Page 13 - Uttarakhand

ADB commits $200 mn to upgrade water supply, other services in Uttarakhand

Government of India and the Asian Development Bank on Wednesday signed a USD 200 million (about Rs 1,680 crore) loan to help upgrade water supply, sanitation, mobility, and other urban services in Uttarakhand. The signatories to the loan agreement for the Uttarakhand Livability Improvement Project were Juhi Mukherjee, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Mio Oka, country director of India Resident Mission, for ADB, a joint statement said. Mukherjee said the project aligns with Government of India's urban development agenda as well as the Uttarakhand government's initiatives to enhance urban services, aiming to boost livability and sustainability in cities. "The project aims to create urban infrastructure that is resilient to climate and environmental risks such as floods and landslides, ensuring the safety and health of Uttarakhand's population," said Mio. It will also build the capacity of the state agencies in project management, climate and ..

Bus falls into gorge in Uttarakhand’s Almora; 36 dead

A privately operated bus fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Almora district on Monday, killing at least 36 of the about 60 people on board and injuring 24.

Bus falls into gorge in Uttarakhand, 36 dead, CM announces ex-gratia

A bus fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Almora district on Monday, killing 23 of the 40 people on board and injuring 15. While 22 people died on the spot, one succumbed to injuries while being taken to a hospital in Ramnagar, Almora's District Disaster Management Officer Vineet Pal told PTI. The bus was going from Pauri to Ramnagar when the accident took place at Marchula in Almora, added District Magistrate Alok Kumar Pandey. About 40 passengers were in the bus when it fell into the 200-metre deep gorge, Pandey said. Police, SDRF and NDRF personnel immediately rushed to the spot to launch a search and rescue operation, he said. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief at the loss of lives in the accident. "Received very sad news of casualties of passengers in the unfortunate bus accident that took place in Marchula of Almora district. The district administration has been instructed to conduct relief and rescue operations swiftly," he said on X. "The local ...

Number of devotees at Kedarnath touched a new record this year: CM Dhami

The doors of Kedarnath Dham will be closing for the winter season on Sunday, November 3 at 8:30 AM. The Kedarnath site opened its doors on April 25

Lack of infrastructure in U'khand to manage forest fires: Report to NGT

Uttarakhand suffers from a glaring lack of essential infrastructure required for effective forest fire management, an amicus curiae report in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) said on a matter regarding leaf burning in the Badkot forest range along the Rishikesh-Dehradun Road. Earlier in April, the NGT appointed advocate Gaurav Bansal as the amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist with the case. The report, dated October 14 and submitted to the NGT last week, said it was imperative to address the critical deficiencies and violations hindering effective forest fire management in the state. "The state of Uttarakhand suffers from a glaring lack of essential infrastructure required for effective forest fire management. This includes a shortage of firefighting equipment (such as protective goggles, protective gears, weapons etc.), insufficient patrolling vehicles to access remote areas, and a dearth of communication devices such as wireless and satellite phones essential for ...

Uttarakhand: CM Dhami meets Union Minister Shekhawat to boost tourism

"I had a cordial meeting with the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Shri Pushkar Singh Dhami ji today. He is a visionary. He has an effective roadmap of development for Devbhoomi," Shekhawat said

Those affected can come to court: SC on contempt against state demolitions

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea alleging contempt of its order on demolition of properties by the authorities in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. A bench of Justices B R Gavai, P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan said it was not inclined to entertain the plea filed by the petitioner who was not directly or indirectly related to the alleged act. "We don't want to open a pandora's box," said the bench, adding, "Let the persons who are affected by demolition come to the court". The petitioner's counsel alleged the authorities in Haridwar, Jaipur and Kanpur had demolished properties in contempt of the apex court's order which had said demolition would not be carried out without its permission. "The Supreme Court's order was categorical that without the leave of this court, no demolition would be carried out," the counsel said. He alleged in one of these cases, the property was demolished soon after an FIR was lodged. Additional Solicitor General K M Nata

SC rejects plea alleging contempt of demolition order by three states

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to entertain a plea alleging contempt of its order on demolition of properties by the authorities in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. A bench headed by Justice B R Gavai and comprising Justices P K Mishra and K V Viswanathan said it was not inclined to entertain the plea filed by the petitioner who was not directly or indirectly related to the alleged act. "We don't want to open a pandora box," said the bench. The court said it will hear those affected by the demolition of properties. The petitioner alleged that authorities in Haridwar, Jaipur and Kanpur had demolished properties in contempt of the apex court's order which had said that demolitions would not be carried out without its permission. The top court had earlier reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions raising the plea that properties, including those belonging to persons accused of crimes, were being demolished in several states. The apex court had said in its Septembe

BJP makes history: Membership reaches 100 mn milestone, eyes 111 mn plus

Members will receive certificates after donating Rs 100 and having 50 members under their assembly, according to senior BJP sources

Owaisi lashes out at ultimatum to Muslims to leave Chamoli by December 31

Don't the Muslims of Chamoli have the right to live with equality and respect? he further noted.

Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code report submitted to CM: What it says

The state has developed a mobile application to assist citizens with queries related to the UCC

UKPSC Lecturer Recruitment 2024: Apply for 613 posts, check details

The UKPSC has invited applications for Uttarakhand Special Subordinate Education (Lecturer-Group 'C') Services General/Women Branch Exam-2024. Candidates can apply at the UKPSC's official website

Forced to make emergency landing, CEC spends night at Uttarakhand village

Forced to make an emergency landing in a remote village near Munsiyari due to bad weather on Wednesday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar spent the night in an uninhabited house in sub-zero temperature along with two pilots and two poll officials. The helicopter took off on Thursday morning once the weather cleared and reached the Munsyari Tehsil headquarters safely, sources said. Kumar was scheduled to visit the remote polling stations in Pithoragarh and 14 nearby villages to gain first-hand knowledge of the challenges faced by the election officials and the electorate in the high-altitude terrain, the sources said. According to Pithoragarh District Magistrate Vinod Girish Goswami, the chopper, which was on its way to Milam Glacier, left at around 1 pm on Wednesday. However, due to the cloudy weather and low visibility, it landed on a helipad in Ralam village, 42 km away, at around 1.30 pm, he said. In the past too, Kumar had explored the remote polling locations in t

U'khand govt issues guidelines to stop 'spit jihad', fine upto Rs 1 lakh

The Uttarakhand government Wednesday issued detailed guidelines for preventing instances of people spitting in food, announcing a fine of upto Rs 1 lakh, mandating police verification of hotel and 'dhaba' staff and installation of CCTV cameras in their kitchens. The state police and the health department issued separate guidelines days after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami termed such incidents "thook (spit) jihad", and said stern action will be taken against the offenders. Two men were recently arrested in Mussoorrie for allegedly spitting into fruit juice glasses before serving them to tourists. A video from Dehradun had also gone viral in which a cook could be seen allegedly spitting while making dough for rotis. Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said safety and purity of food is top priority of his government during the upcoming festival season. Any kind of impurity or anti-social activities will not be tolerated during the festivals, Rawat said. Director General of Police ..

Rs 100 cr disbursed to 494 families affected by Jamrani dam in Uttarakhand

He said that work is being done to strengthen the women's self-help groups in the state economically, under the Lakhpati Didi Yojana, women are being given an amount of Rs 1 lakh, and 30 percent

Portals of Badrinath Dham to be closed on Nov 17 for winter session

The portals of the Badrinath Dham in Uttarakhand will be closed for the winter season at 9.07 pm on November 17, the temple committee said on Saturday. As per tradition, the "mahurat" of the closing date and time was decided on the occasion of Vijayadashami on Saturday after an assessment of the Hindu calendar and the position of the celestial bodies, Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee Chairman Ajendra Ajay said. More than 11 lakh pilgrims visited Badrinath this year while Kedarnath witnessed a footfall of over 13.5 lakh devotees. As per an earlier announcement, Kedarnath and Yamunotri will be closed on November 3 and Gangotri on November 2. Similarly, the doors of Rudranath will be closed on October 17, Tungnath on November 4 and Madhyamaheshwar on November 20. The temples in Uttarakhand which draw lakhs of devotees each year from across the country and abroad are closed during winter as they remain covered in snow.

Uttarakhand govt seizes land owned by UP strongman Raja Bhaiya's wife

The Uttarakhand government has taken possession of more than half a hectare of agricultural land registered in the name of Uttar Pradesh MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh aka Raja Bhaiya's wife in Nainital district as it was not being used for its sanctioned purpose, officials said. In the presence of local public representatives and villagers on Friday, Patwari (revenue official) Ravi Pandey carried out the formalities of taking possession of the land under Section 167 of the Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms (Amendment) Act, 1950 as it was in violation of section 154 (4) (3) (b) of the ZALR (amendment) Act, Kainchi Dham SDM Vipin Chandra Pant said. Section 154 (4) (3) (b) of the ZALR (amendment) Act requires the land to be used for its sanctioned purpose within two years after being bought, the official said. "However, for a long time, no farming-related work of any kind was being done on this land, Pant said. Raja Bhaiya's and his wife Bhanvi Singh are believed to be ..

UCC draft committee puts final seal, will submit report to CM Dhami

Singh told ANI that the UCC Code has been made in public interest. He said that without visiting the government office, people can register etc. through the UCC web portal or app

DPR for Joshimath reconstruction to finish; town to be 100% safe: Official

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for reconstruction work to be carried out in land subsidence-hit Jyotirmath (Joshimath) is almost complete and will be sent to the Centre for approval this month after being examined by IIT-Roorkee. The information was given by Garhwal Commissioner Vinay Shankar Pandey and Disaster Management Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman at a meeting with the affected people in Jyotirmath on Tuesday. The DPR for sewerage, drainage, drain improvement and protection works in Jyotirmath is almost complete. After being examined by IIT-Roorkee, the DPR will be sent to the government of India, they said. The officials said Jyotirmath will be 100 per cent safe after the completion of the sewerage, drainage and drain construction work in the town and the toe-protection work on the banks of the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers in Vishnu Prayag, they said. Conceding a demand of the residents, the Garhwal commissioner said a disaster rehabilitation office would be set up in ..

Major Uttarakhand govt websites impacted by malware attack restored

The websites of major government departments in Uttarakhand which were temporarily closed due to a malware attack in the 'State Data Center' were restored on Sunday. Nitika Khandelwal, Director of Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA), said that major websites like 'Apni Sarkar', 'E-Office', 'E-Ravanna portal and Chardham registration have been restored while the CM Helpline and 'State Portal' were restored on Saturday. The cyber attack took place on Wednesday, on a government holiday. Due to the shutdown of the online system, some of the work was done manually. Other works including verification of ration card holders were closed. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a high-level meeting reviewing the recent malware attack that temporarily closed down the state's data centre. Taking stock of the situation, he directed the officials to complete the scanning of the state's data centre and restore all the important websites and online services by ...