UTTARAKHAND

The state credit seminar for the year 2023-24 was organised by on Tuesday. Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami released the state focus paper wherein he urged all the stakeholders “to work together to make the state the best one by 2025”.

Dhami congratulated NABARD for credit planning for the year 2023-24 and said that for the development of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture, Horticulture, small and medium sector industries inUttarakhand, aloan schemeof aboutRs 30,301.42 crore has been prepared this year, which is 6.22% more than last year.

Union DEFENCE minister Rajnath Singh virtually inaugurated 24 bridges and three roads built by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in four states and two union territories on Tuesday. These include three bridges in Uttarakhand. Singh inaugurated the Ghasku bridge linking Tawaghat and Ghatiyabagad, Gaurigad bridge linking Jauljibi and Munsyari, and Badamgad bridge linking Semli and Gwaldam.

Speaking on the occasion the Defence minister said that the roads, tunnels and bridges made by the BRO have considerably reduced the distance and time taken to travel between locations. He said that those in the border areas are also closed to Delhi, adding that the centre has focused on the developmental needs of the border areas. He said that work on and through it on Education, Health, POVERTY-alleviation”>Poverty Alleviation and other aspects is underway in the nation with the BRO also contributing to this. In the face of challenges like sub-zero temperature and high altitude, the patience and dedication of BRO personnel has achieved historic works, he said. Roads in border regions are important not only from the strategic view but also ensure the participation of remote areas in the development of the nation, said Singh. He said that BRO cafes will be established at 75 places in border regions as part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the bridges and roads built by BRO fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modis dream of self reliant India. The residents of the border regions of Uttarakhand will benefit from the infrastructure, he added.

Uttarakhand CMPushkarSinghDhamion Friday said that his government will implement the in the next six months and consultations with all stakeholders are being held before finalising the code.

Dhami said, “The first job that we did after forming the government again was to set up the committee to come up with the draft of the UCC. Our Prime Minister always lays Stress on participation of people in framing any policy and we are holding public consultations. Once the draft is ready, we will implement theUCCand we will be the first state after Goa to do so.”

TheChar Dham yatrato the four Himalayan shrines of Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri has recorded its highest-ever devotee turnout this year. The four shrines have been visited by 33.46 lakh pilgrims so far, as per data provided by the .

In 2019, the shrines had recorded a maximum footfall of 32.41 lakh devotees. In 2020 and 2021, the yatra was curtailed due to the Covid outbreak and saw footfall of around 3 lakh and 5 lakh pilgrims respectively. The devotee footfall was 26.22 lakh in 2018, 21.93 lakh in 2017 and 14.05 lakh in 2016. This year, the turnout is expected to rise further as there is still a month of the yatra left.

As per official data, this year, the Badrinath shrine has been visited by the maximum of 12.63 lakh pilgrims so far, followed by Kedarnath, which has recorded a turnout of 11.63 lakh. Gangotri shrine in Uttarkashi saw 5.31 lakh visitors, while 4.16 lakh pilgrims have visited the Yamunotri temple so far. In 2019, Badrinath had recorded a maximum footfall of 12.45 lakh, followed by 10.02 lakh in Kedarnath, 5.30 lakh in Gangotri and 4.66 lakh in Yamunotri.

Uttarakhandhas the third-highest infantmortality rate(IMR) of 27 deaths per 1,000 live births among the 10 Himalayan states of the country after Arunachal Pradesh (29) and Meghalaya (33), shows National Health Missions sample registration system (SRS) report. This is despite Uttarakhand recording an improvement in its IMR in 2019 as compared to 2018 when the hill state registered 31infantdeaths for every 1,000 live births.
However, the states IMR was found better than the national Average of 30 in the recently-released SRS report. According to the data, the national average for IMR is 34 in rural areas and 20 in urban areas. In Uttarakhand, the rural and urban belts have IMRs of 28 and 26 respectively.

Experts believe that while the improvement in IMR is significant for the state, they pointed out that several areas in the hills still lack basic health .

To make healthcare more accessible for people in the remote corners of the state, medical colleges inDehradun, Haldwani, Almora andSrinagarwill soon launch a tele-consultation facility. Over 400 primary and community Health centres from all 13Uttarakhanddistricts will become a part of this Network, said officials.

Specialists, surgeons and doctors running OPDs can be consulted through this facility. Nodal officers have been appointed at all medical colleges to manage the initiative.

Officials said that tele-consultations will take place throughout the day and will come in handy for pre-medications, primary diagnosis, prescription delivery, post-op consultation etc.

When the pandemic began, hospitals had started tele-consultations, but they claim that it hasnt been done on such a wide scale in the state earlier and is an entirely new set-up. They hope to get the entire project off the ground by August end.

Uttarakhand will become the 14th state to start this facility.

The Uttarakhand Forest Department inaugurated the first Palmetum of the state on September 26, 2021. It has been developed in Haldwani area of Nainital district.

This Palmetum is the biggest one in North India, comprising of 110 species of palms.

It has been established in an area of three acres.

It was developed in over three years under the CAMPA scheme at a cost of16 lakh.

It was inaugurated by Prof Lalit Tiwari, a professor of Botany from Kumaon University.

This Palmetum was inaugurated with the aim promoting conservation & research and creating awareness regarding the importance and ecological role of various palm species.

Palmetum comprises of 4 critically endangered species of Palm, 2 endangered species, 2 vulnerable species and 6 near threatened species as per categorization. It also comprises of one threatened species, as per Uttarakhand Biodiversity Board. As per Indian Biodiversity Portal, one species is rare.

HRDA Secretary Lalit Narayan Mishra said an Oxygen strip has been developed on a 2.5 kilometre stretch from Sinh Dwar to Jatwada on which about 250 treeshave been planted.

These include trees of medicinal and environmental importance like Peepal, banyan, Amla and Neem among others. These trees will not only provide fresh air to the people but also improve the Environment in the city.

All the saplings have been protected with tree guards. Mishra said authority aims to connect progressive youths and volunteers to this initiative. Peepal trees have been given more space on this stretch as this tree lives longer and provides fresh oxygen.