UTTARAKHAND

Taking a cue fromSlovenia, a country in central Europe known for itscave destinations,Uttarakhandis set to initiate its own cave tourismcircuit in the Gangolihat area of Pithoragarh where a Network of nineunderground caveswas discovered in September.
Scientists of Uttarakhand Space Application Centre (USAC) recently surveyed the caves situated in Mailchaura, Gupta Ganga, Sailiswar, Vrihad Tung, Mukteshwar and Daneswar areas.

The caves are tagged as part of a karst landscape, which is a landscape where of the bedrock creates Sinkholes, sinking streams, caves, springs and other such features.

Encouraging students to embrace their local language and culture, government schools inUttarakhand‘sChamoliand Pithoragarh districts have now started reciting their morning prayers in Garhwali and Kumaoni along with Hindi. The initiative is something new for the state and it has started to spread as several schools in other parts of Garhwal and Kumaon hills are also joining in to promote the effort.

Lauding the initiative which started recently, Uttarakhand governor Lt-GeneralGurmit Singh(retd) shared a video of students of a government school inSyari BhentiGhat in Chamoli recently, who can be seen singing the morning prayers in Garhwali.

Along with this, food allowance of Rs 22.77 crore will be distributed to 2 lakh 27 thousand 687 Women of Saharia, Baiga and Bharia tribes and Rs 163.28 crore will be distributed as relief amount to the flood victims. The Chief Minister will distribute the amount with a single click.

About 10,000 women self-help group members will participate in the program and a large number of women members in all the districts will also watch the broadcast through virtual mediums. It is noteworthy that a food subsidy scheme has been started for the special backward tribes. The families of these tribes reside in 14 districts Sheopur, Morena, Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Ashoknagar, Datia, Shahdol, Umaria, Anuppur, Chhindwara, Mandla, Balaghat and Dindori. Rs 1,000 are being provided every month in the account of these families.

It is noteworthy that from the start of Madhya Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission till the position of August 31, 2021, about 2.65 lakh self-help groups have been benefited by disbursing bank loans of about Rs 2,054 crore.

The Minister said that 71,000 students of the Government schools of the State got online TEACHING during the pandemic period when the schools were closed. Pandey added that the BJP government has decided to provide tablets to the students of class X and XII in the state. Raising the issue under rule 58, Qazi Nizamuddin said that during the pandemic period the students of the private schools studied by online methods of teaching but the students of government schools were deprived from it.

He said the government schools teachers should be imparted training on online methods of teaching and suggested the poor students of the government schools should be given peer teaching or should be divided into small groups so that they can be taught.

A team of experts on a week-long tour of theGangotrilandscape spotted 107 bird, 45 butterfly species and several moths and wildflowers in the region. The second biodiversity-linked community ecotourism tour was organised in the Gangotri landscape from June 19-25, to showcase the potential of nature-linked ecotourism.

A six-member team from Bengaluru, Chennai, Kanyakumari, Jaipur, Delhi and Hong Kong visited the Gangotri landscape to watch birds, butterflies, moths and wildflowers.

The visitors were accompanied by a team of experts from Titli Trust, as part of a biodiversity assessment being done for theUttarakhand Biodiversity Board. The visitors were lodged at homestays in Barsu, Sukhi Top andCholmi(near Harsil). The tour was supported byMadhvendhra Rawatof the eco development committee and biodiversity management committee, Harsil.

Indian researchers have identified Black-bellied Coral snakes in the forests of uttarakhand for the first time in HISTORY.

Highlights:

The snake is associated with the Elapidae family and Sinomicrurus genus. Its scientic name is S. nigriventer.
The snake was observed in the Bhadraj Block of Benog Wildlife Sanctuary in the Mussoorie Forest Division.
At present, there are 107 species of coral snakes in the world. In India, only 7 coral snake species are found.
As per the report by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare on the management of snakebite, there are more than 2000 species of snakes in the world.
About 300 of these species are found in India, of which fifty-two are venomous. Venomous snakes of India belong to three families Elapidae, Viperidae and Hydrophidae (sea snakes).
All snakes are protected with the aid of the law. Cobra, Rat snakes, and Checkered keelback are included in Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and the relaxation are blanketed via Schedule IV.

The students aspiring to take admissions in all the government and aided colleges of Uttarakhand and State universities can now use an integrated admission platform to get admitted in the desired course and institution. The higher Education minister Dhan Singh Rawat launched the integrated Samarth portal at the State secretariat on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Rawat said that the students would now not have to move from place to place for submitting admission forms. He said that the students registering themselves in the portal can apply in ten colleges of his/ her choice. The admission would be given in the college and course of the choice of the student on the basis of merit. Apart from being convenient the portal would also save the of the students. The minister said that the launching of the Samarth portal is a major step in the direction of fulfilling the objective of one state, one entrance, one examination and one result of the State Government.

The minister added that the one degree college in every block of the State would be opened. He claimed that in Uttarakhand about 46 per cent students clearing class XII examination take admission in higher education institutes which is highest in the country. He said that the students in State can avail the benefit of e- granthalaya (digital library) on click of a mouse and can have access to more than 20 lakh books.

In compliance with the suggestions of the Union Government and , theUttarakhandcabinet evening gave nod to the formation of State Institute for Empowering and Transforming Uttarakhand (SETU) commission, which would be state’s economic policy descriptive body.

National Planning Commission was replaced by NITI Aayog in 2014. In the last one year, the Union government and the NITI Aayog have been issuing advisory to the states to form a similar body in the states. As the Planning Commission has become irrelevant on the national level, the state planning commission has become irrelevant on the state level.

In the initial stage, the cabinet has approved three centres, which would be increased in future. “These three centres under SETU would be — Centre for economy and Social Development, Centre for Public Policies and Governance“>Good Governance, and Centre for Evidence-based planning,” he added. Six advisors – who would be hired from the open market – would be provided to the SETU team. The six advisors would be for the fields of finance and EMPLOYMENT, social Infrastructure, public policy and good governance, urban and semi urban development, statistics and data and implementation.

The relief and rehabilitation of the people affected by land subsidence in Joshimath town figured prominently in the talks between the CM Dhami and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. The CM said that an economic package of Rs 2,942.99 crore is needed for Joshimath.

He said that the immediate relief, making arrangements for housing, construction of prefabricated huts, site development, construction of houses, compensation, development in affected areas, permanent rehabilitation and repair work are included in the package. He said that the State Government has set up Uttarakhand Landslide Mitigation and Management centre which would act as centre for excellence on land subsidence and its management.

Rawat said that the is fully prepared to organise a divine, grant, beautify and safe Kumbh Mela. All necessary arrangements have been made for the convenience and safety of the devotees. The state government is committed to ensuring that members of the religious Fraternity and devotees do not face any problems here, he said.

The CM further appealed to those coming to attend the Kumbh Mela, to follow the central government guidelines on Covid. All should wear masks, maintain social distancing and frequently wash their hands, he added. Union minister RK Singh said that Haridwar had become the second city after Varanasi to be linked with underground cabling facility. He said that efforts will be undertaken to expand the facility in Haridwar. The minister said that underground cabling brings about considerable improvement in the quality of electricity supply. It will also bring about a considerable drop in power loss. He also appreciated the agencies involved for timely completion of the project.