As an initiative to prevent piles of waste from ending up in landfills and dump yards of the city, the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) has started promoting and monitoring the compositing process in selected government colonies in the city in association with a non-governmental organisation Waste Warriors.

The officials informed that the Health section of the corporation has marked 45 government colonies and societies in various wards of Dehradun to initiate this process. Besides this, certain general colonies have been marked for composting too. As stated by municipal sanitation inspector, Pushpa Rauthan, the corporation always encourages segregating garbage at source and adoption of composting to minimise the domestic waste generation but not many locals follow it.

The residents make compost and the corporation only monitors whether garbage segregation and compositing are being done regularly in these areas. Sanitation workers of MCD do not get involved in the composting process.

63276 students apply for admission in Samarth portal

A total of 63276 students from across the State have applied for admission to 333 higher educational institutions through the Samarth Portal. In the Samarth portal, students can register themselves in the institutions affiliated with Sridev Suman Uttarakhand University Tehri, Kumaon University Nainital, and Soban Singh Jeena University Almora. Apart from this, the Samarth portal includes 118 government colleges and 215 private institutions.

With the completion of the registration in the Samarth portal, all the registered institutes have started downloading the data of the students. The process of preparing the merit lists will also start soon by the respective institutions. The institutes will later release the merit lists online in this portal.

It may be recalled that the launched this portal to enable the candidates to apply for admissions in all the colleges under the State-based universities.

The Uttarakhand Government has decided to start vocational courses in 44 government degree colleges of the state. The higher education minister Dhan Singh Rawat took a review meeting of the department on Wednesday and directed the officials to prepare the curriculum of these courses and start the process of their affiliation with the Sridev Suman University. He said that the professional colleges in Paithani in Pauri and Model College in Mithi Berri in Haridwar would start from this academic session. In the meeting Rawat stressed the need for imparting employment oriented education along with higher education in the state.

He said that the decision to start vocational courses in 44 colleges of the state is a step in this direction. The minister also directed the officials to submit the proposals for setting up a dozen new colleges in the state. The had declared that every block would have at least one degree college. Taking a stern note of the institutions showing laxity and delay in construction works, the minister said that the budget to such institutes should not be allotted in future. He also directed that disciplinary action should be initiated against the institutes where https://exam.pscnotes.com/TEACHING“>TEACHING and non teaching posts are lying vacant for long.

Dhami govt announce scholarship scheme for college students

After initiating a Scholarship scheme for the students of the government schools of the State, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government has come up with a scholarship plan for the students of the government colleges of the State. The proposal for the Chief Minister higher Education meritorious scholarship scheme was approved by the State cabinet in its meeting held in the State secretariat on Wednesday. Informing about the decision, the chief secretary SS Sandhu said that the scheme would start from the academic session 2023-24. Under the scheme, the students securing first, second and third ranks in their respective colleges and streams at undergraduate level would be given a scholarship of Rs 3000, Rs 2000 and Rs 1500 per month respectively.

In the Post Graduate (PG) level the scholarship would be Rs 5000 per month for the student securing first rank, Rs 3000 per month for second rank holder and Rs 2000 per month for the student holding third rank. The students would have to secure at least 60 per cent marks and should have more than 75 per cent of attendance to be eligible for scholarship. Apart from the monthly scholarship, a provision of a lump sum amount is also made for the college toppers in different disciplines. In another decision the State cabinet approved the amendment in the regulation of the State Election Commissioner (SEC). The appointment of SEC would now be made for a period of six years and 66 years of age. The cabinet gave its nod for the proposal to increase the workforce in the district development authorities. The CS said that four to five new appointments would be made in every district to expedite the work of approval of maps by the authorities.

CAMPA funds must be used for forest: CS

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management (CAMPA) must be used for forest and research oriented works, said chief secretarySS Sandhuat the 7th steering committee meeting of CAMPA held on Monday. Sindhu stressed on finding ways to tackle forest fires and human-wildlife conflict, both major challenges in Uttarakhand.

The meeting was attended by head of forest forceAnup Malik. “Authorities must hold research works on mitigating losses to crops by raids by wild animals like bores, monkeys and jumbos,” the chief secretary said. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has been tasked with the study to find ways to mitigate human wildlife conflict.

The State Government will import 20 lakh doses of Sputnik V vaccine in the next two months. A committee has been formed for this purpose and the funds have also been arranged. Stating this while addressing the media, chief secretary Om Prakash said that the state is in constant touch with the Centre. The vaccine doses being received now are less than required.

The State will receive eight lakh and nine lakh doses this month and the next month respectively and that too on the condition that those who have had their first dose should be administered the second dose. He said that the state is also in touch with the major companies in the country to secure Vaccines in addition to the doses being provided by the Centre. Some doses have been received while some more are to be received by the state.

The secretary Panchayati Raj, H C Semwal has said that all the Jan Sewa Kendras (JSKs) should be activated and the VLEs should ensure that all the eligible beneficiaries get information that Ayushman cards are being made free of cost at JSKs. He was speaking at a training programme of the officers of Panchayati Raj department and social organisations working in rural areas here on Saturday.

It is pertinent to mention here that the and the Women and child development departments are undertaking an awareness campaign for making the Ayushman cards in the state.

‘Uttarakhand 6th among Himalayan states in foundational literacy, numeracy’

Uttarakhandremained at sixth position, behind four northeastern states and Jammu and Kashmir, in various Education and Health-related parameters, according to data from the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) report released by the Economic Advisory Council.

While the national Average was 44.48, Uttarakhand scored 46.57 and came fourth among the small states (with less than 10 million Population) category. Overall, Punjab had the best indicators, with a score of 64.19, followed by Kerala (58.42).

AmongHimalayan states, emerged as the best performer with a score of 56.75, followed by the hills of West Bengal, which scored 54.58. Uttarakhand came sixth, just ahead of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh which scored 46.56. The worst Himalayan state was Meghalaya, with a 29.66 score, followed by Nagaland with 34.41. For English proficiency, more than 52% of the students in Uttarakhand exceed global proficiency.

According to a World Bank assessment, in India, around 50% of the children lack foundational Learning, and by the time they reach grade 5, it becomes difficult for them to grasp the TEACHING and learn as per the grade level. The report states that the New Education Policy 2020 takes a very pragmatic approach to encourage multilingualism and the ability of language in teaching and learning.
The study assessed the learning of more than 86,000 students from class 3 in 20 different languages across 10,000 schools in the country.

In a first for Uttarakhand, state’s Republic Day tableau clinches top spot

For the first time since Uttarakhand’s formation 23 years ago, the state’sRepublic Day tableau, themed “Manaskhand”, depicting the historic Jageshwar temples near Almora and the hill state’s traditionalChholiya dance, won the first prize this year.

In 2021, the state’s Kedarkhand tableau had won the third position among all tableaux. Uttarakhand has showcased its tableau on 13 ocassions in the past two decades since the state was formed.

The tableau featured the famous temple of Jageshwar which is situated amidst dense deodar trees, the Corbett , Home to a thriving tiger Population, Uttarakhand’s state animal, musk deer, the national bird, peacock, and Aipan, which is the traditional art form of the hills.

Each year, around 14 to 15 tableaux of different states are displayed during the Republic Day parade. The final selection is done through a rigorous process, which continues for a few months.

Joshimath to be renamed Jyotirmath: Uttarakhand CM Puskhar Singh Dhami

Chief minister Puskhar Singh Dhami on Saturday announced his governments decision to rename Joshimath, that is considered the gateway to the shrine town of Badrinath, as ‘Jyotirmath’.

Joshimath is the winter seat of the Badrinath deity and houses one of the four maths established by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century, the other three being at Sringeri, Puri and Dwarka.