UTTARAKHAND

Heavyrainsthat lashedUttarakhandlast week have led to four prominentriversin the state to alter their course, prompting the forest department to rope in IIT-Roorkee to conduct a study on the river channels and the impact of this change.

An analysis by the forest department following devastating rains since October 17 found that swollen rivers in Kumaon -Kosi, Gaula, Nandhaur and Dabka – have changed their course. In some areas, they have started flowing towards human habitations while in others, the change has adversely affected works of the forest department such as mining and patrolling.

Environmental researchers at IIT-Roorkee have carried out research on Japan’sJohkasou technology(JT) for its adaptation and validation in Indian conditions. JT deals in sewage treatment Plants (STPs).

Japanese company Daiki signed an MoU in December 2020 with IIT-R. The researchers said that JT’s implementation inUttarakhandcan address the problem of wastewater treatment through on-site household STPs very effectively. Daiki’s representative in the country Daiki Axis India Pvt Ltd (DAIPL), Mumbai, has installed around half a dozen STPs at different sites in Uttarakhand, in the last 10 months.

TheUttarakhandhigh court has set up five ecourt vans equipped withWiFiand computers for videoconferencing that will travel to remote areas in the hills to connect residents in far flung areas with virtual courts.

Judges will hear the cases both civil and criminal online while technical teams stationed in the vans will facilitate the appearance of witnesses, complainants and experts before the and also help with documentation.

In Uttarakhand, the ecourt vans will roll out on Independence Day in the five hill districts of Pithoragarh,Champawat,Uttarkashi, Tehri and Chamoli.

It has been almost two and a half years since theUttarakhand Metro Rail Corporation(UKMRC) submitted the detailed project report (DPR) of Metro Neo for Dehradun to the in January 2021, but no decision has been taken on it by the Centre so far.

UKMRC officials said that after they submitted the DPR, estimating the cost of the entire project at Rs 1662.8 crore, the state government sent it to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). The MoHUA raised some financial queries three times, between March to August last year, and UKMRC answered them all.

Under it three kilogrammes wheat and two kilogrammes rice is being distributed free of cost. The fourth phase of the scheme would continue till November 2021. The PMGKAY was launched by the Central Government to provide relief to poor families during the pandemic of Covid-19.

The GM further informed that 61.94 lakh beneficiaries are being covered under the PMGKAY in Uttarakhand. Singh said the PMGKAY-I remained enforced between April 2020 to June 2020 in the State and under it 27,020 MT rice was distributed.

Similarly in the phase II (July 2020 to November 2020) 1.54 lakh MT grain was distributed. In the III Phase of the scheme, 61,940 MT wheat and rice was given in May and June this year.

A delegation of the farmers led bynational president of Bharatiya Kisan Union Welfare Federation Somdutt Sharma met the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his residence. The CM welcomed the delegation of farmers. Sharma appreciated the efforts being made by the Uttarakhand government to give an impetus to Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and . The delegation also lauded the decisions taken by the State Government for the welfare of the farmers. A memorandum demanding better facilities was handed by the delegation to the CM.

Dhami told the delegation that the State government is taking many measures to increase the income of farmers.

The CM also heard grievances of the public at his camp office on the day. He directed the officers of the department concerned to solve the problems of the public promptly.

The Doon University campus was abuzz with the celebration ofWorld Homeopathy Day, known as HomeoCon-2023, organised by theHomeopathy Board of Uttarakhand. The event witnessed the presence of doctors from across the country who shared their knowledge and expertise on homeopathic treatments.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dham graced the event as the guest and highlighted his vision of transforming Uttarakhand into an ‘Ayush Pradesh’ (a state promoting traditional Indian medicine). “Uttarakhand has deep-rooted Ayush practices in its culture and tradition, and we are committed to preserving our heritage and establishing our state as a symbol of Ayush excellence. With 40% of our Population residing in geographically challenging terrains, homeopathy and Ayurveda can be game-changers for those in remote areas who have relied on their traditional knowledge of medicines to fight illnesses,” said CM Dhami.

Mamta Rawat has been selected as the president of Womens Indian Chamber of Commerce and (WICCI) Uttarakhand for Culture and Tourism.

Hailing from the Baingwari village in Pauri district, she has been working in various fields like Waste Management, Solar Energy, Biotechnology and media. Rawat is an entrepreneur and has been active in bringing business to Uttarakhand apart from helping various social causes for girls Education and education for the underprivileged.

A multifaceted Personality, she has promoted regional aspirations and culture in many forums. With her experience and knowledge in varied fields she is expected to boost the culture of the state and help provide a much needed push in the tourism sector in Uttarakhand.

The prisoner occupancy ratio in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh jails is the worst in the country’, according to the India Report (IJR)-2022, released a few days ago by Tata Trusts. While Uttarakhand has a prison occupancy of 185% against capacity in its 11 jails, UP’s is at 184.8% and Madhya Pradesh at 164.1%, the report points out.
As per the report, which surveyed prisons in 18 large and mid-sized states of the country, southern states fare much better in terms of prison occupancy. Tamil Nadu is ranked best among all the states surveyed, with a prison occupancy of 76.4%, followed by Kerala (89.8%) and Andhra Pradesh (90.7%).

Uttarakhand, ranked at the bottom of the list, has a capacity of 3,741 in its 11 jails including the central jail, with 6,921 inmates lodged in them, as of December 2021, when the data was collected. The state’s prison occupancy was categorised as severe (150-185%) along with other states/UTs like MP, UP and Delhi.

Similarly, there were six states mentioned in the category of very high prison occupancy (120-150%) that include Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Jharkhand. Of the total 1,314 jails in India, 391 jails –30% — had a prison occupancy of over 150%, the report said.
In terms of the number of jails with over 150% occupancy, UP topped the list with 57 out of 74 jails, followed by MP with 40 (out of 131 jails) and West Bengal 36 (out of 60 jails).

The report also ranked Uttarakhand as ‘last’ in the category of availability of medical officers in jails. The Himalayan state has only one doctor for 6,921 inmates against the sanctioned positions of 10 doctors. Andhra Pradesh fared as ‘best’ in this regard with one doctor for every 418 inmates. Uttarakhand also had maximum vacancies (77.1%) for prison officers among all the 18 states. Kerala had the least vacancies with 6.9%.

The which is considered as the biggest religious congregation in the world officially started on April 1.

The medical workers conducted 2,36,751 tests during the five-day period (April 10 to 14) in the Mela area. Out of these, 1,701 samples came out positive for Covid-19, that means 0.7 per cent positivity rate.

It is learnt that in the Kumbh area a number of the Sadhus belonging to different Akhadas and sects have been reported positive for the disease.