IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reviewed the reconstruction works in Badrinath and Kedarnath virtually.  Uttarakhand Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami attended the meeting virtually from the secretariat. Modi took an update of the works in Kedarnath and Badrinath and said that the number of pilgrims visiting these shrines would increase considerably in the future. Stressing on the need for developing the areas near Kedarnath for spiritual tourism, the PM said that these areas need to be developed. He said a plan to develop Vasuki Tal, Garud Chatti and Lincholi as destinations of spiritual tourism should be prepared. The PM also said that a plan for developing the area around Badrinath as a model should be prepared. He suggested that Mana village and nearby areas should be developed as rural tourism destinations. 

The PM opined that a good model of economy can be developed by promoting local culture and products. Dhami said that the reconstruction works in Badrinath and Kedarnath are being executed at a fast pace under the guidance of PM Modi. He said that all works would be completed by December 2023. Dhami said that more than 35 lakh registered pilgrims have visited the Char Dhams this year. 

The chief secretary SS Sandhu gave a presentation on reconstruction works in Badrinath and Kedarnath. He said that in Kedarnath, the work of the first phase has been completed and in the second phase 21 works of Rs 188 crore are being undertaken, out of which three are completed and six would be completed by December. Sandhu said that a target to complete remaining works till July 2023 has been taken. He said that the work of Sangam Ghat would be done by June 2023 and work on Ishaneshwar temple would complete within a month from now. Sandhu told the PM that all works as per the master plan would be completed by December 2023. He said that work in Badrinath shrine is also being done at a fast pace as per the master plan. 

The work in Seeshnetra Lake and Badrish Lake would be completed in three months and the work in river front development would be completed by June 2023. The union Culture secretary Govind Mohan informed that setting up of an orientation centre in Sonprayag, Chintan Sthals at Rambada, Chotti Lincholi, Badi Lincholi and Channi camp, Shiv Udhyan in Kedarnath and Kedarnath Saga museum at Kedarnath are the works which the ministry of culture is undertaking. Officer on Special Duty (OSD) department of culture Bhaskar Khulbe, secretary tourism Uttarakhand Sachin Kurve, deputy secretary government of India Mangesh Ghildiyal were present on the occasion. 

IEP DEHRADUN SEPTEMBER 23

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that wrong and illegal appointments in the Vidhan Sabha secretariat should be cancelled. Interacting with the media persons after his return from New Delhi on Thursday, Dhami said that he has also conveyed his opinion to the Assembly speaker that the appointments if found improper should be cancelled. He said that when the issue of controversial appointments in Vidhan Sabha came up before him, he immediately requested the speaker to conduct an inquiry into these appointments. Made ahead of the submission of the report of the expert committee, the statement of the CM Dhami assumes significance. The committee set up by the speaker Ritu Khanduri to investigate controversial appointments in Vidhan Sabha is expected to submit its report on Friday. The expert committee was set up on September 3 and it has been asked to submit its report in a period of one month. Headed by former bureaucrat DK Kotia, the three member committee comprises former IAS officers Surendra Singh Rawat and AS Nayal. The report of the committee is being eagerly awaited in Uttarakhand because the fate of hundreds of employees appointed during the tenure of different Speakers in the past is dependent on it. The report of the committee and the action taken on its recommendation could also decide the political future of finance, urban development and parliamentary affairs minister Prem Chand Agarwal. The committee is investigating 72 appointments made during the tenure of Agarwal. Similarly the appointments made during the tenure of former speakers Govind Singh Kunjwal, Yashpal Arya, Late Harbans Kapur and late Prakash Pant are also under the scanner.

IEP DEHRADUN

Taking a leaf out of the book of its neighbour Himachal Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is also planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state. The Uttarakhand Transport department is working on the proposal and the Transport minister Chandan Ram Das is likely to present the proposal in the next cabinet meeting.

The transport department currently imposes green cess in the State for road safety but it is only on the purchase of new vehicles. It presently collects entry tax from the commercial vehicles of other states entering Uttarakhand. Eliminating the collection of entry tax, the green cess will be levied on all vehicles except two-wheelers after the execution of the plan. The cess will be imposed on vehicles with the help of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed in almost every entry point of the State, as per the officials. These cameras will help the department to detect all vehicles entering the State and help in recovering the cess.

The whole system of paying cess will be online and the department is already working on developing software for the same. The deputy transport commissioner Sanat Kumar Singh informed that the department is preparing a proposal to present it to the government for approval. The officials will also consider some provisions for the frequent visitors to the State to pay quarterly or annual charges to the department or some exemption in certain cases.

He stated that the department is working on various factors while preparing the proposal like how much cess must be levied on the vehicles. He said that lakhs of people including pilgrims and tourists visit the State every year and the green cess collection from such visitors will increase the department’s revenue. The collected revenue will be spent to improve road safety considering accidents occurring at several vulnerable locations across the State.

IEP DEHRADUN

Taking a leaf out of the book of its neighbour Himachal Pradesh, the Uttarakhand government is also planning to levy a green cess on private and commercial vehicles entering the state. The Uttarakhand Transport department is working on the proposal and the Transport minister Chandan Ram Das is likely to present the proposal in the next cabinet meeting.

The transport department currently imposes green cess in the State for road safety but it is only on the purchase of new vehicles. It presently collects entry tax from the commercial vehicles of other states entering Uttarakhand. Eliminating the collection of entry tax, the green cess will be levied on all vehicles except two-wheelers after the execution of the plan. The cess will be imposed on vehicles with the help of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed in almost every entry point of the State, as per the officials. These cameras will help the department to detect all vehicles entering the State and help in recovering the cess.

The whole system of paying cess will be online and the department is already working on developing software for the same. The deputy transport commissioner Sanat Kumar Singh informed that the department is preparing a proposal to present it to the government for approval. The officials will also consider some provisions for the frequent visitors to the State to pay quarterly or annual charges to the department or some exemption in certain cases.

He stated that the department is working on various factors while preparing the proposal like how much cess must be levied on the vehicles. He said that lakhs of people including pilgrims and tourists visit the State every year and the green cess collection from such visitors will increase the department’s revenue. The collected revenue will be spent to improve road safety considering accidents occurring at several vulnerable locations across the State.

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.