IEP DEHRADUN

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami while presenting the case of the State in the meeting of the Kishau Dam multipurpose project on Wednesday has said that the cost of the power component of the ambitious project should either be kept unchanged in the case of increase in the total project cost in the revised DPR or the increased power component of the project should be distributed equally by all the six beneficiary states so that the consumers of the state get cheap power.

The meeting held in New Delhi was chaired by the union Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. The projects would provide irrigation water to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan and supply drinking water to Delhi. Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh would equally divide the power generated by the project and as per the MoU Uttarakhand and HP would share the power component cost of the mega project. He said that the national project would prove to be a milestone in the development of Uttarakhand and it would provide direct and indirect employment to the people of the state and it would provide an opportunity to increase the income of the local people.

The Uttarakhand CM said that beneficial schemes would be developed from time to time with the help of local public representatives for the development of the area and public welfare. In the meeting the chief minister of HP Jairam Thakur and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar participated virtually.

The HP CM also supported the stand taken by the Uttarakhand CM on the issue. The Union minister Shekhawat said that soon a meeting would be convened to discuss the issue. It is worth mentioning here that the implementation of the project is being done by Kishau Corporation limited which is jointly owned by HP and Uttarakhand. This project was declared the ‘national project’ in the year 2008. Proposed on the Tons River in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand and Sirmaur district of HP the project when completed would be the second biggest dam project in Asia. Under the plan 236 meter high and 680 meter long dam would be constructed on the Tons River and when complete the project would maintain the water availability in the Yamuna River.

The dam would have a reservoir of 1324 MCAM capacity and help in irrigation of 97,076 hectares of land. It would generate 660 MW of the power which would be distributed equally among HP and Uttarakhand. The project is estimated to cost Rs 11,550 crore on the 2018 price out of which the water component ( Irrigation, drinking water) would cost Rs 10013.96 crore and power component Rs 1536.04 crore. At present work on preparation of the DPR is going on which is expected to increase. Since the project is the national project the water component would be distributed in the ratio of 90:10 between the union government and the beneficiary states while the power component would be borne by HP and Uttarakhand. The secretaries R Meenakshi Sundaram, H C Semwal and officers of the Jalshakti ministry were present on the occasion.

IEP DEHRADUN, September 21, 2022

The Home Guards and Civil Defence directorate will start a scheme as an initiative to encourage the public and raise awareness regarding proper parking of their vehicles in Dehradun district. The directorate aims to accustom and motivate people to properly park their vehicles in order to achieve the objective of a disciplined society.

Under this scheme, a person can send 50 photographs of his or her well parked vehicle to the WhatsApp Number 9458950814 to be rewarded with a certificate by the administration for abiding by the rules of proper parking. The commandant general, Home Guards, Kewal Khurana discussed this scheme with the director general of police Ashok Kumar who also agreed with the scheme while adding that the police will also abrogate the fine of such person on his or her next accidental traffic violation. This scheme will also be applicable for a member of his family, as per the officials.

The officials stated that besides Whatsapp, the public would soon be able to use a mobile application to participate in the scheme which will also help the administration to preserve the records of applicants under the scheme. The scheme will be started as a pilot project in the Dehradun district but later, it will be implemented across the State too.

IEP DEHRADUN, September 21, 2022

After initiating a plan for survey of all Madarsas, the Uttarakhand government has now prepared a plan to introduce the syllabus of National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) in the Madarsas of the State. Under the plan, the syllabus of the NCERT would be first introduced in the Madarsas controlled by the Uttarakhand Waqf Board and later this plan would be extended to the Madarsas which are under Madarsa Board.There are about 1,000 Madarsas in Uttarakhand in large number of students of the Muslim community are enrolled. At present these Madarsas are only imparting religious education to the students. Confirming the plan, the chairman of the Uttarakhand Waqf Board, Shadab Shams said that the objective of the BJP is to convert the Madarsas into Smart Madarsas. He said that soon the NCERT syllabus would be introduced in 103 Madarsas which are under the Waqf board. Shams disclosed that under the new curriculum the religious education would be imparted in the first two hours only in the morning and in the rest of the time the Madarsas would operate like a normal school.The Waqf board has decided to implement the NCERT syllabus initially in 10 Madarsas in the state which include the Rehmania Madarsa of Roorkee and Usmania Madarsa in Dehradun. These ten institutes would be developed as Model Madarsas, thereafter the NCERT syllabus would be extended in other Madarsas. Shams added that tabs would also be given to the students of Madarsas and recruitment of new teachers would also be done.“Our objective is to realise the dream of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the Madarsa students should have the holy Quran in one hand and a laptop in the other. We want our students in Madarsas to also become doctors and engineers. We are concerned about the future of our children and are doing every bit with a clear conscience,’’ Shams said. The chairman of the Uttarakhand Waqf board added that skill development centres would also be set up in the Madarsas to polish the youngsters of the community in different trades and provide certificates to them.

IEP DEHRADUN, September 21, 2022

Paving the way for completion of the construction of a new rail line between Deoband and Roorkee, the ministry of Railways has approved a sum of Rs 28.31 crore for land acquisition in four villages in Haridwar district. The information about the approval of the budget for the important project was given by the Union Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a letter written to the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.It is pertinent to mention here that CM Dhami during his recent visit to Delhi had requested the Union Railways minister Vaishnaw for compensation to the villagers for the land acquired from them for the rail line. The CM has expressed his gratitude to the Union minister for the approval of the compensation for the villagers. The 27.45 kilometre long rail link between Roorkee and Deoband stations would reduce the distance of Delhi and Roorkee by 33 kilometres and Dehradun to Delhi by 40 kilometres.At present the train takes the route of Tapri to reach Roorkee. After completion of work on the rail link the train would directly go to Roorkee from Deoband. The work on the Rs 691 crore project started in the year 2018 and a target to get it completed by the year 2021 was initially taken up. However the pandemic of Covid19 and issue of compensation to the farmers for the land acquired from them delayed the project. The release of the sum of Rs 28.31 crore is now expected to expedite the completion of the important project.

IEP DEHRADUN, September 21, 2022

The Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT) Roorkee has transferred the technology to make biodegradable polybags to a company in Noida. Professor PP Kundu of the department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Roorkee, who is an expert in polymer technology has developed a thermoplastic starch that will be blended with LDPE, thereby making LDPE biodegradable. India being agrarian in nature produces a lot of starch such as potato, rice, wheat and maize starch and other starches are available in plenty.

IIT Roorkee has transferred this technology to Noidabased Agrasar Innovatives LLP for manufacturing biodegradable polybags in large quantities. The company will commercially utilise the present technology for manufacturing biodegradable polybags in large quantities. Natural starch being crystalline cannot be blended with LDPE due to its high melting point. So, it can be used as filler in LDPE. On the other hand, thermoplastic starch is a plasticised form of natural starch obtained from natural sources such as cassava, maize, potato, etc along with plasticizer. Thermoplastic starch is mainly amorphous, whereas ordinary starch is crystalline. The commonly used plasticizers are polyfunctional alcohols such as glycerol and sorbitol along with some low molecular weight compounds capable of forming intermolecular hydrogen bonding such as water, formamide etc.

 The starch and plasticizer in the presence of heat and constant agitation undergo gelatinization. In that process, the crystallinity of starch is sufficiently reduced, leading to an amorphous structure. Due to its amorphous character, it can be blended with LDPE. IIT Roorkee director Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi said, “The developed technology is expected to have immense value in view of the large quantities of starch produced in India and the environment friendly nature of the solution.”

IEP DEHRADUN, September 21, 2022

The Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UKPSC) chairman Rakesh Kumar presided over a meeting on Tuesday in which the dates for publication of examination advertisement and proposed examination dates for various class C posts were finalised. According to the decisions taken in the meeting, for the post of police constablePAC/IRB/fire fighter the advertisement will be published on October 7 and the examination will be conducted on December 18.

For the post of revenue sub inspector/Lekhpal the advertisement will be published on October 14 and the examination will be conducted on January 9, 2023. Similarly, for the post of forest guard the advertisement will be published on October 21 and the examination will be held on January 22 next year. For the post of assistant account/auditor the advertisement will be published on October 28 and the examination will be held on February 12 next year.

The UKPSC chairman also met chief secretary Sukbhir Singh Sandhu. Kumar said that the commission is undertaking all preparations to ensure that the examinations are conducted with full transparency as per the directions of the administration and departmental rules. The dates for examination in the first stage have been set and soon the dates for the other examinations will also be decided, he said. The chief secretary said that the State administration will provided all required cooperation to the commission.

IEP DEHRADUN

Uttarakhand Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami laid the foundation stone of the 110 metre span double lane road bridge on Kali river at Malla Charchum area of Dharchula in Pithoragarh district on Monday. The Rs 32.98 crore bridge would connect India with Nepal. Speaking on the occasion, Dhami said that the bridge would ease the flow of traffic between India and Nepal and would give an impetus to trade between the two neighbours. The bridge would also help in generating employment in the area. 

The CM said that the construction of the bridge would be completed within a year and directed the officers of the Public Works Department (PWD) which is the executing agency, to complete the work within the stipulated time while making no compromise with the quality of construction. Expressing happiness, the CM said that he is especially happy to approve of the bridge since he was born and grew up in the area near the Kali river. He opined that once completed the bridge would further strengthen the centuries old relations between India and Nepal. Dhami said that many welfare schemes are being operated in Uttarakhand under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said work is going on for development of the border areas of the State. The CM said that work on road and internet connectivity is going on at a fast pace in Uttarakhand. 

Expressing confidence that the ongoing decade would belong to Uttarakhand, Dhami said that the State government is standing with the people as a collaborator in development. 

He said that every possible effort would be made for rehabilitation of the disaster affected people. The road bridge in Charchum area of Pithoragarh district would be the second such bridge between India and Nepal after Tanakpur across the Kali river. The Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami, block Pramukh Dhan Singh Dhami, district magistrate of Pithoragarh Ashish Chauhan, superintendent of police Lokeshwar Singh, PWD superintending engineer SK Kandpal and others were present on the occasion.

IEP DEHRADUN/HARIDWAR

Yoga guru Swami Ramdev has expressed concern stating that the manner in which religious conversions are taking place in Uttarakhand is a matter of concern. 

He also blamed Pakistan for the spread of lumpy skin disease in cattle in India. 

Ramdev expressed these views on the sidelines of a religious event he attended at Bhupatwala here on Monday. Ramdev appreciated chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami’s decision regarding a survey of Madarsas in the State. He said that Islam did not have a major presence in Uttarakhand about 30 years ago but now activities like religious conversions have affected Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. 

He said that the managers of Madarsas imparting good teaching and knowledge of Islam have nothing to worry about but if any such institution is teaching religious fundamentalism then strong action should be taken against such a Madarsa. Blaming Pakistan for the spread of lumpy skin disease among cattle in India, Ramdev said that an investigation should be conducted to ascertain whether the virus is manmade and if it has been spread as part of some conspiracy. 

He said that application of a mixture of aloe vera, turmeric and Multani Mitti is very useful in lumpy virus disease. Regarding the spread of dengue amidst changing weather, he said that Patanjali has conducted research on this subject and found that Giloy, aloe vera, Veda grass, pomegranate and papaya are useful in treating this disease.

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

The State’s Health minister Dhan Singh Rawat virtually inaugurated the pulse polio campaign in Pauri district during the national pulse polio training programme on Sunday. As part of the campaign, 62,506 children in the 0-5 years age group will be administered polio drops in the district.

 The authorities have set up a total of 800 polio booths across the district so as to ensure that no child in the target age group is left without being administered the polio drops. The Health minister has appealed to all people in the district to come forward and cooperate to ensure the success of this special campaign in Pauri. At his official residence, the Health minister virtually inaugurated the pulse polio campaign in the sub district hospital at Shrinagar in the Pauri district.

He said that the Pauri district had been selected as part of the national pulse polio training programme. He said that Health department medical teams and Asha workers will administer polio drops to children in the 800 polio booths set up across the district. Rawat said that this special pulse polio campaign will be undertaken for three days in the mountainous regions of Pauri district while in Dugadda and Kotdwar it will be undertaken for a week.

 The children who are left without the dose will be administered polio drops by Asha workers who will make home visits. He further said that earlier, as part of NID on February 27, a total of 13.48,250 children had been administered polio drops while under SNID on June 19 a total of 10,00,074 children were administered polio drops across the State.

The minister pointed out that at present there is not a single case of polio in Uttarakhand where the last case was recorded during 2009 in the Udham Singh Nagar district. With the joint efforts of UNICEF, World Health Organisation, the Government of India and State governments the nation has become polio-free. However, the polio virus is still present in neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan which presents the risk of this virus spreading in India. This is why the Government of India has been conducting polio campaigns in the State, he said. The minister also issued necessary instructions to the departmental officials for ensuring the success of the special pulse polio campaign launched in Pauri district.

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

As part of the Sewa Pakhwada to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami participated in a cleanliness programme at the GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in Pantnagar, Udham Singh Nagar district.

 The chief minister swept the roadside and picked up litter to send the message of sanitation. Speaking on the occasion, the CM said that the nation is moving forward as a strong and prosperous nation under the leadership of PM Modi. The prestige and respect of the nation has grown in the international arena, he said. The PM’s birthday is being celebrated as Sewa Pakhwada.

As part of this fortnight, various activities including those related to sanitation, blood donation, seminars and other works are being undertaken across the State. MLA Shiv Arora, former MLA Rajesh Shukla, mayor Rampal Singh, deputy inspector general Nilesh Anand Bharne, district magistrate Yugal Kishore Pant and GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology director Ashish Bhatgain were also among those present on the occasion.