

According to political experts, the AAP is taking Uttarakhand seriously and is aiming to secure a few seats.  The analysts said if the AAP manages to eat into the vote share of both the parties, it will be a big loss to them.

Yogesh Kumar, a political commentator in Uttarakhand, said: “The AAP has done well in Delhi. Sisodia has already promised free electricity and water. Even if the AAP dents a marginal vote bank or bag one seat, it will be a wake-up call for both BJP and Congress.”

 

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Tourism to get industry status in Uttarakhand: CM Harish Rawat

Dehradun:  Tourism would soon be given status of an industry in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat announced on Monday.

After a review meeting of the tourism department, Rawat said fresh impetus to the tourism sector was required as the hill state offered unlimited potential for domestic as well as international tourists.

He directed officials to make a concrete action plan to ensure more footfall in the state.

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No construction on river banks in Kedarnath: Uttarakhand CM

New Delhi: No construction will be allowed on river banks in Kedarnath and near other shrines in Uttarakhand and a reconstruction plan has been chalked out to ensure sustainable development, Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna said on Saturday.

"We have chalked out a major reconstruction plan to protect Kedarnath and other shrines for the next 100, 200 or even 300 years. No construction will be allowed on river banks in Kedarnath and other shrines," Bahuguna said.

Speaking to a news channel, Bahuguna said he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking an advanced warning system for the entire Himalayan region to forecast earthquakes, cloudbursts and landslides.

He said nearly 300 villages will have to be relocated at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore as the rivers have changed their courses.

"We will discuss with the Geological Survey of India, Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology and IIT Roorkee about our reconstruction and rehabilitation plans," he said.

To regulate flow of people in the pilgrim town of Kedarnath, Bahuguna said: "From now on, we will start registration of pilgrims going to Kedarnath and Badrinath to regulate pilgrimage."

"There shall be separate roads for entry and exit, cable cars will be installed and we are planning to construct 100 helipads, which will be helpful in times of calamities," he said.

The chief minister said so far nearly 4,500 people have been reported missing since the June 16 calamity.

"We have asked chief secretaries of all states to send us lists of pilgrims reported missing from their states. We had set a one month deadline from the date of the calamity for tracing missing people, which has now passed," he said.

"Now, I can say that there are no chances of any more survivors. We will collate the lists of missing people from states with our own list based on FIRs filed in Uttarakhand and then arrive at a correct figure of those presumed dead," he said.

On granting compensation, the chief minister said Rs 500,000 each will be given to the next of kin of the deceased who were from Uttarakhand and Rs 350,000 to the kin of the dead from other states.

Bahuguna feared more bodies might still be trapped under the huge amount of slush that has covered Kedarnath town.

"The entire slush has congealed into rock and because of continuous rains, the restoration work is being hampered," he said.

He said DNA samples and personal articles like watches, earrings and other articles recovered from bodies that have been cremated so far have been preserved.

"We will post them on the Uttarakhand website, so that the relatives can identify them and come forward to claim them. Close relatives will have to give their blood samples for DNA matching," he added.

IANS

Ambassadors will no longer part of Chief Minister’s cavalcade in Uttarakhand

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister will soon be enjoying ride of branded cars like Toyotas and Hondas which will replace traditional ambassadors from his cavalcade. The state government has been compelled to take this decision in view of security measures.

Remarkably, Uttarakhand came into existence after its bifurcation from Uttar Pradesh. Moreover, Ambassador cars generally formed part of Chief Minister’s and other minster’s cavalcade and was also used by a few officials of the state government. Previously too efforts were made to replace old modeled Ambassadors with cars of latest models but ultimately it could not fructify. When the first interim government was formed in the state, a proposal to purchase Maruti Esteem cars for the ministers was put forth which could not materialize ultimately due to opposition by one of the ministers.

Later on an another proposal to replace traditional ambassador car fleet with Toyota or Honda cars was put forth by the then BJP government of the state which was  put in cold storage after the state’s finance ministry objected to the proposal.


Jagran

Uttarakhand Budget: No new taxes proposed

Laptops for meritorious students, first women engineering college and air ambulance facility are among a slew of announcements in the budget for 2011-12 which was presented by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in the Assembly.

Amid pandemonium created by the opposition over a host of issues, Nishank proposed no new taxes in the budget which is revenue surplus to the tune of Rs 309.90 crore.

Total receipts are estimated to be Rs 18,340.95 crore which is Rs 3,519.24 crore more than the budget estimates of the current fiscal.

Total expenditure in the budget is estimated to be Rs 19,366.91 crore, which is Rs 3,914.96 crore more than the budget estimates of the current fiscal.

The Plan expenditure has been pegged at Rs 6,564.29 crore for 2011-12 against Rs 5,117.38 crore estimated in 2010-11.

Similarly, under the non-plan expenditure, a provision of Rs 12,802.62 crore has been made for 2011-12 against Rs 10,334.57 crore in the budget of 2010-11.

n the 2011-12, fiscal deficit has been estimated at Rs 2,618.23 crore which is 3.18 per cent of GSDP which is also within the target of 3.5 per cent given by the 13th finance commission and FRBM Act.

The state's tax revenue is estimated to be Rs 7,715.05 crore, showing an increase of 21.14 per cent over that for current fiscal. Under this, the VAT is estimated to rise by 23.26 per cent, stamp and registration fees is estimated to increase 13.67 per cent, motor vehicle tax is expected to increase by 10.75 per cent and excise duty to be increased by 5.93 per cent.

For infrastructure development, Rs 1001.84 crore was provided for PWD in 2010-11, has been increased to Rs 1374.47 crore for 2011-12. With the aim of women empowerment, the gender budget now stands at Rs 1851.55 crore.

The stamp duty has been reduced to 5 per cent from the pervious 6 per cent.

To minimise the evasion of stamp duty, e-stamping facility will be introduced in 4 districts of Haridwar, Dehradun, Udhamsingh Nagar and Nainital.

For small and non-AC restaurants VAT will be reduced from 13.5 per cent to 4 per cent.

The existing tax rate on cinema tickets will be reduced in a range of 25 to 50 per cent.

Students of Uttarkahand education board securing 80 per cent and above marks would be given laptops. First state women engineering college will also be established.

Air ambulance facility will be started soon to cater to emergency disaster situation in far flung areas.

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