UTTARAKHAND

The 2022 are likely to be a triangular battle inUttarakhand.Congressand BJP are directly pitted on majority of the 70 seats while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is expected to throw a challenge in select urban pockets of the state like Dehradun.

While incumbent BJP is depending heavily on the ‘Modi mantra’ to form a government again, the party is also hoping that a youthful CM face in the form ofPushkar Singh Dhamiwould enable it to reach out to voters effectively and blunt anti-incumbency. Accordingly, the party’s poll tagline is that a young state like Uttarakhand, which turned 21 this year, needs a ‘young and energetic’ CM. At the same time, the party is also highlighting central projects like Kedarnath redevelopment, Char Dham all-weather road and Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail project as indicators of the ‘double-engine’ development they have brought about, with the Centre and the state synergising with each other, something which they claim would not have happened if two separate parties were in power.

The Union minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh said that the Himalayan States would play a key role in taking India to the pinnacle in the coming 25 years. He said this while speaking at a national conference and exhibition on Akash Tattva at the Uttaranchal University here on Saturday. The programme was organised by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Department of Science and Technology.

Addressing the gathering, Singh opined that it is for the first time in India that such a conference is being organised in which scientific deliberation is being done by linking the ancient knowledge with the modern research.

chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the deliberations would help in analysing different dimensions of Akash (space) Tattva which is the principal among the five basic Elements. He said that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had given the slogan of Jai Vigyan along with Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan and PM Narendra Modi has added Jai Anusandhan (research) in the slogan which underlies the importance given to science and research by the government. He said that India is establishing itself as the new super power in the field of science. He said that in order to ensure participation of new and old knowledge, PM Modi has given a call to the scientists to adopt the idea of Scientific Social Responsibility (SSR) on the lines of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Dhami said that like other fields India is setting new dimensions in space research. He said that people of Uttarakhand are fortunate that they are getting pure air, water, and clear sky as gifts of nature. The CM averred that the State Government wants to establish a balance between the economy and the ECOLOGY and is focussing on the importance of the Gross Environmental Production (GEP) along with the Gross Domestic Production (GDP). He said that the State government is planning to introduce labs on wheels and setting up Astro Parks to improve awareness in the field of Space Technology.

Bobby Dhami has become the first-ever hockey mens player in the 21-year HISTORY of Uttarakhand to feature in the national team squad.

Dhami has been selected as a standby player among the 20 players selected for this months Junior Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar. Eighteen players are part of the final squad while two players, including Dhami, are selected as standby, but will be with the team for the entire duration of the junior WC in Bhubaneswar.
Though many hockey players from the state have represented the country, all of them were from the timewhen Uttarakhand was part of Uttar Pradesh. Notably, no male international hockey player has ever come from the Pithoragarh district until Dhami.

The Health minister Dhan Singh Rawat has said that the child sex ratio has witnessed a considerable improvement in Uttarakhand. He said that the graph of the institutional deliveries in Uttarakhand has also shown a positive trend. In a statement, the minister said that the report of the National Family health survey 2020-21 puts the child sex ratio in the 0 to five year age group of children at 984 in Uttarakhand which is much better than the national Average of 929. He said that the report suggest that the child sex ratio has increased in the State from the last few years. He said that in the five districts of the State there are more girls than per thousand boys. These districts are Almora (1444), Nainital (1136), Pauri (1065), Chamoli (1026) and Udham Singh Nagar (1022).

The child sex ratio is 940 in Bageshwar, 926 in Champawat, 823 in Dehradun, 985 in Haridwar, 911 in Pithoragarh, 958 in Rudraprayag, 866 in Tehri and 869 in Uttarkashi. Rawat said that the institutional deliveries in Uttarakhand are 90 per cent of all deliveries and efforts are being made to take it to 100 per cent. He said that the health department has undertaken many projects and awareness programmes to improve the child sex ratio in the State. The Women of the State are also being made aware of the institutional deliveries. The minister said that a ban on the sex determination of foetus has been strictly imposed under the Preconception and Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) act.

Regarding the Char Dham Yatra, the CM said that the pilgrimage provides livelihood to a large number of people. The start of the pilgrimage has been received with considerable enthusiasm in the people, he said. At the Janata Milan programme, Dhami told the officials to resolve public grievances in a simple manner. Receiving the memorandums of the people regarding their grievances, he said that these will be sent to the department concerned.

Higher Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat has set up a high powered committee which would oversee the implementation of the process of setting up the facility in 105 Government colleges of the state. The committee would be headed by the director of the Information Technology Development Agency (ITDA) and would include the director, higher education or his nominee, joint secretary/ deputy secretary level officer and two technical experts of ITDA.

The Minister held an elaborate discussion with the officers of the department at his Vidhan Sabha office. In the meeting he said that a committee headed by ITDA director Ashish Srivastava would complete the process of purchase for setting up the WiFi connectivity, select a work execution agency and then hand over the process to the higher education department. The work order to the execution agency would be given by the higher education department which would also bear the entire expenditure of the work.

TheUttarakhand governmentplans to attract Rs 70,000 crore business during the Investors’ Summit, scheduled to be held in Dehradun in December this year. The state cabinet on Friday gave its approval to start preparations of the summit.

Secretary, MSME, Vinay Shankar Pandey said, “Before the start of the summit, we aim to complete formalities related to projects worth Rs 30,000 crore so that the MoU can become the final confirmation. For this, we have directed the departments to identify sectors, locations and firms which were suited for the .”

The government aims to provide direct EMPLOYMENT to 2.5 lakh people and indirect benefit to other sectors like the hotel Industry, cab operators etc, adding that a high-powered committee would be constituted for the summit.

Uttarakhand Education departmentis mulling over distributing tablets to students of classes 11 and 12 so they can attend online classes.

A proposal is being prepared and it will be forwarded to the chief ministers office for the final nod, officials said.

It is estimated that around 1.36 lakh students will receive the tablets.

In regions with poor Internet connectivity, offline study material which will already have been uploaded on the device, will ensure the students studies are not hampered.