One person was killed and another went missing when a truck engaged in the construction of the all-weather Chardham road fell into the Alaknanda river in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Thursday, officials said.
ne person was killed and another went missing when a truck engaged in the construction of the all-weather Chardham road fell into the Alaknanda river in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Thursday, officials said.
The truck was dumping a load of rubble when the safety wall of the road collapse and the vehicle fell into the river, district officials said.
The incident occurred near Tayya bridge between Joshimath and Govindghat on Badrinath Highway.
Vasudev Singh, 40, and Jagdish Pundir, 55, who were in the truck at the time of the accident also fell into the river. The body of Singh has been recovered, while a search is on to trace Pundir.
The truck belonged to a firm named Hillways and was engaged in the construction of the all-weather Chardham road.
www.republicworld.com
Friday, December 18, 2020
40-yr-old Killed As Truck Falls Into Alaknanda River In Uttarakhand
After over a decade, Uttarakhand records lowest tiger deaths
18-12-200
DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand, which is home to India’s third largest tiger population in the
country (442) after Madhya Pradesh (526) and Karnataka (524) ..
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/after-over-a-decade-uttarakhand-records-lowest-tiger-deaths/articleshow/79784260.cms
Uttarakhand Sikhs Farmers seek boycott of pro-laws
18-12-2020
AMRITSAR: Majority of Sikhs living in Uttarakhand has given a call for social boycott of Sikhs of the state who supported the agri laws. They have also appealed to the farmers of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh (UP) to reach Delhi to observe the martyrdom anniversary of Sikh’s ninth master Guru Teg Bahadur on December 19 and ‘give a final push’.
President of Sikh Sangathan, Uttarakhand and UP, Jasvir Singh Virk told TOI on Thursday that a handful of Sikhs from Uttarakhand had gone along with state’s education minister Arvind Pandey to meet Union agriculture minister Narendra Tomar and extend support for new agri laws. “Strangely, many of them were just wearing turbans to look like Sikhs, most of them were not even farmers but were into sand and gravel business,” he claimed.
TOI
Amid nationwide protests, Uttarakhand govt announces new panel to determine MSP for tea farmers
18-12-2020
Amid nationwide farmer protests, the Uttarakhand government on Thursday announced the formation of a committee that will determine the minimum selling price (MSP) for tea farmers.
Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat during a review meeting of the state tea development board on Thursday announced that the MSP should be equal to farm gate price. Farm gate price is the value of a product received by a farmer without the transports and marketing costs.
Rawat said, “Four new factories should be set up in the state to provide market to the farmers. A committee should be set up to determine the minimum selling price of green leaves produced from tea gardens. This committee will determine the minimum selling price for each year. Tea experts must be employed in developing tea garden and finalizing the price.”
This announcement comes at a time when farmers across the country are protesting, demanding adding of a provision on continuing MSP in the farm laws passed by the Central government in September.
He also announced that the headquarters of the Tea Board should be established in the summer capital of Garsain. He instructed the district magistrate Chamoli to find a suitable land for it.
The chief minister added that tea gardens should be developed and handed over to the farmers. For this, an action plan should be prepared by within one month. Farmers’ suggestions should also be included in the preparation of this model. Technical expertise should also be provided to the farmers after developing the tea gardens.
“Efforts should be made to run private tea factories in the state for any reason. If the owners of private factories are not able to run them, then efforts should be made by the board to run them. This will create employment opportunities for the local people and provide them a means of livelihood,” added Rawat.
He further said board should meet four times a year. He said that tea gardens can play an important role in the tourism sector in the state. He also instructed the district magistrates to focus on tea tourism in the state.
www.hindustantimes.com
Covid-19 test report must for Uttarakhand MLAs to attend upcoming assembly session
18-12-2020
Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Uttarakhand MLAs will have to mandatorily carry Covid-19 negative test reports with them to attend the upcoming three-day assembly session from December 21-23, assembly Speaker Premchand Agarwal said.
Agarwal announced the rule while inspecting the arrangements being made in the assembly for the session on Wednesday.
“Considering the ongoing pandemic, all the members of the assembly would have to mandatorily carry a negative report of a Covid-19 test so as to attend the session. Without it, nobody will be allowed to enter the House,” said Agarwal.
He informed that there would also be a medical team at the entrance of the House to conduct a Rapid Antigen test for the members.
“All the members are requested to undergo a test beforehand with a report having validity of 72 hours,” Agarwal said.
He also informed that all the members would be attending the session in person unlike during the previous one-day session in which about 24 members opted to attend virtually.
“This time as all the members have opted to attend it by being present in the House, no arrangements will be made to attend it virtually. Appropriate sitting arrangements have been made with social distancing for the members,” Agarwal said.
During the three-day session, the Uttarakhand government will also present the state’s supplementary budget of Rs 4,096 crore.
A Cabinet minister speaking on condition of anonymity citing the norm of not revealing details regarding the policy before any upcoming session said, “During the three-day session, a supplementary budget of Rs 4,096 crore would be tabled. Apart from that, the government would also answer about 468 questions received so far by the House to be taken up in the session.”
www.hindustantimes.com
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj will strike up a dialogue with Bollywood filmmakers as well
In order to resurrect its tourism industry, Uttarakhand’s tourism minister, Satpal Maharaj, is contemplating the idea of developing the state’s ancient temples, and establishing temple-circuits across the Devabhumi. These possibilities were canvassed during an exchange between Maharaj and the Uttarakhand Tourism Board on November 25, 2020. Helmed by Maharaj, the meeting observed the presence of a number of tourism development officers hailing from thirteen districts across the state.
Uttarakhand’s tourism industry thrives off of religious tourism: leveraging the pull of its temples is a decisive decision on part of the state. Additionally, it is also home to the Char Dham- a set of four pilgrimage sites that witness the arrival of hundreds of followers on a daily basis. This makes it one of the most prominent centres of religious travel in the country.
The state has identified a few temples that will fall under the ambit of this developmental initiative: Patal Bhumi, Baijnath, Bagnath, Bhimeshwar, and Shiv Kapileshwar account for five out of twenty-four Shiva temples that will be integrated in the scope of the project.
A few Vishnu temples, for the institution of a Vishnu temple-circuit, have been identified by the state as well, along with Buddhist temples, Sikh shrines, and siddh peeths.
Maharaj also detailed his plans to connect with Bollywood filmmakers, and propose to them the possibility of basing their films and projects around the state’s ‘famous personalities’ and ‘ethnic tribes’, “I’ve requested the Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, to arrange a meeting with famous film producers and directors in the near future.”
www.outlookindia.com
‘Uttarakhand faced loss of around Rs 4,000 cr during lockdown’: Govt committee
17-12-2020
A committee formed by the Uttarakhand government to ascertain losses faced by the state government during the Covid-19 lockdown period has revealed that the state had to bear losses around Rs 4,000 crores.
The committee, headed by cabinet minister Subodh Uniyal, is preparing a report about the different types of losses borne by the state and will soon be submitting it to the higher authorities.
“We have learnt from the finance department that the state government has faced direct losses of approximately Rs 4,000 crores during the lockdown period (March-end till June), but maximum part of this amount is being covered by the compensation being given by the Centre for Goods and Services Tax. The collection from GST amounts to over Rs 2,000 crores,” said Uniyal.
Uttarakhand has six major sources of revenue generation which includes earnings through GST which amounts to around 60 per cent of monthly revenue. The other sources are excise (around Rs 250-300 crores per month), vehicle registration (Rs 100-150 crores per month), vehicle tax (Rs 80-90 crores per month), mining activities (Rs 50-60 crores per month), revenue from forests (Rs 40-50 crores per month).
He added that the state also faced many indirect losses, the amount for which is being calculated.
“Due to the lockdown, the state government gave many relief measures to the tourism sector, registered labourers, started various employment schemes; these can be considered as indirect losses, which would not have happened otherwise. These would also amount to something between Rs 500-Rs 1000 crores,” added Uniyal.
Based on the findings of the report, the committee is now working to give suggestions to the state government on how to turn crisis into opportunity in the state, the method followed by the state during the Unlock process.
The minister further said that the agriculture sector in the state did not face much loss during the lockdown as alternative methods of livelihood like honey rearing, cash crop cultivation were adopted.
www.hindustantimes.com